Plunged into despair

Ghostly pale light arose from the statue's many orifices and cracks. Its wretched frown was especially bathed with enchanting light.

Machia didn't need experience in fighting this sort of creature to know such a thing was likely perilous. Without wasting a moment, he ran towards the beast. Amplifying the strength in his legs, he was able to leap with shocking velocity across the sand. 

Four visceral leaps were all he needed to make it, yet even this boundless speed felt too slow. Landing for the second time, Machia stopped. Turning to face the beast with a look of tense dread, he saw the creature's frown had flipped into a devious grin. He had already seen this with his ability, but using his own eyes to gaze at the horror was something he should have avoided.

Searing pain wreathed havoc inside Machia's head. Biting down with his teeth, he was able to collect himself amidst the searing pain just in time to prepare a shield for himself. Dreadful waves of ghoulish pale light burst from the creature's gaping mouth. The creature's jaw, encumbered by the excess mass of light, cracked under the raging pressure, yet the light did not stop. 

Rather than cover himself in shadows, Machia lifted a flat, wide veil of shadows that writhed up from the sand. The thin layer of shadows nearly encompassed the entirety of the shore; however, the unrelenting barrage of light had no issue cleaving through the black cloak with ease. Piercing the centre above where Machia had stood. With nothing to stop it, the light barrelled devastatingly into the sand. The blast continually dug into the sand deeper and deeper under the statue's cruel, watchful grin. Soon, the ghostly flame erupted from out of the hole, swallowing everything around it. 

The sand was not being burned or turned into glass or anything of the sort. It was simply being eviscerated at a shocking pace, further and further. Once the light ceased, the statue looked down at the crater with a haunting yet sombre gaze from atop its giant body. The crater's sheer size put the beast itself to shame. Seeing the bottom was likely an impossible feat for a human. 

"What a scary element"

Drawn by the distant sound of a voice, the statue curved its flimsy body downwards. It found a desperate Machia helplessly hanging from its body, entranced by the devastation that lay below. Whilst the entity's vision had been obscured, he abandoned all caution and dove towards the only safe area, the beast itself. Surprising, even himself, with his urgent speed, Machia managed to reach the main body, jumping and then digging one arm into the creature's thick green scales. The impact had destroyed the spikes adorning it.

'Getting inside it must be impossible for me, even with this amplification to my shadows.

"There goes that idea, whatever should I do?"

Amused, Machia stared cautiously downwards, awestruck by the enormous crater the beast had imprinted on the shore, before turning to ask the statue rhetorically. This time, his eyes remained closed despite his precarious hanging position. Sparing himself from any further self-humouring comments, Machia closed his mouth, retaining his usual imperceptive frown. Then he started to climb.

Alternating between only his hands, he would fling himself up the creature, using the shadows wrapped around it to destroy the spikey outer layer of its body. This was hard enough. The spikes would have simply skewered his limbs without the shadows altering the strength of his arms. Fortunately, the durability of the scales could not be said for the spikes, which appeared to have been once man-made. In order to prevent himself from falling onto some other part of the creature's haphazardous body, he also had to lodge his arms in the scales, even if only slightly. 

This was the hardest part. He could plummet down at a moment's notice if he misjudged the jump or failed to pierce the creature's thick green scales. Thanks to his incredible skill of allocating and concentrating force to certain parts of his body, it was possible. But the most outstanding issue was how awkward the process was.

"Shit, how big is this thing."

The statue's expression resembled that of pity as it watched Machia struggle. No matter how aggravated Machia appeared to be by this, he couldn't help but recognise the desperate position he was in as he clawed his way up the beast. 

Machia assessed the situation with closed eyes, which glinted with concerned intrigue. He was almost at the finish line. Destroying the statue would, in all likelihood, result in his victory. 

'With this threat gone, she'll be safe. I'm finally strong enough to protect you, Amelia. No... to be like you.'

It was whilst he was climbing this perilous entity that he felt a swell of emotions within himself. Years had gone by since he had felt this way, so why now?

'...Why?'

Machia didn't have the chance to curse under his breath. With a gasp, he hesitated to launch himself further up the creature's body. Sweat dripped down his desperate figure. It took all his strength to keep his eyes closed. With undaunting patience and unrelenting malevolence, the statue faced Machia as light arose from within its orifices. 

"NOO"

Machia yelled out in desperation. The creature was leaning down from its heightened position merely to leer at Machia. Its crooked grin was again smothered against its stone face as it bent closer towards Machia. Only now could Machia see how large the creature really was. The comparatively smaller statue's head was still many times larger than his whole body. 

Delighted to see Machia's petrified face, the light appeared to swell faster inside the hollow stone figure. 

"YOU, you mean to take me out with you... no that, that's fine then."

Flabbergasted, Machia surrendered himself. His plan to use the beast's own body as a deterrent had backfired. The beast's intelligence didn't even appear to meet the criteria for self-preservation. 

'Amelia, is strong. As long as your not around she, I'm sure she'll be be fine.'

Without even a sigh, Machia surrendered, miserably mumbling to himself as he hung loosely from the creature. There wasn't anywhere to escape to. If the creature chose to die, then he was helpless to stop it. 

As he gazed upon the creature's distorted smile with his eyes, he thought he noticed a slight shaking. Ignoring the blinding pain of staring at the entity, he inspected closer with his eyes to confirm it.

The creature... It was as if, it was laughing at him.

No sound was released, yet the grinning mouth gently opened and closed in rhythm as it gathered light within. Had the statue not approached him, he would have never noticed that sickly, silent laughter.

A sense of extraordinary foreboding rose from within Machia. An aching, throbbing sensation gripped his heart as he stared back between the green scales and the beast. 

"You. You're not trying to kill yourself."

Shuddering, Machia could not tear himself away from the haunting, mocking laughter of the statue. 

'You, without me, Amelia' 

Noticing the signs, Machia's body tensed even further as he suddenly dropped from the creature. An instant afterwards, ghostly pale light struck the creature's green body with seething intensity. Freefalling through the air, Machia stared fearfully back at the destruction as the fire chased him down. The light, as if conducted by the scales, chased after Machia with roaring ferocity. The beast remained unharmed.

As the light closed in on his feet, black shadows clashed with the raging ghostly heat. But it was useless. The light burst through the tangible shadow and batt them away like paper. Finally, Machia closed his eyes with a bitter cry. He plunged into the ocean. 

Machia's eyes blinked open. He was slowly descending into the black depths as the force from his entry carried him down. The ghostly flames ate away at the ocean's water faster than it could be replaced, causing a burst of smouldering steam. The heat of the attack boiled Machia as he continued to descend into blackness.

With silent despair, he gazed up at the fiery calamity above him as he reflected on his life.