RE: Assurgent

Hi! There were some mistakes with the publication of this chapter. It turns out that paywalled chapters cannot be made free so, I'm republishing it here. The free chapters end at chapter 10. Therefore chapter 11 will be paywalled. Thanks so much for reading this book and I hope you enjoy the rest of it! ❤️ _afrikan_

The vastly dry desert of K'raith lay on the Northwest region of the pasian sea, far from the icy waters of the Yorshic ocean. The grand land stretched far and wide meeting the cold and snowy Gaur mountains to the west. To the north it stretched over thousands of miles before finally giving way to the cursed sands of Lyeth.

Thick fumes of toxic smoke covered the uninhabitable land. Its soil an array of bright rainbow colours yet unable to sustain life owing to the ever shifting bedrock beneath.

Far below the surface, buried under millions of pounds of deadly soil, a monstrosity dwelled, awaiting the day of its reawakening. Deep in slumber, yet aware of the passing of time. Forgotten and unheeded, it lay in wait until the day it would be summoned to unleash its wrath upon the ungrateful world.

That summons was not long in coming, for on the surface in a dark cave in Lyeth, the harbinger of chaos, maleficent one resided, drawing as much energy as he could from the cracks in the bonds holding his power. He had been collecting for years innumerable. Finally, he had enough reserved to summon the raging beast from the depths of the earth. With utmost precision, he directed his essence down into the earth. It sunk deeper and deeper into the abyss until finally, it reached the enormous creature of doom.

The essence seeped through its hide into its bones breathing life once again into the half dead being. A low rumble shook the earth as the creature awoke from slumber. Cracks appeared and with a deafening roar, it emerged from the earth's depths leaving a nearly bottomless hole in the ground. Its chest rose and fell as it took its first breaths in over a thousand years.

Another earth shattering roar left its large mouth. Long and sharp jagged teeth protruded from its jaws. A long tongue sat smack in the centre. The monstrosity had a flat head with a nearly unbreakable skull beneath hard reptilian scales. It had a wide snout and smaller ears. Thin nail-like exoskeleton adorned it's besmirched, caliginous body, with the largest laying directly atop its head and treading a straight path down its spine to its long and muscular tail. It's feet were webbed as a duck's with long convex-shaped claws, excellent for digging. It had a pair of smaller fore limbs with just as equally smaller claws but no less deadly. The obsidian creature was hideous as it was menacing.

With instructions from its master, it made its way across the cursed land, down to the desert of K'raith and into the pasian sea. Unheeded and unseen it swam across the sea, into the Yorshic ocean, past the gulf of casp and headed straight for the largest man-made harbour, Heus.

*****

Alayni stood staring at what used to be transcendence. The formerly white space had dispersed into its original form. A simple pond covered by tall hedges. The place she had once called haven had lost its magical touch. She no longer felt the push and pull in her essence. Now complete, it was one with all of foresthome. She stayed by the pond, her appearance seemed tranquil but, her mind was in turmoil.

Beware the harbinger, young shoot.

Citali's words swirled in her mind. Was she mistaken? Had she imagined those last whispers? No. Everything Citali had said was a contrast to all she'd ever known about the harbinger. She had halved her own essence and trapped it so she could convey her message, her findings. Citali knew the truth and she'd told her. It was up to Alayni to find the hidden meaning in the riddle.

Behold the earth is shook, from its depths the raging beast must rise.

Did she mean Calida? Alayni wondered. She knew not of any other being capable of shaking the earth so drastically. Citali had said beast, perhaps there was a creature lurking beneath the earth?

Alayni let out a deep sigh. She dragged her hand down her face. She was too stressed, her mind was in too much turmoil to think clearly.

"Would Eirik know?" she asked out loud.

"Would he know what?" the keeper of skies asked from behind her.

Alayni jumped at the sound of his voice. She didn't sense him approach, nor did she hear his steps on the forest floor. Had she been so inattentive?

"Does Eirik know how this place came to be?" she replied to his question.

His narrowed eyes showed he did not believe that was the question she wished to ask. He let it be.

"I don't. In fact before now i have never been here." he answered looking around the enclosed space. "It has probably been here for a while now."

He walked to where she sat by the pond and lowered himself next to her. Silence fell upon them though, she noticed it was not uncomfortable. He had come to console her and not in vain for a smile grew on her face. She cleared her mind, pushed everything to its rear. Citali's voice silenced, thoughts of the harbinger ceased and she simply enjoyed the moment. Her eyes closed and soon she was asleep.

*****

She opened her eyes to foresthome. It felt vibrant, more so than it ever had, it's beauty much more pronounced than she had ever imagined it could be. She looked to her left, expecting to see Eirik. A frown marred her face when she found the space he had earlier occupied empty.

Where did he go? She wondered.

She stood and looked around. Still, no sign of the sky keeper. That's when she heard it. Silence. A deafening silence had fallen upon the entire forest. No birds chirped in the trees, no animals scurried about. She walked out of the enclave and was met with the same, silence. She looked to the sky, the sun was dim, as though it was covered by a sheen yet, she could not see any. It had simply lost its light.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly. Eyes wide in fear, she turned and ran back to where her cabin stood. Past trees that were once claimed by the forest's birds, she ran. Down the low, green hill and finally in the distance her cabin appeared. She stopped a few feet from it. The hairs on the back of her neck rose, her instincts told her not to approach yet, she needed to find the others. Slowly, she walked to the door her hands shaking at her sides. The door creaked in its hinges as she pushed it open.

Dark abysmal eyes met hers. A snarl exposed large dagger-like teeth protruding from a strong jaw wider than her entire body. A powerful shriek shook the ground she stood on. The forest keeper fell to her knees at the sound the monstrous creature made. It's bellow promised chaos, doom.

The terrifying creature rose to its full size, emerging from stygian depths. Its strong head shattered the entire wooden cabin as it rose. It stilled and then turned its gaze onto the forest keeper. Alayni's organ rammed against her chest uncontrollably, blood drained from her face, her breathing stopped and her entire body trembled with fear. It geared its head and with a speed unexpected from a creature of that magnitude, it propelled itself onto the keeper of forests.