The Demons Within

The Dark Prisoner

Heavy gales of white snow blasted around the contours of the steel ship that was attempting to land. The scans from their ship had shown that this location was the only suitable landing site within a mile of the strange ruin. Everything else was steep inclines of the nearby Mountains, Shifting Glaciers or uneven potholes with unknown depths.

As soon as the steel doors of the small ship slammed onto the rocky outcrop the small team of human explorers ran carefully into the open air. They each wore heavy fur coats over their uniforms reminiscent of the old Russians. Their leader, an ancient veteran of the Galactic War, Colonel Armister, rushed them over the frozen wastes knowing their suits would only hold for so long. This planet was unnaturally cold, it's surface barely warm enough to sustain any life at all. Heavy rebreather units punctured through the baleful winds that swept across the entire planet eternally as the humans scampered towards to crumbling black ruin.

Colonel Armister was the only one who had a vague idea of how it was built, and if his suspicions were true this would be the greatest discovery of his thousand year life. As the humans hurdled across the large empty plains their ship already began to be covered in a thick sheet of snow.

Soon the seven brave men and women stood in front of what appeared to be an archaic drawbridge into the main courtyard of the ruin.  One of the senior explorers slung off her bag, digging deeply for her tools and the others followed suit. They finally had some form of shelter against the wind, and sought to take advantage of that.

The First Explorer to find her proper equipment was Valori Smith, an explorer almost of the same caliber and experience as their leader. She had been assigned to keep a constant record of the frozen planet's temperature as they moved around the ruin- both for the team's safety and their report of the planet. She gasped as she activated her scanner, as their shelter was a bone chilling 60 Kelvin. If any of the explorers had stumbled and caused any damage to their rebreathers they would have died. Terrified, she informed the rest of her group of her findings. The scanners from orbit had not shown anything like this, which deeply troubled all involved.

Under the orders of their leader the humans quickly finished their scans and pressed deeper into the ruins. Heavy metal drawbridges lay unlatched, and twisted metal bodies lay peeking out of layers of snow. The dark bricks bore the dark scorches similar to that of a world that had been bombarded with nuclear weaponry, though upon further scanning they did not bear the tale tale sign of a higher background radiation.

As the humans progressed deeper into the ruins, they could hear a voice repeating the same thing over and over again. The voice was muted and dull, barely audible over the howling winds. Dark whispers filled the explorers minds, bringing back emotions that only the oldest had felt before- Hatred, Depression and so much more indescribable things that felt jumbled together and confused.

The metals bodies continued to be more and more frequent as the humans marched their way towards the voice, soon almost piling up higher than even the snow in a few of the scattered building that lay in what was likely a courtyard once. Soon, the explorers got to a closed door made of some kind of crystalline metal. The door was massive, nearly 30 feet tall, yet opened easily to the human's tentative attempts to get past it.

On the other side of the massive door was a titanic room. Dark Purple rugs ran along the length of the entire room, and every 10 feet was a painting of historical events the mortals could vaguely recall lessons about. Ghostly specters in Chains slowly trudged towards the other side of the room, their eyes downcast and arms bleeding.

The Words were clearly audible now, and so was their source. Flanked by two massive Angels in full plate was a man hanging slightly above a frozen throne. Massive Black Wings sprouted from his shirtless back, caught in a spider web of chains made of pure light. The smell of burning flesh filled the air as the chains constricted slightly more, burning away more feathers and flesh before they healed back. A contestant mantra of "Guilty. Guilty. Guilty." Poured from his mouth, only broken by winces of pain.

In the dark corners of a person's mind lies twisted forgotten fragments; the guilt over every lie they have ever told, the shame over what they have turned into and the hatred of the people that made them that way. To anyone who had been born before the Great War, this figure was instantly recognizable as one to be hated. His visage was burnt into the collective memory of the mortal races as he built a bloody path of skulls and metal through the galaxy. He was Pestilence, the All-Consuming Darkness, Firstborn of God.

Anger filled Armister's veins, and he swiftly marched through the wisps of the guilty. Such scum deserved worse punishment, and he would deliver it. Grabbing one of the hanging chains of light in a gloved hand, Armister pulled it directly onto the horseman's exposed face. Hallow screams of pain resonated throughout the room as flesh melted away and chains met solid bone. Hatred coursed through the Creature's eyes, all color consumed by a swirling whirlpool of darkness.

One of the angels intervened after a few more seconds, reluctantly pulling the mortal off of its prisoner. The Almighty lord had strict orders, and despite the Angel's wishes, the mortal was acting against them. Angrily, Armister pushed his way past the half hearted guardian, pulling the chains back up to the already healing skin. This time the horseman was prepared and bite his lip, platinum blood spilling down his chin.

After a brief moment of respite, Pestilence spat his blood into the mortals face, mocking the frail little thing. "You c-can only hurt me with other's powers. You remain w-weak!" Slow wheezing chuckles erupted from Pestilence, before he was silenced with a punch to his nose and a solid snap accompanying it.

Armister in a fit of rage took off his padded gloves and began raining blows upon the restrained horseman, his fellow explorers looking on in a mix of horror and sickening fascination. The Warrior Angels, bored from a constant vigil over the prisoner merely watched in amusement. They had orders, but a few minutes- or maybe hours- of laxity surely couldn't harm anything.

Pouring pure emotion into his every action, Armister grabbed a hold of the chains of light with his bare hands, pressing it into the Horsemen for the third time. However this time the chains were tainted with the fragility of mortals and the black power of rage. They had chained the Embodiment of Darkness for a thousand years, but now they ended their watch. A single crack was enough.

With a tremendous implosion of holy power everyone in the room was launched backwards, and every wisp was destroyed permanently. Darkness surged from every shadow in room, basking in its chance to greet its severed master. Every chain holding down the Horseman failed at once as he regained his true power.

For the first time in a thousand years Pestilence stood on his homeworld, sending shockwaves across the planet. It rejoiced to once again behold it's master's full splendor, the winds ripping eagerly through the crumbling ruins and against the heavy door blocking entrance into the room. Dark green lights flickered on as the long dead Clockwork Guard powered on to defend their creator once again.

Pestilence barely spared a glance to his long time jailers as shadowy tendrils ripped them in twain. Angelic blood spilt to the ground only to be instantly corrupted by the oily darkness. Solid black chains twirled around the horrified Colonel Armister as the malformed Clockwork Guard calmly executed his fellow explorers, their heavy winter gear cracking upon the stone floor.

Letting loose his wheezing cough once more, Pestilence walked towards the trapped Human grinning ear to ear, blood still trickling down his face. His black eyes promised pain and even death would hold no relief for Armister.

"Would you like to resume our fun, Human?"

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First off, I would like to apologize once again for not updating in a really long time. I did write quite a lot in that time, but I have roughly 13 drafts for this story alone of half completed chapters that I am unsure how to finish. A very common problem for me unfortunately. Hopefully y'all liked this one, despite its dark ending, or perhaps because of it.

See y'all next time, and thank you for reading