Twilight Elysium

Chapter 11: Those damn eldritch horrors smh

Here's the last of my already written chapters, now I actually have to start writing again lol

The once plain carvings on the wall now how new meaning. You could understand the strange scribbles below it, too. With Balalaila nestled safely in your arms, you moved closer to the wall.

The carving showed characters that were vaguely familiar. A figure cloaked in dark garbs was wrestling with a figure that had a mask on. The one with the mask was pinned to the ground, trying its best to fight off the other.

I leave this behind for anyone who is worthy enough to know this tale. I have had to keep this memory sealed away from the others to keep this world as safe as it can be. I do not recount my past to many, but to you, whomever you may be, I trust that you will understand my plight. I am not sure how you made it, I can barely even remember if I made it possible for mortal to have access here, but I am grateful.

Before this curse ridden world had many of the things you see today, I was tasked to shape this world to make it suitable for a race to live in. this task was given to me by a power even higher than myself. I cannot recount her name, but I remember that she gave me a partner to assist me. I will spare his name from you, for even the thought of it makes me retch. He and I had differences in how the first race should be. We fought often, which damaged this world in subtle ways that would be difficult to explain.

After the eventual creation of a small mortal clan, we had to create other predators that would hunt down the mortals. It wasn't fair to let them be apex predators. Most of the original species are gone from your world, but some managed to thrive. Those that were lost were sealed here.

Eventually, I had to dispose of my partner. He continued to try and wreak havoc on the mortals and even swore to destroy the higher powers that had made us. No, this is not a fairy tale where I sealed him in the depths of hell, I had to wipe him from this plane of existence. You might recall tales of another realm that your mother or father used to speak of to scare you into sleeping at night, but I can assure you that this place is much more terrifying than that. If it makes you feel better, the ruler of the Underworld and I are on very good terms.

I have left the rest of my tale here in this Labyrinth for you to discover on your own. I cannot guarantee what you will encounter, or if the gifts I have left have been taken. There is no doubt that there was someone before you.

You lightly stroked Balalaila's soft woolly coat as you read. Under the carvings were little scratches in the same language.

no, the sheep you see are not one of the predators. I sent them here hoping to prevent my son from meddling with them. if you come across him, do not let him know, he needs to learn his lesson.

You giggled. It was obviously Lord Kars who had written it. You stood up, placing the dish back on the pedestal and observing the area around you.

Before, the clearing was a dead end, but now there was a passage to the left and right. You remember something about a 'right hand rule' and decided to take the passage to the right.

~

After about half an hour, Balalaila had woken up and wriggled out of your arms she trotted along not too far in front of you, occasionally looking back at you. She would shake her tiny tail as she hopped along. She stopped at a cross section and looked both ways before she let out a distressed bleat. Balalaila jumped and sprinted to the left. You dashed after her and looked to your right, only to see a huge humanoid figure slowly stalking in your direction. It was grey, like the mud and the walls. The figure was lanky and thin, yet muscular. It had two sets of arms on it. The second pair was protruding from its shoulders. There was a dark hole in the middle of its forehead. A single, flaming iris stared out of the pit, its pupil dilating once you made eye contact with it. Two longswords materialized in its arms and it let out a guttural noise. It hunched down on its legs and front arms and started to barrel towards you.

You break out into a sprint, shouting various swears as you were chased by what you could only describe as a nightmare from hell itself. You skidded around corners, not daring to look behind you.

You had lost Balalaila, Gods know where she ran off to. She probably knew where to hide. You ran blindly around the twists and turns, hoping to keep as much distance between you and the creature as possible. You tried to turn around a corner, only to throw out your leg. You tried to stand, only to fall down on the wet ground. You flipped over on to your back and scooted away.

The creature stood up on its legs and towered over you. Its eye stared into yours. The creature raised its swords above its head, rearing up to swing down at you. You waited for it to bring the swords down on you and cut your life short, but the being just stood there, staring at you. You watched its flaming iris flicker.

"Who...are...you?" Came a voice. It was being directly funneled into your mind. You continued to stare.
"I'm (Y/N) (L/N)," you responded shakily.

"You...are...not...what...I...am...looking...for," the voice projected again. With a swift movement, the swords had disappeared and the being stood up straight. Its eye was still trained on you. You stood up with some effort. Its eye moved to your arms. "You...are...one...of...us."

You watched in awe as the lanky grey creature doubled over on its back arms and skulked back through the path you had followed. You stared at your arms. The infection had spread to your elbows now. You had been so distracted by the strange place that you were in that you had forgotten all about the pain. You stay in your position on the ground, trying to catch your breath.

"Gods damn it, Balalaila!" You shouted to the dreary sky, "Where are you?"

Imagine that, ditched by your only 'friend'. You rolled over on to your stomach. You wouldn't be surprised of she didn't come back. Even if she didn't, you would have to be strong.

You lay on the ground for a few more minutes until you decided to get up. You lean back on your knees before you hear a loud snort come from above. You slowly look up.

Standing in front of you was a large buck. No, not a buck, some sort of a cross between a buck and a bird. He had a thick coat that almost looked like hair and a large, sweeping tail like that of a peacock. The buck's horns looked like the branches of a tree. They were gnarled and they split off in many directions. You heard a small bleat come from in between its legs.

There stood Balalaila, her horns shining softly. She nuzzled the buck's leg before trotting over to you. She lightly licked your nose. You sighed.

"You scared me," you said, stroking her small face, "I thought you left me."

She shook her head then looked up at the buck. She bleated at him, which caused him to lean down and snort lightly in her face. It was a very cute exchange that made you giggle.

You picked Balalaila up. You did your best to stand, only to fall on to the buck. He let you regain your balance before slowly starting on his way with you in tow.