Radiating Darkness

Whispers from the Abyss

I fluttered a bit. The Light Goddess was right, as always. The fields of glowing grass did not go on forever. I don't know how this came to me as a shock. I guess I never really wanted to know what lay beyond the Light Realm, just indulge in the radiating light of my goddess.

I gazed over the edge, carefully analyzing the scene as small grains of dirt crumbled away and fell to the world below. Directly below me was not the Abyss, but a transition realm, the Twilight.

I turned back a moment, but all that gazed back was a rabbit. Not even the town was visible from all the way out here. I took a deep breath in, considering turning back. I was terrified of what might lie beneath me but the Light Goddess still shone brightly in my memory. I would not disappoint her.

I brushed a few strands of blonde hair out of my face, sucked in a deep breath and jumped. The air rushed up, but I spread out my wings, landing softly on the muddy Twilight ground. I was almost startled by it. The way the Light Goddess framed the Twilight was almost like a villainous extension of the Abyss, but the Light lived here too. The two polar opposites lived in an almost calming peace.

I rubbed my eyes. Surely this was not the treacherous land my Goddess spoke of. This land of light mist and trees was surely not as evil as she made it out to be. For a moment, I almost felt betrayed. How DARE she bar off this tranquility from us. How DARE she not allow us to see this place of peace amongst the chaos.

The feeling was quickly shoved down by fear though, and a stupid realization. This was not a land of neither light or dark, it was a realm of both. If I could walk here, so could the dangerous void creatures.

Through the foggy half-light, the furious howl, anguished cry of one of those terrible monsters rang out. My wings pounded in sync with my throbbing and fearful heart.

My hands grew heavy as my glowing form shifted and created new entities. I glanced down for a moment. A shiny blade of light had formed in my hand. I had done this many times before, created a weapon of pure light, and though I had never used one, I raised it.

The void creature slowly stalked out from the mist. It had two skinny legs made of darkness, but it moved by dragging its body along the ground using long tendrils. Its body was not really a body at all, just a huge, dripping maw with sharp teeth and devouring throat. Its eyes were pale and white like pearls. It hissed a moment, before letting out a bellowing roar. My body quivered with fear, but I stood my ground and raised my sword of light.

"Begone foul beast of the darkness," I tried to shout, but my throat constricted and I barely let out a whisper.

"Move aside pathetic creature," it hissed. "I want nothing of you. I am starving, but if you move aside I will consider sparing you." My wings beat against my back, bringing me off the ground a bit, but I swallowed my fear again and planted my feet back on the ground. I would not fail the Light Goddess. I stood still and silent for a moment, before lunging.

My wings brought me up again as I struck downwards at the beast. The light passed through its form with a loud boom and it cried out in pain.

In an instant it wheeled around and lunged at me, tendrils flailing and maw wide. I struck it with the blade, and it retreated a moment, and only a moment, before it lunged again.

I cried out as the ground slammed into my body, the force bouncing through my chest and wings. Tendrils draped over my body likes ropes and dripped like wet clothes. I cringed at the cold and wet goopy slime as I struggled to break free, but every time I took a breath of air, the tentacles constricted tighter, and they kept piling on.

The void creature looked over me, mouth foaming, horrible and thick tongue licking its chops as it eyed me over with a glint of hunger.

"How would you like it if I ate you?" It asked, appendages bringing me closer in a deathly hug. "Aren't so high and mighty now, pathetic scum."

"No," I wheezed. Black liquid dripped from his body into a puddle beneath him. My heart slowed to nearly a halt. My lungs barely worked. Every breath was a painful and wheezing struggle.

I couldn't die. I would let down the Light Goddess and everyone I loved if I died. I needed to live. I NEEDED to live. "You're the scum t-that fi-fights again-against the tr-true goddess." I could barely say anything without my head spinning and running out of air.

"I'll let you know what your insides taste like if you say another word against me," It growled as it loosened its grip ever so slightly. It gazed at me in an almost curious way, like a cat gazing as a trapped mouse, knowing the vermin can't escape but still wondering what it will do. "Now the real questions. What made such a creature as yourself come down here?"

It placed a single limb gently on my head. A throbbing headache shot through my skull, and I tried to cry out in pain but I couldn't. Its mucky tendrils went into my skull, as it weaved and twisted its way through my mind like a parasite. All my memories... Flashes started appearing in my eyes, the Light Goddess, the Light Realm, the burning Blazing above our world. The fields, the Twilight, before finally there was only the void twisting and churning through more void.

"Get out of my head!" I managed to say, barely a whisper but a shout in spirit. I clutched my blade and weakly slashed at its tendrils. It recoiled slightly, letting go, but it was unphased by the strike.

"Oubela," it whispered. "So powerful, and yet, so unfocused. So strong, and still so confused. So mighty and yet you bow down. For what? You are a child! What hope do you have? Return to your home at once before you die for nothing." I took in several deep breaths. My head spun with such malice, it was like the universe was spinning with me. I laid down and let the thoughts settled.

I sat up woozy headed after a while. The creature was still sitting in front of me. I wasn't scared of it anymore, I didn't want to kill it. I stared with curious eyes and the creature returned the gaze.

"If I die, I die to save the Light Realm," I muttered softly. "And I die for my Goddess."

"Is that something you really want to die for? Another powerful being?" It asked. "The Void Core will not be easy to steal, and you very well may die, and yet you'd do that for everyone but yourself? Think about it." He backed into the darkness again. I stood up, searching for it, but the beast was gone.