Shadow of the Abyss

Ren was giggling on top of her Direwolf trotting through the dense woods, thick with an eerie mist that obscured those that relied only on the sense of sight. But neither Ren nor her Direwolf needed their eyes.

Their senses were attuned to the forest; as Ren directed the wolf low, cutting under a broken trunk caught by a nearby branch, she jerked its fur, whirling the beast down a stoney landslide beside a lake filled with frogmen gripping spears.

Ren sped past them in a blur of gray, feeling the winds wrenching against her uniform. Her long, blood-red hair swirled like a fierce storm as she stepped upon a soaring cliff overlooking the Great Plateau.

She stood there in awe for a moment, allowing her wolf time to rest, and took in the view of endless mountains, Ravines, Prairies, and mirrored lakes.

"I want to explore," She said.

"Koo~"

Ren turned, her eyes sparkling as she stared at the small snow-white fox inching closer to her and her Direwolf. Small like a cat with three violet tails, swaying back and forth. It looked up at Ren.

"Wanna be Ren's Friend?" The little Nephilim curiously asked, with a child-like innocence in her eyes, and for a moment, her blood-red eyes flashed a golden hue.

"Koo~" Bravely, the fox scaled the wolf's large frame countless times its height up into Ren's arms nesting over her bosom.

Fur soft as silk, the fox purred beneath Riena's fingers, threading through its coat.

"You're a cutie! Aren't you? Art will surely reward Ren with hugs and kisses." She rejoiced. "Shall we look for him?"

***

On the morn of the fifth day, it was Aurora who first woke to find her Lord, lost in the arts.

He hadn't slept again, she told herself, beside the small campfire. Aurora wondered if her Lord ever slept like those around them. He was always training, always focused on something with a poised focus no human held, at least not to her knowledge.

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Without a sound, Aurora began to wake the others before the sun had risen. One by one, they rose, annoyed but wide awake.

"We need food." Nia soon said. Water they found to be the least of their concerns. There were plenty of lakes and streams within the Great Plateau.

"There are plenty of aurochs," Laros said. He, too, was reaching his limit.

"Those are the bison-looking creatures, right?"

"Yeah. Sometime in the year 3000, Earth began repopulating its extinct population. And aurochs became one of them." Laros said, startling everyone present.

"Laros is actually smart?" Talia slightly raved. "Hells. I swore you were retarded or at least the product of incest. Is your daddy also your uncle?"

Laros glared daggers at her. "How dare you!" He began, storming to his feet. " Retarded? Do you know who I am?"

"Laros Aros… and I must say your mother didn't love you to name you so. A surname ought to match the first. Yours just rhymes. Feels like she got tired of coming up with names and just started rhyming."

Laros felt the fire catch within his chest. "You stupid bit—"

"Enough," Altair said, using a carving knife to sculpt small trinkets of wolves and serpents like lamia and black mambas. He lifted his head to them, tired of the countless squabbling. It was too early for it. "We managed to find two cubes yesterday. We'll hunt something to fill our bellies, but until then, try to be amicable."

Olivia stared at Laros's hideous grimace and turned to Altair, who seemed calm as a still lake, poised for all that would… She shook her head, lowering it, feeling a stir.

'He's the enemy.' She told herself but still found it in her to steal a glance. Once, twice, thrice, Olivia lost track of how many times she peeked at him, unable to forget that warmth that pulled her from her darkness.

Thus, the day began, from dawn to high noon. Altair led his squad outside the forest beside the twin peaks down south to where he once saw a herd of aurochs. That had been an easy hunt. A single auroch could last them at least a month if preserved right.

When their bellies were full and their happy faces were flushed with energy, the real hunt began; they followed after the echos of gunfire that carried for miles back within the Northern Forest.

***

"He's coming!" A desperate cry rang, scrambling through the woods, through thorn vines that stabbed across his legs, drawing blood

"Mich!" Lady Vorswa screamed as she felt the whites of her eyes wiggle as if they hid worms beneath. She howled, falling to her knees, clawing at her cheeks, tearing through flesh as she felt something nibbling at her pupils. "Mich! I can't see! Mich!!!!"

"Gods! Gods!" The one they call Mich, pale as snow fled. Please! Please, I quit! I don't want to play anymore! Please!!!!" He reached into his pocket, tossing his cube away, scrambling for dear life.

"Can't you hear me! I QUIT!!!" he screeched when his eyes suddenly landed on a powerful beast ahead, to a young girl who had caught his cube.

"Thanks," Ren said, giggling as the Kistume brushed her cheek on her shoulder. It curiously stared at the cube, pawing at it, wondering what it was.

"You…" Mich muttered, coming to a stop. 'You're a part of Altair's team… the monster of House Aros."

"Monster of House Aros? He'd hate that." Ren bitterly said. Altair hated that place with a deadly passion. "Well… Thanks for the business."

"No! Please save me." Mich squealed, hurrying over, only to pause at the Direwolf's warning growl. He froze in place, frightened by the wolf as large as a horse. He had never seen such a mighty wolf. "Please… You have to save me."

Ren tilted her head. "From him?" she pointed, sensing a man alongside a few other auras a few meters away behind a large bolder of sorts.

"You sensed me?" an unfamiliar voice said as a young man in a black leather surcoat fitted with fur and a longsword strapped to his waist stepped out from behind a tree. He was handsome but gaunt for one who bore the aura of a lordling. "I'm surprised. I thought Altair would be the only one I had to worry about. My name is Reese Thorvel."

"Reina of the Moon," The Nephilim said calmly. "Though, I don't know why you are hiding your monsters."

Lord Thorvel's gaunt expression darkened. "Your senses are quite acute." He said, and from his rear, a hoard of small red-scaled reptilians standing on their forelegs gripping axes, daggers, and swords. Some bore armor. Others helm over their draconic-shaped heads.

Kobolts, Ren knew them to be. Cowardly creatures that hid within caves, digging for treasure or relying on banditry to survive.

She wasn't impressed.

"Hand over the cube," Reese demanded, flaring his foul mana that reeked of the dead.

Ren glanced at the dull grey-black eyes of the Kobolts drooling onto themselves and then to Reese. "No," She said, unsheathing the greatsword from her back. She hopped off her mount. "Though I would like yours."

"This isn't a fight you can win, girl," Reese warned. " Hand over the—"

Sweeping her sword through the air, a blood-red arc of scorching flames barreled through the skies, sweeping across the Kobolts too slow to respond like a gale of wind.

And from the billowing flames, Reese, who had the sense to scramble out of the way, watched with utter horror as the screeching wails of the Kobolts resounded through his ears. He watched them burn, watched as their skin became blazed a scorching black before all that was left was ashes and bones.

Sweat slipped from his gaunt face. He gulped and glared at Ren, aiming a pistol at his head.

Barrier

Hastily warding himself from danger before Ren could fire, Reese felt his heart drop as the realization of what he was up against filled his heart. 'She's a monster too. Just like that damnable Amazon.' he thought.

"This is pretty fun." Ren mused, firing her pistol. "But that barrier is pretty sturdy."

"Tsk… we'll meet again." Reese coldly said, sweeping his finger through the air into a sigil of sorts. It wasn't the time to go all out.

Lighting

Suddenly, a blinding flash of light obscured Ren's vision, bringing a frown to her lips as she quickly hurled her greatsword through the air, shattering the sound barrier as it shot forward like a bolt of lightning.

When the light from Reese's spell had faded, Ren stared at the empty forest scorched by her blood flames and frowned. Especially when she found her greatsword lying flat on the ground, its edge stained a deep red.

"He escaped, huh…" Ren looked up, tipping her small nose up, ready to track him down. She paused. "Naw… Ren wants to find Art."

***

"That bitch!" Reese cried with a deadly sheen of sweat over his pale face, wet with his lifeblood. Reina's sword had come so quickly with enough force. It tore through his barrier, to his astonishment and horror, cutting across his shoulder blade like hot butter.

He had barely the strength to flee, less to even move. His wound was grievous, and if he didn't receive aid soon, he'd bleed out.

"I swear I'll kill you, Reese vowed in a low growl, unsure how far he fled, but his squad was nearby. No more than a few meters, he was sure, as his vision began to sway. Reese tumbled over cold, tasting the dirt on his lips. "I swear… I'll… Kill… you…"

He waited for death, cursing the gods and the divines as he sat there in a pool of blood.

And slowly, as voices began to echo through his ear, darkness came, pulling Reese into its embrace.