Ashborne: The Warden's Curse

Elric froze, the words piercing through him like a blade: "You've been chosen for Recall."

The figure stepped closer, emerging from the shadows like a wraith. Its form shifted and flickered, never fully solid, as though the Abyss itself was cloaking it. The faint glow from the Prime Lightstone in Elric's satchel cast weak light on its outline, revealing hollow eyes that burned like smoldering coals.

"You can't fight it," the figure intoned, its voice like the grinding of stone. "You belong to the Void now."

Elric's pulse thundered in his ears. His mind screamed at him to move, to fight, but his body refused to obey. The shadow beneath him writhed unnaturally, responding to the figure's presence as if acknowledging an unspoken command.

"Who are you?" Elric demanded, his voice trembling despite his efforts to sound defiant.

The figure tilted its head, a slow, deliberate motion that conveyed neither malice nor mercy. "I am merely the herald," it said. "Your true trial begins below."

Before Elric could respond, the ground beneath him cracked with an ear-splitting roar. He stumbled, his boots skidding across the stone as fissures spread like spiderwebs. The warehouse around him dissolved into darkness, its walls melting away as though swallowed by an unseen force.

"Rynn!" Elric shouted, spinning toward the door. "Get out of here! Don't—"

But the boy's voice, calling desperately from the other side, was already fading. The figure raised its hand, and the last fragments of light vanished.

Elric fell.

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The fall was endless.

The world around him was a swirling maelstrom of shadows and whispers, voices speaking in fragmented languages that clawed at his sanity. Gravity seemed meaningless here—he wasn't falling so much as being pulled, dragged deeper into the chasm by an unseen force. His chest tightened, each breath harder to draw, as though the Abyss itself sought to suffocate him.

Then, with a violent jolt, he slammed into solid ground.

Pain exploded through his body, and for a moment, Elric could only lie there, gasping. The cold seeped into him, a bone-deep chill that felt alive, probing, testing. When he finally opened his eyes, the sight stole the breath he had just managed to regain.

He was no longer in Ashborne.

The Abyss stretched out before him, an alien landscape of jagged stone and twisting formations. The ground pulsed faintly with a bluish glow, casting flickering light across the oppressive darkness. Above him, there was no sky, only a swirling void that churned like an angry sea. The air was heavy, thick with a presence that pressed against his skin.

Elric struggled to his feet, his knees shaky. Every instinct screamed at him to run, but there was nowhere to go. The vast expanse seemed endless, broken only by spires of black stone jutting up like teeth. In the distance, faint, distorted howls echoed, their source unseen.

"This can't be real," he muttered, clutching his head. But the ache in his ribs, the weight of the satchel on his shoulder, and the icy sting of the air all told him otherwise.

A soft whisper brushed against his ear, a sound so faint he almost thought he imagined it: "Welcome, Boundling."

Elric spun around, his blade drawn, but there was no one there. Only his shadow, stretched long and sinuous beneath him, twisting unnaturally. His heart raced.

"Who's there?" he shouted, his voice cracking.

The Abyss offered no answer. Only silence, broken by the distant rumble of shifting stone.

Gritting his teeth, Elric adjusted the strap of his satchel and started walking. The uneven terrain made every step treacherous, but standing still felt worse—like the darkness itself might swallow him if he lingered.

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The silence didn't last long.

As he picked his way through the jagged terrain, he became acutely aware of the feeling of being watched. It was subtle at first, a prickling at the back of his neck. But the further he went, the stronger it grew, until it felt like invisible eyes were boring into him from every direction.

Elric tightened his grip on his blade, his knuckles white. He forced himself to focus, scanning the shadows for movement.

Then he saw it—a flicker of motion at the edge of his vision.

He stopped, his heart pounding in his chest. "Show yourself!" he shouted, the words echoing uselessly in the void.

For a moment, there was nothing. Then, a low growl rumbled through the air, vibrating deep in his bones.

A creature stepped into the faint blue light. It was monstrous, its body gaunt and skeletal, covered in sinewy, blackened flesh that glistened like oil. Its eyes glowed a malevolent red, and its mouth was filled with jagged teeth that gnashed hungrily.

Elric took a step back, his blade raised. The creature crouched, muscles coiling as it prepared to strike.

When it lunged, it moved faster than Elric could react. He barely managed to dodge, the creature's claws raking the air where his head had been moments before. He stumbled, nearly losing his footing on the uneven ground.

The creature didn't give him a chance to recover. It lunged again, its claws slashing across his arm. Pain flared, hot and searing, as blood seeped through the tear in his sleeve.

Elric gritted his teeth, swinging his blade wildly. The creature dodged with unnatural grace, circling him like a predator playing with its prey.

"This isn't how I die," Elric growled through clenched teeth.

The creature lunged a third time, and this time, Elric's shadow moved.

It happened instinctively, without thought. The darkness beneath him writhed and stretched, snaking out to meet the creature mid-air. Tendrils of shadow coiled around its limbs, yanking it to the ground with a force that made the stone beneath them crack.

The creature shrieked, thrashing against the bindings, but the shadows only tightened.

Elric didn't hesitate. He drove his blade into its chest, the steel sinking deep. The creature let out one final, gurgling growl before going still.

Elric staggered back, his chest heaving. Blood dripped from his arm, and his vision blurred from the pain. But before he could process what had just happened, the creature's body began to dissolve.

It disintegrated into wisps of dark energy, which coalesced into a faint, glowing shard. The shard hovered in the air for a moment, pulsating with an eerie light, before shooting toward Elric and sinking into his chest.

A gasp tore from his throat as a surge of power flooded his body. For a brief moment, he felt invincible—his senses sharper, his strength greater—but the feeling was fleeting. In its place came a cold, creeping unease, as if something inside him had shifted.

The whisper returned, darker this time: "Power... at a cost."

Elric clutched his chest, his hand trembling. He didn't know what had just happened, but one thing was clear: the Abyss wasn't just a prison. It was alive, and it had plans for him.

He took a shaky step forward, then another. The faint blue light of the terrain stretched endlessly ahead, promising more dangers—and more truths.

Elric tightened his grip on his blade. Whatever the Abyss had in store, he wasn't going to face it on his knees.

End of Chapter 2

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