Shadow Slave: Monochrome

A boy and a knight moved carefully through the damp, echoing tunnel of the caverns. The knight, clad in battered steel armor, carried a flickering white torch that casted long, shifting shadows against the jagged rock walls. His sword hung at his side, ready for whatever dangers lurked in the darkness ahead.

Beside him, the boy, no older than 16 maybe, clutched a long spear with trembling fingers. His clothes that were once a long simple white cloth which wrapped around his body, was now dirty. His wide eyes darted around, searching for movement in the blackness beyond the torchlight. Dark water dripped from the ceiling, forming small pools beneath their feet, and the air was thick with the scent of damp stone and something older—something forgotten.

The boy sensed nothing, yet he feared the darkness all the more.

The cave was silent, save for their footsteps and the occasional distant sound, like a breath from deep within the earth. The boy swallowed hard and glanced up at the knight, whose face was stern but calm, his eyes fixed ahead. The knight had ventured these caverns before, but the boy had not.

A gust of cold air swept through the cavern, causing the torchlight to dance wildly. The shadows twisted, and for a moment, it seemed as if the darkness itself moved. The knight stopped, raising a hand for silence. The boy froze, gripping his spear tighter.

Something was wrong, but they had to keep going up.

At first, it was just a faint tremor, so subtle that the boy thought he had imagined it. A small shiver ran through the stone beneath his feet, barely enough to dislodge a few grains of dust from the ceiling. He glanced up at the knight, but the man gave no sign of concern, only tightening his grip on the torch.

Then the tremor came again, stronger this time. A low, groaning sound echoed through the cave, as if the earth itself was waking from a deep slumber. The ground trembled beneath them, sending ripples through the shallow pools of water at their feet. Small pebbles rattled loose from the walls, skipping and bouncing against the cavern floor.

The knight stopped in his tracks. His eyes narrowed as he turned his head, listening. Another tremor rolled through the cave, deep and resonant, shaking the very air around them. The boy gasped as dust and tiny shards of rock trickled down from above, catching in his hair.

Then came the first real jolt. The ground lurched suddenly, throwing the boy to his hands and knees. The knight staggered but stayed upright, his armor clanking as he reached out to steady himself against the cave wall. The torchlight flickered wildly, casting frantic, shifting shadows.

A terrible cracking sound filled the cavern as a jagged split formed in the rock somewhere deep within the tunnel. The tremors grew stronger, rolling in violent waves. Stones the size of fists broke free from the ceiling, shattering as they struck the floor. A deep, rumbling roar echoed from the unseen depths of the cave, like a monstrous growl vibrating through the stone.

The knight grabbed the boy by the arm, pulling him to his feet.

"What have you done!?!", he barked over the deafening noise.

The ground heaved again, nearly throwing them both off balance. They both started to run while the walls groaned and trembled as if they might collapse at any moment. In front of them, something massive cracked and gave way—a boulder crashing down, tumbling as it threatened to crush them both.

The knight rushed ahead of the boy, sprinting with far more inhuman speed, even for awakened standards.

He raised his hand away from his sheathed sword, and clenched his steel wrapped fingers into a cold, powerful fist. In just a moment, the two forces clashed, however only one would be destroyed.

The boulder split and fragmented, as it exploded into thousands shards, all propelling away from the two.

The boy gasped, but never slowed down. For stopping for just a second guaranteed certain death. Two beings comparable to gods were fighting just below them, after all. However, the boy was still worried about something else.

'Brother...'

He would've been in the middle of the crossfire between the two. Although he had his [Judgement] attribute, which should allow him to navigate the caves easily, would it allow him to escape their battle?

But these thoughts disappeared the second he saw a glint far up ahead. Something he hadn't seen in far too long.

"Light...."

Not light from the torches that he'd grown accustomed too, but light from the sun, light from the outside world.

The dim glow streamed into the cavern's mouth, silhouetting the boy and the knight as they trudged toward the exit. His steel boots, and the boys bare feet trudged against the uneven stone floor, with the air thick with dampness. The boy, clutching the base of his spear, swallowed hard, his heart pounding with the thrill of nearing freedom, but worry and dread for his far behind brother. The knight, clad in battle-worn armor, rested a firm hand on the hilt of his sword, his gaze fixed ahead.

Just as they neared the threshold, a gust of wind stirred the dust and sent loose pebbles skittering across the ground. A piercing cry echoed through the cavern. From the shadows beyond the entrance, a great form unfurled, 4 wings as vast as sails, feathers gleaming white like freshly fallen snow. A griffin, its lion's body tensed with power and its eagle's head crowned with a sharp, golden beak, stepped forward. Its keen eyes locked onto the pair, intelligent and unyielding.

The knight halted, instinctively shifting in front of the boy. The cave's exit now seemed impossibly far, the griffin's presence a barrier more formidable than any wall of stone. The beast let out a low, rumbling growl, its talons scraping against the rocky ground.

The boy's breath hitched. he recognised the griffin.

"It broke free?? But how??"

The knight's grip tightened on his sword, but he hesitated. The griffin did not attack—it merely stood, an unspoken challenge in its piercing gaze.

"Night Child.. get ready."

The knight charged forward.

The final battle begins here.