Amidst the darkness, the still ambient had the addition of a gloomy air, infiltrating from the single crack on the ceiling. A streak of blue light, weak and feeble, highlighted specks of dust floating down the high and uneven walls, reflecting on the insides of the collapsed building, birthing shapes in black undertones.
Shattering the continuum, a beam split with a deafening crack, the wood old and rotten. Splints and chunks fell with termites; on the rise, a sawdust curtain with bountiful grains of earth. Another half of the room was buried, old skeletons with ruptured bones half-hidden in the debris, finally put to rest; their tattered clothes, discolored, lifeless, had inklings of a white hue near the chest.
Soon halted the wreckage, light encompassed the room and uncovered deeply entrenched roots, strong, burly and sharp with spikes, laid bare by the disturbance; at their base, pieces of broken vases and patches of rotten earth. Where the light didn’t reach, a faint red glow delineated beautiful flowers, each petal a tender pink; moist, soft and in eternal bloom, the wind had them plucked and spread, the fallen petals retaining their glow.
On the unaffected quarter of the compound, the squared stone tiles disconnected, not a chip to be seen; the moldy books and tomes, carelessly sitting on them, slid down and disintegrated, covered by the round lid of wooden tables and sticks that at some point were chairs. Dark spots stained the floor on the edges, the ink hardened on the bottles, feathers gone.
Breaking under the pressure, a row of bookcases fell harshly on the floor, shaking everything that rested upon it; with a tumble, the fake wall behind it collapsed, a clack set into motion the engines. The rusty chains had trouble sliding through the wheels; moving in short bursts, a pendulum swung and rang the bell.
Away from the debris, eyelids slightly shook, rising to two narrow eyes. The round seat of a chair lay on her lower back, some rails crossed on the nape; she moved the tabletop crushing her thighs and stared ahead, confusion flashing through her eyes. Moving towards the still standing bookcases, she picked a book, the pages crumbling to the touch; assessing them one by one, such occurred to all but a single burnt black specimen.
The woman cautiously eyed her surroundings and frowned, pressing her lips together as she walked ahead and took the book; it was thicker than a grown man’s arm, the texture rough, and cold metal enveloped its surface in half-moon blades, sharper than steel despite the rust. Sensing her touch, the heavy covers moved on their own, and the pages crackled with burning embers as they shifted, settling perfectly on the middle, a blank; quickly, its fiery image surged on the first page, and on the second words were etched.
The Charred Tome: A book written by Methastas himself. The rules that govern the dimensions are there bound, but normal creatures cannot possibly understand its obscure language, or decipher the riddles found within. If a suitable sacrifice is made by the adequate vessel, it will reveal some of its secrets.
The sound of steps echoed from above, chunks of tiles and earth rolling down and shattering; she looked up and saw a shadow, its eyes shone in the dark like those of a beast. Hastily taking in her surroundings, she ran up to a corner of the room where the hand of a skeleton stuck out from beneath a boulder; it held a piece of broken glass half her height, alternating between faint blue and black, enveloped in cloth. A pang of pain flashed through her head, she held it with eyes closed as the tome opened once more. On the first page, the image of a light dome was built, outside of which laid only a starless space.
Sky Shard: A fragment of the sky. Prior to the final confrontation, Devils passed through the sky barrier and shattered it, the blood-stained pieces falling to the ground; years later, humans harvested them from Gods’ War Crater; although a few centuries old, traces of evil energy have yet to fade away. Can be used as a catalyst for demonic practices.
A throbbing pain settled as the woman grabbed the shard, the way she held it unnatural, much like her posture as she guarded against the thing on the ceiling. It jumped towards the opposite roots with a gust of wind, claws attached and ferrying down, not bothered by the spikes digging into its skin; mid-way, the root split, and the debris it held toppled down, trapping the two.
On its fours like an animal, the creature howled a deafening cry before lunging forwards with two long claws. The woman backed down a step, her reaction speed lacking, closing her eyes at the last moment with the shard put forward; the claws clashed against the shard with a clang, curving a sharp angle and breaking - the creature fell back with a pained screech. Taking a shallow breath, she brought up the shard and struck down at the beast, who rolled around the earth, sprung up and bit a large chunk of flesh, latching on her leg.
Squinting in pain again she struck, piercing its back multiple times, ignoring sore limbs and failing strength; the thing scratched with its broken nails, making deep gashes on her thighs. The sickening smell of blood invaded her nostrils, causing a bolt of nausea, which she quickly warded off; she gave up piercing its back and struck at the nape.
With difficulty, she pulled the bloody shard and casted aside the creature, plopping down with no strength.
Breath stabilized, she opened the tome and used it, the black markings on the shard spreading a bit further.
Cannibal: A human with no roads left to walk on. Once the sun disappeared, most of the naturally occurring plants of Eternal Dawn died, and soon the animals that depended on it: a crisis that wiped out the majority of life there. Following the example of other specimens, the humans who didn’t turn into demons succumbed to eating their kin to survive. Centuries later, they have completely devolved into tribal organization and animalistic behavior, no different from wild beasts.
The woman’s eyelashes shook, her pupils dilated, lasting a few seconds. She looked around and saw some of the red flowers close by; extending her hands to pluck one, it trembled and eight thin legs carried it away.
After the intense physical activity, adrenaline left her body and hunger took over. She patted her stomach, creasing her eyebrows, and approached another flower which promptly escaped her grasp; searching a bit more, she saw a few sparse mushrooms, high up on the roots and inaccessible, and some worms that did not ease her pains. Putting her hands together and gesturing towards the body, she waved the shard on top of it and slowly hacked away a piece of meat. Once it reached her lips, the stench sent her eyes tumbling to the back of her skull and she held down the urge to vomit; enduring, she squeezed out some of the blood, and put the flesh in her mouth, shutting her eyes tight and battling with her stomach as she chewed on it. Eventually, it rested inside her belly.
The faint blue light never faded; the woman watched the starless skies before hugging herself to sleep. She stayed there for two days, the flesh on her thighs healed and a new layer of skin rested upon it, with a very noticeable scar. She picked herself up and started to climb.
