In Lost Dreams the Four Were Bound

58 - Davnian - Into the Fire

All along the central terrace, beings possessed by a writhing emptiness lashed out against their fellows in murderous glee, caught in the madness between existence and absolute destruction. Few remained who were not at least partially afflicted. Among those few, the survivor count neared zero. Watching the menagerie disgusted Davnian, and it took every ounce of his being to suppress his bloodlust as he rushed forward.

[There's still time to save some of them,] the shadow-scaled thing in his head said.

Without a second thought, Davnian flew through the dueling hound-like guards on the bridge. He snapped one poor man's head free, dislodging his half-functioning brain from his fully possessed body. Crushing the skull in his claw, he used the silver thinblade in his right hand to pierce the eye of the other hunter. With a small, circular flick of his wrist, he stirred the slobbering male's braincase. As he continued across the bridge, he saw the Nerin-thing leave its perch on the central stage. For the first time, Davnian saw the constructs of reality laid out before him as he watched the fabric readying to distort near the looming monster.

Unflinching, he used his claw to propel himself forward, tossing his limber frame over the embattled villagers. His trajectory landed him just opposite Nerin just in time to intercept the opening electrical gate. From another place and time, the monster drew forth a frothing charged plasma. Davnian tossed his sword into his claw hand and readied to absorb the bolt with metal and demonic furor.

He closed his eyes, and the world lit up with a blinding white flash as the thunderbolt discharged. The energy sought the path of least resistance, feeding into the thinblade in Davnian's twisted hand. Like a sponge, his monstrous claw absorbed the energy. In that same instant, a thunderclap shook the firmament. With the smell of ozone clinging to the air, Davnian opened his eyes and watched as the Nerin-thing eyed him with curiosity and vitriol.

[There's not many left.]

Davnian acknowledged the other in his head with a nod as he eyed the tumultuous group around him.

The signs of survivors were near null, the majority of weeping, dying talvuo being devoured by their kin. In an affront to the notion of causality, their blood and flesh evaporated as if by thought. The world around them was filled with the screaming torrents of the soul-like ether that was drawn into the Nerin-thing's body. As it flowed through the air, time and space seemed indeterminate.

[Is there no one left?] His virtuous cohabitant's voice was filled with tremoring defeat.

"Davnian!" Neris cried out from behind him as he kept his eyes focused on the monster. The bits of those undone floated upon the soul mass gale, blurring out of existence as they spiraled into the emptiness's being. "Gods, there . . ."

"Why are you still here? Go!" Davnian commanded. A hint of relief calmed his and the child's soul as he sensed Elis's breathing not far off.

"Davnian?" Elis said, but there was no time for palaver.

Out of the corner of his left eye, he saw a bony, naked nectar maiden leap into the air. Flowing on the currents of ether in the space around them, her body seemed to blink between different forms. In one instance, she looked like a leaping talvuo maiden. In the next, she warped into a spinning skeletal scythe. Analyzing the thing's movements, Davnian watched as she seemed to appear in multiple places at once. The possibilities of her attack altered in real-time as reality conformed to the aggressor's will.

[Do you understand what's happening?] the other within his head asked.

[Let's hope so.]

All around him, causality twisted indeterminate. But inside the tiny bubble that surrounded his frame, everything was fixed as it should be. However, much like the ethereal flow that was tearing the universe apart, he seemed to be able to shape the space around his demonic hand to match his will. In many ways, it was as if the appendage itself was an arcane gate, not unlike the alterations the monster had called using Ohran's gifts.