The Face Of Darkness (Out Of The Abyss Book: 1)

The Arrival

"HE is here." Nahaten said grimly. "Um... who exactly is this person... thing... whatever? And what exactly do you mean, that he is here?" Chromus wondered.

They were both in an abandoned room in the west wing of The Crystal Courtyard. This was an old run-down apartment complex, only the poorest hobos and bored kids stayed here.

The main Irony of the name is that the courtyard when hit by the sun, looked almost like it was covered in diamonds, but the fact of the matter is, the courtyard was really just covered in the glass of countless windows broken by dunks, and bored kids wanting something to vandalize.

Nahaten paced around the room in thought for a bit, before stopping back at the cracked window.

Nahaten sighed. "I had hoped, just hoped, in the least that you wouldn't ask this." he muttered. "I know I'm supposed to answer all of your questions, but everyone that has learned about HIM, has died within the year. Every death has had something to do with HIM, and I don't want you to die. I was starting to like you."

Nahaten sighed again.

"HE, is one of the remaining Dreaderarms - Creatures of darkness. A gang leader of sorts, of all dark and sinister creatures. HE is the leader of all Dreaderarms."

Nahaten was suddenly cut off by an earsplitting scream, followed by sinister laughing.

"Quick, into the safe room!" Nahaten urged. Chromus just stood there in a dumb stupor, face contorted in fear.

"CHROMUS!!" Nahaten shouted. He ran back towards the cracked window grabbing Chromus. The physical contact seemed to wake him back to his senses.

As they entered the musty, dimly lit corridor, Chromus wondered aloud "What happened, and to who?" "I don't like to think about that, and you shouldn't either." Nahaten replied.

The stench of rotting wood and candle smoke was almost nauseating.

When they got to the end of the hallway, they were met by an old rotten door. The hinges were so corroded, Chromus was sure he could topple the door just by breathing on it, let alone whatever HE could do.

"This isn't the safe house is it? I-I-I-I mean this is surly a safe house, but it can't be the safe house, can it?" Chromus gabbled. "I-I-I-I'm not doubting the strength of this safe house, but don't you think we had better..." Chromus broke off. Nahaten just stared at him.

He then pulled out a long, corroded key that looked like it had been buried underwater for at least a century.

When Nahaten inserted the key into the tarnished doorknob, the old door wavered, then disappeared completely.

Behind it, lay a cast-iron door wrought with diamonds. In the door, there had been painstakingly etched hundreds of symbols of magic. The symbols, lined in gold, gave the whole door a golden, shimmer.

"Whoa..." Chromus whispered. He reached out to touch it. As his hand got nearer to the door, the diamonds turned blue, then slowly became brighter and brighter, almost as if the door had a hundred tiny beacons set into it. "I wouldn't do that," Nahaten warned. Chromus ignored him.

His fingers were almost touching the door. The gold symbols in the door turned blue, then let out an electric shock.With a yelp of pain and surprise Chromus went flying backward towards the beginning of the musty hallway.

His sudden speedy flight backward caused air currents that blew out several of the candles, which released smoke that did nothing to help the smell.

"Oh great, Chromus." Nahaten muttered. He jogged back over the warped and candle-wax splotched floorboards to where Chromus lay.

His fingers where he had touched the door were now blackened. His smoldering hair stuck straight up, now and then crackling with energy. His face was in an almost comical expression, and Nahaten would have laughed except for the severity of the situation.

"Well, I guess I'll have to do this the hard way" Nahaten said. He picked up Chromus's feet, and tried to drag him down the long hallway, but with no success. Nahaten was built thin and wiry, but Chromus was built big and bulky, almost weighing twice as much as Nahaten did.

Just then, Nahaten heard a loud crash, and the sound of men yelling "Bloody Murder!! Call the Police!" HE was at the west wing. Nahaten had under twenty minutes to get Chromus down the fifty foot corridor.

He thought for a little while, then kicked open the nearest door. This room too, was abandoned.

Nahaten saw what he needed. He broke off the back of the cheap, warped, wardrobe, and wiped off some of the spiderwebs and cockroaches.

He then removed the old, ratty, stained, bare mattress from the bed. The already small room seemed even more cramped with both the mattress, and the bed frame laying on the floor.

He kicked out the rest of the already broken window, before pushing the gross mattress out the gaping hole. He watched it fall the few stories and land on the courtyard, then went back to work.

Nahaten lifted the back of the wardrobe onto the roll away bed frame, then tried to push it through the doorway. It didn't fit. He kicked the hinges of the door, which broke relatively quickly. He pushed the bed frame into the hallway.

Thinking quickly, Nahaten pulled the wardrobe backing out of the bed frame, and laid it next to the unconscious Chromus. He went back into the room and broke the rest of the wardrobe into pieces.

Taking the pieces with him, he laid them by the bed frame as well. Carefully, Nahaten rolled Chromus onto the back of the wardrobe. He was able to lift it a few inches, but Chromus's weight prevented him from being able to lift it into the bed frame, which rested about a foot off the ground. Nahaten lifted Chromus, then slid one of the broken wardrobe pieces under it. He repeated this; lift, slide, lift, slide, lift, slide, occasionally breaking apart other wardrobes in the nearby rooms, until he had Chromus the same height of the bed frame.

Carefully, Nahaten lifted one of the sides of the board Chromus was lying on, then dumped him into the bed frame.

Now with under five minutes left, Nahaten hurriedly wheeled Chromus to the end of the hallway.

Once there, he slowly turned the large combination lock to the four numbers. "19, 1, 6, 5," Nahaten muttered under his breath. He pulled the large lever, and with a satisfying click, the door swung open.

The bed-cart didn't fit through this doorway either, but there was not way he could kick off the hinges of this door frame. He backed up a little, then rushed forward with the bed frame. The sudden stop in speed sent Chromus sailing into the safe room. Nahaten pushed the wheeled frame out of the way, before he too, entered the safe room.

He pulled the door shut just as soon as the entire hallway was instantly incinerated. HE had arrived.