Creation: The Primordial Era (Creation Series, Book 2)

One Without Morals

Oracion's POV

"Do...you think Xandier knew about that?" Requis asks while holding onto Ira for some sort of reassurance as we descend further along a staircase. Each step encased with what feels like a sticky moss, each step we take feels as if the floor doesn't want to let go.

"I-don't think he'd of sent us down here if he did." Ira comments, keeping his eyes up to the glowing vines that roughly identify the walls.

"I reported Ash missing after the Shadows overwhelmed us on the surface. I watched as it dragged him through the Veil and out of our reach. He wasn't screaming, he wasn't even fighting it." Freya adds, occasionally bumping into me from the close quarters. "What do you think, Oracion?" She asks me.

I let all their words linger around the room for a while as my brain tries to piece together the most logical answer, 'He didn't exactly know that I'd for sure invite these three' I think to myself while looking over at them with the brief lighting, 'But he does believe me to be strong' I finish, eventually coming to a half-assed conclusion.

"Maybe he wanted me to kill it?" I suggest.

Requis' the first to respond, "That would mean he knew it was there though, that he actually interacted with it...and made it back out? Alive?"

Ira immediately follows, "Doesn't he always place you in an area known for a high amount of Shadows? You're sure he isn't like...trying to kill you?"

The meaning behind his idea not exactly comforting me, and so I keep my mouth shut, praying that Freya had some kind of other thought. "Freya...and you?" I ask her.

"He had no motive, and has no motive to kill Oracion. Without him, we'd sort of...not be here. And I'm sure Xandier knows that." She answers, allowing me to release a breath I didn't realise I was holding in.

Thinking about it logically, "Xandier's been there a lot longer than anyone else I can remember. Us four are roughly the same age, he saw us as kids and kept looking over us even after." I recall, hopefully applying some sort of comfort to the situation.

"And Aeron?" Requis asks.

"I mean, yeah of course him too. He was always there for me, for as far as I can go back, Aeron was there." I feel myself smile as I look down into the dark, feeling warmth while remembering our time together. "Ever since our pa-"

A slight pressure on my stomach stops me just as Freya begins to speak, "Does anyone else see light?" I reach down, realising it was her arm against me and thankfully nothing else.

"All the way down here?" I question, looking ahead and sure enough catching the sight of a glimmer.

Even if not entirely visible, I felt us look between each other. Followed by our rushed steps towards the partial light. Stacks upon stacks of it, some shattered and some stretching to the top of the...Ruins? "Isn't there...meant to be rock?" Requis steps away from Ira, holding out her hand to touch the rays of light that beam from above.

"It's letting light in? Wait should it even be day!?" Ira shouts in confusion.

"It's moving" Freya points out, continuing to stare at the supposed ceiling that's instead choosing to appear like water. A scintillating view as if you were to be at the bottom of the ocean, encased in darkness with only that glimmer to stare up at.

While they draw their attention to the above, I rest my eyes on the ground. The dull grey stone that stretches outward onto the walls, a colour that's common, and quite frankly reassuring. "Oracion?" Requis asks but I hold out my hand to attempt to reassure her that I'm okay.

'Touch it' My brain calls out, approaching what appears to be an obsidian coloured metal sticking from the ground. In fact, it's growing throughout as some sort of living plantation. "You bringing it to Aeron?" Freya nudges me while I examine the light enthralling material as it mesmerises me with my own reflection.