Legends of Orlea

Chapter 7:

Zirem walked around carefully, trying to spot limits to the darkness, but not finding anything. Grumbling to himself, he sat down again, and relaxed. However, he gagged, and retched. Dizziness overtook him, and he fell without quite realising it. The acrid air almost made it impossible  for him to breathe, and brought tears to his eyes. 

Crying and coughing, Zirem got up, and looked for an exit again. The feel of the air went from heavy to normal, and it became bearable. Still, it was getting worse. Soon, there'd be no room where he wouldn't be gagging and retching. 

Again, he found nothing. Again, he sat down. This time, he checked his inventory, and tried to log out. The easy answer. But no, the button wasn't there. And a terror like he'd never experienced took him over. What was the point of escaping LoO if he was going to be trapped in this game?

Zirem started running, desperate to find a way out of this place, but it was in vain. He yelled in frustration, and his Aflune came out, unauthorized. It was still the same black as before. The tails started whipping around savagely, thrashing against an invisible force that held them down. 

By habit, Zirem helped the Aflune free itself for a moment, and when it did, regretted his decision. They shot all around, as if possessed. But as he was dragged around, he saw that something was happening. The darkness was falling, whole slabs of it, and smashing to the floor. However, it was regenerating.

 The darkness crashed down upon him. The only thing protecting him was the Aflune, which was dragging him. But even that wasn't a perfect means of evasion. Still, Zirem's heart leapt as he spotted a dot of light. That meant escape, and survival. Still coughing and spluttering, he was pulled out of the way of a falling slab of darkness. Finally, he managed to gain control of one of the five tails sprouting from his back. He used it to shatter the ground he was standing on currently in an effort to help accelerate the destruction of this prison. He'd think of what to do next when he escaped.

But he was interrupted. "Specter 56, your rebellious attitude displeases my Master. Comply or die."

"Who's there?"

"..."

A figure appeared, clad in black armour. The helmet seemed welded on the breast-plate, as did the gauntlets and leggings. The slits for the eyes were almost invisible, given their size and the surrounding darkness. The entire set was covered in marks, moving marks, that were shaped like circles, triangles, squares and many other shapes besides, not all geometrical. But they were all different except for one thing: they all were crossed out with one or many curved lines. These were advanced sigils, sigils used only by the most competent of mages, sigils he had no hope of mastering. "Give up on fighting, Specter 56. We have a common purpose: to serve my Master."

"That depends. Who is this Master?"

"Someone who will bring Calamity and Destruction. Something that will affect the Outsiders' world as well. Something you won't be able to stop in a million years. So give up."

"It's Chaos, isn't it? Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not helping a demon ruin any world, Outsider or not."

"You will regret this decision, Specter 56."

"Also, what's with you guys calling me Specter 56? I've never heard of that term, and I've never met anyone like you!"

"You are a Specter Knight, selected by Chaos. Now, you have no choice but to serve it." Suddenly, the Specter Knight leaped forward, a previously invisible sword now in his -or her- hand. Zirem barely had time to parry, and he tried to force the other blade to slip along his, creating an opening. However, the Specter Knight wasn't that stupid. A sudden blow forced him to jump back, while his enemy did the same, searching for an opening.