Child of the Void

|{(Prologue)}|

A mind-curdling chill raced deep into his pores as the loud grating of metal filled the eerie silence. The long corridor before him ran for miles, twisted and distorted shadows curled near the walls, their hands outstretched as voiceless screams tore through their throats. His forest green eyes glowed in the darkness, gazing deep into the horizon. He pressed his tattered cloak to his neck, a shuddering breath billowing out of his mouth as wispy white smoke curled out. A merciless laugh rang out through the hall, his bones chilling and rattling at the sound.

His footsteps were swallowed up by the monstrous void as he pressed deeper into the abyss. Mists of shadowy hands clung to his battered body, their wails of agony finally coming into fruition the deeper he went. His eyes dropped with guilt as a shriek of torment broke through the woes, followed by the soft smell of petrichor. The hands recoiled, their owners' murky eyes cowering from the rusted crown upon his head.

Vines covered in precious raindrops lay broken at his feet, another creature that he had, unintentionally, murdered. The dilapidated crown on his head rested heavily upon his shoulders. Mocking laughter blossomed in his ear and he wondered if he was going mad. Then the hall shifted and writhed, until at last, an obsidian throne was before him.

The throne's lone occupant, the king of this forsaken land, regarded him with cool purple eyes that held dying stars. The king stood, his cloak trailing behind him like the trailing tail of a falling comet. A silver crown stood starkly against the man's midnight black hair.

"Time has not been kind to you, old friend."

"I did not come here to listen to you mock me." The words rattled out from his mouth, a moment of irritation crossing his scarred face. "My end is near and I have taken the liberty to waste a few of my remaining time with you, now do tell me what it is you wish to tell me, Inanis."

The cold air turned harsh and sharp, his bony hands pierced by the chill. Inanis' eyes settled on him, his mocking grin replaced with a cold indifference. "It is not what I have to tell you, it is what you have to tell me. That is why you are here."

His blood would have boiled with a heat as intense as the molten lava that scoured the world below at such a comment. Yet that was a different time, and he was no longer that man. Instead, his heart was cold, as chilled as the snowy peaks of mountains that reached for the heavens. A frown pulled at his lips, his scars aching at the simplest of motions. A long time ago, he would have burst into a series of emotions, yet at this moment, at this time, he felt nothing. No, he felt nothing at all. "My answer has not changed."

A roaring wind pushed past him, effortlessly knocking him to the harsh marble floor. Inanis' eyes had turned red, his teeth clenched with seething rage. "You'd choose insignificant mortal lives over your own?"

"As hard as it is for you to understand, Inanis." He stood, his weak bones shaking in protest. He leveled his eyes, his eyes narrowing into hard slits. "There are good people in the world. Your anger has blinded you to see reason. You cannot kill hundreds for the sake of a few bad apples."

"A few bad apples." The king stepped back, a dark chuckle rising from his throat, it hung heavily in the air, as mocking and careless as he had been a few moments prior. "Even in near death, you defend them. Have you forgotten why you're dying in the first place?"

His breath caught in his throat as the room shifted once more, the darkness receding until at last they stood upon the ashes of a once glorious forest. He coughed, billowing black smoke choking him from the inside until he was down on his knees, the taste of ash on his tongue. Icy violet eyes regarded him with mock sympathy as his once friend gestured to the empty wasteland before them. Stumps of dead trees scattered the ground, rising like gravestones of forgotten dreams. His head pounded as humanity continued to tear him down. He could feel his soul fracturing into pieces. His frail, pale hands (had they always been this way?) clutched at soot, spreading dust into the unclean air as he wheezed for breath. Black spots danced around in his vision, the cold clammy hands of death were reaching for him, curling wickedly at his threadbare and grimy clothes.

"N-no..."

He heard his voice croak out the word even as a hailstorm of suffering flashed before his eyes. He was drowning now. Sleek, greasy oil caught in his lungs as he breathed in polluted water. He coughed, arms caught in inky cobwebs, muting away his struggles for life.

Then in the murky darkness, there came voices. Muted and dying, they begged and wailed, their distant cries ending in muted screams of anguish as sharp bullets pierced through their hearts. He felt bullets brush past his skin, the metallic scent of blood mixing in with the chaotic world around him. He was dying. He was dying with each passing day, with each animal killed, with each forest slaughtered. He was dying. Sharp claws of demise reached out for his soul—

Clean air rushed into his lungs. He sputtered, breathing heavily as he stared up into Inanis' eyes. Cool marble stung his bones and yet he didn't make a move to stand. He knew he wouldn't be able to. "It would be beneficial to you if you were to change your previous answer."

With tears stinging his eyes, he blinked and shot his old friend a sharp heated glare. "No matter what it is you wish to do, I will never change my answer, Inanis, old friend. What you speak of is madness. Its chaos is what it is. In all these years, through all these lifetimes, I have never changed my view, even as they torture me each day. Not all are as evil as you claim to be and I stand by that decision. No matter how much it kills me." Darkness crept into his vision, Inanis' last, distant words following him even in sleep.

"That was no longer a choice, Naturae."