Time.
The indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole. A template for events in a steady path. Time is a unit of measurement. Its sole purpose it to measure the length of our miserable existence. Nothing more. Nothing less
After a bit of time I find the exit which is blocked off by a huge wall. There appears to be cracks extending from the center.
"You can't slither through this. Don't worry," Stark assures me. "I'll take care of walls like this." Stark appears in his large form briefly and smash through the wall. it breaks open and reveal more skeleton warriors on the otherside.
There are alot but the more I destroy. the stronger my skeleton warrior becomes. And I'll be able to summon more warriors depending on my spiritual power.
I decide to dispatch of the warriors one by one. A kick here a slice of my blade there. Rinse repeat. I nearly lose my head though. Two skeleton warriors with swords swing in a horizontal slash. If it wasn't for my quick reflexes my head would've been rolling on the cave floor.
"Raa!" I retaliate stabbing my dagger into the heart of one enemy and then dispatch with the other.
I look around seeing that i am alone in this area now. Stark to devour them whole one after the other. I'm quite impressed with Stark's ability to devour and increase my capabilities.
"That'll be about twenty golems in all." Stark belched. I didn't know snakes could belch. It was cartoonishly funny to watch.
"Hey cover your mouth you savage." I joke.
"Oh no I have no hands." As corny as that reply was I couldn't help but laugh.
"Which direction Stark?"
"There's an exit right over there." As my companion states this a mental map of the direction I'm suppose to head in is outlined in my brain. I guess its because we're connected.
I walk towards the exit and enter into another hole in the wall.
Upon moving forward into this dark entrance we see a door and an entrance into another tunnel. Probably deeper into the cave. Judging from the distance I've already traveled, I'm probably about two blocks distance from my starting point. This door is a sign I'm actually exiting the underground.
"Hmmm....guess we're outta here." Stark remarks. I nod and head towards the door.
"Whoa there." The alarm in Stark's voice stops me. "Where ya gping?"
"Out of here duh." Stark curls around my shoulder and gives me a sideways glance. He looks at the door and then the other corridor.
"This is the exit right?" I ask. He seems confused.
"Yeah...I dont know why I thought it wasn't." He rests on my shoulder. "Head on through the door my new friend."
That was a strange reaction. After a moment I walk through the door.
"More Skeletons!?" I shout as I fight side by side with my own golems. I can summon two at a time. They come with daggers like me but if they're hit three times its game over for them and I have to wait about 6 minutes to resummon them and that's if I can regain my spiritual power.
You're probably wondering how I ended up fight about thirty new skeleton warriors. Well I'm wondering the same thing. Walking in the door was easy. Actually I went a good bit of distance up a rocky hill until I reached the outside. Now I'm surrounded by a large stone mountain like wall. It curves so that theres only two two ways to enter. Either back into the cave or this exit outside of this stone terrain and into what looks like a forest. But to get there I have to get past thirty "gold" Skeleton warriors. Yeah...they're gold now. Like actually gold. Stark said so as much. Though the idea of gold isn't appealing to me right now. I wonder why. Could it be the army of bloodthirsty monsters trying to kill me? No.....
I'm using hit and run tactics currently. They may be just as dumb as the normal skeleton golems but they are a lot faster. I can barely get a hit in.
I could use my flute to increase my physical attributes but it takes time to play a song properly. I don't know how amazing the priestess Yule was under pressure but I'm definitely not on her level if she could pull of a song without a hitch in this situation.
This is partly why I summoned my own skeleton warriors. I need time to use my flute.
Currently I can only play a few songs well enough to use them. I can buff difficult attributes based on different songs.
All physical attributes, intelligence, healing, cleansing, and I can cast three different elements with three different notes. Fire, water, and earth. Like magic but according to stark I'm simply borrowing the elements'power by offering my spiritual power. So not magic...I guess.
"On your left!" Instinctively I dive to the ground dodging a clawed bony hand. Stark's head fires out like a slingshot and his head opens up the size of a bed and swallows the skeleton warrior whole.
"Thanks for the assist Stark." I recover, standing facing now 15 enemies. "Dont mention it bud." Stark's eyes stay keen "If it wasn't for this mental connection you would be the new-" I drift into though after hearing what he said. "Mental connection". I wonder if I had a connection with my skeleton warriors.
"Hey Stark?" I ask as the other warriors approach. "Am I connected with my golems like I'm connected to you?"
"Yes..." He takes a second to realise my plan.."Yes. That'll work."
I realise my golems aren't just dummies. I can command them to do certain tasks. And I also realise my golems hold spiritual power in them as well.
I summon my two golems and use my mental connection to command them to use they're flutes to cast fire on the enemies. And it works well. While the golems are burning they move slowly. slow enough to dispatch of the rest. My golems and i rid ourselves of the rest of the gold enemy and i rest on the rocky ground. Stark leaves me and devours the charred bony remains of the now truly dead enemies. My heart is racing but I'm happy. I now know I can get much more creative with my capabilities.
"Stark," I began my question as my slithery companion returns to me. "You said these are golems right? So I assume the enemy was made from gold. What are my golems made from?"
"Dust..." oh...well okay I guess earth is the element? He said dust so I guess Earth. I wonder if my golem's elemental type is dependent on the elements I'm able to use. So Water, Fire, and Earth. The next time I summon my skull warriors I'll try to resummon them in a different element. I dont ask Stark about this because I like figuring things out myself. It's why I'm so good at cooking. Going to school was a big part of my technique of course but sometimes experimenting is just better when it comes to developing ones own style.
After a decent amount of rest I move on to the forest.
The forest looks dreadful. The best way to describe it is dark and deadly. Black and dead trees decorate the terrain like a nightmare haunts my dreams. The deeper I go the more I feel I might mess my pants. This place breathes fear. Mist began to roll in. And on cue my new enemy reveals itself.
Slowly it creeps out of the dark brush. A hunter of the deadliest kind. A black, hulking behemoth of a lion with two horns protruding from its forehead. The eyes of the ferocious bast glow a purple color filled with a hunter's gaze. I back up keeping it in my sight. I command my skeleton warriors to hang back. I need to play this smart. It should be obvious at this point that I am not a fan of running headfirst into danger. But I don't think I can outrun this thing either.
I run. It roars and follows.
Through the brush, into the mist, into the unknown. My heart races. Loud thumping that shakes the ground around me. Each breath is as troubling as my current situation. I can feel the pain in my chest. The pain is all too familiar. It's the same feeling from when I was hanging upside down watching as that man's neck was cut. The feeling I felt when I realized it could happen to me...This feeling...is fear.
So I run. Humanity's basic instinct in the presence of peril is to run. For hours I run. I'm tired and yet I can't stop. I can't hear my thoughts. I cant he wear Stark. I can only hear the sound of my painting.
I need to leave. But I know what Stark knows. My mental map keeps showing me no matter where I try to go. This monster is always blocking the path to freedom.
Run..that's what I hear...run...that's what i believe in this one moment. But something tells me i shouldn't.
I stop at a nearby tree and I sit. There's something present in my heart. Other than fear something is tugging at my core....
Strength...logic? I dont know. Maybe adrenaline. But as scared as I am I stand. I realize I need to get out of here. The family has suffered two major hits just a few months ago. I can't bring more misfortune upon my brothers. Not now. And not ever.
"Raaaa!" The beast finds my position. Running up the tree I grab onto a branch. Enveloped in courage began to hear Stark's voice once more.
"Your golems have about two more commands left in them." If that's the case I'll try something crazy.
The tree I'm in breaks as its thrown into the air. I jump and descend upon the beast digging my dagger into it's back. A mighty roar erupts rocking my brain. I nearly pass out as I fall off of the back of the lion. I regain my senses almost as fast as I lost them. I manage to land on the ground safely but my dagger is still embedded in its back. I barely managed to Pearce the meat so I'm honestly surprised I got such a large reaction. Best way to kill this is trying to impale it through the eyes or brain. But the horns and mane will kill me before then. Before the mane looked relatively normal though black. Now that I'm actually looking at if up close I see that its black flame, not a mane. Or rather the mane is the black flame.
"Douse it with Water commands." Stark announces. And I follow suit. Or try to. I forget that my dagger Is still in its back. Before I can really bug out Stark assures me I can resummon it back into my hands. I just need to call its name.
" " I shout out the name of my dagger and it rips from the behemoth causing the lion to wince in pain. Once I receive it I call out "Water Wave!" and a note plays from the flute causing a wide range wave of water to douse the creature. It falls and I understand its weak against water type moves. Huh....it was super effective. I command my other skeletons to assist me as I began attacking the creature with my trusty blade. Eventually after a round about of dodging and dousing I managed to defeat it. Stark continued his routine of devouring my enemies. It's as if I've been here for days, months, maybe even years.....I haven't chocked my phone in a while. I pull out my phone but it seems to be out of power.
"Stark can you tell the time?"
"No." His reply was strange. It wa as if there was some sort of realization I've yet to catch onto to.
"What's wrong. We finally about to make it out of here. And hopefully close up that Hellmouth."
"No....something is not adding up. For one " his words were ominous. A sense of foreboding coated his next words like a plague. "the world has already ended. Tork was released."
I find my way outside of the forest and the ground slowly began changing into sand. Upon a hill I look over the horizon and see a long stretch of beach heading into a black ocean. In this ocean lies death and its kingdom. And I saw it. A large titan of a naked man the color of black marble. And as if in slow motion he slowly walks towards the setting sun that glows with a crimson hue.
It's as Stark says
Everything is gone....my brothers are gone.