The faint glow of the Rift still lingered behind Kaelis and Lyra as they crawled out of the crack in the ground, their bodies battered and drenched in sweat. The suffocating air of the underworld had left their lungs burning, but they were alive. That was all that mattered for now.
The Rift pulsed ominously before them, the crimson light swirling with a rhythm that felt almost alive, as though it was breathing in sync with their exhaustion, feeding off their fear. The land beneath their feet twisted unnaturally, as though the earth itself was being corrupted by the dark energy of the portal. There was no time to rest, no respite from the horrors they had just faced.
Kaelis, still trembling from the encounter with the abomination, looked at Lyra, who was bent over, gasping for breath but alive, her eyes burning with the same fierce determination that kept them both moving. There was something in the air now, a thickness that seemed to claw at their skin, pulling them toward the Rift, tempting them to let go of their fight.
"We're close," Lyra muttered, wiping the sweat from her brow. Her gaze was fixed ahead, where the ground seemed to open into an abyss of utter blackness.
The Abyss of Oblivion the final gate.
Kaelis nodded, his jaw clenched. "Too close to turn back."
They stepped forward cautiously, their weapons drawn, eyes darting to every shadow. The ground beneath their feet crumbled as they walked, the Rift's influence warping the landscape into an ever-shifting nightmare. But the true terror lay ahead at the threshold of the Abyss.
Beyond the black chasm, the world bent and buckled, reality itself unraveling in jagged fractures. The sky overhead, once crimson, now shimmered with sickly hues of green and violet, like a wound festering in the heavens. There were no stars, no clouds just the oppressive presence of the Rift, ever-present, ever-watching.
Suddenly, the whispers returned stronger, more insistent than before. They drilled into Kaelis' mind, incomprehensible words that twisted and writhed like worms burrowing into his skull. He staggered, clutching his head as the voices grew louder, overlapping, suffocating him with their madness.
Lyra was already on her knees, her hands pressed tightly to her ears, trying to block out the growing cacophony. "It's... the Rift," she gasped through clenched teeth. "It's trying to break us... break our minds."
Kaelis forced himself to his feet, his vision swimming, his thoughts unraveling with every passing second. But he couldn't give in. Not now. Not after everything they had endured.
"We've made it this far," he growled, forcing the words out. "We end this. Here. Now."
They stumbled forward, each step heavier than the last as the whispers clawed at their sanity. The Abyss stretched before them, a bottomless void that seemed to devour the light around it. Beyond it, the Rift pulsated with malevolent energy, its heart beating in sync with their pain.
And then, from the darkness, they emerged.
Not the Whispering Ones something worse. Far worse.
Tall, skeletal figures stepped forth from the shadows, their bones covered in a thin layer of rotting flesh, their eyes glowing with an unnatural, malevolent light. Their mouths hung open in a perpetual scream, though no sound escaped their lips. Their bodies were adorned with the remnants of armor, rusted and broken, relics of forgotten wars.
These were the Fallen, the warriors who had once tried to challenge the Rift and failed. Now, they were nothing more than husks, their souls devoured, their bodies twisted into grotesque puppets of the Rift's will.
"They're... they're us," Lyra whispered, horror creeping into her voice.
Kaelis' eyes widened as he realized the truth. These weren't just any warriors. They were the remnants of those who had come before them, who had fought and lost. The Rift had consumed them, twisted their bodies into these abominations, and now it was sending them back to destroy those who still resisted.
Without warning, the Fallen charged.
They moved with terrifying speed, their skeletal forms clattering as they rushed forward, weapons raised. Their eyes glowed with the Rift's power, hollow and soulless, driven only by the urge to kill.
Kaelis raised his blade just in time to block the strike of the first Fallen. The impact sent a shockwave through his arms, nearly knocking him off his feet. He gritted his teeth and pushed back, driving his sword into the creature's ribcage. But the Fallen didn't stop. It lunged forward, its bony hand grabbing Kaelis by the throat, its grip like iron.
Kaelis struggled, his vision blurring as the Fallen's cold fingers tightened around his neck, cutting off his air. He could feel the Rift's whispers growing louder, more insistent, as if they were feeding on his fear.
With a desperate growl, Kaelis summoned the last of his strength and drove his blade upward, slicing through the Fallen's skull. The creature shuddered and then collapsed into a pile of dust and bones.
But there were more dozens more.
Lyra was already fighting, her blades flashing as she cut through the Fallen with brutal efficiency, but for every one she killed, another two took its place. The ground beneath them was littered with the bones of the fallen warriors, the air thick with the stench of decay.
"They just keep coming!" Lyra shouted, her voice strained with exhaustion.
Kaelis' chest heaved with exertion, his muscles burning as he fought off wave after wave of the undead warriors. His blade was slick with the dark ichor that oozed from their broken bodies, but it was never enough. The Rift kept sending more, relentless in its assault.
"We need to get to the Rift," Kaelis panted. "Destroy it, or we'll be fighting these things forever."
But the Fallen were closing in, their skeletal forms surrounding them on all sides. Kaelis and Lyra stood back-to-back, their weapons raised, but they were outnumbered, outmatched.
And then, the ground trembled.
The whispers reached a fever pitch, screaming in their minds, threatening to tear them apart from within. The air around the Rift crackled with dark energy, the sky above them swirling into a vortex of black and crimson.
From the center of the Rift, something began to emerge.
It was massive, far larger than any creature they had faced before, its form obscured by the swirling darkness. But as it stepped forward, the ground shook beneath its weight, and the Fallen scattered like insects, retreating into the shadows.
The creature's body was a grotesque amalgamation of flesh and bone, twisted into a shape that defied reason. Its arms were long and spindly, ending in claws that scraped the ground as it moved. Its face or what could be called a face was a gaping maw filled with rows of jagged teeth, and its eyes glowed with the same malevolent light that pulsed from the Rift.
This was the Riftborn, the true manifestation of the Rift's power. The whispers that had haunted them were coming from this thing, this nightmare given flesh.
Kaelis' heart pounded in his chest as he stared up at the creature, its massive form towering over them. He had faced death countless times, but this this was something else. This was a force of pure malevolence, a being born from the darkest corners of the universe, and it was coming for them.
"We have to stop it," Lyra whispered, her voice barely audible over the rising wind.
Kaelis nodded, his grip tightening on his sword. "Together."
The Riftborn roared, a sound that echoed through the very fabric of reality, shaking the ground beneath their feet. It moved with terrifying speed, its massive claws slashing through the air as it lunged toward them.
Kaelis and Lyra dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the creature's attack. The ground where they had been standing exploded into a cloud of dust and debris, the force of the impact leaving a crater in its wake.
They had no choice but to fight.
Kaelis charged forward, his blade gleaming with the last remnants of the Hellfire's power. He slashed at the Riftborn's massive leg, but his sword barely made a dent in the creature's thick, hideous flesh.
Lyra attacked from the other side, her twin blades slicing through the air with deadly precision. But the Riftborn was faster, its massive arm sweeping out and knocking her to the ground with bone-crushing force.
Kaelis screamed her name as she hit the ground, blood pouring from her mouth.
The Riftborn turned toward him, its glowing eyes locking onto him, filled with the promise of death.
And it charged.