The world where Seryne and Kaerith emerged felt as if it had been forsaken, even by the gods themselves. The air was dense and unmoving, laden with an invisible oppression that pressed against flesh and spirit alike, as if each breath was a silent bargain with something lurking beyond the veil of reality. The sky—or what remained of it—was a fractured dome, cracked like glass on the verge of collapse. Dark fissures streaked across the firmament, dripping threads of liquid shadow that never reached the ground—suspended droplets caught in an eternal moment of descent that would never be completed.
The ground beneath their feet was neither earth nor stone, but a lifeless surface, something between the organic and the mineral, marred by jagged cracks glowing faintly in hues of red and gold. At times, the ground seemed to pulse, emitting a muffled creaking sound, as if breathing in irregular intervals—an echo of a life long abandoned.
Seryne slowly rose, the shock of the spatial fracture still resonating in her mind. She didn't need eyes to know that this place was more hostile than any desert she had ever crossed. The heat radiating from the land was not physical but a distortion in the very fabric of space-time. Her visions, always so sharp, were now blurred—fragmented into echoes of futures contradicting each other.
— Kaerith… — her voice broke the crushing silence, floating in the air like a forbidden whisper. — We must be cautious. The future here sways like a thread about to snap. Even the air is a distorted veil.
Kaerith remained silent for a moment, her multifaceted eyes reflecting the dim glow of the land. Her translucent wings trembled slightly, catching currents of a wind that seemed to breathe in reverse.
— My instincts are conflicted, — the insectoid finally said, her voice deep and coarse. — This place makes my body rebel against itself. It feels as if something… is calling me, yet at the same time, it wants to tear me apart.
She pointed a clawed finger toward the horizon, where mountainous formations rose at impossible angles—tilted like massive bones wrenched from the belly of the earth. But they were not mountains. They were scars.
— Can you feel that? — she asked, her antennae shifting as if tasting the air. — Those structures… they don't feel natural. They are fragments of something that fell, something that unearthed the very world beneath it.
Seryne furrowed her brow, her lips curving into a faint, nearly imperceptible smile.
— I cannot see, but I can imagine. — She turned her head toward the twisted landscape, feeling the fissures in reality pulse in sync with her own heart.
After a weighted silence, Seryne broke the space between them with a proposition.
— Kaerith, embrace this madness with me. Let's climb those… 'mountains' and uncover what lies beneath them.
Kaerith hesitated, her claws scraping against the stagnant ground. The sound was muffled—swallowed by the very air around them.
— I don't have a good feeling about this, — she admitted. — Something up there should not be awakened.
Seryne smiled, a gesture as serene as it was unsettling.
— Neither do I. But I feel that our fate will be less cruel if we choose to face what awaits us rather than turning our backs on it. The future whispers more promises in that direction.
Kaerith exhaled a sharp breath, or something akin to it for her alien physiology.
— I… don't know if I can protect you there. The danger is far greater than I expected.
Seryne reached out, her fingers gently grazing Kaerith's armored arm.
— Trust me. I still have more to show you. But I need your full trust. Only together will we leave this place alive.
Kaerith clenched her teeth, her muscles taut like strings ready to snap.
— Then let's go. But stay alive. I already carry too much guilt.
Kaerith spread her translucent wings with a sharp sound, gripping Seryne's waist and propelling them into the air with a powerful thrust. The dense atmosphere resisted the flight, but Kaerith's determination outmatched the weight of the world.
As they soared, Kaerith conversed mentally with her symbiote—a parasite entwined with her very being, sharing her thoughts and senses.
— Be careful, — the symbiote murmured inside her mind. — This place is not just hostile. It is a living trap. And don't trust the blind woman too much. Ha.
Kaerith rolled her eyes.
— Stay out of my relationships. Your help will be useful in a fight, but outside of that, remain silent.
The symbiote chuckled with disdain.
— You say that, but you need me to survive. I'd switch hosts, but the monsters of this world are too corrupted for my taste. Although… Korrak would be an interesting choice.
Kaerith smirked bitterly.
— You wouldn't survive in another host. You barely managed to adapt to me. And you begged for help when we met, remember? If I weren't so… 'good' and merciful, you'd be dead.
The symbiote remained silent for a moment before whispering venomously:
— So would you.
Before the silence could stretch too far, Seryne spoke.
— Kaerith, descend. Quickly.
Kaerith didn't question. She dived toward the ground, landing softly. Seryne dropped to her knees, gathering a handful of dark dust and blowing it into the air, where it transformed into a camouflaging veil that wrapped around them. Kaerith adjusted her exoskeleton, shifting her color and texture to blend into the environment.
Above them, a flying creature passed at high speed. It was not a bird but an abomination with wings of withered flesh and dark red feathers, its bones exposed in places as if its very flight was sustained by sheer refusal to die. Its face was a mask of twisted flesh, with hollow eyes glowing with a pulsating red light.
The mere presence of the creature made the air tremble.
Kaerith observed, calculating.
— It would be a formidable enemy.
— Agreed, — Seryne replied, dusting off her hands. — That's why we'll continue on foot.
Once the danger passed, Seryne began a low chant—a melody soft yet laden with power. The air around them grew less oppressive, as if reality itself eased its weight, allowing them to breathe more freely.
As they walked toward the summit of the twisted formations, Seryne was suddenly struck by a vision. The world around her darkened, and in her mind, flashes of a shattered future emerged—colossal shadows moving beneath the earth, broken cosmic chains, and a black, fiery eye opening on the horizon, consuming everything with its mere presence.
She staggered, but Kaerith caught her, her gaze sharp.
— What did you see?
Seryne took a deep breath, regaining her balance.
— Fragments of something… greater than us. Something bound. But the chains are weakening.
They continued their journey, their steps quick and silent. The ground pulsed beneath their feet, and shadows stretched at impossible angles, yet they moved forward without hesitation.
Kaerith didn't know how long they could avoid a fight. But deep in her hardened heart, a seed of hope began to grow.
She wanted to survive.
Perhaps, one day, she could truly live.