Shadow of the Abyss

Far above the clouds where the ground appeared like a flat plane of land and ocean, Nia's dual pupils quivered malevolently, piercing through the veil of space and time to gaze upon those below.

Stationed to Nia's rear, gripping her waist atop Cloud, Tasha's expression was icy cold.

"I found them," Nia said after a moment's breath. A few dozen miles away west, she pointed toward the three Transcendents, heading in their direction, most likely tipped off by the presence of Tasha's Ritual. They were slowly being surrounded by a net. From the east, El'von came, while from the north and south, two groups of Trow rode.

It was as Therion had said. Nia didn't dare imagine the torment they were putting him through. She could hear his cries, and, at times, she could feel his pain that left her cold and hollow. Still, his insider knowledge proved useful.

He had told her everything about the Trow taking over the hunt for Nox De Nier, as well as another Transcendent, Isgar. There was much he didn't know, but what he could piece together from the various assassins was enough to create a plan.

"What do you think?" Nia asked. She threw a shrewd eye toward the she-devil leaning on her shoulder.

"It's devious," Tasha admitted. "And cruel. Crueler than what I expected from you."

Nia's lips thinned and hardened all at once. Mercy had no place on the battlefield. For her master's sake, she was willing to toss her pride away if it meant he would survive.

They landed near the eastern wall, in the direction in which three Transcendents were herding. Tasha touched her face, and in a strange amalgamation of light, her configuration changed to that of a male exterior. Ashen hair billowed, and ruby eyes burned identically to Nox De Nier.

"Can you handle it alone?" Nia asked.

"The Trow might be a little tricky, but it shouldn't be an issue," Tasha acknowledged. "Don't die before I return."

Dismounting from Cloud, Nia gave Tasha the reins. "I should be telling you that."

Tasha gave a wolfish grin. "Don't you know? Us Devils are immortal to anyone without the divinity of an angel," she said and clucked her horse. Cloud started in a trot that slowly began to pick up pace, with each step becoming one with the wind. His feet flew across the grass, crossing miles with each step.

In nearly an hour and a half, about a mile off, a disguised Tasha eyes cross with a band of assassins from the Shadow Tower. A look of horror flashed across her face as she twisted the reins on Cloud, whipping him west.

Faintly, Tasha overheard the shouts, "Get him!" And "Don't let him get away! It's Nox De Nier!" all at once. She smiled, brushing a finger across Cloud's shadowy mane.

"Fear not, little one. Death is but the beginning of your kind. Your Master shall grant you life, so don't be afraid to face the Reaper's icy blade. So let us find your brother. Lead me to Therion."

Clouds' beady eyes shone light personified, opening the King's Domain; the Pale Shadow pierced the veil with Sovereign Gale.

Winds howling, Tasha held on firmly, sensing through her domain flushed faces of the three Transcendent and Five Ninth Circle, hot on her heels. She lashed at the reins, shouting, "Faster, Cloud! Faster!"

Those of the Shadow Tower flushed, employing a variety of sorceries to keep up. They were certainly faster than Cloud, but not in the long term.

Raxtar's jaw tightened. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Damn it, boy! Just give up!"

Tasha threw him a mocking glance, inscribing the Rune of Haste atop Cloud's mane. The shadow nieghed a fierce heat coursing through its body, granting it speed unlike anything it had ever felt before.

"Damn it!" Jax shouted, opening his palm, and the earth shook, thrashing back and forth like a living thing. For nearly seven miles, webs of cracks splintered land, rising into the air.

Cloud panicked, leaping so high into the skies that those of the Shadow Tower nearly thought the beast had wings.

"Impossible!" Rextar squealed. "No one below but winged creatures and Transcendents are allowed to fly! How is it—" He stopped mid sentance when he saw Nox De Nier, fingers dexterously dancing across the air, inscribing the Rune of Darkness. The rune itself had been something of legends so complex it radiated transcendent might and yet was complete with a single breath.

"Shadow Prison"

A shadowscape blanketed the land, banishing the light to eternal darkness. From the outside, it appeared like a cube stretching towards the clouds, devouring everything it touched, yet for those inside, it was endless, billowing with a strange Eldritch Energy that lifted the hairs of mortal men.

Raxtar, Jax, and Kaylor froze and were taken back by the spell. Jax attempted to cast a lighting spell, but it was as if no light could exist in this space of darkness. Fear lanced itself through the hearts of Transcendence and Ninth Circles alike. Find exclusive stories on empire

"JAX!" Raxtar shouted, though no sound seemed to echo. He shouted again and again before he realized that it wasn't just his sight that had vanished, but his sense of sound, smell, taste, and slowly, the sense of touch was fading to darkness.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

'Heavens! What level spell was that?" Raxtar fearfully wondered. 'If I can't get out of here before the sense of touch vanishes… then I'm as good as dead!" Discharging as much Mana as his meridians could handle in a single burst, a wave of Transcendent Essense pierced the veil of night.

Nothing.

He paled as a coldness burrowed through his body, striking at the marrow, and shuddered all the same at the sudden sensation of a pair of fingers running up his spine.

"WHO!" He spun, his words sounding nothing, to reveal the shadowscape of his ruin. Raxtar gritted his teeth, and his brothers alongside him were in a similar situation. They clenched their teeth as layers of mana wove across their bodies, rushing through their medians one by one.

They began to pop beneath the horrible force of their power as, one by one, they overtaxed their bodies, releasing an outburst of such radiance the darkness appeared to crack, splintering apart before it shattered like glass to reveal the brilliance of the sun.

"You got out?!" Tasha said, feigning surprise. And she thought, almost facetiously, 'As if getting out of Shadow Prison was so simple? Bloody Idiots.' She lowered her gaze toward the bloody mist of the ninth circles, which had been crushed into a red mist under the weight of the three Transcendents' might.

Realizing what they'd done, Raxtar bellowed a cry that came from his depths. "Nox!" he puked a mouthful of blood alongside his brothers, facing the backlash for damaging their meridians.

Tasha smirked, gliding her eyes towards the Trow male, who arrived just in time." Nox De Nier," he said, surveying the battlefield with a clouded look. Ruin that stretched onto the horizon reflected across his iris.

He felt the explosion of Mana countless miles away, but he simply couldn't piece together what had happened to make three Transcendence look so pathetic.

"What is this madness?" Isgar demanded, sliding his twin scimitars out from off his back. He glared at Nox. "What have you done?" When he saw Tasha hadn't responded, he bounded forth like a predatory wolf, his sword crossing through Tasha before she could blink; he was behind her.

Isgar frowned suddenly, whirling to face her. When he saw her smiling face slowly begin to fade from existence, his expression darkened. "An Illusion! He was never here!" Angrily, he turned his fiery red eyes towards Raxtar and his brothers. "Where is he? Where is Nox De Nier!"

Jax coughed up another mouthful of blood, his wounds across his shoulder burning hotter than ever before. "W-W-We don't know! We were tricked."

The Trow made a face that suggested he was not one to be easily fooled. "You think me a fool?! A Fourth Circle tricked three transcendents. I'll not ask again. Where the bloody hell is Nox? I know you're hiding him!" He glanced at the blood and gore beneath their feet, suddenly smiling.

Those Transcendants that attacked you. Is that them? It would seem like you're not complete fools. You managed to kill them."

"Isgar! Listen!" Kaylor tried to say. "We—"

"Without protection, Nox and Elena should fall without issue," Isgar said coldly, his lips reaching up savagely. If that's the case, then that leaves me time to dispose of you three."

Mana clashing against the other, savage bolts of lightning split the heavens asunder, calling forth a downpour. Seismic waves traveled through the earth, toppling mountains, as Raxtar, Jax, and Kaylor glared at Isgar.

They were tricked. They'd realized that, though it was too late. The moment Nox had created his spell, he had never stopped running, creating an Illusion that not only anticipated that they would escape her prison but even the exact location Isgar would appear in. It was all planned.

"Nia did well. What a devious plan, indeed!" Tasha said, spotting a metal cage holding a skinless man hanging by the shoulders by two hooks. He was a red ruin. His eyes gorged out as Trow held a blood-stained whip dripping with flesh blood.

"Tell us where Nox De Nier went!"

Therion laughed maniacally. His hollow sockets poised on his torturer. "Is that the best you can do?!"