"Yo, are we all here now? Did everyone manage to find their way?" Menelik inquired.
"Definitely, my youth. Your loud ass voice made it hard to miss you," Idris responded.
"Where in the horrors beyond my comprehension are we?" Taharqa asked.
"She called this place the Void, shit sucks doesn’t it?" Idris replied.
"Fuck yeah, it does!" Oiwa exclaimed.
Each of them had been drawn into the depths of the Void, an otherworldly realm that existed beyond the boundaries of reality. In this place, all the negative mana and energy stemming from the use of magic in Arrithia gathered. It was the very domain where Nix resided, and her children each held a portion of this unbreakable realm. Not even Nix herself could escape if she found herself within another's Void Domain.
Here, all was darkness, and you were stripped down to nothing more than your consciousness. Even if you tried to slap yourself in the face, it was as if your own hand passed right through you. You could feel that you had control of your movements and the sensation of limbs and ligaments, but you were nothing more than a fleeting thought in the vast ocean of nothingness.
Menelik had been calling out for them, screaming really. After Zero had left him at the Guild Office, Menelik found himself awfully tired, and when he went to lay down, he didn't find himself in the comfort of the bed, but in the maw of the same Demon who had swallowed Taharqa. He too was swallowed and just like the others, he was sealed inside Maeve's domain—Menelik was only slightly more annoyed than he was impressed at her efficiency.
They had all gathered, but none of them could do anything. Their magic was locked away in the fathomless depths of the abyss, and no amount of searching would ever lead them to it. The Void operated in mysterious ways, beyond the comprehension of even the domain owner. Once inside, you couldn't die, but you weren't exactly living. There was no time, no sense of being, and depending on how you were stored within, you may not even be conscious.
"So, we are stuck in here or what?" Taharqa asked.
"Uh, yeah," Idris replied.
"Nah, I was able to pull myself out after she saved us from falling that one time," Menelik chimed in.
A deep and cold voice wrapped itself over all of them as it spoke. "That is because she allowed you to."
"HEYO!" Menelik called out. "WHO ELSE SHE GOT IN HERE?!"
The dark voice laughed, shaking the entire area with its laughter. "I am known as Nozarg, the Higher of—."
"Night," Oiwa interjected. "Nozarg is the Higher of Night. What is a literal God doing trapped in here?"
"Even a God is powerless in another's Void Domain," Nozarg replied. "And the hold my sister has over hers is beyond absolute. There isn't a way to break free of a Void Domain regardless of who you are. But Maeve pushed herself farther than any of us ever could when it came to the control she has over this place."
There was silence for a moment, then Menelik spoke up. "Yeah, yeah, all I'm hearing is we're stuck here. But let's rewind. Did you just say Maeve... the evil little Teufel... the bitch who killed our friend… Is your sister?"
"Yes," Nozarg replied. "Zephr is here too, but I assume he is still playing tag with Maeve’s Demon Contracts."
"Wait, wait, wait… The Higher that holds the power over death... Literal death, they are trapped here too?" Oiwa asked.
"It would seem you all do not know what is happening on Arrithia, nor do you know what is going to happen to it." Nozarg stated.
"What do you mean?" Idris asked. "What's happening?"
"Another... uh, what's it called, shit..." Taharqa paused. "...AH! The uh, Gaahnin Beast?"
Nozarg's laughter shook the area once again, even without bodies, everyone could feel themselves being shaken tremendously. "You call this planet Arrithia, do you not?"
"Listen," Menelik stated. "This wishy-washy shit where you narrowly avoid explaining everything to us, nah, we ain't doing it. Just tell us what's happening."
Nozarg's voice took a firm tone as he spoke. "Arrithia and this entire universe will cease to exist by the end of the Northern Fall Garden."
The tents James had led Zero to were completely abandoned, and it looked like it had been done in a hurry. They had left their blood vials, their clothing, even their water supply had been left. Their beds were a mess, and even the scrolls with battle plans and formations for their invasion were scattered. Whatever had caused them to run, it left them no time to prepare.
"They left in a hurry?" Zero remarked.
James was looking over one of the scrolls, paying no attention to what Zero had said. "Says here they are taking Hier, says that's where the castle was teleported to."
Zero moved over toward James, laying his hand across the scroll, unfeathering it further. The sandy parchment rubbed against his palm, his hand tracing over Hier as he ruffled through the other scrolls. "They really are planning to take over all of Arrithia."
James nodded profusely. "Yes sire, they will encase the suns in darkness, and the moon... the moon will ensure everything falls in order."
"One, don't call me 'sire.' Two, so they're after the MoonShadow Elves?"
Again, James nodded profusely. This time, he had moved over to one of the beds. "Best we get some sleep, eh?"
"Why the sudden accent?" Zero inquired. Without another thought, Zero summoned forth his dagger, the golden hue shimmering in the faint light of the Fire Stones. He gripped the hilt tightly, the leather settling against his hand, and in one swift motion, before James had any time to react, Zero severed his head. In the motion that followed, Zero kicked James' head with a mighty thrust of his left foot, sending it into the edge of the tent. It pulled on the fabric as it caught fire and exploded. The explosion knocked the tent and the magic that held it together outward, revealing several vampires who had congregated around the area. Zero waited a moment, biding his time until another flash of darkness came through. As it did, he teleported into a nearby tree, hiding behind its thick trunk. As the darkness of the storm receded, he watched as the vampires began scouring the area.
They looked high and low, barely missing Zero as he shimmied around the tree. His mind was racing. He couldn't believe how foolish he had been; he had almost walked right into their trap. His thoughts weren't on the current task; they were still preoccupied with Maeve. Even the thought of food was beginning to recede from his mind.
"There he is!" A vampire shouted, snapping Zero back to reality.
Zero leapt down, with a tight grip on his dagger, he dashed forward, moving left and right to dodge and duck under their swipes. He stopped at the edge of where the tent had been staked, glancing at the forest trees, counting how many were on each side. Five on the right. Seven on the left. Zero knelt down and took off to the left, and with a single leap, he was at the tree, his body crouched horizontally on it as he looked at the vampires with a confident smile. "Sorry, lads, but I gotta go." He leapt from the tree to one on the right, swiping his dagger through two vampires' necks.
It happened so fast that as their necks began to reveal where Zero had cut, he had leaped back and forth between four more trees, killing three more vampires. The heads of the first two began to fall as Zero cut through two more, landing on the second-to-last tree on the left. He watched as the vampire tried to assess what was happening, but Zero was already gone. He had dashed through them, severing their heads; they watched their comrades' heads slide from their shoulders. By the time they realized their own head was severed, their comrades' heads had collided with the ground, and Zero was already two kilometers north, making his way toward Taurean Village.
He pushed through the trees, moving with as much speed as he could muster at the moment. It was times like this that he hated being a Human the most—the constant need for food, water, and sleep. He despised them all, each and every one of them. He had never felt so blessed to have been a Dragon until he ran into moments like this, pure annoyance. Nothing good ever comes from having to stop to sleep and eat, let alone having to drink water so often.
The stir of Night Ravens caused Zero to halt his running. He looked to the South, where four vampires were rushing toward him, incredibly fast, with white handprints painted across their chests. "Now, who do you belong to?" Zero asked himself, his tone curious. He summoned his dagger and transmuted it into a short sword, the black steel radiating a dark red aura almost immediately as he took hold of the leather-bound hilt. "Let's find out, shall we?"
Zero teleported back South, cutting the head off the lead vampire with ease. His feet glided on the damp grass as the Tempest Storm started to rotate West, showering the Northwestern tip of Sidra with its presence. He turned back around with a swivel and dashed forward, giving them barely any time to react. He swung his sword upward, cutting one of the vampires from waist to chest, dodging to his right as another tried to drive its claws into his side from the left.
"Haha, that was a close one. I like you," Zero said. All of his attention shifted to the vampire to his left. "Let's play!" He transmuted his sword back into the golden dagger and tossed it at the vampire whose chest he had cut moments before. It drove into their head, the magic imbued in its blade taking form, and the vampire's head exploded in a display of red and yellow flames as Zero grabbed a hold of the other vampire's throat, knocking them to the ground. He began choking them, squeezing with all his might as the vampire struggled to break free. It clawed at his face, but their talons did nothing more than get knocked away from his rough skin.
The last vampire standing rushed forward and lunged at Zero, and without removing his hands from the other vampire's throat, he simply turned his head and stared at his attacker. The vampire promptly froze in place, their eyes locked with Zero's. His purple irises held a more intense glow, and his wide-eyed smile gave him an incredibly manic look.
"Sit," Zero said firmly. The vampire dropped to their knees, their eyes never once swaying from Zero's gaze. "Let me finish with your friend here, then I'll get to you," Zero continued as he tightened his grip on the other's neck, squeezing until their struggles slowed, and he felt the bones in their neck rupture under the pressure. "There, all finished." Zero stood slowly, his arms hanging at his sides, but never once did he remove his gaze from the vampire. "Stand."
The vampire stood, and as they did, Zero took his hand and swung it through the air, cutting straight through their neck and severing their head. With the same hand, he moved it back to the vampire's cheek, where he held their head in place on their neck, keeping what little connection there was still alive. "Speak. Who leads the vampire army? Is it Nix?"
Their voice was weak and fading, but they were able to muster up just enough. "They… they call themselves… The Vampire… Gods."
"Vampire Gods?" Zero asked, noticeable excitement in his voice. His smile grew broader, revealing his jagged teeth. "Those sound like a lot of fun." He withdrew his hand from the vampire's cheek, and its head dropped to the ground.
Zero paused for a moment, surveying the other vampires strewn across the forest floor. "That must have been what was with Maeve at the castle," he mused, his smile turning even more sinister and maniacal. "Their aura was dripping with power." His gaze shifted to the right, his focus now fixed entirely on the Northeast where Hier was located. “We should go say hello.”
Maeve reached the outer gates of Queen Máire's castle effortlessly, standing just twenty-five meters away from the imposing entrance, she had found that someone was waiting for her.
Clad in formidable, dark purple metal armor, the figure before her exuded an aura of strength and enigma. The shoulders of the armor were layered raggedly, lending the back of their biceps a knife-like edge. Gauntlets and arms flowed seamlessly into their shoulder blades, adorned with another set of layered defenses, seven in total, each with sharp, curved edges that rolled upwards towards the collar piece, the most prominent part of their ensemble. This collar piece wrapped around their neck like a necklace, curving away from their ears like horns. Their waist armor melded seamlessly with the leg defenses, each layer overlapping in fours, providing both extraordinary protection and fluid mobility. Just like their gloves, their pointed boots consisted of thousands of layers interwoven to allow for smooth movement and incredible protection.
Around their neck, a black scarf, as bulky as their armor, appeared to consist of thousands of feathers, but upon closer inspection, it was actually a collection of incredibly thin pieces of metal, forming a long, billowed cape-like shield for their neck. It was attached with panels on both sides of their helmet, shaped like a Night Raven with its beak agape. The visor protruded in a menacing yellow glare, and the skull's oval shape was accentuated with three wing-like ligaments on either side, while a long spiked feather curved from near the forehead to the back, giving it the appearance of a field of freshly cut wheat covered in white. The helmet swirled into the back, with jagged edges extending from almost every frame of reference encapsulating the rear of their head.
In their hand, they held a greatsword, a weapon far too large for their frame, yet they wielded it with ease in one hand, barely lifting it from the ground, yet maintaining perfect control. The wide blade, nearly two meters in length, had a hilt that seemed crafted from dark rosy wood, entwined with mossy green vines.
Maeve, concealed by her cloak, her face just visible in the twilight with her pale red skin and dark auburn hair, stood motionless. Both she and the enigmatic figure said nothing, locked in a silent standoff, each waiting for the other to make the first move.
"What shall I call you?" Maeve called out.
The warrior lifted their sword and pointed it forward, keeping it perfectly still as they aimed the tip at Maeve's head. "Death," their voice resonated with malice, low and raspy.
"That's cute," Maeve replied, her form vanishing with astonishing speed. Instead of disappearing into the shadows, she reappeared right before the warrior, darkness flowing from the depths of her cloak, lifting her above the towering figure. A long black talon, the size of a small tree, extended from the darkness, impaling the warrior through their armor and emerging from their back. Maeve lifted them up, her face concealed by the surrounding darkness, and brought them closer until their faces nearly touched. "Sorry, but that's my name," she taunted with a smirk behind her veil.
To her surprise, the warrior lifted their head, and for a brief moment, Maeve sensed an eerie vision of her own death, repeated a thousand times. She immediately dropped them and withdrew, the darkness receding back into her cloak. Maeve shook her head as the warrior stood up, clutching their chest where the talon had torn through. They held their hand there for a moment, and with an effortless motion, their wound and armor mended as if nothing had happened.
Kneeling down, they grabbed their greatsword and adjusted their grip. Holding the hilt with both hands, they pulled the blade to the side of their head, bending their knees and sliding their left foot forward. Inhaling deeply, they exhaled, and steam billowed out from the scarf.
Maeve panted heavily as she grappled with the unsettling visions she had just witnessed. Her heart raced uncontrollably, a sensation she had never experienced before. She gazed up at the warrior once more, who still held their stance, each of their labored breaths was enveloped in steam.
"Who... No... What are you?" Maeve asked.
The warrior inhaled deeply and when they spoke, for the first time in Maeve's life, she felt fear.
"I am Death, Forever King of Under Gardena."
"Yo, are we all here now? Did everyone manage to find their way?" Menelik inquired.
"Definitely, my youth. Your loud ass voice made it hard to miss you," Idris responded.
"Where in the horrors beyond my comprehension are we?" Taharqa asked.
"She called this place the Void, shit sucks doesn’t it?" Idris replied.
"Fuck yeah, it does!" Oiwa exclaimed.
Each of them had been drawn into the depths of the Void, an otherworldly realm that existed beyond the boundaries of reality. In this place, all the negative mana and energy stemming from the use of magic in Arrithia gathered. It was the very domain where Nix resided, and her children each held a portion of this unbreakable realm. Not even Nix herself could escape if she found herself within another's Void Domain.
Here, all was darkness, and you were stripped down to nothing more than your consciousness. Even if you tried to slap yourself in the face, it was as if your own hand passed right through you. You could feel that you had control of your movements and the sensation of limbs and ligaments, but you were nothing more than a fleeting thought in the vast ocean of nothingness.
Menelik had been calling out for them, screaming really. After Zero had left him at the Guild Office, Menelik found himself awfully tired, and when he went to lay down, he didn't find himself in the comfort of the bed, but in the maw of the same Demon who had swallowed Taharqa. He too was swallowed and just like the others, he was sealed inside Maeve's domain—Menelik was only slightly more annoyed than he was impressed at her efficiency.
They had all gathered, but none of them could do anything. Their magic was locked away in the fathomless depths of the abyss, and no amount of searching would ever lead them to it. The Void operated in mysterious ways, beyond the comprehension of even the domain owner. Once inside, you couldn't die, but you weren't exactly living. There was no time, no sense of being, and depending on how you were stored within, you may not even be conscious.
"So, we are stuck in here or what?" Taharqa asked.
"Uh, yeah," Idris replied.
"Nah, I was able to pull myself out after she saved us from falling that one time," Menelik chimed in.
A deep and cold voice wrapped itself over all of them as it spoke. "That is because she allowed you to."
"HEYO!" Menelik called out. "WHO ELSE SHE GOT IN HERE?!"
The dark voice laughed, shaking the entire area with its laughter. "I am known as Nozarg, the Higher of—."
"Night," Oiwa interjected. "Nozarg is the Higher of Night. What is a literal God doing trapped in here?"
"Even a God is powerless in another's Void Domain," Nozarg replied. "And the hold my sister has over hers is beyond absolute. There isn't a way to break free of a Void Domain regardless of who you are. But Maeve pushed herself farther than any of us ever could when it came to the control she has over this place."
There was silence for a moment, then Menelik spoke up. "Yeah, yeah, all I'm hearing is we're stuck here. But let's rewind. Did you just say Maeve... the evil little Teufel... the bitch who killed our friend… Is your sister?"
"Yes," Nozarg replied. "Zephr is here too, but I assume he is still playing tag with Maeve’s Demon Contracts."
"Wait, wait, wait… The Higher that holds the power over death... Literal death, they are trapped here too?" Oiwa asked.
"It would seem you all do not know what is happening on Arrithia, nor do you know what is going to happen to it." Nozarg stated.
"What do you mean?" Idris asked. "What's happening?"
"Another... uh, what's it called, shit..." Taharqa paused. "...AH! The uh, Gaahnin Beast?"
Nozarg's laughter shook the area once again, even without bodies, everyone could feel themselves being shaken tremendously. "You call this planet Arrithia, do you not?"
"Listen," Menelik stated. "This wishy-washy shit where you narrowly avoid explaining everything to us, nah, we ain't doing it. Just tell us what's happening."
Nozarg's voice took a firm tone as he spoke. "Arrithia and this entire universe will cease to exist by the end of the Northern Fall Garden."
The tents James had led Zero to were completely abandoned, and it looked like it had been done in a hurry. They had left their blood vials, their clothing, even their water supply had been left. Their beds were a mess, and even the scrolls with battle plans and formations for their invasion were scattered. Whatever had caused them to run, it left them no time to prepare.
"They left in a hurry?" Zero remarked.
James was looking over one of the scrolls, paying no attention to what Zero had said. "Says here they are taking Hier, says that's where the castle was teleported to."
Zero moved over toward James, laying his hand across the scroll, unfeathering it further. The sandy parchment rubbed against his palm, his hand tracing over Hier as he ruffled through the other scrolls. "They really are planning to take over all of Arrithia."
James nodded profusely. "Yes sire, they will encase the suns in darkness, and the moon... the moon will ensure everything falls in order."
"One, don't call me 'sire.' Two, so they're after the MoonShadow Elves?"
Again, James nodded profusely. This time, he had moved over to one of the beds. "Best we get some sleep, eh?"
"Why the sudden accent?" Zero inquired. Without another thought, Zero summoned forth his dagger, the golden hue shimmering in the faint light of the Fire Stones. He gripped the hilt tightly, the leather settling against his hand, and in one swift motion, before James had any time to react, Zero severed his head. In the motion that followed, Zero kicked James' head with a mighty thrust of his left foot, sending it into the edge of the tent. It pulled on the fabric as it caught fire and exploded. The explosion knocked the tent and the magic that held it together outward, revealing several vampires who had congregated around the area. Zero waited a moment, biding his time until another flash of darkness came through. As it did, he teleported into a nearby tree, hiding behind its thick trunk. As the darkness of the storm receded, he watched as the vampires began scouring the area.
They looked high and low, barely missing Zero as he shimmied around the tree. His mind was racing. He couldn't believe how foolish he had been; he had almost walked right into their trap. His thoughts weren't on the current task; they were still preoccupied with Maeve. Even the thought of food was beginning to recede from his mind.
"There he is!" A vampire shouted, snapping Zero back to reality.
Zero leapt down, with a tight grip on his dagger, he dashed forward, moving left and right to dodge and duck under their swipes. He stopped at the edge of where the tent had been staked, glancing at the forest trees, counting how many were on each side. Five on the right. Seven on the left. Zero knelt down and took off to the left, and with a single leap, he was at the tree, his body crouched horizontally on it as he looked at the vampires with a confident smile. "Sorry, lads, but I gotta go." He leapt from the tree to one on the right, swiping his dagger through two vampires' necks.
It happened so fast that as their necks began to reveal where Zero had cut, he had leaped back and forth between four more trees, killing three more vampires. The heads of the first two began to fall as Zero cut through two more, landing on the second-to-last tree on the left. He watched as the vampire tried to assess what was happening, but Zero was already gone. He had dashed through them, severing their heads; they watched their comrades' heads slide from their shoulders. By the time they realized their own head was severed, their comrades' heads had collided with the ground, and Zero was already two kilometers north, making his way toward Taurean Village.
He pushed through the trees, moving with as much speed as he could muster at the moment. It was times like this that he hated being a Human the most—the constant need for food, water, and sleep. He despised them all, each and every one of them. He had never felt so blessed to have been a Dragon until he ran into moments like this, pure annoyance. Nothing good ever comes from having to stop to sleep and eat, let alone having to drink water so often.
The stir of Night Ravens caused Zero to halt his running. He looked to the South, where four vampires were rushing toward him, incredibly fast, with white handprints painted across their chests. "Now, who do you belong to?" Zero asked himself, his tone curious. He summoned his dagger and transmuted it into a short sword, the black steel radiating a dark red aura almost immediately as he took hold of the leather-bound hilt. "Let's find out, shall we?"
Zero teleported back South, cutting the head off the lead vampire with ease. His feet glided on the damp grass as the Tempest Storm started to rotate West, showering the Northwestern tip of Sidra with its presence. He turned back around with a swivel and dashed forward, giving them barely any time to react. He swung his sword upward, cutting one of the vampires from waist to chest, dodging to his right as another tried to drive its claws into his side from the left.
"Haha, that was a close one. I like you," Zero said. All of his attention shifted to the vampire to his left. "Let's play!" He transmuted his sword back into the golden dagger and tossed it at the vampire whose chest he had cut moments before. It drove into their head, the magic imbued in its blade taking form, and the vampire's head exploded in a display of red and yellow flames as Zero grabbed a hold of the other vampire's throat, knocking them to the ground. He began choking them, squeezing with all his might as the vampire struggled to break free. It clawed at his face, but their talons did nothing more than get knocked away from his rough skin.
The last vampire standing rushed forward and lunged at Zero, and without removing his hands from the other vampire's throat, he simply turned his head and stared at his attacker. The vampire promptly froze in place, their eyes locked with Zero's. His purple irises held a more intense glow, and his wide-eyed smile gave him an incredibly manic look.
"Sit," Zero said firmly. The vampire dropped to their knees, their eyes never once swaying from Zero's gaze. "Let me finish with your friend here, then I'll get to you," Zero continued as he tightened his grip on the other's neck, squeezing until their struggles slowed, and he felt the bones in their neck rupture under the pressure. "There, all finished." Zero stood slowly, his arms hanging at his sides, but never once did he remove his gaze from the vampire. "Stand."
The vampire stood, and as they did, Zero took his hand and swung it through the air, cutting straight through their neck and severing their head. With the same hand, he moved it back to the vampire's cheek, where he held their head in place on their neck, keeping what little connection there was still alive. "Speak. Who leads the vampire army? Is it Nix?"
Their voice was weak and fading, but they were able to muster up just enough. "They… they call themselves… The Vampire… Gods."
"Vampire Gods?" Zero asked, noticeable excitement in his voice. His smile grew broader, revealing his jagged teeth. "Those sound like a lot of fun." He withdrew his hand from the vampire's cheek, and its head dropped to the ground.
Zero paused for a moment, surveying the other vampires strewn across the forest floor. "That must have been what was with Maeve at the castle," he mused, his smile turning even more sinister and maniacal. "Their aura was dripping with power." His gaze shifted to the right, his focus now fixed entirely on the Northeast where Hier was located. “We should go say hello.”
Maeve reached the outer gates of Queen Máire's castle effortlessly, standing just twenty-five meters away from the imposing entrance, she had found that someone was waiting for her.
Clad in formidable, dark purple metal armor, the figure before her exuded an aura of strength and enigma. The shoulders of the armor were layered raggedly, lending the back of their biceps a knife-like edge. Gauntlets and arms flowed seamlessly into their shoulder blades, adorned with another set of layered defenses, seven in total, each with sharp, curved edges that rolled upwards towards the collar piece, the most prominent part of their ensemble. This collar piece wrapped around their neck like a necklace, curving away from their ears like horns. Their waist armor melded seamlessly with the leg defenses, each layer overlapping in fours, providing both extraordinary protection and fluid mobility. Just like their gloves, their pointed boots consisted of thousands of layers interwoven to allow for smooth movement and incredible protection.
Around their neck, a black scarf, as bulky as their armor, appeared to consist of thousands of feathers, but upon closer inspection, it was actually a collection of incredibly thin pieces of metal, forming a long, billowed cape-like shield for their neck. It was attached with panels on both sides of their helmet, shaped like a Night Raven with its beak agape. The visor protruded in a menacing yellow glare, and the skull's oval shape was accentuated with three wing-like ligaments on either side, while a long spiked feather curved from near the forehead to the back, giving it the appearance of a field of freshly cut wheat covered in white. The helmet swirled into the back, with jagged edges extending from almost every frame of reference encapsulating the rear of their head.
In their hand, they held a greatsword, a weapon far too large for their frame, yet they wielded it with ease in one hand, barely lifting it from the ground, yet maintaining perfect control. The wide blade, nearly two meters in length, had a hilt that seemed crafted from dark rosy wood, entwined with mossy green vines.
Maeve, concealed by her cloak, her face just visible in the twilight with her pale red skin and dark auburn hair, stood motionless. Both she and the enigmatic figure said nothing, locked in a silent standoff, each waiting for the other to make the first move.
"What shall I call you?" Maeve called out.
The warrior lifted their sword and pointed it forward, keeping it perfectly still as they aimed the tip at Maeve's head. "Death," their voice resonated with malice, low and raspy.
"That's cute," Maeve replied, her form vanishing with astonishing speed. Instead of disappearing into the shadows, she reappeared right before the warrior, darkness flowing from the depths of her cloak, lifting her above the towering figure. A long black talon, the size of a small tree, extended from the darkness, impaling the warrior through their armor and emerging from their back. Maeve lifted them up, her face concealed by the surrounding darkness, and brought them closer until their faces nearly touched. "Sorry, but that's my name," she taunted with a smirk behind her veil.
To her surprise, the warrior lifted their head, and for a brief moment, Maeve sensed an eerie vision of her own death, repeated a thousand times. She immediately dropped them and withdrew, the darkness receding back into her cloak. Maeve shook her head as the warrior stood up, clutching their chest where the talon had torn through. They held their hand there for a moment, and with an effortless motion, their wound and armor mended as if nothing had happened.
Kneeling down, they grabbed their greatsword and adjusted their grip. Holding the hilt with both hands, they pulled the blade to the side of their head, bending their knees and sliding their left foot forward. Inhaling deeply, they exhaled, and steam billowed out from the scarf.
Maeve panted heavily as she grappled with the unsettling visions she had just witnessed. Her heart raced uncontrollably, a sensation she had never experienced before. She gazed up at the warrior once more, who still held their stance, each of their labored breaths was enveloped in steam.
"Who... No... What are you?" Maeve asked.
The warrior inhaled deeply and when they spoke, for the first time in Maeve's life, she felt fear.
"I am Death, Forever King of Under Gardena."
