Beyond?

by Andur

  1. ~Beyond the curtain.~

  Somewhere

  Me

  My eyes flick open and I watch the ceiling of my lair for several long moments. The shallow breaths I take freeze upon contact with the icy atmosphere and the created crystals slowly float away.

  They are beautiful and forebode my death. I didn't expect to wake up another time after I went to sleep. That means that this world gave me another chance to survive.

  I move and my bones creak as I stand up. How can it be that I feel so old? Ah, but I am old. Now I remember.

  A long time ago this world was warm and full of life. Then the sun dimmed and the ice came. My people hid deep inside the earth. But with time the cold followed us even there. I watched them slowly wither away.

  Some were taken by the ice, but most fell to time. There is no greater foe than time. Death can be defeated, but time keeps creeping forward regardless of what you do. And when you attempt to stop it, everything you achieve is that you stop together with it.

  I stand up from my resting place and a thin layer of white frost falls from the rags which are covering my body. They are the only thing which offers some protection against my environment.

  My eyes scan my small cave for one last time, but there is nothing left which could aide my survival. No food, nothing which could be burned. The last water reserve is frozen and useless.

  Small and silent steps take me to a wall where a fissure appeared. It's small, but I feel cold air entering through it. It's always like this. It follows you until the day comes when you won't wake up from going to sleep.

  I turn and push the circular stone aside which sealed the entrance to my cave. It creates some unwanted noise, but it can't be helped. The stone sealed my lair airtight against the outside.

  The corridor in front of my lair is clean and I can't sense any presences. So I turn and walk the path which leads me upwards. Towards the cold. The urge to go deeper is strong. Down to the last remnants of warmth.

  But I know that down there are things... unspeakable terrors which are able to kill me. And there is a certain end to that path. A point at which you can't go any deeper where the cold will eventually get to you.

  So I choose to flee upwards. One last time. I hobble forward while pulling my bad leg after me. It's been useless since a long time ago. But I decided to keep it, thinking that there may come a time when I feel hungry enough to...

  A sound makes me stop. Something is coming down my path. I step into a nearby crevice to hide myself and concentrate, to regulate my breathing to a bare minimum. The entrance to my lair lies in this particular part of the cave system for exactly this reason. The walls are riddled with clefts and fissures which make it easy to hide.

  Three pale figures rush past me. A hunting group. They've been on my trail for weeks now. I don't know when they first appeared, but they seem to be degenerated versions of my people. Though they have adapted to the cold.

  They are gone as fast as they came. But I keep lingering in my hiding spot. My senses tell me that there is another one. A slow one. I lick over my lips and wait. It passes by and my hand shoots out from my hiding place, grabbing the straggler at his windpipe and squeezing it shut.

  Not a sound escapes as I pull it into shadows inside the crevice. It struggles, but the limbs keep flailing around meaninglessly. My fingers dig into its flesh and eyes with a shred of intelligence flick towards mine.

  I read fear, hate and madness in them. A whole set of emotions. I don't care about it as I drain the puny amount of life force from the thing. It's eyes turn glassy and I drop the dead body to the ground.

  With a part of my strength restored I continue on my path. In the past I disposed of all dead bodies which were too close to my cave, but I don't intend to return, so it doesn't matter now.

  A little further ahead I choose the left path where the corridor splits. The cave gets narrower and narrower from that point on.

  Finally it's just a tiny mine shaft which leads steeply upwards. I get to my knees and start crawling and climbing with the practice of many years. The bad leg and the two missing fingers on my right hand are hindering me, but I've learned to cope with it.

  After a small eternity I reach my destination. It's a flat dome close to the surface. The floor is perfectly smooth and riddled with small lines and symbols. They are filled with my frozen blood.

  I stay on all fours while I search the entire floor for any damage to my magical circle. But there is none. Just a few pebbles which fell from the ceiling. They are easily removed and I place myself in the centre of the circle.

  Then I start to meditate like the day before and the day before that... so many failures. I wish to escape this world, which is at the end of its lifespan. The will to survive has driven me to great lengths.

  I even tried to teleport away. Though I soon had to admit that there is no use in teleportation if you don't know where you want to go. So I resorted to summoning magic. If the people of my world can summon servants from somewhere else, then there may be other places to which you can get summoned.

  The trick lies in answering to such a summoning ceremony. Or in intercepting one. So I clear my mind and start to listen to the tune which calls for beings from far away. I am looking for the same tune everyday. It's strong and full of life, so I wish to go there.

  It calls out to the universe almost every day. But I never managed to synchronize myself with it. Today it's all or nothing.

  Hours pass and nothing happens. When I try to move I realize that it isn't possible. I reach for my feet and realize that they are frozen. The cold claims everything at one point or the other and I made up my mind on the path I'll take. Seems like I won't survive.

  So I close my eyes again and listen while I'm slowly drifting off to sleep. Somehow I know that I won't wake up this time.

  ★

  A beat! I feel it! The strong beat of life is calling from far away! I release all my mana and pour it into the magic circle under my feet. With desperation and hope I reach for the tune of life which calls out to the universe! Though I feel something else answering the same call, I still cling to it with all my might.

  And then I feel myself floating! An old and wrinkled body is under me, it sinks down and a final breath escapes from its mouth. Is that me? Did I just die?

  I have no time to think. An unbelievable force pulls me away from my world and the stars blur as they pass by! Stars? How long has it been since I watched them?

  Between worlds

  Me

  I open my eyes and find myself on a rocky plain. Everything is grey and white. Is this the afterlife? So the summoning failed? Or did the other one manage to answer the summoning first?

  My wrinkled old hands and my body are still the same. I am even wearing the rags I am accustomed to. Didn't I leave my body behind? Or is this some kind of dream world where you look like the image you have of yourself?

  Something snarls behind me and I turn. What I find there is a strange creature. It's red and has two horns on its head. The face is a hideous mess and sharp teeth emerge from its mouth. The hands are too long and have four deadly looking claws. A long tail is curling behind it and its legs are bent backwards, ending in strange hooves. It's naked and a uselessly large weapon is dangling between its legs.

  “You! Intercepted! My! Summoning!”

  The thing barks at me. How pitiful. This mutant can't even speak normally.

  “I won't! Let you steal! My prize away! From me! This world! Is mine! To take!”

  It barks again and jumps at me. So slow. Maybe I should end its pain? What point is there in life if you are that weak?

  My body jerks out of the path of the clawed hand which strikes at me. The poor thing is simply too slow. Back in the depths of my world were much faster hunters.<
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  One of my shaky hands reaches forward and grabs the claw to twist it. The finger snaps and the poor monster howls. My body moves past the thing and I reach for its tail.

  A fast jerk detaches the tail from its owner while I kick the monster's shin. The thing falls while it continues to howl.

  The detached tail finds its way around the poor mutant's neck and I step on one end while I pull with my right hand on the other.

  “How? On this plane! Counts only! The will! Of the individual! How can you! Be that strong!”

  The thing continues to bark meaningless things while I'm reaching down and disarm it. An unbelievable howl with a high pitch pains my ears, so I stuff the monster's weapon down it's throat to shut it up.

  Finally the poor thing stops twitching. It lived longer than I expected from such a deformed creature. I wish I had been able to end its miserable life in a less painful way, but it attacked me. And I don't like being attacked.

  Then I feel myself being pulled away before I am able to take a closer look at the thing. The world blurs around me as I am pulled to another place far away.

  2. ~Awakening.~

  Elsewhere

  Me

  PAIN!

  This agony! Why does it hurt so much? I open my eye. My eye? Why do I have just one eye? Fuck! It feels like something is crushing my body and rebuilding it from scratch! From far away I hear a scream. But then I realize that it's my own. It doesn't sound like a voice that belongs to a living being.

  Finally the pain subsides and leaves me lying on a hard stone floor while I'm gasping for air. It looks like I am in a dark room. The oil lamps on the walls provide just enough light for me to take a look at my surroundings.

  There is something like a magical circle on the ground around me. I am in the centre of a hexagon about ten metres in size. On each edge of the summoning circle lies a person with their throats cut. What a waste! Which butcher orchestrated this ritual?

  I turn my attention towards myself. Two chubby arms and legs. Two eyes, one nose, one mouth, two ears! At least I am symmetrical. Though the weapon between my chubby legs seems a little small.

  There is blood all over me, but my skin is unhurt and soft. I seem to be a child? Yeah, I think I remember now that small children are supposed to look like this. Why the fuck am I a child?

  A small whimpering voice draws my attention and I turn around.

  I am greeted by a guy in a black cloak. His eyes are completely black and a single black feathered wing sprouts from his right shoulder. Great, another freak!

  He has a bloody dagger in his right hand and a gleaming amulet in his left. The lines and circles of the amulet are forming the same magical circle as the one I am sitting in. I'll call that guy Mr. Black for now.

  Behind him is a dirty altar with a crying woman on top. She is wailing and tries to get away, but invisible shackles hold her in place. There are cuts all over her body and her belly is a bloody mess. Did Mr. Black gut her? What strikes me as odd, though, is the swirling tail that's attached to her and the black horns which crown her head. The strange dark metallic hair colour is just a small bonus compared to her other features. I am sorry Mrs. Sacrifice. I don't think you are going to survive.

  Mr. Black steps forward while he looks baffled at me. Probably he expected something big and red, with claws? Ah, I think I killed the one Mr. Black wanted to call.

  He shakes his amulet at me. “What's this!? This failure! So many sacrifices! For a small child!?”

  His face turns red while he's screaming at me, but I don't understand his language. That's a problem. Or not? I am not sure if I want to understand him.

  My eyes wander to another pile of bodies while Mr. Black continues screaming. Seems like that's the reason why his summoning ritual felt so full of life. He killed a lot of people for this.

  Well, I don't care. There are real people around me for once. I don't remember how long it has been since I had company. It doesn't matter if they are alive or dead. People are people.

  “Make yourself at least useful and clean all this!” Mr. Black speaks with a commanding voice and his amulet pulses red.

  I feel something tugging at my mind. Enslavement magic? I don't even understand what he wants. Is that guy an idiot? Now I feel lucky that I don't understand his language. No commands, no enslavement. I grin at him in the most stupid manner I am capable of.

  He stomps onto the ground. “Graaah! It's stupid too! So that means that just simple commands work. UP!” He lifts his arms together with the command.

  Unfortunately the gesture alone isn't hard to understand and I start moving before I can do anything against it. Crap!

  Just at this moment the heavy wooden door which leads into this room bursts open and several people storm inside. All of them carry weapons and have the same weird bodies as Mrs. Sacrifice. Though I notice that the men don't have tails.

  Mr. Black waves his hand and the first group of attackers is thrown backwards by a pulse of telekinetic power.

  “Kill!” Mr. Black points at the newcomers and looks at me while the amulet glows up.

  I waver for a second on what to do. It's obvious that he wants me to do something to them. Long forgotten feelings of hate well up inside me as I look at the newcomers. Probably the amulet is the reason for these feelings.

  For one moment I waver. But then I raise my hand and infuse my mana into the blood all around the room. Another wave of my hand forces the blood under my will and a fine red mist forms between us and the newcomers. Then it solidifies into a transparent, shimmering red barrier.

  Somehow I don't like to be ordered around by Mr. Black. So I intentionally misunderstood him.

  On the other hand my hesitance allowed three attackers to pass the barrier before it was fully formed. There is an old woman with a staff and a younger woman which looks similar to Mrs. Sacrifice.

  A man with a spear also managed to pass my barrier in time. “Valda!” He screams in rage as he finds Mrs. Sacrifice on the altar.

  The locked out people are hammering in vain onto my blood seal. Though each of their blows creates small openings on the transparent film of blood. The holes close immediately after they are created. Strange. I seem to be very weak. They shouldn't be able to do anything to my barrier.

  The three people who managed to pass the barrier attack without hesitation and Mr. Black forces them backwards with another surge of power.

  Mr. Black raises his amulet another time. “K... Aargh!”

  The spear guy threw his spear at Mr. Black and hit his hand dead centre. The amulet flies through the room and lands close to the Altar.

  I try to move in order to destroy the accursed object, but I am bound to my position. The previous order is still in effect and retrieving the amulet for myself has nothing to do with keeping the attackers at bay.

  Spear guy charges at us together with the younger woman, but a swing of Mr. Black's wing wipes him away like an annoying fly.

  “Yoran!” The woman calls for the spear wielder. Then Mr. Black plucks the younger woman out of the air like catching a toy. A surge of life force ripples back and forth between them. But the woman is overwhelmed with ease.

  The girl screams while being held at her throat and Mr. Black is sucking something like a green mist out of her with his wing as a conductor. I shudder. Mr. Black seems to be a soul mage and I can't oppose him while I am under the influence of that damn amulet!

  I survey the room and find the old woman standing again. “Vile fiend! Begone!” She raises her staff and a ray of light shoots at Mr. Black. He deflects it with ease and sends the granny to the ground with another pulse of power. I suppose he didn't use all of the sacrifices for my summoning ceremony. He used at least a few of them to strengthen himself.

  Mr. Black drops the girl to the ground and sneers at the dead body.

  Then something tugs at my mind and I snap to attention. Turning towards the altar, I find Mrs. Sacrifice on the ground. She is holding the amulet which wa
s send flying earlier with both hands. Her expression is desperate while she looks at me. “Save us. Save us. Please!”

  I don't understand what she wants, but I can guess it.

  Mr. Black's attention turns towards Mrs. Sacrifice. “No!” He steps forward, but I tug with telekinesis at his foot and trip him.

  The blood on the ground is still infused with my mana and a mere thought is enough to form a long spike where Mr. Black lands on the ground. It penetrates his chest and exits at his back. He looks at me with shocked eyes as I toddle towards him and touch his cheek, making contact with his mind.

  A scream erupts from him as I start draining his life force. Finally his control slips and all the souls which were contained within him escape. Dozens of lights exit him and I grab one of them. It has the right feeling to it. And it is in tune with the dead body of the young woman.

  The soul is in turmoil, so I open myself and force my own calm feelings onto it. I try very hard to hold back in order to not overwhelm her. It's a young soul after all.

  It's been a long time since I did this, but I think I got the right one. I walk on my chubby feet to the young woman's corpse and sit down beside her. The soul enters her body with ease and I electrocute the woman. She gasps and opens her eyes.

  Good, it hasn't been too long since her soul was taken. As long as it's returned within a certain time frame, there should be no problems.

  I pat her forehead to reassure her, leaving a bloody hand print there. Ah, I forgot that I am still dirty. She is just looking at me, flabbergasted.

  That's done. One more to go. The force of the amulet doesn't let go of me and I head back to Mrs. Sacrifice as the young woman gets to her knees.

  The spear man is holding her with tears in his eyes. She is whispering some words to him. Probably her final ones. I grab her hand and start pouring the life force I robbed from Mr. Black into her.

  It feels nauseating to do so, but I continue anyway. The wound in her belly closes and the cuts disappear. Finally some colour returns to her face. Ah, I feel dizzy. This way of healing is bothersome, but it's the most effective one I know.