The Thirtieth Entry - Part Two: Dark Lord

 In the abyss, I drifted. Drifting to another place beyond the reach of the Obelisk - a place of both a dream and memory. Bounding between reality and unreality, I found my way thoughtlessly to a dream and to a place.

In this place I found a bridge made of stars that stretched into the darkness. The bridge’s nebulas and solar flares, its quantum stars and invisible black holes seemed undisturbed by my steps; the armor’s mechanical bounces slowly returning to my hearing.

I was present in this place. But the where, how, and when were all questions I could only answer with another: where did this bridge lead? My curiosity drove me forward, a sort of quiet madness taking hold of my being.

I was, however, not alone. Beyond the black horizon – I could feel eyes upon me. As their glances grew closer, so too did the pain become realized. With every step I felt heavier, as if a force set itself down upon me, and every step felt more agonizing than the last. The pain reached further up my legs, becoming a burning sensation that quickly arched over the entirety of my body until I could see the flames sparking through the eye sockets of the mask.

Yet still I continued down the path of the stars, my searing flesh sizzling in the dark. Before I realized, however, my being was restored to normal. Yet normality was just the beginning, this path of torture would repeat itself. My flesh was repeatedly pealed and burned beneath the armor, a now walking torture device, over and over again for what seemed unending.

I’d forgotten how long I was in this place – at times believing the path was simply repeating itself over and over. Yet, finally, a light peeked beyond the horizon. As I neared, the weight upon my shoulders felt heavier than before, as if to squash my existence then and there.

Through the haze, I saw a door at the end of the path. As I grew closer – the eyes around me became beings. Beings that stood over the doorway, and around it. Beings I could not bear to look upon, their maligned visages so beyond my own comprehension. Yet the dread and pain did not vanish. The closer I got to the doorway, the more pain I experienced.

This pain was indescribable, the entirety of the essence of my being under threat of annihilation. These beings may not even see me, yet their presence alone threatened to destroy me. The doorway, however, was growing closer. I reached for it with a mangled and hardly functional arm and opened the door.

At first, I believed that which lie beyond the doorway a painting burned into my eyes, or a side affect of the pain I had endured: A scenery of fantastical fiction. Yet, the sound of crunching snow brought me back from the painted world and into the snow-covered one that set before me.

The sky above was a hazy grey of clouds and falling snow. The landscape steeped in pine woods and mountains caked in wintery icing that cast very few shadows. The world was blanketed in snow, my feet and ankles buried beneath, and the snow continued to steadily fall.

I trudged through the packed snow, the tree line sinking in volume as I approached an open area and saw beyond the white veil – a small hill which arched through the trees. I began to ascend the slope when I halted upon seeing what rested at the summit: a white tree draped in icicles.

The tree was not alone.

Beside the tree a dark figure stood. The figure, an abyss against the backdrop of the sky and white snow; faced away from me. I took another step and the snow stopped – as if it had never snowed to begin with. I took another step through the burying flakes of snow, and the figure began to turn – its horns windowing the grey sky.

I’d begun to understand what purpose had been lain before me - what purpose lie before me. The tree cast no shadow, yet the being beside it loomed. As if by just existing, I understood more as the being turned -what was mere moments felt like centuries. When the being finally came full circle, the world became silent, and a quiet rage filled me.

My vision blurred, and the being waited. Waited.

Then darkness took me, or the darkness took itself.

When I awoke, I was back in the Graveyard. Yet, the consumed crystal burned a bright red. A fire coursed through my lungs and body, yet its warmth was regenerative, not harmful. Grasping the crystal out of the air and placing it back within me – I was quickly overwhelmed by an instable rage. Red energy pillared through the mountain of the Graveyard and shot through the light of the moon - burning a hole through the night sky above.

A grotesque squeal filled the air, the Wych recoiled in disgust and flew away in the shadows of the energy. I was able to gain a temporary grip on myself, and the energy subsided. Smoke sizzled off my body in the moonlight – the tree completely untouched.

Aberus, A’re, and Yulthar ran to me, the helmets having become a sea of black ash. They spoke, but their voices were mute – my hold barely containing the rage. They helped me to my feet and the Harrower landed in an area beyond the cracked room. In the haze, I’d noticed that after all that traveling – we had ended up on the other side of the mountain.

Behind us the mountain rumbled to life, a giant grotesque creature awakened deep beneath, and cast off its casing, shadowing over miles of the world.

I was hurriedly pulled aboard the Harrower, however, I could feel my control slipping. I pushed Aberus away: “He is waiting. I must gain control. Do not disturb me! Harrower, seal me away!” I commanded in a barely controlled shout.

Collapsing on the throne, a sheath of metal flew down around and tethered itself in organic grey metals to the floor and ceiling. I felt the rumble of the Harrower taking off, and our safe departure from the Graveyard. But, after that – silence.

I would remain in a desperate meditation on the sealed away throne, attempting to gain control and decipher all that been given to me.

The Graveyard had given to me that which it gives to all of us.

He is waiting.

The Dark Lord.