Prince of The Abyss

”This place is not to my liking at all,” Aether said, looking around at the giant graveyard that surrounded them. He had been corrected; this region reeked of death. Even the village they had been to had houses made out of bones. It was a weird experience living inside them, but it wasn’t the first time. ’Just goes to show just how weird Demon of Dread is.’

They had spent a whole day in the village, and the people were a bit dry; not many spoke, and the Inn was pretty empty compared to all the other ones. But what had confused him and had for some time was why, after hearing about the other guardians dying alongside the Villages, they still let new people in and didn’t defend themselves at all.

It made no sense...

’But at the same time... it does.’

Aether sighed, feeling the wind of the graveyard hit his nose; it had a weird smell, and he didn’t like it... But he wasn’t as affected as Sena was by it, who was caught pinching her neck.

Aether rolled his eyes.

’These Guardians have been protecting their people for who knows how long; it seems weird for us. After all, we’ve only arrived for one month, but if you were to live your life knowing that you are protected by a being that has been doing the same for your ancestors for who knows how long, you are bound to believe they can face everything.

It’s ironic, but they believe that it won’t happen to them, that their Guardian would be able to take down the things that had killed the others... and who are we to judge? If the same thing happened in our world, with the Kings, we would think the same thing.’

Their routines after reaching the village had been the same; it had also become muscle memory. He just looked around until it turned night, when he let Sena get some men to help, while he just slept. ’I like this part.’ He smiled.

And when the next day came, they wondered again, until they found the place where the Guardian stood. He had stopped asking people from the village a long time ago where the Guardian was; with the trust he had gained for Sena, he just asked the Lost, and it was much easier.

But this time, it was weird... There was nothing here.

”This is certainly strange.” He said while taking a step forward, but then Sena tripped him, causing him to fall face-first into the purple grass.

”The dead should crawl, you know.” She chuckled.

Aether turned around, frowning. ”But I’m not dead! And you know that, so don’t act like you forgot or something stupid.”

Sena stuck her tongue out. Which made Aether realize that there was no point in arguing with her. So he just stood up, wiping himself of dirt. Before shooting her a glance with a clear meaning. ’You better not do that again.’ Which only made Sena chuckle, lifting her head up slightly in arrogance.

Waving her off, he turned back around; after all, they had far more important things.

The Guardian was missing, something that had never happened before. It was the first time.

Aether walked around the graveyard, looking at the graves. They didn’t have a name; they were completely hollow, which made him curious, so he summoned Voidpiercer and thrust it through the dirt, but the blade didn’t hit anything, which either meant the coffin was really deep down, or that there wasn’t one in the first place.

’Really damn weird if I have to say myself... why would they make this graveyard if there wasn’t anyone buried in it in the first place? It makes no sense.’ He sighed, letting Voidpiercer back into his arm. ’At least we will have a place to bury all the bodies after we kill the village.’ He doubted they were going to bury them either way.

While the graves were weird, the main attraction was the church. Of course, shaped in the form of a cross, it stood out, made out of a darker stone, which vines and nature had completely corrupted, flowers blooming on its walls.

It was quite beautiful, if he was allowed to be honest. But who cared for what he thought?

The crosses on top seemed to be made out of a brighter metal; opposite, it was a strange direction, how the crosses were much lighter than the actual church.

Walking up to the wooden doors, Aether pushed through; the inside was completely destroyed, the benches looked to have been thrown around, and the windows were destroyed... but he had already known that since he had seen it outside. Walking through it, he looked at the drawing on the walls; they were deteriorated. For how long have these been built?

At the end stood a lectern, but instead of a book resting inside it, there was something else.

...

’An egg?’ He stared, confused at the bluish-green egg, his hand moving to touch it. But before he did, something seemed to land on the church, as it trembled with them inside; a deep and low gurgling croak was heard from outside. This made them rush outside.

Bursting out through the door, Aether smiled, looking up at the church, where a giant Raven had landed.

”There you are!” He smirked.

But there was something different about it. While all the others had been friendly at first, only attacking after he did, this one already seemed angry... which made him wonder: was the mother of the egg inside the church... and if so, when it hatched... did it mean another guardian would be born?

Aether summoned Voidpiercer, gripping the blade hard, while staring the Raven right in the eyes. ’I guess I will have to wait and see. Killing it should be my priority; I will worry about the egg later.’

”Come on, you fat bird, it’s not my first time dealing with something like you.”