The dusty, unpleasant smell of bats surrounding him began to overwhelm him. He coughed a few times. Blood came out of his mouth.
The dozens of creatures around him began to leave, unable to harm their master. Slowly, each one began to bare its teeth and fangs, leaving it covered in blood.
The weight the young man felt was decreasing; he felt more and more fragile and unprotected. Telos fell to his knees when the creatures left his body. The damp ground beneath him made his knees sink slightly, and then he fell forward. The ground felt cool, making you want to fall asleep.
His body was completely bruised and mangled. Deep bite wounds were found around his left side, his right femur, and both biceps. He also had severe tears in his back, his pectoral muscle, and his collarbone, near his neck.
From the wounds, bones can be seen. Two ribs were slightly visible, and a bite on his right cheek revealed his teeth. The plasma mixed with the blood, leaving a horrible sight.
Even so, Telos did not feel bad. The gentle breeze fluttered the fallen leaves and caressed his wounds. The damp ground that gently embraced his body and slowly dragged him inside. And above all, the sensation of how his mind was slowly fading away, abandoning all sense of pain.
Telos grimaced, letting out droplets of blood.
His body was colder and colder, but he didn't know that. His face was completely submerged in the ground, preventing him from breathing, but he didn't know that.
His body seemed to enter a state of pause, and his consciousness seemed to fade away; he knew that.
All his senses shut down. Telos felt… empty… in nothingness. He sees darkness? No, he didn't. He smells something? No, he didn't. He felt something? No, he didn't…
Nothing. At this point, he started to question himself. He exist? Was all that just an imagination? No…
Nothing can come from nothingness.
So, what was he? No… Who was he?
He forgot about everything, his name, his past, what he was doing, why he did it… No… He knew why he did it. He could forget everything, but his goal no. Take revenge, he can't forget about that.
So… If his goal persisted. How can he be in nothingness?
He wasn't.
Instead of in nothingness, it was in his subconscious. As soon as he realized that, his entire surroundings went dark. Telos still couldn't see anything, but at least he felt that he existed.
His body took shape again, although it was spotless with wounds, and the young man's torso was naked; the strange tattoo was located below his jugular notch, and the strange fangs seemed more embedded in his skin. His lower body… blurred, as if it was about to cease to exist.
Telos gulped and focused his gaze forward, or what was supposed to be the front…
Darkness. Just like the entire space he found himself in, if you could even call it space... His gaze still couldn't discern anything. But there was something. Telos felt like he was being watched; he felt a brief shiver that alerted him to it.
There must be something, and he doesn't know what.
Telos felt another shiver, this one from his back. He turned around. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something move at his left. He looked, nothing. He saw something at his right. Nothing.
Above him, nothing. Under him, nothing. And again, and again, and again…
Telos panicked. His heart was pounding, but he didn't have a heart, it was just an imaginary sensation. He felt his skin being constantly grazed by sharp claws. Also, the wet sensation of saliva on his torso.
But there was nothing.
Then, murmurs began to harass his ears. Thousands of different voices murmured; the constant whispering made Telos start breathing rapidly. He covered his ears to avoid hearing them.
But nothing prevented it.
He took a step forward, trying to escape. When he stepped in, he found nothing under him. He began to fall… or ascend?
Telos didn't know, but the murmurs stopped. It was enough for him. He closed his eyes, trying to relax for a moment before thinking again about how to get out.
With his torso up, he began to fall slowly, as if an infinite ocean of darkness were to slow his fall.
He was slowly descending into nothingness. When would he stop? No one knew. Was he even going to stop?
Nothingness, Nothingness, Nothingness… What is nothingness? Telos didn't know, it wasn't something a mere human could guess or understand.
Slowly, his fall began to stop.
After a few seconds were Telos was reducing his fall, finally he stood still in nothingness. Nothing touched him, or so it seemed.
Telos opened his eyes slowly, although it was not his own will. Long, dark, and disfiguring fingers, ending in sharp, rotten nails, pried open both of his eyelids.
Telos shifted uncomfortably. I didn't remember anything. Why was he descending?
He look down at the endless darkness, with... endless bodies piled up with one goal: to grab him. Long, thin, humanoid-looking creatures, their faces... blurred.
He looked at his own body. Dozens of black fingers grabbed him.
The disfiguring fingers sank slightly into his skin. He tried to scream, but his mouth was covered.
But how did he saw all these creatures? These were black so how could he distinguish their humanoid figure?
He noticed a reddish light on the creatures' rough skin and his own.
Turning his head upwards with some effort, he saw it... Something that ended with absolute nothingness.
A huge red circle shone brightly, resembling a star. Telos covered his eyes, and his vision began to focus.
The intense light became less and less intense. Slowly, Telos was able to make out the shape of that glow.
A star emitting multiple red rays that resembled tentacles. Inside, three smaller, more intensely red circles could be seen. These were arranged in a triangle and rotated slowly.
Burning smell entered his nostrils, he couldn't smell it, but he did feel a nauseating sensation somehow.
He looked once more to his body. The dozens of fingers were burning because of the light... but still, they didn't let go of their grip. The rough skin disintegrated, revealing the black, rotten bones.
However, that didn't matter to him. His attention went completely to his lower body, which was recovering in the strange light.
His hips returned to his normal color and, more importantly, it felt alive, something that before, however, he only knew was there without really being able to say if they were.
The pale color of his skin begins to expand from his hips down. Taking the femur, then the knees, tibia and calves, to finally end at the tips of his toes. His body felt whole again… at least on the outside…
The disfigured fingers slowly released their grip, letting Telos's body fall until his feet touched solid ground. On that strange ground, the reflections of the strange star and himself were... perfect, as if there were two versions.
"Oh… Have you noticed?"
A gentle but slightly deep voice echoed through Telos's mind.
He frowned and raised his head, looking directly at the strange sun. The same voice sounded again.
"Don't worry. You and I are allies after all…"
Telos furrowed even deeper.
"What… do you… mean?"
The young man felt strange speaking again, so it was difficult at first. The star—or whatever it was—responded, its voice sounding confused, as if surprised by the question.
"Well… You are the main reason why the abyss is going to expand."
Telos didn't answer, but he still did not know what that voice was saying.
"You don't know what that mark on your chest is?"
The young man gritted his teeth, however, he didn't want to seem upset, who knows what could happen to him.
'How the hell would I know? Clown.'
His thought sounded very... loud.
"You know you're in your conscience, right?"
Telos didn't answer. Still, he had always thought that the mark represented his ability, and that the creatures had come because it had gotten out of control.
"Whatever… The mark you have is the key to unlock the abyss."
Telos gulped.
The gentle voice continued.
"Humans are desperate to find the source of the Abyss, and even now that they've found it, they're launching massive expeditions to reach it…"
He made a pause.
"However, the abyss can't open by itself; it needs a key… and that is your work. You have to reach the source and unleash the abyss. That way, we can finally invade the world."
That information was a strong shock for Telos, the true nature of his mark, his true function, all of this was something he had never expected, yet it aligned with his goal... partially.
Telos' eyes relaxed and looked intensely at the star, which swung its red tentacles, indifferent to the gaze.
"Why should I?"
His voice echoed through the darkness. There was no response, silence invaded the conversation for a few seconds. Then, a melodious and malicious laugh rang out. However, when the strange star talked, his voice sounded full of anger.
"What do you think you are? You are only a pawn in the plans of others. Why should you? Don't worry about wanting to do it, because you are obliged to do it…"
There was silence for a second. Telos frowned, but before asking, the star spoke:
"Those reflections you once saw... While you and I are now just figures in your consciousness, figures of no importance, the reflections are our souls."
Telos looked at the reflections under him. A red tentacle was heading towards him. Telos raised his head, but nothing was coming. That action was only in the reflection.
Telos thought that as is his reflection, if he moved, so would the reflection to. He took a step back.
The reflection didn't move.
On his chest a weak red glow took his attention. He looked his mark, this one was flashing. The tentacle pierced the reflection chest, and Telos felt how his body somehow shanged.
The ground beneath him swayed slightly, along with the reflections. When that movement stopped, everything returned to how it was before. The star broke the silence.
"Your soul is now bound to the abyss, the fate of your existence dependent on us. Only by breaking the abyss's seal will your soul belong to you again."
Telos gritted his teeth and clenched both of his fists. Anger clearly showed on his expression. Even so, the strange star didn't seem to care, it just finished saying before the darkness slowly started to vanish:
"Don't do anything stupid."