Chapter 142: Chapter 142

In a turn of events that surprised absolutely none of them, Henry’s prediction was correct. It took another day and a half, but Herald’s rune led them straight up to a small ravine nestled between to hills.

It was barely large enough to squeeze through. Damien eyed it distrustfully. “We have to go in here?”

“The cave is right behind it,” Henry confirmed, poking his head out using Damien’s shadow. “Nothing else of any relevance is in it. A few animals and bugs, but no signs of any humans for a very long time.”

Sylph shrugged and stepped down into the gap, turning her body sideways and slipping through the crack and into the darkness. Damien scrunched his nose and followed after her. The rock seemed to press in on him like the throat of a huge beast as they shimmied deeper into the hole.

Mercifully, it let up after only a few seconds, putting them down in a small circular room. Two rune covered pillars sat near the center. Dust covered the floor and cobwebs hung from the floor and ceiling.

The stale, musty air had little flow and the earth was chilly. Damien shivered slightly as he walked up to what he assumed to be the portal and examined it.

“Are we able to control where it’ll send us?” Sylph asked.

“No,” Henry said. “At least, I doubt that’s what Herald wants. I could mess with the runes until it did, but that would be a good amount of effort and you could have just used one of the portals in Blackmist. I suspect Herald wants you two to go wherever this portal is meant to go.”

“Any idea where that might be?” Damine asked. He recognized a good number of the runes, but a lot of them looked to be in an archaic language that he didn’t understand. A scrap of knowledge floated up to the front of his mind and he knew without a doubt that they had been the standard runic alphabet about six thousand years ago.

Damien paused as he realized that the source of the knowledge was Herald’s soul. Unfortunately, the information didn’t appear to contain any information on what the runes actually meant.

“Figures,” Damien muttered. “Well, how do we fix this?”

“I can do it pretty easily,” Henry said. “Someone cut the portal’s power on purpose. There’s just a single circle that’s messed up, so it’ll only take a moment to fix. However, there’s a good chance this portal will have some sort of pull to it. You both might get sucked in, so are you completely ready for whatever might be on the other side?”

Damien rubbed his stiffening hands together to bring back some warmth. He cast out his mental net, drawing Ether in and storing it within his core. “I’m ready.”

“As am I,” Sylph said with a confident nod.

Henry gently reached for control of Damien’s body. He relinquished it, allowing his companion to take over. Henry had Damien raise a finger, channeling Ether through it into a thin point.

He drew across the top of the pillar, carving thin lines over the runes and leaving behind a trail of faint purple energy. The whole process took only a few minutes.

“Get ready,” Henry said through Damien’s mouth. “This will only repair it for a few seconds, so even if you don’t get sucked in, don’t wait too long. You don’t want to lose a limb if it closes before you’re all the way through.”

Sylph nodded. Damien pressed his palm against the runes he’d drawn and sent a pulse of Ether into them. They flashed, light trailing down into the other runes like running water. With a crackling hiss, strands of purple energy snapped to life between the two pillars. They reached out to each other, connecting and melding together into a flat rectangle.

“Go!” Henry ordered. Sylph jumped into the portal and Damien followed after her. Henry returned control of the boy’s body to him as he felt space compress around him. His skin tingled, energy coursing along his body in flashes of pink and purple light.

The world warped further and further, twisting and writhing around Damien. For a moment, Damien felt his chest grow ice cold. Herald stirred within him, sending a small trail of Ether into the air around him. It mixed in with the purple energy, miniscule runes vanishing into the air around him. And then it was over. He slammed into the ground, all the air rushing out of his lungs in a grunt. Sylph landed squarely on top of him.

She rolled off and sprang to her feet, a dark blade forming in her hands. Damien groaned, standing up at a considerably slower speed and brushing his back off. They stood in pitch darkness.

“Do you see anything?” Damien whispered.

“I don’t have night vision, Damien,” Sylph replied.

“Right. Sorry,” Damien said, gathering Ether into his hand and forming a spinning purple orb of destructive magic. It wasn’t the best source of light, but it was enough to illuminate their immediate surroundings in dull tones.

Thick black chains the size of his forearm ran across the ground from multiple heavy anchor points in the wall, all leading towards the center of the room. Tattered clothes were scattered about and blood stained the walls.

“Where are we?” Damien whispered, raising the light slightly higher. Whatever the chains were leading to or holding was still out of Damien’s view, and he couldn’t make out the ceiling either.

“Herald interfered with the portal,” Henry hissed to Damien. “He’s brought you to a Void creature instead of the Corruption.”

What? Take over! Do something!

“This one is bound,” Henry said. “She can’t do anything to you. Probably. It might be best to see what Herald wants before we leave. I can still feel the magic that I tied her with – she hasn’t broken free.”

You tied her?

“Long story,” Henry said. “Suffice to say that I was planning to free her before you changed my mind about experiencing the world, so I sealed her even further instead.”

Damien nodded his understanding and tugged on Sylph’s sleeve to get her attention. “Herald lied to us. We’re in a Void creature’s dwelling, but it’s apparently bound and can’t hurt us.”

“We’re here to kill it, then?” Sylph asked, her blade flickering to life in her hands.

Damien shrugged, gathering more Ether in his free hand. “I suppose we’ll see.”

They crept forwards, shadows dancing at the edges of their small sphere of vision. The chains converged upwards, to a spot about fifteen feet off the ground. As they grew closer, a ripple ran through the metal links.

A woman hung suspended in the air. Her head was slumped and her oily, dirtied hair hung ragged around her face. A hissing sigh escaped her lips, and Damien instantly recognized the distinctive multitude of whispers that made up the Void creatures’ voices.

“It Who Heralds the End of All Light,” the woman whispered, her multitude of voices raking over their ears like the caress of death. “Lost one. You’ve returned to gloat? Of what? The end of the cycle? The ruination of the Mortal Plane? You have abandoned your duties.”

“Not exactly,” Damien said, keeping the Ether he had channeled at the ready. “I’m Henry’s host.”

Her head jerked up. The purple light reflected eerily off the striking silver pools where her eyes should have been. A ragged laugh escaped the woman’s mouth. “His host? He has failed to control your body?”

“I’d say he’s doing better than you are,” Damien said, stopping a healthy distance away from her. “I don’t suppose you’ve got something important that you’ve been waiting to tell me?”

“Why would I have any such thing? I would tell you to free me, but I doubt It Who Heralds the End of all Light would permit your body to act on such desires.”

“Well, I’m out of ideas,” Damien said, shrugging. “Herald, why did you bring me here? Because right now, I’m not particularly well disposed to any of your kind other than Henry.”

He paused for a moment, then cocked his head. “What’s your name?”

There was a long silence. Then a small laugh escaped the woman’s lips. “Harriot.”

“Right. You seem somewhat approachable,” Damien said slowly. “What if I told you that I’m going around destroying the Corruption?”

“You seek to restart the cycle?”

“Not exactly,” Damien said. “I’m hunting the Corruption itself. I don’t want to stop the cycle, since that means I would basically be killing myself.”

Harriot leaned forward, moving through the air towards them. The chains creaked, tightening as they strained to keep her in place. She jerked to a halt about ten feet away from the two of them.

Her eyes flicked from Damien to Sylph and she let out a slow hiss. Rancid breath washed over Damien and he grimaced, taking a step back.

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“You hunt the Corruption yet bring it to me? Do you wish to feed my host to the Seed, boy?”

“This isn’t a Seed,” Damien said, swallowing and trying to block out the smell. “I killed a Seed and its remains were used to rebuild this girl. The Seed is dead.”

Harriot narrowed her eyes, squinting at Sylph for a few moments. The girl returned her gaze with a flat eyed stare, not budging an inch.

“You push boundaries that no mortal should ever dare cross,” Harriot whispered. “You do not know what you toy with, boy. And yet, if you seek to oppose the Corruption, I will not stop you. You will fail, but perhaps you will buy enough time for one of my brethren to escape.”

“I’ll take it,” Damien said. His skin prickled as a ragged, laugh escaped Harriot’s mouth. The air in the room changed several degrees and the chains creaked again, tightening against the woman.

They abruptly went slack once more and the temperature returned to normal. Harriot gave no signs that anything had changed. She simply watched Damien and Sylph with her unsettling flat, silver eyes.

“So… about that help…” Damien hinted. “I don’t suppose you happen to know where the nearest Corruption might be?”

“It’s in this area,” Harriot said, her eyes narrowing. “I had thought that It Who Heralds the End of All Light changed sides to join with the Corruption. You plan to engage it on your own?”

“Something like that,” Damien said. “Could you get a bit more specific than somewhere in the area?”

“My senses are dulled by the cage that I am restrained in,” Harriot replied. “If you free me, I will give you the exact location of the Corruption.”

“Not happening,” Damien said. “Unless you make a contract to stop attempting to restart the cycle.”

“That is impossible,” Harriot said. “The cycle must be reborn. If not by one of us, then by another one of our brethren. The Corruption will consume all if it is not stopped, and then the Mortal Plane will be no more.”

“Compelling argument, but I’m still going to have to pass on killing myself and everyone I know,” Damien said. “And I still don’t see what the point of sending us here was.”

“Then leave,” Harriot said, smiling at him with a mouthful of crooked teeth. “The Corruption is near. Seek it out, boy. Destroy it, if you can. Perhaps then we can bargain.”

Is she telling the truth, Henry?

“It’s near all right,” Henry said, sounding distracted. “But I can’t tell where. Somewhere within a few miles. I’ve been putting all my focus on trying to locate it. Let me know if something happens, but I won’t be able to spot anything if I’m paying attention to you.”

Damien started to nod, but paused midway. A small frown crossed his face and he glanced back at Harriot.

“And you’re sure you won’t agree to a contract?” Damien asked, choosing his words carefully. “What if I gave you a big ole hug and a kiss on the forehead?”

Sylph shot Damien a baffled look as Harriot let out a bark of laughter. “Not even then, boy.”

Ether crackled to life in Damien’s hand, forming into a gravity drill. “You aren’t from the Void. Void creatures don’t have a sense of humor, and they certainly don’t laugh.”

The grin on Harriot’s face faded away. Sylph raised her weapon and backed up to stand directly between Damien and Harriot.

“You have picked a bad time to be perceptive, Damien Vale,” Harriot said. The multitude of voices faded, turning scratchy and hollow. Silver tears started to drip down Harriot’s face as her eyes turned a haunted black. The skin on her face sagged downwards.

Chains thundered down from the walls, their anchoring points snapping of their own volition. All the chains connected to Harriot aside from the ones at her feet fell as well, freeing her arms and upper body.

Henry? I think I found the Corruption. Good time to pay attention again.

“You seem more conversational than the other Corruption I faced,” Damien said, keeping the gravity drill pointed at Harriot. “But something tells me that you might not be interested in talking things out.”

“Your meddling never changes, Damien Vale. No matter what cycle we are in, you are always an annoyance. Even when we arrive early, through fruition of plans started when the universe was still young, you still manage to find your way into our path,” Harriot said, green liquid dribbling down her chin and hissing against the floor below. “You will be hunted until the ends of time. Every single one of your iterations will be purged and slaughtered. You will die a hundred thousand deaths, until all you know is–”

Sylph blurred forward, fading out of sight for a moment as she slipped into her camouflage before she reappeared at Harriot’s side, driving her blade into the Void creature’s body.

Green liquid sprayed out of her mouth and Damien Warp Stepped out of the way to avoid the shower of acid that melted through the stone where he’d been standing. Sylph dodged to the side as Harriot lunged for her, the two chains at her ankles yanking the Void-Corruption creature backward just before she could grab the girl.

“Damn,” Damien said, pointing the gravity drill at Harriot. “I’m not sure what I did to you, but you’re really making me feel justified in whatever it was.”

The spell tore through the air, punching into Harriot’s chest and digging into it before detonating, tearing a large chunk of her flesh away. Green liquid surged forth, patching the gaping wound before it could do any real damage.

Henry, can I fight this thing?

“It’s still partially sealed,” Henry reported. “I’m unsure as to Harriot’s fate. It is difficult for me to determine Harriot’s current strength, but it should be greatly restricted by the bindings. Just in case, however…”

Henry surged into Damien’s shadow. It rose up from the ground, dark energy already crackling around Henry as he thrust his shadowy arms forward. Purple fetters rose up from the ground around Harriot.

She tried to dodge away, but the chains at her ankles yanked taut. The bindings wrapped around Harriot’s arms and body, constricting and flaring with motes of crackling light. Damien started to gather Ether in his hands.

“She’s severely weakened,” Henry said.

Sylph’s blade flashed and Harriot’s arm vanished in a spray of green. The former Void creature spun with a snarl, slashing at Sylph with elongating fingers. A greenish gray stone scythe erupted from Sylph’s back, blocking the strike before it could hit her.

“You dare use my own powers against me?” Harriot screamed. “I will–”

Damien lobbed an overloaded gravity sphere through the air. It hit Harriot square in the chest and detonated with a pop-thud. Bone shattered and a scream tore out of the bound woman’s mouth as Sylph’s scythe flashed, decapitating her.

Harriot’s head thunked to the floor, melting into a pool of green acid. Damien lowered his hands slightly. “That was… slightly underwhelming. I can’t believe we cut her off twice while she was speaking.”

The woman’s body twitched. Damien pressed his lips together. “My bad. Shouldn’t have said anything.”

Bubbles formed on Harriot’s neck. A rocky structure roughly the shape of her head started to form, acid pouring out of it and melting through her already ravaged clothes. The flowing green liquid slowed as her eyes and mouth snapped back open.

“You cannot kill me,” Harriot snarled, spraying acid spittle across the room. “Your pitiful attacks–”

Sylph cut her head off again. They watched it bounce across the ground and melt into the stone.

“Well, this is just depressing,” Damien said. Harriot’s body twitched again. Sylph stabbed it several times, then cut off her arms for good measure. Acid flowed off the corpse like a flowing waterfall. Despite the damage they’d done, it only took Harriot a few seconds to completely reform.

“Well, I’m open to suggestions,” Damien said, eyeing Harriot’s body with distaste. Sylph cut the woman’s head off again before she could open her mouth to speak.

“Void Entities have an incredible amount of Ether,” Henry said. “We can rebuild the bindings on her, but Harriot was covered with them when I last checked on her. I don’t think my vision was that clouded then, so that means she was able to damage or break them. If we bind her, she will almost certainly escape after enough time.”

Harriot’s head reformed with a pop. She only had the time to spit in Damien’s direction before Sylph chopped it off again.

The situation would have almost been amusing if Damien wasn’t slowly becoming aware of the fact that Harriot seemed to be immortal. They could only stay here for so long killing her, and the prison keeping the monster restrained was weakening.

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