Echoes of the Abyssal Blade: Path to Free Will-Chapter 100: Brave Heart

After resting for three days, in the Hawk’s Eye colony, all of the natives of Dragon’s Tooth colony readied themselves and gathered outside.

Some of the members of the other three colonies also came to bid them farewell. Jonan felt warm seeing the reception for their leave, so many people came, that too strangers, just for their departure.

Raerin then again thanked vehemently the chieftains of the four colonies for their help, and he then started walking with his people following behind him.

Raerin and his colony members had to walk and make their way towards the Bleeding Cavern, which was south of the Hawk’s Eye colony.

The Bleeding Cavern is the entrance to the lower layers, it continues until the fifth layer, but travelling along the different layers is difficult and dangerous.

One can stumble upon bloodthirsty beasts, Abyssal Creatures, or something entirely different, but far more fearsome than those who usually come in front; it is those hidden beings that are way more dangerous to face.

As they kept on marching towards their journey to the fifth layer, they encountered some small difficulties, some beasts who attacked them out of nowhere, and some unknown plan they had never seen, which entangled them.

The fourth day on the road was the hardest for all of them.

The earth underfoot had long since given up any softness, it was becoming jagged with sharpened and dull stones. The sky overhead was a constant grey shroud, thick with low-hanging clouds that threatened but never delivered rain.

A chill wind rolled across the barren plains, dry and unkind, carrying the faint, iron-slick scent of dirt. No one spoke much that day. Not even the children who usually found ways to fill the air with idle chatter had anything left to say.

Raerin walked ahead, his spear haft resting across one shoulder, his face was haggard and unshaven. The others trudged behind him, cloaks drawn tight, eyes sunk deep into their sockets.

Even Jonan, whose spirit often weathered trials better than most, seemed swallowed by the oppressive quiet. It wasn’t merely the exhaustion of travel that weighed on them; it was the desolate energy of this land, that had turned them all lethargic.

By dusk, the path led them over a narrow rise. There, spread before them like an open wound in the earth, was the mouth of the Bleeding Cavern.

It was a vast opening, jagged and uneven, as though some unknown force had torn the ground asunder. Dark red mist billowed lazily from its depths, curling in the air like tendrils of some brewing pot stirring.

The rocky outcroppings around its rim were stained with a rusted crimson, it was the result of uncountable years of being bathed in the crimson mist emerging from the Bleeding Cavern.

It was also then that all of them stopped, and noticed a figure in front of them, a lone figure at that, but it wasn’t just a normal figure, that would stop their march, the thing in front of them looked far worse than beasts.

At first glance, the figure seemed like a twisted statue, a humanoid creature left by some long-forgotten demon. A tall, imposing figure of dark, charcoal-like skin that seemed to drink in what little light the world offered.

Its torso was humanoid, broad and muscular, but four arms sprouted from its shoulders—each one thick with muscle and ending in clawed hands sharp enough to rend flesh and stone alike.

Its legs were short, but sturdy, they planted wide in a squat, with a powerful stance that made it seem immovable.

Around its head, a crown of wickedly curved horns branched outward and upward, some glowing with a faint, unsettling purple light.

Its face was obscured in shadow, but the suggestion of a long, angular jaw and sharp cheekbones could be seen, and within the dark hollows of its face, two piercing purple eyes flickered like dying embers. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

And behind it, a tail as long as a grown man was tall—segmented like that of some infernal serpent—coiled and uncoiled lazily, flicking through the blood mist.

The air grew heavier in its presence. A pressure built in the back of every throat, a primal terror gnawed at everyone present; none of them had ever faced a being like this. This was something worse.

Jonan felt the most shocked of them all; he could feel a familiar feeling from the humanoid creature in front of them, while its appearance was entirely different, what Jonan could not grasp was why this Abyssal Creature was giving him the same aura as that of The Abomination that he and his cohort members faced in Dreavows.

And then, as if summoned by silent command, the ground around the figure rippled. From the darkness, they came.

Multiple hound-like creatures slunk into view, their forms were a grotesque mockery of nature. Their hides were stretched too thin over their skeletal frames, diseased grey flesh pulling tight against bone, patches of raw muscle exposed and weeping.

Their ribs were jutted outward like blunted blades, and along each creature’s spine, jagged, uneven spikes protruded—like the barbed ridges of some ancient predator.

But it was their faces that truly curdled the blood. Elongated muzzles split wide to reveal cavernous, drooling maws. Tongues, long and pink, lashed the cold air, each one slick with viscous, stringy saliva.

Their teeth were impossibly numerous—needle-thin, gleaming wetly—and their eyes...tiny, burning points of crimson light, sunk deep into empty sockets.

They looked mindless, without any thoughts of their own, which could only be commanded.

A low growl rose from them in unison, a bone-deep sound that seemed to shake the very ground.

Raerin’s hand tightened around his spear. His face, already drawn, turned grim. This wasn’t a single beast they could rally against. This was a swarm, led by the humanoid abyssal creature in front of them.

It was also then that from the distant rocks, a single arrow whistled through the air.

It flew straight, aimed for the humanoid figure’s head.

The thing didn’t even turn. Its tail flicked, faster than sight, swatting the arrow aside as though it were no more than a leaf on the wind.

From the misted horizon came the sound of war cries.

Figures appeared—men and women armed with Knives, bows, and jagged blades. The chieftains of the four colonies had arrived. Without waiting, they charged. A wave of fire-tipped arrows cut through the dark, and spearmen followed in a disciplined line.

Idhar, the chief of Hawk’s Eye, broke from the line and made straight for Raerin.

"Go!" Idhar barked, his face smeared with ash and blood. "Get your people to the cavern. We’ll hold them here!"

Raerin hesitated. "We can fight with you—"

"There’s no time!" Idhar shouted, grabbing Raerin by the shoulder. "Your people can’t survive this fight. Get them back to their home, fighting and killing these abyssal creatures is a lifelong pursuit for us."

For a moment, Raerin looked as though he might argue. His jaw clenched, and his eyes were burning with shame.

But he knew, that if he stayed, then most of his people would die, which would instead be a problem for them, and their colony will be completely finished.

He nodded once, with a grim expression, and made a silent promise in his heart, to return back the favour one day.

Raerin turned. "Move!" he roared to his people. "To the Bleeding Cavern, now!"

There was no shame in their faces, only terror. They fled, following their chief down the rocky slope, toward the crimson mist and the yawning mouth of the world.

Jonan cast one last look over his shoulder.

The chieftains’ warriors clashed with the hounds, blades meeting diseased flesh. One of the hounds leapt, bringing a man down, its maw latching onto his throat with a sickening crunch. Arrows pelted the larger figure, only for it to stand untouched amidst the carnage.

Ayaka seized Jonan’s wrist. "Don’t look," she whispered, her voice trembling.

"Hmm," Jonan muttered.

But Ayaka pulled harder, dragging him with the others. Into the mist. Into the darkness.

On the ridge above, the battle had fully ignited.

Idhar moved like a tempest, his twin axes cleaving through the nearest hound’s skull, splitting it to the neck. The creature collapsed in a heap of bone and bloodied hide, but another was already lunging. Beside him, Mareth of Craghold loosed a spear straight through a hound’s ribcage, pinning it to a boulder.

"We hold them here!" Idhar bellowed, his voice carrying over the clash of steel and snapping jaws. The warriors fought with grim resolve, knowing none of them would leave this ridge. Their task was not to survive—it was to buy the others time.

The humanoid figure remained still amid the slaughter, those burning blue eyes watching.

A hound burst toward Idhar, but he sidestepped and drove an axe into its spine. Another chieftain fell, gored by two of the beasts, his last breath a wordless scream.

Still, they fought.

And down below, Raerin and his people reached the cavern’s entrance.

"Inside!" Raerin ordered.

One by one, they slipped into the dark, swallowed by the crimson mist and the deep, ancient maw of the earth, leaving the battle—and their saviors—behind.