Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 834: The Last Of Them ()
The dark miasma loomed far below, an evil eager to rise at any sign of life overhead. How Jian and Verothrax could safely get across the canyon without triggering the miasma, Neveah wasn’t certain. But it was a risk she couldn’t and wouldn’t take, not with Kaideon.
Summoning a jump portal came naturally, in her mind’s eyes, she wanted to picture the last known end point of the canyon, but the uncertainty of that destination was a risk all on its own. And so she did the last thing she ever thought she would, pictured the one destination she was certain the breaking had yet to reach. The location painted itself vividly in her mind, a mesh of darkness, gloom and ashen devastation.
A place she had only ever heard tales of, and accounts related by others. A place she had never been or ever imagined she would have to be. But it was as clear in her mind’s eyes like she knew each and every crack and crumble, every pile of ash and weathered rock...like she knew it better than she knew anywhere else.
The place it had all begun...
The portal roared to life, and Kaideon shot through the barrier, straight into the shadowy darkness on the other side.
A rush of magic and a flash of blinding light, and they were in cursed skies. The air around changed instantly. The temperature dropped by a few dozen degrees and Neveah felt a bitterness in the back of her throat, like the air itself was living toxin. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
And it was. Everything about this place, everything it represented was death and depravity.
Her eyes stung, it took a moment for her to adjust, and when she did, the familiar layout of the dark lands lay before them.
The dark lands had long been lain waste to, but the current devastation was beyond anything Neveah was familiar with. The earth was torn up for as far as the eye could see, the miasma churning in the abyss of a canyon of unknown depth.
But that was only what was a few miles behind them. Too close for comfort. Yet, it was nothing compared to what lay ahead.
’The Shadow Tower...’ Kaideon’s voice echoed in her head, his tone was darker than she had ever heard it.
Her father was a man of controlled emotions, yet even he couldn’t stand this dreadful place.
Even from such a great distance, Neveah felt a chill of terror crawl down her spine. It was a cold and haunting feeling...it was the only feeling suited to a place like this.
And in this moment, every terrible thing ever written of it made sense. A solitary tower set in the middle of centuries of decay and ruin, like a mockery to everything that had ever been built afterwards. A structure that had resisted countless dragon fires. An ever present reminder of an age the dragons would much rather forget.
A symbol...a warning, that darkness would never truly be eradicated from this world.
That no supremacy could stand for an eternity. That everything could fall to ruin in the blink of eye.
’We need to find them...before we lose the daylight.’ Kaideon thought grimly.
Neveah nodded slowly. The dark land was a horror in the daytime, but at sunset...it was a death zone, particularly for dragons.
The death gale was trapped within the canyon. But shadow people? They still roamed in hordes.
The darklands stretched far beyond the tower. They could be anywhere out here. But where?
Neveah’s thoughts were soon answered with no contribution on her part.
An earth shaking roar cut through the silence, sending a gust of wind that carried with it, dirt, debris and a putrid stench.
Kaideon flew in the direction of the sound and the sight they met made Neveah’s heart shrink.
Jian... he was there, but he wasn’t alone.
He was attacked on both sides. On one end, a monstrosity of a beast, as tall as a mountain with skin darker than ash. A great orc.
Another forlorn crawled up from the damned pit.
On the other side, was the familiar silhouette of Beoruh. In the deceptive skin of a child. He hovered mid air with wisps of darkness twisting around his legs to keep him elevated.
Shadows spun around his limbs, surging to answer his call whilst Jian was already fully engaged with the great orc.
But that was not all.
Not a far distance away, hovered the dragon of ashen scales. He watched the battle like a spectator, with no intentions of getting involved.
And there was something about him... something different with the air around him that left Neveah rooted for a minute too long.
Just then, Verothrax reared his head and released a torrent of flames.
Not at the beast... no.
"He’s attacking, Jian!" Kaideon thought in horror.
Jian spun away just in time, narrowly escaping the flames. His eyes darted between the great orc, Beoruh and Verothrax.
They lingered particularly on Verothrax. Visibly hesitant, considering but wary.
As Kaideon surged forwards to aid him, the world seemed to slow around Neveah.
A familiar chill curled in the pit of her stomach as her eyes lifted from Verothrax up to his rider, the woman who sat proudly on his back like she commanded the world.
But she didn’t belong there. A strong awareness of magic slammed into Neveah. So clearly, she could not doubt it if she tried.
The arcane pulsed in recognition, of magic contrary to it yet present enough to trigger its acknowledgement.
’Witch...’ Demevirld hissed in Neveah’s mind.
Witch... witch. The race wiped from existence, the dwellers of Ebonhollow with a magic type unique to their species alone.
There were no witches left on this side of the world. The last of them had met her end in that fall...
Everyone knew this. Even if no one dared speak of it.
The last of the witches... Misha. The deceased Lady of Onyx Scales.
But how much of what they knew was still true?
