THE RISE OF AN OMEGA-Chapter 68: Shadows of the mind
Kira’s POV
I called a few more times before attempting to move from where I stood, but the further I got, the farther the distance became between me and him. The whole scenario reminded me of the series of illusions I had gone through at the hands of the dark entity.
What could be going on?
Why was he not standing up?
I was already in his head, but all I could see were just blank spaces and him curled up at one side of the space, shivering like he was just brought out of a cold room.
I looked around, trying to find something that might at least give me a hint about how this place was or at least let me know what I was up against.
I thought I was coming into a nightmare, but where he laid looked too calm to be a nightmare. I knew that he was definitely in a nightmare; all I needed to do was just to get closer, but that was the hardest thing to do.
Getting closer to him was harder than I thought. I tried so many times, but I kept failing.
What could be the reason?
As I thought hard and long for a while, I finally heard a still, small voice in my head saying, "You don’t have to be near him to get into his nightmare, just try to reach out to it with your mind."
Reach out to it with my mind? How the hell was I supposed to do that?
It was as if the still small voice heard, so it gave me a reply back, telling me to use the power of my mind just the way it’s always been.
I closed my eyes, trying to focus on his mind, but it was hard to concentrate. My concentration was being interrupted by transmissions, signals that were unknown to me, but I knew that it had to be the force behind this nightmare he was going through.
But I wasn’t about to give up; instead, my resolve grew stronger. I kept trying until I was finally able to get a glimpse into the nightmare he was lost in.
Immediately I got in, the energy in that place threw me off guard. I was immediately yanked out of the realm by the energy.
It was very ominous, strong, deadly, and destructive.
Apart from the dark entity, I had never felt such an amount of negative energy in my life. Though I haven’t been a moonkeeper for a long time, I could feel that even past moonkeepers before me never met a negative energy like this, and I know that because all moonkeepers are linked.
I took in a deep breath and then tried to go into his mind again. This time I stood my ground, making sure that I wasn’t pushed out once more. It wasn’t easy, but I was able to do it. I remained in his mind.
His mind space felt empty at first, then suddenly I began to see images of what he was going through. Different stages of torments, all flashed before my eyes at once. I stood confused.
They all seemed to be happening at the same time. I tried to imagine how everything could be playing in his head, but I couldn’t even imagine it because it was just too brutal.
Whatever this was, it couldn’t be making Ryker go through such horrible nightmares at the same time; that could make him lose his mind.
I for one would run mad if I was faced with such challenges. I can’t even seem to imagine how all the nightmares would begin to fight for space in my head.
I decided to walk into each nightmare to find him, hoping that when I saw him, I would be able to drag him out of this dark place. But I was disappointed.
I began to go into each and every one of his nightmares, trying to find him, but I couldn’t until I got to the very last one. When I went in, I was taken aback by what I saw. The nightmare he was going through was a nightmare about me.
He watched as I died a million times over and over again. It was a traumatic experience that even I couldn’t stand to watch for long. As I managed to get to Ryker, I began to call him out.
It took a while before I was able to get to him, but slowly and steadily, I was able to reach him.
"Ryker, are you alright?" I asked.
"Is this really you, Kira?"
"Yes, it’s me."
He placed his palm on my cheeks, after which he heaved a deep sigh of relief.
"I am getting you out of here," I said.
I placed my hands on his chest; bright light from my palms began to shine and take over his body until I couldn’t see him in the nightmare realm.
I heaved a sigh of relief.
I woke up back at the cave space, hoping to see him awake, but he still laid unconscious. Though his body wasn’t jerking or jolting, neither was he still sweating, which meant he was out of danger, but why wasn’t he back yet?
I shook him a little, but he didn’t budge. I became worried. I stood up and began pacing to and fro, trying to figure out what exactly I had missed.
Why wasn’t he waking up?
I paced to and fro for a while, trying to think, but I got nothing. Shortly after, he coughed.
"Ryker!" I yelled.
I rushed over to where he laid, helping him to stand as he tried standing up. "Are you alright, Ryker?" I asked.
He managed to nod his head.
I patted him on the back as he coughed. "I thought I lost you," he muttered.
"I thought I lost you too," I replied.
"What about Emilia?" he asked.
"No sign of her yet."
"And the others?"
"No sign of them either."
He took in a deep breath. "We can’t afford to waste any more time, Kira. We have to find the others now. Who knows, they might be going through this same shit I just went through. If they are, that means they’re gonna need you to get them out of there."
He was right. For all we knew, they could be going through the same thing. Without wasting much time, I helped him up, and then we began to find a way out of the cave space, but there was none.
Or so I thought. As we kept on pacing around, I suddenly stepped on a brick that seemed out of place. The way it even sounded—it sounded empty.
As I stomped my feet on it, it began to crack open. I kept on stepping on it until it finally opened. Lo and behold, beneath it was a pathway.
"Could this be how they got Emilia out?"
"It could be. The only way to find out is if we take the path. Besides, it’s the only path, so whether we like it or not, we have to take it," Ryker said.
We took the path down. As we went through the passage, my antenna was sharp, ready to attack anyone or anything that came lurking out from the shadows.
Ryker moved ahead of me until we got to a place that was illuminated. I conjured up light bulbs, which I placed in front of us, making them move ahead of us so they could light up our path.
As we traveled further down the dark hallway, the route became tighter, the stone walls closing in like the jaws of a creature poised to close down. The atmosphere became denser, laden with the aroma of wet soil and a metallic hint—perhaps blood. My heart raced in time with my steps, a consistent beat of fear and resolve.
Ryker stayed quiet next to me, his jaw tight and eyes keen even though some weakness still hung on in his body. He was bringing whatever strength remained within him to the forefront. We lacked the comfort of relaxation. Not at this moment.
The glowing orbs floated in front, unveiling engravings on the walls—old symbols, some of which I identified from Moonkeeper writings. Some seemed alien, inappropriate, as if they were never intended to be witnessed by the living.
Just as I was ready to speak, the atmosphere changed. Chilly. Keen. A frigid blast of wind swept by us from the darkness in front. My lamp shimmered.
"Did you sense that?" I inquired, just above a whisper.
Ryker gave a nod. "We’re not by ourselves."
We continued on, moving more slowly now. The trail made a sudden bend, leading into a cavern—significantly larger than the one we exited. In the middle was a basin of radiant red fluid, throbbing as though it possessed a heartbeat.
"What is that?" I inhaled.
Ryker remained silent. His eyes were fixed on something... someone.
I traced his gaze—and stopped.
Emilia hung above the pool, her form restrained by chains of shadowy light. Her eyes were shut, her complexion white, and her breathing faint.
"We found her," Ryker announced.
However, before we could move ahead, a voice resonated in the room—deep, archaic, and laced with malice.
"I was curious when the Moonkeeper would finally show up."
The darkness shifted.
We were not by ourselves.
