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 Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2022 9:07 pm
The wastelands were still and quiet, rolling on forever into the distance and poised to devour anything that foolishly stumbled into their hungry maw. Nothing thrived here. Nothing could. It was a death sentence for any foolish enough to lose themselves to the endless void of barren expanse. It was there she dwelled. The Dark Mother.
The entrance to the cave waited. Tall and ominous, reaching skyward. But unlike Grendel’s visit, where moonlight guided the way, there was only darkness now. It made the opening almost impossible to distinguish from the rest of the jagged, black rock surrounding it. The silence was deafening, no crickets, no animals calling in the distance, nothing. There was also no sign anyone was coming or that anyone was even here at all. Loneliness, emptiness, confusion, and loss prowled at the mouth of this cave. But something else as well.. violence, rage, and anger. The barrier between two planes shifted, fueled by these emotions, waiting for him. It whispered to the lone creature, beckoning. Neither kind nor unkind. Simply a call.
A crack of lightning lit up the sky, the threat of rain in the distance. The scent was fresh, wild, a mix of damp earth and heavy herbs whipped up by a cold wind that had steadily begun to grow in strength. It pushed at him harshly, jostling his pelt and stinging his wound riddled face. The roll of thunder came next, though it sounded more like the growl of some ancient predator. Like the beast had clawed its way up to heaven. On the hunt for gods to devour. The stars, hidden from view, swallowed by large, angry-looking clouds. Yet here in the vast emptiness they weren’t simply large. They were colossal. Towering up from the distance like grey giants and carrying with them pure ferocity. The storm would be savage tonight. Anything, mortal or immortal, caught in its claws would certainly perish.
Not much of a choice.
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2022 9:45 pm
The crack of thunder had awoken h. Zapathasura reached for his face as pain seared through his flesh. What had happened? He remembered…..father. He was angry and disappointed. At him? For what?
As he stood the forceful winds nearly knocked him over. The smell of rain indicated that he needed to find shelter and soon. But where was he? It was so dark and he could barely see theee feet in front of himself. Pink eyes squinted at the darkness and he thought he saw far off in the distance a cave. It was the only shelter looking place he could see. All the black and jagged rocks looked foreboding and not very good for shelter.
Wrapping his arms around himself Zapathasura began the long walk to the cave. Still going over things in his mind. There was lost time.
It actually took him less time than he had thought to reach the cave. And just in time too. The Titan sized clouds that threatened rain were just about to let loose their burden of he was any judge of weather. Leaning his back against the cool wall of the cave he slid doen to a seated position
He would wait out the storm here and the. Try to figure out where he was later.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 2:19 am
As the storm gained momentum and the clouds began to unleash their fury the first rains came. Heavy, cold, like jagged ice. Another crack of lightning, the roar of thunder, and the earth of the wasteland steadily transformed into a sea of mud. As the barrier to the cave was breached by the vampire a soft echo sounded within the darkness just beyond. The shadows within began to writhe as a sigh snaked its way from further in, a warm rush of air, to meet the frigid winds of the storm head on. As they collided the cold was forced out. There were things in the darkness, not creatures so much, simply shadows. However, they elicited a feeling of unease as they slithered from one side to the other across the smooth sandstone.
Suddenly a pair of torches sprang to life, the only light. The flames burned hypnotically in their beds, dancing a writhing, showing him a way from the opening of the cave to a second opening set deeper within. This entrance sat perched atop a jagged set of rocks that could be considered a path of sorts. Were one curious enough, or desperate enough, to try and climb it.
The entrance to the inner sanctum loomed before him, the same feeling of emptiness radiated outward, as if no-one were there. But something was. A figure appeared, barely visible, from the depths of the second opening. Her eyes were illuminated in the darkness, like burning rubies. The loose curls of her fiery locks adorned with an array of ornate golden hair pins. It was hard to make out anything more. The gaze was terrifying as it held him, unblinking. But it watched without judgement. Without emotion. Before she turned and was swallowed once more by the darkness of the inner sanctum.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 12:22 pm
Zapathasura jumped as the torches flared to life. He had expected this cave to be just that. A cave.
But the torches said otherwise.
The blast of warm air warmed his fur making being here just a little tolerable. His gaze traveled around the cave. Peering into the darkness. He spotted what looked to be another opening towards the back of the cave. He pushed himself off the wall and began to slowly traverse the distance along the torch lit “path”. Cautious of the shadows that lingered.
It felt as if something else slithered and writhed in it and he did not want to be caught up in all of that.
Was that a figure he just barely saw lingering there? He was unsure. His head was pounding and at this point he could have be hallucinating anything. Even ghostly looking people with glowing red eyes.
Zapathasura stopped just short of the next entrance. A slight hesitation bubbling up inside of him.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 11:18 pm
The darkness of the second entrance felt ominous, like it was a place you had to be sure you wanted to go before you stepped foot inside. Because there would be no coming back. Not as you were now anyway. A soft sound, like bells or chimes, echoed in the darkness. Another sigh and the warm breeze changed course, now pushing Zap, egging him to keep moving forward. “Go.” It seemed to say. “This is where you begin..” The breeze grew slightly stronger before it pushed past him, rushing down into the darkness and leaving the outer chamber which suddenly began to grow cold again.
The torches had not shuddered when the breeze passed them, now they began to dim softly. Their flame flickering before springing back anew, brighter than before. They writhed in their beds, as though anxious for the intruder to move along. Aching to slumber. The rain roared loudly outside of the cave and yet the floor inside stayed dry. As though kept at bay. The flash of lightning that tore through the clouds lit up the entrance brightly, the rumble of thunder practically shaking the cave as it rolled overhead.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 11:26 pm
There was so much darkness beyond the next entrance that Zapathasura wasn’t sure he wanted to step through. It could be a trap and he would end up dead. He couldn’t end up dead. He had to deal with his father first and foremost. And this stupid cave was keeping him from that.
He fought against the wind as it blew against him. Trying to push him foreword. Well wind or not henwould not let it push him around. The voice he heard annoyed him. Telling him where to go was not something Zap enjoyed having done to himS he went where he wanted when he wanted.
But the cave he was standing in was growing cold and it seemed to push up against him as the lights dimmed then sprang back to life. His fox like ears twitching at the cold and wrapping his arms around himself. This was an unnatural cold. The kind that dug deep into your bones mortal or undead. And he was getting tired of being left out in the cold.
Turning towards the second entrance he was surely going to regret this. He stepped through into the darkness
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2022 11:08 am
The moment he stepped through the darkness enveloped him. The torches at the entrance went out instantaneously and he was bathed in eternal night. Soft whispers, hard to pick up at first but steadily growing bolder, echoed at intervals all around him. But they weren't speaking to him. It was like hearing conversations long lost to time. Creatures he could not know. Moments he would never see. A scent began to grow in strength. Spices, exotic and soothing. Salt, fire, earth... mixed with some overwhelming emotion that made one sick to their stomach. Like the leftover anxiety of a sudden rush and retreat of adrenaline. The whispers stopped when he moved and started again when he stopped. Too close and so far away.
Up ahead a candle burst to life. The small flame providing just a tiny pinprick of light in a sea of darkness. It danced, fending off the abyss mightily before it was joined by another, and another. Soon hundreds of candles sprung to life along the ledges and in the carved out holes of the ancient halls where he stood. The cold nipped at his heels. Warning him against stopping for too long.
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2022 8:29 am
Darkness.
It surrounded him and almost overwhelmed him.
Zapathasura was used to the dark but this dark was different from what he was used to. It seeped inside his mind and he could have sworn he heard voices. His fox like ears swiveling to try and hear them better. To make out exactly what it was they were saying. Frustrating.
A scent wafted by his nose. Something exotic and full of spices. And then suddenly he felt sick to his stomach and the more of the scent he inhaled the sicker he felt. Zapathasura reached out for a wall to cling to before he might fall to his knees. Thankfully he was able to rally what resolve he had to keep himself from falling down.
The hair on his back stood on end as a cold chill ran up his spine. While the cold didn’t usually bother him this cold was extreme. To be caught in it’s grasp was to turn to ice. A small pinpoint of light caught his attention. And then suddenly another. And another. Until the walls were lined with them. Pushing back the darkness and a Zapathasura could see he was in some ancient halls of sorts.
Pulling himself up straight he continued to cling to the wall as he made his way through the halls.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2022 11:10 pm
A heavy breathing, like the walls themselves were moving rhythmically in and out, in and out. The pathway a throat, swallowing him down further. The icy wind snapped and bit at his heels. Waiting eagerly for him to stop so it could steal his strength. The candles appeared unaffected by the wind, they stayed calm in their waxy beds, moving only this way or that when they caught a bit of fuel and jumped in response. Otherwise, it too was.. unnatural. The light. Like he was in a different plane of existence and he merely walked these halls as a shadow. Beaten into purgatory. A ghost.
The wall up ahead slammed shut roughly, sealed against his entrance, but another began to rip itself apart to the right and the chamber within was darkness. Nothing but darkness. He would easily walk into this place if he so chose. Fear pulsed from within the chamber, anger, hostility, but something tantalizing as well. Something beneath all the raw emotions. He would sense it if he tried. A sound, like singing, echoed within. It wasn't unpleasant this song, but more haunting and old. Like a lullaby, one you hear passed down between generations. It grew in strength as he approached...
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2022 12:01 am
Zapathasura did not feel himself as he walked this hall. As it all his insides had been scooped out and the only thing left was a shell. Of course, he had not felt himself for a very, very long time. His hair ruffled in the cold breeze that nipped at his back. Urging him on as it ran cold fingers through his fur. Every time it touched him he felt weaker and weaker. But he would not give up going forward. To stop was to cease to exist. A sudden right and he was confronted by a dark room. Unlike some of the rooms he had already passed not even the light of the candles penetrated it no matter how close it was. A song beautiful and terrible all at once filled his mind. Stopping only for a second before he plunged into the void. There was nothing but bitter cold behind him so what more could he ask for than to slip into a void and disappear into nothing.
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2022 12:38 am
The darkness swallowed him whole and behind him the entrance sealed shut. The grating sound of rock sliding against rock, the crumbling of the earth as it shifted, it was nearly deafening. As the entrance sealed the song abruptly ended. The voice replaced by an intense, eerie silence. There was nothing to see here. The biting hound of a wind hadn't entered with him, the light of the candles could not penetrate, there was nothing here but him and the darkness pressing in on all sides.
A sound, like liquid falling onto smooth stone, echoed from the far side of the room. The same sound behind him. Now to his right. His left. The floor beneath his feet became unstable, wet. The ground shifted and grew soft, it began to wrap around his legs with the intention of immobilizing him. Thick, heavy, but warm. The sceny was coppery and familiar. As a vampire he'd know it well.
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2022 10:41 am
And then there was nothing. Nothing but the oppressive darkness pushing on on all sides all around him. It was warm now that the cold chill was gone. For that he was mostly great ful. Even beeing I head sometimes the cold got a bit too extreme for his tastes. As his leg sank he struggled against it. Trying to pull his legs up onto something solid but he found no purchase. Zapathasura thrashed like prey caught in quick sand and it only seemed to be making it worse. The noise was deafening and he growled in frustration as he tried to reach for something. Anything.
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2022 12:05 pm
The thick, dark liquid traveled up his body. It clung to him eagerly, like a hungry monster. Circling his legs, then his torso, his arms, and finally his neck as would a serpent poised to squeeze the life from its prey. It began to lift him off the ground and into the air. Long tendril-like limbs shot out and slammed heavily against the walls, firmly gripping the stone. It held the thrashing Vampire firmly in its grip. Zapathasura appearing, for lack of a better description, as the beating heart of the many legged mass. The sound of dripping had stopped.
It wasnt long after that two embers flickered to life from deep within the darkness. It would have been easy to mistake them for the start of a flame, until they blinked. The Dark Mother stepped towards him, the blood trails beneath her eyes freshly marked, her long hair free of its usual ornamentation. She looked almost wild. Haunting. Her eyes trained predatorily on the male. That strange gaze looked up at him, suspended just above the floor, her expression devoid of any familiar emotion.
"The broken beast.." The voice was.. hard to describe. It was anything but comforting, almost like a feral growl mixed with a soft hiss. Excited whispers erupted here and there in the darkness as she fell silent, but they quickly faded away. Soft, some barely audible, none of them discernable. She didn't appear to enjoy his state of being. He was battered, bruised, his mind shattered, but neither did she appear to pity him. Her eyes flashed in the darkness, as if light were reflecting into them. She was looking at him, within him. Observing something coiled deep inside.
Feral, unpredictable, waiting to devour.
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2022 12:24 pm
Zapathasura continued to struggle. If he could just get his claws free he would be able to tear whatever this was apart. But it quickly traveled up his body, lifting him off the ground and keeping him there. Still thrashing he lashed his tail with a growl as he arched his back trying to pull away but as he strained his muscles screamed and he let out a loud, frustrated growl before he was pulled back like a rubber band that had been snapped.
He waited for it. The end to come. Because this was the end right? This was why he was here. To suffer.
The two embers drew his attention momentarily. And when she stepped from the shadows he thrashed again. “No! Not you!” He practically screamed it into th void. It did not echo, swallowed up by he darkness.
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2022 1:08 pm
His scream, swallowed by the darkness, caused the light in her eyes to brighten momentarily. She severed her gaze from within and focused squarely on his face. "Your beast is a rabid dog.. sick. Fragmented." The voice was even. Calm. So much raw emotion in this one. So much rage that wasn't his alone. He had been molded. Trained to bite. He was thick with the stench of manipulation. That scent of incense and spices filled the chamber, but this time it wasn't as harsh. It was pleasant and at the same time eerie. The coils of darkness kept their hold firm but did not squeeze unless he fought them.
The Dark Mother observed the wounded Childe, contemplating what needed to be done. He would fix himself. Or he would never leave. There was no other way. That much strength without control was a time bomb. "You cannot keep biting your brethren. I know you dont care if you die. However, there can be things worse than this existence that await you in final death." He was going to suffer, more than he had ever suffered in the entirety of his unlife. But sometimes you had to snap a bone to set it properly. He had many bones to snap.
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