33 Chapter 33 - Death Doesnst Stop Chaos (1/2)

Blackness. All I could perceive was an endless void as even the feeling of my body was gone. A minute, two... a day, a week, a year. Time lost all meaning as I continued to persist on. There was no kaleidoscope of memories to replay my life, heavenly angels, or demons of hell, just emptiness and loneliness.

”So, this is death?” I chuckled to myself.

Sure, I could laugh now, but how long could I truly last in this abyss without losing my mind? The question floated around my mind for a time, only serving to torment me. I tried to focus on my memories of the manor, my friends, my brother, and Katye.

Once again, my thoughts turned to torment me as I thought about all of the 'what if'. What if I had never pushed her away? What if I had tried? Throwing all of the magic and bloodlines junk to the side, I could tell there had been something between us. Yet I had been an ass and ignored not only my own feelings, but hers as well. Sacrificing myself for her was certainly a good way to apologize, but the drawbacks were killer...

”Yep... I'm slowly going insane,” I decided after my cruddy joke.

My mind shifted to my childhood as I remembered growing up with Gustavo. I was two years older than him which gave me a leg up when trying to keep up with him. I had always been a tomboy, so we spent our summers' palling around our grandparents' farm catching bugs to go fishing and exploring the woods. When we got older, we bonded over video games late into the night while screaming at the top of our lungs. In school, I helped him study while he kept away some of the bullies that tried to mess with me. We were inseparable and, even though we fought and cursed each other out, we always had each other's back.

”How long are you going to wallow in self-pity?” a voice from the darkness asked.

”I knew that voice! It's One, but aren't I dead?” I thought.

”Death doesn't stop Chaos, why should it stop you?” came his reply.

Suddenly, I was falling. I could feel my body once again, even if I couldn't see it. Below me, I could see a black fire that were only visible thanks to the crimson accents that lined the edges of the flames. Before I knew it, I was standing with the pit of black flames, but they didn't burn. No, they were bone-chillingly cold. It wasn't a pleasant feeling as the chill seeped into my body and I felt a 'rot' set in.

Pristine white bones began to rain down from above and I watched as the flames engulfed each piece. The bones pooled together in small groups of different sizes and when the final piece joined its group, the black flames would wrap around the bones as it formed the skeleton of a creature. Goblins, Hobgoblins, Taniwhas, Uktenas, and much more formed around me, all their empty eye sockets trained on me.

”Every life you have taken now bars your path of return. Fight them and live, surrender and die.”

As soon as One's voice died away, they all moved in unison. Eight goblins were the first to spring at me, clawing at me with their boney fingers. I punched away one and smacked another away, but the other six latched onto me. I could feel their tiny, skeletal fingers trying to pierce through my scales, but they weren't strong enough to succeed. I ripped one of them off of me by its skull and used it to beat away some of the next way to launch themselves at me.

I had known that I had killed more than a few creatures in my three years at the manor, but it truly seemed endless as bones continuously poured from above. I was swarmed first by the goblins who couldn't break through my natural defenses, but the sheer volume of them were restricting my movements as the gnaw and clawed at my body. Hobgoblins joined in as well, but they weren't much stronger than their short counterparts. It was when the Taniwhas, a four-legged lizard with dragon-blood, that something finally pierced through my scales with it three-inch long fangs clamping down on my calves.

When the lesser creatures were destroyed, humanoids started forming. Naga, Redcaps, Cynocephalus, Harpies, Minotaurs, Orcs, Trolls, and more made up the next wave. The few punctures I received seemed to heal on their own, but more wounds quickly appeared as I fought the new creatures. Until the first ones, these were smarter, using tactics and even boney weapons. I was certainly overwhelmed, but every injure I took was healed seconds later.

At one point, I stole a bone spear from one of the Nagas as I killed it, but it was only useful to me a bludgeoning weapon since bones couldn't bleed. I swung the spear with all my strength, breaking legs and arms, but only when I crushed the skulls would the creatures stop moving. My energy seemed limitless and, although I still felt the pain of every attack that landed on my body, I would heal almost instantly.

As the monsters were destroyed, larger ones took their place. Gargoyles, Cyclopes, Giants, and Orges... it was endless, but still I fought on. I didn't understand what was going on, but I had placed all of my hope on One's words. If I had a chance to live again, nothing would bar my path, especially those who I've killed once before.

It felt like months as I fought and crushed the never-ending skeletons, but as two large, familiar creatures formed, I knew I was almost done. Two, skeletal Piasa Birds formed and were my final opponents, one was nearly double the size of the other. My bone spear had long been destroyed, but I had replaced it with the femur of a Cyclopes. I stood between the two of them, breathing heavily, but a fire was still burning in my eyes.

The smaller one, about five times my height, was the first to move as it whipped its tail for me. I met the attack with a swing of my makeshift club and, despite negating a majority of the momentum, I was still pushed back a number of steps before I could steady myself. With none of my magic available to me, I knew this would be a hard-fought battle, but as the second, larger Piasa Bird turned towards, my confidence faltered. I could barely match up with the smaller one and now the second one was joining in.

It was not longer a fight at this point as both of the dragon birds swooped down on me. A beak bit down on my shoulder while a set of talons pierced through my gut and thigh then they pulled. I was ripped to pieces in a far more painful way than my 'true' death. They flung my body parts to side and I felt the black, crimson flames wrap around each piece. Once again, I was assaulted by the bone-chilling cold of the fire as my body slowly reassembled, much like how the skeletons would. The moment the freezing feeling faded, the Piasa Birds turned their attention back on me.