I was taken to a room reminiscent of the ancestral cave back at Mandla's tribe. Runic circle's marked the walls and ground. Carved into the very stone of the mountain, power left them in waves. While large totems of various creatures stood imposingly across the room, from the prideful lion all the way to the cunning jackal they were all present. But they all looked insignificant in comparison to the totem in the center of the room, it had the body of a snake but the head of an elephant. The great snake, the legends believed that he was the first creature forged by the gods. A failure, who had been allowed to exist only in the spirit. The elders and chief's entered the sacred room after me all standing next to the totem representing their spirit animal, with Mandla standing next to the totem of the lion.
While I was told to take a seat in front of the Great snake. I could have sworn I saw the totems eyes move, but it must have been my nerves rearing their ugly head. The pressure in front of the totem was suffocating in the worst kind of way. As if my soul was laid bare for all to see and the ritual had not even begun yet. With great effort I sat down in lotus position in the center of the runic circle as the chief began to chant. Every word they spoke felt like an attack on my soul, as the pressure continued to increase with every second that went by. My vision began to blur, as I felt myself begin to lose control over my body. I struggled to even think as if my mind was moving through thick molasses. But just as the pressure was about to consume me it suddenly ended. A bit shocked at the abrupt end I opened my eyes only to instantly regret it. Images began to invade my mind, strange and foreign things that no mortal should see tried to force their way into my psyche.
That was when the whispers began, at first it was barely audible but the more I ignored them the louder they became. The dead had chosen to speak to me, but they promised me things that the living had no right to know. But my refusal only made them even more persistent, until they point they were practically screaming in my mind. In languages long dead, with words long forgotten, I had no right to understand but understand I did. Black blood began pouring out from my eyes and ears like a twisted fountain as the void sought to consume me. "You have always been weak little Zee." A familiar voice cut through the madness creeping into my mind. Forcing my eyes open in shock I looked at the face that had been haunting me for seven long years. Malach stood like a beacon within the darkness, his facial features cold and filled with contempt. People had always thought we were twins growing up even if he was a year and a half older.
His skin was a darker caramel, while I had brown hair his was closer to black. With a stronger jawline and green eyes he stood there watching me with amusement. "I think the time has finally come. For too long you have floundered about like a fish out of water. It is time that you surrender, that body is wasted on you." He sneered as he began to step closer. "Do you have any idea how it feels, to be have your soul tethered to a weakling like you? Capable of doing nothing but watch, waiting until the moment you were weakened so that I could take control." He was standing directly in front of my kneeling form.
"Wha… What are you talking about? You are… just a figment of my imagination." It was a struggle just to get the words out, but I managed.
My words caused Malach to laugh. "Think just for a second little Zee, do you honestly think you were the only one who inherited our dear mother's gift? Hahahaha, you are dumber than I thought." My eyes widened at his words, no, no, no this can't be. The realization that it had always been him, the real him made my blood run cold. The worst thing was that I was too weak to resist what came next, this place had already taken its toll on my soul and now I had nothing left.
Malach's hand set ablaze with a silver and onyx fire as he reached out towards me. The fire did not burn, it did not try to consume me. Instead I felt a foreign energy worm its way into my very being. My own soul began to mount a resistance but it was already too strained by merely being here so it was a feeble resistance at best. Melancholy began to consume me as I realized this would be my end. Dammit, so many things I would never be able to finish. So many things I would never see again, an image of Verity's smiling face appeared in my mind as I felt myself begin to fade away. Then something strange happened, two separate forces within my soul began to move. One was the strange energy that had clung to my soul when I sat on the foreign throne, and the other was the death mana that had once sought to destroy me. Both energies moved in unison as they began to devour the power invading my soul.
Sweat poured down Malach's brow as his form began to grow intangible. "No," he whispered as more and more of his soul was drawn into my own. Strength entered me with every second Malach grew weaker. He tried to stop the process but the energy within my soul would not allow it as they fully consumed him. He could not even scream before he was no more. I felt something new form within my soul, forcing me to look inward. What I saw only confused me further, two almost identical souls glowed brightly within me. One gave of the unmistakable energy of my soul affinity while the other was black and radiated death, rot and decay. What I was seeing was impossible, few people in the world understood the soul better than I. And I knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was impossible to have two souls, yet here I was, a born enigma.
"Bravo! Little one, what a spectacle to see indeed." A deep booming voice sounded out from within the empty void. So loud that it sounded like the world itself was speaking. The voice dragged me out of my inner world, making me look around to find it's source. The only difference I noticed was a sun had appeared above the strange void. Illuminating the criss cross pattern of the ground I was standing on. My eyes darted upward once again looking at the sun, that was never a sun to begin with. It was an absolutely massive eye with a slit pupil. The world around me began to shake as the ground underneath me began to move, bringing me closer the creature so massive it was a world in and of itself.
My fingers dug into the grooves of the scales underneath me in an attempt to hold on. When the shaking finally stopped and I saw the absolute magnificence of the Great snake staring at me. I was so shocked that I was a afraid to even breath in this things presence. "What a strange creature you are little one. Born as one but reborn into two. When purity and finality meet, it is you they become. Hmmn, the presence of the seat emanates from you. I greet thee Lord of Death, master of the Unseen." The Great snake bowed it's head in respect. Nothing it said has made any sense to me, but seeing such an ancient creature bow to me made me feel uneasy. "I see I have made a mistake, merely a candidate you are. The Broken Sigil can forgive such a minor transgression. Oops, more knowledge you know not, not ready to know." The more the great spirit spoke the more convinced I became that it was actually just insane. Not a single word it has uttered has made a lick of sense. It was as if this creature was talking of me not too me, but I was the only one present so I was unsure.
Gathering my courage I finally asked. "So, what now? I was supposed to face a trial to prove I am worthy…" My words seemed to have interrupted this creatures conversation with itself as it looked at me once more.
"Trial? Worthiness? Who questions one who has defeated his own shadow? Faced his own darkness and stood stronger because of it? Child if you are not worthy then who is? Now leave for I grow tired once more, eternity awaits." The great snake's eyes began to close as the world around me began to fade, replaced with a different scene all together.
I found myself in the bush, acacia trees scattered around the somewhat barren land. Unlike the previous place I found myself here I was not truly present, merely and observer. I saw as a pride of lions stalked gazelle in full focus of the hunt as they moved ever closer. The largest lion turned to look directly at me before returning his focus on the hunt. I saw the leopard as it lazed in a tree grooming itself, giving me a disinterested look before continuing its seemingly important task of doing nothing. I watched as the cheetah played with its cubs. Every single animal I saw would notice me only to lose interest just as quickly.
That is until a white crow with blue eyes landed on a branch opposite to me, the carrion bird did not lose interest after a glance. Instead it just sat there watching me with intense eyes, burning with curiosity. I felt a presence approaching from my left, and when I turned I saw an onyx jackal as black as the night with silver eyes watching me intently. The crow screeched indignantly at the new arrival but the jackal was unperturbed as he continued to approach me. The crow did not take being ignored lightly, one second it was still on the branch while in the next his claws pierced the jackals hide. The smell of decay began permeating the air, as pure death mana began leaving the jackals body in protest. The two fought like siblings for what felt like hours, neither giving up nor retreating.
When the fight finally ended they were both covered in wounds and cuts. I just watched it all with curiosity, as the two spirits edged ever closer to me. When they did reach me they did something strange and slightly annoying. The two fuckers actually bit me drawing blood. The crow bit me on my left eye, managing to actually rip out my eye. While the jackal bit off my right hand. The strange thing was that I felt no pain from the experience, instead I felt my two souls react as a bond was formed between me and the two spirits. Once the bond was solidified I felt a force pulling me out of this strange spiritual plane as I was dragged back to my physical body. It felt like waking up from a long nap… extremely shitty. My head hurt so bad that it felt like it was about to burst, my breathing was heavy and labored.
I felt a wetness all across my face, lifting my hand to my face. I smeared it in the strange substance only to see it marked by black blood. So I did not imagine that part of this weird trial. Clenching my fist in frustration, I had come to close to losing myself once again. This was becoming far too common an occurrence for me to be comfortable. I was distracted from, my thoughts by a coarse tongue licking the blood off my face. On instinct I pushed it away only to hear the jackal whine in protest, while the crow laughed at his folly.