Two tiny lights shone under a starless sky.
They were the bright, scared blue eyes of a boy who walked carefully, observing his surroundings to understand where he was.
'...What is this place?' An odd, dark fog drowned the horizon, to the point that it seemed as if night had taken over the place. There were no stars, no moon — only a long road stretching forward, surrounded by strange, shining… rocks?
Reygar crouched, reaching to touch one of the transparent crystals that illuminated the place.
"Weird. I've heard of some big cities with new, innovative forms of lighting, but this… this seems both natural and artificial at the same time," he whispered to himself.
After weighing his options in silence, he sighed.
"Guess I don't have much of a choice but to follow this path… I should hurry and get out of here."
The road spanned all the way to the horizon, rising high atop a large mountain range that was surrounded on both sides by deep abysses, giving the road the appearance of a celestial bridge in the clouds.
Despite their seemingly endless depth, these huge pits of darkness weren't that wide, since numerous white peaks could be seen standing in their far edges, almost fading into the mist.
The boy had found himself in this mountainous path at what seemed to be one of its ends. Beyond it, the unfathomable abyss revealed itself in all its terrifying glory. He made a mental note of his starting point as the beginning of the road.
With not many options at hand, and only one path to follow, Rey began his hike at a quick pace, joining the howl of the strong winds sweeping across the vast mountains with the echo of his footsteps.
Losing track of time was easy in this ominous place, so he couldn't tell how many minutes – or even hours – he had walked through the mysterious landscape.
'Not a single bird or animal in sight either.'
Later on, a gale struck him, blurring his vision.
When Reygar opened his eyes, white specks filled his sight.
Snowflakes.
His own breath became visible, icy white. However, while the snow fell, the temperature didn't.
It was quite strange. He should be freezing by now, but felt warm instead, like on a pleasant summer night.
As more white, warm motes kissed his skin and clothes, Reygar got tired of the nonstop anomalies and sighed.
"What kind of dream is this?"
The boy walked for several minutes, shielding his face with one arm as he pushed forward against the wind. His straight, black hair was now dusted white.
Far away at what finally seemed the end of the road, he spotted a lonely white mountain encircled by a light blue structure. Getting closer, Rey could discern that the structure coiling around the mountain was shaped like a serpent; stairs spiraling up to the summit — made of the same crystal-like rock that lit the path all the way here.
Not able to see what lay at the top, he had no choice but to climb to find out.
"Here we go." As Reygar placed a foot on the crystallized steps, a strange premonition assaulted his being, bringing him to a halt.
His eyes stared off into the distance.
A few moments passed without him blinking. Then, his lips parted slowly:
"...What was that?"
Rey glanced at the crystal railing his hand held, and after a closer look he noticed.
'...There's something moving inside these rocks?'
'!'
He abruptly yanked his hand away and climbed hastily, his eyes darting nervously to the crystal beneath his feet.
'No, no, no. It can't be!'
He scrambled with all his strength, his heartbeat accelerating.
When he was halfway up, a scream of horror cried from below.
With his heart sinking, Reygar leaned over the railing to see the source of it… only to confirm his fears: disfigured humanoids made of crystal were materializing from the steps he had just climbed, screaming in anguish.
He flew up the last half of the stairs, running with all his might, tripping as more and more stairs below him broke and turned into monstrosities that lunged at him. The monstrosities, despite erasing the steps from which they freed themselves, didn't fall — in fact, they levitated… only to lunge at him like birds of prey.
Despite all this, he made it to the top before being caught.
The abominations that followed behind and reached the summit seconds later were automatically erased from existence, their shimmering blue wisps dispersing with the winds.
Finally safe, the boy collapsed onto the ground, catching his breath and trying to calm his heart hammering inside his chest.
'It can't be… I saw those perturbing faces trapped in the crystals… faces that seemed suffering in agony, as if begging for help.'
'...'
'Some were human-like, but I couldn't recognize most of them… Body shapes I've never seen or heard of.'
Once composed, he sat up and took a deep breath.
However, in that moment he sensed an… inexplicable presence pressing behind him.
Slowly, he turned his head.
What he discovered both relieved and shocked him.
Atop the lone mountain stood pristine alien structures, completely indifferent to the assault of nature and time.
A series of black, chrome-plated metal cubes hovered on columns, circling a massive crystalline artifact in the shape of a long octahedron levitating in perfect harmony at the center of the array.
The light blue crystal emitted an otherworldly aura.
Rey remained there, jaw dropped and eyes wide open, speechless as he took in the sight.
After a few long seconds, the crystal began to pulse, emitting a soft sound that startled him.
"Child." An ethereal voice resounded in his mind.
"W-Who is it!?" Rey spun around, trying to find the origin of the voice.
"I am before you." Each of the words resonating in total sync with the crystal's pulsations.
"..."
"Are you kidding me? You're… the crystal?"
Pulsing, it replied: "I always was, and always will be… unless…"
Baffled and blinking erratically, Reygar burst out:
"Where am I? What is this place? What are you? Why am I here? Wh–"
He swore he heard something akin to a tired sigh before the crystal cut him short.
"Despair only brings chaos."
After a short pause, it added:
"Know that you are not here to ask, but to answer."
"...?"
The boy's stunned expression turned more confused, tilting his head to the side.
"Tell me, when the time comes, will you fight against them?"
Frowning slightly, he asked, "Against them? Who?"
Rey waited patiently for an answer that never came.
With a sigh, he said reluctantly. "... I guess so, yes."
The crystal did not react, and silence filled the snowy summit, with only the winds roaring every now and then.
However, as if to break the universal law of darkness of this world, the black cubes glowed.
Then, without notice, they spun at full speed. A few moments later, the light became so intense that it blinded Reygar.
The white flash consumed everything, and when it faded, the scenery had changed.
He now stood under an ice-starred sky, surrounded by hills and pines covered in snow.
Before him lay the aftermath of a massive battle: smoke, corpses, limbs, weapons, and blood littered the landscape.
"This will be your fate."
The giant crystal hovered indifferently amidst the mayhem of the battlefield.
Horrified at the sight before him, Rey gulped, unable to speak.
"..."
The solemn voice rumbled once again, this time more… somber.
"Your flesh, your souls are so… feeble. So corruptible. Leave the mortal shell behind: one day the meat will rot, and the soul will forget."
'What…?' Before he could process that… peculiar statement, the blinding light flashed once more, shifting the scenery back to the boundless snow ranges.
This time, however, Reygar felt something was off, though he couldn't put it into words.
However, one thing was clear: the weather made sense now, as a chilling cold slowly crept into his bones.
The snowflakes kissing his skin and clothes were pleasing no more.
Strong winds roared furiously through the mountains, prompting him to hug himself.
'O-Out of nowhere… Why?'
"..."
"!"
A rumble suddenly shook the ground beneath him, and the sky turned crimson. The premonition of imminent doom tightened in Reygar's chest.
He hastily turned to the octahedron crystal and yelled.
"Hey, what's happening!?"
Then…
Thump.
The crystal replied with a single, loud beat. Like a huge heart.
It paused. Then, continued beating — not as loud as the first beat, but steadily.
Immediately, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He raised his gaze and noticed the surrounding rugged mountains began to… darken.
He rushed to the edge to get a closer look, and after a tense silence, he realized something strange was indeed happening: there were plenty of erratic movements on their surface. And if that wasn't enough, he began to feel… observed, as if the mountains themselves were watching him.
With his heart rate already panicking, he forced himself to keep watching.
And what he saw, made his world crumble.
Eyes — countless revolting eyes twisting with deformed blood vessels popping up from all the surrounding heights. Among them, myriads of restless, wriggling tentacles and deformed limbs convulsed.
Paralyzed, his vision became cloudy.
"Wh–Just when will this nightmare end?"
Shortly after — as if to answer his question — a loud rumble echoed from everywhere, and the mountains began to twist, draining the black color downwards along with all the grotesque flesh.
Soon, repulsive sounds like gurgling flesh rang out from the sea of darkness surrounding the lonely mountain.
He carefully leaned over the cliff's edge to see better. But a wave of vertigo struck him, a reminder of his mortality, even in this "dream."
Below, the sound of wet clashes rose as something heavy violently struck the rock face.
He strained his eyes, and what he saw sent chills down his spine, squeezing his heart even more tightly. He had already expected it, but seeing and expecting were completely different things.
The little hope he had mustered was quickly shattered as he watched in horror how the ghastly dark tide, filled with twisting tendrils and ghastly jaws, rapidly rose. Among them innumerable disturbing eyes blinked, darting in all directions.
It was a wave, no, a tsunami of disturbing flesh rushing to drown him.
Rey's gaze darted in all directions as panic took hold of him.
He moved – or rather tried to, since his body didn't obey his commands anymore.
'What the..!?'
Feet anchored to the ground, his lower body completely paralyzed. He parted his dry lips, but no sound came out.
Reygar wanted to scream, but his soul didn't.
With his body unwilling to move, all he could do was stand there, hopeless, frozen in place.
Tears streamed down his face.
Tired and frustrated by this ridiculous, hellish punishment, he finally broke down.
At some point, maybe when he was transported to the snowy forest, the crystal staircase had been rebuilt, or perhaps a new one had taken its place. It no longer mattered anyways,
because the staircase, as if to further torment the boy, began to crack loudly under the weight of heavy footsteps.
Fractures spread across its surface like spiderwebs.
The only part of him he could freely control was his eyelids. So in a hopeless attempt to escape reality, he closed them tightly, to the point of hurting his eyes.
That was his way, his only way of escaping this nightmare.
Thump — Thump — Thump…
The echo of the footsteps grew louder and closer. The sound of the crystal's beats intensified as well, deafening his own heartbeat.
Seconds that felt like a torturous eternity passed as the inevitable fate approached.
And then…
THUMP.
The octahedron crystal gave one final, agonized beat.
Suddenly, amidst the chaos raging in Reygar's mind, a voice — otherworldly and distant — slipped in:
"If they take hold of me, this is what awaits your world."
'...Wha-'
He opened one eye slowly, then quickly the other as he took in the thing before him: a dark, restless amalgam aberration of black matter materializing in front of him.
It seemed ancient, almost… everlasting.
A black tendril reached out from the monstrosity, its tip forming into a claw that shot towards Reygar's chest, swiftly piercing into him. The instant its nails dug into his flesh, a wave of cold — unlike anything Reygar had ever felt before, flooded his entire being.
If he had to describe it, besides the blinding pain, it felt… ancient. But even more than that, it was hunger – an insatiable, inexplicable hunger for something he had never felt nor known existed.
Then, the black claw gashed downwards, cutting everything in its path, leaving a trail of bloody mess across his chest.
A furious, ice-cold fire burned within him, the already unbearable pain multiplied and he had no choice but to endure it in silence. Had he been able to scream, his voice might have shattered the sky itself.
Suddenly, all sound vanished. The switch from total chaos to total silence was abruptly deafening.
The previously blinding pain swiftly ceased to exist, and since pain is the essence of the living, its absence probably means you are at the gates of death.
But Reygar didn't care anymore; the only thing he wanted was peace.
However, his plea for eternal rest was instantly denied by that damn ethereal voice as it echoed inside his head once more.
"This burden, at the very least, will keep you safe and hidden."
He didn't understand anything of this madness, but deep down, he was certain of one thing: something had marked him.
After what felt like an eternity to Reygar but only a brief moment to the ominous entity, its black-vermilion claw dematerialized.
"You too will succumb." The abomination claimed, hovering midair.
Reygar's sight returned, and he stared, stunned at the monstrosity lunging towards the crystal, wrapping it entirely with its pitch-black matter, corrupting its color and aura.
The sky turned dark once more, and the silent, large crystal began to emit a bright light as the black metal cubes surrounding the octahedron spun simultaneously at a violent, uncontrollable speed.
The entire array brimmed with a blinding black-red glow.
The light illuminated the world around, dyeing the landscape in a crimson dawn.
The ground trembled violently, the stairs shuddered and broke into countless shards that fell into the abyss. Soon after, the entire mountain followed and crumbled beneath the boy's feet.
With a thunderous roar, the ground gave way, and Reygar fell into the lightless void below.
The last thing he saw was the crystal imploding, its light and matter vanishing into darkness.
Even then, the voice whispered one last time inside his head:
"Even the cursed can be redeemed."