"One day the gods will fall and reveal their lie."
"The one who sleeps will awaken to devour his children."
"Oh, and us all."
"That which was forgotten will be remembered."
"Oh, all of us will dream the nightmare."
"Of the Forgotten God."
The words spilled from Prophet's bloody lips as a sonnet of the ages. A song which distilled both great wonder and dreadful fear into all who heard its words.
Damian and Cor looked down at Prophet's body as it convulsed unnaturally, as the price of his flaw was becoming too much for his body to bare.
They could feel their minds sinking deeper into the song, almost wishing to join in themselves and spread the words for all to hear, yet deep in their hearts, they knew they must never utter these words to anyone else.
Damian's body moved on its own, even as his mind was paralysed, his flaw forced him to help those in need, to protect them from dangers both seen and unknown.
At this moment, it extended to both Cor and Prophet.
His fist shot forward with terrible speed as it collided with the side of Prophet's skull, and a subtle crack echoed through the air as the singing came to an end.
Prophet's head slumped to the side as bloody foam spilled from his mouth onto the rotten floors of the manor.
As the last echoes of the alluring song dispersed into the air, Damian was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief as he seemed to regain control of his body as he attempted to stand on his feet.
As he turned to face Cor, he heard the other man shrill in anger as he watched the pure black eyes of the Awakened focused on him and him alone.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!"
Cor extended his arm towards Damian's still bare bear-like chest as sparks began to weave themselves into existence around his fingers. Just before his fingers reached the flesh above Damian's heart, the sparks coalesced into a strange weapon covering the man's hand and wrist.
Cor's hand, now covered in a gauntlet of black, lustrous steel, shot forward as he extended his fingers.
Short blades extended from the top of each, making his hand seem more like a talon of a bird of prey than that of a man.
The bottom half left his hand exposed as the black metal extended down to barely cover his wrist.
Cor's talon reached forward as he felt no resistance, plunging it deep into Damian's chest, wishing to rip out his heart for what he had done to his best friend.
Cor paused for a moment as he thought. He knew his actions today would provoke retaliation from Warden and his followers, but he felt confident that he was justified in his actions.
However, as he began planning the defence in his head, he realised something.
There was no warmth of the still beating heart under his grip, no blood pouring over his hand like a waterfall.
In fact, Damains did not react in the slightest. As he looked up and met Damian's gaze, which was filled with bitter amusement.
Primal fear shot through Cor's body as Damian began to speak in a calm manner.
"Whilst I appreciate the effort, sadly, I don't know what happened either"
Pointing down at Prophet without even reacting to the hand buried in his chest, he continued.
"I can't account for what caused him to start singing, but he's still alive. That punch only knocked him out, so I would suggest we take him to the medical building before I have to drag both of you there myself."
Cor's body trembled as he swiftly removed his hand and dismissed his memory.
He looked at his hands, which were becoming moist with sweat, as he cursed to himself. Looking over at Prophet as he watched his friends' slow but steady breathing as the blood around his face started to dry.
He had seen his friend react negatively to futures before, but never to this extent.
Wordlessly, he helped Damian lift Prophet up as Damian's armour wove itself back into existence as they carried him away to where they had started their walk in the first place.
The Awakened occupying the town rushed towards them as they walked the paths outside, all hoping for an explanation on their captain's current condition.
Damian remained silent as he let Cor handle speaking to the people as they continued to move. It wasn't long before they arrived and placed Prophet down on a simple bed at the end of the room.
The Awakened in charge of the place didn't hesitate to begin looking him over for external injuries before questioning the two about what had happened.
After providing a brief account of what happened, without mentioning Cor's attempt on Damian's life, the Awakened Doctor seemed satisfied enough as he went about his duties.
Damian and Cor sat in tense silence near their respective allies for some time before it was eventually broken.
"I'm…I'm sorry."
Cor's voice was low, yet the emotions contained within were raw.
Damian looked over at him as the sides of his mouth curled up into a simple smile.
"It's alright, if that was Jasper I would have done the same, no need to apologise."
Cor looked at him as his black eyes softened,
"No, I acted rashly back there and failed to see the whole picture. I was careless and acted on too little reason and too much emotion. So even if you say I don't need to, I want to…I want to do better, be better."
Cor looked over at Jasper as his brow furrowed.
"He's…It's strange, Awakened like us should have little problem recovering from injuries like that. Yet when I look at him, it's clear that he is only getting worse, even with our help…he's dying, you know."
Damain sighed as he looked over at Jasper, a strange, empathetic look on his face.
"I know, and I know why. As long as he wakes up before that happens, he will make it, I know he will."
Cor nodded as he looked over,
"It's his flaw, isn't it. Heh, and I thought mine was bad, but compared to his or Prophets, the likes of us have got it easy."
Damian didn't say anything as he continued to stare at Jasper.
For a long while, the two sat in comfortable silence before it was eventually broken by Damian.
"You mentioned earlier that there was another matter you wanted our help with?"
Cor took his eyes of Prophet as he turned towards Damian.
"Oh, right… I had almost forgotten."
Cor cleared his throat before he continued.
"As of the moment, we are facing a bit of an infestation. A pack of burrowing Nightmare creatures have made their home underneath our settlement, and we would like for you to help deal with it, as compensation for our hospitality."
Damain looked at him as he sighed.
"Nothing is free these days, I figured it would be something like this. I accept."
Cor's mood shifted slightly, he almost seemed a little embarrassed.
"The Nightmare creatures resemble massive Worms, ranging from around the size of an average human to the size of a small tree."
"We have confirmed the existence of both Beasts and Monsters among the group, none of which were above the Dormant Rank."
"However, despite their relative weakness, they are masters of escape, able to move through dirt and stone as easily as we walk on land, making them especially annoying to deal with."
Damian listened to the request as a puzzled look crossed his face.
"If the creatures are as weak as you claim, why haven't you wiped them out already? For a Citadel of around forty or so Awakened, there should be no trouble at all."
Cor looked to the side as he continued.
"The reason for the difficulty is…that we simply can't catch them."
"Despite our numbers, our forces lack both the speed and the ability to move silently to ambush them."
"So every time we get close, the little bastards just run away and don't even try to fight us!"
"Only I and a few others have managed to surprise them to take them down."
Damain looked at Cor with an almost mocking expression.
"So what's the problem then? If they're not attacking anybody, why get rid of them? In fact, having them live nearby is probably deterring other creatures from coming too close."
Cor sighed as he looked up to meet Damian's eyes.
"The problem is that they are creating a strangely large underground tunnel system right underneath the settlement. If we don't deal with them soon, then the whole place could collapse into the ground."
Damian sat back as he thought about what to say next, organising what he had been told before leaning forward.
"So, just to be clear. You want me to go underground and exterminate who knows how many worms, all whilst the ceiling above my head could collapse at any moment?"
Cor looked at him hard before nodding.
"Pretty much. However since…Jasper wasn't it… is out of commission far longer than we expected. I'll accompany you instead."
Damian took in a deep breath before standing up and offering his hand to help Cor up.
"Lead the way."