The time had come, and the blood in my veins felt as it was to boil with rage.

This was no mere apparition of evil, standing in his presence filled me with a ghostly fear. We fought for what seemed like an eternity; blood and spit flew, bones and metal splintered. I was weakening, faltering; but Abhaya's arrows fell with fury. One great pull on her string and one buried itself right under his right horn. Distracted and wailing only for a moment though he was, I took the opportunity and landed a blow deep into his filthy ribs. It was all but over; no one will mourn your passing foul creature.

As he fell and his spirit lifted, A small smoldering remnant lay before me. Wickedness bound in stone, is that not the tale of ages! I dared not to gaze into the dark crystals that swirled within. Wrapped in mesh and leather, it will be taken to Cain.

Abhaya's words, "This great death, will bring even greater life."

There was but one way onward, patterns of great evils surrounded the gateway. Only as we approached the landing in the center of this chamber did the river of blood move. A path of twisted bone, rotting flesh, and the skulls of giants long gone paved the way.

Hand in hand, shrieks of fallen angels surrounding us, we entered.

Seek to turn off your mind Abhaya, we are moving through the ether.

Fates beseech those who wander,
Into lands of mourning and woe.
Wisdom loosens a mind to ponder,
Secrets that may lie below.

Seek not that which when found,
Finds supple strings of heart.
Instead beckon the mind quick round,
Reason forcing all to fall apart.

-Letters to Abhaya, PM.

We have arrived, there is a great sense of reverence here. Those who fell, those who were victors...their presence lingers here. A different flow of time is at work, as if it doesn't pass as in other realms. I am not weary for sleep, nor is there an abode for us to rest. Are we now as undead to the world as those slain by our hands? I'm certain the answers will come more quickly than we would prefer.

good story, keep it up

I cannot tell how much time has passed, but we've ventured out into the plains outside the fortress. My eyes have never seen such desolation.

Strange foes assailed us with not only magic, but even the corpses of the slain, how vile. No matter, we explored this new dimension and found the passage forward. I sat with Abhaya at the gate, leaning on the great frame built eons ago. For the first time we seemed to speak as equals, unabashed at our plight.

In the ensuing plains, we fought horrors of flesh and bone, slaying with fury. Then, out of the shadows a great figure approached with blade in hand. This was no mere beast or demon.

In this land where the temporal is always shifting, a moment of clarity arose. I knew which instrument would provide this being with an end. Angels do no fall from grace without reason, and I can hardly pretend to know the consequences this battle will produce.

His final words were familiar in a way, as if they came from my own mind. A pall hangs over this place, and for those already of hard heart, it picks at the scars on your soul till they are scabs anew.

Abhaya and I wandered the expanse of grey ash; it was as much gravel as old bone. Those who faltered and were bound here have been spared from their suffering. How many moons have passed now? The thoughts escape me before I recognize them.