*Whoosh*
What was that sound?
When was the last time I had heard anything at all?
*Whoosh*
There it was again.
It was irritating.
Nothing should be heard in the darkness.
Only silence and peace were allowed to exist here.
I had to find that sound and devour it.
It was the only way to restore the silence.
So I moved.
I spread out.
Like a disease, I—the darkness—invaded every inch of space between myself and the noise.
It took no more than the blink of an eye to reach the source of that disturbance.
But it was in the one place forbidden to me.
A place filled with light.
My eternal nemesis.
*Ba-dum*
Suddenly, a different sound echoed out.
But this one...
I knew it.
What was it?
It was important.
Very important.
Was it the reason I had been imprisoned here for millennia?
Or something else?
I had to find out.
So despite the danger,
And for the first time in my existence,
I stepped into the light.
*
Did I have arms and legs?
Could I see again?
I was lying in the center of what seemed to be an immense palace. Countless black columns, each dozens of meters tall, rose to a ceiling that looked like a starry night sky. A red carpet embroidered with gold stretched down an aisle leading directly to a throne of monstrous proportions.
The throne was ivory white, and as I approached, I saw it more clearly.
Bones.
Countless bones piled together to form a throne fit only for a giant.
A chill ran down my spine as I thought of the kind of entity that would dwell in this place.
What kind of mad being would sit on a throne made from the bones of their enemies ?
But more importantly—what exactly had happened to me? I felt like I had been... dead these past... how long?
I had no idea.
Shit, I'm going to be late for the selections! How could I have forgotten?
I tried pressing my collar, but no information appeared.
Was it deactivated?
I looked around. Aside from the throne and columns, there was nothing—just an enormous empty chamber.
"Human, how did you enter this place?"
A voice, older than the world itself, echoed through the hall.
My ears bled.
I felt like my brain was shaking inside my skull.
The thing that had just spoken—
It was powerful.
Beyond anything I could imagine.
But I had to stay calm. This being could kill me in an instant—I was sure of it.
Resisting would only bring my end.
"I don't know."
I received no answer for several seconds.
"Why have you come to this place?"
Thankfully, the voice was softer now. It seemed this entity meant me no harm.
"Something called me, told me to come here."
Suddenly, a shape materialized in front of me—more than a meter tall, covered in dark feathers, with a black beak seemingly made of pure darkness.
It was a raven. A massive raven.
It spoke to me this time directly in my mind.
"Are you not afraid, human? I could destroy you with a single sneeze, and yet here you stand, a head above me."
I grinned wide. Was this thing toying with me? Then I could play too.
I spread my one still-functional arm wide.
"Then do it! What are you waiting for? Devour me, bird."
The raven tilted its head in confusion.
"Does your life hold so little value that you would ask such a thing?"
"Of course I want to live. But if a being like you wants me dead, I'd have no choice."
I paused, then shouted the next words at full voice.
"Just as, when I possess your strength, I too will decide who lives and who dies!"
The voice rang out louder than before, making me clench my teeth.
"Ha ha... I like your mindset, kid. But worry not—the contract I made forbids me from harming you."
This being had made a contract with someone? What kind of entity could command such power?
My gaze fell on that macabre throne.
It was obvious.
The king.
The raven had made a contract with that being.
"So... what will you give me?"
I thought the raven might've smiled for a moment—was that even possible?
"Why would I give you any of my treasures?"
"Weren't you the one who called me to pass the trial of crossing that sea of darkness? Don't I deserve a reward?"
The terrifying bird took two steps, its beak now only few centimeters from my face. A foul stench leaked from its maw as it spoke words that chilled my blood.
"Oh, poor mortal, what you call a sea of darkness is nothing. It is but the shadow of my sovereign."
I felt my mind collapse in that instant.
How could such a thing exist?
A mere shadow had nearly erased me from existence?
What kind of concept was that?
Were there no limits to power?
My mouth went dry. I had no words.
A guttural laugh echoed from the creature's beak.
"Don't make that face. Though I give you nothing, you've already gained far more than any treasure. Do you think just anyone can enter the shadow of my king and leave alive?"
It had a point. I still didn't understand how I'd survived something like that.
But something else nagged at me.
"If it wasn't you who called me... then who was it?"
The raven stayed silent, as if pondering.
"Could it be..."
After whispering those words, it vanished at an impossible speed—then instantly reappeared as if it had never moved.
But it held something in its beak.
It looked like... a seed?
What, was I supposed to start gardening now?
*Ba-dum*
That sound!
The sound that had pulled me from the grip of death,
The sound that had kept me from being erased, from becoming just a shadow.
It came from that tiny thing, pulsing with a steady rhythm, like a heartbeat.
"Just as I thought... Oh Sovereign, did you see it? Was this why you chained me to this cursed place?"
What was this dumb bird talking about?
He held the seed out to me in his beak, and I took it in my palm.
It was black, like this cursed palace. Thin red veins ran across its surface, this thing looked almost alive.
"What am I supposed to do with this? Plant it and water it every day?"
He stared at me, eyes darker than night, burning with anger.
"Don't be foolish, miserable human. My sovereign gave his life—and mine—for this Cordemina. You have no idea of its value."
Was it really that great? It looked perfectly ordinary to me.
"So, what do I do with it, oh mighty raven?"
He lifted his feathery head, his gaze condescending.
"You know your place. Good. Swallow it."
He couldn't harm me, so without hesitation, I brought my left hand to my mouth and swallowed it in one go.
For several minutes, nothing happened. The black bird just watched me, turning its head left and right, examining every part of my body.
And then it began.
My heart tightened.
Literally.
It felt like something was gripping it, manipulating it from the inside.
The pain was indescribable.
My teeth clenched, my gums bled, filling my mouth with a bitter taste.
The nails of my left hand dug into my palm, and a small pool of blood soaked into the red carpet.
I was close to blacking out—I could feel it.
It lasted what I thought were hours.
Endless.
"Only two minutes. Incredible."
The raspy voice pulled me out of the trance. My voice was broken, like I'd just woken from years of sleep.
"What... was that?"
"You'll know when it blooms. Now leave."
First the lake fairy, now him? Why couldn't they ever just tell me right away?
I turned around—only to face... nothing.
There was literally nothing—just the darkness I had come from.
And the last thing I wanted was to go back there.
"Can't you teleport me out or something?"
The bird mocked me.
"Figure it out, kid. I'm not your babysitter."
I'll come back one day and pluck every single one of your feathers.