Into the Abyss
744 Words
The broken gate loomed before them.
Silent.
Breathing.
Dark energy leaked through its cracks like a living fog, crawling across the ground and pulling everything toward the abyss beyond.
Kael stepped forward first.
No hesitation.
No fear.
Only one thought in his mind.
Kim.
“We’re going in,” he said.
Lyra grabbed his arm gently. “Then we go together.”
Seraphine nodded, already forming a thin layer of ice beneath their feet. “Stay close. If we get separated down there, we won’t find each other again.”
Mira stood still for a moment, staring into the darkness.
Then she spoke quietly.
“…Once we pass through, there’s no guarantee we come back the same.”
Kael didn’t look back.
“…I don’t care.”
They crossed the gate.
The world changed instantly.
The air grew heavier—thick, suffocating. The ground beneath them was no longer stone, but something darker, almost organic, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.
A dim red glow lit the endless space.
There was no sky.
No walls.
Just an infinite abyss stretching in every direction.
Lyra whispered, “What… is this place…?”
Mira answered, her voice low.
“…The inner domain.”
Seraphine’s eyes narrowed. “Inside the seal.”
Kael clenched his sword tighter.
“…Inside him.”
A distant sound echoed.
Soft.
Familiar.
“Kael…”
His head snapped up.
“Kim!”
Without thinking, he ran.
“Wait!” Seraphine shouted, but he was already gone.
Lyra followed instantly. “Kael!”
The others had no choice but to chase after them.
The deeper they went, the stronger the pressure became.
The ground shifted beneath their feet, shadows twisting like they were alive.
Then—
They found her.
Kim stood at the center of a dark platform, suspended above nothingness. Black energy spiraled around her, forming chains that wrapped around her arms and legs.
Her head was lowered.
Her body trembling.
“Kim!” Kael called, rushing forward.
She didn’t respond.
As he got closer—
Her head slowly lifted.
Her eyes glowed completely dark.
No blue.
No light.
“You came,” the voice said.
Not Kim.
Something else.
Kael stopped.
“…Let her go.”
A faint smile formed on her lips.
“Why would I?”
The chains tightened around her body.
“She is the perfect vessel… fragile, yet connected… just like you.”
Lyra stepped beside Kael, flames rising. “You’re not taking her!”
Seraphine spread ice across the platform. “We end this here.”
Mira raised her hand, water forming behind them.
“…This is your last chance. Release her.”
Kim’s body moved.
But not by her will.
Slowly—
She lifted her hand.
Dark energy gathered.
The entire abyss trembled.
“Then come… and take her.”
The ground beneath them shattered.
Massive spikes of dark energy shot upward.
Kael reacted instantly, pulling Lyra aside as the spikes tore through where they stood.
Seraphine froze the next wave mid-air.
Mira redirected the shadows with water pressure.
But Kim—
She didn’t stop.
Attack after attack poured from her, faster, stronger, more dangerous.
“She’s not holding back!” Lyra shouted.
Kael’s chest tightened. “She can’t…”
He ran forward again.
Dodging, pushing through the attacks, ignoring the pain.
“Kim, listen to me!”
No response.
Only darkness.
He reached her.
Close enough.
He grabbed her arm.
“Come back!”
For a split second—
Everything stopped.
Her body froze.
Her eyes flickered.
“…Ka…el…?” she whispered weakly.
Hope sparked.
Lyra gasped. “She’s still in there!”
But then—
The darkness surged violently.
A blast of energy exploded from her body, throwing Kael back hard.
He hit the ground, sliding across the platform.
“KAEL!” Lyra screamed.
Kim screamed.
Not in anger—
In pain.
Her body arched as the dark energy tightened around her like chains.
“Pathetic…” the voice growled.
“Your emotions are nothing but weakness.”
Kael pushed himself up slowly.
His hands shaking.
His heart pounding.
“…No,” he said quietly.
The flames around him began to rise again.
Stronger.
Steadier.
Different.
He lifted his sword.
This time—
Not just for battle.
But for her.
“I’m bringing you back,” he said.
“No matter what.”
The darkness around Kim expanded.
Forming something larger behind her.
A shadow.
A presence.
Watching.
Waiting.
And then—
It moved.
- Writer
