Damian dreamed of how the world had once been, a time when all that mattered was just himself, his wife and his daughter and all other worries could be put off to a later date or left to someone more qualified than him, he remembered their smiles and how they enjoyed the small moments in life, however fleeting they may be.
Yet despite all of this a feeling of utmost dread was creeping its way into his heart, with every second he spent here meaning the difference between life and death for those who were still fighting but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't find the strength to open his eyes. He spent what felt like an eternity with his family, reliving the happiest moments before the world fell apart all whilst a darkness boiled inside of him, threatening to escape.
He tried to hold it down as best as he could but over time little pieces of him started to change and the world around him reflected that, the brilliant lights dulled with time and joyous laughter quieted down as the good times came to an end, he could feel his mind and body fighting against itself and he wasn't strong enough to fight back, vestiges of his family formed in his mind, with him standing over them with malice in his heart and something far worse brewing deep within his soul as his only thought was to snuff out the flame as he pulled on his mind one last time.
Opening his eyes Damian was surprised to find out that he was still alive after what had happened, he had pushed himself far past the physical and spiritual limits of his body to a point of no return or so he had thought and yet why did he feel stronger than ever before? His vision was still split, one part was focused inward towards his soul which moved around like a storm at sea whilst the sun hanging idly above shone with immense light between the intricate net of cracks which had formed over its surface. The other part studied his surroundings with interest as he saw numerous other sleepers bundled together in a cramped space, an area for the badly injured had been established and he was firmly in the center.
As he began to sit up the grating voice of Jest called out to him from across the room,
"Well look who's finally awake! Enjoy your little nap Damian?"
At the mention of his name numerous sleepers turned to face the older man as he struggled to sit up, Warden and Jasper were among the first by his side and yet far more than he had ever really interacted with came to see how he was doing. Jasper was the first to speak,
"How are you feeling, my good sir? You had us worried for a while you old fool."
Damian looked at the younger man as a burst of pain felt like it was splitting him open as he finally managed to sit,
"Who are you calling a fool you fool."
Waiting a moment before continuing he asked,
"What happened? How did we end up here? Where even is here?"
Warden was the next to speak, his armour all but repaired yet various temporary bandages was sprawled all over what little exposed skin was showing through the brilliant bronze armour soaked deeply with crimson blood,
"We are in an old fortification just two days out from the main keep. After your…powerful attack on the legion the rest of us cleaned up the remaining soldiers and dragged the wounded from stronghold to stronghold as we fought off more deadly creatures along the way."
Damian held his breath steady as he tried to ignore the pain coursing through his veins as though they were filled with molten metal burning his insides with every moment which passed,
"Im sorry I wasn't able to continue fighting afterwards. It would have made the way here a whole lot easier for the rest of you. Also what do you mean by you cleaning up the remaining soldiers, last I saw there were roughly fifty of those undead bastards remaining."
The sleepers all looked at each other as a strange emotion hung in the air as an unfamiliar voice echoed nearby, Damian turned to face the women he recognised as the honorable shieldmaiden who had risked her life time and time again since first entering this dreaded place, acting as Wardens personal shield.
Her wounds seemed to have barely heeled as she used a makeshift crutch to move closer to the gathering,
"Are you saying that you killed nearly half the horde entirely by accident?"
Damian's face was locked in place for a moment as he digested the words she had said, his final attack had intended to be enough to finish off the Forsaken Commander and yet it seemed to possess far more power than he had intended, no wonder he was in so much pain.
Soon more and more sleepers launched question after question towards him about what he had done but after some time they seemed to be satisfied by his answers as they finally went their separate ways, even Warden and Jasper left to attend to some other business elsewhere in camp after being reassured that he was as fine as he could be and just needed some rest.
Leaving him with nothing else to do he decided to check on his runes, afterall he was certain he would get something after all of that, however what he saw first nearly made him stand in pure shock as he covered his mouth to hide a stifled scream
'How could this, What the fuck?!'
His runes read,
***
Name: Damian
True Name: -
Rank: Dreamer
Soul Core: Dormant
Soul Saturation: 359/1000
***
This was simply insane, it had taken him nearly seven months to gain what he had before and now he had somehow managed to multiply his power by two and a half times from a single attack, and not just that he had never gained the saturations directly from a kill before, he believed that the enchantment revolving around souls was to blame, which is possibly why his was also so badly damaged as a result.
His smile could no longer be contained as he focused on his body, the strength flowing through it was simply incredible even if he could feel that he was overall not too much stronger than before due to his injuries, he was likely working at half strength at the moment which was still more than he had before.
As he continued to read his smile grew into a toothy grin as he celebrated as best as he could,
***
Memories: [Broken Chain], [Ariadne's War Bow], [Coiled Nail] [Final Ambition]
***
It had been months since he had received his last memory so he was excited to see what the spell had gifted him with this time, as he focused on the luminous lights floating around his soul he beconded one down to him as the light twisted itself to reveal the shape of a beautifully ornate set of armour as the runes appeared in front of him,
[Memory: Forsaken Duty]
[Memory Rank: Awakened]
[Memory Type: Armour]
'Yes!'
He had been waiting for his chance to receive an armour type memory to finish out his collection and was more than a little excited, after he let his excitement die down a little he continued to read,
Memory Description:
[Forsaken Duty: The armour of the final commander of War, he had sworn an oath to protect the very Bastion in which he had been enslaved to serve by the insidious Plague of Steel, even in the madness of Corruption he remained steadfast in his duties even after his body had withered and decayed leaving nothing but a frail husk behind in his place to carry on his memories.]
The details left behind by the spell were never enough to answer any questions Damian had before and now he had plenty more, such as who or what was this Plague of Steel, a long dead conquer of lands, enslaver of this mighty palace.
A lot of memories the sleepers had gathered had mentioned the creature either directly or by hinting at his influence, whatever it may have been there was no doubt that it had shaped the history of this region and possibly many more just like it, how strong must a creature be to be able to fight against the legions of war and to bring them both fear in his presence and pride at his defeat.
Damian knew that it didn't truly matter, whatever that thing was it had to be dead for a very long time, still saying its name out loud in a quiet whisper Damian swore he could hear the sound of a distant sneeze echo across the breeze but surely it was just his imagination.