Jasper sat at the table, a bewildered expression on his face, yet his hand immediately reached for where his blade usually hung by his side.
The fear that the vestige of this creature had imprinted onto his mind from the short conflict from within the Great mirror was harrowing to say the least. They had only encountered a small handful of these dreadful creatures, and yet every time a new person died at their hands.
These creatures, the Others, as the spell told them, were powerful abominations of the Fallen Rank. Despite their weaker class, they possessed the unnatural abilities of a devil.
The ability to morph into any creature they laid eyes on, gaining their mind, body, and abilities, was truly fearsome. If it wasn't for their inhuman behaviour, they would never have been able to tell the difference between them and a real living person.
The last one they faced had been particularly dangerous, as it mimicked Damian and hunted them down slowly over several days. The knowledge that a creature capable of hiding itself from the senses of all creatures would have been bad enough, but it was the use of his awakened ability which gave them the most trouble.
Damian's awakened ability had given him the power to become intangible at will at the cost of the mysterious life force which burned within the souls of all creatures known as essence.
In the end, they had managed to deplete its essence reserves to the point where Damian could shoot through its skull with a shot of his bow. Jasper could only imagine what it was like to kill a creature that looked identical to you in every way, the damage that would cause to the mind….
Jasper continued to stare at the beast in front of him as he tried to calm himself down with steady breaths.
The Other stood silently in the middle of the room, looking around to survey its new surroundings.
////
Damian watched and waited as Jasper's momentary panic began to calm down. He didn't blame the younger man for the reaction, but was the sight of the two of him really so bad that he tried to draw his dagger?
Chuckling softly to himself, he looked over his copy before manifesting its runes into existence to study them more closely.
***
Echo: [Other]
Echo Type: Beast
Echo Core: Ascended
Echo Attributes: [Born of Nothing], [Deadeye], [Incessant], [Undisturbed] [Spark of Divinity]
Echo Abilities:[True Reflection], [Unremarcable], [Insubstantial]
Echo Description: [An echo cast from another's existence. Shaped from the Nothingness by the hand of Imagination herself. These creatures exist outside the bounds known by the Profane and Divine, for they are the children of their greatest shame and their greatest triumph.]
***
These runes contained more information than Damian could have ever suspected, but before he focused in on them, he noticed something strange. First of all, the type and core of the creature were flickering slightly within the view of the spell, as if they were not correct, and yet no other words fit them better.
The second thing he had noticed was the name of the core's rank. From what they had seen from the rare few echoes possessed by the Soldiers of Valour, the name given to those who serve under Warden, the core always matched the rank of the creature they killed.
Yet it shone with a word unseen by the awakened of Bastion, a glimpse into what the future held for those brave enough to ascend once more to achieve even greater strength.
There were several other oddities and small details he noticed within the runes, but now was not the time to be exploring their secrets. Damian dismissed the runes as he continued to look at the Other with a look of caution and curiosity on his face.
He knew that these things possessed the ability to mimic the appearances and abilities of others, but not much more. Before he could speak, however, the Other interrupted his thoughts as it spoke.
"This is all…very strange."
Both Damian's and Jasper's eyes widened as they glanced back and forth between the Other and each other as it continued,
"I seem to have my…your…our? Memories, and yet I know they are not my own. It's hard to describe, but the only difference between you and me is that I seem to be lacking true emotion, unlike you."
Its eyes scanned the expressions on their faces before settling on Jasper, and a glimmer appeared in its gaze as its body shifted, as if its very nature were being rewritten as it changed into Jasper's form.
Damian and Jasper were left speechless. They didn't know what to do or say for a while, until Damian decided to send the creature back to his soul. The two sat in silence for some time.
////
Some time later, Damian and Jasper were walking up one of the many defensive towers extending from the defensive walls of the inner Citadel, the very same one they had stayed in just before the siege of the main keep, the Palace of War.
It rose high above the surrounding structures, providing a great vantage point for whoever was stationed within its peak. This place had been transformed in the past few months, having become Warden's personal office and study where he spent most of his time in the DreamRealm when he wasn't leading crusades against the horrific creatures still living within Bastion.
Reaching the door at the top of the tower, Damian knocked, his armoured fist pounding against the unnaturally strong wood with enough force to shatter bone, and yet there was no response from the other side.
Few were allowed to enter Warden's office without express permission, those few were Jest and his partner, Damian and Jasper. Sighing as he pushed the door open, Damian was confronted with the sight he wished not to see.
Warden's office was filled with all manner of furniture he had created himself, a desk and a chair, comfortable seats for his guests and many other pieces of art he had managed to scavenge or create in his free time.
Yet despite the beautifully made pieces, they were all covered in thick parchments with detailed drawings scribbled over their surface, the parchments were stuck to the wall by thick nails and string linking them together. Some were schematics and designs for weapons and armour, whilst others were for more mundane creations such as furniture.
Meanwhile, others were far more esoteric in nature, depicting numerous runes they had discovered as Warden was determined to understand the secrets of runic sorcery, which had become his main obsession over the past few months.
On the far side of the office, a small archway led to the beginnings of a balcony which wrapped around the entire tower, with the railing reaching just above the waist.
As they walked into the office and closed the door behind them, they could see the figure of Warden resting against the rails as a cloud of smoke lifted in the air in front of him.
He had already been handsome as a sleeper, but now it was almost unfair, his black hair was cut short and neat with not even a single hair out of place as it faded on the sides, his steely grey eyes were now honed like a deadly weapon as they gazed out over the Citadel he ruled over.
His skin was flawless like pale ivory, which had become tanned under the countless hours working in the light of Bastion's sun. His body was covered in thick bandages, which covered the many wounds he had received during the siege of the Great Mirror.
His clothes looked custom made. He wore a pink button-down shirt with long sleeves, the top few buttons were undone, and the sleeves rolled just above the elbows. His muscular frame was pushed tightly, causing it to bulge underneath the fabric. His neck bearing the weight of a hefty silver chain hanging lossely down his chest.
His trousers were a dark navy tone, leading into sturdy yet comfortable black boots capped with steel.
The look seemed so unnatural in this world of nightmares. Looking at Wardens' visage reminded both men of their lost lives in a realm they are prohibited from returning to for reasons still unknown. However, Damian was more frustrated by what he saw in the younger man's hand.
As Warden lowered it from his face and let out another puff of smoke, he finally turned to face his friends. His tired eyes took a moment to register what was happening as he suddenly flung his cigarette off the side of the railing as it disappeared into a cloud of sparks, as a guilty look came over the man's face.