A small horde of about a dozen abominations gathered around the remains of their fallen kin, feasting and gnawing on its rotting meat. They let out terrifying shrieks that echoed across the vast tunnel. As soon as they were done devouring one of their own, they suddenly lunged at each other.
Aiming to satiate their never-ending hunger. Hunger for more. More blood, more flesh, and more souls. They surrounded the most wounded, the weakest and the most vulnerable, and repeated the process until their bellies were full.
Which by the looks of it, would be considered impossible. Or improperable at the very least.
They feasted on another, and another still, until they felt something else in the atmosphere change. The familiar maddening stench of human blood and souls permeated the cold air, making them shriek in frenzied lust and infinite hunger.
As the stench grew louder, deafening sounds assaulted their ears — or minds, since it wasn't very clear if these grotesque abominations even had ears. The sounds grew stronger as well, making the creatures cry out in pain. The assault was familiar, but the creatures had never adapted to it, it seemed..
They did not care about feasting anymore. They did not care about devouring the approaching souls anymore. They did not care about satiating their eternal hunger anymore. They had only one objective in their twisted, demented minds:
Stop the noise at all cost.
And so they left the remains of their comrades they had been feasting on moments ago, and headed straight towards the stench of human souls.
#
On another tunnel, two grotesque beasts were engaged in a fierce battle with each other. The battle of control, territory, and influence. One of the beasts had invaded the domain of the other, starting a war that shook the war. Lesser creatures battled around them as well, in a much disorganized and chaotic manner though.
More powerful creatures were known to subjugate and control weaker abominations like puppets. They functioned as servants, hunting and killing for their masters. During one of those dry times, they also served as reserves of food for their puppeteers.
And so they would be devoured.
Serving higher purpose for their lofty existence.
They turf war raged on for a few long moments, until something shifted and changed. The tyrants orchestrating the war were the first to notice it, followed by the weaker ones. The Noise washed over the entire battlefield, making a few sensitive creatures cry in pain.
What had happened could've only meant one thing. Humans were nearby. And it seemed the creatures of Chaos had instinctively come to the same conclusion as well. So the battle shifted.
Shifted towards the wandering human souls...
#
It happened subtly, unexpectedly even. One moment Lenny and Nyx were marching towards their prey, and the next...
They were suddenly the prey.
Of course, they had sensed a horde of abominations approaching, but they really had not expected the Noise to give them away so soon. But that was fine too, they had expected to be surrounded at some point...
Nyx gripped the hilt of the Mind Blade so tightly her knuckles turned white. She assumed a battle stance and waited for her adversary to present itself to her. Lenny sent an ocean of essence into his muscles, activating his Ability in the process...
Loud thundering footsteps could be heard approaching, growing louder and faster with each passing moment. Lenny even thought about suggesting they turn back the grand hall, but decided against it in the end. Leading dozens of horrifying abominations to the sweet young girl they left alone was not a very good idea.
But at least all the attention of nearby creatures was currently directed to them, so she was safe. Theoretically.
They decided to remain where they were, and not move around too much for one simple reason really. The tunnel they were currently in was much more spacious than the rest, which was a great advantage when contending against a large number of adversaries.
Both of them knew that very well.
They did not talk much after agreeing on the battle strategy, which was simple really. They were planning on using brute force to deal with them quickly, then retreat before even more poured out of the infinite labyrinth. Even though he hid it, Lenny was actually quite worried. What they were attempting to achieve was nothing but madness...
Before he could form another thought, the first creatures lunged at them from one of the narrow tunnels. The creature was taller than both of them, about two meters in height to be exact. It had small and nimble arms and legs, with a huge round belly. It's face was twisted and conformed in ways they could not describe.
They did not have time to anyway...
The creature was upon them a split moment later, but they were already prepared. Nyx raised the blade high, and higher still, until it was on par with the monster's throat. At the same time, Lenny's titanic strength exploded outward, as he sent his fist flying into the creature's abdomen.
For a moment time slowed down, then the creatures abdomen exploded, sending blood and pieces of flesh flying all over the place. The nearby wall was instantly painted red with blood. Lenny instinctively retreated a single moment before the blood splashed all over him, Nyx did as well.
He then turned turned and looked at Nyx with contempt. It was because of one reason, he had not heard the Weave granting him the kill, which means it went to his companion instead. That made him a bit sad.
"The next one is mine."
Nyx did not respond immediately, and when she did...
"If you can keep up."
...about a dozen creatures similar to the first one escaped the same tunnel, and lunged at them with murderous frenzy. They dashed forward and met the horde of abominations with their own cataclysmic calamity.
#
Sasha had a nightmare that dawn. She dreamt of Lenny and Nyx being surrounded by countless Chaos Creatures, being assaulted from every side imaginable. They were on the verge of death...
There was another variable in the dream as well, but Sasha could not make sense of it. She was not sure if the variable was a creature or a human, or perhaps a hybrid of both. The variable fought with murderous intent that washed over the lands, drowning the landscape in purple blood.
In the next moment, the being was shrouded in blue flames, descending upon numerous adversaries simultaneously. It was both an enthralling and appalling sight. Then the landscape shifted...
Someone was holding her hand tightly, running away with her from something. Or perhaps towards something else. She could not really fathom this person, but could tell it was a man from the hand interlocked with hers.
The hand was as pale as snow, but that was all she could decipher from the man. No matter how much she concentrated on his figure, she only saw deep and unfathomable darkness nestling silently in his soul.
Patiently waiting... waiting to be freed.
Waiting to be unleashed upon the world.
She shuddered and collapsed— or regained consciousness. Depends on how one looked at it.
She suddenly jumped up, gasping desperately for air. Beads of sweat rolled down her flawless brown face, her hair disheveled and out place as if she had been fighting abominations in her sleep. She was still shivering, unable to control the sudden outburst of emotions.
It was very common for awakened for experience these kind of nightmares because of the Trace Rune. The Noise did not stop just because an awakened went to sleep, it still persisted until that person fully surrendered to Chaos.
Commonalities had the worst of it.
But this nightmare... Sasha had never experienced something like it before. Granted, she had been an awakened for only a few weeks, but still... That nightmare was unlike anything she had seen. Anything anybody had seen, really.
The nightmares were supposed to be the same as the Noise — echoes of the distant past capable of driving creatures mad... humans alike. They are what remained of the ancient War between the gods and the Void beings, and the catastrophic battles that came with them.
Sasha was not supposed to see Lenny and Nyx in one of her nightmares, not ideally at least. And who were the other two entities? A variable shrouded in blue flames, and a man with deep infinite darkness nestling in his soul, who exactly were they?
What did the nightmare mean?
Sasha felt her head throbbing violently the more he attempted to decipher the dream. She was exhausted and spent for some reason, so she decided on the most suitable conclusion for her. It was just a nightmare; even though the opposite was true.
A soft sight escaped her lips, and with that she realized something truly unsettling...
The grand hall was quiet, too quiet for comfort. Not one had paid any attention to her when she woke up from the nightmare sobbing, which could only mean one thing: they were gone, they had left her all alone.
She looked around, and evidently... no one was there.
'They really left me...'
She curled up on the floor, and cried for a long as her situation allowed it.
Then, strengthening her grip around the...
'What, when did I...?'
She realized that she had summoned her azure dagger at some point during the nightmare. Something really was happening to her, it seemed. Pouring a ton of essence, and drawing on her Ability, she looked around the twisted labyrinth for a way out.
Her ability was truly a great boon. Not only could she perceive physical and metaphysical concepts on a much deeper scale, she could also serve as a guide in situations like these.
'Hope those two don't regret...'
Before the thought could fully form, she suddenly perceived something unsettling in the distance. In one of the humongous tunnels, two individuals were surrounded by dozens of abominations, fighting desperately for survival.. The more she looked, the more her face turned deathly pale.
'No way...!'