The Chronicles Of Shade

“Not waiting,” Rex muttered.

He hurried forward.

The cave narrowed until his shoulders brushed both walls. Cold water ran over his boots. Twice, the ceiling dropped without warning, forcing him to crawl beneath slabs of stone. The second time, a rock broke loose behind him and crashed into the passage.

Rex jerked around.

Dust filled the air. The way back had vanished beneath a mound of rubble.

For a moment, he could only stare.

Then the tunnel beneath his hands trembled.

Rex scrambled ahead as the ground split behind him. Stone folded inward with a roar. He threw himself through a narrow opening just before the floor collapsed into darkness.

He landed hard on his side. The sword flew from his hand and clattered across the stone.

Rex reached for it.

A pale shape slid over the ceiling above him.

He stopped breathing.

The thing had too many legs. They clung to the rock like hooked fingers, each joint bending the wrong way. A thin trail of black liquid dripped from its mouth and struck the ground beside Rex’s hand.

The creature turned its head.

No eyes. Only a smooth, pale face split by a vertical jaw.

Rex grabbed the sword.

The beast dropped.

He rolled aside as its claws punched through the stone. Rex swung from the ground, striking one of its legs. The copper blade bit deep, and dark fluid sprayed across his sleeve.

The beast shrieked.

Rex kicked against its chest and shoved himself backward. The creature recoiled, dragging its wounded limb behind it. He rose and ran.

The tunnel opened into a chamber filled with broken stone. A crack in the far wall showed daylight, thin and silver. Rex nearly laughed.

Then something moved between him and the crack.

A second beast stepped from behind a fallen column.

It stood on two long legs, its body wrapped in strips of gray flesh. Its arms reached nearly to the ground. A mouth opened across its chest, revealing rows of small teeth.

Rex stopped.

Behind him, the first beast scraped its claws over the stone.

A third shape crawled from the ceiling.

Three.

His gaze darted around the chamber. The broken columns. The narrow crack. The loose rocks beneath his feet. The sword in his hand.

The copper blade was short and dull. It had no edge fit for fighting creatures like these.

The tallest beast tilted its head.

“Stay back,” Rex said.

The words came out before he could think. The beasts did not understand, or did not care.

The one in front lunged.

Rex swung. The blade struck its arm and bounced away. The impact numbed his fingers. The beast slammed into him, and he struck the ground hard enough to lose the air in his lungs.

Its chest-mouth opened above him.

Rex shoved both hands against its throat. The flesh was cold and slick. Teeth snapped inches from his face.

He twisted, dragged one knee beneath himself, and drove his forehead into the creature’s jaw. Pain burst through his skull. The beast staggered.

Rex snatched up the sword and slashed at its knee.

The cut opened a black line, but the creature did not fall.

A claw swept across his chest.

Rex flew backward and struck a column. His shirt tore. Heat spread beneath it.

He looked down. Four red lines crossed his ribs.

The beast advanced.

Something stirred inside Rex.

Not a memory. Not a thought.

A pressure.

It began beneath his ribs, where the claws had cut him, and spread through his chest like cold fire. The darkness around him seemed to bend toward his skin.

The beasts stopped.

Rex stared at his hands. A thin black haze curled between his fingers.

“What is that?”

The haze vanished.

The tallest beast roared and charged again.

Rex rolled beneath its arm. The creature crashed into the column, shaking loose a rain of stones. The third beast dropped from above, blocking the path to the opening.

Rex ran toward the light anyway.

A claw caught his ankle.

He hit the ground face-first. The sword skidded from his grasp and stopped near the broken entrance. Daylight shone beyond it, bright enough to hurt his eyes.

So close.

Rex clawed at the stone, dragging himself forward. The beast pulled him back. Its grip tightened around his leg.

He kicked until his boot came loose.

The creature lifted him by the ankle. Blood rushed to Rex’s head. The chamber spun. The mouth in its chest opened wide.

Then a voice spoke inside the darkness.

Not from the beasts.

Not from the cave.

From somewhere behind Rex’s thoughts.

Let me in.

Rex went still.

The beast swung him against the ground. Stone cracked beneath his shoulder.

“Who are you?” he gasped.

A pause answered him. It felt almost like amusement.

A presence moved through the darkness in his mind, vast and quiet. It did not feel like a person. It felt like a door waiting to open.

I can give you strength.

The beast raised him again.

Rex looked toward the copper sword. It lay just beyond his reach.

“What do you want?”

Permission.

The word pressed against his thoughts.

Rex strained against the creature’s grip. “Permission for what?”

To use what is already yours.

The beast hurled him toward the wall.

Rex struck the ground and rolled. His vision blurred. The first beast crawled closer, its wounded leg dragging. The second circled him. The third blocked the only path to the light.

Three monsters.

One sword too far away.

And something inside him asking to be released.

Rex pushed himself onto one knee. His ribs burned. His ankle throbbed. The cave mouth shone ahead, close enough that he could see a strip of blue sky beyond the broken stone.

He had no memories.

No allies.

No idea what waited outside.

But he knew one thing.

He did not want to die in this cave.

“Fine,” Rex whispered.

The unseen presence leaned closer.

Say it clearly.

The beasts moved together.

Rex planted one hand against the stone. Black haze crawled from his palm, thin as smoke.

“I give you permission.”

The cave went silent.

The darkness beneath Rex’s hand spread in a circle. It swallowed the dust, the cracks, even the pale light spilling through the entrance. The beasts recoiled as if struck by heat.

Rex felt something seize his arm.

Cold raced through his veins.

The black haze surged.

The nearest beast flew backward and smashed into the wall. The second shrieked as darkness wrapped around its legs. The third leaped for Rex.

He reached for the copper sword.

The blade snapped into his hand.

Rex swung.

The sword cut through the beast’s reaching claws. It landed beside him, rolling and snapping at the stone. Rex scrambled toward the entrance while the darkness tightened around the other two creatures.

He crossed the broken threshold and collapsed onto rough ground beneath the open sky.

Sunlight struck his face.

For one breath, he was free.

Then the wounded beast burst through the cave mouth.

It slammed Rex onto his back and pinned him beneath one hooked limb. Its jaw opened above his throat. Black fluid dripped onto his cheek.

Rex shoved against it, but the creature was stronger now. The darkness inside him had faded, leaving only shaking muscles and pain.

Beyond the beast, the world stretched beneath a clear blue sky.

No ruined kingdom. No crimson ocean. No army.

Just hills, trees, and a distant road.

Two centuries had passed since the Day of Knull, since the Abyss boundary shattered and Zane, the Primordial God of Darkness, dissolved beneath the power of humanity’s greatest Heroes. The world believed the Abyss Beasts were gone.

Rex stared into the creature’s eyeless face.

One of them had returned.

The unseen voice spoke again, softer this time.

Give me more permission, Rex.

The beast lowered its head.

I will save you.

Rex’s fingers tightened around the copper sword.

“And what will you take?” he whispered.

The presence did not answer.

The beast’s jaws opened wide.

Rex felt the darkness stir beneath his skin, waiting for his choice.

End of chapter one. 4 more chapters and about 9,065 words in the full book.