Zenki'l's laughter boomed in the night sky. His words heard by all. “Muhaha! You are too late. My return has been guaranteed,” he said with confidence. The world in its entirety seemed to answer him. Tortuous winds tore their way in every direction imaginable - keeping even the most sturdy footed of balance. Rain clouds raged, pouring lakes from their gullet, the accompanying lightning burning the ground it touches as its voice shook the rear guard in their positions.

It was difficult to see past the blowing downpour of rain, more so when the blazers of fire had died in the storm. But their hearing was not wholly impaired, the words spoken by the Dark God clear as day no matter how loud the storm became. “Did Cassius make it? Is he okay?” Asked Relaki over the sound of the blowing winds. She covered her head with a thick cloth, but it did nothing from keeping her dry; she was thoroughly soaked, they had not expected such weather in the arid, desolate lands near Mount Welmonu. Especially considering how sudden it had come. One moment, the rear guards were watching the strike force enter, and then the next rain began falling.

“Relaki, he's not the only person that entered the labyrinth. Have some shame, and at the very least act like your worried about High Paladin Zakir and the rest of the army,” said Luna, berating her friend as she kept her hold of her as tight as possible. Luna feared Relaki would run off to find Cassius at any moment. She might be one of the more beautiful and talent gifted people of the Church, but like all ordinary people she had a flaw; not the infallible woman she is often made to be. Her fault was her undying love for a single man. Why she fell for the droopy smiled and dense Cassius, that she would never know.

“But… But, you heard the evil voice. It was different than Zenama's,” whispered Relaki, pulling at her friend's grip. “I just want to get a closer look, nothing more,” she tried again. Maybe another tactic was needed to escape her friend. But Luna wasn't having any of it. Stern-faced and narrowed eyes made it very clear what she thought of her poor excuse to get away. “Goddess knows how long the first tunnel is, not to mention all the bends and curves. How do you expect to see anything? I am not letting you go. You have responsibilities to uphold,” said Luna with an irritated voice.

“Let go, Lu-”

With a sudden gust of wind and an explosive deadening of silence, the rain that had been hurtling downwards ceased to exist. Disoriented, Luna released her grip of Relaki's hand falling to her bottom. Her eyebrows knitted as she looked around her. Everyone seemed to be looking up into the sky, gasps of awe sounded out, and others began to point up in wonder. Following their lead Luna tilted her head up, only to feel great unease as though she had been drenched with water in frigid temperatures.

Up above was a beam that crawled its way through the sky. It was made of what seemed to be blackness that sucked the light in its path. No, it was less than even that. It was nothing but the lack of anything and everything. Slowly eating its way through reality and straight towards the ritual. Luna continued to watch, its slow progress until at a point, it froze in position. Then with a sudden concussive force that dispersed the clouds from the sky, and after a moment reached them - pressing down on them - it sped to speeds that could not be conceived. One moment it was still and the next, its tail was the only thing you could see, the lead had gone past the mountain.

Boom!

The voice that had proclaimed its victory suddenly cried in pain. Its scream was hoarse and tortuous to the ears. Covering them, Luna looked at Relaki who was mirroring her actions. The events taking place were happening to fast to deal with mentally. As the scream continued, a peal of grating laughter erupted, Zenama's voice was distinct enough to be recognized from the other one. Both, sounding simultaneous, caused blood to seep from Luna's ears. A blast of energy pushed past them from the mountain, blowing dirt and wet sand into the air. Lowering their heads, the rear guard covered themselves.

“What have you done?!” Screamed Zenki'l, groaning afterward from another spike of pain. Zenama suddenly stopped laughing, an uncertain air revolved around him, “I-I did nothing!” He screamed in denial. His voice was filled with confusion and a bit of fear. What was that black beam? And more importantly, why did Zenki'l seem so distressed? “D-Don't blame me. Blame my sister, she is the one that sent the satyr!” Screamed Zenama in response. Having seen enough, he quickly rumped through his portal and closed it shut. The air it had been occupying returning to its position with a loud slapping sound.

“No! Come back here, help me,” said Zenki'l, his last word nothing more than a harsh whisper of pain. Screaming as loud as he could, voice shaking the air and bringing almost everyone within the mountain and out to their knees. A zapping sound that quickly cut Zenki'l's scream short ripped its way. The cries from the army were all that can be heard. Until, with sudden silence, no words, screams, or anything that dealt with noise existed. The winds stopped entirely, the uprooted grounds of dirt and sand froze in mid-air.

A sound similar to the creak of a door slowly screeched. And as it finished, a suction force pulled everything it could towards its epicenter. The orb of darkness that had once been Zenki'l was now something far more heinous and destructive. A literal black hole had torn its place into the fabric of space far above the mountain. While the strike force definitely felt the suction force, it was too far away to pull them towards it. Yet, none could utter a word from fear at what they witnessed.

The mountain itself had begun to break into pieces. Floating up towards a ball of darkness that hurt the eyes to stare at. The massive rocks that floated up seemed to elongate; running circles around it. Screams of horror could be heard from within the mountain, those unlucky enough to not have died on the way up were stretched beyond the limits of even the most flexible body.

This continued for only minutes, everything happening so fast. Frozen on their feet, Relaki watched the last hopes of the survival of her love vanish, and all that was left was a fog of dust that did not want to disperse. “Cassius, don't leave me,” she whispered to the air. “Ple-ease,” her voice broken as tears streamed down her face without end. Getting, her legs shaking, she stumbled her way forward in the storm of swirling dirt and sand. Arm covering her face, she continued walking until - almost falling - she broke past it and into what seemed to be a massive dome the dirt and sand revolved around.

But that was not important to her. No, what was important was the massive crater that had appeared where the mountain had been. Walking to the edge, she fell to her knees, her body not capable of carrying her. Heart-wrenching sobs broke away from Relaki without her control. Only able to utter a single word, she did so continuously. Screaming Cassius's name over and over again. While there was an enormous ball of dust in the center of the crater, she knew better than to believe he had survived in such a thing.

Continuously, she stayed in her position until her eyes became to dry for tears to fall and her mouth to parched for her to speak anymore. Broken she let her body droop down, hands limp on her side. Feeling a hand touch her, she did not flinch - welcoming the prospect of death. Looking over her shoulder, she found Luna with tears in her eyes. “Let's go, we need to let the world know what happened here,” said Luna as she cradled Relaki. A hand on her back and another at the back of her knees.

Walking away, they did not notice the fog in the crater fade away behind them. Nor did they see a single man wear robes completely stained in different shades of brown, from the dust and other less flattering things. Standing there under a dome of energy was a single man with knees bent, hands stretched out to balance him, and a hand from the wrist up only. The ground under him completely solid and almost completely untouched by the black ball.

“D-Dark God,” said the man in a whisper, his left eye twitching in a constant, but rhythmic beat. “Dark God,” he asked again as he fell to his bottom, propping himself up with his hands. Looking around, all the man saw was the fog of dust and a severed hand. Reaching out, he grabbed the hand and brought it closer to himself. Treating it like a pet, he cradled it into the crook of his elbow and began petting it. At that moment, his mind broken as well, he began to sing alone.

“The Dark God is everlasting,

His darkness transcending,

Oh! Little children, be watchful, always,

Because the Dark God will return one day.”