Chapter 337: The Chasm

The cold rain drizzled down on the coliseum, yet it seemed to have little effect on the excitement of the spectators. The crowds screamed with passion and fear as golden and orange flames mixed and exploded in a cloud of smoke at the center of the arena.

The people of Undergrowth shouted confusedly and craned their necks over their friends, hoping to catch a glimmer of the duelists. As the smoke cleared the crowd cried out in shock. Stryg and Belle lay on the burned sand, unmoving, vacant eyes wide open.

~~~

The world was dark and silent, the sun nor moon etched the sky. There was no coliseum, crowds, nor voices. There was only silence and still water.

Belle and Stryg slowly drifted above the water with the quiet lull of unconsciousness.

The aurum aegis around Belle’s neck suddenly began to tremble and rattle, emitting specks of golden light that sputtered out of existence almost as soon as they appeared. Belle’s face contorted with pain and discomfort. She opened her scarlet eyes blearily.

The world felt slow and her body felt heavy. Water swashed in her ears and the sting of its cold touch felt like pin-pricks on her skin.

I’m… floating…? she thought sleepily.

Her body jerked awake. She twisted in surprise and unintentionally went under the surface. Her limbs flailed for a moment but the cold rushed over her face and shocked her to her senses.

Belle’s muscles remembered her long hours of swim training. Her arms and legs moved instinctively and she kicked upwards. Her face rose above the water line once more and she took a deep breath of crisp air.

After a few more precious breaths, she gathered herself and glanced about, and spotted Stryg floating several meters away.

“Oh, I’m not alone,” she sighed in relief. “Hey! Stryg! Where are we? Oi! Wake up!”

Stryg’s eyes didn’t open, not even a flutter. Belle realized he was unconscious, though he otherwise seemed unharmed.

She frowned in frustration, “Dammit, Stryg, I need you to wake up! Something feels off about this place…” her voice trailed off as she noticed there was nothing but darkness all around them.

“We’re in the Dreamscape…” Belle whispered in realization.

She had no idea how they had gotten here. The last thing she recalled was summoning her golden flames to attack Stryg and then… she was here.

Her aurum aegis abruptly gave off a faint warmth. Had the aegis woken her up? In this place?

“...It’s not too bad,” Belle whispered.

In fact, this was good… she hoped. It wasn’t the first time her soul had accidentally slipped into the Dreamscape. Then again, she had never taken someone else with her.

“It’s okay, we’re okay,” she muttered to herself. “I’ve been here before and I’ve gotten myself out before. First things first, I need to move us somewhere dry.”

The Dreamscape was vast. There were plenty of comfortable spaces within its territory, and plenty of uncomfortable ones too. This place was clearly the latter.

Belle pulled off her aurum aegis and held the golden amulet up above her head. “Take me somewhere with a campfire and some blankets,” she commanded.

The aegis shook in her hand for a moment, before a single speck of light sparked off its metal edge.

Belle furrowed her brow, “What the…?”

The aegis would usually shine bright in the Dreamscape. At her command, hundreds of golden particles of light should have blazed forth from the aegis in a burst of power that would transform into a dream portal.

Yet try as she might, the aegis did not respond.

“Maybe there’s not enough mana left…?” she wondered.

Had the aegis really used up most of its reserves waking her up? She could still feel some of her divine power emanating from the amulet, but it was dwindling.

Strange, she thought. The longer she held the aegis in her hand the less mana she sensed from within.

Belle stared into the darkness warily, “Is this place… draining the amulet?”

But that didn’t make sense, the Dreamscape could be dangerous but she had never heard of it draining mana before.

A small hint of blue filtered into her peripherals. Belle looked down and spotted a faint blue light deep in the water. As she watched, more lights emerged from the depths. The pattern of lights seemed almost like a reflection of the stars, but when Belle looked up there were no stars in the sky, nor even a hint of a cloud.

She had been in the Dreamscape plenty of times and each time it was a strange experience, but this… this was different. Something felt off. An ominous feeling began growing in the pit of her stomach.

The hundreds of blue glimmers began to grow, from specks to the size of coins. The lights grew brighter and larger as they rose from the ocean’s depths.

“Stryg… Now would be a great time to wake up, like seeeriously great,” Belle said anxiously.

The glimmers’ light began to coalesce around themselves, forming a faint azure aura that illuminated the gloomy waters. Belle glanced around the ocean, finally able to see past the darkness.

“It’s not an ocean…” she said numbly.

The waters had an edge, so large that it almost reached the pitch-black horizon, but there was an edge.

“We’re in a lake…?”

Belle looked down and studied what lay beneath the waters. The glimmers’ light had illuminated the bottom of the lake, or at least its edges. The ground was shaped in a wide ring-like pattern, forming a colossal tunnel that seemed to have no end, with a darkness so deep that not even the glimmers’ light could penetrate.

Tunnel…?

A shiver crawled over Belle’s spine and her scarlet eyes widened in horrific realization.

“It’s not a tunnel… it’s a chasm! This is the Soul Chasm!” she shouted panickedly.

Belle looked over at her teammate and screamed, “Wake up, Stryg! We’re not in the Dreamscape! This place belongs to the dead! The souls of the living are not meant to be here! We need to leave, now! Please, wake up!”

The blue glimmers grew brighter now as they neared the water’s surface.

No, not glimmers. Wisps. Belle thought grimly.

She wracked her mind and tried to remember the stories her mother had told her when she was a little girl. Bellum had once said that the souls of the dead would arrive at the Soul Chasm after leaving the mortal world. They would fall into the lake and become wisps, destined to travel deeper and deeper into the chasm, until one day, hopefully, they’d come out the other end, reborn into a new life.

So why are these wisps floating upwards instead?

Belle could see them clearly now. Large azure orbs of light the size of a helmet, floating right underneath the surface of the water. Slowly, the hundreds of wisps began to surround her.

“Dammit, Stryg!” Belle yelled anxiously. “Please, for the love of anything that is sacred, wake the fuck up!”

Belle channeled blue mana into her hands, but nothing came. Her chromatic mana did not respond, nor could she feel it flowing through her veins or beating within her heart.

This wasn’t like the Dreamscape, she realized in terror. Her magic did not exist in the Soul Chasm.

The wisps broke through the water’s surface and their orbs of light fizzled and melted away, transforming into ethereal visages of their former selves. A myriad of souls arose from the water, various different shapes of humanoids and monsters alike. Some species Belle recognized, others she had only heard stories about, but most were unfamiliar. Yet despite their differences, the dead all shared the same vacant eyes of hunger.

The wisps did not swim in the water, they merely glided over its surface as if standing on some invisible platform. They abruptly turned to Belle and swarmed her.

“Get away from me!” she yelled in a mixture of anger and dread.

Belle kicked and punched at their ethereal forms, but her hands and feet went through them harmlessly as if the wisps were made of smoke. The dead souls opened their mouths resentfully and wailed, a low-pitched scream that resonated through the chill air. Countless hands grabbed at her.

“Agh, no—!” Belle gasped in terror before they dragged her underwater.

The ethereal forms melted back into orbs of light underneath the water’s surface, but still, they held onto Belle. She screamed and flailed about, but they did not let go. Golden flames erupted from her body and the wisps cried out in painful frustration. They released the giant vampiress as their ethereal forms were burned away.

Belle swam as fast as she could upwards and broke through the water’s surface. She gasped for air and glanced about in a panic. Dozens of more wisps circled around her, eyeing her hungrily like sharks. With a low guttural wail they rose out of the water, transforming back into their past selves.

“Stay back! Stay back!” Belle shouted anxiously. Golden flames burned over her palms. She flung her arms around, trying her best to ward the dead away.

She glanced down into the waters and stiffened in fear. Hundreds of more wisps were slowly rising to the surface. Belle’s voice broke in a cry of defeat and fear.

There were too many of them. Her divine abilities would not last long. The wisps would soon overpower her and drag her soul deep into the Soul Chasm forever.

Belle blinked, Wait a sec! If my flames work here then that means—!

She gripped the aegis in her hand tightly and channeled her divine power into the amulet. The aegis drank her mana greedily and her golden flames grew small.

It didn’t matter to her. She would pour in all her power if she had to.

“Please,” she whispered desperately. “Please, work. Take us out of here, please!”

The wisps noticed her diminishing flames and drew closer.

The aegis trembled in her hand. Bright sparks of golden light burst from the aegis and merged into a sphere. The sphere quickly expanded and formed a ring of fire behind her, a dream portal.

“YES!” Belle cried in triumphant relief. She turned to look for Stryg and paled, horrified, “NO!!!”

Stryg’s body had floated further away from her and the wisps had begun to turn their attention towards his motionless body.

“Stryg! Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP!” Belle shouted desperately.

Her body felt sluggish and weak. The aegis had drained most of her mana and her golden flames burned dim. Hundreds of wisps surrounded her, watching, waiting for her flames to falter, even for a moment.

She glanced at the portal behind her. It was their only chance to escape this place. The portal wouldn’t stay open for long. If she swam away now, there was no guarantee she would even have the strength to swim back to it.

Belle glanced towards her unconscious friend and bit her lip. She shook her head, took a deep breath, and screamed at the top of her lungs, “I’m coming, Stryg! Just hold on!”

Belle kicked the water with her legs and swam towards him, but the wisps were faster, they glided across the water with ease. Several wisps had already reached Stryg before she was even halfway there.

“No, stop! Get away from him!” Belle cried out.

The wisps ignored her and with cold hands they grabbed Stryg.

Suddenly, a wisp burst from the water and sliced apart the others’ ghostly arms with a pair of short ethereal blades.

Belle frowned in confusion, “It’s… fighting them…?”

This wisp was different. It wasn’t trying to drag Stryg to the deep depths. It was defending Stryg… He was defending Stryg.

As Belle swam closer she began to make out the wisp’s form. It was a young man, a vampire, she realized. He fought with a peculiar sword style she had never seen before. He danced around Stryg’s body, his twin short blades slashing apart any other wisp that drew too close.

Who is that?

Why is he fighting against his own kind?

What is happening!?

Belle wanted answers but the other wisps were enclosing on Stryg. Hundreds of the dead hungered for the goblin. The single odd wisp turned to the horde of enemies, but he did not run, he stepped in front of Stryg, swords at the ready.

The waters shook beneath Stryg and dozens of knight-shaped wisps arose around him. Each donned a scarlet cloak over their ethereal silver armor. In one hand they held longswords and in the other, they carried shields with an emblazoned crest of a woman in a warrior’s stance.

Belle’s eyes widened with recognition, she knew that crest. She had seen Stryg’s swordmaster carry it proudly on the back of her cloak.

“The House of Gale…” Belle whispered.

The scarlet knights moved in a synchronous order and formed a protective circle around Stryg. The horde of hungry wisps attacked them with a frenzy, but the knights held their ground and cut them down with silent blade strokes.

She didn’t understand what was happening but there was no time to hesitate. “Hey! Warriors of Gale!” Belle waved to the knights, “We need to bring Stryg over here! To the portal!”

The young vampire wisp stared at the portal briefly before he sheathed his shortswords and threw Stryg over his back. The scarlet knights glanced at each other and nodded. They shifted their stance and began moving towards the portal while staying in their circle formation, cutting down the countless wisps that continued to attack.

Belle watched them, dumbfounded. They’re listening… They’re really listening! Shit, I need to move too!

She spun around and swam back to the portal with the last of her remaining strength.

Despite the horde's attacks, the knights moved quickly over the waters and reached the portal seconds after Belle.

The young vampire wisp pulled Stryg off his back and handed him to Belle. She stared at the wisp warily, before she wrapped her arm around Stryg and pulled him away.

Belle swam back a little and looked the wisp over, “T-thank you… Sir…?”

The wisp said nothing and merely nodded.

Stryg grumbled in discomfort and his eyes faintly opened.

Clypeus smiled softly and gently pushed Belle and Stryg into the portal behind them.

~~~

Belle’s eyes snapped open. She shouted in shock and sat up on the sand. Rain drizzled down on her and she cried in relief. She glanced around at the coliseum and then at the confused crowd.

“I’m back… we’re back!” Belle burst into laughter, tears in her eyes.

Stryg groaned from across the arena and sat up. He shook his head, sand falling out of his pale grey hair. He stared at his hands and frowned in consternation, “What just happened…? I thought… I thought I saw… no… it can’t be…”

“Look who’s finally awake,” Belle smiled, annoyed. She wasn’t sure if she should have been angry or happy.

Belle remembered the Gale wisps and her smile fell. She looked Stryg over carefully, unsure of what to make of it all.

...Who are you, Stryg? she wondered.

The blue goblin stared at her and then at the battered arena. He narrowed his eyes and hissed, “This duel isn’t over.”

Belle couldn’t help but grin excitedly.

“…I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she growled.