Alone

It was glorious.

Ra’azel had often wondered if just taking another body for himself would have worked. If it would have given him what he desired. He would’ve never done it if he was not put in this situation. He would’ve never had risked it, because he did not know how the Framework would’ve reacted to him.

Possession was something that was known to him. Taking a body as a vessel. The previous owner of this body had done much to make his transition easier. It was prepared already, it had a harness that allowed a Soul to properly anchor with the flesh.

As Ra’azel obliterated the Soul of his enemy, he laughed, feeling the air entering his lungs in truth in what felt like forever. He laughed and heard it echo around him, heard it and knew that he was lucky.

In the corner of his eye, something flashed. What he had learned were called notifications, a direct connection to the Framework. Tools for him to use. He felt his Soul settle in the body and he found where that connection was, he took it over and attached, helped in great part by the one who had used the body before.

He saw screens, windows, he saw things that he could only imagine before.

He had done it at last. He was part of this Framework, and all the power that it had to offer was now his to explore.

Vistas flickered around him—the power of this body, he knew. He stood on a shore of an ocean, then in a deep cave, then on top of a mountain. All in the span of a second. It would take him time to learn to control this body, to learn its secrets. To take command of what this Framework had to offer.

Finally, he would be able to accomplish his goal. Revenge against—

—A scream interrupted him. He turned and saw the source of the strange field that surrounded them, the barely perceivable mist that sapped his strength.

A woman. He watched as her body rippled, as it fell apart and something else rose from the center of her Soul.

He turned and saw a darkness above him another field approaching. The two field auras touched, and then everything shifted.

The ever-changing landscapes around him were smothered and pushed down. He lost his breath, it was painful. He felt constricted, he felt a shiver run through his bones unlike anything he had ever felt before.

In a blink he was no longer on top of a floating island. Now he was inside a deep dark forest. He couldn’t see anything beyond himself, couldn’t sense anyone else near. He was all alone.

The last thing Nayra saw was Ra’azel’s body turning into a raw Soul, then rush into Eratemus’s vessel and vanish. She felt it when Eratemus died, when his Soul was torn to pieces. She had tried to save him, to use her I Choose Who Dies, but the Soul had to die, to pass on to the Ethereal Realm. And this was not that. This was the other death, the end of life in the reality of Infinite Realm.

Then Nayra felt the power surround them, she felt the world change and the Real Realm flee as if in terror. She felt a familiar Essence, and saw it physically manifest itself in the world around them.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

A forest filled with massive dead trees and cold darkness. A dead world. She looked around and for the first time in her life felt what it was like to be truly alone.

Nahamassa’s prison was made out of light. It attacked her Shadow and in doing so made her weaker. She gathered her might even as she was under constant assault and used her skill perk—Darkness Fall.

Shadow was born in a small radius around her, and through it she gathered as much power as she could. Her skills and perks lurched as she utilized all the power granted to her by the Framework. Her Class perks and her Skills rippled out of her and the prison of light cracked.

She shifted her body into a massive dragon form, changing her attributes to favor strength and allowing her to physically break the walls of light.

She shattered them and stepped into the world outside.

For a moment she feared that she was inside another kind of prison. A deep forest filled with darkness that she couldn’t touch. It was no darkness at all, just a physical manifestation of an Essence unlike any Shadow she had ever known.

Her senses could tell her nothing, she felt no one, not even Zacharia through their True Link.

She was alone.

Zacharia focused, the Time around him was trapped, the same way he was. It was not Time itself that held him captive. It was something else, a construct that kept it bent into a circle. He commanded Time, and if he could not escape, it meant that whatever it was that kept him imprisoned was not Time.

He closed his eyes and touched Time. His armor was now fully infused with it. It was the instrument that sharpened his power. Through it, he combed through the loop, and found the place around which Time turned.

He gathered his power and flew through the Sky. His will bent reality, and it obeyed. With a strike of his blade, he carved through Time and Space and all other Realms touching this one. The hidden construct parted, and Time resumed its normal flow.

Zach found himself not in the air, but on the ground, in a dark forest.

Immediately, his memories called to him. A familiar sensation filled him. That of being alone. It was… almost pleasant, in a way that only something familiar could be, even when it was torture.

For the first time since he escaped his prison, Zach paused, his mind remembering what it was like to be alone.

Erdania watched in horror as Selia’s body melted off her bones and dissipated into a mist of Essences. She tried to catch her, to hold her with her power, but it was all useless.

And then something else happened. The mist, the aura of her and Ryun’s perk, the Presence of the Eternal Hunters, coalesced almost in the same way that Ryun did when he pulled his being and made a vessel for himself.

What emerged was something that made Erdania’s heart stop, that made her afraid.

“Selia?” She whispered, and the being didn’t answer.

The world around them changed, and they found themselves in a deep forest, with bare trees stretching far above covering the sky, leaving everything in a deep darkness. She couldn’t sense anything beyond just a few steps around her. She couldn’t see anything beyond that either.

A being with strange proportions stood before her, as tall as she was, lithe. She was covered in fine fur across all of her body, pale white as snow. On her face a dark mask obscured her features, leaving only two holes for bright blue light to shine through. On top of her head were two thin horns bent backward to frame white hair.

The being raised her hand and a scythe made out of bleached bone manifested in her palm.

“Selia!” She yelled and grabbed her by the shoulder this time, worry making her forget herself.

The being that used to be Selia turned head and looked Erdania in the eyes. That look made her cold to her core. It emptied her mind and taught her what it was to look Death in the face. No, not Death, True Death.

“Selia?” A voice, almost melodic spoke out, and Erdania’s heart dropped.

Then, the two blue orbs behind the mask dimmed, and she tilted her head. “Oh,” the being said. “I almost forgot.”

Erdania felt hope. “Selia? Is it you?” She asked again.

“Thank you,” Selia answered, her hand reaching up to touch Erdania’s cheek. Surprisingly, it was warm, kind even. “I nearly lost myself.”

“What happened?” Erdania asked.

Selia turned her head and looked into the forest.

“Ryun happened,” she said slowly. “He is letting the old him take the reins. He is angry, I should go and remind him before he does something and loses himself. I’m going to need your help.”

Before Erdania could react, Selia took a step, grabbed hold of her and then they were gone.