The Record of Unusual Creatures

After spending a considerable amount of time in Collow, Hao Ren was more and more surprised by the ancient secrets that were buried in this weird dimension. At first, he thought that the place was another dimension sandwiched between the material world and the Plane of Dreams. After gaining more insight into the place, he found the remnants of the goddess of creation’s power, and beings even more ancient than the First Born or Guardian Giants. He also found clues about the goddess of creation’s days before creating life, and now, he had found the precursors to the Guardian Giants and the original version of the Creation Engine!

The “prison” realm hid many secrets, and it all pointed towards an ancient age and truth that no one had thought about before. Yet, outside of Collow, there was nary any mention of this prison in any records!

What exactly was Lockmarton? Were the wardens the progenitor of the Guardian Giants? Why did this prison and its suppression systems differ so much from the usual style of the goddess of creation? Like the Crystal Mountain, Asurmen, and the crystal Ark before them, it was clearly distinct from the rest of the goddess’ temples!

With those questions in mind, Hao Ren looked at Loken who was controlling the crystal pyramid’s runes. “The gateway is opened?”

“The gateway… The Realm of Reflections is not the kind of gateway you’re thinking about. It will not ‘open’ but will only ‘show itself’. And the Forgotten Abyss that Lockmarton is imprisoned in isn’t an enclosed dimension or cell. It is around everyone, just undetectable.” As Loken spoke, he manipulated the floating runes and pushed them to a certain location, and after some fiddling, Hao Ren felt a subtle change take place. The cavern before him had widened without him noticing before it changed into another place. Loken’s voice became distant at the same time. “I will send you to the other side of the Realm of Reflections. You will see the real Collow there and face Lockmarton.”

“Ten of my comrades will go with you. They will be your guide in the Realm of Reflections. The rest of them will stay with me in the ‘active’ world. There are many things that await us.”

“Go, destroy Lockmarton. Whether you succeed or not, we will hold out until your return.”

Loken’s voice had faded away, and the eleven wardens that stayed behind had disappeared. Together with them, the divine light that ran around the ark. With the light gone, the vibrancy of the area faded away, and the entire cavern fell into a pall of darkness. The crystal pyramid too had dimmed and the Asurmen crystals on the surface of the rocks and ceiling had become normal rocks. A cold dusk light, a fragment of Lockmarton’s will moved about on the top of the cavern, seeping with malice.

Ten of the wardens that stayed behind were beside Hao Ren and the gang. The leader was a massive statue with beard and hair as thick as a forest, braids of gray hair streaked wildly at his back, with heavy rocks tied to the end of each braid. His entire body frame seemed like it was about to burst of his rock hard skin. He bowed slightly at Hao Ren. “I am Loken’s brother and his right-hand man. The Lord of Mountains, Geddon. Let’s go, the Eternal Battlefield awaits us.”

Hao Ren looked at the group around him and shrugged. “If I’m not wrong, we have already crossed the Realm of Reflections into the Forgotten Abyss. I have a pretty good idea on how Carrow’s dimensional structure works now.”

At the same time, as Hao Ren and his group disappeared from sight, only Loken and his ten remaining wardens were left behind. The cavern they were in shone with divine light, and runes circled the crystal pyramid. Asurmen’s light shone from the ceiling of the cavern, basking the area with a holy presence.

As for Lady Gloom, she had returned to Asurmen. The newly restarted starship needs her expertise.

Outside the cavern, Asurmen had come to life, and powerful light of order cleansed the shadow of chaos that smothered the holy grounds, basking the entire area with the divine presence of order, albeit temporarily.

Loken closed the display on the pyramid and he looked up towards the dome of Asurmen crystals that were getting shining brighter and brighter. With a gruff voice, he spoke. “Those brave warriors have reactivated Asurmen and roused that old coot in the Chamber of Will. Comrades, we have never been so close to victory until today. Everything is in place now, and this time, we have no excuses to take a step back now.”

As Loken spoke, a layer of eventide glow formed at the base of the pyramid. With the light of dusk, shadows appeared out of thin air and many twisted monsters grew from the shadow as they gnawed at the real world. Yet, as they were exposed to the light around Loken, the monsters recoiled with a tortured howl before returning to the desolate darkness where they came from.

“Loken. How likely you think they will succeed.” A female warden asked as she pulled a short staff from her back. The staff glowed with radiant holy light. “They are about to face Lockmarton head on. A being that is difficult to take down even for us. It had already taken root on the “other side” and with 10,000 years of time to build up his strength. He will be even more powerful and cunning.”

“I sense aura similar to Mother’s on them, especially their leader. He may look like a human but many different power coils around him, and some of it is Mother’s, and some similar to hers and some totally foreign, even to me… Remember what Mother said before…”

“Beyond the worlds we know, there are existences similar to her. Mother has said this before,” the female warden replied. “So you are suspecting that they are…”

“Mother was lonely, but I think, she will not be any longer,” Loken said as he formed a scepter out of pure energy in his hand. A bolt of lightning surged out from the tip of the scepter and blasted the shadow creeping out from the base of the pyramid. “Those warriors probably came from Mother’s ‘home’ and I could vaguely hear her voice, urging me to trust the warriors. So while they face Lockmarton, our traitor brother, we shall stand our ground, and the tide of chaos shall break before us!”

“When the Ark is opened, mortals from the real world can venture into the realm of nightmare, and the monsters there can use the same pathway into the real world,” the female warden spoke, her voice slow with a rhythmic hum. The cavern was now canvassed by shadows, and the dusk light birthed many writhing monstrosities racing outwards. “Lockmarton will not let this chance go… but this time, we shall not falter!”

A series of light orbs exploded and the roar of combat echoed as the forces of light and darkness clashed. Within the cavern of the Ark, the wardens gave battle to the monsters seeping out of the nightmare realm. The final battle!

On the other side of the Realm of Reflections yet unscathed by combat, in the realm of nightmare, all that happened was the flickering of light on the dimmed pyramid. And this little changes did little to stop the attackers.

Hao Ren and Calaxus led the remaining group of warriors across a long tunnel. With the warden’s guidance, they slowly approached the surface.

Aside from the barbarians who were following the Alpha blindly, the men that Calaxus had brought with him had already realized that they had entered a different world. It was difficult to put into words, but they were very sure that they had stepped into a foreign land!

After leaving the Ark’s cavern and marching on, they should have passed by Asurmen’s crystal hallway and the audience chamber, but now, even when they were moving in the exact same direction and location, they only saw an abandoned rock tunnel around them, plastered with chaotic runes and pictograms. Twisted bones and corroded weapons littered all over the cavern and there was also a pond with a silvery, mercury-like substance in it.

Anyone of the clergies who had lived in Fidelinopolis could attest that there was no such place beneath Asurmen!

“Stay away from that pond,” the Lord of Mountains thundered. “That is a trap of the nightmare. Anyone who falls for it will be trapped in an illusion and die drinking their own blood. Those piles of bones by the pond are its victims.”

Muru cautiously looked at everything along the way as he walked behind his elder siblings made out of rock and metal. He finally found the opportunity to speak. “This cavern seemed to be designed for giants… It is quite huge.”

“That’s because initially, only us giants stood guard against the nightmare.” Geddon glanced at Muru before he nodded. “Didn’t have the time for greetings earlier. You and I are siblings. I suppose Mother created you much later.”

“We didn’t even know we had siblings made of stone like you.”

“That’s because we are a part of history that needs to be forgotten.” Geddon patted Muru on the shoulder as the cave echoed. “…As a life form, you are much more refined than us.”

Muru was collecting his thoughts to respond but by then, they had reached the end of the tunnel.

The dusk light shone at the entrance, and the chaotic skyline was now visible. At the same time, rolling thunder and furious roars could be heard in the distance.

“Welcome to the real Collow,” Geddon announced. “Welcome to the last line of defense in the realm of nightmares, the Eventide Fortress!”

He then grumbled under his breath. “You can also call it the Eventide Ruins.”