"Rig up the line! We got something big!"
The sound of loud voices echoed throughout the empty sea as a small fishing boat floated along the border between life and death.
Due to odd weather anomalies and navigation failures, the sailors aboard this petite vessel made the incorrect assumption that they were sailing towards Blackport Ridge.
This rudimentary assessment was vastly off the mark, for instead of the city blessed by trade and merchantry, they rode the line of the Sea of Dreams and a place that defied the world.
The Abyss.
Dark skies and foggy conditions made it impossible to see more than a few meters away from the edge of the ship, yet the sheer aura of despair that radiated from the border sank into the men.
Their movements became sluggish and weak as they stumbled around attempting to reel in whatever they had caught.
It was a foolish gesture, something that would ultimately be their downfall, dragging them to the Great Beyond.
Each second that ticked by brought them marginally closer towards the clear and distinct edge of the two seas.
Everyone who lived to tell the tale agreed that it was a sight not easily forgotten.
Thick gray fog rolled over the water, which resembled a pitch black solution of liquid darkness, as still as solid ground.
Assessments using recent technology have determined not the depth of the dropoff, but an estimated straight descent of over fifteen thousand meters without even reaching the bottom.
It was uncharted terrain that only one man in history had dared to cross, and even he had never been the same.
So as the weakening sailors tugged on the steel-plated thread that plunged into the water, they felt a chilling presence wash over them.
Their eyes focused for one last second on the sea below, making the horrifying discovery of where they had sailed into.
For one terrifyingly brief moment, there was complete and utter silence.
Then, the metal wire tightened, then loosened as if the creature they had caught had suddenly vanished.
The men rushed towards the helm to steer their way out of the sea, yet it was too late.
Pop.
And with that tiny, inconsequential sound, the entire ship melted away into nothingness, disappearing from reality in the blink of an eye.
No screams, no blood, not even a ripple in the sea.
Simple erasure that left nobody standing and only one remaining party to enjoy the spoils.
In the end, the victor was the monster that was over two thousand meters below the surface, who had eviscerated them merely by a flick of its tail.
Hailing from the twilight zone of the Abyss, it was a small creature that was around the size of a whale.
Rigid legs that had morphed into fins popped out from its sides, burning the water around it as it swam towards the Oceanic Edge.
Its bulging orange and red eyes were miniature volcanoes that dripped with molten magma, solidifying in the sea, leaving tears of cooled obsidian in its wake.
With a roar that could cause earthquakes, the creature bellowed loudly, opening and closing its gills in stride.
As a young Oblivacis of the Apex variety, it had never tasted human flesh before, like many of its elders had done during the times long passed.
And with its intelligence still growing, the primal instinct to stay within its own territory to protect the gift had yet to form.
Therefore, with the brain of a child, the terror exited its home, entering a place rich with life and the souls of humans.
The Sea of Dreams.
…
It was a quiet day on Crescent Moon's End with the sunrise illuminating the coastline as usual.
The cool breeze that blew in from the Abyss drew the citizens of the island to wear coats and jackets throughout the year.
It was a price to pay for living on the closest fragment of land to the most dangerous sea in the world.
However, unlike foreigners who would be struck with swarms of illnesses or physical ailments, the natives of this place were immune to the effects of that place.
The phenomenon had been personally studied and confirmed by both Cauron Thorn and Floyd Brymyn, each a master in their respective fields.
Many of the locals believed it to be the trade-off for their risky location and their proximity to the most dangerous and vicious creatures that roamed the world.
Others saw it as a blessing granted to them by the gods, who some believed lived in the deepest regions of the Abyss itself.
Yet, there was a truthful answer to this dilemma that only one organization throughout the entire population of the world knew of.
Located in an underwater cave deep below the city was an altar.
It was mystical and shone like the stars in the night sky with radiant constellations outlined into various patterns.
Such clusters of light were called the Twin Bridges of Hetrolara, which graced the heavens only once a decade in most regions.
But far to the North on Crescent Moon's End, they were visible far more frequently, appearing every month.
Each time those constellations aligned in the sky above, the strange altar would glow and shine, begging to be destroyed as the creature sealed within fought for its freedom.
Since the incident two months ago that resulted in the disappearance of Orion Cosmoti and the destruction of the Deity's Descent seal, the structure buried beneath the city trembled with anticipation.
For when the time was right, what lay beneath knew that its freedom was a guarantee; whether it be in this generation or the next, it would suckle on the rift between worlds again.
And its judgment was not misplaced.
High above its constraints, there was a group of three individuals clad in white trench coats sitting around a bar table with stern faces.
One was a man with long silver hair and liquid gold eyes, Stein Brevmore, who had joined the Seven Head Order after his encounter with the devil.
Another was a little girl with freshly cut white hair that was more of a bob than anything else.
Her blue eyes were locked onto her book as she flipped through the pages impatiently looking for the conclusion.
Esme Blair had a fresh scar marking her arm after the incident two months ago with Cosmoti's Erasure spell nearly ending her life.
Luckily, as she had dislodged the seal. The Great One bound within shielded her with its strength, allowing her to live another day.
Finally, the last of the group was a man with navy blue hair that drooped down to the highest point of his shoulders.
His eyes were a mix of green and blue, glowing with a soft cyan hue.
Hidden behind a powerful concealment spell were two magnificent black wings that were a perk of becoming a Dark Angel that served the master.
It was a rare honor that only three in the history of the Order had received, and he took it in stride as the commander of the unsealment operation.
His former friend and student, Adam, had disappeared without a trace during his operation in Sea Fallen, leaving him irritated and distraught over the loss.
He held reservations about the new persona that the master had adopted, with its negative influence worrying him; however, he stayed faithful, for that is all he could do.
For the man who had raised him and granted him everything in life was simply impossible to hate.
The seven elites of the Order had lost three of their most powerful assets during that battle, and with the remaining four spread out across the world, he had never felt more alone.
So as he faced the recruit before him, who looked smug while playing a game of solitaire happily in his own space of mind, he sighed deeply.
In the end, there was nothing he could do other than follow the orders he was given, for that was the life of a dog, and he was the most obedient one of many.
…
Bodies. Bodies. Bodies.
Stacked high.
Stacked low.
There was an endless supply that numbered in the hundreds.
Creatures that were mere wisps of magenta light whisked around the tiny island, building structures out of human bone and flesh.
Some played with decapitated heads while others danced around happily with corpses, thinking of them as alive.
This was the day-to-day life on the tiny island where the Dormyrrs came to play.
Ever since their King in Sea Fallen had gone silent, they had been free to roam around the ocean searching and preying on whomever they wished.
And they took every opportunity to do so.
While some were obviously hunted by Lepaie Quinn and members of the Hunters' Guild, their numbers were far too numerous to be exterminated that simply.
So, as the weeks passed of scattered life, they had received a command throughout the greater hivemind.
"Come one, come all to the home of all Dormyrr's, where humans are mere dreams and the moon forever shines upon us!"
It was an odd idea to these solitary creatures who had never once encountered another of their own kind, and yet, it seemed so alluring.
The first few were skeptical; however, they still appeared at the location, finding an island littered with slumbering humans.
Their minds were wide open, easily dissectable with their abilities, and the nightmares they could distort were simply sublime.
As the days passed, more and more Dormyrrs appeared, bringing bodies alongside them, which they used for homes and infrastructure that they had seen in cities.
For the first time, these strange creatures learned what it felt like to be human, and they craved more.