Ryder's vision blurred as he traveled through an endless dark space. His scream echoed as he was jolted by an invisible force for what seemed like forever before he eventually arrived at a destination.
"This is not what I signed up for!" he shrieked, his voice distorting too fast before it could echo in the empty space.
After he was told his soul would be teleported, he never expected it to be like this. He never thought everything would feel so real.
As his body levitated in the air of a strange horizon to which he was jolted, he attempted to steady himself, but it wasn't so easy. His limbs' responses were frustratingly out of control–wobbly, unreliable, and with a mind of their own.
The sensation he was feeling was unlike anything he had ever felt. His body no longer obeyed the laws of gravity like it did back in the world where his real body was. It was as if Isaac Newton had taken one look at this place and thrown his hands up in surrender, declaring, "You're on your own with this one, folks!"
He was floating, stretching, twisting… and he just wanted to scream.
Unlike the dark void he had been traveling through, this place was quite different—everywhere around him were colorful orbs, some close, some in the distance, glittering and shimmering like stars.
One particularly large orb, a crystal-like orb of purple and green, seemed to be watching him. Ryder could have sworn it winked at him, which was impressive considering it didn't have anything resembling eyes. Or a face. Or any discernible features at all, really.
After a while of trying – and several embarrassing moments that involved spinning in circles like a malfunctioning top – Ryder finally balanced himself into a position where he could feel comfortable. In this space, normal concepts like "up" and "down" didn't seem to make any sense.
"I am at the Astral Shadow Plane… now what? I can't find any beasts here," Ryder muttered. "This feels like I'm in space more than anything… not that I've been to space, though."
He glanced around, half-expecting to see some sort of celestial tour guide or at least a helpful floating sign. Instead, there was nothing but more orbs and the occasional streak of light.
"What the hell is even going on!?" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in annoyance. The motion sent him tumbling backward in a slow, awkward somersault. "Great. Just great. No gravity, no directions. Could this get any worse?"
Suddenly, multiple outlines began to play in his head. They appeared slowly and faintly before their visibility increased.
It was as if they had been there all along, but Ryder had never noticed them.
As if in answer to his rhetorical question, suddenly, multiple outlines began to play in his head.
They appeared slowly and faintly before their visibility increased, coming into focus one by one.
In the air, multiple creatures—some with wings, some on all fours, each with different shapes and sizes—roamed around, circling him.
They all seemed to mind their own business, not even sparing him a glance despite their proximity to him—the oddest of them all. It was like being the new kid at school, except instead of teenagers, he was surrounded by beings that looked like they'd been designed by a five-year-old with an overactive imagination and too many crayons.
"Oh," he said with a sigh, as the outlines solidified into recognizable shapes. "There they are."
There was a creature that resembled a cross between an octopus and a chandelier, its tentacles trailing light like light cables. Another looked like a wolf with too many eyes—and when Ryder said "too many," he meant it and wasn't exaggerating. It was quite funny because he couldn't understand what a wolf needed seventeen eyes for, especially not when they were arranged in a pattern that looked suspiciously like a smiley face. Many more beasts that roamed around were even more abnormal.
"Why are all the beasts from this plane so ugly?" Ryder lamented solemnly.
Yet, despite the crowd of beasts that were all minding their business, Ryder could feel something distinct—eyes. A pair of eyes staring at him, dead on.
It wasn't just the feeling of being watched; it gave him the sensation of being studied, analyzed, like a specimen under a microscope. Or perhaps more accurately, like a snack being observed by a little child.
Ryder swallowed hard.
Suddenly, the mark on his left shoulder began to glow, now lighting up like a neon sign, pulsing with a rhythmic beat that felt like it matched his racing heart.
"That definitely is the creature that marked me. I guess it's time for my test."
From within the darkness, solid ground materialized, followed by dead trees and red clouds. The transition was abrupt, like someone had changed the channel on reality without alerting him beforehand.
One moment he was floating in a void filled with bizarre creatures, and the next he was standing – actually standing! – on something that resembled Earth, that is if Earth had been designed by an angry, dramatic teenager.
Before Ryder knew it, he was in a place that made him shiver; whether it was fear or cold remained a mystery to him. The temperature seemed to drop several degrees in an instant, causing goosebumps to rise on his skin. The air carried a scent of decay and something metallic, like old paper.
Everything around him had materialized right before his eyes. The place where he stood was created right in front of him, shifting from the vast space he had been in before.
From his mark, a black foggy trail emerged, curling like smoke from a dying fire. It stretched out before him, twisting between the dead trees and disappearing into the distance.
It was as if the mark on his shoulder had decided to play the role of GPS, but instead of a cheerful lady's voice announcing "turn right in 300 feet," it was giving silent, ominous directions that led deeper into this hellscape he had no knowledge of.
"You will receive the direction of the beast that invited you," Ryder recalled. It was the same thing one of the cloaked figures had told him before he was sent here.
"It's not like I have any choice other than to follow the trail," Ryder smiled sadly as he walked forward.
The path he walked was through a deserted forest. There were trees, but no leaves. There were animals, but they were all dead—mere artwork of bones. Skeletal remains of creatures he couldn't identify stood frozen in various poses, as if they had died mid-movement and turned into gruesome statues.
A rabbit-like skeleton sat on its haunches beside a broken branch with empty eye sockets that were staring at nothing. A larger creature—perhaps a deer or something similar—had its skull turned toward Ryder, jaws open in a silent scream. It was like walking through a natural history museum with artworks that exhibited fear and depression.
The trees seemed to lean closer the further he moved, their gnawed branches stretching outward like clawed hands. It was as if they were trying to grab him, to pull him into their horrifying embrace. Ryder quickened his pace, ducking under a low-hanging branch that seemed to dip even lower as he approached.
From the quiet land Ryder had been navigating, he suddenly heard a rustling sound, followed by whispering.
"Stay calm, Ryder. Stay calm. Nothing is gonna happen," he reassured himself as his voice trembled, knowing fully well he was lying to himself. Something was definitely going to happen. Something always happened in places like this. That was the whole point of places like this.
His pace quickened. He could have turned around, asked, "Who's there?" like most people would, and confronted whatever was causing the change in atmosphere—but he dared not!
After all, how sure was he that the creature responsible even understood English?
"For all I know, familiars are not capable of conversation," Ryder thought. "Or maybe they communicate through interpretive dance. I'm terrible at interpretive dance. I got a D- in my performing arts elective."
Rustle!
The sound came again, this time not whispers, but rustling. It was no longer just a background noise; it was definitely a living thing, moving through the desolate landscape with an eerie purpose.
Ryder could hear the snap of twigs, the shifting of what might have been leaves if there had been any on the trees.
Ryder swallowed hard and continued walking forward with trembling legs, not turning around even once.
Ryder swallowed hard and continued walking forward with trembling legs, not turning around even once. His shoulders were hunched nearly to his ears, as if he was trying to make himself smaller, hoping that it would somehow make him less noticeable to whatever was stalking him.
"If I can't see it, it can't see me," he thought, hoping that things wouldn't play out like his imagination but rather like his wish. "That's how it works, right?"
Wrong!
Rustle!
This time, it was just too close. The sound came from directly behind him, very near.
Instinct took over. Fight or flight was no longer a choice he should spend his time deciding on; it was an automatic response. Ryder's body moved before his mind could catch up, spinning around to face the threat, arms raised in a defensive posture that he'd seen in martial arts movies but had never actually practiced.
ROAR!
The creature was no other than a rabbit. A small white rabbit with red eyes.
A rabbit that roared.
And then it roared again, a sound that should have been impossible coming from such a small, adorable creature. It was the kind of roar that should have belonged to a beast with red eyes, ten times its size.
The creature leaped forward and its body twisted as its legs aimed at Ryder's chest.
"ARRRRGGHHH!!" Ryder screamed as he attempted to push the creature away. Instead, he was the one who ended up flying backward, crashing into one of the dead trees as his hands collided with the rabbit's underbelly.
He crashed into one of the dead trees closest to him, the impact sending shockwaves through his body. The tree cracked and splintered, pieces of dry wood raining down around him as he slumped to the ground.
"This… this is the devil's plane," Ryder muttered in a low tone as he struggled to stand up, his legs wobbling. "I shouldn't be too surprised to expect such from a rabbit."
Walking forward with slow, calculated steps, the rabbit-like creature approached him. When it was just a few centimeters away, it stopped.
"You… You… Are… The… Dracogon's… summon?" Its voice grumbled.
Still on the ground, Ryder couldn't stand up. His body felt like it had lost all its energy, even his consciousness seemed to have been drifting apart.
"So… it can speak," Ryder thought before responding.
"I don't know what you're talking about! Just leave me be!"
The creature walked closer and then ripped off Ryder's clothes from his shoulder, revealing his mark.
"There is no mistaking it. This is the Great Demon Dracogon's mark," the rabbit continued. "I am a Devil-Viper Bunny that goes by the name Luxy, and I serve the Dracogon."
"I can guess you have no clue about the world you're in, but this entire plane is ruled by the Great Demon Dracogon. Every beast here is under him, including me, so you won't have problems with the other beasts… as long as they recognize the mark on your shoulder."
"The Dracogon… so that is the beast that contracted me," Ryder spoke in a tone just above a whisper.
"Yes, and I don't think you'll be getting to him easily, so I will be contracting with you as well to guide you to him," Luxy said.
"But here's the problem—I cannot bind with you without your permission. So, you have to permit me. Do you agree to let me bind with your soul?"
By now, Ryder had managed to get back to his feet.
"But what about the initial beast that summoned me? If I allow you to bind with me, how can I bind with my actual beast—the one that marked me?"
"Relax," Luxy spoke nonchalantly. "There is no limit to the number of beasts you can bind to your soul. In the brown, orange, and red-marked worlds, humans have no restrictions. I cannot say for sure if the same applies to the black mark world, but it should—if you are compatible."
"If I'm compatible?" Ryder echoed weakly.
"And besides, this is a win-win for both of us. I have been looking for a worthy vessel, and you won't survive if you venture outside this area alone."
"I mean, just look at you! You delivered a hit to me and ended up in such a condition. If I had actually attacked you, I don't think you would have survived a direct blow from me."
"Everyone out there is either a demon or a devil—just like me. You won't survive for sure."
"So, what do you say?"
Ryder hesitated for a moment before finally replying.
"Yes… I approve for you to bind with my soul."