----Chapter 3----
The Aetherwyrm coiled above me, a colossal serpent of energy.
Its body wasn't covered in scales, but shifting plates of solid light, each one pulsing with deep purple energy that seemed to writhe with a life of its own. Its eyes were hollow, ancient, and cursed.
The glow didn't merely illuminate. It devoured. Every pulse of its aura consumed the forest, and I could feel the Aethergrass writhing in agony, blackening beneath its light.
Deran shouted, panic cracking his voice. Sweat plastered his hair to his forehead.
"I told you this was a bad idea!"
Deran snarled, glaring at Kaleen. A sickly yellow aura of resentment flickered around him, tinged with brown guilt.
Kaleen's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Idiot! This isn't the time for blaming me! The fortune lies right in front of us!"
A fiery orange aura of greed blazed around Kaleen, masking a thin green layer of fear.
Deran charged forward, sword raised, but I saw the flicker of his green aura, betraying his fear.
His eyes darted toward the forest's edge, already counting his steps to safety. He wasn't planning a heroic last stand. He was calculating escape, leaving me as bait.
Kaleen fired arrow after arrow, jerky and uncoordinated. They dissolved before reaching the creature, obliterated by the Aetherwyrm's aura.
His green aura pulsed erratically, reflecting desperation. I heard him muttering prayers to any god who might be listening.
"Idiots", Zeberu spat in my mind, venom dripping from the thought.
These so-called adventurers are pathetic.
One driven by greed, chasing impossible odds. The other a coward, polishing his gear while death stares him in the face. Their arrogance is astounding.
Despite the searing pain in my chest, I whispered,
"How do you know all of that?"
Their auras reek of it, Zeberu replied, cold and dismissive.
The purple light pulsed again, resonating deep within me. A dark echo of power, unfamiliar but undeniably mine.
Cold dread settled in my gut, heavier than anything I had ever felt. This wasn't just a monster. It was corruption incarnate, a walking plague.
Yet beneath that twisted essence, I glimpsed something pure, almost unreachable.
Suddenly, Deran's eyes glazed over. He stumbled, dropping his sword. "No… no, it wasn't supposed to be like this," he mumbled, his voice trembling.
"What are you babbling about?" Kaleen snapped, nocking another arrow.
Deran didn't respond. He was no longer seeing the Aetherwyrm. He was seeing something else, something far more terrifying.
"The swamp… the mud…" he whispered, his eyes wide with horror.
A thick, cloying brown aura of guilt suffocated him, laced with streaks of crimson representing the blood he spilled.
"Their faces… staring up at me… accusing…"
I could see the guilt and fear warring within him, twisting his features into a grotesque mask.
The red aura around him flickered wildly, interspersed with flashes of black.
He's hallucinating, Zeberu said, a hint of amusement in his voice. The guilt is finally consuming him.
"We didn't have a choice,"
Deran continued, his voice rising in hysteria. "They were going to expose us… the map… the treasure…"
Kaleen's eyes darted back and forth between Deran and the Aetherwyrm, his face a mask of confusion and fear.
"What map? What treasure?"
Deran didn't hear him. He was lost in his own private hell.
"We just needed a little money… a fresh start…"
As Deran rambled, the Aetherwyrm turned its attention to him. It sensed the darkness within him, the corruption that was already taking root.
The purple light intensified, focusing on Deran like a spotlight.
Deran screamed, clutching his head. A black aura of despair enveloped him, sucking away the light.
"Get out of my head! Leave me alone!"
The Aetherwyrm didn't relent. It reached into his mind, amplifying his guilt, his fear, his despair. His body began to convulse, twisting and contorting in unnatural ways.
With a final, agonizing scream, Deran's body exploded, leaving nothing but a cloud of ash and a lingering stench of corruption.
Kaleen stared at the spot where Deran had been standing, his face pale with terror.
"What… what just happened?"
The Aetherwyrm began its descent. Its massive form blotted out the sun, plunging the forest into unnatural twilight.
Its roar was like thunder, shaking the ground beneath my feet. Kaleen screamed, voice cracking with terror.
A tendril of purple light lashed out with impossible speed, wrapping around him like a constricting serpent.
The light pulsed, consuming him in an instant. His body twisted grotesquely before vanishing completely, leaving no trace.
I stumbled backward, tripping over a gnarled root hidden beneath the blackened Aethergrass.
My impact jarred my bones, sending another wave of searing pain through my chest. The world swam before my eyes, blurring the already distorted landscape.
Another pawn. Another sacrifice.
And yet… the Aetherwyrm didn't immediately strike me. It hovered, eyes locked on me, probing with its purple light.
Pain flared, threatening to tear me apart from the inside. And beneath it, something else stirred: a dark, cold power, undeniably my own.
It recognizes you, Zeberu murmured, surprise lacing his voice.
It sees what we are… or what we could become. This corruption is not inherent. It is a festering wound, an ancient scar.
I tried to scream, to break free, but no sound came. The forest withered around me. The trees turned brittle, the Aethergrass crumbled to ash.
Do not resist, Zeberu commanded.
Embrace it. Understand it. Control it.
It is the only path to true power.
••••
The purple light exploded, engulfing me completely.
Visions flashed before my eyes: forgotten realms bathed in eternal twilight, cosmic battles waged by beings of unimaginable power, a world consumed by darkness and despair.
I saw Zeberu locked in combat with something immense, wreathed in flames, a black dagger pulsing with dark energy raised in a desperate attack.
You lost to a God, I thought, defiance flickering despite the pain.
Don't mock me, boy, Zeberu hissed, fury barely contained. Someday, they will all pay for what they did.
Every single one will suffer as I have suffered.
"And I'm supposed to trust you? Consumed by revenge, driven by hatred that will never be satisfied?"
I spat, struggling to focus through the agony.
Then prove yourself, vessel, Zeberu challenged. Resist me. Resist the corruption. Show me you are worthy of the power about to be thrust upon you.
No. Sparks of defiance ignited within me. I would not be a puppet. I would not be a weapon. I would not be used again.
I pushed back against the pain, focusing every ounce of will on controlling the corruption. I didn't fully understand it, but I felt a strange connection, a primal resonance. I would not let it control me. I would control it.
Interesting, Zeberu murmured. You are learning faster than I anticipated. Perhaps you are more than just a vessel after all.
The Aetherwyrm recoiled slightly, sensing something unexpected in me. The purple light flared in response, mirroring my own surge of power.
Energy coursed through my veins, invigorating me, filling me with purpose.
The Aether is responding to you, Zeberu said, tinged with curiosity. It may heal the corruption, reclaim what was lost… or claim it for itself, transforming you.
I pushed myself to my feet, trembling but resolute. I stared at the Aetherwyrm not with fear, but with understanding, as though I could see into its essence.
It sees your potential, Zeberu said. It senses both threat and opportunity.
The black dagger clattered to the ground, its dark energy fading.
The Aetherwyrm roared, both a challenge and recognition, a primal scream echoing through the dying forest. It lunged not to devour, but to test, to gauge my strength.
I braced myself, cold power surging through me, ready to meet the storm head-on.
••••
Then silence. The Aetherwyrm convulsed. Its purple light sputtered and died. Its massive form collapsed, solid light dissolving into nothing.
I looked down at the blackened Aethergrass. A girl lay there, small, fragile, unconscious. Her chest rose and fell gently, trembling from the corruption that had claimed her.
I'll take everything, all of it, and no one can stop me!!
I pressed my hands to the remnants of the Aetherwyrm's energy, feeling it flow into me.
The pact's mark flared on my tongue. My lies, my will, could bend reality. I absorbed the corruption to protect her, freeing her from a burden she never chose.
The purple energy nestled within me, dormant but alive. The girl remained unconscious, safe for now, a fragile reminder of what I had saved.
And the weight of my sins.