Darkness, that's what he could see an endless darkness, no light, only faint sounds of breathing could be heard.
It is as if he has submerged into the endless void of space.
Who is he? Who was he? He tried to remember but the memories were fragments and were too unclear to to confirm.
He wants to open his eyes but can't say is he opened his eyes or closed them. His body is feeling very heavy and his bones and muscles can't move them he is feeling pain everywhere in his body.
His right arm touched something but he couldn't think what it could be because of his foggy mind, but he could say there was something soft and wet beneath him.
He thought he may be lying on top of a massive decaying flesh. This kind of thought should have been impulsive but they are not.
There were many types of smells in the air rotten meat, rot, copper and something purgatory. It was unbearable.
He tried to sit up, but his muscles felt very painful. He feels like his body may tear up.
Suddenly he felt a shift it felt like a giant leaving thing, he panicked he tried to move from it.
His fingers brushed over something it was like something sharp and fractured like a shared of bones, his heart raced, he felt something was wrong so he tried to remember something even a little bit none came.
The sound of his breathing increased, he could hear his breathing loud as if he was breathing in his ears.
He tried to talk but somehow it felt hard, raw like talking from someone else mouth, not his. "W..Where?" his voice was weak.
The sound doesn't belong to him. Does it or it is his? He can't make sense.
There was nothing but just a vast expansion of place. No one to reply to his question.so no answer.
Then suddenly from the depth of his mind, a voice came
[Calibrating]
The voice was emotionless, cold and mechanical. The sound came from inside his mind. It sounded like some sort of bell ringing inside his head.
[Physical stats–compromised. Structural integrity—fractured. Energy reserves—depleted.]
"What the…?" He staggered backward panicking, his heart rate was increasing. He looked around to find the source of the sound. "Who's there?!"
The voice ignored his question and continued.
[Designation–Voice of the Abyss. Operational. Initiating survival protocols.]
The words confused him even more. Voice of the abyss? His thoughts spun, trying to find anything related to it in his memory but he couldn't find a thing, as his memories all were fragments with blurry vision and random sounds. He stopped to remember as it was pointless.
A sound came suddenly.
Clicking.
A creature crawled through the darkness, the sound was faint at first, but slowly the sound grew louder and closer. Claws on stone. It's legs skittering across the cavern floor.
[Hostiles detected.]
The indifferent voice rang again in his head.
[ Armored. Designation—ravagers. Threat assessment–lethal.]
Their shapes slowly emerged from the shadow, they were slick black faint outlines glinting as they moved. Six-legged, their carapace was slick and black like a polished obsidian. Eyes were glowing like embers smoldering in their sockets.
He didn't understand anything. Ravagers? What are those? His throat was tight, a lump of dread checking him from within. The sound rang in his head, but it didn't explain anything, about what he was facing. What the hell are they? How could it be a threat when he couldn't even see it properly?
Before he could process any more thoughts, the first creature came closer. He saw it now. It is like a hybrid of insects and animals. The pair of eyes scanning and searching for something.
Its mandibles opened with a metallic screech, dripping with some dark liquid from its mouth. It clicked its pincers, drawing closer to him. And in a moment it locked its eyes on him and it pounded on to him.
His body responded before his mind could catch up. He turned back, he didn't have any time to think. His hand searched on the ground to desperately find something that could help him. His hand caught something hard and jagged, he grabbed it. It was a sharp bone, the jagged edge of a femur. The ravager was already on top of him, its pincers coming towards his throat.
His survival instinct took over. He swung the bone randomly at its exposed underbelly, his muscles were screaming with pain, but the adrenaline dulled the pain. He swung the bone with full strength, and the ravager screeched, its legs twitching as the shard pierced through its soft underside. The carapace cracked under the force of the blow, and black ichir poured out of the wound. But he didn't stop, his hands trembling with adrenaline, twisting the bone deeper, pushing it until the creature went limp with pain.
It slumped to the side, its life extinguished in a few brutal seconds. There was a moment for him to breathe, but not long after the other two ravagers had begun their approach, both drawn by the sound of the screams. Their eyes are full of hunger. Locking onto him.
[Consume.]
The voice rang again through his mind like a command. And without thinking or second-guessing, his hands moved on their own. He dropped to his knees beside the fallen ravager, tearing into its body. His teeth sank into a fleshy and broken carapace. Its taste was very horrible, wrong…but the moment the flesh entered his body, a warmth spread through his veins, like a fire coursing beneath his skin.
It was not just hunger. It was something else, a burning desire, like a primal desire. He devoured the flesh, tearing into it with an unnatural speed, and as he was watching, the strange energy surged through him.
His muscles, which are thin and weak, suddenly felt very strong. His body slowly healed, and his senses sharpened.
But his hunger didn't end. It only increased.