The night of the gathering finally approached. All of us were prepared, possibly even to die if things went wrong. But despite our nerves, all of us were determined. We didn't just want to escape this place, we wanted to live. We left our cells behind us without looking back. Together, we walked down the long, winding and ever changing hallways until the entrance to the great Cavern laid before us. We could see that many of the children were already starting to gather around the bottomless pit at the center. As we made our way there, all six of us had pure fire in our eyes ready to give it our all. I stood there before the treacherous abyss and I looked all around myself. I knew that the lives of these kids were at risk. Suddenly, he appeared. The man named Parro Ash, accompanied by Nelson and Chester entered through the dark passageway that we viewed as our one and only exit. He had a smile on his face that seemed to be deprived of any real emotion. The three men approached the far side of the pit and Parro reached out his hands towards the dozens of children surrounding the outer edges. "My little lambs, how great it is to see you all before me. As your shephard, it fills me with joy to know how hard you all have been working. I would like to acknowledge one of my lambs who has shown great loyalty and courage. Please step forward young Ant." Parro spoke in a charismatic and yet unnerving tone. As if every word he spoke was preordained. When he called out the name "Ant" I was sure this must be the kid that Henry and Bastien had told me about. Out of the crowd of children, approached a short and frail boy. He had what seemed like bowl shaped hair and clutched his hands together as if he was about to offer a prayer. The boy named Ant made his way over to Parro, who looked directly at the boy with his blank eyes. When Ant made it to Parro, I could see a devilish grin beginning to creep across Ant's face. "You see here my lambs, is a boy who has embraced his situation and overcame his weaknesses. Although he was meek, now he is of the strong. Any of you could be this boy if you had applied yourselves further. Now that young Ant here has reached his current level, he will now be joining me on the outside." Parro said as he began to grin and patted Ant on the head. After hearing Parro talk about bringing Ant with him outside of this place, I could clearly see the eyes of the kids around me begin to grow wide. This bastard… he was giving these kids false hope just before he was about to kill them off. I was infuriated by this and knew that I needed to make my move now or I won't be able to sway any of these kids onto our side. Before Parro could say another word, I spoke out. "HEY YOU BLIND BASTARD. Do you think we'll just go along with this?" I knew that as soon as I spoke, I was inviting death. I was not scared. I had predicted that as soon as I spoke even a single word that one of Parro's men would make their move. With confidence that my prediction was correct, as soon as I finished speaking out I immediately swung my arm around behind me as fast as I possibly could. I grabbed hold of what was behind me with a fearsome grip. There he was, Chester looked at me with fear in his eyes. I had him held in a vice grip by his throat. I knew that when I spoke Chester would try and use his speed to get behind me, but I was entirely prepared for this. I looked at him with pure killing intent, "I hope you're ready for this, you chubby piece of trash." While holding onto his throat, I could feel Chester beginning to choke, but this wasn't the end of it. I quickly pulled him closer to me and swung around. I made sure to put his full body in front of me, using him as a human shield. And just as I expected, the needles came flying at me. Nelson had made his move. Chester cried out in pain as needles struck him all over his back. All of the kids around me started to panic and began pushing themselves away from me. I yelled out towards Nelson, "GET OVER HERE NELSON!!" As I yelled, I could see Henry, Bastien and the others start to get into position. Nelson's face began to contort into an angry and wicked smile. He called out to me, "You're going to regret that boy!" He began running towards me around the outer edge of the pit. At this point Chester was already unconscious from being choked and struck with so many needles, but I didn't give a damn. I held onto his body as if he were nothing but a sack of potatoes and I charged forward towards Nelson. Nelson began throwing more needles towards me and I continued to block every single one with the body of Chester. Then with all of my might, I yelled out in rage and threw Chester's body right at Nelson, Nelson was not prepared for this and was knocked to the ground by the weight of Chester's body. "NOW!" I yelled. I held my hand out into the air and felt a weapon materialize itself into the palm of my hand. Kina's blessing had worked perfectly, is what I thought. I didn't know what weapon it was at first, all I thought at that moment was that I needed to destroy this man. I felt that the weapon in my hands was thick and heavy, so I knew that if I landed a blow this would finish it. I jumped into the air and swung down at Nelson with all of my strength as he struggled to get out from under Chester's unconscious body. I struck down and smashed the weapon right into Nelson's face fully prepared to kill this man. It was then that I saw what the weapon was. It was a Massive Bone. The Bone had completely crushed Nelson's face. He laid there completely unconscious with the disgusting smile still on his face. His blood was splattered all over myself and the bone and I could feel the dark power within me beginning to surge. I looked over towards Parro who had been standing in the same spot without making so much as a step. I pointed my giant Bone club right at him and said, "YOU'RE NEXT." Everything began moving very quickly. My friends had all ran to my side ready to fight. Kina spoke to me and said, "I'm sorry Ivan, I wasn't able to summon you a weapon in time." What did she mean by that? I clearly ended up with a weapon, but I didn't have any time to think about it any further. The other guards that were stationed within the Cavern ran to Parro's side and began surrounding the bottomless pit. I could see that all of the children who had been gathered had fear in their eyes and didn't know what to do. Kina began summoning swords at their feet. Henry spoke out to them, "Everyone! Look around you! Would you rather die here? Or would you rather live with us! Don't let this man fool you! We were kidnapped and taken here. We were taken away from our family and friends. Our entire lives were taken from us by that man, and some of us will never get to see them again." He said as he pointed towards the abyss. "This is our one and only chance! Take up those swords and fight!!" Many of the kids had a terrified look in their eyes. We were presenting them with a choice that meant life and death, but this was the only way. Some began backing away from the weapons on the floor, that's when I knew I had to act. I yelled out in rage, "AHHHHH!!!!" And I stomped down on the bodies of Chester and Nelson beside me. I raised my giant bone club into the air and said, "WE CAN WIN!!!" I tried not to complicate things with words. They needed to realize that I alone had just dispatched two of the heinous men that had been terrorizing them. It was just a simple push to give them strength. And just like that, many of the kids rushed to grab the swords off of the ground. They began yelling things like, "YEAH! We can do this!!" And, "You all saw it! They are weak!" Soon enough the kids surrounding the giant pit had taken fighting stances while some pointed their swords outwards towards Parro's men. That's when I heard it, a devious and evil laugh. I looked over to where Parro stood. He had a hand over his face and all I could see was his mouth. He was laughing, laughing louder and louder until he removed the hand from his face. His vacant eyes directed themselves towards me. "How interesting, the sheep believe they have become wolves. It truly is a sad delusion. None of you here have truly shown any such promise to have so much courage. I brought you here of my own accord to bring out the best in you, and this is how you repay me? How disappointing my young sheep. Unfortunately, it is still time to cull the herd." Parro simply smiled with his words. His voice was far too calm for this situation. He had still yet to reveal what his blessing is capable of. If it wasn't for the power I could feel swelling inside of me, I would have begun to doubt myself. But it was in these exact moments that I felt something unimaginable deep within the bottomless pit. I had a very eerie sensation that seemed to be resonating with something inside me. Before I could even react to what I had just felt, Parro began to speak again. "Ant my dear boy, don't you think it's about time we show them the difference between us?" He said with a devious chuckle as he placed his hand on the kids head. The boy that we had seen approaching Parro earlier, the one who Henry and Bastien had warned me about nodded his head and responded to Parro. However, something was very off. "Yes, I will show them Master Parro." His words sounded devoid of any type of emotion and his eyes looked as if they were completely hazed over now. I had a terrible feeling about what was going to happen next. The boy raised his hand in the air and called out, "Come! It's time to eat!" Almost immediately, we began to hear a rumbling sound and there were vibrations that could be felt through the cavern's floor. It was as if an explosion had occurred, and the stone floor burst open. From out of the ground crawled a massive centipede that was covered in mysterious markings. I knew that we were now in incredible danger…
Bastien was the first to act. He sprinted forwards towards the centipede. Almost on cue the other children who had been swayed by our words also began engaging with the guards on the outer ring of the pit. It had turned into an all out war. Bastien engaged the centipede and jumped into the air. He twisted through the air and slammed the back of his heel straight down onto the top of the centipede. This seemed to do nothing at all. Bastien yelled, "SHIT! This thing is harder than stone!" The centipede grabbed hold of Bastiens leg with its mandibles and threw him at an incredible speed towards the center of the pit. I screamed out, "NO!!" But before Bastien even reached the pit I saw someone jump up into the air and tackled Bastien from the side. It was Dune! Thank goodness he was there. The two of them went rolling across the floor from the force of Dunes tackle. The Centipede wasn't giving them any time to recover. At an insane speed it began rushing towards the two of them and the group of children surrounding them. The kids went scrabbling, desperately trying to move out of the way of this monster. However, a few of them ran to Bastien and Dune's side to help them. I ran towards them as fast as I could. I needed to intercept the giant bug. I was feeling desperate and it seemed like I wasn't going to make it in time. But with this feeling, the power inside of me began to take hold. As I ran, I could see the purple hue of energy beginning to emanate from my body. My speed began to increase and each stride became stronger. With each powerful step I could feel the stones beneath my feet beginning to crack and crumble. I lunged forward with all of my might and raised my Bone club above my head. Just before the centipede could reach my friends, I swung the Bone down at full force onto the crest of the Centipede's head. Its shell was incredibly tough, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I kept applying more and more force to the strike I had made until I felt the shell beginning to crack. The centipede let out a horrifying shriek, "EERRRREEEAAAAAHHHH!!!" The strike of my club had completely crushed the head of the centipede. I could see a green ooze spreading out from around its head as it collapsed to the ground with a massive thud. At that same moment I heard two voices…I glanced over towards Parro and Ant, and Ant had blood running down his face. He was letting out a large exasperated noise, "uuhhhgghhh" and then collapsed onto the ground. It was as if he also received damage when I struck the centipede…? The second voice I heard however, is what really filled me with dread. "Wha-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!" It was Bastien's voice. I quickly turned around only to see something horrible. It was Dune… he had been slashed by a sword straight down his face and onto his body. I could see the blood rushing out of the massive wound. "DUNE!!" I yelled in anguish. Bastien was holding a kid up by the collar of their shirt. It was one of the kids that had run to help Dune and Bastien. But something was wrong. The kid's eyes were hazed over just like Ant's, and he had tears running down his face while he was smiling. "Wait Bastien! There's something wrong with him!" Dune had collapsed to the ground and I ran to his side. Bastien clearly had pain in his eyes as he looked down at Dune and yelled, "DAMNIT!" Bastien ripped the sword out of the kid's hand and threw him to the side. Both of us tried to prop Dune up off of the floor, "Dune you gotta hang in there, please we're supposed to leave this place together!" I shouted to Dune. Dune looked weak and more and more blood was flowing out of his wound and leaching into the stone floor below him. He tried to say something to us, the first words I had ever heard him say as he reached his hand up and placed it on my shoulder. Blood began to leak out of his mouth as he spoke to us, "Gh-gho…Ghoo Wif-wifout me…. Hg..hank you fer be-bein my fw-fwiend…" As he spoke his words I could see the light in his eyes fading. Bastien screamed, "DUUUUUNNNNEEE!!!!" Both of us had tears running down our faces. This kid… he was our friend. I began feeling so enraged, and I immediately turned to look at the kid who had done this. The kid had stood up from where he was thrown and his eyes were still hazy and glossed over. I could see Dune's blood splattered over his clothes which just made me more angry. I gritted my teeth trying to hold in my anger. "W-Why did you do this?!" I yelled at him. Despite my question, it looked like the kid didn't even register what I had said. He seemed to be staring off into nothing, like his eyes were hollow now. The kid just smiled and said, "the meek shall inherit the earth." And then set off at a dead sprint towards us. We were immediately caught off guard and Bastien yelled at him, "HEY! Snap out of it!" But the kid just kept coming. Before he reached us, he jumped into the air soaring above our heads as we watched in horror. The kid… he just jumped into the pit… We couldn't believe what we were seeing. As the child fell into the abyss, all we heard was a distinct and unsettling laughter that faded as he fell further and further. Even as the laughter disappeared, we began hearing the same kind of laughter coming from different areas of fighting that had ensued around the edges of the pit. Suddenly, various kids just started running and jumping into the pit with the same horrible laughter. We kept hearing the words, "the meek, The Meek, THE MEEK!!" "WHAT IS HAPPENING!!!" I yelled out. As I said the words, it was like a realization had come over me… I looked over to where Parro was standing and he had a disgusting smile that he was covering with one of his hands once again. He began laughing, "Hahahaha!"
At that moment… it was as if something inside me had broken… various scenes flashed across my mind. When my friends were taken from me… the skeletons trying to grab hold of me… the children throwing each other into this cursed Pit… And now, this man toying with our lives. Everything, all of the horror I kept experiencing… It all began to flood over. As the power inside of me began to build and build, I looked around me at the scene that had unfolded. There were bodies of kids and guards lying scattered on the ground lifeless, while others continued to try and fight for their lives. There was so much blood around the outside of the pit that I could see it spilling over and falling into the abyss. I could still hear screams echoing from deep within the pit. I spotted my friends in various places… Henry was trying to hold kids back from jumping into the pit, he was screaming, "STOP!!! You have to STOOOP!" Kina and Lillez were near us. They were huddled together on the ground holding up swords trying to keep people away from them. The fear in their eyes struck me to my core. I turned to Bastien who was crying with Dune in his arms…among all these things… It was Parro's horrible laugh that stood out above it all.
I had reached my limit. I could no longer hold it all in. The intense purple hued energy began flowing out of my body in enormous waves. The tears running down my face began evaporating as the energy inside me grew hotter, stronger, and more powerful by the second. It was like an explosion. I let out a mighty roar, "UUUUUUURRRRRAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!" Out of pure instinct, as if the words had always existed within my mind and were always meant to be spoken, I shouted out into the air…
"COME TO ME!!!"
Upon speaking those words, it was like a pulse of power left my body and struck every single inch of the cavern. I could feel it, the power within me was finally mine.
As the pulse of energy resonated through the cavern, a deep rumbling began to occur within the stone floor beneath our feet. That ominous energy I had first felt within the darkness of the pit, began to envelope the air around us. The air grew cold and soon all of the voices of the children, the guards, and even Parro grew silent. The rumbling beneath us seemed to stop all together, what followed was an eerie sound of clattering stones from within the pit. Parro suddenly spoke out, seemingly breaking the silence that befell the cavern. "Ohoho hooo now this is unexpected!" He said with a crazed smile. "To think he would show himself after all this time!! Hahahah!!" The sound of stones clattering from within the pit was becoming louder, as if whatever was causing the noise was coming ever closer. It was then that I heard it. Numerous quiet and broken voices whispered from within the pit, "Merr-ma-Masst-t-terrr."
"I-Ivan, what is happening?" Asked Bastien who still had tears welled in his eyes. I looked at him, and the rest of my friends I had made in this place. I looked at how beaten and worn they were. They had gone through hell in this place, and still held out hope that we could make it out of here. I would never betray that hope…
"I'm going to end all of this…" I said to them, with pure conviction.
As the sound of the clattering stones had reached the surface of the Pit, it was then that everyone could see them clearly. Hundreds, no… maybe thousands of skeletons adorned in rags began climbing their way out of the massive pit. Many of the children spread out within the cavern at this point began screaming and running. Even Parro's guards began to turn and run in fear for their lives. However, Parro simply watched the scene unfold as if he was watching a miracle. He began laughing maniacally and called out, "MAGNIFICENT! TRULY BEAUTIFUL!" With his arms spread out wide. I did not let this faze me. While wielding this power of Bones I raised my club high in the air and commanded, "Rid this place of evil!" Through my words, I could feel the skeletons heeding my commands. It was as if I was their king, and they were my loyal soldiers. All of the skeletons began running and grabbing hold of Parro's men. They began dragging them across different points of the cavern and back into the pit. Some even carried the bodies of lifeless guards and threw them in. The guards screamed in terror as they were overrun by the skeletons. However, not a single child was harmed by them. It was then that I noticed that the body of Chester was missing as four skeletons grabbed hold of Nelson's body and dragged him away down into the bottomless Pit. I was unfazed by Nelson being dragged to his death, but I quickly scanned the area looking for Chester and Parro. I saw them. Chester and Parro were about halfway across the cavern and we're heading towards the doorway we had assumed was the exit. I yelled out to them, "YOU WON'T GET AWAY!!" I started to run towards them but was stopped when I felt something grabbing hold of my leg. It was Bastien! But his eyes… they were hazed over just like Ant, and just like the kids who had jumped into the Pit. "What are you doing Bastien!!" I tried to shake him off of me but his grip was too strong. I glanced back towards where Chester and Parro were running and I saw him look back at me. Parro had turned his head and looked straight at me with his blind eyes and simply smiled and tapped his head with one of his fingers. It was him the whole time! He had been controlling the children!! "YOU BASTARD!!!!"
Before I even saw the two of them reach the doorway, something entirely unexpected happened. The portion of the cavern's ceiling seemed to spontaneously explode creating a gaping hole in the roof. Massive prices of the ceiling began falling to the ground. I I totally thought that the Cavern was starting to cave in. But then, the shapes of two people dropped out of the hole in the ceiling and landed onto the stone floor with a crash. I couldn't really see who they were at first, as a cloud of dust seemed to envelop their bodies. I simply heard the voice of a man say, "It's okay now, you can rest now that I am here." His words seemed to penetrate my mind, and I felt myself becoming incredibly tired. Whether it was exhaustion from using this power or if the man's words had some kind of effect on me, I collapsed onto my hands and knees. I tried desperately to keep my eyes open. I couldn't let Parro escape at any cost. But even as I tried to stay awake, I watched as all of the skeletons wreaking havoc within the cavern began to fall apart where they stood. I heard all of the clattering of their bones falling onto the ground around me. I fell further onto the floor until I was only able to slightly look up ahead of me where the voice came from. I saw the image of the man, and also a woman standing by his side. The man was someone who I had never seen before. He had a severely pale complexion, his skin looked almost grey. He had dark slicked back hair and his ears were pointed. He looked at me from afar with eyes that seemed to pierce through everything. The last words I heard before I fell into a deep sleep were, "I heard you were looking for me…"
End Ivan