The sun was about to rise.
The first light of dawn would soon chase away the deep darkness, revealing to the world the dead and twisted trees. At dawn, the forest would still be just as silent, with not a single living soul within it.
At dawn…
"Where have they sent us…"
The ill-tempered lieutenant grimaced. Slumped against the trunk of a tree, his face was covered in dust. His rough yet noble bearing was losing its luster as his eyes wandered through the forest.
No one was there to witness this pathetic sight. The man was alone, and he had failed.
Failed… Even though the thought revolted him, deep down he hoped he had failed.
His commander, himself, and little Dim were supposed to find their comrades before dawn, and so they had separated to not waste a single second. Unfortunately, even with that, the hours passed, and they could not find the missing ones. Until dawn rose.
At least, it should have risen.
The sky had not painted itself in a soft lilac hue.
Darkness still ruled as master over this place.
It wasn't the problem, but…
He stopped thinking for a few seconds before raising his head toward the sky. Nothing had changed.
It did not surprise him.
Turning his gaze, this time toward a darker corner a little farther away, he murmured in a defeated voice:
"Do you have any idea what's happening?"
Suddenly, a calm, cold voice replied, seeming to come from one of the trees:
"No. I do not know. Has Dimil returned?"
The commander emerged from the shadows, still the same. Except that his clothes were slightly rumpled.
His expression, however, had not changed, and he did not seem affected by the strange nature of this forest.
Or he hid it very well.
In any case, the calm of his superior did not seem to stir the rough man, who simply shook his head slowly.
The commander's footsteps echoed for a moment longer before finally ceasing when he too sat at the foot of a tree, facing his lieutenant.
An awkward, yet welcome silence settled between them. They were both exhausted, having spent the night running through the woods. These few moments of quiet were truly relieving.
But they knew they did not have the time…
The captain broke the silence:
"What do you think?"
The light in the lieutenant's eyes suddenly flared, and he scoffed:
"Ha! What do I think? I think it's a mess!"
His previous apathy was gone, replaced by his usual cynicism.
Nevertheless, he received no answer. His captain simply stared at him, saying nothing.
Seeing this, the lieutenant continued with just as much fervor:
"Why do you keep searching?!"
The captain did not respond.
The lieutenant gritted his teeth, his hands pressing into the earth, ready to dig deeply. He was tired of pretending.
Springing to his feet, he faced his superior and shouted:
"You know they're probably dead! What's the point of this stubbornness?"
The captain's serene face twisted slightly, and his presence became a little more palpable. His voice, however, remained perfectly even:
"We are not certain. If it were you, would you want us to leave you without trying?"
The commander's gaze rested on his lieutenant.
The latter waited a moment before replying, turning toward the tree he had been leaning against earlier.
His face still bore a terrible grimace, his teeth clenched tighter and tighter, but his steps were slow and hesitant.
He approached the tree and placed his hand on its cold, dry trunk.
"Maybe."
He wanted to continue, but no sooner had he spoken than a terrible gust of wind swept over the small path.
The trees shook under its force, almost uprooted, and a veil of dust enveloped their surroundings.
The two men, however, remained perfectly still.
After a few seconds, silence returned, and the wall of dust created by the wind faded, revealing the elegant silhouette of a young man.
His long black hair was perfectly in order, tied in a ponytail. His eyes were as black as onyx, while his tunic, equally black, was in perfect condition.
His face, however, showed no emotion.
He contrasted sharply with the other two men.
First, because he did not seem lost, like them, for hours.
Second, because he did not quite resemble a human being.
In fact, this man was entirely black, made of the deepest darkness.
Yet he looked exactly like the younger lieutenant, Dimil, and at that moment he was pointing with his finger to the spot from which he had appeared.
It took the two men a moment to recognize him.
The rough lieutenant was less on edge, and his superior saw a brief smile appear on his face.
"You… really found them?"
The voice of the ill-tempered man was as rough and noble as usual, but it trembled slightly.
The incarnation nodded.
His comrades… his friends were, after all, not dead.
His men were among the most promising he had ever seen, and having them by his side was very reassuring.
Moreover, they were quite likable.
True, Omod, that giant brute, was a bit of a killjoy, but still.
They were alive…
As he appreciated this new perspective, the captain asked:
"Are they alive?"
Huh?
The rough man hadn't asked the right question.
He had truly overexerted himself, and his thoughts had been hazy these past hours.
So when he learned that his friends had been found, he hadn't even considered anything other than the fact that they were alive.
His heart skipped several beats as he stared at the incarnation.
The lack of emotion in the being of darkness was increasingly unsettling, and its absence of reaction pushed the two men to the edge.
Finally, he simply shrugged.
The answer caught them off guard.
One of them wanted to ask another question, but the silhouette dashed off, disappearing into the depths of the forest.
The lieutenant and his commander did not let it distance itself, following despite the questions and doubts that weighed on them.
Thus, three people moved at full speed through the trees, dodging their long branches that resembled gloomy hands.
The rough lieutenant did not want them to catch him… Though at this moment, what he truly did not want was to sink further into this place.
His friends might not have been dead. But all of this was too strange.
Looking at the robust back of his captain, who seemed to move without hesitation, the ill-tempered man tensed.
Where were they going? What would they find?
Certyn was so lucky… She must have already left the forest by now — whatever the time in this cursed place.
The surrounding darkness suddenly became more inviting, almost urging him to take refuge in its embrace.
Nevertheless, this fleeting thought had no time to take root in his mind. He immediately banished it, forcing himself to go faster and faster.
The captain's back was no longer visible, as they were side by side.
He was not a coward, and certainly not a traitor. He would continue.
The commander noticed this slight resurgence of confidence and quickened his pace, drawing closer to the double of darkness.
He was happy and relieved to see his lieutenant ignoring his hesitations, even slightly. They were going to need it.
The captain noticed troubling things happening to the incarnation.
It was almost imperceptible to the naked eye, but undeniably, she was disappearing.
Every second, the darkness that made her up grew less dense, less impenetrable. Her limbs became a little more blurry and rough, while her movements were more apathetic and weak.
Of course, she remained fast. Extremely fast. But the truth was there.
The incarnation was about to vanish.
Indeed, the captain already knew it. He knew the abilities of his subordinate.
Nevertheless, something did not make sense.
When Dimil used his ability, his real body was asleep and completely vulnerable.
That was surely why the rough lieutenant had assumed directly that the others were alive. Dimil could only use his power freely if Omod and Placide protected him.
But if they weren't alive…
The captain dreaded what he would see once they arrived.
Minutes passed, turning into hours.
If at first they were tired, now they barely managed to keep one foot in front of the other.
Their progress became uneven, oscillating between a frantic pace and much slower movement. Now, they were only walking, step by step.
They were too exhausted to run again, and in any case, Dimil's emanation could not do so either.
Her legs, once adorned with complex, powerful muscles, now resembled simple sticks, causing her to stumble frequently.
And it was worse for the rest of the body.
She had no arms, and the darkness making her up was barely deeper than a light shadow.
The sight was quite disheartening.
The captain had long abandoned his mask of coldness in favor of an increasingly deep frown.
What was happening?
He felt something.
Something very familiar.
The captain looked around, his expression growing darker and darker.
The part of the forest they had just entered was completely ravaged. Trees were either broken or completely uprooted.
The incarnation seemed completely unfazed, moving forward steadily.
Watching the dark being walk would have been comical if the scenery had not been so grim.
The captain followed, paying it little attention, too absorbed by the terrible scene.
The lieutenant seemed too tired to focus on anything at all.
The commander looked at his subordinate's glassy eyes, doubting that he was merely walking without noticing his surroundings.
The captain's lips twisted, then he murmured:
"We're almost there."
He himself did not seem convinced by his words.
His tone was shaky, without real conviction.
Anyway, the lieutenant did not even seem to hear…
The commander sighed and faced the destroyed landscape before him.
Here and there, large craters had formed from the void left by centuries-old trees. It looked as if a storm had hit this part of the forest, leaving nothing but ruins.
Of course, he knew it was probably not a storm…
A slight shiver ran down his spine at the thought. He was not really impressed by the destruction, as he could probably do the same. But he was not at his best. The rough man behind him was not either, and little Dim, he—
His thoughts stopped abruptly as he passed another crater, identical to the previous one.
He almost didn't notice it because of fatigue.
At the bottom of the hole lay a body, motionless. The young man inside was violently torn, his black tunic ripped to reveal a battered torso. One leg was shattered, reduced to pieces, while his face was unrecognizable, entirely covered in blood.
The captain recognized him nonetheless.
It was Dimil.
Wasting no time, the commander jumped into the hole, taking the young man in his hands. Even the rough lieutenant regained his composure, rushing into the crater as well.
"He's okay!"
The ill-tempered man's voice was urgent. He too had his hands on one of the wounds.
Tearing the injured man's tunic, the commander wrapped it around a particularly terrible injury, then reassured his subordinate:
"He'll make it."
He was still alive. In fact, he knew he was still alive because the dark incarnation was still there. Even if he had lost a lot of blood, he seemed to have managed to contain much of the bleeding until now.
He was truly a resourceful kid.
He had summoned the dark being to guide them to him while he remained there, in relative safety, probably after defeating his enemy.
However, there was no other corpse here…
True, he could not really see anything in this devastated place, and the enemy could very well have been immaterial, but something made him uneasy.
His suspicions deepened when he saw Dimil's incarnation ignore its master, continuing forward without turning back.
It moved farther and farther away, and the commander's unease grew suffocating.
He released the wounded body in his hands and got to his tired legs.
He left the two lieutenants behind, following the human-shaped darkness.
Until it stopped.
He also stopped a few steps away and saw an immense bottomless chasm stretching in all directions.
The incarnation stood at the edge of the cliff, its face directed downward.
The captain stepped closer to the chasm. Each step brought him nearer to the abyss.
His heart raced. He felt like it would explode under the weight of the pressure. For the first time since the beginning—and perhaps for years—he had lost his composure.
He was only a meter away from falling.
A meter from death.
His gaze first fell on the dark being, who now pointed to the bottom of the chasm.
The face of darkness was still young, beautiful, though no longer entirely devoid of emotion.
It was sad.
The commander followed the finger and gazed into the abyss.
The first thing he saw in the darkness was a majestic fallen tower, doomed never to touch the skies again. At its feet, an immense, labyrinthine city stretched, occupying almost the entire bottom.
Despite the grandeur of the spectacle, he did not linger.
Turning his attention to the outskirts of the city, just below him, the commander saw two figures in black tunics heading toward the city.
His face tightened at the sight. He could clearly see the two bodies despite the distance.
He saw two headless people advancing toward the city.
One was immense, nearly two meters tall. He held a strange orb in his hands, placing it at chest level as if it were a precious treasure.
The other was slightly smaller and held nothing.
The commander's expression darkened further when he realized that the orb held by the body was nothing but a head.
Omod's head.
They had found them.
They had succeeded.
Fail?
It no longer mattered.
The silhouettes continued moving into the city, and he continued to watch them.
He watched for a long time…
Finally, he felt a presence to his right.
The rough lieutenant.
The captain did not know when he had joined him, witnessing the horror at the bottom of the chasm, but it seemed that neither wanted to speak.
The dark incarnation was with them as well.
Then it disappeared.
Seeing that, the commander straightened up and turned away. His expression was as cold as ever, and his voice even and steady:
"It's time to leave."