2035 C.E., The Amazon, Earth

Sadly. not all faced the tide of darkness with courage and strength.

Bestial cries, shouts, and loud pops echoed through a dense jungle. Four men pushed through the underbrush throwing glances sporadically over their shoulders, eyes wide with fear. They wore green clothes that blended into the earthy tones of the jungles. In their hands, they carried strange hunks of metal shaped like long tubes with two grips and a lever of some kind on the back grip. They had very low levels of mana, more than I expected but not enough to do anything.

“They are gaining on us!” One man yelled over the din.

“Fuck. What the hell are those things?” Another responded.

“They looked like jag—.” The third man’s words were cut short as a creature rippling with muscles underneath pitch-black fur burst from the underbrush behind him and bit down on his neck silencing him permanently. The creature regarded the men for a second with unnatural eyes of inky darkness. I sensed a fragment of consciousness within it, a part of a larger whole spread out throughout the jungle’s denizens.

“Antonio! Fuck! Dammit!” said the last man to speak. He didn’t stop but he swung his arm back and pulled on the lever on his hunk of metal. The end of the tube flashed several times releasing a staccato of cacophonous pops. Small chunks of metal slammed into the beast as it dragged away the now-dead Antonio causing it to stagger.

“Lucas, fucking stop! Are you trying to draw more of them to us?!” the first man shouted before ducking up a low hanging jumble of vines.

As though the man’s words were prophetic, another beast snarled as it pounced from above and to the left. The first man dodged by dropping into a roll springing right back to his feet. He never lost momentum but the second man wasn’t so lucky. The creature bit into his legs bringing his run to an end. Lucas and the first man ran in silence, their comrade’s screams joining the chorus of jungle’s macabre song.

Eventually, the noise dulled with distance and the two men slowed, more from lack of stamina than anything else. Lucas practically heaved with every breath while the first man’s breath came in more regular if strained bursts. The two also appeared to have a familial resemblance of some kind though Lucas looked younger.

“Xavier, what the fuck are we going to do? Everyone’s fucking dead… How are we going to—.” Lucas couldn’t finish the words. Based on his heart rate, he was probably having some sort of panic-induced attack.

“I don’t know. I… I don’t have any of my gear. It’s back at the camp. Do you have anything on you?” Xavier asked.

“No,” Lucas said after calming down and patting his pockets. “T think I—”

“Shh,” Xavier said, instantly snapping his tube weapon up and bracing it against his shoulder. He swept his gaze across the small area they had stopped in turning all the while to keep the weapon pointed in whatever direction he faced. By this time, Lucas got his weapon up as well. The two stood there, tense and afraid for a moment until Xavier moved.

“Lucas! Up!” He said aiming the tube upward and squeezing the level. A dark mass dropped on top of Lucas who didn’t react in time. Despite several of the metal projectiles piercing the creature’s hide, it ignored the injuries and clawed at Lucas who was screaming and trying to keep the beast’s jaws away by jamming the butt of his weapon in its mouth.

Xavier once again proved himself decisive by dropping his ineffective weapon and drawing a long knife from his belt. He charged the beast, coming to Lucas’s aid. The younger man’s screams had started to falter by the time he got to him. The creature barely had the time to react as Xavier slammed into it knife-first. He roared jamming the blade into the beast’s throat and head repeatedly even while its claws raked his arms, chest, and legs. Before long, the man stood over the cat creature and I watched a bit of the invader’s mana dissipate from it.

“Lucas?” Xavier called stumbling over to the wheezing body on the ground. “Lucas! Hang in there. Shit!”

He ripped his sleeve off in one-go, fueled by adrenaline, and started wrapping one of Lucas’s wounds. It wouldn’t matter due to the multitude and severity but I think both of them knew that.

“Xav… tell mom… I… I…,” Once again, Lucas couldn’t finish his statement. Blood flooded his lungs, the results of the horrendous, deep gashes across his chest. From the looks of it, he may have had a punctured lung and several broken ribs as well. His eyes bulged as he began to fail and shock took him. He began to convulse.

“Dammit, Lucas!” Xavier’s pained cry received only the tormented gurgle of blood as a response. He gripped his knife from where it had been dropped next to Lucas. “Don’t worry, Lucas. I’ll tell mom and dad. You just rest now, okay?”

When Xavier stood for the second time, a corpse at his feet, he gazed into the jungle toward where the sounds still echoed. He gritted his teeth, rage flashing in his eyes before he turned the other way and ran. I sensed the intent in the maelstrom of his furious soul.

Find help and kill the black beasts.

***

2035 C.E., Rochester (NY), Earth

When I homed in on this area, I knew immediately that the ritual that sent a massive probe into the Astral and started all of this had come from here. The residual mana in the area still hummed with the fading power of several mana signatures woven together to achieve a greater purpose.

Black shadows pooled at the feet of an elderly man on a platform in a large dimly lit room. His soul writhed in agony within his body. The parasite, the invader, eating away at his lifeforce seemed to be enjoying itself. Yet, the man’s soul didn’t fight back and it could have. The man was a sorcerer, one of respectable power, or at least, no normal mortal would’ve stood a chance against him. He had a manic gleam in his eye as he addressed the gathering of individuals in front of him, each with above-average levels of mana in their bodies though only a few were true sorcerers and none of them were anywhere close to the elderly man’s strength.

“Dear family!” he shouted. “Mages and acolytes alike, the time has come for us to free ourselves!”

Some of the members of the crowd, most of which wore hooded cloaks and masks, shifted, their anxiety obvious even with their features hidden. A brave few in the back whispered to each other drawing the elderly man’s attention. He gestured toward one of them.

“Do not fear the unknown, brothers and sisters!” From his hand, a line of darkness extended to the figure that he gestured at and wrapped the unfortunate individual in a shadowy cocoon. They shouted in alarm while those nearby filed backward afraid of being drawn into whatever was happening. The screams from inside the cocoon provided an ambient backdrop as the madman continued to speak. “In order to see, one must be blind. Gaze with me into the darkness, my family. Let it fill you with power.”

He raised his hand and a dark vortex which sucked in all the nearby light manifested. He gathered mana from the invader into the technique for a few seconds before thrusting his arm upward. The vortex shot away from him tearing through the ceiling which revealed that they were at the top of a very tall building, taller than any structure I had seen during my time on the Physical. The sky opened up above them in all its beauty. It was midday with the sun at its apex but the light did not last. The vortex continued its trek into the sky where it began to expand. The clouds were drawn into it and became horrid, black bodies similar to thick smoke. Eventually, the sky no longer had any beauty left to give, and all that remained was a gray and black expanse that no light pierced.

“Hear me now! I have seen beyond the light, beyond the false guidance of the Star of the Nazareth. I have gazed into the darkness,” the dying man cried. His tone had become truly deranged, his eyes wild and bulging even as dark lines crawled across his sclera. Within, the invader possessing him exuded signs of giddiness and pleasure like a child with a new toy. He continued on his rant, “There is no God! Only He Who Walks in Shadow remains and only He was there at the beginning! There is no Truth! Only Lies! Let not the Light trick your sight any longer!”

Despite their fear, the man on the platform had displayed an unquestionable amount of power. I could practically read most of their thoughts from the impressions upon their souls. They wanted such power, a power that could blot out the sun. What else could they do with it? Several members stepped forward pulling off their masks and dropping their hoods.

“Archmage, I wish to gaze into the darkness!”

“I as well!”

“I stand with you, Archmage!”

And so, it went. Nearly two dozen individuals, men and women of all age groups presented themselves. I scanned the cocooned individual and couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor soul which was being cannibalized by the invader’s mana while the body was being molded into a shell for possession. The technique was crude and ultimately, the host would succumb with a few days but I doubted these invaders cared; they just wished to spread fear and death.

I watched as those who had stepped forward were cocooned in quick succession after the Archmage praised their wisdom and courage. The remaining dozen or so individuals in the crowd looked hesitant to join their brethren, especially once their screams filled the room. Another foolish yet brave individual stepped forward pulling off her mask although she didn’t offer to join in on the Archmage’s dark ceremony.

“Joseph! Stop this is madness!” the woman said. She searched Joseph’s face with a familiarity that hinted at a shared history looking for any signs of the man who was long gone. Despite the obvious, sentiment pushed her to continue her appeal. “Something evil possesses you. Where is your strength of will? How can you let yourself be controlled?”

To my genuine surprise, Joseph didn’t cocoon her on the spot. No, his expression softened despite the hostility bubbling from the invader. I almost couldn’t believe that he was in control, if only slightly. My doubt was quickly tempered when he responded.

“Dearest Delilah, sister of my blood. I am no slave to the darkness.” He gestured to the writhing black masses of those who had stepped forward earlier. “It is the Light that chains you, poisons your thoughts with doubt. But I… I can set you free. I can see the fear in your heart. Fear of the darkness. Do not let the Lies of Light bind you!”

He extended a hand to her when her face remained stricken with fear. Behind her, the remaining congregated mages trembled, frozen with fear. His gaze swept over all of them.

“Join me, family. I offer only to set you on the path of freedom. I offer the power to do what thou wilt. Will and Love; these are my gifts…”

It was an interesting speech to give over the pained cries of the cocooned mages and the distant sounds of chaos erupting in the city below.

Delilah looked back at the others then walked forward. Her breath came in shaky fits as terror seized at her heart. Joseph smiled at her approach and the invader within began to calm but I knew better. The intentions of her soul were resolute.

“I love you, brother. And it is because I love you,” she began raising her hand as if to take his, “that I won’t allow you to become a tool for our destruction!”

Fire poured from the woman’s hands in a cone engulfing Joseph and igniting the area around him in flames. It was a rudimentary technique with much of the mana she used being wasted but it provided a spectacular sight. Anything she had used the technique on in the past had undoubtedly met its doom.

“Acolytes, run!” she screamed at the remaining mage who wasted no time in bolting out of the double doors opposite the Archmage. Delilah continued to pour her mana into the technique, only cutting it off when her reserves were nearly depleted.

Amid the flames, a burning man stood but he did not fall. Delilah turned to run when she saw him. She made it halfway to the doors before a needle of shadow pierced her heart from behind.

“I love you too, oh blood of mine. Your love was strong,” Joseph said as Delilah fell to the ground with a gasp. The flames licking at his body died, smothered by shadows that covered his body. “But I find your Will lacking… You turned to the Light for salvation and it failed you. Be at ease now, I will break its hold over you. I will not leave you behind.”

Unlike the others who had willingly submitted to the possession, whether they realized it or not, Delilah struggled against the insidious mana with her body and soul yet it mattered not. Like the rest, her screams joined the chorus as the blot of the invader pierced her soul and flooded her veins.