The first light of dawn acted as the starting gun for the hoard of monsters that lined up along the outer edge of the central valley. As if by unspoken agreement the fragile peace that had been maintained over the night was shattered. Roars, explosions, shrieks and more echoed out as hundreds of not thousands of beasts lashed out at their neighbours or charged down into the shadows below.

Countless beasts died in that initial burst of momentum and many more emerged victorious as they relished in the blood of their slain foes.

Down below the undulating shadows of the valley floor writhed in exhaltation as waves of prey charged towards its waiting abyss. The first beasts to enter its domain were set upon by twisted limbs of shadow that raked across flesh and reaped the lives of any unprepared beast.

Yet some still remained atop the cliff in a bubble of solitude as they observed this carnage taking place below them. These were a mixture of the smarter and stronger beasts that knew of the danger that the shadows represented. That or the cowardly creatures hoping to sneak through in the ensuing chaos.

Two figures stood in their own spot atop these cliffs one on four legs and the other on two. They were covered in a ethereal coat of void that caused their outlines to shift and waver causing any observant eyes to slip past them. They too waited for the initial clash down below to calm somewhat before they too made their journey down. For whilst most were unable to see what exactly took place down below, this was not something these two had to worry about.

Thanks to the layer of void coating their eyes they could pierce through the shadows below and lay witness to the slaughter that was currently taking place. They saw the twisted abominations tearing into the more mundane beasts that dared to delve into their domain. Not all of the shadow beasts were powerfull on their own, but what some lacked in personal strength they more than made up for in numbers.

They swarmed the larger beasts opting to go for the morbid option of death by a thousand cuts, and taking that saying to its practical conclusion as they slashed and diced their foes into pieces.

Whilst the wave of shadow beasts was indeed fearsome they weren't the only powerful creatures to take part in the initial clash. Even just in the near surroundings Violet watched as dozens of beasts tore their own way through the hoards of shadow creatures. From a large wolf whose fur crackled with lightning who pounced on the nearest foe whilst its pack dealt with the smaller threats. To a solitary beast that stood over 10 meters tall simply bulldozing through all opposition, its long trunk working as a makeshift club sending any who got in its way flying.

After but a few minutes our two companions took a deep breath nodded at each other and then began their decent.

They opted to stay behind the initial charge in order to get a batter grasp on exactly what they may be running into and to hopefully find a 'safe' path through the inky shadows. Whilst they knew that no path would be truly safe they saw no need to take part in the initial clash and take such an obvious risk.

As they entered the shadows they were plunged into a world of monochrome. Everything turned into shades of black as if no light was allowed to exist here. It was only thanks to the layer of void they they could even see anything. And if that wasn't their then they could be in for a world of trouble.

As they arrived on the valley floor they encountered their first foe a small pack of writhing shadows separated themselves from the corpse of a deer of some kind and launched themselves towards the companions. A muted shriek reached their ears as they saw the sweated claws of condensed shadows reach out towards them.

Bolts of void reached them first as Violet unleashed a barrage of quick attacks. Chunks of their shadow flesh was simply erased when they came into contact with the bolts and the shrieks of rage turned into howls of pain. Only for these sounds to be silenced forever when a serrated spear of ice cut through them.

The two companions never stopped their forward dash during this brief exchange as they knew that they needed to get out of this environment fast. So they charged onwards bolts of void continuing to rain down on the foes that tried to block their path forwards and rapid thrusts and slashes of a spear finishing off any that survived the bombardment.

This first batch of shadow beast was soon dealt with to the extent that any of the survivors simply fled from their advance, sinking back into the shadows that they called home in search of easier prey.

[Your Group has…]

Violet ignored the notifications for now not wanting to get distracted from what lay ahead of them. For both her and Luna knew that this was only the opening act. For the true horrors of the shadows were not present along the edge of the domain. No, they called the central band of the darkness home. For it was here that the shadows were densest. And it was here their our companions would face their first true challenges.

As they charged forward they occasionally caught glimpses of other beasts battling with the shadows around them. Some were blindly lashing out at anything that moved whilst others seemed to be able to accurately tell where the danger was coming from and react accordingly. It was clear to tell which beast would be able to survive this first gauntlet and which would end up as prey for the shadows they now found themselves within.

A larger shadow rose up in their path towering over them in all of its twisted glory. 5 or 6 limbs could be made out waving around it as it rose to its towering height before it charged towards the duo. Reacting instantly Luna dashed forwards whilst spears of void rushed past her to engage the creature first.

It's limbs whipped down to try and batter the projectiles away only to scream in pain as the spears exploded and erased sections of the limbs. The shadow stuff it was made out of unable to hold up to the essence of the void that impacted them.

As it recoiled from that disastrous first clash Luna's spear found its target and plunged into its core before twisting and tearing up and out of its body in a vicious arc separating its body into two. As the beast fell apart the two companions paid it no mind as they continued their dash forward eager to be done with this land of shadows.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.