Divine System: Land of the Abominations-Chapter 291: A Strange Being.
Nero struggled to his feet, swaying as another wave of dizziness washed over him. His broken arm hung at his side, completely useless. He tested his weight on both legs and winced. His left ankle wasn’t broken, but it had been badly twisted in the fall.
Still, he could walk.
He took a step forward, then another. Each movement sent fresh spikes of pain through his broken ribs, but he gritted his teeth and kept going.
The chamber extended in one clear direction, a natural corridor of sorts formed by the way the fungus-covered walls curved. Nero followed it, one hand trailing along the wall for balance, his eyes scanning the blue-lit darkness ahead.
The air down here was cold. Much colder than it had been in the upper chamber. Each breath came out as a visible mist, and Nero could feel the chill seeping into his bones despite the pain that kept most of his attention.
The corridor opened up after perhaps a hundred feet of walking.
And Nero stopped.
Before him stretched a sight that stole what little breath he had left.
A pool.
But pool was too small a word for it. It was more like a small lake, vast and still, its surface reflecting the blue glow of the fungi that surrounded it like a living frame. The water itself was crystal clear, so transparent that Nero could see down into its depths.
And in those depths, there was a dark abyss and something else.
It couldn’t be described. It was simply large beyond comprehension.
Nero took a step backwards.
This was what he’d seen in his vision.
This was what had terrified him.
Nero stood at the edge of the pool, transfixed by his fear.
He wanted to turn around and find another way.
But for some reason, he couldn’t look away.
The blue fungi grew thicker here, forming almost a garden around the pool’s edge. Their glow was brighter, more vibrant, and now that he was paying attention, Nero could see the faint motes drifting through the air.
Countless tiny particles, almost invisible, floating on invincible currents.
A thought struck him then. Arthur and Jacob were still unconscious. They’d been unconscious since the fall, despite their injuries not being severe enough. He had thought they had both suffered severe head injuries, but what were the odds?
And so, his mind couldn’t help but make up scenarios...
The spores.
Nero’s hand moved to cover his mouth and nose, but he stopped halfway. If the spores were going to affect him, they already would have. He’d been breathing them for who knew how long now.
But if they were the cause, them why was he was awake?
He took a step closer to the pool, drawn in by morbid curiosity. The water was perfectly still, its surface like glass. If he leaned forward just a bit more, maybe he could see the thing beneath more clearly...
"I wouldn’t do that if I were you."
Nero spun, his good hand going to his belt where his dagger hung.
The voice had come from behind him.
Standing perhaps ten feet away was a creature that made Nero’s breath freeze and his eyes widen.
It was roughly his height, maybe slightly shorter. Its proportions were humanoid, but that was where any semblance of humanity ended. Four arms extended from its torso, each one ending in gnarled, clawed fingers. Its body was the grey color of ash, covered in welts, growths, and pus-filled boils that wept a strange blue glow.
But it was the face that held Nero’s attention.
Or rather, the lack of one.
Where a face should have been, there was only a white wooden mask carved with a face mouth and eyes. Behind the holes in the mask, there was endless darkness.
"Looking into the pool is inadvisable," it said, the words emerging in a rasping yet cheerful tone. "Trust me on this."
Nero’s dagger was in his hand now. His spear would have been preferable, but it had been lost in the fall. The small blade would have to suffice.
"What are you?" Nero demanded, his voice steady as he began considering all the possible ways he could kill the thing standing before him.
The creature tilted its head, the gesture human despite its alien appearance. Its four arms spread wide in what might have been a welcoming gesture.
"A friend," it said.
Nero’s eyes narrowed. This thing was clearly an Abomination, but there was something else...
It lacked the physically oppressive presence characteristic to Abominations, much like the evil spirit’s and ghosts he has encountered on his journey like the Wretched Maiden of Despair in that cave outside Gor and the possessing ghost in the forest. Both had been extremely malevolent, and both had nearly killed him.
And now he was alone, injured, with two unconscious companions, facing something that was similar, and yet, not quite? He couldn’t tell what it was for certain.
His grip on the dagger tightened.
The creature seemed to sense his tension. Its head tilted the other direction.
"Easy now," it said. "I mean you no harm."
"Is that so? Then care to explain what it wrong with my friends? They have been unconscious for a long time now. Is this your doing?" Nero gestured with his broken arm toward where Arthur and Jacob lay.
The creature scratched its head and shrugged,
"Me? I’ve done nothing. That would be the spores."
Nero’s eyes narrowed. "The spores, huh..."
He glanced around at the garden of blue fungi surrounding the pool. His eyes turned dark as he grit his teeth as he moved to cover his nose and mouth again.
The creature laughed again. "No point in that now, is there? If they were going to affect you, you’d already be unconscious like your friends. But you’re not, are you?"
Nero’s grimace deepened,
"Maybe it’s because I haven’t gotten enough of it yet."
The creature waved its hand and chuckled, it’s laugh a coarse grating sound,
"Maybe... Still, your friends are fine. They certainly aren’t dead as you can tell. Not yet, at least..." it said.
"Yet?"
The creature’s four arms gestured dismissively.
"They’ll wake eventually. Probably."
