Shadow Slave: Immortal Ice

"Andromeda!" Eirwen roared, his voice cutting through the chaos as the three of them plummeted into the ravine. Around them, massive boulders and jagged chunks of dirt tumbled in a deadly rain.

Andromeda's eyes were wide, panic etched into her pale, almost bluish face. Sweat poured down her face, her mind clearly spiraling into the worst possible thoughts. She was frozen and terrified by one single thought; she was going to hit the ground and die.

Eirwen didn't spare a thought for Seraphiel's fate; something told him he would survive, whether he came out unscathed or not. He was too confident about going down here after all. Right now, Eirwen's focus was locked elsewhere.

Twisting his body midair, he narrowly dodged an incoming boulder, the energy and force of its movement brushing against his armor with a low whistle. Without missing a second, he kicked off the massive rock, propelling himself toward Andromeda with a sharp burst of speed that cut through the air. He believed in his boundless luck and instincts to drop his guard for a bit and solely focus on Andromeda.

Wind whipped and howled past them, his golden hair thrashing around him wildly. There were only a couple seconds left until they hit the ground and Eirwen's heart pounded like a war drum in his chest. But not out of fear. No, it was something more akin to excitement.

'What do I do,' Eirwen thought, his eyes widening as he calculated every possible approach.

A massive boulder smashed into another mid-air, exploding into shrapnel that scattered like deadly projectiles in every direction. The sharp shards zipped through the air, their speed and force turning them into deadly missiles, intensifying the chaos around them.

The ground trembled violently, groaning under the strain of the collapsing ravine. Dust and debris clouded the view, turning the world into chaos. But it wasn't just the falling earth that made the ground quake, the terrifying battle raging near the Fissure sent deep, resonating tremors through space.

After a brief moment of consideration, Eirwen found the only option left. Eirwen's golden eye shimmered as he willed [Kraken's Grasp] into existence.

A sharp, sickening growl ran through his solar plexus, as if something inside him was waking up. Tendrils of bluish-grey flesh erupted from his body, burrowing through his own muscles, skin, and even his armor. The sound of tearing echoed around him as his armor cracked and split, blood spurted violently from the wound, and the flesh that shot outward coiled in the air like living, writhing tentacles of a deep-sea monster.

Andromeda let out a piercing shriek, her voice cutting through the chaos around them. She instinctively threw her arms up to shield her face, though she knew it was useless. Even the smallest fragments of rock hurtling through the air had would tear through her fragile body like paper. Tears formed on the edges of her eyes but they immediately flew away.

'If only she wasn't under so much stress and would summon her bloodydamn Aegis Mirror! Why did this stupid girl even dismiss it in the first place!' Eirwen cursed in his mind, ignoring the pain from the tentacles of squirming flesh that were flying towards the girl.

"Aegis Mirror, Andromeda!" he roared in vain, trying to control the new limbs he had summoned, but they had a will of their own and listened to him only partially for some reason. This power was too wild and unpredictable.

Alien memories and fragmented whispers surged through his mind like a raging inferno. Words and images he couldn't fully comprehend clawed at his consciousness, threatening to overwhelm and replace him. Gritting his teeth, Eirwen pushed the thoughts aside.

With a deafening explosion, the tendrils smashed into the flying stone shards, sending debris scattering in all directions. Most of the lethal fragments were swatted aside and Andromeda was shielded, at least for now.

The ground loomed ever closer, rushing up to meet them with terrifying speed. Yet there was no sign of Seraphiel.

Eirwen focused, willing the tendrils to tighten around Andromeda, their fleshy and wet forms thickening and swelling like dense pillows. The grotesque tentacles wrapped around her, cocooning her fully. It was the only way he could ensure she'd survive the impact, but even then, he wasn't so sure.

'Please, let this work,' Eirwen thought with anticipation. He then braced himself for his own impact.

An impact that never came.

Eirwen's body was abruptly stopped, frozen an inch above the ground. The force and energy of his fall still surged downward without him. The earth below cracked open upon impact, sending clouds of dust and debris into the air. He panted with his eyes wide open before letting out a wild giggle. The corners of his lips moved up as a grin appeared on his face for a split second.

Andromeda, meanwhile, bounced and rolled across the ground inside her thick, soft cocoon, which still remained connected to Eirwen's torso by the tentacles. He couldn't see whether she'd survived the fall, but he hoped that she did.

"Seraphiel?" he called out, knowing that it was probably the boy who helped him just now.

A voice answered, but it wasn't Seraphiel, it was the spell.

[You have pleased a Soul!]

'What?' Eirwen thought, confused, as he tumbled down onto the ground, the strange force that had been holding him suspended now gone. The tendrils of flesh, having done their job, gently unwrapped themselves from Andromeda, retracting back into Eirwen's body.

He glanced at her to see that she was fine, though clearly terrified. The soft cocoon he created with his tentacles had cushioned her fall perfectly. The poor girl was still clearly shocked by the experience though as she fought back the urge to puke.

"Sorry, I thought it would be better to save you than the girl," Seraphiel said from the side, walking up to them, but Eirwen didn't really care.

The voices and flooding memories immediately disappeared from his mind the second he recalled the tentacles, and his Flaw started to work on handling his headache and burning brain.

With a quick thought he summoned his Runes. There was something he needed to check. Leaning back against the rocky wall behind him he scrolled down and found the two Runes he searched for.

Souls consumed: [20/500]

Souls satisfied: [1/500]

"So that's how this works," he mumbled under his breath, wiping away dirt from his face. Even now while being dirty, there was something breathtaking about his appearance.

Completely forgetting about Andromeda, he used the moment to look at his Memories.

There weren't as many new Memories as he had expected, but only two seemed to hold any real potential. The first was the spear that Snake had used, [Solid Point]. The second, however, was something he didn't remember seeing on any of the four Awakened he had killed before: a Tool, [Undying Rage]. It had an Enchantment that could greatly amplify his strength the more his emotions spiralled out of control.

With an exhausted huff, Eirwen recalled the Runes and took his first careful step forward, examining their surroundings for the first time since they landed.

The ground in front of them was barren -just endless stone and brown dirt- leading further down. Beneath their feet, the solid rock ground was cracked, revealing glowing orange magma flowing through it, casting light across the place.

To their left and right, towering walls of dirt stretched upwards, inside them there were dark cracks. Some of these cracks were wide enough to fit a person. From where he stood, it seemed as if the walls were much taller than the 60 meters he had initially guessed.

"The space here is distorted," Eirwen understood, his eyes fixed on the towering walls. He glanced at Seraphiel, who was helping Andromeda to her feet.

The white-haired boy met his gaze and gave a small, almost dismissive nod. "The closer we get to the Fissure, the less logical everything becomes," he said, his tone as detached as ever, eyes calm and unbothered.

Eirwen's brow twitched, 'Dry bastard,' he cursed.

Pointing down the ravine they were now trapped in, Eirwen asked their guide, "I suppose we have to go down there?"

Seraphiel nodded without hesitation and began stepping in that direction, but just as he did, another spine-chilling shriek echoed from deep below followed by an explosion that sent a shockwave of air towards them. The ground trembled violently, and Andromeda instinctively grabbed Eirwen's forearm, her grip tightening as she struggled to stay grounded.

Eirwen shielded Andromeda from the blast of air with his own body, his posture firm as the force shook the ground beneath them. He glanced down at her, his expression blank, 'I really hope she won't become a liability,' Eirwen thought. "Summon Aegis Mirror and let it guard us," he ordered her.

After a moment of hesitation, Andromeda slowly nodded, taking a deep breath to steady herself. She straightened up, though her nervousness was still clear, there was a slight tremor in her hands as she let go of him. She was scared -that much was clear- but she fought against it.

Her Aspect materialized beside her, shimmering into existence with a soft glow. The silver mirror hovered elegantly, its reflective surface showing the landscape around them. But then, Eirwen's sharp eyes caught something in its reflection. Something that made his eyes widen.

Countless red dots suddenly flickered to life from the cracks in the towering walls around them.