Darkness stretched across the place like a blind beast, devouring the light and letting screams echo wildly, bouncing off the crumbling walls as if from another realm. Everything here suggested that mercy was a myth, and this corner of existence was forged to be a grave for emotions.
Leora stood trembling, fighting the shiver coursing through her limbs, and murmured in a voice barely audible:
"I can't believe what I'm seeing! What is this savagery… as if hatred has taken hold of him?"
Roy replied in a calm tone, carrying a faint, burning intensity within:
"This feeling did not arise from nothing… it is the result of accumulated cruelty and oppression he endured throughout his weakness. That is why… the law of life demands retribution."
The sound of slicing rose from the depths, sharp as a knife. Leora gasped and stepped back:
"Roy! Get me out of this place… I cannot stay here any longer!"
Roy smiled—as if the darkness dared not approach him—and spoke gently:
"Very well… I will take you somewhere more beautiful than this."
He snapped his fingers.
The surface split open like brittle crust, revealing a vast gap from which a pristine white staircase emerged, glowing like a sacred path carved through the decay.
Leora set her foot on the first step, and some of the surrounding darkness faded as they ascended slowly. With each step, the stench receded, the screams softened, as if the soul was being reborn in a corpse long neglected.
At the last step… the scene opened before them.
The white being sat beneath the golden tree, its light scattering a shimmer like metallic rain. It rose immediately upon seeing them, a childlike eagerness etched across its pale features:
"My lord! I have been waiting for you an entire day!"
Leora froze, her eyes widening:
"An entire day!? We've been here no more than five minutes! Are you serious? I couldn't bear those grotesque sights for a moment… this is ridiculous, you white fool!"
Roy spoke in a low voice, as if truth itself hovered above his words:
"Time itself is unstable… a short period of suffering equates to a long day for that forgotten abyss."
The white being nodded, then said softly:
"We shall now head to a better place."
Leora raised an eyebrow, curiosity piercing through her fear:
"To where this time?… I hope it's not superficial beauty again."
Roy clapped his hands.
A massive bird appeared above the golden tree, its wings stretching wide enough to cover half the sky, feathers gleaming with a dark luminescence, a mix of shadow and light. The purple glow dimmed, and a true awe descended… a silence that invaded the bone.
The colossal creature descended before them, the ground trembling beneath their feet, the air quivering as if they stood before something sacred.
Leora opened her mouth in astonishment, speechless for a moment, before whispering:
"Is this real or am I dreaming?… I have seen enough absurdity."
Roy smiled confidently, as one who perceives what others cannot:
"This is the Roc… it will take us to the location of the Kendra."
Leora blinked in clear confusion:
"The Kendra? What exactly is it? A place? Or something unknown?… You always insist on speaking in cryptic phrases only you and that white fool understand!"
Roy let out a short, mocking laugh:
"You will discover it for yourself. Come on."
She hesitated for a moment… then mounted the back of the legendary bird.
The Roc surged upward, piercing the violet sky, while the green aurora scattered its colors over them like celestial decoration preparing for a mythical ritual.
The wind howled around them, and speed transformed the world into streaks of light fading away.
They could not grasp the details of their path; everything changed too quickly, as if time itself was fleeing from them.
And so…
Their journey into the unknown—toward the Kendra—began, on the back of a creature that tore open the sky as if it were another door to the secrets of Armcastra.
End of Chapter Seven