I Am The Dark

Kassian grimaced, still reeling from the agony that had just subsided. His ankle throbbed, twisted in the fall, and a phantom pain lingered in his wrist, where the strange light had seared into him. He was alive, barely - but no wiser.

He groaned quietly, dragging himself away from the edge of the ruin where he had collapsed. Every muscle in his body cried out, every breath felt like it would shatter him from the inside. His mind reeled not only from the physical pain but from the uncertainty gnawing at his thoughts.

"Why me?" he muttered. "What did I do to deserve this?"

He thought back to the world he had left behind. Earth - a desolate wasteland strangled by decay. Yet even there, Kassian had done his best to stay out of trouble. He wasn't a criminal. Not a saint either. Just a boy who had done his best to follow the rules. He could've joined the gangs or the delinquents that promised fast cash and even faster deaths, but he hadn't. He chose to walk the line, upright.

And now this.

He winced and shook his head, forcing the thoughts away. They would only pull him deeper into despair. Instead, he scanned his surroundings. That's when he saw it again.

A structure.

Strange. Towering. Inexplicable.

Something about it sent a shiver through him - not the fear he had felt in the ruin with the creatures - but a more profound unease. A sense of something… ancient. Unknowable.

Just a few paces ahead, two colossal stone fingers protruded from a circular platform. They reached, their tips nearly touching, forming a triangle in the air. Each finger bore a ring. One, a simple band - smooth, round, and serene - exuded a calming balance. The other was twisted, gnarled like a coiled serpent, as though it were made of motion itself.

It felt wrong.

And yet… it pulled him.

Hypnotized, Kassian forgot the dangers he'd left behind and limped forward.

The platform beneath him was smooth, unnaturally so. Like no tool of man had shaped it, but instead something with a design far more precise. Dust and rubble from the surrounding ruins littered the edges, but the center gleamed like untouched glass.

He craned his neck up. The fingers towered over him, easily ten meters tall. Up close, their scale was even more staggering. They were made of stone, but wore a polish that shimmered faintly in the waning sunlight.

Kassian blinked. Symbols - strange, curling runes - had been etched into the base of the fingers and all across the platform. He didn't recognize their origin. And yet… he could read them with ease.

Words glowed faintly beneath his feet. A central inscription, directly between the fingers, shimmered brighter than the rest:

[Here lies the path connecting all worlds.]

His breath caught.

Something clicked in his mind - like a message remembered from a dream. Yes. The words he could barely make up from the in the brown jacket.

Come back home. Were those the words?

His heart pounded. Could it be? Could this thing send him back?

He wasted no time. With hope burning in his chest, Kassian stepped into the gap between the fingers.

Nothing happened.

Frowning, he took another step, and then another. Still nothing. He turned, moved sideways, then back again. Silence.

Just the wind rustling through the trees.

"What the hell?" he muttered.

He scratched his head in frustration, his gaze wandering - until it landed on the finger bearing the coiled ring.

A strange feeling gripped him. Instinct? Or something else?

Drawn forward, he approached.

At its base, a perfect circle of light glowed on the platform floor. A halo. He hadn't seen it from the center. He circled it, noting other inscriptions now that he hadn't paid attention to before. It was calling to him. Intricate, whispering with unreadable meaning.

He stepped inside.

Light flared upward like a holographic panel. A square image projected from the base of the finger.

[Jumper detected! Identification required!]

"Huh?"

His mouth fell slightly open unable to discern what it meany. He looked around but saw no instruction.

Then his eyes landed on a glowing outline - a hand symbol, hovering in the air like it was part of the stone itself.

With a mix of hesitation and hope, he reached forward and placed his palm against the symbol.

A sharp sting pierced his skin - like a blood test needle jabbing into his palm. He winced, but held still.

Another prompt appeared.

[Jumper registered.

Conditions not met.

Waygate inactive.]

Kassian cursed under his breath. What condition? What did it want from him?

The projection flickered off as he stepped out of the circle.

Frustrated, he looked around. That's when his eyes caught more inscriptions - ones that had been nearly hidden beneath debris.

He pulled a flat stone slab nearby and stepped on it for a better view.

There it was.

A drawing.

Five pillars surrounding a central point.

Beneath it, faded words.

"One mark to activate the gate. All marks to unlock other worlds."

Kassian's eyes narrowed.

So… he needed a mark. One to activate the gateway. And more to explore… what? Other places? Other realities?

He sat down, overwhelmed. Hours passed as he racked his brain. No answers came.

Eventually, he slumped on the stone platform, arms spread like a broken doll.

He knew nothing.

That was the truth.

He would need to learn more in order to discern it.

Suddenly, a thought sparked in his mind. He sat up sharply.

The other finger!

The one with the simple ring. It might provide him something.

Dragging his injured foot, he hurried toward it. As he had hoped, a circle of light glowed faintly on the floor. Just like the other.

He stepped inside with a bit of hope.

The projection flared again.

[Kassian Darkwill]

He blinked. "Wait… what? That's not my name."

He stared at the name. It didn't change.

Frowning, he swiped the projection as new information appeared.

[You are a Dark Initiate!]

[Aspect: Mantle of Eternity]

[Acquired Aspect: A Spark of Order]

Kassian's heart skipped.

It was a system. Like those old games. Or maybe not. It wasn't sleek or polished like digital ones. This felt older. Deeper.

But it was something.

The words "Spark of Order" caught his eye.

The light in his chest pulsed faintly.

That's it, he realized. That's what it was.

The spark he absorbed at the altar. It wasn't hurting him now. It was part of him. Growing.

He swiped again.

[Dark Essence Abilities:

Merge – Prolonged stillness returns you to the origin.]

His jaw clenched.

The Merge. The episodes back on Earth… could that be what this was? A connection?

He scrolled further.

[Order Essence Abilities:

Balance – ...]

He didn't get to finish reading.

A guttural roar tore through the forest behind him.

The creatures. The ones he thought were slumbering.

Instinct screamed.

He didn't wait. He turned and ran - limping, sprinting, dodging debris.

The projected image vanished behind him as his body vanished into the shadowy canopy of the forest. The horizon swallowed the last of the sun. The golden light receded. Night came quickly, and with it, dread.

He would return. He had to.

But not now.

Not yet.