Shadow of the Abyss

Chapter 217: Evolution or Devolution

Raven snickered soon after, "Is Master shy? Fear not, Master, I, the great Raven, is not ashamed of her body! Nudity is our most natural self."

"Spoken like a true nudist. You really believe that shit?" Altair asked, studying Raven's perky breasts, thin waist, and wide hips. But more than that, her eyes seemed so serene. So carefree, he felt a little bothered, if not jealous.

They were soft like the winds, so ephemeral he feared if he looked away, they lose their luster.

"Of course!" she pointed to her feet. " Those foot prisons seem so stifling. How do you all do it?"

"Foot Prisons?" he tilted his head, mulling what she said over. "You mean shoes?"

Raven nodded. "Yeah. Those things. Gods, I hate those things. Worse thing mankind ever made."

Altair froze, his expression turning rather unusual, "wait a sec, could you always go into human form?"

"Yup. But being a crow is so much cooler. I have wings and a badass beak, and I can Caw loudly. It's so awesome! Not to mention the corn! Master!

Raven loves Corn!" she exclaimed, running in circles around her Master. She beamed like a love-struck child.

"Alhail Corn! Hip-Hip Corn!!!"

'This woman is insane,' Altair thought. He forced a smile and said, "Then how do I get out of here? I'm in danger."

"You can't," Raven said, shaking her head. "You're in a state of spiritual exhaustion. You're stuck here until you mentally and physically heal."

"... I tried calling you guys," he revealed. "what happened?"

"Iliana's isolation barrier stopped us. No idea how, but she did."

Altair looked at the mist obscuring his vision past the edges of the lake.

He sighed, flopping down onto the Black Lake. Raven drew in on him, falling on her knees. She grinned, brushing her hands through his ashen hair.

He glanced up at her then. Finding his eyes wandering toward her naked bosom. They were without blemish. While her nipples were a luscious pink.

'I wonder what she tastes like.' Altair chagrined with the realization that his mind, for the first time, began to wander. He shook his head, though his eyes never strayed, and neither did his manhood, rising with the drums of war. He tried to calm the drum of his heart, to control the flow of breath, to regain some semblance of control.

It was for not.

Shame and guilt struck cords against the prince's heart, unsure why he felt so... frustrated.

'What is wrong with me?' he thought, biting his lip.

Raven did not seem to notice as she ran her fingers through his hair, closing her eyes. "Master... Do you think we'll survive?"

In the midst of his many sensations entwined within his mind's continuous stratum, Altair shifted an eye towards his Protector. Echoes of transcendent awareness coiled through the mind of the Prince like the endless flow of a river. Pain approached, stirring the black lake of the soul that stilled soon after.

"Yes," He said, a confidence protruding from the deepest reaches of his soul. The spiritual nature of his body dimmed, slipping through the fingers of Raven.

She stood petrified, pulled within those scarlet eyes that reflected a nexus of awareness spanning far beyond that of the Myriad Heavens or Arcadia, revealing an abyss. And within the Abyss, she saw its shadow.

She was shouting, shaking his shoulders, but Altair could neither hear it nor feel it.

The dryness in his throat ached like the prickling of needles along the inner lining of the throat.

"B-B-B-Blood," He mouthed or said, unable to tell which.

Nia didn't hesitate to snatch Drupnir from off Altair's fingers and summoned a veil of Reina's blood, which he'd stored in case of emergencies. Her neck had been the only source of sustenance these past few months, keeping him sane.

Popping the cork, Nia slid the blood down her Prince's mouth, finding the color return to his ashen complexion. She drew out another and another and another until nearly fifteen liters of Reina's blood was consumed. Only then did Altair retain a somewhat healthy complexion.

He grinned, feeling some of his faculties return to him. Still, he found moving his body was too difficult.

"How long was I out?"

"Seventeen Hours," Jorm answered. "We are coming upon the last remaining hours of your deal with Keres."

.net

"What happened to Aurora." He asked, noticing the slight lack of danger he thought he was in.

Nia took the lead, explaining the strange scene to her master, leaving nothing out.

"Did you send someone to find Ren?"

"She sent Syris," Nia said, pointing up. "She's on guard outside, watching for danger. She's currently monitoring the sacrifice. It looks nearly complete."

'None of that sounds good. But this dagger thing... that's slightly concerning.' He glanced down at the small scar on his palm, nearly faded, and looked towards Tasha, rocking back and forth.

"Do you know something?"

"What can you give me for that info?" Tasha teased, leaning a palm over her chin. She licked her lips, savoring the wine.

"I can tell you my next destination after this," Altair informed her.

"If I were you, I'd journey through Babels Tower. So I'll pass. However, I am interested in the first floor. 'Tag' is so much fun. No matter how strong you are, once touched, you'll be frozen. If touched again, you die."

A little taken back by such a revelation. His lips twitched. "Then what is it you want?"

"Hmmm. Let me come with you. I'd like to openly walk beside you."

Altair narrowed his eyes. "You ask a lot for simple knowledge about a damn dagger."

"I'm a devil. It's what I do."

Staring dead into her profane eyes, Altair mulled over the options given to him and grinned. "Why not? Journey with me. Though, you'll have to keep up."

Tasha chuckled, though her eyes did not. "The dagger Jorm described to me looks to be a dagger from the Age of Mist. Devils, if you don't know, have the innate ability to read every known language within the Myriad Heavens. Call it a gift." She lifted her palm through the air, weaving a sketched image out of mana, mirroring the runes Jorm had drawn for her.

"It's a Blood Curse," She continued. "That's what it reads. Though I've no idea what it does exactly, not without actually seeing the dagger personally."