Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 830: Unfamiliar Darkness ()

When the world finally settled again, Neveah stood in a vast, unending field of black sand and rocky barrenness. Her heart still pounded wildly and the rage coursing through her veins was raw and visceral.

Whatever Asrig was doing, he was getting more adept at messing with her mind... and she hated herself for it. That she had let him delight in a reaction from her.

Her boots sunk into the sand, leaving behind a deep imprint as she turned a slow circle, taking in her surroundings.

The sky was darkened, almost a perfect reflection of the black, sandy earth. Gray clouds bled an inky mist that just hovered, blanketing the sky and blocking out any light that might have seeped through.

If there was any to begin with...in the dreadful place.

On either side of her, the desert stretched on and on for as far as the eye could see. There was not a single structure in sight or the semblance of life. Just silence and darkness.

’We should get moving.’ Her wolf alerted her. Her tone revealed the very same unease that Neveah felt. ’Dream walking can be dangerous if we come across the wrong thing. We don’t even know whose dream we’re in. We need to find a way to Xenon.’

Neveah nodded slowly. Stilling her heart, she made a split second decision on a path and headed that way.

For what felt like an eternity, she wandered aimlessly through the black desert, yet there was no end in sight. The longer it took, the stronger her unease grew. Xenon’s consciousness wouldn’t return no matter how much they stirred him awake...and she didn’t even know if she was in the right place.

She couldn’t even be sure she had made the right decision to dream walk. What if he wasn’t here at all? What if he was? And was currently in danger while she couldn’t even pick up on a trace of him? What if the wild haze had finally caught up with him and taken him away for good?

What if it wasn’t the wild haze but the mysteries he wouldn’t speak about from the shadow tower? The changes she had noticed but he didn’t clarify? What if she never found him... what if she never got back herself?

The doubts clashed within her mind, fiercely. They ripped her heart raw and stirred a weariness from deep within her bones.

Her wolf shifted uneasily in the depth of her mind. And Demevirld maintained his decided silence.

Neveah exhaled slowly, blinking away the tears of urgency and frustration that sprung to her eyes.

Her instincts had never failed her. It wouldn’t start now...it wouldn’t!

She pressed on. The desert seemed to carry on forever and Neveah’s limbs had begun to ache, but she didn’t stop walking.

Not until she finally sensed a change in the draughty air. It was subtle, almost like a tug in her mind rather than a change in the atmosphere.

The right direction settled in with a sudden and sharp clarity. She doubled her pace, hurrying across the black desert.

Still, there was no end in sight. Neveah stopped to catch a breath, her brows furrowed as she took in her surroundings once again.

Retreating a few steps, her attention was immediately drawn to the pitch black sand.

’It doesn’t...sink.’ She realised.

Pacing around lightly to make sure, Neveah confirmed that this was the only part of the desert sand that was this stable. Like she was on solid earth.

She didn’t hesitate. Crouching down, she dug through the sand with an urgency she didn’t care to hide.

She was elbow deep in black sand grains when the solid surface came to view. It was just a glimpse of it, but it was freezing to touch and at first contact, she drew her hand away quickly. Hissing at the biting cold.

Taking a closer look at what seemed like a frozen lake beneath the black sand, she kept digging, unveiling even more of the frozen surface. And the more she dug, the more it revealed the silhouette of a man beneath the ice.

Neveah’s heart sank to the pit of her stomach. Her hands worked faster, digging haphazardly and desperately shoving black sand aside.

Her arms and muscles ached. Her fingernails clogged with sand grains, her clothing and hair were in a mess and the sand stuck to her in the bare places where skin was visible through her riding suit.

She didn’t need to see the face beneath the ice to know. And after a short time of exertion, Xenon became visible. His hair was splayed in the water beneath him, his braids had come undone.

His eyes were open, widened, frozen mid-horror.

"Xenon!" Neveah called frantically. "Xenon! Xenon!"

Her voice didn’t didn’t reach him. And from his expression, he couldn’t see her either.

Neveah’s fist made first contact with the ice, the sound echoed across the quiet desert.

And then again, and again. Till the surface was painted red with her blood. But the ice was firm and didn’t budge.

She let out a scream of frustration. Eyes roaming wildly for anything that could possibly help free Xenon.

But there was nothing to be seen but long stretches of black sand.

Neveah slammed a fist into the ice once again.

An eerie, unfamiliar voice floated by on the wind, "You can’t save him like this."

Her head jerked up, glancing around. She didn’t see anyone. She didn’t sense a presence either. Nothing but the chill of the wind.

"Wh...who are you?" Neveah asked warily.

This time, the voice was deeper. Almost like it was a completely different person. "Friend or Foe, what does it matter?"

Neveah’s hands clenched by her side, blood dripped steadily from her fists. At this point, the voice was right. She didn’t even care who it was, as long as they knew how to save Xenon.

"Can you...help me save him?" She asked slowly.

"The firedrake is in danger. Not to his own darkness, but to another’s. You must find the one whose darkness has infiltrated his mind... and you must be quick, he will not be able to resist for too long."

Neveah’s brows furrowed. "Infiltrated...?"

Her eyes roamed her surroundings again. It was no wonder it didn’t feel familiar at all. Xenon’s darkness was turbulent and restless, it was familiar to Neveah.

But this wasn’t his...

This was cold and still. Like an abyss of unending darkness. A void of nothingness... empty and dead.

And there was only one other one person Neveah could think of. Because in the few occasions she had held his gaze... she could sense it, the void within him.

"Verothrax..."