Spawn of Fear
Hal would be lying if he claimed that the words coming out of his mouth were true, but showing fear of the enemy would not spell a good outcome.
He felt the adrenaline rush through his veins as he anxiously waited for the entity to answer.
A laugh echoed from within the shadow, causing its body to stir and ripple like the gentle waters of a pond. It turned what Hal could assume were its eyes and stared at him directly, its shadowy hand travelling to touch its chest.
"Thank you for the introduction and proclamation of murder as well, hence I shall also introduce myself to you and share with you my truest nature, something I will do with a simple story if you do not mind"
Hal's brow curled
"Story, what story would a being like you tell a human like me? In fact, I believe slaying should be a nice story to tell, don't you think?"
The being twisted its head and held its face.
"Aren't you a scholar to that lord of yours, hence shouldn't you be hungry for the knowledge that a spawn of fear possesses? I may be a shell of my former self, but even this degraded entity has a wonderful story to tell"
It felt like the words of the shadow had sparked a desire in Hal's soul, forcing the edge of his lips to curve upwards. He hated this insatiable hunger, and yet he still opened his ears.
"Okay then, I'm convinced. Tell me your story, but once it bores me, I won't hesitate to cut you down"
The shadow chuckled, "I'm really amused by your confidence. Are you sure you can actually take me down?"
Hal raised the slaughter's gain and pointed it at the creature, his eyes glowing with the beauty of a sea of stars.
"Finish your story, and then we will see if I can live up to my words"
The shadow shrugged as Hal felt the shadows in the room stir and the air get colder; goose bumps appeared on his skin as the shadows moved to join the entity
"The King is not the only being that has attempted to enter this world, for this world is special, and it is that trait that makes it desirable by many outer beings. One such being was the true terror, the one true concept of fear"
"The true terror, for some reason, that name resonated with Hal to some level, yet his mind simply could not think beyond that simple feeling of familiarity he felt
A curved red glow manifested on the shadow, forming a crooked smile that illuminated Hal's face as he stared at it. He did not flinch; instead, he let himself be overcome by the desire for knowledge once again and listened
"The true terror wished to come into this world, but due to the strong veil placed on it, it could not, so it devised a plan, it ripped a part of its soul and cast it into this world, the pieces it cast became extensions of it and served as vessels that would enable it to invade this world"
"But sadly, for the true terror, this world was protected by two beings that overwhelmed its mere fragments, and these beings were the Primordial Owl and the Lord of Stars. They fought back against the True Terror and soon forced it to abandon its plans, but the fragments of its soul still remained"
"These fragments were now free to become beings of their own, and yet, they would soon fade away without enough power to anchor themselves to this world and vessels to call their own"
"So, they went out into the world and sought out vessels, they learnt the way of this world and forged contracts with the humans of this world so that they may devour them and become them"
"And once they had feasted, they realised that they still hungered, but for what, they hungered for the power of fear resting in each other, and so they turned on each other and began a war, a war to devour each other until there was only one left"
"Their war ravaged the world for plunging the world into a time of deep fear, for even without his presence, the world was slowly falling to the True Terror, something the higher beings of this world could not allow, and so a slaughter against my brethren started and wiped most of them out"
"Those that remained went into hiding, but their war still rages on, for whenever two of them met, they would fight until one was devoured by the other"
The entity transferred its hand to its chest as its crooked smile grew larger
"I am one of the casualties of that war, and even though most of the essence of fear that I once possessed was devoured by that wretched spawn, I was able to preserve myself through a contract with the one who built this cave"
The entity held out its hands as the shadows stirred in the shape of flames and burning souls, making Hal take a step back.
"I am Ontrul, the spawn of fear that was devoured by one of its own until only a shell remained, and the rest of the essence of fear that I once possessed surrendered to a mural of the forbidden one"
Ontrul stared down at Hal as its shadowy figure spread out to cover the entire cave wall.
"But I have bided my time and slowly devoured the monsters that were trapped in here with me so that they would kill my prey. I will devour you, child and then devour she who devoured me"
Hal gritted his teeth as his body automatically shifted into a battle-ready stance.
"What makes you sure that I will sit idly by and let you devour me?"
Ontrul chuckled
"You underestimate me, though I may now be a shell, I am still a being outside your comprehension, I do not obey the laws of this world, yet you do, so making you my vessel should come as child's play, and besides, I wish to take from her just as she took from me"
"What are you mumbling about, your shadow?"
Ontrul touched his lips.
"Well, it's just that you have the essence of all the beings I happen to hate, you reek of the Primordial Owl, the Lord of Stars and that spawn that devoured me, I think she now goes by Margret, so you can imagine how much joy it will give me to devour you"
Hal let out a sigh. Was he cursed to just keep encountering higher beings, and would all these beings have a certain thing they desired from him?
He took a deep breath and readied his sword. If this entity wanted his body or soul, it would have to take it out of his dead hands.
Hal felt tired of being a toy to these beings, so Ontrul would just have to serve as an example that he was tired of playing these games.
The shadow retracted into the weird bear-like creature that awakened with a roar that shook the cave.
Hal also let his ability loose and attacked the enemy