It wasn’t too long before he arrived at his next destination, past the pit of bones, past the jungle. Past the beaches and beasts of both mind and ‘flesh’. Here he stood on a plain of existence he didn’t fully understand. It was as though a desert had been reduced to glass; a desert that had been brought to its knees time and time again until nothing remained. He stood there in disbelief as he couldn’t quite fathom how much fire or power was required to do this to a land. He looked one way to see a bleak nothingness and then to the other. He’d set his jaw and take a step onto the glass; knowing that he had to go this way and there wasn’t any other option.

The first click of his talons against the pittering of the glass made him pause; it sounded hollow. Which would be strange if there was a vast pit underneath him again like before. He’d look down, cocking his head. There was an emptiness beneath him like a massive cavern that was just yawning to swallow him whole. His breath quickened however as he saw what was underneath him..

It was a torrent of individuality, a torrent of many shapes, sizes and emotions. Ranging from the young to the old, to the barely awake to those that had forgotten they did anything but dream. There were nary a few with wide eyes that had enough presence of mind to know that they were not among the living anymore. This deep pitt wasn’t just that; it was a prison and the glass was the reason they were even trapped at all. The answer of which lay on his lips and the answer of which boggled his mind.

This prison and the people within it… were for souls.

These people were the very same souls from the very same bones that he had just broken. He stood there in silence watching them circle without a cause without a reason. Just in a massive center; he’d look to where they were moving to; it didn’t have a direction known to him but perhaps he could find out what they were doing.

[367/1200]

It was like a walkway, a highway, a mass of people moving in one direction; something that he didn’t entirely understand but didn’t need to. They were leading him somewhere and the few that were awake enough tried to reach and guide him only to find the glass stopping their hands. It bounced but softly and seemed to frustrate those that did without too much worry. It was as though the barrier knew not to harm those beneath it and knew that to do so would be wasting precious resources.

Something only a living being could understand which meant… the barrier was alive in some sense and knew that saturn was there. But no action was needed by it; it just simply had one role and that was to keep the souls beneath the glass right where they belonged: Beneath. Saturn felt the tugging sensation continue and wandered along; finding himself at odds with this strange universe he had wandered into. Every instance of this realm had become something different that he wasn’t used to dealing with. Every time there was something meant to make him or someone else suffer in a sense.

This was planned and they were showing him what they were going to do, it was going to be a massive grave spanning that of fiore, a massive pit of souls for them to use. What sort of person would do and threaten this sort of thing to one that had sworn to protect fiore in their own way? Nay. All of earthland. The demon paused and noted that there were some trying to move against the flow with little success as they were being drawn in. His attention diverted slightly; those being pulled were doing so because they lacked the strength and those fighting couldn’t flee because of the same reason.

He had to move closer, had to figure out what ailed these people and come to his own decision regarding them. If he couldn’t help them he’d have to move on but if he could? He’d do everything in his power to make it so. He wasn’t just about to abandon them without at least trying something first. That was what it meant to be a rune knight; helping people no matter the cost.

[746/1200]

He was finally here.

At the center of this place, at the center of the vast well of souls underneath him. It was like a hub of magical energy that was comparable to the first time he was brought into this world. His posture lessened and he felt his breath catch in his throat. They had reached out to the stars in an effort to drag him or something like him with a pool of resources like this? Or was it because they didn’t use this sort of horrid ritual that they were gifted with a demi-god that didn’t even consider their inane demands? He was speechless and he’d stand there for a moment, trying to understand what on earth they were hoping to bring into fruition with this level of death and destruction.

Nothing good.

He was a demon now, far flung from being a demi-god. The whisper of the voice within him spoke to him of the tragedies that none could understand. He stood there paralyzed with indecisions. Misunderstandings. If he struck here he would free them in a torrent of souls and magical energy. But it’d set at odds the realm that they had come from; there’d be a boom of population and there may even be some paragons birthed among them. A golden age could come from it or the exact opposite. But it wasn’t fair that they were trapped; a guiding hand of bone, metal and darkness seemed to grip his own.

Let me guide you.

The voice was feminine, hardy, powerful, understanding, and knowledgeable. It Knew much, it told less. But he let it guide his hand; let it take his and turn his spear about. Aimed it at the direct center of this powerful place and without any reservations it thrust. There would be no quarter, no thoughts, no need to do so. There was nothing to consider here other than the freedom of many damned to the choices of another.

The first strike glanced off the glass, the second chipped it, the third and fourth dug deep rivets. There was not enough strength; not enough desire from the host. There was rising frustration before the voice whispered deep into both his ear and mind.

Does their freedom mean nothing to you?

He had still been hesitating but with the guidance of whomever this was he rose the spear up high and with all his might brought it down onto the final shatterpoint of glass. The entire realm held its breath as the wall broke, as he started to fall, as the magically infused essence of the place started to release, like a powerful burst of energy beyond comprehension. It lifted him up, the souls of those once trapped surging past him, lifting him up, thousands upon thousands of hands all in chorus chanting the same word over and over again.

It wasn’t a word needed to be said to be heard, it wasn’t anything he could understand with hundreds if not thousands of different languages speaking at once. The overwhelming message was clear however as he was eventually set down beyond the realm of the glass prison. Left to his own devices as a grand aurora of souls was made into the sky. But there was one soul that lingered within him that he recognized the touch of. There was a smug sense of accomplishment radiating from them and it threatened to seep into him.

Well done pup.

[1,324/1200]