Ophelia’s Journal - Into The Abyss
Today we travelled to the infinite abyss.
I didn’t want to leave Arkael with the two aasimar women but knowing that his soul was trapped in some sort of hell was enough for me to trust them to watch over his body. Thurid did not seem particularly eager to leave Kinto behind either but her resolve to help save Ark’s soul won out in the end.
Before we left we discussed the creatures we might encounter in the abyss and Alfred shared his knowledge of them with us. I honestly tried to pay attention but it didn’t matter to me what we faced when we arrived in the abyss. Whatever it was, we’d have to find a way to defeat it. We have to get Ark out.
Alfred asked us all to gather in a group and we joined hands. At first it seemed as though nothing was happening but gradually the world around us began to change and everything after that was a bit of a blur. I remember seeing a huge battle raging but then the surroundings twisted again to an endless sky before we were launched into utter darkness. When we finally landed on solid ground, a purplish hue filled the sky and the terrain itself was rough and mountainous.
In the distance, there was a green glow coming from a black stone structure and Nani told us that it was where we needed to go if we wanted to find Arkael. It did not take us long to reach what looked to be a huge arena encircled by a moat. We crossed the bridge to face massive doors which were swung open wide. I think we were all feeling anxious as we approached, unaware of what lay beyond.
Inside the arena was exactly as Nani had described from his vision. A 60ft wall surrounded us in a huge circle, and atop the wall were cloaked figures looking down into the centre. I recognised the sigil on their cloaks but could not see any of their faces in detail. They barely looked our way as we entered although I got the feeling they were fully aware that we were here.
My eyes were drawn to motion directly opposite from us and I stopped dead in my tracks at what I saw. Arkael was fighting a demon and we all stood and watched in silence as he dealt a killing blow with a black greatsword that I have never seen before. A moment passed and nobody moved... Arkael was leaning against his sword and had yet to look our way.
I glanced towards the others and still, none of them took a step closer. With a sigh, I turned my attention back to Arkael and began to walk towards him. In my gut something told me that this was a bad idea. Finding him here alone like this was too easy. I was walking into a trap.
As I crossed the arena to him, he finally raised his head enough for his eyes to meet mine. For one brief moment, it was Ark just as I remembered. He was staring back and I saw happy recognition in his gaze.
I increased my pace to get closer.
He looked behind me to Thurid and the others in turn but then his expression changed. He hung his head before tilting it back, eyes filled with tears as though he was about to cry and his arms fell limp at his sides. Suddenly, his skin began to crack and break. His eyes and mouth started to glow brightly and the sword in his hand glowed a deep red. He took one step, launching across the large distance to land before me. The air around him felt hot and I was almost knocked off my feet as he loomed above, all signs of recognition vanished from his features.
Panic set in. I couldn’t fight him.
I could sense the others coming up behind me and in a frantic motion I raised my quarterstaff. I attempted to strike him in the hope that I could stun him or somehow knock him back to himself again. This attack did not slow him at all. If anything it seemed to anger him more and he raised his huge black sword, slashing at me as I stood there defenceless.
The others quickly came to my aid but Arkael was not the only threat in this arena. The cloaked figures in the stands were healing him so our attacks were basically worthless. I was in a lot of pain and so badly hurt that I had no choice but to flee, leaving the others to deal with Ark whilst I scrambled up the ledge where Yingol and Nitt stood, to safety.
We began to pick off the priests and eventually the group managed to get the upper hand. Alfred was fighting in close combat with Arkael and I heard Ark yell at him as if he were a demon. Alfred tried to reason with him but it seemed pointless as he did not stop attacking. In all of the chaos, I stood on top of the arena ledge with blood dripping from my wounds watching it unfold and feeling incredibly weak.
A thumping sound came from the tunnels beneath where I stood and I looked to my left in horror as a flaming beast that looked like a gorilla appeared before Yingol. I was about to cry out to the others for help when a second appeared before me and a third before Nitt. I gave my best effort to fight it but every movement made me wince and I was distracted by the others fighting Arkael below.
Slab had joined the fray and was attacking him with full force. I was screaming through the telepathic link to stop before he killed him but he carried on anyway.
Nitt had managed to escape from the beast he was fighting and I was well aware that if I didn’t do the same then I would soon be facing two of them. I threw myself off of the ledge and managed to land unscathed but I felt a pang of guilt for leaving Yingol to fight all three.
By this stage Ark lay unconscious on the ground and Slab had finally stopped with his onslaught of attacks. Someone had kicked the black sword away and I was grateful that it was well out of Ark’s reach. I inched closer to him, taking up a defensive stance in case any of the others tried to come near. I know he had attacked us but it wasn’t really him and they had to realise that.
He was just confused and it’s clear he needs our help. We are not leaving him here.
Thurid was also close by which made me feel a bit better as I was starting to get a bit dizzy from all the bloodloss. I don’t remember who killed the gorillas but the fight was over and they were discussing what to do about Ark’s weapon. Slab went to pick it up and said he heard a voice speaking to him in his head. Nani checked the weapon over and explained that it somehow had a consciousness? I don’t understand how that works but I want to keep that thing as far from me as possible. We began to leave the arena and Yingol helped support me as I was not doing so good.
In the distance, a large purple cloud was heading straight for us.










