Prologue: The Vessel and the Immortal
#1 of The ARLIGENT Project
This is the first of many, many to come! Please, leave a comment if you are at all interested, or PM me if you have a critique! Cheers!
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A MATURE STORY AND NOT FOR THE EASILY OFFENDED.
CREDIT TO VALLHUND FOR THE AWESOME REF SHEET/ICON!!
This story is not pornography, or a fan fiction. All characters present are used with permission, or a product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to other stories, characters, motivations or technology is strictly coincidental, unless otherwise noted directly.
This story is intended for mature readers. The easily offended would be wise to avoid these works, and its subsequent materials.
Soooo yay, first ever post! Please leave a comment!
PROLOGUE: THE VESSEL AND THE IMMORTAL
The bowels of the earth were no place for wolves to walk. The ancient, pitted floors lay hidden beneath a layers of dust and grime, forgotten in the dark.
Giovanni's eyes narrowed-- shadows dancing just outside of the fickle light of the torch.
"I am here." Giovanni's voice spoke into the darkness.
There was no echo. Giovanni could feel the yawning expanse swallow his words. The wolf's paw faltered for a moment on the torch as the darkness before him shifted. He blinked forward for a moment, then winced visibly, his eyes turning down.
The darkness, in its own right, had form. Form that was not meant to be contained within the simple senses of mortality.
"I am here." Giovanni repeated, his voice tenuous as the flame flickered-- the once vibrant light slowly being strangled by the tangible darkness.
The shadows themselves seemed to coo in what Giovanni could only pray was approval. It whispered in his ear; its language not comprised of words, but of seemingly of instinct, and guttural emotions.
Instincts that begged Giovanni to run.
Giovanni tried to force himself to swallow the lump in his throat as its unnatural presense drifted in circles around him. He could do little but stare at the ground between his feet.
"You have been more than generous..." The wolf responded, his arms lowering slowly-- causing cinders from the torch to fall to the dirt below. "You have given me my son, and my life." The wolf muttered, his eyes blinking tears as the darkness became... suffocating.
The wolf felt his paw move to his hip. It rested on the handle of a single-shot, flint lock pistol.
The darkness responded in its own way. The beckoning shadows lapping gently as the flame was snuffed out by the inky blackness.
The torch fell to the ground, leaving the wolf to stand alone with the whispering void.
Silence took hold of the cavern, until Giovanni found his resolve. He ripped the pistol from its holster, baring his teeth in an ugly snarl as he shoved it against his own throat.
A benediction would slow him. The darkness would take him; that was the contract from so long ago.
Giovanni Wolfhardt would not be the vessel of Udun'Vrah.
The spark of flame.
The thunder of gunpowder.
The howl of rage.
The robbery from a god.