Val stared Ven into the eyes. When Ven channeled the ritual, his eyes stared blank into the darkness before him and his wife. He stood inside the deepest passages of ancient Egypt, a forgotten forlorn tunnel-system that was used in the early age wars against the Gods. A battle that Ven Tyler remembered clearly and that he wished he could relive. No, not even he himself was powerful enough to travel back in time and relive the days of his prime.
He spoke a language that had been used long before Latin was ever thought of, a language that spoke not in words but out of pure darkness. His wife Val stared him deeply into the eyes and even though Ven was as powerful as he was, she was frightened. Only a few times trough the thousand years that they had lived, Val had been frightened of what Ven had been doing. This time, she was more frightened than usual. Not to mention, the ancient language that in which Ven spoke was forbidden among the mortal man. Ven had defiled the Gods before, but never had he defiled a a rule created not by Gods, but by darkness itself.
Val held the arm of Ven as the shadows around them, on the walls, the floor and roof started whispering. They replied to the language that Ven spoke. Too much for Val to handle, she covered her eyes and ears, crawling into a nearby corner. She had powers too, but none that made her resistant to the language of pure darkness. Ven Tyler was ignited in flames, a powerful fire that burnt large. Val wanted to scream when she saw the ignition, but held herself back as Ven seemed to not change track. If he lost focus trough the ritual, what he had accomplished so far would be ruined. He continued the spell, not even wrinkling to the ignite.
Half way trough the ritual, shadows started circling the room. Shadows of what had been, what was and what would to come. The shadow shapes of man as well as beast spun around Ven in a circle. The only thing holding them of was the flames. As long as the flames were active, none of the shadows could even come close. At the far end of the room, a red cross was formed. The sign that the spell had reached a point not revers-able. The only way out now was forth or top stop, but the ritual could never be stopped fully anymore. Ven fell to knees, still having his arms high up into the air. The words that he spoke turned into gas and the gas that came out of his mouth slowly accumulated. An orb was forged on the floor. The orb was made out of solid gas and shadows. An object forged out of darkness.
Val still keeping her eyes and ears closed could hear the voice of Ven inside her head. Trough mind-waves, he sent messages to her. She could not understand what he wished for, as the words that arrived was on the way translated into the same ancient language that he had spoken. Slowly, the darkness temporarily consumed the little sanity of Ven that he still had after the war against the Gods. Letting out a powerful scream, containing such a huge amount of energy he brought light to the room. The surrounding shadows were vanquished just in time to the end of the scream. The room turned dark once more and Ven fell entirely to the ground. His powers had been drained and in order to regain them he would have to rest. What ritual he just had gone trough was the cause of death of one of the elder Gods. The elder God was a servant of light and had sworn that the newly born being was never to see the light of day. More importantly, never the darkness of night.
Ven Tyler slowly got up from his exhausted position and watched the orb. He lifted it up with his bare hands and stared into the very soul of what seemed to be a living being. It had come from a place where oceans were land, whilst land were oceans. A place where darkness was a mere myth and light ruled. A world with no sun, but a light covering it like the strongest of stars. A magical word where no shadows existed. No darkness and no living beings. He read the soul and by time he learnt what it was that he had summoned forth. He looked into the cross at the far front of the room and grinned. Val grabbed his arms in a motion asking him not to do it. He laid his hand over hers and she let him go. She loved him and would not ever defy what choices he made. Not out of fear, but out of love as well as trust.
Holding the orb up, the cross glew of the brightest red. A blinding flash and the echoes of a voice. A voice that had no sound, but was heard by Ven as well as Val. A voice that had no tone, yet spread a feeling of darkness. Pure darkness, not the effect of a closing door in a windowless room. Val took a deep breath and closed her eyes to cover herself from the blinding light that came from the cross. Ven took a step forth and inserted the orb in the middle. It was instantly sucked in, like water to a piece of paper. The cross shifted color, turning black. The room was pitch black now and Ven took a few steps back, embracing his wife, holding his arms around her. It was a plain protective action of him, but he did not fear what was to come.
"You have called for what can not be fought"
The words surrounded the room. It had the sound of a thousand men, yet no true voice.
"Who are you?"
Ven replied, letting go of his wife and standing in the front of the room. The cross was gone and the only two in the room was Ven and his wife.
"Who I am can not be answered. What I am is incomplete"
It was spoken and Ven Tyler, the hunter of Gods, for the second time in his over two thousand long life felt a slight fear. Not that he was overpowered, as he believed himself to be the most powerful being of existence. It was something else. Something different. The fear had no shape and was no thought. It simply existed.
"I request a introduction!"
Ven frowned and looked around in the room. He could see nothing or no one. He had no idea of what it is that he had unleashed.
"When the devil is too busy......"
The dark room was lit up in light. Darkness still existed on the floor, making it feel like they were walking on nothing. Before them, where the cross once were a path had been revealed. Ven and Val entered the hallway that was. On the walls, windows were located. The windows all had different views, but not the view of landscapes. The view of people and significant locations on earth.
Ven stopped by the first of the over thousand amount of windows that was located in what seemed to be a never ending hallway. To his surprise, he could see himself and Val, fighting the final persistent elder God of the ancient egypt. He could see how Val was only an inch away from being slain, as Ven made the final strike, trough the heart of what was to be called a God.
"What is this? I DEMAND TO KNOW!"
He screamed.
"And Death's a bit too much...."
The window blackened and Ven continued to walk. Walk further into the passage, stopping by the next window. Looking trough the window, to his surprise, he stood on top of what seemed to be a modern God. He never recalled fighting that God, certainly not winning against anything like that God.
"They called me by name you see. I pledge my allegiance to all things dark, and I promise on my damned soul"
The window blackened and Ven went with the flow, looking at the next window. The window showed how Ven, Val and a number of others stood on the top of a pile of people, all seemed to be of supernatural power. The world that surrounded them was in ruins and flames.
"To aid you in what it is that you seek!"
Ven grinned, knowing he had the third soldier that was needed for the war. He could not imagine what powers this being held within the palm of his hand, but he could imagine what it could do for his cause.
"Now tell me who you are!"
Ven demanded.
"I'm the fear that keeps you awake
I'm the shadows on the wall
I'm the monsters they become
I'm the nightmare in your skull
I'm a dagger in your back"
The words echoed, making every sentence appear twice. The sound of a thousand men with the tone of none the being continued to speak.
"An extra turn on the rack
I'm the quivering of your heart
A stabbing pain, a sudden start."
Ven got a slight bit annoyed by the constant speak of nonsense that was provided by this being, but he for some reason did not dare to show his irritation.
"This is the life, you see.
The devil tips his hat to me.
I do it all because I'm evil.
And I do it all for free.
Fear is all the pay I'll ever need."
Val hugged Ven and Ven looked around in the hallway.
"What is this place and where is this hallway heading?"
The question was of demanding tone. Ven had to know.
"Following this hallway will lead you to no where else. Enter entirely and you might never return. The gateways are infinite. The exits are none and you are advised to turn around. Not even you can travel how you wish trough this. It is I and only I who can enter. I bring darkness. I am incomplete"
"What is it that you wish me to do? What is it that you need in order to complete what is incomplete?"
The voice laughed. A laughter that had never been heard of the like ever before. It was a long laugh and it was dark. It echoed and it kept going for a minute.
"Bring the sphere of the third phoenix! Find it and bring it to what it is that you wish to complete"
"How will I find it? How will I find you again?"
Ven turned around, seeing how the hallway had disappeared. Turning around once more to face Val, they both was located in the desert.
"How did we get here?"
Val asked and Ven shook his head.
"What we are dealing with is not just dark. It is darkness. Come.... Come and let us seek the sphere that which the being spoke of"
Ven spoke and held his hand out. Val grabbed the hand of Ven and they started wander trough the desert.
"Fail not for the guardian that you will fight overpowers you, mortal"