Salvific Scales: The Serpent’s Deadly Stare – Part Two

This is part two of a multi-part Lore Series: The Salvific Scales Saga.
Check out part one here. (https://astralassemblage.com/?p=1034)

As the celestial spectacles of the Astral Assemblage unfold, we find ourselves amid the direst of situations. The Void Rift inadvertently created by Thorne in Cygnus’ Stellar Nursery has opened a gateway to the chaotic Void, unleashing monstrous Void Creatures into the Material World. A plan devised by the ethereal Aria and the commanding Oriel may provide a glimmer of hope in the suffocating darkness. Their audacious endeavor forms the heart of the second part of our saga, Salvific Scales.

Following Orin’s failed endeavor, Cygnus, the Archon of Celestial Bodies, called another meeting of the Seven Spirits Before the Throne. There was an urgent edge to his voice, his normally composed demeanor shaken. The rift had been opened in his domain, making him feel a sense of personal responsibility.

His plan was straightforward – a Grand Cosmic Gate that he would construct to close the Void Rift. But this idea sparked controversy among the council. Some Archons, primarily Xanthe, felt that the primary concern was to eradicate the Void Creatures and aimed to assemble an army of Aspects from across the Hypostasis to take the fight to the creatures. Others, like Aria and Oriel, proposed to infuse the Void Creatures with Zoe-Tropic Light, hoping to establish communication and control over them.

Meanwhile, Orin isolated himself, consumed by his failure, while Calantha, the Archon of Frozen Wastes, remained in her signature silence, observing the unfolding drama. The council was fractured, their unity further shattered by the urgency of the situation.

Weeks of fiery deliberation and intense arguments led to an explosive declaration from Cygnus. He proclaimed that the path forward was his cosmic gate. Accusations of usurping the Throne of the Sovereign were thrown at him. The meeting ended bitterly with Cygnus returning to his nebula to complete his grand invention.

As Cygnus worked on his gate, the Archons splintered into factions, each pursuing their own solution to the crisis. Xanthe and Thorne rallied soldiers for an impending offensive, Aria and Oriel attempted to domesticate the Void Creatures, Orin retreated further into his melancholy, and Calantha’s intentions remained an enigma.

In the silence of his nebula, Cygnus completed his device. The Archon of Celestial Bodies was a master of technology and he poured every ounce of his power into the Grand Cosmic Gate. As the machine roared to life, its energy beam struck the heart of the rift, lighting the cosmos with hues brighter than any star. His form flickered, losing coherence in the blinding light of his creation.

As the days turned into centuries, the machine managed to marginally decrease the size of the rift. This change didn’t go unnoticed by the Void Creatures. Yog-Sothorg, the Void Devourer, sensed the weakening of the rift. His cosmic cry echoed through the cosmos, a beacon drawing all the Void Creatures back to the rift.

In a surge of renewed chaos, they overwhelmed Cygnus, forcing him to retreat and leaving his Cosmic Gate to be devoured by the Void Creatures. The attempt to seal the rift had failed yet again. The Archons needed another solution, and fast. The Void invasion was relentless, and time was running out.

Xanthe and Thorne, realizing the urgency of their situation, did what they never thought they would have to. They rallied a vast army of Aspects from all corners of the Hypostasis. This grand assembly of cosmic beings was unlike anything ever seen before – an aberration of heavenly hosts, each filled with a burning determination to protect their realm.

With the combined might of all the Aspects, they moved like a cosmic tsunami, directed towards the nebula. At the center of this formidable force were Xanthe and Thorne, radiant and resolute, their powers manifesting in awe-inspiring displays as they prepared to face the Void Creatures protecting the rift.

As the army descended upon the nebula, the initial engagement seemed promising. The Aspects, with their varied powers, managed to push back against the Void Creatures, forcing them to retreat in a chaotic dance of cosmic energy and raw power. The air crackled with the force of their combined will, their ethereal forms shimmering against the backdrop of the cosmic battlefield.

However, the tide of the battle turned rapidly when the Harbinger of Desolation, Nyarlathul, joined the fray. A creature of the Void bearing powers akin to Calantha’s, Nyarlathul was a formidable foe. His appearance sent a shiver through the ranks of the Aspects. This wasn’t just a creature of the Void – it was a dark mirror to one of their most formidable Archons.

Nyarlathul squared off against Xanthe, who, despite her inherent might, struggled against the Void creature’s onslaught. Their clash illuminated the battlefield, casting a harsh light over the struggle between the Aspects and the Void creatures. Xanthe fought bravely, weaving intricate patterns of light and energy in her struggle to overpower Nyarlathul. But the Void creature was relentless, its attacks unyielding and unforgiving.

As the battle raged on, the Aspects found themselves increasingly overwhelmed. The Void Creatures proved too numerous, too strong, and too inexorable. The stellar battlefield became a chaotic swirl of light and darkness, of triumph and despair. One by one, the Aspects fell, their ethereal forms dissolving into wisps of cosmic dust.

When the dust settled, the once grand army of Aspects was decimated. Only Xanthe, Thorne, and a handful of Aspects stood amidst the rubble. Strangely enough, almost all of the Cosmic Serpents had survived the brutal onslaught. The Archons, defeated and demoralized, retreated. Their plan to wipe out the Void Creatures had ended in catastrophe, leaving them more desperate than ever to find a solution to the relentless Void invasion.

Aria and Oriel sat in silence, each contemplating the Void. Thinking of the Great Loss, Xanthe and Thorne’s failed attempt at the Rift, and the loss of precious Zoe-tropic light. Each sensed the other’s thoughts; a deep longing to connect with the Void Creatures, a burning desire to undo the havoc that had been caused.

“They’re like infants,” Aria observed the captive Void Creature before her, her thoughts echoed by Oriel’s nod of agreement. “Yet we are treating them as enemies. We feed them light, yet we do not nurture. No wonder they rebel.”

“Binding-light,” Oriel suggested, her mind already weaving together complex strands of theory and application. “We could pacify them, teach them.”

The decision to bring others onboard was a fraught one. They had both seen the dismissive expressions of their peers. The shared disbelief that these creatures, these beings of pure void, could be understood, let alone controlled. Yet without the support of the other Archons, their plan would surely fail.

Finally, with no agreement on whom to approach first – the ever-elusive Orin, or the coldly analytical Calantha – they decided to begin on their own. Their strategy was simple: pacify, bind, communicate. They enlisted their ambassadors and emissaries, seeding the stars near the nebula with their loyal Aspects. The war was now two-fold, fighting the wild Void Creatures at the rift while seeking to domesticate the others.

For a time, Aria and Oriel’s plan of domestication seemed to bear fruit. The Void Creatures that were successfully pacified turned out to be simpler beings, far removed from the complex horrors they first appeared to be. Devoid of higher cognitive faculties, they were unable to communicate in any meaningful sense, but they did possess a curious sensitivity to the fluctuations of Zoe-Tropic light.

Observing this, the Archons found a useful role for these tamed creatures. They assigned them to Purgata, the ethereal boundary between life and death. This was a twilight realm, a place where untethered Zoe-Tropic light, the spectral residue of extinguished lives, lingered. These fragments of life force needed to be returned to the Seven Spirits for judgement before the Throne. The domesticated Void Creatures were deployed as Seekers in Purgata, tasked with hunting down these wayward sparks of life force.

As Catchers of untethered souls, these creatures demonstrated an uncanny efficiency. They could sense the residual energy from great distances and seemed to derive a peculiar satisfaction from their assigned task. The Archons watched as these Void Catchers, once sources of unimaginable terror, transformed into diligent workers in their cosmic assembly line.

However, even in their tamed state, the Void Creatures remained enigmatic. If there was no Zoe-Tropic light to act as a motivator, they remained inert, unresponsive to any stimuli. Their behavior suggested a singular purpose – a deep-rooted instinct to seek out and consume Zoe-Tropic light. This instinct, it seemed, was the only thread that could be woven into the fabric of their obedience. Despite their attempts to forge a deeper understanding, Aria and Oriel were faced with a stark reminder – the Void Creatures were not creatures of reason.

After seeing to the creation of the Seekers in Purgata, Oriel joined the ongoing battle at the rift, Aria dedicated herself to understanding the Void Creatures. From her Seat before the Throne of the Sovereign, at the heart of the Hypostasis, she tirelessly worked to decode their thought patterns, to find the key that would unlock a path to peace.

One particular session, she made an intriguing observation. A peculiar flinch from one of the Void Creatures, an abrupt recoil as she withdrew her tendrils of celestial energy. It was then that the connection snapped into focus. A torrent of mind-numbing horror engulfed Aria, the unstructured thoughts and desires of the Void Creature spilling into her psyche. She felt a chill as her pupils shrank to pinpricks of pure void energy, a primal scream tearing from her throat as waves of raw terror seized her.

In a chilling rush of stillness, the gargantuan doors to the Hypostasis Throne Room slid open, a soundless yawning maw giving way to the spectacle within. Calantha, the Archon of the Frozen Wastes, entered the scene, her lithe figure cutting through the silence like the piercing edge of a glacier. Behind her, a nebulous trail of icy mist flowed, imbuing the austere atmosphere with a sense of otherworldly cold. It was as if the raw essence of the Void itself were being encroached upon by the relentless advance of an endless winter.

At her side, the Mother Serpent. A creature of paradox and pandemonium, her presence seemed to warp the space around her, transforming the environment with an uncanny sense of the unreal. Her serpentine body, the color of ghostly ash, undulated in mesmerizing patterns, glowing faintly like distant nebulae. Along her underbelly, an expanse of gold stretched, reflecting a warm, otherworldly glow that starkly contrasted the chilling atmosphere. Every time she moved, galaxies seemed to die and be reborn in the eternal cosmic dance reflected in her eyes.

The sickly pale, amorphous form of the Void Creature that had until now been tormenting Aria, reeled back. It seemed to sense the cosmic disruption brought about by these newcomers. For the first time, it appeared to falter, its once vibrant tendrils quivering in the face of this icy force and the mesmerizing, terrifying might of the Mother Serpent.

This was the grandeur of nightmare, the beauty of terror. It was the breathtaking spectacle of a celestial titan made manifest, an ethereal serpentine deity whose existence straddled the fine line between awe-inspiring grandeur and the raw terror of the unfathomable. It was a vision to provoke existential dread and marvel alike, a paradoxical icon of the cosmos that proved equally mesmerizing and terrifying.

The Void Creature roared, a dissonant and atonal cry that sent ripples of cold energy through the room. Yet Calantha remained undeterred. She extended her arm, releasing a wave of Deep Freeze, icy energies swirling from her hand like a galactic tempest. The chill filled the room, frost crystals glistening in the astral light.

As Aria writhed on the floor, her mind filled with the endless torments of the Void, the Creature shifted its form. From its center sprouted a second head, even more grotesque and menacing than the first. Its maw, filled with razor-sharp teeth, parted and a voice, cold and guttural, filled the room. “I am Nyarlathul, Harbinger of Desolation,” it reverberated, its voice like the grinding of tectonic plates, the language a twisted echo only Calantha could decipher. “I shall gorge myself on your radiance, your life-force itself, before setting my sights on every pinprick of light scattered throughout existence, devouring each until nothing remains but the inky blackness of the void.”

The declaration was terrifying, and for the first time, Calantha’s icy resolve flickered. But just as quickly, it reignited, stronger than before. “Not while I draw breath,” she retorted, her voice steel.

The Mother Serpent lunged forward, her body glowing with cosmic radiance. She clashed with Nyarlathul, their bodies twisting and intertwining in a terrifying dance. Nyarlathul’s monstrous form seemed impervious to Calantha’s Deep Freeze, but the Mother Serpent’s cosmic poison was another matter.

With a swift strike, the Mother Serpent sank her fangs deep into Nyarlathul’s outstretched neck. A shockwave ran through the Void Creature’s body, its form rippling as the cosmic venom coursed through it. It recoiled, releasing Aria, who fell to the floor, gasping, her mind finally freed from the torment.

As Nyarlathul retreated, Calantha whispered ancient, arcane words under her breath, words that had not been uttered in aeons. The Mother Serpent’s maw opened wide, and a beam of inky black cosmic energy shot forth, striking the wall behind Nyarlathul. A Void Rift ripped and rended the very edges of reality, as it expanded further and further. The howling winds of the Void tore through the throne room, and Nyarlathul, weakened by the Mother Serpent’s venom, struggled against the pull.

It shot out it’s sickly-white tendrils wrapping them around the Throne of the Sovereign, trying to resist the inevitable. Calantha conjured a powerful blizzard, the air filled with gale-force winds and massive hailstones. The assault battered the Void Creature’s clinging tendrils until, with a resounding crack, the arm of the throne gave way, ripping free from the Divine Seat of the Sovereign.

With a final, defiant roar, Nyarlathul was pulled into the Void. The Rift closed behind it, the room echoing with the finality of its departure. The danger was over, for now.

Aria’s screams gradually subsided as the connection was severed, her body convulsing as she slowly regained control. Her breath came in ragged gasps as she looked around, her eyes wide with shock and confusion. The horrifying echo of the Void Creature’s consciousness slowly receded from her mind, leaving her drained but coherent.

Calantha stood amidst the frozen tableau, her gaze fixed on Aria. “Gather yourself, Aria,” she said, her voice cutting through the silence. “We have much to discuss.” The echo of her voice lingered, a promise of a new plan, a new hope. A chilling end to a chilling chapter.

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In the face of such overwhelming despair, where does one find the strength to continue? The Archons and their Aspects must dig deep, beyond the scope of their powers, into the fabric of their beings, to salvage any hope from this all-consuming abyss. Yet, even in the throes of defeat, the strength of the Archons shines brighter than ever.

Stay tuned for the next part of the saga, where the cosmic stage is set for the emergence of an unlikely hero. Can the wisdom of the icy Calantha prevail over the horrifying might of the Void? Or will the Material World be forever shrouded in an eternal abyss?

Keep an eye on the stars for the next chapter in the saga of The Astral Assemblage!

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