CHAPTER 40: NETHER SPIRIT 1 — "THEIR IS A FIRST FOR EVERYTHING! I SUPPOSE."

After traversing and leaving the dense, obscureing and poisenous fog of the Soul Ensnaring Tree.

Both Black and Zephyr entered a toxic biome unique to this section of the caverns and somewhere within this biome lies there destination, The Dark-Fall Lake.

In the biome the air itself was thick with a venomous Gas, a dangerous imperceptible purplish mist vail lingered in the air continuously poisoning the foreign lifeforms unfortunate enough to enter this biome.

The flora and fauna inhabiting the poisonous biome having already evolved to become resistant to the imperceptible poisonous mist.

Even so Black and Zephyr moved in the poisenous biome like a knight charging into battle without an armour. Since the poisen of this hazardous terrain was the last thing they were worried about, instead their expressions were tinged with intrigue and fascination.

They observed the dark brown gnarled trees, with tens of meters long and wide brown trunk with thick and dark intertwining branches dripping with a corrosive sap, in interest.

"Trees without leaves! Huh, Really fascinating... " Black whispered. Intrigued by the unique flora growing here.

Black, with a teasing grin turned towards zephyr, "you weren’t kidding zephyr! Huh! this section isn’t desolate at all just like you mentioned! but you never said that the plants here were either poisenous or decayed. I suppose you must’ve thaught a dead or decayed plants is still a plant! No!?" He finished.

A shrewd smile dancing across his lips.

"Ugh.. You-" Zephyr flared, pointing fingers at him.

"Why do you have to always tease me like that! I only knew that the area around the lake wasn’t desolate and not that the plants here, were either decayed or poisenous." She complained, her serpentine eyes glaring at him with obvious frustration.

Black chuckled, shifting his attention towards the side as though to hide his amusement as he waved his hand side to side, while apologizing, "Pftt... alright! Sorry! Sorry! I won’t do that again! I mean I won’t tease you again.. " while he thought in his mind, ’atleast not for the time being.. haha’ as he continued, "It’s just that I can’t help it! You make really cute and funny expression whenever you are irritated or angry!" Black mumbled. As he gazed at her again, just in time to see her blushing like a young maidan.

Upon being called cute, Zephyr blushed in embarrassment, all of her previous anger fading like a receding tide.

Apparantly with the passage of time, both Black and Zephyr were quickly growing with an abnormal rate both mentally and physically because of their progenitor and primordial identity.

Nonetheless because of their young age, they can’t feel the physical sensations such as lust and arousal for each other.

However their minds. Even though vague, were starting to compherend the more complex sensations or feeling such as love or hate.

After their small banter they moved again, going deeper into the poisonous biome. Encountering the unique flora and fauna of this biome like sharp vains with poisenous thorns jutting out of the trunks of some of the brown trees, like a parasite slowly sucking away the trees lifeforce causing them to wither and decay.

Then their were the corrosive slugs. Meter long massive snails who burry themselves in the muddy surface created by the decaying matter, shooting burst of potent paralytic acid to hunt for prey.

When the corrosive slugs had attacked them previously, Black didn’t even hesitate before burning the whole colony of the corrosive slugs by creating a storm of fire using his Resonance trait.

3 hours later...

Whilst roaming in a different area of the poisonous biome.

Zephyr suddenly noticed something causing her to suddenly stop...

She turned towards Black as she spoke..

"Black, I think we are quiet close to the dark-fall lake now.." Zephyr said, pointing her fingers towards a particular tree to the side which was the reason for her suspicion and continued..

"There! Look! Black, that thorny tree with spiked vains jutting out of its branches, you see that, it means we are following the right track Black! and that the dark-fall lake isn’t far from us! we just have to search for it a bit more thoroughly!." Zephyr exclaimed, her voice booming at the end, bairly containing her excitement.

Black shifted his attention towards the mentioned tree, what stood before him was a gnarled tree, though it wasn’t that tall as the rest of the plant lifeforms they have encountered thus far only reaching about 20 to 25 meters in hight.

It had a dark bark that was almost as black as the starless night as though twisted by the wounds of age. Deep fissures and small crevices lined its surface. Its branches were thick and distorted, resembling skeletal fingers reaching towards the sky. With dull purple leaves and spiked vains jutting from its branches oozing a viscose, thick liquid glistening with a sinister purple hue. Its roots were shallow and wide-reaching, sinking and snaking over the ground like monstrous tentacles.

The tree truly embodied the true nature of the word evil and malignant.

"Thornwood... " Black blurted breathlessly, though it was the first of its kind they encountered even so just gazing in the dense forest ahead he could see the whole colony of it.

"What!??" Zephyr questioned, her head tilted to the side like a confused pigeon.

"Nothing! I just thaught that name suited this evil tree quiet well! No!.. " Black explained.

"Oh! You’re right! That dose sounds like a good name for it!"

"Thornwood!" Zephyr repeated, Nodding.

"So this is the thing you said we could use for instance to make our way towards the dark-fall lake!? Huh!" Questioned Black, gazing a zephyr.

"Umn! Umn!.. " Zephyr nodded. Her raven black hair swinging with her head.

"Well dose that mean, you now know where the Dark-Fall lake is?" Black questioned again with raised brows.

"I think, I know! I suppose, or maybe not??" Zephyr responded, turning to the side, avoiding his gaze.

"You cheeky little serpent! Do you know or Do you not know! Tell clearly! What do you mean, I suppose! Huh!?" Black blurted, baffled by the absurd response.

"Tee-Hee!.. " Zephyr giggled. As she swayed, moving a little away from him.

Then she continued...

"Well even if I don’t know! We’ll find out anyways if we spend a bit more time and search for it throughly! No!" She mumbled with that same cheeky smile.

Black just sighed, shook his head in exasperation, and started walking towards the dense forest, his steps careful as to not step on the muddy, poisenous puddles on the wet ground.

"Ahh! Wait for me! Don’t leave me behind! I’m sorry alright! Hehe!" zephyr giggled, feeling over the moon upon successfully teasing him.

She rushed towards Black following on his footsteps.

After traversing the forest of Thornwoods for minutes on end.

Black and Zephyr finally stopped at the entrance of a large clearing in the middle of the forest of Thornwood.

"Finally!.. " Zephyr breathed, they finally found something in the gloomy forest teeming with venomous lifeforms, after traversing it for a whole 150 minutes.

She breathed in relief.

*Sigh!! *

However before she could say anything else, abruptly she froze. And turned towards Black.

"Zephyr! Stay quiet! Don’t speak! Don’t! Okay!?" Black said through their soul bond, his voice serious.

Zephyr looked at him, her eyes wide with confusion and bewilderment.

"Do you understand!?" Black repeated, as he shifted his attention towards her, his voice a notch louder, echoing in her mind.

"Hmn! Hmn!" She nodded absent-mindedly, taken aback by his serious tone.

Black too nodded as he again turned his attention back towards the clearing they had just stumbled upon.

The ground though rough was flat, made of the nature’s dark obsidian rocks.

The obsidian ground of the clearing shimmered with a light glow, illuminated by the moonlight like light of the crystalline formation of gemstones embedded in the ceiling high above. Making for an enigmatic but a picturesque scene.

Nonetheless instead of felling awed or stunned by the marvelous scene before him, instead Black felt an impending sense of danger, the calm silence gnawing at his soul. Causing a sense of unease or distress to will up within him.

Even though he couldn’t tell, just why, all of a sudden, he felt so uneasy and distressed upon entering this particular clearing.

It was a sensation neither could he compherend nor could he explain, which left him feeling even more confused ’Is it because this clearing is in the middle of an eerie and gloomy poisenous forest, or is their another reason behind it!?’ Black thought trying to compherend the impending sense of danger he felt.

Simultaneously he moved even closer towards zephyr, his expression solmen.

However no one! Absolutely no one could’ve prepared him for what was about to happen to him and Zephyr in the upcoming hours...

Something that would change his very being and how he looked at things...

"My! My! What do we have here! Two lost lambs entering the death’s den willingly!" The voice echoed.

"Their is a first for everything! I suppose!... hahahahaha" Came a malevolent laugher filled with evil...

...