Инга Соборова – The Art of Dying (страница 2)

At that very moment, her shadow swelled. It spread across the cliff face, reaching toward the edge of the abyss. The shapes inside it thickened, sharpened – growing grotesquely clear.

The demonic outlines grew sharper still. For a heartbeat, Xanta saw dying faces – people who had once lived here, now trapped forever in anguish, fused into a shadow that radiated terror.

Trying to make sense of the shifting visions, she lowered her left hand and raised her right. Her shadow changed instantly. This time it resembled a Warrior of Light – tall, noble, holding a sword that shimmered like starlight. But what a disappointment he was.

Despite his shining form, a dull stillness clung to him, an emptiness draining all life from his movements. He lifted the sword with no will, as though simply waiting for time itself to end.

Curiosity overtook her. What if she raised both hands? Slowly, Xanta lifted her arms.

Both silhouettes began to transform. To her left, a new figure emerged – a goat-headed apparition, swelling like a ghost from the rock. Its features formed a skull with jagged teeth and hollow, bottomless eyes. The shadow writhed again, twisting into yet another horror.

A pig-like head surfaced – covered in rotting scars, its glistening greedy eyes hungry for flesh. This demon was not merely fear, but the embodiment of human vice itself – a devourer of corpses, a bottomless maw capable of consuming anyone. The forms kept shifting, revealing every nightmare one could imagine.

To her right remained the unchanged Warrior of Light, a lone island of calm in a storm of horrors. Xanta slowly began to bring her hands together.

Chapter 9. The Border of Worlds

As her hands drew closer, both shadows began to grow – stretching upward, rising higher and higher until they towered above the cliffs themselves. A wave of dizziness washed over Xanta. She tried to lower her arms, but her body no longer obeyed her. Her limbs felt carved from stone, moving only toward one another, as though some ancient mechanism had been set in motion – one that had to reach its end.

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