CHAPTER 5: Shades of Silence The creature’s scream echoed through the forest. For one long, everlasting moment everything was silent. Then came the response. Countless screeches echoed through the forest in every direction. At the same time, the very soul energy of the forest began to stir, to whirl and reshape until finally an army surrounded Sylv. All around him where innumerable aberrations, all as horrible and alien as the first. They gathered together, all staring straight at him, and with one last, piercing wail, they attacked. One by one the creatures took on an air of fury. They began to charge Sylv, forming their arms into blades or claws and stabbing, swiping, bashing at him in any way they could. He quickly fell into the rhythm of combat. He ducked a swipe, planted a blade in a neck, cut a throat open, and scattered a soul. He dodged, weaved, and redirected. Some monsters fell by blade, some fell by their own kin, and some still were absorbed - their very souls dissipating into nothing. Still they came. Like the ocean tide they came, falling upon the island and yet surging forward still. But as the tides ebb and flow, Sylv began to notice a pattern, of sorts. A point of emanation. Somewhere in the mob was a single point. Whether they were coming from it, protecting it, or something else was unclear, but it was certain that he needed to get there. Sylv threw one aberration down into the crowd and began his charge. He ran forward, stabbing, slicing, and spinning as he cut his way through like scissors on tough fabric. As he was certain he was nearing the source, he reached out to stab through a monster - and fell right through it. Above him, a creature different from the others - too much Null and lacking in soul - descended upon him. Just as it neared in to end him, he reached out, and instead of grasping onto it’s soul, he took hold of it’s Null, and tore it away. The creature disappeared, and so too did the rest of the horde.