Solaris pushed himself into a corner. He heard the foot steps of his latest prey as it sprinted around the corner, his heart racing, then growing faster as his body emitted a slight orange glow.
As a large creature turned the corner holding a great sword, a copper axe swiped at its head. The axe had a broad edge with multiple glowing shards covering it, and the entire head was coated in a black coating. It glew with the same orange radiance of the shards, as it sliced through the stagnant air, slicing into the top of the demon's helmet, cleaving the head of the demon in half.
Without wasting time, the demon swung its sword at Solaris. The small room they were in forced the swing to trace an odd path, resulting in Solaris blocking the swing with his arm.
As the sword made contact with the arm, a melodic ringing sounded as the sword shattered across it.
Releasing his hand from the axe, Solaris concentrated on the feeling of heat, and the slight glow grew stronger. As it did, his arm shot into the black armor of the demon, melting the armor and then boiling the skin and blood underneath. The bone cracked, then dripped as it made contact with the arm.
After a short moment of movement, he grabbed hold of something within before dragging his arm down and then removing it.
In his hand, Solaris held two blood red crystals; the fragments fell to the floor as he crushed them.
Solaris eyes remained unchanged throughout the entire process, as he'd done this so many times, his emotions were much more tempered than he'd ever expected them to be; the feelings of dread, of fear, and of disgust had almost been eradicated; they were still there, but so subdued it was hard for him to give in to these emotions.
Truly remarkable ability.
Solaris once again concentrated on the heat, and the dried blood across his impossibly black hand disappeared, so did the glow and then the black coating, showing his pale skin once again. It had tanned slightly in his time here, yet after his life in the cell, it had once again turned into a pale, almost white color.
Turning the corner, Solaris stepped over the demon he had just executed before, seeing the aftermath of the latest "Eclipse" massacre. He saw at least six dead demons there, bodies melted and mutilated.
As he laid eyes on the death before him, Solaris' face contorted into an unreadable expression; it wasn't pride, disgust, or even guilt; it was simply a look of exhaustion. He'd been murdering the demon forced for days now; his body was tired, his mind was exhausted, and his nova was dwindling.
He wasn't sure how he was still fighting; all he knew was that every day that passed, he was feeling less and less human, he was feeling more disturbed by his actions, yet he knew he couldn't stop.
His goal was still to find Ember and to leave this hell, yet he wasn't sure if that goal could even be completed.
Stepping into an open space, he slightly jumped as two shards slid under his feet and an axe floated out from around a corner, carried by the shards.
He and the axe flew to the turret. As he reached his makeshift hq, he let the shards and the axe slide back underneath his skin, landing onto the stone floor.
Solaris stumbled a bit as he made his way to the bench.
His eyes felt heavy, and his mind was flickering as he made a few more marks on the map.
Only one hundred left.
Sighing, Solaris placed the map back under the bench and lay down. As soon as his head hit his arm, he fell asleep.
***
As he drifted into the sweet embrace of sleep, he heard the familiar sounds of chains rattling as he looked around the dark room, or rather dark space, as it lacked any walls or ceiling, and it was unclear if he was even standing on a floor.
Solaris dreamed this dream every night, every time he was asleep; this dream was the thing he saw. He had grown used to it, mostly.
The one thing that held him back from being used to the dream was the source of the chains; it was a being held down by the chains, its hair white and its eyes intensely white, his face was that of Solaris, but at the same time that of something else.
Every night, Solaris watched as the creature lifted his head to look Solaris in the eyes, and every time, it sent a chill throughout his entire body. It was something about that gaze that deeply shook Solaris to the core; it was so human, yet it wasn't at the same time.
Tonight was the same as always. He looked forward and looked at the being, and the being looked back, raising his head, his white eyes making contact with Solaris ' bright green eyes. They held their gaze for a few moments before the being spoke.
His voice was something unmistakable; it was Solaris ' voice, only different, it was almost inhuman.
"I see you are using it more. What a shame, another failure."
As Solaris heard these words, his face displayed a look of fury like no other, and then he opened his mouth to retort, yet before he did, the world came into view as he awoke from the dream.