The Immortals of Notoriouslandia
Chapter Eight: Shadows in the Forge
Sapphire stood alone in the central chamber of the Unbound HQ, her eyes fixed on the pulsating glyphs of the Door of Never projected across a crystalline data-table.
But she wasn't really looking at it.
She was thinking of him.
Descentedrain.
The way he carried the weight of legends. The focus in his eyes. The quiet storms in his voice. He didn't know it, but every time he stepped into battle, her heart responded with power surges even her crystals couldn't suppress.
She was logic, intellect, strategy.
And yet, every time he looked her way with those dark-violet eyes—something melted inside her.
She wanted to say something.
But now wasn't the time.
Not when darkness was building an army.
Recon Mission
Hours earlier, Descentedrain, Mr. Shonk, and Kukranchunlikryting had followed a trail of corrupted energy south of the shattered city. It led them through scorched wastelands and oil-black marshes to a chasm wrapped in thunderclouds and stitched with red lightning.
Beneath the earth, buried under illusion and shadow—
Joab's new base.
They hovered above, cloaked by Kukranchunlikryting's toxin mist and Bontaine fog, using Descentedrain's psychic folds to suppress all sound.
They found a vantage point and peered into the abyss.
What they saw made even Mr. Shonk stop smiling.
The Army Below
Joab stood on a black platform etched with living runes. Next to him, Bulchaariitpoundersonderic pulsed with low sonic vibrations, shaping the very air into cages.
Within those cages…
Humans. Stripped of will. Injected with dark energy leaking from the Door's crack.
They were being fused—their flesh laced with shadow, their bones humming with corrupt frequency. Some screamed silently, others moaned in broken harmony.
Joab didn't just draw anymore.
He was forging abominations.
Turning fear into form.
Mr. Shonk whispered, trident pulsing in his grip.
"This is bad. This is real bad."
Kukranchunlikryting hissed.
"That's not fusion. That's infection. They're making something worse than weapons. They're making followers."
Descentedrain narrowed his eyes.
"If they complete that army, and the Door fully breaks... no world survives."
Suspicion in the Shadows
Down below, Joab stopped mid-drawing.
His hand twitched.
Bulchaariitpoundersonderic's soundwave emissions slowed.
"Something's wrong," Joab muttered, scanning the upper ledges."I feel… familiarity."
The monster hissed through its vibrating chest.
"Three heartbeats. One sings of poison. One of ocean. One… of him."
Joab's eyes flickered with betrayal and memory.
"Descentedrain…"
They turned toward the ridge—but Descentedrain and the others were already gone, vanishing into a fold of Bontaine fog and void-light.
Return to HQ
Back at the Unbound base, the team reconvened.
Sapphire turned as they entered, hiding her relief beneath formality.
"Report."
Descentedrain spoke first.
"They're making a dark army. Binding shadow to humans. Joab's drawing soldiers from nightmare."
Kukranchunlikryting growled.
"We need to make our own army. One with free minds. One that hurts back."
Mr. Shonk leaned against a crystalline pillar.
"Got any allies that like blue things and violence?"
Sapphire's expression hardened, but she gave a faint smile—one she only gave Descentedrain.
"I might. But it's going to take planning. Coordination."
She turned to him directly, her voice a little softer.
"You'll need to trust me with the strategy. And I'll trust you… with everything else."
Descentedrain met her eyes for a moment—just long enough to see something unspoken beneath her usual brilliance.
A pause.
Then a nod.
"Let's build an army."
Far below, in his lair, Joab stood at a drawing table made of bone and ink.
He carved three names into a living scroll.
"Descentedrain.""Kukranchunlikryting.""Mr. Shonk."
He dipped his pen in black fire.
"Next time, I won't let you leave."