by Darkbringer
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Lord Leonard slowly bowed his head. “My apologies, Lady Le’Na…”
“Just Lee,” Le’Nara interrupted. “I’m here on personal business, not as the Second Daughter.”
“My apologies, Lee.” Lifting his head to stare at her, Leonard had to admit that she had grown into an exquisitely beautiful woman – and one who apparently didn’t care a bit about who might see her in all her glory! Smiling slightly, he nodded his head once more briefly in respect. “I’ll speak to Father and see what I can do for you. If cost truly isn’t a concern, I know of an old fool’s home which might be suitable for yourself and the Heartstone Enterprises.”
Laughing lightly, Le’Nara blew him and kiss and then started to climb back up into her wagon. “That’ll be great Puss-puss! Let me know in the morning what you can come up with.”
As she pulled the door shut behind her on the wagon, Leonard was left to just shake his head in bewilderment. He’d came here seeking answers, and now that he’d seen these ‘invaders’, he was left with even more questions than ever before. His Father was going to have to be notified of the situation immediately.
Just as he started to walk back to his horse, the ground began to groan. Tremors vibrated him off his feet again and tents began to sway and shake erratically. Limbs fell from trees, and the earth quaked and quivered violently. Struggling to hold his banner high, Lord Leonard gave the command to color the banner a solid yellow.
‘Hold! Don’t Attack!”, was the message he was sending to his men atop the walls. With the tensions as high as they were inside the city, all it’d take is one fool to start a war that he was certain his father and kingdom didn’t want to fight.
For several long moments, he frantically waved the banner back and forth, while the ground shook and cracked – echoes of Mik’Hail’s magic rippling even this far from the epicenter of his eruption in the deep cavern so far away.
Out of the Darkness
When the ground finally settled and quit shaking, Mongo staggered and unsteadily staggered to his feet. Glancing around, everything had happened all at once. They were charging their way towards the pyramid. The dead was getting thicker and more resistant to their assault. And then the earth itself swallowed them up and trapped them.
Moments after that, Crystal screamed out as if she was in some sort of unspeakable agony, and then she collapsed in a heap and the ground shook, tossed, and rattled them around inside their dome, like dice being tossed inside a cup before rolling them. His armor had protected him once again – a testament to the might and craftsmanship of a Heartstone original – but Tiffany and Jess were moaning, groaning, and bruised all over.
As for Crystal, she was a crumpled heap on the ground, and he didn’t know if she still lived or died. “Tiff? Jess? You guys going to be okay?”
“In a few moments,” Tiffany assured him, her hands already giving off a faint glow of life magic. Jess simply nodded, holding her lightstone up to illuminate the area. It’d been some time since the stone was last charged, and the glow was starting to dim considerably.
“What about Crystal? She still with us?”
“I’m checking,” Jess mumbled, kneeling down to work a little magic. Looking up, she had a puzzled expression on her face. “She’s not hurt, as far as I can tell. Her body’s fine, but I can’t wake her with my magic. I don’t know what’s happened.”
“Do what you can for her; we have to find out what’s happening outside.” Slowly walking over, Mongo bent and picked up Heartblade from where it lay on the ground. A slow, rhythmic heartbeat seemed to pulse through the hilt, and a warmth slowly spread into the palms of his hand. “My apologies, my lady, but I need to borrow this for a while.”
Walking over to the edge of the stone dome, he began to hack and slice an opening to the other side. For several long moments, Mongo worked at cracking an opening in the dome; expecting to be swarmed by the dead once more as soon as the way was opened. What he found on the other side, however, made his jaw drop open in shock – it was almost like he’d been cast to a different world!
The rough stone floor and cavern were simply… gone.
Lush forest was all around, rich with trees, vines, and shrubs of all types and sizes. The rough stone flooring that they were walking and fighting upon before was now perfectly flat and smooth, with moss and grass growing over it in thick, rich layers. They were still inside the cavern, but the top had been ripped open and the night sky was visibly shining down from high above.
The pyramid was gone. Vanished as if it’d never existed. The giant slide which Michael had created that reached high into the cavern was only half left, and it now leaned and titled to lay up against one of the walls, halfway up the side of what was now a chasm instead of a cavern. As for the dead, there were none. Not a single skeleton, zombie, or lizard-like leaper was anywhere around. The cavern was now eerily lush and green, but also just as eerily silent.
When Zippy curiously fluttered down, Mongo wanted to cheer and hug the little creature. Though its light was weaker than he’d ever seen it before, it was still much brighter than what their ever dimming lightstones were producing.
“Michael! You out here somewhere?!” Shouting, Mongo stepped on out of the crack he’d carved into the side of the dome and yelled. Only the echo of his own voice answered him, though Zippy did change colors several times and flutter about excitedly.
Tiffany was the next to back out of the crack, and she was tugging Crystal’s limb body; well, at least her shoulders and torso. Jess apparently had her by the legs, helping carry her, and he just couldn’t see it yet. Glancing about once more, there was still no sign of any dead, so Mongo finally stuck the tip of Heartblade into the ground and walked over to where Tiffany was struggling.
“Here,” he told her gently, “I’ll get her. You get my sword from inside and Crystal’s from the stone there. I don’t know where Michael is, but I don’t want to stay here any longer than I have to. Who knows when the dead will return to swarm us, and we’re in no condition to fight right now.” Taking Crystal from her, he gently carried her in his arms and moved back to clear out of the way for the girls.
After a few moments, Tiffany and Jess were both out of the dome and Mongo let out a deep sigh. He’d sworn to himself that he was never going to be a leader again, and yet here he was, taking the reins once again. He didn’t want to, but he had no choice.
“First order of business,” he declared, “we’re going to find Michael; and then we’re getting the hell out of here.” Zippy immediately began to flash and spin several times and started to float off in one direction before stopping and flashing several times again.
“I think he wants us to follow him,” Tiffany said, with a half giggle. “He might know where Michael is!”
“Then lead the way Glow-bucket.” Carrying Crystal in his arms, Mongo followed the little light as it led them through the vegetation and finally stopped in front of a small grassy knoll. After a moment, it fluttered down close to the ground and began to zap and burn the grass.
“Here?” Tiffany asked, excited. “Is there something here?” Zippy fluttered up and circled around her enthusiastically several times, changing colors repeatedly.
“I think it’s another egg like we were trapped in!” Excited, Tiffany rushed forward and began awkwardly slicing at the ground with Heartblade. Even with her lack of strength, the blade was sharp enough that it sliced deep ridges in the ground with each hack into it. Sighing lightly, Mongo sat Crystal gently down on the grassy floor and then strode over to the base of the knoll. “Give me that,” he ordered gruffly. “You tend to the patient. I’ll take care of this!”
Giggling lightly, Tiffany leaned and kissed him once gently upon the nose before handing the sword over and then bouncing to check on Crystal. How the hell she could be so cheerful and energetic after all they’d seen and been through, Mongo had no clue. He was simply just grateful to have her light shining by his side.
Several long moments of hacking revealed that the small hillside was indeed hollow, much like the dome which they’d been trapped inside. Cracking it wide enough revealed a body inside, and once the gap was wide enough to pull it out, Mongo was shocked to find that they’d unearthed Ghost instead of Michael! Pale, naked, feverish, and covered in dirt and grime, it was unmistakably Ghost, with her small frame and ivory white hair!
“Tess! Come quick!” Mongo was so excited that he somehow blurred Tiffany’s name together with Jess – but no one seemed to mind at the moment. Rushing over, both healer girls began working their magics and muttering amongst themselves about what was wrong with her.
Heading back to the hole he’d carved and pulled her out of, Mongo willed his large head and shoulders inside, to make certain that Michael wasn’t in there as well. Unfortunately, the rest of the small cavern inside the hill was empty.
“Can you wake her?” Mongo asked, grimly.
“I don’t think she’s going to wake for several days,” Tiffany told him, sounding somehow both happy and sad at the same time.
“Then Michael’s just going to have to find his own way out of here, I’m afraid. With two people down, there’s no way we can search for him. I don’t even know if we can manage to get out of here with two people down,” Mongo muttered grimly.
“We’ll find a way!” Tiffany told him, brightly. “We’ve come this far, we’re not going to stop now, are we?”
“Not at all,” Mongo laughed, truly grateful for her bubbling enthusiasm and encouragement. Looking around, he began to cut branches and vines from the newly grown forest and tie them together to make a wide gurney which he could pull the girls out on. He didn’t know how the hell they were going to do it, but Tiffany was right; they were going to do it.
Epilogue: The Return
Deep in the earth, forgotten by everyone, a lone headless corpse twitched and then slowly rose. Reaching down with one blackened hand, it slowly picked up its head and tucked it under its arm. Darkness shined in the eyes as it slowly blinked and looked around.
It’s chosen host had been taken from it at the last second, but not before the ritual had awoken The Darkness from its long slumber. For long moments, it howled its frustration, assuming that it was going to be trapped as nothing more than a weak shadow of its former self; but then it sensed what it needed.
Deep in the tunnels, lying there fresh upon the stone floor was the corpse of a young male wizard, just waiting to be made use of. It didn’t have the potential that the girl had, but that didn’t matter. After all, The Darkness could change and alter something as malleable as human flesh to make it become what it needed after all.
With a deep and eternal anger, it stretched the limits of the feeble body it was in and sensed the caverns that had been its prison for oh so long. It could sense the single male and the four females which huddled around him for protection. For a passing moment, The Darkness thought of squashing them like a bug in the dark, but then it decided to simply wait.
Cackling darkly, Dino’s corpse sat and placed his head on the ground in front of him. Focusing, he willed all the dead to rest. Falling to the ground the bones throughout the graveyard collapsed and remained motionless. Let these foolish fleshies get away. They could tell everyone how they’d stopped the ritual and were heroes. Let them bask in the glory of the deeds they thought they’d accomplished.
The Darkness didn’t care. The ground had cracked. It was awake, and the seals were broken. Surely the fleshies would send someone to investigate the remains of the prison, but by then it would be too late. The Darkness would be free. Free to head to the deep places in the mountains that the fleshies didn’t go. Free to heal and mend this body until it suited its needs properly. Free to feed and grow.
Free to eventually come back and cast its shadow across the world once more!
