As I walked back over to Clara, she stood studying each part of her new blade, as if interrogating it for secrets. I laughed at her and she jumped, taken completely off guard.
“Gods Dav, when did you get so quiet?” she asked. I gave her a puzzled look and she gestured down to my feet. “You didn’t make a sound walking over here.”
“Are you sure you weren’t just distracted?” I teased, and she flushed slightly.
“I’m never distracted,” she protested, “you were just sneaking around.”
“Sure,” I said, “decided what to call it yet?” I gestured to the hilt clutched in her hand.
“Kirana,” she said immediately.
“That’s not the common tongue, is it?” I asked, curiously.
“Amari,” Clara replied, naming the language of a small island chain near Wusul, and finally cluing me in to the source of her faint accent, “my mother was from there.”
“Nice”, I said, “What does it mean?”
“Chosen light.”
I thought it was a little on the nose, but it was her weapon, so who was I to judge? “Come on, there’s still some more stuff here, we’re on a time limit, remember?” As I walked I suddenly realised that I couldn’t hear my own footsteps. I glanced down at my new belt, it seems it did have some other, passive effect. A belt that makes you move silently, a pouch that could hold a treasury… whoever made that combination had to have known it was a thief’s dream. That didn’t tally with anything I knew about the inhabitants, which puzzled me. I didn’t have time to dwell, however, as we reached yet another wondrous creation. This one I immediately recognised as a recording device like the one I saw the scholars use in my memories. Reaching out, I tapped the button I knew would cause the device to play back its last recording. Clara jumped back and activated her blade as a small figure appeared in the air above the box and began speaking in their native language. I gestured for her to calm down and watched intently.
“I think I can translate this…” I said, listening intently. It wasn’t a simple process, the language of the creatures didn’t follow any rules of our language that I knew. The message ended, and I played it back again, and a third time as I tried to sort it out. Finally, during the fourth iteration, I began to speak.
“This is a record of the earliest times,” I began, “shortly after they came through the world gates.” The figure gestured animatedly. “They thought they’d been betrayed. That those they left behind had abandoned them.” The image spat in disgust. “All they had was a few thousand of the little guys. So where did the big guys come from?” That last part was my own addition, thinking aloud, but the image continued. “There’s some stuff about how they disagreed about what to do, some wanted to stay here and build an outpost until they turned the gates back on, which I guess they never did. Others wanted to go looking for other gates.” I frowned. The angry little man on the recording didn’t think much of their chances, but I found his talk of there potentially being other gates somewhat disturbing. “Now he’s just ranting some more about their situation… yeah there’s nothing else of note.” I shut the recording off before we had to endure his angry whistling and screeching a fifth time.
“Why do you think they kept it?” Clara asked once silence fell once more.
“Posterity?” I shrugged. “They were here for centuries before the beast appeared, which means this recording is unbelievably ancient. Your scholars would probably love it,” I noted, and Clara nodded, putting it into her pack with the rest of the devices she’d looted.
The rest of our search was relatively routine. We found a couple more weapons, not as impressive as Clara’s new blade, but a pair of relatively short range projectile weapons that would make a mess of anyone on the other end. Clara strapped them to herself in easy reach, I still didn’t trust myself with too many weapons despite how suspiciously quiet the darkness inside had become. It felt less and less like slumber and more like some large animal stalking its prey, but I forced the sensation down as best I could. If I snapped again, I wanted Clara to have a shot at taking me down, not just get shot in the back of the head.
Of the relics I laid claim to, I grabbed a pair of strange gauntlets that could form an unbreakable grip on demand, yet didn’t impede my manual dexterity in any way, as well as a shortsword (which I assumed was more of a longsword to the builders) made of that same strange metal. It didn’t appear to do much, but its blade was able to fold upon impossibly in on itself for easy storage and concealment, which could come in handy. I hesitated to pick it up as I felt the darkness struggling to grab it and plunge it deep into her body, but Clara simply laughed.
“You may be faster and stronger now, but I can still take you with a sword, especially with Kirana.” As quick as I could blink she twitched and I found the glowing blade uncomfortably close to my stomach. Reluctantly I took the collapsing sword and stepped back, snapping it closed and putting it in my pocket as soon as I could to silence the homicidal voice inside of me. It quietened, but never really faded entirely.
“Fair enough,” I said, and forced a grin. A thought occurred to me, however. “Are they going to let us keep this stuff when we get to Wusul?”
Clara hesitated. “I think so,” she said, unconvincingly, “yours at least. If I can prove I deserve my weapon I doubt they’ll take it from me,” she clutched her new best friend protectively, “but we can just say what you have is your price for joining us, provided you let the scholars study and document your devices as a show of good faith.”
I wasn’t convinced, powerful people have a habit of taking whatever they want from the little guy, regardless of who they hurt or steal from in the process.
-They will take nothing from us,- the voice inside growled.
That was new. It actually managed to go a full sentence that I didn’t even disagree with, and even did so without making my hands itch to murder someone. Or rather, Clara. I’m not sure if the darkness just didn’t like her or if she just happened to be the only available person to torture right now. I didn’t want to dwell on it, however, and instead gestured to the door.
“We’ve probably spent too long here as it is,” I said, “We can fill your pack and my pockets with the small stuff on the way out and get the hells out of here before the beast wakes up or emerges from wherever it goes at night.”
Clara nodded and we moved to leave. I quickly outpaced Clara and made it to the door to check the corridor and make sure it was safe. Peering out into the darkness, it was as calm and quiet as we had left it, but I could sense something coming closer, still a distance away, but a sense of anticipation built within me like the calm before a storm.
“Dav, I’ve found something!” Clara called over. I suddenly realised she hadn’t followed me, instead getting distracted by something she’d spotted in a side room as we passed.
“Well, just grab it and come back, we need to go!” I shouted back, distracted by the unnerving sensation of approaching trouble. I had no idea how right I was, but not for the reasons I had thought. There was a loud buzzing noise, and the huge metal door began to slowly swing closed. Clara swore as she saw it and began to run towards me. Fast as she was, the door was closing faster and I did all that I could think of to prevent her from being trapped. Standing between the doors, I planted my hands and feet and held them open. The force bearing down on me was incredible, and there was a screeching sound as whatever was forcing the doors closed tried to overpower my strength. Prior to touching the umbral resonator, I probably would not have been able to make any sort of difference to the speed they shut, but as I was I could hold them at least for a time. I could still feel the pressure, however, and I could not hold for long. Activating my new gloves gave me far greater purchase with my hands, but the smooth stone offered very little to brace my lower body against, and the doors slowly began to grind closed once more.
“Hurry!” I yelled, my arms and legs beginning to shake and burn from the strain. Clara redoubled her pace and slid
between my legs just as my strength gave out and the doors slammed behind us. We both slumped to the ground in the corridor beyond, breathing heavily. I pushed Clara’s light away as she forgot and held it too close, the pain made more manageable by the long gloves covering my hands and forearms.
“Sorry,” she gasped, and we sat there for a time recovering. I passed her some jerky and my waterskin, realising it had been some time since we last took a break, but I somehow wasn’t hungry or thirsty. Clara clearly didn’t feel that way, however, as she gulped down the water and tore into the meagre rations like a ravenous animal.
“What did you find?” I asked, despite the fact that with a sense of dread my memories provided the most likely answer. I swore softly as she produced a deceptively small black cylinder the size of my thumb and passed it to me. “Thought so,” I sighed, and Clara gave me a questioning look, mouth still crammed full. “This,” I continued, waving the device, “is a power source. THE power source. It keeps the doors of that room open, the Jeff system active…” I swallowed, “...the lights on.”
Clara gave me a sharp look, “Where?”
“Everywhere.”
“As in…”
“This part of the city.”
We were in trouble, and the unearthly howl that echoed faintly through the halls confirmed it. Without further discussion, we both got to our feet and raced down the corridor. I kept my pace slow to conserve energy despite not knowing quite what my limits were, but primarily to keep running alongside Clara who, while clearly being at the peak of normal human physical fitness, was growing increasingly tired as the day progressed. The lack of sleep and exertions of the day were taking their toll, but she ran without complaint. As we exited the dark corridor, the dim light of the entry hall was not there to greet us, only the deep, swallowing darkness. My vision remained perfect, but I saw Clara growing more agitated as she was forced to run blindly, her light proving inadequate for running at full speed as we encountered more obstacles like the fountains in the room. Our pace slowed and soon we were moving at a fast walk instead. Every now and then I gave Clara reassurance that we were not in imminent danger, or nudged her in a direction to help her avoid walking into anything. We crossed the hall and back into the entryway where we’d had our encounter with Insane Jeff. The immense shaft was still slightly lit by a light still lit towards the top, but not enough for Clara to fully see by. What it did show, however, was that all of the walkways had seemingly vanished, leaving us cut off from the central shaft.
As one, Clara and I swore vehemently. It appeared that in the event of a power failure, each section was cut off. Whether this was a safety or a security feature I couldn’t say, but I doubt it would’ve helped anyway; with the power source gone, the moving room wouldn’t function.
“What do we do now?” Clara began to ask, but was cut off by a guttural moaning roar. Her eyes widened in fear. “I know that sound…” she whispered, and so did I. Looking down the shaft, I could see the beast at the bottom. This time my mind did not so much recoil at the sight of the horrific creature as much as it began to simmer, as the darkness inside of me unexpectedly reacted to its presence. It did not react with happiness or brotherly love, but with a primal hatred, a need to consume and take back what was rightfully mine. I found myself gripping the side of the balcony, staring down deep into the many, many eyes that now stared up at me from the beast as it returned my hatred a thousandfold.
“Er, Dav?” I heard Clara call, and it snapped me out of my fixation on the creature, but still watching as it began to claw its way up the central pillar.
“We need to leave, now!” I managed, reigning in the darkness once more. I tried to impress on it just how badly I thought a direct confrontation with the beast would go for both of us, and with a hiss of complaint it receded, allowing me to break free and consider just how we could possibly do that.
“It’s afraid of the light, right? It can’t get us with this.” Clara brandished the light maker like a weapon, putting it between herself and the ledge the walkway once inhabited.
“I thought so, but I think it just doesn’t like it.” I walked towards her, stopping uncomfortably close for effect, despite the pain the light gave me. Clara locked her gaze to mine, not stepping back but pupils dilated, and I saw a glimpse of my own reflection in her eyes, my face like cracked obsidian, my eyes deep pits of darkness, my new self revealed only by that horrible green light of the builders. I suddenly hated it, despite the extra energy I could feel slowly entering my body, and the darkness agreed. It felt like walking into a fire, simultaneously suffusing me with warmth while my flesh burned.
I stepped back, breathing harshly, reduced proximity to the light returning my flesh to a more fleshy pink in the darkness. “That hurts, a lot, but I could still get that close. Now, we need to go.” I looked around for a way out as the beast continued to climb. I didn’t want to mention it while she couldn’t see it, but Clara had caught onto my fear.
“How close is it?”
“It’s climbing up, now. It’s still got a ways to go yet but it’s closing.” I answered honestly.
“Got a plan?”
I was taken aback by her apparent extreme faith in me, but then realised that actually it was more that she couldn’t think of anything that didn’t result in our immediate deaths. I started to think of a way to tell her I had nothing, but then the voice of the darkness within me rose once more.
-Climb.-
“What?!” I said aloud, startled, and Clara repeated her question, thinking I hadn’t heard her.
-Pathetic gauntlets. Climb. Live. Kill. Feed. Grow. CLIMB.- it snarled back at me. I looked down at my hands and realised what it meant. It appeared the homicidal being inside of me at least had a vested interest in keeping me alive, even if it was for horrifying reasons.
“Get on my back.” I told Clara. She gave me a weird look but assented, walking over to do so. I winced back from the light and tried to pick her up, but the pain was too much with her arms wrapped around my chest and I gasped, begging her to dismount again. “I’m sorry, we’re going to have to lose the light,” I explained. Clara looked at me for a long moment, then wordlessly disabled the light maker and stashing it in her belt. She stood there blindly, and I took a moment to appreciate the immense trust she was willing to place in me, particularly given the inclination I’d admitted to her from the darkness inside to tear her skin off. She was either incredibly brave, incredibly stupid, incredibly desperate or somewhere in between. I moved into position again and guided her arms and legs around me. I found my strength was such that despite her added weight of muscle and loaded pack, my movement was barely impaired.
With one last glance at the beast, clawing its way up the central column, I ran to the side of the balcony and pushed myself up, latching my hands onto the stone. The gauntlets stuck on command and I hung there for a second, my arms taking the strain, if not comfortably. Slowly I released one gauntlet from its unbreakable grip and pulled myself upwards with a grunt, latching it back on and repeating the process. With few other options we steadily climbed towards the light at the top. If we could reach that then at least maybe Clara could be safe, or at least safer, while I fled in another direction. I held no illusions, while it would take great pleasure in killing her, it was me the beast now wanted, as much as my darkness wanted the beast in return. I increased the pace, now confident that my new gauntlets could take the strain, and our ascent continued.
The beast clawed its way up the pillar, but with my increased speed we climbed at almost the same speed, keeping the gap between us more static. Seeing this, it redoubled its efforts, starting to make death-defying leaps between the pillar and balconies in much the same way as I had seen in my memories. As we neared the light, Clara became more able to see and look back down on the beast as it made its way towards her and I felt her grip tighten around me, a whimper escaping her lips. As strong as she was, seeing a creature like that who had butchered her friends and sensing
the death and insanity it irradiated coming for her clearly was her limit. I grunted as I felt this, but couldn’t spare a thought to anything but the climb, going as fast as I could, my arms and legs burning. The climb had been long, but we approached the topmost level, and the only light. The beast was almost upon us now, I could hear its deep breathing almost upon my back and the darkness within me burned to neglect all else and survive. With one last burst of energy, I unhooked Clara from my back and threw her into the gaping void, the ground so far below that even my enhanced vision could not penetrate the darkness. I could see the shock of betrayal and fear in her face as she spun away from me into the air, but lost sight of it as she tumbled and landed heavily on the lit balcony we’d been racing towards.
Into the Dark Page 8
