The Revelation of the Vine: Graft

Chapter 11: From Fire Within to Light Beyond

  We prepared ourselves to press on, gathering near the ledge to climb down the rope and make our way forward. A strange sound was audible in the distance and grew in volume as we continued, but no matter where I looked there were no energies in the darkness around us. The Knights, also noticed the sounds, and surged down to the ground, and began to search the open chamber for their source. "After you guys," I said, motioning for the Seeds to follow while I kept watch over the chamber below. Falkir went first, carrying the lantern down with him, and the rest followed one by one. Once they had all reached the ground, I unhooked the claw and dropped it over the cliff. It hit the moist ooze that covered the ground with a dense splat. I focused on a spot on the ground, and swiftly Vine-Surged down to the group, watching the darkness around me streak by and the light of the lantern swallow me as I rushed toward the floor. I hit the ground with force, kneeling into the landing and causing the Corruption on the floor around me to boil into black smog that rose up through the air. After it nullified the energy from my impact, it returned to its liquid state and merged back into the ooze. "I don t know if I'll ever get used to that," Rahlix said, shaking his head as I stood up. "You will," I said. "That was different than before," Teion noticed. "It was like you stretched forward and left an after-image behind you as you went..." "That was a Vine-Surge," I replied. "It utilizes the same force as Vine-Step, only outwardly instead of inwardly, projecting your soul forward to increase the velocity of your body. As long as there is a solid or liquid form of matter beneath our feet to push from, and nothing blocking our trajectory, we can repeat the Surge after our momentum has been spent, in what we call a Vine-Skip." The Knights returned, appearing next to me like glowing eyes opening in the darkness. "It isn t as stealthy as Vine-step, though," Feng said, as the heartbeats of the Seeds raced from his sudden appearance. "It's better used in combat, traveling long distances, and in extreme circumstances, escape." "He's right," I agreed, "What's the Situation?" "We haven't spotted anything dangerous between here and the Holo-tunnel, sir," Solanicus reported. "But the strange sounds seem to be coming from below, and they're getting louder." I think we should hurry. "Right," I said. "Let's move out." The large chamber loomed overhead. Our small radius of light only reached out a few feet as we walked in rows of 3 toward an arched cave across the chamber. Drops of Corruption echoed around us, as we walked on trickling sludge that flowed both toward, and away, from the many fissures and cracks in the floor. My eyes caught sight of movement ahead, like a lighter shade of black warping in the darkness. A deformed blob that looked like it had once been a bat flew by, eyes wild and crazed, glowing blood-red, slicing through the light like a black knife. A few more scouts followed behind, like masses of Corruption with violently flapping wings of goo, and then the entire colony swarmed past us like a black cloud, nearly blocking the light. Their screeches pierced our eardrums and echoed into the distance, as they fled down the opposite direction of the chamber. "Something scared the bats," Teion said in a loud whisper. "Nothing gets past you, does it," Tenbu joked. "Those weren t normal bats," I said, and gripped my sword. "Knights get ready." A rubbing sound, followed by tapping and short hisses, came from the darkness ahead of us. Green fluorescent eyes, like poison, appeared in the sea of darkness, popping into view in sets of eight. I saw the slightly-warmer outline of giant spiders, covered with boiling Corruption, crawling up through a newly opened crevice in the ground ahead of us. Four of the vile creatures had crept up into the chamber, green poison dripping from their twitching fangs. I swiftly moved toward the front of the group, pulling my sword as I went. The Seeds drew their weapons, and huddled together in the small bubble of light. The spiders pressed forward, hissing and clicking their fangs. Their heads entered the light and they briefly recoiled, as their eyes blinked in sync, shrinking and dilating to adjust. Their front legs craned up and into the light, coated in boiling Corruption that swirled around the limbs and dripped to the floor, splattering into a puff of smog that rose back up and was reabsorbed. My eyes moved past them for a moment looking for the way out, and spotted the small cave that tunneled into the wall thirty feet beyond the crevice. "No time to mess around," I said, stabbing my sword forward into the nearest spider s head, sticking it right between its eyes. "The way out is behind them." The spider reeled back, swatting forward with its front legs as the sword pulled free. Black ooze dripped from the blade, as I kept it pointed at the spider. The other spiders flinched back in surprise for a brief moment, frightened by the fearless attack on their comrade, but the wounded one quickly began to recover, as the ooze dripped down over the wound, filling it in with Corrupted flesh and fur. They pushed forward with more ferocity, no longer fearing the light or us. The Knights began to fight as the Seeds held their ground behind. "They're regenerating," Solanicus yelled, pulling his sword from a spider's eye. "Just keep them away from the Seeds, Sol," I yelled, chopping at another spider's leg while I dodged around its attacking limbs and jabbing fangs. "Get everyone around them, and start heading toward the cave!" "Come on, then," Solanicus screamed, and swatted a spider's fangs away from his face, poison dripping onto his breastplate. He swung the sword around and under the spiders head jamming it upwards under its fangs. He pushed forward, driving the blade deeper, and forced the spider back with his supernatural strength. Another spider stepped in from the side but was met with a slash to the eyes by Tenbu's blade. "Let s move guys." He said to the Seeds, and letting out a roar, plunged his blade into the side of the spider's esophagus. A few of the Seeds -- Atreios, Rahlix, Teion, and Falkris -- hurried around him, back's sliding along the oozing walls. Vhalrin and Falkir pressed around the other side of Solanicus, slashing the sides of the spider that fought with him. Solanicus took the opportunity to strike at the creature's blind side as it turned to protect itself from the Seeds onslaught. They slipped past it, meeting the fourth spider head-on, as the other Seeds rushed around them toward the cave. "Knights," I called, between slashes and dodges, "Get ready to shift, and Seeds, do not look back at us until you get to the cave!" "Let s do it, Cap," Solanicus yelled, taking a few steps back from his foe. The other Knights stepped back as well. The spiders paused for a moment in confusion, hissing, and flicking their legs forward. Now, I cried. Our images blinked out of sight, fading into pitch black forms, and then, filled in from the center with a dazzling radiance that brightened the entire chamber. Our body and soul energy resonated together, shining with a blue-white light that boiled the Corruption into a thick gas that rose into the air and then vanished into the Vine.