Light: Exploits, Book II.

Part 7. Depths of Fear.

I kept walking nervously in the crypts.
The coffins were decorated with complicated runes and glyphs; were they all protected, I wondered.
What's our depth Ghost? I ask as my rifle sits light in my hands.
Approximately, 2.5 miles below the surface of the planet. It chirps softly.
Are we going any deeper? I ask.
It buzzes softly, analyzing.
There's an ever so slight decline; too minuscule to chart. It says frustrated.
I felt myself shift in that moment next.
Like I was turned upside down but still standing on what was now the ceiling.
What in the Light?! I say to myself as I feel a hand wrap around me; but it was nothing.
I squirmed as I was pulled to the now never ending depths of Darkness.
I heard the screams of those who perished in The Collapse.
Before long, I was crying outright and screaming in agony; I felt like my heart was about to burst.
The next moment, I was slammed against a hard, cold stone floor.
All around me was Darkness.
Does that pain you, Guardian? I hear what I now know as Titox.
I hope so, but please endure, I want to savor the precious time I have with you! His voice calls from the very darkness around me.
I feel it close in and suffocate me.
It wraps around my insides; tearing me apart and replacing me with Darkness.
No... I cry.
Stop... Not... Not my... Light... I moan in agony as I fall to my knees.
Nnng... I choke.
I try to breathe.
But I taste... Darkness.
I taste...
I felt myself slip away.
But something pushed back.
Or Titox was waiting.
But I took control.
I took it back.
I stood up, Darkness dripping from my coat.
No... Not today... I whisper as I ball my fists and hold Light.
You... Shall not! Have ME! I scream as I release the Light, killing the Darkness.
It falls off me like shackles.
It all burns away until I find myself back in the crypt halls.
I pant softly and fall back, catching myself in time to sit.
I hear Priest and Farah running up behind me.
Dylan! Farah shouts and kneels next to me. Are you okay?
I feel like I'm dizzy, drunken, and impaired all at the same time.
I'm fine... I say softly. I just... Fell. I lie.
Fell? Farah mocks, on what?
I stand up, legs wobbling. Not on anything. I fell up. I say.
What the fuck's that mean? She asks angrily.
I point up.
Floor and ceiling were turned upside down. I fell up. And I was grabbed by... I hesitate.
Grabbed by what? Priest asks.
I shiver slightly. I could still hear his voice.
Feel his power.
He made me... I stammer as I continue on.
Made you what? C'mon will you talk? Farah asks worried.
I believe he's saying as much as he will allow himself, my Ghost tells her.
If he delves too deep, I may lose him again, it warns.
My hands are shaky as I reach for my rifle.
Keep your Light safe, I say cryptically.
Priest and Farah both look at me like I've told them I know that they both have died, and I witnessed it.
Defend it... Lest you let him take you... I say as I continue on.
Titox, Reaver of Light, I whisper. He is very powerful... We must be careful...
Priest cocks his rifle, careful, got it.
We continued along, nervous silence filling us.
Before long, I felt it again.
No... I moan softly, no more...
No more what? Priest asks.
As he asks that; both he and Farah are pulled into the Darkness that I saw. That I felt.
The walls disappeared and all around us was Darkness.
We heard screaming from the distance; and it grew closer.
As it came for us, a wave of relief washed over me.
Thrall, I say confidently. Stay alert Guardians!
After a few moments, we see hundreds of beady, dark-lit eyes in the Darkness.
The Thrall scream and cry as they try to strike fear in us.
We remain silent, channeling our Light.
Finally, it's as if the floodgates opened.
From all around us, hundreds and hundreds of Thrall all screamed and charged at us; their claws an icy, cold blue.
We timed out firing patterns; making well sure we gave each other time to reload, reacquire targets, and keep our ground.
I heard a thundercrack, feeling Arc Light wash over us as some of the Thrall were consumed by Priest's Fists of Havoc, Orbs of Light pouring from him.
I gathered them in time to see another legion charging us.
Ammo is running dry! Farah warns. Where are they all coming from?!?!
Doesn't matter! I shout, just keep focused!
I blossom a Nova Bomb and toss it into the Thrall charging us; a vortex blooms and tears them apart, molecule by molecule.
Light pours from me now, Priest and Farah gather it and we ready ourselves again.
The Thrall screamed from the Darkness, but no more would test our Light.
Think we scared them off? Farah asks, relief and fear in her voice.
Maybe the Thrall, I say looking around, but that doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet.
We all keep silent, listening in the Thrall screams to see if we could hear anything else.
I felt a shadow rush past us.
It took my breath away; I felt my feet slip from under me.
As I felt myself fall, I was hoisted up by my chest. More accurately, I felt a brutal spike impale me, and I felt myself get lifted into the air, nearly ten feet.
Farah and Priest gaze in horror and disbelief as Titox stands before them, his hammer spike lodged in my chest, his laughter echoing in the Darkness.
Welcome to The Hall Of The Deep, Guardians, he laughs and I struggle to breathe on his weapon; his breath smells of age and Light.
I hope you are all quite prepared to die, he roars in laughter as he tosses me hard on the ground.
He disappears, his voice echoing for what seems like forever, as the Darkness inches away from us, and we appear back in the crypt.
Okay... Seriously, I gasp in pain. That shit is getting old, I say gritting my teeth as I sit up.
Say what? Priest says.
That's the third time that son of a bitch has had his way with me, I pant as Ghost finishes mending me.
He can... Do that...? Farah says in awe. Plays trick? On our mind?
I nod softly, seems like it, I say standing up.
So be careful, take no chances. I warn.
We pressed on, after very little deliberation as to weather or not we stay separated.
As we did, the crypts lining the walls remain unchanged.
In fact, except for the previous episode, or rather, intervention, from Titox, nothing changed.
It was all the same. It was mind numbing as much as it was mind shattering.
I felt like I was going to go crazy.
Lose my damn mind.
But, after a while, we saw the decor change slightly.
Like we were approaching a different area of the Hall.
We saw a door; large and forbidding, but we sensed something behind it.
If it wasn't Titox, then it was something that would lead us to him; or him to us.
Or at least we hoped.
This door is locked with multiple runes and spells. I could unlock it, Ghost says. But it'll take time.
I nod, do what you can Little Light, I say letting it upon the door.
As soon as I let it free, we all hear another roar.
A ground shaking, eat piercing, blood curdling roar.
The fuck is that? Priest asks with a defined sense of "what now"?
Sounded like a Knight, Farah says softly, her hand at her hip, holding the handle of her pistol.
But it sounded as angry as an Ogre; or worse, dozens of them, I say as we keep our gaze down the hall.
Some 50 feet down, the hall we could see was cut off; Darkness prevented us from seeing what was coming for us.
Titox... I shudder as I draw my rifle, prepare yourselves Guardians.
The Darkness shuddered, it roared again.
It was the Darkness.
Roaring at us.
It was angry. Light had invaded it's vile place.
From out of the Darkness crawled a single Ogre. It roared and slammed it's hands on the ground and blasted us with its eye beam.
We were frantically trying to move in the small space we had as the Ogre kept pressing forward.
What's the plan?! How the hell we gonna do this?! Priest barks angrily.
My eyes flash and I bolt forward.
NOOOO! Farah screams as I run.
The Ogre's eye blast screams at me as it pelts me.
Ghost is warning me of imminent death.
I scream as I leap onto its head and punch through its skull; over and over. It's blood and Darkness splattering all over my chest and face.
It screams as Farah and Priest unload their weapons on a second Ogre, clawing its way past the veil of Darkness.
It runs past the still burning ashes of the Ogre I just killed, and it grabs me.
It roars as it squeezes me.
I scream as it continues to charge Farah and Priest, using me almost as a shield.
It bowls into them; crashing through the door and sending us to different corners of the room.
I tumble and roll, ignoring my grave wounds. The Ogre is on the warpath for me.
KNIGHTS! My Ghost screams as I see at least half a dozen Hallowed Knights rush from the wall of Darkness.
I look down and see a Sword.
I don't know how or why it was there, but I didn't care if it was for me or not.
I picked it up and held it tight in my hands as the Ogre roared.
I charged the Ogre, swiping at its legs.
It screamed in pain; I cleanly cleave through it and ready myself for the Knights.
One of them swipes at me.
I block and parry, and the Knight falls to dust.
My momentum is taken from me though, as another kicks me and knocks me down, as all of them charge me and stab me in my chest.
The last thing I remember hearing was Farah and Priest call out as they, too, are overwhelmed.