Light: Exploits, Book II.

Part 11. Into The Maw.

I breathed softly as Priest and Farah fired shot after shot into the Thrall in the air, only trying to hit the barely seeable orange Conductor in the cluster of green Cursed.
They reloaded, and I exhaled and squeezed the trigger of Mida once.
The bullet whizzed away, and a few moments later, all of the Thrall in the air illuminated and burned away in atomic fire.
Show off, Farah says.
I already told you, I had it shot, I say holding my weapon proudly.
We all look as our Ghosts appear before us and show us the way.
The Conductors deaths opened the way into the Maw. Farah's Ghost says with a clearly effeminate voice.
What's the Maw? Farah asks.
My Ghost beeps for a moment before replying.
The Maw is supposedly a Torture Pit; like the opposite of a Summoning Pit. Farah's Ghost says.
So they go there to die? I suggest.
Or worse, my Ghost says softly.
How do we get into this Maw? Priest asks.
The Hive use portals to move between the lower recesses of the planet from... Wherever it is they come from. It says.
So we wait for a portal? I ask.
As I do, a green gout of green flame etches from thin air, and pulls down like a string.
In a boom not sounding unlike screams of death, it opens and reveals a sparkling Dark window.
We all look upon the portal, out Ghosts slowly buzzing back to us.
I swallowed hard and balled my fists and welled up my courage.
Well, ask and shall receive, I say softly and take a step to it.
We have no idea where it goes, Farah says.
And? I say.
Good point, Priest chuckles.
I breathed deeply before I stepped into the dark window.
I felt it wrap around and envelop me in its forces.
I was being pulled and pushed all the same.
Torn apart and put together.
Had no idea when or where I'd go but I didn't care.
Just as I was trying to fathom where I was, I felt the portal release its grip on me.
I opened my eyes to see I was hovering above the floor of what didn't look unlike The Hall of The Deep.
I felt myself fall and glided softly over the floor until my boots tapped gently on the polished floor.
Priest barked in surprise as he thudded after me and Farah hit softly after he did
Whoa... Priest awes.
Where are we Ghost? I ask.
Silence as it beeps.
The Maw of the Dead, it says morbidly.
Guarded by the dead, for the dead, for all there will ever be is death, it says reading from the files.
Meaning what exactly, I ask as I look around.
The room we were in was dark, like the cell we were all dangling in days prior.
Stones illuminated the room from high up near the ceiling, coming down to just too high up for Priest to touch.
Meaning we're fighting the dead, Farah says walking around.
Aren't the Hive dead anyway? I suggest.
Well, yes and no, Ghost begins. If only Toland were here, he knew much of the Hiven, it said somberly.
They truly die when faced by Light of The Traveller's Guardians. I say.
So that's why Titox died, Priest says looking around.
What's that mean? I ask curiously, looking for a door.
Well did you not see what you did? He asks with a laugh.
It's all still a bit fuzzy. I say softly.
You were Light, he and Farah say in unison.
I shrug my shoulders.
Your body; there was no body. Priest says.
You were absolute Light. When we needed it the most. Farah says.
I sigh softly at their kind words; my family.
Well, I'm a Guardian aren't I? I ask with a kind laugh.
We all share a warm silence, despite where we were and the circumstances.
We knew we had one another.
Had Light.
There's the door, Ghost says opening a wide passage to us.
We tread forward with an apprehensive spring in our step.
The passage lead to a massive chamber that housed a hole.
A huge hole.
Nearly the size of the distance Tower was from the Traveller.
A gargantuan hole that only saw darkness.
It was a swallowing, overbearing feeling.
Oh my goodness, Farah awes.
I stare at it cautiously, defying every curious intention I had to leap headlong into it.
I wonder why such a thought would even cross my mind.
My ears began to ring lowly and I felt a vibration pass through me.
Defiance... A voice ice calls out.
Defiance I cannot allow to pass. It calls hollowly.
I look around and see nothing, but feel a deep rumble from the pit.
From the pit rose what looked like a massive spike, but it was curved in no way a spike would be.
First there was one.
Then a second.
Then two more.
Four in all, latching onto the edges of the pit.
We looked dumbstruck as the spikes dragged up a large platform that houses a massive Ogre.
Far larger than anyone I had ever seen before.
It's skin was coated and crawling with Darkness.
It was bound to chains but made no effort to fight.
Ghost... I ask backing away, what in all things is that...
As I speak, all quiet.
A soft wind blows up from the pit.
And the Ogre roared to life. It slammed its hands on the platform and shattered its chains and rushed for us.
We fired at it with our weapons but it was useless.
We tried grenades.
No effect.
It got to the edge of the platform and reached across and grabbed for us.
I put out my hands and push Farah and Priest away as I feel it's hand wrap around me.
Priest screams in anger and runs at the Ogre.
The Ogre throws me to the ground and slams on the platform over and over until the spikes begin to give way.
Soon two of them are broken and the platform is leaning and I feel myself slide and see the Ogre tumble.
The slamming caused the whole room to shake, rubble was falling from the ceiling.
Farah was trying to maintain her balance, trying to avoid the rocks from the crumbling above.
The platform, now nearly vertical, tips hard and knocks Farah from under her chin and throws her into the pit.
Before I hit the Darkness, I remember hearing everything go quiet.
It all went...
...Dead...