| The three walked in silence through the antechamber, approaching the final corner that they hadn't searched. Their footsteps, no matter how light, still echoed back at them. Their steps instinctively slowed as they reached the corner, but they stopped when they say a small doorway, with stone steps disappearing upwards, into further darkness. The staircase curved in upon itself on its way upwards through the floors, making what lay around each turn a mystery. Since he bore the light, WhiteShadow went first, but his heart still pounded furiously. Although he utilised the dark to survive, and had a healthy respect for it, in this case it was not his ally, it was his bitterest enemy, which chilled him to the core. His own imagination conjured up all manner of demons leaping out from the shadows, tearing his life away before he could even react. Just behind him, the two Neichildren were experiencing their own difficulties. Darkness was more than an ally to them, it was their home, their nature, but even in the deepest reaches of their mountain range home had they met such impenetrable darkness. Neither commented on it, both fearing to break the eeire silence, but they could both sense magic in the air... Magic, mixed with what they could only describe as the low-frequency "hum" of technology at work. Again, they had grown up with it constantly around them, so it was only natural that their horns could detect it. They were unsure whether their third party member was aware of it, though. They decided to keep silent, however, noting that WhiteShadow was visibly on edge. They instead turned their senses to whatever danger may be before them. That's when it happened. Out of nowhere the outer wall collapsed inward, nearly crushing WhiteShadow with flying debris. The implosion did, however, send the motavian headlong back down the staircase, collecting his two companions, who barely had time to cry out before they were knocked down. Their deadly tumble continued down the staircase until they came to a crashing halt on the first landing, WhiteShadow holding on to the previous step by his claws. It was by pure chance that none of them had been pierced by each other's weapons. They still had to clamber unsteadily to their feet, checking to see if they had broken any bones. Collectively deciding that they were alright for the moment, the trio turned to where the wall had exploded inwards. WhiteShadow involuntarily took a sharp intake of breath at the sight. It was no rotting corpse, nor was it any demon of imagination. It was simply, a man. A transparent man, at that. Apart from this unnerving fact, he seemed totally harmless. Resting casually against the wall, he pretneded to blow dust off of himself, despite the fact that it couldn't settle on his unsubstantial form. No, what caused WhiteShadow and his allies to recoil in fear was simply that, fear. It eminated from the ghoul with a force almost strong enough to knock them flat. That, combined with the ghoul's spectacular entrance and his air of confidence served to make the trio fear for their very lives. The memories of the empty clothing outside was still fresh in their minds, preying on their own confidence. The ghoul was dressed in the manner of the people of Kadary, simple farming clothes. However, their own transparent nature and glow gave them a certain hint of class that the original owners never possessed. The ghoul finally seemed to notice that he was not alone in the stairway. His voice was cold as steel. "Still alive? Damn, I was sure that the implosion spell would have crushed you beneath all this lovely rubble here. Oh well." He gave an exaggerated sigh and began to strut down the steps. "Wh-what are you?" Asked WhiteShadow, his voice tremulous. He cursed himself for sounding like a frightened child. His own rising ire at his cowed state threatened to consume him, control him, but he made a mental effort to redirect that rge and fear, channel it into speed, power. It was taking all his will to do so. Behind him, Yasmine only whispered; "Be careful, WhiteShadow, he has no heat signature whatsoever. That means he has no form, either." Zedd only nodded his fearful assent. "What am I?" Asked the creature sarcastically, continuing it's slow descent. Suddenly, from it's chest, a face sprung, seemingly erupting from a multitude of faces that could be suddenly seen swirling in the ghoul's chest. The face slowly formed a mouth, and eyes, before crying out in a horrendously tortured voice. The shrill cry sent the trio sprawling to the floor, covering their ears in shock and pain. At that moment, a thundering could be heard from further down the staircase, as suddenly a horde of zombies burst from below. Clambering to their feet once more, WhiteShadow and the two NeiChildren grabbed frantically for their weapons, WhiteShadow removing his scimitars first, the blades gleaming in the light of the torch, dropped in the group's fall a few stairs up. They didn't shine for long as they were soon covered in blood and gore from the slain zombies. Although the zombies number far outweighed the trio's, the narrow staircase evened the odds and the higher position of the party tipped the scales in their favour. Their previous tumble down the stairs, however, was slowing their movements, and had sapped a lot of their stamina already. They couldn't keep up their defense for long, and the numbers of the zombies seemed neverending. Adding to their plight, whenever WhiteShadow's deadly blades slashed down, or Yasmine stabbed an enemy, or when one of Zedd's arrows found their mark, a corresponding scream of pain would come from the souls swirling inside the ghoul, still some steps above the party, but advancing slowly all the time. Noting this, Zedd turned for a moment and let fly a few arrows at the menacing presence, each dead on at the creature's chest. To his horror, however, the arrows simply passed through. He should've listened to his sister. And still the zombies swarmed on. As the trio continued to tire, the tone of the battle suddenly changed, as a zombie leapt forward, sending itself and WhiteShadow crashing to the stone floor. Suprised, WhiteShadow flung away his scimitars as he scrambled for purchase on the floor. The impact sent the swords skidding away, almost cutting off Zedd's legs at the knees. It also caused the contents of WhiteShadow's pack to spill out onto the floor. WhiteShadow could care less at the time, however, as the zombie washed the scent of death all over him, his own beak mere centimetres from the creature's own rotting nose. As WhiteShadow struggled with the zombie below them, Zedd and Yasmine were having troubles of their own. With their strength waning with every moment, and WhiteShadow's bulk no longer able to block off the stair way, they were soon to be overwhelmed. That's when Zedd looked down, and saw it. It took a split-second for him to take it all in; the double cast-iron barrel, the beautifully crafted wooden stock, right down to the small trigger. Kicking the zombie off of his ally, he then booted the shotgun into WhiteShadow's outstretched hands. Seeing it, WhiteShadow realised that he had forgotten all about the weapon since he salvaged it from the bartender that fateful night in Paseo. The zombie was swarming towards him again, but WhiteShadow simply pointed the shotgun right at its face and pulled the trigger. All that remained of the zombie's head after the explosion was a fine red mist. Scrambling to his feet, WhiteShadow fired left and right, the strange weapon and itspower causing the zombies to fall back. By the time a dry clicking sound came to WhiteShadow's ears, and he realised that whatever the shotgun ran on was all out, the zombies were gone. But the sweetness of victory was short-lived, as at that moment the ghoul chose to spring. The NeiChildren had never encountered such a creature before, and WhiteShadow only had biomonsters under his belt. Dealing with a monster they could barely see, and couldn't hit at all, was murder on the tired travellers. The ghoul leapt at them slowly, arcing through the air with ease. His hands melded into claws, and the souls swirling with him screamed a battle cry as he landed in front of his opponents. An evil smirk crossed his face as they began to cringe in fear, leaning away from his clawlike hands. WhiteShadow threw the shotgun at him lamely, the weapon flying through the ghouls form. "I'm going to enjoy this," the ghoul said, his voice hinting at a life of nobility; when he was alive. "Although you have all been weakened by the battle, it is evident from your stamina that you all have very strong life forces. And I'm sure you two strange creatures will provide a very unique taste." "Not strong enough, I don't have the strength for my purification technique." WhiteShadow whispered to his companions, kneeling slowly and retrieving his weapons. The four combatants stood facing each other. On one side, the ghoul emenated evil and fear. On the other, WhiteShadow stood, barely controlling his shaking hands. Yasmine prepared herslef slowly, torturously, knowing that this would be tough. Zedd notched another arrow to ihs bow, and prepared for battle against their seemingly insurmountable foe. |