//------------------------------// // Last Spark of Hope, Part Three: Darkened journey. // Story: A New Tale In Equestria. // by Sylif Daring Doo //------------------------------// The first thing we did was get moving, we didn't know what was down there, but we weren't going to be caught off guard, So we made our way through the the several rooms, making good time clearing the rooms of puzzles and what not. _____*Back then.*_____ Golden walked around the next room, it seemed to be a training area of some kind, but it was abandoned, or gave the appearance of it. He heard some whirring behind him and noticed that Shade had pulled a lever. "Seriously?" He asked out of disbelief. Shade shrugged. "What?.....it can't be that bad." He pointed out. Just as Shade finished that sentence, grinding of stone was heard and the floor at the center of the room opened up, it soon stopped and more grinding was heard, and out from the floor came a giant golem, it was made of gray stone and seemed to be decaying, it had two bulky arms and two moderately sized legs, it's body was thick and tough, it stopped rising at the new platform arrived at base level, a shield formed around it, one that Lyaroa informed was invulnerable. "Shade, I hate you." Golden commented. Fang and Shade ran up and readied themselves for a fight as the golem came to life, the shield vanished and the golem immediately began attacking. Golden drew his staff and swung at the golem, it impacted but it didn't even faze the golem, it instead looked at him and a panel in its arm opened up revealing flame jets. "Fuck." Golden cursed as he quickly jumped away from the flames. Shade charged up at the golem and infused his arm with some power, he waited as the golem went to strike and jumped up, he then slammed his fist into the golems head. The golems head went down into its body but otherwise there was no damage, it reached up and pulled its head back up before spinning with flames going everywhere, Shade was hard pressed to dodge, as were the others. Fang decided to take a similar approach and charged the golem, but instead he continued charging the front, even as the golem swung at him, Fang simply maneuvered around the attacks, he soon was within striking distance, he quickly threw a punch at the golems chest. The punch did not go as expected, Fang immediately pulled his hand away and tried to back off, the impact felt as though he punched solid iron with no muscle at all, the golem simply batted him aside. Golden looked around and soon noticed something, Roxanne and Lyaroa were missing, he looked around again and saw them.....sitting? "What are you doing!?.....help us out!" He shouted. Lyaroa pointed up and materialized some popcorn for the two of them, Golden looked up and saw something odd, it looked like something straight out of a game, the boss had a portrait and it showed that it had ninety seven percent health left, he look a little over, it showed him, Shade and Fang. "Fighters three out of three?......I'm at full, Shade is a little damaged, and Fang is seriously damaged.......what?" He muttered in confusion. Golden then looked at Lyaroa. "You cannot be fucking serious!" He complained. [1] Lyaroa gave him a thumbs up and watched the action. _____*The present.*_____ Fang looked skeptically at Golden. "I'm calling bullshit." He said, clearly not buying it. "It's true actually, besides, can you deny that Lyaroa would do that?" Roxanne asked. Fang was going to respond but then he remembered Lyaroa's personality. "You got me there." He allowed. "As I was saying." Golden continued. _____*Returning to the fight.*______ Golden charged the golem again and gave it a few strikes in its chest before being forced to fall back, he looked around and saw Fang getting himself back up shakily. 'I don't think he can withstand another hit.' He thought before evading a wave of fire. Shade charged up an energy blast in his hand as he charged the golems rear, the machine quickly spun around and swung its arm down at him, Shade nimbly dodged it and jumped up, the golem looked up at him, he grinned and threw the blast at the golems face. The blast impacted directly but Shade was soon repelled as the golem swung and its arm impacted directly on Shade's ribcage. Shade flew and impacted on the wall his spine severely damaged, he landed hard on the floor and did his best to avoid screaming in pain. The golem then turned to face Golden, it's head was incredibly damaged, all that was visible was a small cube where it's head should be. Golden growled and charged the golem, intending to end the fight before something worse happened. The golem unleashed torrents of fire everywhere, thankfully, Golden noticed shields form around him and the others, he grinned. 'Thanks Lyaroa.' He said mentally. Golden charged through the flames and quickly unleashed a short series of strikes, he then leapt up and swung down at the cube. The staff struck and shattered the cube on impact, the golem then let out a mechanical scream as it soon fell over lifeless. Golden fell to the floor and dropped the staff next to him he grunted and got himself up, he looked around and saw that Lyaroa was mending Fang and Shade's wounds, he sighed in relief as the two would live. 'They can't be so damn headstrong all the time....it's going to blow up in their face.' He thought. Golden went to look away but noticed something odd about Lyaroa, he looked closer and saw it.....as the injures on the two wolves healed, her fur became bloodstained, scratches and burn marks appeared as well. 'Odd.' He thought as he walked away. ____*The present.*____ "As we left the room, I asked her about it, she said it was some weird balance thing, at least that way, she could heal herself up quickly with her powers." Golden said. Fang looked at Lyaroa who didn't seem to be recovering from her state of shock. "Keep going." ____*In the past,*____ The group made their way through the empty halls beyond the training area, they soon found themselves in an enormous room filled with torches and winding pathways. "Let's keep moving" Lyaroa said. They made good progress through the room, which seemed to be more like a cavern then anything, but as they did, Roxanne noticed something odd, the torches were going out, but only as they progressed, she grabbed a torch off a wall that was low enough and continued moving. Soon however, they reached a large door, and Fang went about opening it, as he did, Roxanne noticed that the torches behind them quickly extinguished. Then the room was dark. "Ok Lyaroa, undo the prank." Golden said. "I didn't do it!" Was her reply. Roxanne sighed and lit her torch. "Calm down, we have this torch at least." She said. With only a single torch to guide them, the group slowly made their way through the cavern after Fang opened the door. "Who is it this time?......strangers from beyond?" Came a dark and creepy voice. Everyone looked around, but saw nothing. "Can you see me?......no? hah hah hah, not that it would help you now." The voice chuckled darkly as the group continued. "You thought that you could enter our domain unnoticed.....no, no one has left this place intact, you will not be the first." Came the voice again as they moved around a corner. The group soon came across what appeared to be ruins, they looked around curiously but never stopped moving. "The children hunger......hah hah hah, it has been so long since they had someone new." The voice continued. Roxanne found that term odd, the term 'children' implied living creatures, but she could see none. The group soon entered a plaza like room, it was odd too see, but what was strange was the stuff they saw on the walls, it was black goop, almost like a slime, Lyaroa even looked disturbed. "We should not be here." The Sentinel said. They moved to the only open door but more of that goop showed up. "Not so fast visitors......the children must feed, and you are the main course......hah hah hah hah." The voice said. Roxanne watched as humanoid creatures made up of shadows emerged, they marched slowly advanced on the group, but were quickly dealt with by Golden, as they showed little speed of strength. The wall of goop dissipated and the group continued forward. "I wonder how long you can hold out, the children are unending, they want you to join us in darkness." The voice chuckled once again and more of the shadow creatures appeared. The group began to fight but were quickly surrounded by the creatures, Roxanne ignited Death and swung, the shadows dissipated just as Death got close. "That's it." Roxanne mumbled in realization. Roxanne quickly sheathed her blades and built up large amounts of fire. "Get down!" She called out. The group quickly ducked down as Roxanne unleashed a single wave of fire that lit up the room. "Let's get going!" She shouted to the group as she ran. The group made amazing progress through the cavern as Roxanne carried the torch, however their progress was halted as a horrifying figure appeared before them, it was black as night with only a few silver spots on it, it had two long arms with claw like hands, it had two strong legs holding it up, it's head looked like it was torn apart, the only real identifying figures of it, were two glowing silver eyes, and razor sharp teeth. "You dare harm the children!......you will pay for this!" The voice threatened angrily. As if on cue, swarms of shadow creatures rose up and immediately began marching at the group, they defended themselves but it didn't seem to matter, they continued rising. "Kill them, drown them in darkness!" The creature ordered. Roxanne threw a fireball at the creature, but it simply reappeared somewhere else. "No matter how hard you fight, the result will be the same." The creature said, now oddly calm for whatever reason. Lyaroa quickly took out some more shadows, and looked back at everyone else. "We need to get out!" She said in a panic as she fought off more of them. Fang took another one out. "Any ideas?" He asked. Roxanne grumbled. "Let's see if it works again." She quickly threw a wave of fire in a random direction, sure enough, the shadows dissipated. "This way!" She called out. Everyone followed Roxanne as she ran through the cavern, eventually they reached a set of stairs leading up to a barrier, and just then, a cold wind passed by, blowing out the torch. "Damnit, not the light! anything but the light!" They heard Lyaroa say fearfully. [2] Roxanne attempted to call on her fire, but found herself unable. "What the hell?" she muttered. The grinding of stone was heard followed by slight moments of light, Fang had found some rocks and was attempting to start a fire, it wasn't until the fifth attempt that the torch ignited. "Ok, we just need to keep moving." He said before walking to the now nonexistent barrier. They made their way carefully through the caverns, whatever it was that was following them seemed to be gone, they soon approached a drop off and they jumped down one by one. "You alright Lyaroa?" Shade asked as Roxanne jumped down. Lyaroa held her face for a moment before taking a quick breath. "Yea, go on, I'll be right behind you." She replied. Shade gave Lyaroa a skeptical glare before nodding and jumping down. Lyaroa was now the last one to jump she took another breath before looking to jump. "Come on!" She heard Golden call. The group watched as Lyaroa went to jump, they watched as she turned around and gave a startled jump. "Oh no." Lyaroa said quietly. A wave of shadows launched forth, surrounding Lyaroa instantly and dragging her away. "No!....no!....nooo!" She screamed before becoming silent. "Lyaroa!" The group called out, Fang quickly tried to climb back up but the goop was far too slippery. Golden growled and started walking. "Let's go." He said firmly. "You want to leave her behind!?" Fang shouted out of hate. Golden looked back at Fang with glowing eyes. "It's obvious that those shadows aren't going to let you go back, so shut up and follow until we CAN do something." He ordered before continuing. Fang scoffed and kicked a nearby rock. "Damnit." He muttered. The group made their way through the caverns, now one member short, they were now far more cautious than before. Soon, they reached a large corridor with four doors, one they came through, two blocked by debris, and one with a destroyed door. "Let's keep moving." Golden said as he drew his staff and used it as a walking stick. Roxanne drew Life and Death while Fang and Shade went on alert, soon they heard an all too familiar voice. "You are far too late to save her now!" Taunted the creature. As the group entered the next room cautiously, they saw something they never would have expected, Lyaroa was on a platform of some kind, covered in the shadows, her eyes were closed and she didn't seem to be breathing, her arms and legs were immobile as she knelt there. The creature appeared next to the Sentinel and chuckled darkly. "It's incredible, what the mind does to the body and soul, it can take away all of your strength, it can even make you unable to fight, it can even cause you to scream in fear.....just at the sight of blood." It said as it places it's hand on Lyaroa's head. "Get away from her!" Shade shouted before charging, only for waves of shadow creatures to bar his way, the creature continued speaking however. "I wonder, how is it that a being so powerful, can be afraid of something so insignificant?.....but It should be interesting, to see how she handles the possibility of her own death." The creature chuckled and dissipated itself, the shadows forming it fusing with Lyaroa. [3] And to the groups surprise, the shadows vanished, everything seemed to leave, the creatures, the goop, even the creature from before was silent. "What just happened?" Roxanne asked. Fang said nothing as he ran up to Lyaroa and checked to see if she was alive. Everyone walked up, just as they got close, Fang looked back. "She's alive, or at the least she's breathing." He said. Golden sent a psychic pulse through the room, nothing.....no more creatures. "Odd......regardless, we need to get that thing out of Lyaroa." He said. Roxanne looked at the bear. "And HOW would you suggest we do that?" She wondered. "The shadows seem to be made up of magic infused with some strange variation of necromancy and familiar magic." He pointed out. Shade tapped his chin and soon he looked at Golden. "I'm no expert on magic, so what does that mean?" He asked. Golden sighed. "It means that the creature is bound to her whether she likes it or not, but it's probably protected itself so that it can't be removed without serious harm to Lyaroa." He paused. "But, if we could bind it correctly, it might be useful." He continued. Fang gave the bear a skeptical look. "Um, yea, how could it possibly be helpful?....look what it did to us." He countered. Golden walked over and set his hand on the Sentinel's forehead. "I have an idea, but it'll be difficult, and kinda painful for both of them." He said. "Tell us." Roxanne said. "If I do this correctly, I can force the creature to surrender any control over her, but it will bind it to her forever, or until we can remove it safely, or safely enough that the damage will be fixable, it will take time however, and I'm sure that these shadows won't like that." Golden explained. "Get it over with.....we'll guard you." Shade said. Golden nodded and began channeling psychic energy into Lyaroa, he also channeled some magic as well, though it wasn't much. Much to the groups relief, no shadows came, which was odd considering what they were doing, Golden felt a surge of resistance from inside but knew what it was, he felt intense pain from channeling, indicating that he was low on magic energy, he gritted his teeth and continued. As the ritual thing came to an end after ten minutes, Golden sighed and stood up slowly, he used his staff to support himself. "I hope I won't have to do that again for a while." He said as he stretched his muscles. Fang knelt down and picked Lyaroa up, he carried her on his back, her arms were over his shoulders and he held her up with his hands. "Let's get going." He said. With that, everyone left, they soon reached a door and went passed it, but once they did, they heard Lyaroa start breathing louder again, followed by a light groan. "What happened?" She asked groggily Shade was about to talk when Golden stopped him. "The shadow creatures are gone." He said easily. Lyaroa sighed in relief and rested her head on Fang's neck and wrapped her arms closer. "Cool, wake me when we reach Lonres or something closer to nice." She said quietly before falling unconscious again. [4] They made their way through the new area, which was little more than a forest like area, strange considering the mountain wasn't anywhere near a forest, and that the forest was INSIDE the mountain. ______*The present.*_____ "The one thing we all noticed, but didn't want to say at the time, was that we saw a puddle of that goop form behind us, Roxanne quietly incinerated it, but it was odd regardless." Golden said. Fang looked at Lyaroa, who seemed much calmer now, but not speaking. "Did she ever find out?" He wondered. Shade nodded. "Yea, she found out the truth, but Golden felt that it would be better to keep it secret for a while until she was ready to hear it." He answered. Fang sighed and rubbed her eyes and looked at Golden. "So, what happened next?" He asked.