The journey north was not too pleasant. More like a constant state of fearing for one’s life.
Sunset was quickly growing sore with moments in which she was bound and forced to march at gunpoint at the whims of other individuals, but these soldiers from Griffonstone were the worst yet. They weren’t shy about constantly hitting them with their rifle butts, throwing them their rotten portions of their rations for food, kicking and spitting them whenever they had the chance, and all together showing their constant disdain for them. It didn’t help that neither Sunset nor Twilight dared protest or even show the slightest sign of resistance. Gilda and her group were just itching for a reason to shoot them and, unlike Twilight, Sunset had nothing to offer them in exchange for keeping her alive.
It was funny, however. She figured without any Anima Viris she should have been more scared of them…
I guess after dealing with everything else trying to kill me, even Promethean Sigil bearers with guns aren’t that frightening.
Stygian and Little Violet could do little other than follow after them. Little Violet kept her head down, but Sunset noticed that Stygian looked up every chance he got. He was clearly studying the group—trying to find a means of escape whenever one could be found. It was a good thing Spike was such an obedient dog. At Twilight’s command, he hadn’t barked once on the entire trip. If he had, he probably would have been shot without hesitation.
It had been two days and they were now on the third, but while some of her companions wondered if they were being given the runaround, Gilda had faith in Twilight’s directions and let her continue to lead them on—provided they didn’t stop in any one place too long. Sunset had to admit, after this long, she was losing hope that Shining Armor and the others had picked up on their trail. Surely they would have done something by now. Nevertheless, whether they were behind them or not, she had no choice but to keep going with the rest.
However, as of late, there was something else that drew her attention: the land around them.
It wasn’t quite as overgrown as it had been over the past few days, but that wasn’t exactly cause for comfort. The trees weren’t so much thinning out as dying out, leaving dead trunks behind—many of which were dried and twisted. Some of them were so much so that they seemed impossible to have ever been real trees. The ground itself had lost all grass, sedges, and smaller vegetation; giving way to nothing but dry, wasted ground. It had been a horrible wasted tan at first, but now Sunset could swear it was turning gray.
Their surroundings that were slowly becoming revealed weren’t any more wholesome. As the trees thinned out, it revealed they were walking on a rocky landscape. One that seemed almost bizarre and unnatural. Rather than any gradual formations or even the aftermath of mountains or glaciers, the landscape looked like it was fractured and split; as if it had been some tile floor that a giant had stomped on in a rage. And it only grew more pronounced as the last tree turned into a dried, dead stick.
Sunset thought having an open area with no shadows would actually be a relief due to inability for Nighttouched to hide. Now she wasn’t so sure. Especially since it seemed to actually be getting darker in the middle of the day…
Apparently, her uneasy mood was mutual. Not only did Little Violet and Twilight get more nervous as they went along, but many of the Griffonstone soldiers began to look more uncomfortable. By the time the last of the dead trees had given way to only dead grass and shrubs, all of them did.
At last, one of the soldiers sided up to Gilda. By now it was so quiet due to lack of life and vegetation that everyone could hear when he spoke up. “Um…b-b-begging your pardon, captain…”
She sighed. “What is it, Gareth?”
“I…that is, me and some of the others…are kind of wondering what we hope to find out here in this wasteland.”
“I already told you: the Well of Shade.”
“Yeah, but…what exactly is that?”
She gave him an irritated look, but finally rolled her eyes and gestured around herself. “See all this ‘lovely’ real estate around here? This is the Hollow Shades.”
The moment Sunset heard that name, she looked up in some alarm. Twilight had her back to her and didn’t notice immediately, but Stygian and Little Violet did.
“Our informant from Equestria let us know that this place was where the heathen tribes of the north used to mine for ores and carry out their rituals before the Equestrian dynasty came to power. Apparently, they were pretty big into the whole human sacrifice thing. They killed dozens of people at a time at this place called the Well of Shade as offerings to whatever men in the sky they worshipped. Once the royal family stepped in they had the place covered up, but just by boulders. Nothing we can’t dig through. There’s supposedly the remains of thousands of people down there. With that kind of motherlode of souls, our informant says we’ll pick up dozens of Anima Viris at once. On that note…”
She wheeled fully around to Twilight, making her jump a little.
“Hey you. How much further until we reach that spot you claim you remember?”
Twilight stammered for a moment, for she had focused a lot on what Gilda had just said and, as a result, was left out of sorts. Yet before she could say a word, Sunset broke in.
“Don’t do it.”
Gilda halted, and with her the entire company. It was a good thing the Griffonstone soldiers were taken aback by her outburst, for they forgot to shoot her all together and simply stepped forward and drove their rifle butt into her stomach instead. With a loud “oof”, the wind was knocked out of her and Sunset was cast to the ground. Somehow, she managed to spread her knee and arm out to stop her from collapsing completely, instead being left hunched over and gasping.
Yet she only did so a moment before weakly forcing herself to look back up. “You…can’t go there…”
The soldier nearest her sneered, and raised his rifle to give her a black eye next.
“Hold on.”
The soldier spun to Gilda on hearing her speak up, but her eyes were fully on Sunset. She stepped closer before crossing her arms and looking down her nose at her—still stuck on the ground and recovering her breath.
“Oh we can’t, can we? Why not? Because you want to steal those souls from us first?”
“That place is bad. It’s covered up for a reason.”
“Is that so?” she smirked. “Well, you are the infamous Fire Witch and know so much about things we civilians just aren’t smart enough for, so suppose you tell us why that’s the case? Just so long as you don’t try anything funny.”
The guns immediately went out and aimed at her in unison. Sunset swallowed, finally regaining her breath, but found herself not intimidated into silence. While her voice was quiet and uneasy she managed to speak.
“My…my old instructor…she had books on places like this. She said when so many people died so horribly…their souls can’t possibly cross over ‘pure’.”
“Pure?”
“The book was in a dead language. I couldn’t get the context of all of it. But it said that the souls in the Hollow Shades are…are ‘bad’. ‘Angry’. ‘Sick’. She said you can’t use them for Anima Viris and that they shouldn’t even be disturbed. That’s why this place was covered up to begin with.” A pause. “And I would think that if someone who knew about the Anima Viris to begin with had a place filled with souls covered up that would mean something important.”
Sunset was a little surprised that she had the boldness to say that last part to armed soldiers, but even more surprised when it seemed to have effect. Several of the people around her appeared to take her words to heart, and actually looked a bit hesitant and uneasy.
Gilda, unfortunately, wasn’t one of them. She simply scoffed. “Give me a break.” She looked up to the others. “You’re actually buying these ghost stories? If any of those souls could really rise up and do something, then, last I checked, a ton of rocks wouldn’t be enough to stop one.” She turned back to Sunset. “Start thinking up a better story for the next time I want to hear you speak, Fire Witch. You’re not worth carrying around as baggage unless you can give us something like your friend here. On that note…”
She spun to Twilight. “Lead us on.”
The woman hesitated. “Um…actually…if what Sunset said is true and-”
Gilda’s eyes narrowed. “Shoot her little dog.”
At once, one of the soldiers spun to Spike and cocked his rifle. He took aim right at his head.
Twilight gaped in horror. “W-Wait, don’t--!”
Gilda quickly pushed the barrel to one side right before the soldier could pull the trigger, causing him to stop just in time, but she continued to glare at the mage. “Then shut up and get us to the well! Now!”
“Alright, alright!” she quickly answered. Taking a moment to compose herself, she swallowed before leading the way once again. “Just…just a bit further…”
Sunset was seized and yanked back to her feet rather roughly, but that wasn’t what left her looking and feeling uneasy. She couldn’t even share a look with Twilight before she was forced along once again with the others. However, her expression remained very uncomfortable now, and she kept her eyes on the ground and at her feet for the rest of the trip.
It turned out they didn’t have much farther to go. They couldn’t have walked more than two miles more, just to where the last of the vegetation gave way and where the rocky landscape rose on either side of them in such a way to cast shadows over them. Ones that seemed darker than they should have been for that time of day, even though it was already late afternoon. The end result was their path narrowed almost into a valley or canyon.
Ahead of them, on a broken off piece of land that lay underneath the rest of the ground upon which they stood, was the site. It certainly didn’t look like a well, or much of anything for that matter. It was only a pile of rubble that had long since been sitting there. Long enough to have been battered by the winds and rain, at any rate, although no moss or lichen had grown on it or anywhere else. Nevertheless, considering the location in the middle of the land and away from the rising rock on either side of them, it was clear that it had not been man made.
Gilda led them right onto the broken piece of land before halting. The rest of the company came to a stop around her. She eyed Twilight. “So this is the spot, huh?”
Twilight, who had only grown more uncomfortable looking after Sunset had spoken, nodded back.
“Seems right enough. Alright then…” She motioned behind her. “Digging crew…get up there and get to work. The rest of us will set up camp. Keep an eye on the five of them. I think we’re in the clear at this point, but let’s not jinx it now.” She spun around and eyed Twilight. “As for you…don’t say another word unless I speak to you from now on. This close to the prize I don’t want you pulling something now.” She turned to the others. “Same goes for the rest of you. Not. One. Peep.”
Sunset didn’t even dare sigh as she slumped and did as she was told.
Click-click-click. Clack-clack-clack. Clack-clack-clack. Clack-click.
“Hey!”
Stygian looked up from his work. While their captors didn’t afford them many amenities, they did allow them to make their own campfire at least…so long as they were carefully watched. The young soldier insisted on the one being in charge of making the fire every time they had stopped, although he hardly seemed that good at it. He could spend several minutes trying to light up a fire with the flint and steel they had been supplied and would make the most irritating sounds while emitting the sparks. And apparently he had once again earned their ire.
“Either get that damn fire going on shove it! We’re trying to sleep over here!”
“Hey!” another shouted. “Keep down that yelling! I’m trying to sleep!”
“But that’s what…gah!”
The angry guard simply fumed and went back to aiming his weapon at Stygian. Fortunately, he didn’t take much longer. A few more sparks and he finally got the fire going, and went about feeding it.
Sunset was a little too far to enjoy it. Gilda wasn’t taking any chances. While half of the soldiers had changed shifts and were continuing to work on excavating the well, the other half were only partially asleep while several of them continued to guard the group. They had made sure to keep them separated too. Sunset was seated on one side. Farther away was Stygian. Still farther was Little Violet. Finally, farthest away, was Twilight Sparkle. Too far away to mouth words to each other, pass messages, or risk whispers. Gilda was making sure they couldn’t make the smallest plan, and with guns in their faces they could barely risk asking to go to the bathroom.
They weren’t going anywhere. Something that Sunset was growing increasingly nervous about.
She could have sworn the air was still when they finally arrived at the well, and yet somehow it had grown more still and quiet the more they dug. Yet in spite of that, there was a cool…almost cold…feeling about them. And while it might have just been nightfall that was making it worse, in any event it was wearing on Sunset’s nerves the more time went on. Everything about this place felt wrong. Even the soldiers in Gilda’s company showed it by constantly looking around or shifting continuously in their attempts to sleep. Those digging were doing so very methodically as opposed to more earnestly tearing into it. They were feeling worse with each shovelful of rubble they moved out of the way too.
Yet there was no way out. Not for any of them. All Sunset had was that dumb helmet that she had been given. Gilda let her keep it as it made her stand out more than her fiery hair already did, but it wasn’t much good for getting them out of there. And she had no magic of her own to defend herself with or aide herself with either.
She almost sighed to herself as she glanced back over to her own guard. Normally he’d scowl at her if she looked at him, but that had been a few hours ago. Now he wasn’t nearly as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. His eyes were half lidded, his look was bored, and every so often he went ahead and let the rifle lower a bit as his own head nodded. He had tried to keep himself awake at first, but now he was frequently letting his head fall and even letting his eyes rest periodically.
Sure enough, Sunset by now had gotten it almost down to a science. When she looked back at the guard, he had once again lowered his head and let his eyes shut. In about fifteen seconds, she knew he’d jerk awake again and then repeat a new cycle.
Again, not that she could do anything. If she still had her powers, it would be the perfect opportunity for a sleep spell to finish the job. Then, while he was snoozing while sitting up, she could bring forth her fire to quickly deal with everyone else. She had no powers, though. She was helpless. She was the most useless member of the group right now and little more than baggage.
The time passed, and the soldier jerked himself awake, and Sunset turned her head away from him just as he did so. She patiently waited for two more minutes to pass, then looked back at him. He was nodding again and didn’t even notice. Again, the rifle barrel lowered and, again, his eyes shut. That started another, say, thirty seconds. Once again, she sat there and began to count as they passed by.
Only this time, a thought came to her head.
The rifle was lowered, and she was kneeling. She was in a fairly good position and distance to spring forward. If she moved quietly enough, she could actually lunge right at him and, before he knew what had hit him, it might be possible to put her arm around his neck. She had never tried it before herself, but she recalled from Flash Sentry’s own training how to quickly put someone into a sleeper hold. Choke them and pinch off the blood flow to the brain. Granted, she realized she’d likely fail…but this time she imagined herself carrying it out.
And as she imagined on, she pictured her odds of success. Fairly good, if she was fast enough. Most of the surrounding soldiers were asleep, and even the alert sentries were watching their own prisoners. So long as she kept him from making a noise, she could knock him out and it was likely no one would notice. Then she’d have a gun of her own. Of course, there was no way she could affect a rescue. All it would take was one gunshot to get herself shot dead where she stood.
But…with the guards around her lightly sleeping, she might be able to sneak away. There were only two behind her before she could escape to the Hollow Shades, and beyond that back into the forest. Then she could fire shots into the air—the very thing Gilda had been trying to avoid. Then she might attract the attention of Shining Armor or some of the other soldiers if they really had been following them that long, and then they might actually affect a rescue…
If she could only spring on him…if she could only carry out this first part…
She thought that at twenty seconds. Then ten. Then again at five.
Finally, the time came, and the guard jolted himself awake. This time, he found Sunset still staring at him, still hesitant.
He frowned and shoved the gun barrel hard enough to knock against her forehead. “Getting any stupid ideas in that head of yours?”
Sunset stared a moment longer, but finally frowned. Her look was one of resignation…and hopelessness. “…No.”
“Make sure you don’t or I’ll blow them clean out.”
She didn’t answer. She only sighed and turned back. Soon after, she lay down and struggled to get to sleep.
They didn’t have to wait too much longer the next morning.
A good thing too, because the air had changed. In spite of still being so quiet and still, there had to be wind high above them, because it had brought in clouds. Thick and puffy ones, heavy with moisture and rain and quickly expanding into anvil heads. Not long after that, the ones on the horizon began to turn very dark very fast. A true storm was coming in. Yet while it made the air much cooler and everyone could see the clouds racing and churning above them, it was still perfectly quiet and still below. That made everyone uneasy this time. Even Gilda. Yet she was determined to get in and, pushing her soldiers on, they finally brought down a mattock in just the right spot. As a result, a rush of air blasted out that everyone in the area heard.
“We found it! Everyone gather around!”
Soon, Twilight, Sunset, and their three companions found themselves forced to their feet again and marched closer to the well, which was now being pulled at more rigorously to fully excavate the entrance. Apparently, the Griffonstone soldiers had been waiting for this, because they redeployed all around it and all were alert with their weapons, including the ones surrounding the five of them. They could only stand and watch as the sky grew darker yet and the soldiers pulled enough of the loose rubble aside to reveal a dark, cavernous hole leading down into blackness.
Gilda nodded at it. “Looks like a well to me. Alright, we’re going in. Including those two.”
To Twilight and Sunset’s surprise, she had motioned to both of them. “Wha…us?”
“Did I stammer? You knew how to get here, didn’t you? And you tried to tell us to leave? What’s to say you won’t find a way to steal another Anima Viri right out from under us the first chance you get? I want to keep my eye on you.”
The five could do nothing but comply as they were separated, and both Twilight and Sunset had their arms bound behind them. Spike didn’t care for that but, fortunately, the area was unsettling everyone so much that they merely struck him rather than shot him when he barked. Little Violet continued to look anxious, but when Sunset and Twilight glanced at Stygian, they saw he was remaining remarkably calm and composed. They would have thought this a bit odd, but there was little time to dwell on it before they were pushed up to the well entrance.
The opening appeared to go into nothing more than a dark, empty hole, but a simple throwing of a firebrand down into it soon revealed that it extended downward about three stories before terminating. A few more firebrands were flung down to make sure nothing was living there before the Griffonstone soldiers began to lower ropes. Even if Sunset and Twilight were capable of descending on ropes, they were bound in such a way to render that impossible, so two of the bigger soldiers grudgingly tied them to their backs. However, Gilda was down first, and three other soldiers descended before their own finally climbed to the side and began to lower them down.
Even the descent was nerve-wracking. It was nothing but a tight, thin shaft of darkness, into an area that was cold and had a stink to it that Sunset couldn’t describe. It wasn’t necessarily mold or rot, but it was something dank and unwelcome. The trip may have not lasted long but she immediately wanted out of there as soon as they hit the bottom. Unfortunately, as she was untied from the soldier’s back, she didn’t see much in the way of a welcome sight.
The firebrands were still burning and some oil lanterns had been brought down, but the entire area was still covered with shadows and gloom. Mostly that was because of the rather hideous and grotesque images on the walls all around them—stone reliefs untouched by time. They were of many ghastly things and horrendous sights, including people being devoured by large monsters or being hacked to pieces by gruesome figures. Some of them were simply large, monstrous faces. Worst of all was that they found themselves in some sort of central hub area with a grooved floor. Additional hallways opened into more darkness all around them, and the hollow sound that Sunset heard from them was almost like that of monstrous breathing.
She clearly wasn’t alone in her fears. Twilight was practically shivering when she was let down to stand as well, glancing about rather nervously. The soldiers that arrived, including a last two to follow up, quickly turned on all of their lights and spread as much firebrands around as they could, but even when they were done they still shrank from the shadows and looked about nervously. Even Gilda, the boldest of all of them, couldn’t quite hide her own unease as she only slowly looked around and advanced in the hub area.
Sunset herself was forced back against one somewhat roughly, and she was a bit testy as she found herself forced back so hard her hands rubbed against the stone. The reliefs had some sharp edges on them. Almost sharp enough to cut…
Cut…
The thought made her pause. Again, a trace of those thoughts from last night began to come to mind. She told herself again how crazy it would be to try and escape. There was nowhere to go and nothing she could do. She’d be shot in an instant.
And yet, even as she kept telling herself that, she found herself hesitantly moving her bonds up and beginning to rake them along the stone as quietly and subtly as she could.
Gilda took a few steps forward, looked about at the bas reliefs, the channels, and the dark hallways all about them. The area was deathly silent. Foreboding. Unwelcoming.
She took a deep breath. “You know what this place is missing? Bones.”
A few of the soldiers looked a bit unnerved. Twilight and Sunset glanced to each other uncomfortably, even as the latter kept working. One of the Griffonstone soldiers finally spoke. “Um…bones, ma’am?”
“Yes, bones. Our informant said hundreds of people had been killed by throwing them down here. So where are the bones? Or have they got rats down here so big and nasty that they ate them all up, bones at all?”
No one had an answer for that. It was a valid point, but not a terribly welcome one. Especially as the empty, dark halls seemed to howl again in the wake of her statement. Like they were…hungry.
She exhaled at last and then turned back to the others. “Ok. You and you…you’re with me. Let’s start with that passage right there.” She gestured to one, although she didn’t immediately move toward it.
The soldiers looked almost shocked. “P…Pardon me, ma’am?”
She frowned. “You don’t see any bones around here, do you? Any trinkets? Memorial stones? Any remains at all? Nothing here to get any souls from. We got to find some remains. Now hurry up. I don’t want to spend another second down here longer than I have to.”
The feeling seemed to be mutual, even if, so long as they were forced to stay down there, the soldiers would prefer to be where the rope leading back up was. At last, however, they brandished their weapons and began to move toward Gilda. Only when they were at her side did she have enough of her own bravery to turn to start walking…
She paused, however, and looked back. Seeing that, Sunset looked as well, almost thinking she had been caught, but then realized she was staring at Twilight, who had her hand raised.
“…Yes?”
She lowered it, but Sunset saw the look on her face. And in spite of the darkness of the chamber, she could see it was pale.
“We need to leave here now, cover up the entrance, and never come back.”
The grave seriousness of how she practically exhaled these words was enough to unnerve the soldiers again. Even Gilda looked it, which in turn only made her angrier. “Just shut up and stand there.”
“No, you don’t understand,” Twilight said more forcefully. “We need to leave here now, cover up the entrance, and never come back. I’m serious!”
“I told you to keep quiet.”
“Look!” she reached out and pointed ahead of them on the hub. Sunset looked along with the others. To be honest, she was so unnerved by the place that she was trying to avoid looking around it too much by now. Yet on looking back, she noticed that this was of a horrible, dripping visage. Some abomination of shadows that was corrupting everything in its wake. Nothing but tangible evil.
And then it hit her. That’s…just like one of the murals Twilight told me about.
“That…that thing right there? That’s what’s down here! And it’s not something you can command or control! It’s horrible! It’s pure evil!”
This unnerved the Griffonstone soldiers even more, making Gilda frown. “I said shut up!”
“No, you have to listen to me! You had to have felt it when you opened this place up! The air changed! You can actually feel that it’s down here! That it’s exposed now! That means other things are going to know that it’s here too!”
Gilda scowled. “What the hell do you mean ‘other things’?”
Twilight hesitated a moment, once more put on the spot, but then she swallowed and continued. “Listen, that’s not important right now. What is important is that we get out of here as fast as we can before one of us does get that Anima Viri down here. Because if one of us gets it, the result is going to be something just as bad as Nightmare Moon was! Maybe worse!” She pointed again to the mural. “That thing you’re seeing over there? It’s going to be real!”
She grit her teeth and hissed. “I don’t have time for this…” she said as she started to reach for her sidearm.
“You have to listen to me! No one can ever get the Anima Viri that’s down here! That’s why it was covered up to begin with!”
“I should have done this the moment you got us here,” Gilda retorted as she raised her weapon and cocked the barrel, pointing it right at Twilight. She gaped, but only recoiled a little. “I don’t know what game you’re playing at, but you’re the only threat around here! And now you’re trying to freak out me and my soldiers! That makes you a liability! And here’s how I get rid of liabilities…”
Sunset gasped and stammered. Her mind went wild, trying to think of something to do but too panicked to do anything. Instinctively, she only began to rub her hands against the stone harder than before. Twilight could only stand there helplessly, already surrounded by other weapons and looking down a gun barrel.
A gunshot broke the silence. Specifically, multiple gunshots.
The Griffonstone soldiers turned their heads skyward, up to the opening from where the noise had echoed down. Sunset had to admit she was among them, just as stunned as the others. There weren’t too many bullets. Definitely not enough to kill all of the Griffonstone soldiers. What more, a distant thunderclap soon drowned out the rest of it.
Then her mind clicked.
She spun back down, only to see that Twilight had been waiting for this moment far more eagerly than her. She was already completing a sigil behind her back and soon executed it, and Sunset could do nothing except quickly rush over to her side. The Griffonstone soldiers noticed their mistake in taking their eyes off of her a second later, especially when she spoke out, but it was too late. She snapped around just as the sigil burst into a thick mist that quickly billowed out around the area, and which Sunset herself just barely managed to avoid. It quickly stretched out and seeped into the eyes and nostrils of the Griffonstone soldiers, and in moments their eyes were rolling back before they moaned and began to pass out.
All save one, that was. Whether it was due to mental fortitude or luck on covering her mouth with her free hand, Gilda planted her feet and managed to withstand it. However, when it was done, she didn’t bother going for her gun. Instead, her hand raised into the air bearing her Promethian Sigil.
“Member of my house, I command you to come to me!”
Sunset winced…and at the moment, strained so much, that she pulled her hands apart and heard a snap. She realized, much to her shock, that she had successfully freed herself. She glanced at Twilight, but saw that she was just as caught off guard. She struggled to stretch her own hands out so that she could summon her own power, wrenching and pulling at her bonds, but was caught too firmly. Gilda would finish first. Sunset spun back to her as she started to complete the incantation.
“Final Monarch—King-!”
She was cut off as a fist swung out from underneath her head, connected with her chin, and slammed it down on her own tongue.
Gilda cut off with a gagging noise, before quickly reaching for her mouth in shock. Sunset, in the meantime, was white as a sheet. She had no idea how she found the bravery to do that. Gilda was a mercenary who could kill someone like her in an instant, especially powerless. How had she ever managed to bravery to make even a halfway decent, awkward swing at her? She was fortunate it had done as much damage as it had. As it was, Sunset was now breathing heavily and unable to do more.
Fortunately, she didn’t have to. Stunned and in pain, Gilda tried to finish her incantation, but it came out as a half-mumble before Twilight crying out, just managed to twist her hand free and, with a bit of blood, ripped it out of her bond from behind her. Quickly, she finished her own incantation. An explosion of light and energy later, and she was in the form of the Caster. She had no wand, but immediately lifted both of her hands up and aimed them at Gilda. Her fingers were primed to start generating another spell.
“If you try anything, I’ll have a spell off before you can do it.”
Just about recovered, the woman sneered at her, but realized she was stuck. “Bitch…”
“Throw your gun down.”
Gilda glared back at her.
“I mean it.” Her fingertips began to etch symbols in the air.
“Fine, fine…whatever…” She reluctantly tossed it down to the ground.
“Kick it to Sunset.”
She sneered, but did as she was told. It dinged against the woman’s foot and she was left immobile for several more seconds before she finally snapped out of it long enough to bend down and pick it up. Soon after, shaking a bit, she aimed it at the mercenary, making sure to stay too far for her to grab it.
Twilight continued to aim a moment longer, before she glanced back over her shoulder for the entrance. She took a step backward, closer to it, but before she could listen any more she heard a voice calling down.
“Twilight? Sunset? Are you alright?”
It was Stygian’s voice. Sunset glanced back slightly, but never took the gun off of Gilda. Twilight swallowed and backed up enough to be directly under the opening, and finally risked a look upward. She caught just a glimpse of him looking down into the well.
“S…Stygian?”
“Are you two alright?”
She was a bit surprised to hear his nonchalant response, but she managed a nod as she looked back to the Griffonstone soldier. “We’re fine. I knocked out everyone but Gilda but we have a gun on her. What’s going on up there? What happened?”
“We’ve got them pinned for the moment, but we should hurry up and get out of here. Both of you need to get up here as fast as you can.”
Both ladies looked confused. “Wait…‘we’? We who?”
“Shining Armor and the others.”
Both Twilight and Sunset looked amazed. They nearly exchanged a glance with one another, before Twilight knew the obvious…that they were outnumbered and outgunned, thanks to Griffonstone’s Anima Viris. Nevertheless, Stygian looked and sounded completely confident.
“It’s all over. I’ve been passing messages to them this whole time. By now, they have a bead on the heads of every last one of the soldiers up here.”
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again. She had nearly ruined it. Sunset understood when she did that. It seemed the shots were either opening fire or warning shots. She knew full well they didn’t have enough people on their side to take out all of them like that, but Stygian and, apparently, Shining Armor were bluffing. The situation was tenuous indeed. Nevertheless, Twilight couldn’t help but call out in curiosity. “But how? We haven’t been able to even mouth things to each other for three days!”
“I used the flint and steel to signal off in telegraph code when I was setting up our nightly campfires, but that’s not important right now. Just hurry up and get out of there! We need to retreat!”
Sunset and Twilight were both honestly stunned for a moment. Neither of them had thought to do that. However, after a moment, the latter swallowed and nodded. “Right.” She glanced toward Sunset briefly before aiming her hands at Gilda again. “Uh…well…who goes first?”
“I-I-I don’t know…”
“Can you climb up a rope?”
“I…think so…”
“Well, I know I can’t, so I guess you better go before me.”
Sunset found herself hesitating. She even nearly protested. However, she couldn’t argue with the simple logic. Grimacing, she reluctantly pulled away the gun and then switched the safety pin back on before tucking it in her pocket. After that, she made her way back over to the rope and grasped it. However, she didn’t pull on it right away. Instead she extended it out and began to wrap it around Twilight’s waist.
She looked confused. “What are you doing?”
“You can’t very well keep her from climbing back out of here while you’re trying to learn to climb it. We’ll pull you up with the end of it.”
Twilight realized that was true and nodded back. After a moment Sunset had her tied, and then took back on the slack. “Just make sure you grip it hard with something between your hands and the rope. We don’t want to cut into you pulling you out.”
“I’ll be fine. Just hurry.”
Taking a deep breath, Sunset looked back up the hole, gripped the rope, and started to climb. If it had just been the rope itself, she wouldn’t have gotten very far. Yet using it as a starting fulcrum, she managed to elevate her legs enough to just start scraping the sides of the overhead entry. It took her a little while, but she found enough purchase to force herself upward and, eventually, she wormed her way up enough to be braced in the tunnel with her legs to the corridor. After that she was able to finally start climbing her way back up. Struggling not to look down the whole way (fortunately her helmet helped with that), she gradually made it back to the opening.
As soon as she was close enough, Stygian reached down and grasped her hand. It took him a bit of effort, but he managed to just pull her back over the lip and out into the open. She used the moment to take a look around. The sky was darker now—punctuated by another thunderclap. The Griffonstone soldiers had all frozen in place. Each one was standing and their weapons were on the ground, as they looked about their surroundings. Desolate as they were, there were plenty of uneven bits of terrain and loose rocks to provide hiding places. They truly had no idea how many people were there.
Little Violet was up and had claimed one of the rifles for her own, holding it to the nearest soldier. Stygian had rearmed himself but wasn’t aiming at the moment. Spike was finally free to growl at everyone around him. Finally, Shining Armor himself was approaching, keeping his own gun out and trained on each soldier as he moved around.
He neared the two of them just as Sunset got back onto terra firma. “Where’s Twily? Is she ok?”
She nodded. “Gilda didn’t fall under her sleep spell, though. She’s holding her back at the moment. We need to pull her up.”
He nodded back. “Right.” He turned and looked around. “Company! If any of them make a move, drop them!”
“You got it!” a voice that sounded like Boysenberry’s yelled back enthusiastically. “Hear that, all of you?! We’ll mow you down like grass if you twitch too much!”
Sunset winced slightly. “…Getting a little into it, isn’t she?” she muttered quietly.
“Just so long as it makes them think we have an army with us.”
The two made it back to the edge of the hole. While Little Violet and Stygian moved to guard duty, Shining Armor quickly grabbed the rope and began to brace himself. “Twily?”
“Shining Armor?”
“Grab onto the rope! We’re pulling you up now!”
“O…ok! Just…be fast!”
Shining Armor didn’t answer but quickly grabbed the rope and positioned himself against the well. He proceeded to plant his feet against the rough side of it, grip the rope tight, and get ready to use his entire body as a lever along with his legs to pull up on it. Spike, now likewise freed, ran over and gripped the end in his teeth for whatever help he could offer. Nevertheless, it was just one rope against the edge of a stone, and Sunset saw it.
A moment later, and she went up behind him, took up the other end of the rope from between him and Spike, and readied herself to pull as well.
He looked up to her and stared; not moving. She looked a little uneasily back, but then shrugged. “I…figured you can act as the ‘ratchet’ while I pull. If…if you don’t mind.”
There was some lingering distrust in the back of his eyes. However, he finally gave a slow nod. Without another word, he looked back to the rope.
With that in mind, both got into position. Sunset herself laced the rope around her arms, planted her feet, and then let herself fall backward, using herself as a lever. Shining Armor winced a bit as the rope ran over his hands, but he managed to grip it, and Sunset’s odd gesture had managed to pull up about half a meter. She quickly twisted the rope up, got into position again, and did it again, more cleanly. This time, she pulled up a whole meter. The third time, it was getting more mechanical and pulled another meter. The fourth time it was getting painful, but also more routine.
That, unfortunately, is when they heard Twilight give a start. A moment later, she called out again. “Uh…pull faster, if you can!”
“What’s wrong?” Shining Armor came back.
“While I was being pulled just now she broke away and ran into a side tunnel! I can hear her chanting right now!”
A clatter was heard nearby. Sunset looked up, seeing Stygian dropped his rifle and quickly got behind Sunset and grabbed the rope behind Spike. “Let’s hurry!”
There was no time to check and see if any of the other Griffonstone soldiers were taking advantage of this. Instead, all four of them shifted and began to pull together. After “ratcheting” the rope again, they didn’t bother feeding it back again but instead all pulled as one. They slowly walked back and away from the well, pulling Twilight up continuously with it. After a few seconds, they finally saw Twilight’s hands reach out and begin to fumble around for the top. She grasped the edge, and Shining Armor responded by loosening the rope and quickly running up to the side. As Sunset and Stygian held, he grasped Twilight’s hand and started to yank her out. Soon, her hat and upper body came over the edge, and the rest of her was soon pulled over the lip…
Just at that moment, however, Gilda’s body in the Role of the Disciple popped out of the top and proceeded to belt Shining Armor in the face.
He was smacked away from the well like chaff; sent flying out and over to Sunset and Stygian. The former winced and ran to one side, but the latter didn’t have the chance to move before he collided with him and took them both to the ground. Twilight herself cried out and spilled onto the ground. Little Violet looked up in alarm, and unfortunately that was all that the surrounding soldiers needed. In a flash, they ducked to the ground, threw themselves down, and took up their weapons again. In moments, three of them had their rifles—with one on Stygian, one on Shining Armor, and one on Sunset.
Gilda herself was perched over the entrance to the well, fists tight and not looking happy at all. She glowered down over Twilight, who just now got enough of her bearings to look up to her—as if daring her to try a spell.
“I could have rappelled my way back out of that tunnel before I had my own Anima Viris,” she scoffed. Without looking up, she held her hand up to the others. “Splatter their brains.”
Shining Armor grunted and looked up, only to find a gun in his face. Stygian winced as he saw much the same was happening to him. Little Violet sweat, having her weapon trained on one soldier but now finding the tides had turned. And Sunset, under her own gun barrel, knew full well that whoever was covering them now had to be panicking about who to hit first. Fortunately, because their opponents didn’t know that, they were hesitating too. As it was, she mentally debated whether or not to reach for her recently-claimed weapon…
“Captain!”
The voice of one of her fellow comrades made Gilda groan in irritation. “Oh, what is it now, Gareth?!”
“Southwest!”
She hissed but looked up from Twilight and glanced in that direction. Yet what she saw seemed to make her forget about the mage, because she was soon glued to it. The other soldiers started to look as well and they likewise went rigid. Not liking the looks of that, Sunset, Twilight, and the others turned and finally looked too.
Twilight gasped. “Oh no…he’s here!”
The surrounding Griffonstone soldiers weren’t able to ask what she meant by that. They were too busy looking at the swarm of Nighttouched creatures with gleaming red, green, and purple eyes coming on top of the nearest hill, numbering in the hundreds, and the great billowing cloud of darkness that filled the air with even more gloom than the coming storm over their heads.
Especially when the cloud itself formed a similar pair of malevolent, red, green, and purple eyes.