Sombra awoke in a fair bit of pain. Certainly not the worst he had ever felt, but every part of him ached. His head was especially bothersome, but Sombra opened his eyes at the sound of talking.
They were familiar voices. The voice of a mare Sombra couldn't immediately place, and Spike's unmistakably deep voice.
As soon as Sombra heard Spike he remembered where he was and rose from the spot.
Spike and Daring were sitting across from each other, both looking a bit worse for the ware. Spike seemed to be clutching his right side and a bandaged arm, while Daring's wing was nearly devoid of feathers. Even so, the pair seemed to be talking as if this were some sort of social event.
The dragon saddle and the bags were strewn about, most likely a result of Spike searching for the medical supplies.
Ahuizotl lie battered and broken behind Spike, bandaged up and bound in ropes. It was easy to tell that Spike had been victorious, though Sombra was fuzzy on exactly what had transpired. All he could really remember was Ahuizotl's eyes becoming like his own had once been, and then... darkness.
"What happened? I assume we won, considering the two of you are alive?" Sombra asked, announcing his awakening.
Spike turned to Sombra with a smile, glad to see he was alright.
"I was starting to worry. If you were out much longer we were gonna try and make you swallow the potions." Spike exclaimed.
Spike grabbed the familiar leather roll from Sombra's saddlebag, as well as the flask. Spike offered Sombra a red vial, and the flask.
"What do you think? The flask, or the vial? Or some combination of the two?" Spike asked.
Sombra thought about his options momentarily. Zecora's potion that sped up his unnatural healing process still took some time, but Sombra doubted he needed the entire vial of healing potion either.
"I suppose I will take half of a red vial, and a few drinks from the flask. The two of you seem as though you could use most of the red, and Ahuizotl will need to be conscious to be questioned, yes?" Sombra pointed out.
Daring however was mostly alright, besides needing new feathers.
"Your fancy potions don't grow new feathers, that takes time. Spike, you take a whole one, and Sombra can split the other with Zotl. That outta do it, right?" Daring proposed.
Spike and Sombra agreed, downing their own potions.
Spike thought the red potion tasted something akin to battery acid mixed with banana peels. Sombra had it worse as he had to drink that, then the drinkable version of the regenerative potion. It was more like pure grain alcohol mixed with wheat-grass and sadness. Though on second thought, Spike also drank down a green vial, just in case the needles that pierced his arm had some sort of poison within them.
The green potion tasted like what could only be described as rancid milk mixed with cloves and a sort of burnt popcorn finish.
After the potions' horrible aftertastes had faded The pains in Spike and Sombra's bodies considerably lessened. They would still need proper rest and relaxation when it became an option, but there were still things that needed doing. The first thing that needed done was checking the timer.
Spike retrieved the timer from a bag, seeing the display was now lit. It was steadily counting down, telling the group they had just over fourteen hours left. Spike passed the timer to Daring who clipped it to her leg, since Spike's wrist was far too big and Sombra was wearing his armor.
"Okay, let's wake up big-blue. Hopefully he's still with it enough to give us some answers. He might even be able to tell us where the gem is." Spike decided.
Spike opened Ahuizotl's maw, not fearing his odd fangs. Spike dumped the remaining half-vial of red potion into his mouth, the villain subconsciously swallowed the brew, his eyes darting open as the terrible taste hit him. He attempted to cough up the disgusting potion,but it was already gone.
Though Ahuizotl did manage to calm down a bit when his pain began to recede a bit.
"Hey there. I'm Spike, that's Sombra, and you already know Daring. Care to tell us why you tried to kill us with demon-magic?" Spike sneered, looking down on the bound villain.
Ahuizotl still growled weakly in apprehension, knowing full well he had no way of escape while in his current state. It was either talk, or risk being left in the building in the sky to rot. It was looking as though becoming incarcerated, biding his time while he healed, and then eventually escaping whatever prison they placed him in was Ahuizotl's best option.
"I wanted more power. I have grown tired of being bested. One victory in over thirty encounters with a single mare is laughable, at best. Someone felt my despair, and my rage. They offered me a gift, a tool with which to get my revenge." Ahuizotl revealed, staring up at the temple ceiling.
Spike could hear Ahuizotl's heartbeat while sitting so close to him. What he had said so far was true.
"The chest-plate. Who gave it to you?" Sombra continued.
Ahuizotl's eyebrow's knitted together, as if he himself was unsure.
"It came to me as a cat... But I have dominion over all cats, this was a monster. Whatever this was, it was... wrong. It felt as if tremendous eyes were on me, looming, even though I had to look down upon it. I dared not turn down it's offer. I believe it would have eaten me had I said no to it's offer." Ahuizotl attempted to explain.
Daring looked unsettled at Ahuizotl's face as he recalled his tale. She had never seen her foe so distraught. Ahuizotl seemed almost traumatized, recalling his meeting with the cat creature.
Sombra and Daring looked at Spike, seeing he was deep in thought. Being a magical dragon taught by an age-old shaman gave him more insight into monsters and such than either of them. Spike ran his claw over his comb of emerald-colored spines, something Sombra had begun to notice he did when he was particularly nervous, or in deep thought.
After a moment Spike seemed to come to a conclusion that didn't look like it sat well with him.
"It's gotta be a demon. Dootha had a few particularly nasty ones that led his armies, but I thought the originals were all dead. Nowadays, there aren't supposed to be any pure-bloods left. My ancestors supposedly killed the lot of them." Spike sighed, realizing things had just become infinitely more complicated.
Sombra found it disturbing that a demon could change into something as innocent as a cat. Doubly so that it was running around offering less than friendly creatures objects containing uncomfortably familiar dark powers. Spike was likewise unsettled by this news, but there were still questions to be asked.
"Can you describe the cat?" Sombra asked before anyone else deigned to speak up.
Ahuizotl knitted his brow in thought, thinking back on the strange cat.
"Black and white, tuxedo style, not all that different from my own fur-pattern. It was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, no bigger than an average house-pet. It's voice was innocent, like that of a small child's, but cold enough to turn your blood to ice. It always spoke in rhyme, never stopping to." Ahuizotl recalled uneasily.
The picture painted by Ahuizotl was definitely creepy, due largely to the voice of a rhyming foal coming from a psychotic demon-cat.
"What about us? You said it was us that you were after, even to the point of ignoring Daring." Spike continued with the line of questioning.
Ahuizotl seemed to hesitate in answering that particular question, but it seemed pointless to feign ignorance at this juncture.
"The cat let me be for a week, letting the armor's power get it's hooks in me. I felt unstoppable, and then it dangled an offer of even more power in front of me. Even telling me Daring Do had a mole in my operation.
"It told me that I could defeat Daring, and be of use to it. I was to kill a purple dragon with green spines, and capture the ash-colored pony that walks in his shadow. For each task I would receive a new artifact of power.
"I could not resist such an offer. So I did as instructed, and fed the mole snippets of a false plan to steal an artifact to bring me strength in this, the floating temple. It worked, at the beginning." Ahuizotl revealed, genuinely guilty.
Spike's expression fell even further, realizing a demon had essentially put out a hit on him. Even worse, it seemed Dootha's remaining forces knew of Sombra and were at least somewhat organized. It was going to be a bumpy ride from here on out, but at the very least it would be possible to prepare a bit now that they new there was a threat.
"Don't suppose it gave you a name? I could work with a name. It'd take some doing, but I might be able to find a weakness if it's reared it's ugly head anytime throughout history. Or even where the gem in this place really is?" Spike hoped.
Ahuizotl merely weakly shook his head, causing Spike to groan and rub his temples with his claw.
"Yeah, okay. Well, we need to go find what we came for. We're gonna leave you here and come back for you. Without those metal-wings you're stuck here, but we can probably get you down relatively safely. You're not gonna pull anything, right? Because I'm tired, and very hungry. I might just let you fall if you try anything." Spike warned.
Ahuizotl huffed, but had literally no choice but to comply.
"I submit. I am too tired to move, and my body is broken. I hate all of you, but you were kind enough to tend to my wounds, even though you were the ones that inflicted them. I give you my word that I will wait for you to return."
Spike looked to Daring, deigning to give her a say in this.
Daring debated whether or not to stay and watch over Ahuizotl, or to go with Spike and Sombra to find the gem. After a brief, but intense internal discourse, Daring decided it was best if she helped in the search. Not only because of the importance of finding the gem, but also because the thought of ending Ahuizotl's villainy was still fresh in her mind.
Daring wasn't ready to trust herself yet, not while Ahuizotl in bonds was being laid out in front of her, fueling the temptation.
"Just leave him. He's too banged up to escape." Daring took a moment to look at the timer on her ankle, "And we're on a schedule."
"Right then. As we traipsed through this floor we saw nothing worth mentioning. As such, I imagine we follow Daring's initial suggestion and head towards the center of this place. If that fails, I suggest we head upwards, staying as central as possible. A goddess of sky would likely keep things at the highest point, if not the heart of the temple." Sombra proposed.
Spike nodded his agreement, and Daring too submitted that it was the wisest course of action.
The group made certain Ahuizotl's life was in no immediate danger from his wounds, while also making certain he was unable to try anything.
For a good hour after the group had left Ahuizotl to slumber nothing happened.
However, after a time something in the darkness between the few lights of the room flickered into existence.
From the deepest shadow of the room emerged a pair of golden eyes with black slits for pupils. To anyone not close enough to feel it's presence it appeared as though a common house cat lazily walked out of the dark, sauntering over to the sleeping form of Ahuizotl.
The cat's eyes never left Ahuizotl, and the cat's tiny feet made absolutely no noise as it walked across the floor. Nor did it's steps make any sort of disturbance in the heavy layer of dust that had settled upon the stones of the building after countless ages. It was as if the world didn't exist to the cat, the only things that were were the cat itself and Ahuizotl.
The cat reached Ahuizotl at it's own pace, caring not for anything that might arise to oppose it in it's task. Even time.
The cat sat down in front of Ahuizotl, it's paws perfectly in line with each other. It's tail swished lazily in the air as it sat, as if it were getting a mild sense of satisfaction seeing Ahuizotl beaten and bound at it's feet.
The cat savored the moment, but after a short time it's tail ceased it's movements and dropped to the ground.
The cat slowly closed it's eyes, but only for a fleeting second.
Once they opened again they were altered in a way Ahuizotl's own had been only hours before. A luminous electric-green, complete with red irises and serpentine slits blacker than coal. The purple miasma was absent, until it began to speak.
The miasma lazily drifted from it's mouth like warm breath in winter as it's unnatural tone emanated from it's seemingly innocent form.
You lost the fight, and you lost my gift, and so you've lost your right to live. You're nothing but a loser now, and I've no chances left to give.
Though rest assured your failure is not a loss, your power-hungry soul will more than reimburse me for the cost.
Ahuizotl slumbered through the cat-demon's presence, but began to stir as the miasma drifted into his mouth.
Ahuizotl began struggling for his life, trying to break free of the pervasive power, but it was far too strong. Within thirty seconds Ahuizotl's body ceased moving, and a few seconds later the miasma retreated. It was not alone however, as a nebulous mass of blueish-white, ethereal-plasma came with it.
The trail found it's way back to the cat, where it and Ahuizotl's soul were swallowed up.
A tasty morsel not for me, but for the master I long to see. I shall find more able bodies to carry out my will, though I suppose the next must be stronger still. The last of the first grows stronger each day, but not even a first-blood can keep Dootha forever at bay. The demon rhymed casually.
The cat's eyes became gold again, and it's tail resumed to sway lazily. It cast a curious gaze upwards, as if it could see through the stones that made up the temple. The cat then lifted one of it's front paws and gave it a playful lick, then proceeded to press the paw into the dirt, intentionally leaving a single print beside Ahuizotl's vacant body.
The cat-demon closed it's eyes, and every light in the room flickered. When the lighting stabilized once more the cat was nowhere to be seen. It had seemingly vanished just as quickly as it had came, and just as silently.