Into the Cave

[Basically what I was thinking when I typed up the post aimed at Ma'at, Tam! Well, not as detailed, but the idea. ]

((I like it, but he's probably going to be in "rage mode" at first, so be prepared for some anger!))

Ma'at looked up at her, eyes blank. Then a sneer curled around the corners of his mouth. "Help him? Help the man who broke my heart and kicked it into the gutter? Oh, and don't forget helping his only love, too!" The word "love" dripped from his mouth like sickly sweet honey.

Zyria looked like she was about to answer, but Ma'at cut her off by standing abruptly, if a little shakily from the wound on his shoulder. "HELP?" he screamed. "Help you? You're lucky I don't throw you against this wall and beat you black and blue, you little slut!" He was raging- a blind, mad, tortured beast in a cage, bashing himself against the bars. "Give me one good reason I should help you, or for that matter- him!"

Cassus was thrown aside from Ma'at's abrupt action. Rising from the ground slowly, he reached for his gun, and halted; it was more likely that Ma'at would gladly take the bullet rather than come to his senses. He stepped up to the Alteriian.

Zyria seemed to tremble at Ma'at's words, and was initially left unable to speak for a moment. Ma'at looked as if he were about to strike her in his fit of anger. Cassus lowered the now furious Alteriian's hands with his own palms. He raised the visor of his helmet and adjusted himself so Ma'at could see him.

Anger burned in Ma'at's eyes, met only in intensity by Cassus' cold, solemn, threatening stare from his deep, icy, blue-grey eyes.

"I have experienced...this same fear, this same pain...as you...and to save you from the mistakes...the very ones I made...the ones that cost me months, even years, of misery...I tell you this...discontinue your rage, and lower your fists."

Cassus shut his jaw, looked at Ma'at one more time, and stepped back, leaving room for Zyria to finish confronting the frustrated Alteriian.

Zyria's eyes widen at the anger, then winces at 'slut (not necessarily the insult, but the crudeness)'. She sees the fire in the Alteriian's eyes, the blind anger. Slowly, she stands as well, and looks up at him straight on.

"Which would you like me to answer first? The clarification? Well, yes, I want you to help Caz. For one, he did not break your heart. He can't control who falls in love with him. If he could, I wouldn't be here."

"A good reason to help him would be the fact that we not only need him as a fighter, but he is one of the last of his kind. And he is Eris-Tam's Second in Command. Her people are now without two people of high power. And I love him. And you love him. Need I go on?"

Zyria's gaze never wavers. "And don't try to threaten me. I understand insults, but any violence, I will have to use force. Which is the last thing I want to do to someone that cares for Caz as I do."

[Oooops. Just imagine that that post of mine works with Robless's.]

((I'm bored now... guess that's my fault for making it so I can't play any of my main characters. Maybe I'll post with Fels! Oh wait- I'm waiting on the group that's still up top to work their way to the final chamber where the Lyikos are and where the Protecter are so that Fels can turn up again. So that rules out 3 of 4... I'll post with Mari! Oh wait- I'm waiting on Cat and SOMEONE ELSE to make characters. Oh, so that basically means I can't do anything. -sigh- Just great.))

"Wh--who's there?!" Fels demanded, looking around. For some reason though, he felt like he knew who it was. "Are you... are you Eris-Tam? Are you the one who saved me?"

And the voice answered him, almost gently, like a mother speaks to a newborn baby. "Yes, it is I."

Fels couldn't believe his ears. Eris-Tam had saved him! Little nobody Fels Tamired, had been saved by the great Aurora?

It was like she could read his thoughts, which might have, in fact, been the case. "No, no, Fels. You're not no one. You're important. You're going to save my life one day, you'll see. I saved you in return for a future debt that I will owe you. Now, if you want to be the hero, if you want to save me from the parasite, then you need to let me help you do it. You need to let me in."

Fels' ignored all of the warnings his brain threw up at him, all the "DANGER, DANGER" signs that were going up in his mind. He wanted to be the hero, wanted that more than anything. And this was Eris-Tam he was speaking to. The other leaders would trust her with their lives, so why shouldn't he?

"Let me in, Fels... If you let me into your mind then you will be the hero to everyone... Everyone will rejoice in what you'll do for me... Let me in..."

Fels did. He opened his mind, and the light poured into him, came in his mouth, his nose, his eyes, just flooded his senses and then... pushed Fels out. It took control of him completely. Fels became nothing more than a soul, drifting above himself, watching the light use his body. And suddenly, in his misty, somewhat enlightened state, he realized that it wasn't Eris-Tam at all. He'd been tricked. He'd walked right into a trap and now whatever this thing was that controlled his body could do whatever it wanted to his leaders, it could trick them, too. Only they wouldn't become just a floating soul, they would die for good. No no no no no no no... what have I done? Please... don't hurt them... forgive me... I am a fool...

((I changed my mind.))

Robless motioned ed for the main expedition group to stop for a moment while he checked his communications. Cassus' signal came through the radio. His voice was on edge when he spoke. "We...we have a situation. Advise the group to slow down."

"Situation? Cassus, I need you to specify before I can take any action."

Silence endured for a few seconds before Cassus spoke quietly. "It's...Zyria and Ma'at. I think they know. Caz is out. He might have broken the link."

"Damn it! I'll keep that in mind. Is the rest of your group doing OK?"

"I think so. We're re-grouping in a few minutes, I'll check in with them now. Out."

(As emotional as the scene with Zyria, Ma'at, and Caz is, we need to move on quickly, and hopefully get to the next section by the end of tomorrow. I've got a banquet to attend tonight, so I may not be on after 5:00-5:30 central time today.)

Cassus followed through with the radio check as Robless had requested. Everyone responded, shaken but intact, and agreed to head to their previously agreed-upon rendezvous point. He relayed to them that him and Zyria had found Drel-Caz and Ma'at and would probably be delayed in their return trip.

((Wait, did "Everyone responded" include Fels? It works either way, but he's kinda... away from the group at the moment. He'll meet up with the group in the next area. It would make more sense for his communications to be down right now... he happened to stumble--well, not happened to, but did--into basically the chamber that they are headed for. Soo...))

((We'll go with that. I wasn't entirely sure where Fels was, so I lumped him together for a moment. If he's already headed there, maybe whatever is controlling him will have just messaged Cassus and let him now that communications would be down for a moment. OK, carry on.))

Ma'at did lower his fists, but he didn't back down or lose his sneering expression. "I don't love him, Zyria. Not anymore. This whole 'Eris-Tam' thing is your fight, not mine. I couldn't care less about saving the life of a Kazequi. They can all rot in Verax's prison cells, for all I care. But I'll come along with all of you, just to watch this pathetic mission fail.

"And Cassus," he called backward, "Don't pretend to know me." With that, he gave Caz's form a vicious kick and walked back towards the crack in the ceiling that he and Caz had entered what felt like years ago.

Zyria watches the Alteriian walk away. She shakes her head, slowly, and speaks, not caring if he can hear her or not.

"Go ahead and tell yourself you don't love him. But telling yourself doesn't make it true, and you can't force yourself out of your feelings. I know that look in your eyes. I see it every time I look in a mirror."

With that, Zyria bends down, and picks Caz up. He's not a lightweight, but Zyria is able to manage until they find a solution. She calls out to Cassus, already a distance ahead of her. She stumbles slightly, due to the extra weight of Caz, but is able to continue.

[Sorry, gotta chop off the end, I have to restart computer and then work on this stupid trailer for school]

EDIT: "It is true that I do not know you," Cassus said quietly and seriously, "but neither do you."

"Here, let me help." Cassus turned around and tried to help Zyria carry Caz, as awkward of a position as it was. His eyes clouded as he remembered his special forces days, carrying team members out of the battlefield both dead and alive. Caz was mostly the former. "Into the darkness, into the light." He whispered these words in a silent prayer and moved on, making steady progress to the rendezvous site.

(Goodnight folks. Admin's gotta sleep. xD)

((So depressing!!! It's my fault though, I know. x3 Well, anywho... I still can't do anything. D;))

[SOMEONE NEEDS TO FREAKING JOIN IN ON THE MARI THREAD.]

Ma'at paused at the opening in the ceiling, grimacing up at the flickering green flare-light. It had all looked so different before. The cave walls had been glittering with moisture, the sandy floor seemed solid and comforting, and the steady green light had provided him with a sense of security.

Now, the walls were cold and unforgiving, damp even in the stifling air. The green light blinked with a sickly glow. And as for the floor, it was covered with blood that he wasn't sure was even his anymore. Sure, his shoulder still throbbed, but the Ma'at that had injured it protecting his Neiede seemed like a different person.

The "new" Ma'at shook his head. When did you get so sappy again, huh? Maybe it's time to become stone again, at least you're stronger that way.

He began hauling himself up the rope extending down the crevice, but fell almost immediately as his shoulder protested painfully. Gritting his teeth, Ma'at began the climb once again.

(OFC)

Well, I'll just continue then, but Archelaus is very finely tuned to the minds around him. It see,s a stretch for him to miss something as dramatic an event as the severing of the Neiede.
And he needs something to do of course,
So as I said, Archie's moving on.

(IC)

Archelaus stepped forward, leading his team across the great ravine that rose above the spires and valleys of the land beneath. If he had the opportunity to view the landscape from an undisturbed bird's-eye view, he could have seen the patterns formed underneath his feet. He could have seen that each valley was...
Designed. Symmetrical. A criss-crossing maze unable to be formed with such precision by nature.
Which Archelaus already knew;
Because the area beyond the ravine was the home of the croach.

Memories flashed through Archelaus' mind, like jolts of lightning. They were not memories as much as scars. They came once more, like they had always come before. Unbidden. Unwanted.

... Eyes in the darkness. Nothing but sounds, some real, some false... the wet glistening of croach, waiting to swallow him into the maddening maze of turns, pits, and dead ends....

... Sensing the crawling things... waiting to pull him away from his nightmare. To pull at his soul with viciously sharp claws and teeth. With poison, make him forget who he was, what he was doing...

... Fire, fire rolling in the deep. Fire in his heart, and fire in his hands...

... Heavy breathing, rampant heartbeats, cradling a makeshift stone weapon deep in the recesses of the inky blackness...

Archelaus shuddered, and his focus returned to him.
He was walking. There was light in his hands, there was light near him. There was no darkness, he was not lost. He had pushed the croach away from the path he was walking...

He had made sure of that.

He was searching, that's what he was doing... He was searching for survivors.
Survivors from what? The Alteriian shook his head, as if to physically clear away the fog that had dropped over his mind.
"In the name of the Mok... why is it so hard to think... to concentrate...?"

The High Druid craned his head to look to his right, trying to see who held the other lights around him, but his eyes wouldn't dilate correctly. All he saw were bright globs of searing light. Searing lights and ethereal forms...

Archealus heard a whisper... barely audible...
Struggling against the great eerie silence that engulfed him. That swallowed the sound of everything but his breaths and his beating heart. Even his footsteps were silent...

The whisper came again, slightly stronger.
Archealus' knees shook slightly, despite their heavy-muscle and ultra-dense bone weaves.

Now there was more than one, whispers bouncing across the room quietly. Nearly silently. Unintelligible. Again... and again they came... in bouts they flashed around his mind.

Whispers...
They grew louder, the sounds increased as Archelaus' heart beat faster and his lungs billowed sickly subterranean air...

... And louder and louder, but Archelaus still couldn't understand what they were saying.
They were too many at once, and they were not saying words.

(Where were they coming from!?)
Screaming. It was screaming, yelling, raging....
Not whispers. It was a chorus of agony. A wailing screech with no apparent end or beginning, dipping and diving in volume and pain.
Agony.

A Chorus of pain...

The...

"Think, curse you... think...!"

Screams, wailing, yelling, screeching, pain, hurt, sorrow, sobs, torture... The lights grew brighter, and the intensity increased until it was a physical pressure, pushing against Archelaus' mind.
Squeezing, like a python around its prey. No room to breathe, no space to think...

Then a name came like a gift from Naru... unexpected.
"The Nadrathaii..."

(Ah, can't think of anything to type tonight.)

((Mrphle. We need to get going!))

Cassus left Caz for Zyria to hold for a bit while he attempted to help Ma'at get over the ravine's edge, returning after receiving only a glare for his offer.

"Alright, now we've got to get up there..."

After a few ropes, a makeshift stretcher, ties, manual lifting, and climbing, Cassus, Caz, and Zyria were at the top of the ravine. Ma'at had already disappeared into the darkness and was nowhere to be seen after he struggled over the edge earlier. "He's gone. There's no point looking for him. I've already given the others a green light on catching up with the expedition force. Let's go."

Both of the two conscious figures lifted Caz's form in the stretcher off the ground and stepped through the sand to the location of the beacon that would lead them straight to the forward scouting party. And perhaps to their potential deaths.

-~-

The pounding headache and the sound of jungle drums in his ears alerted Robless to the presence of something much more deadly than a physical threat. He looked to his left and found one of his special forces team members go ghastly white and fall into the sand, unconscious and twitching.

Archelaus knew the threatening adversary by name. "The Nadrathaii..."

Think. Think, damn it, think! Images of military documents, biological profiles, and stolen research information flashed by. All of a sudden they were interrupted and scattered. Disturbing images of black shadows that changed form imperceptibly and conflicted with the eye to the point that one could not stare at it. Whispers of harsh, phantom voices set his nerves on edge. The shadows...whispers...Nadrathaii...what the hell are those things?

All of a sudden, his thoughts were interrupted again. Aurora writhed on the floor in terrible pain, screaming at her own self or, more likely, the Shadow's self taking over. Her previous elegance and beauty had faded, leaving her looking miserable and distraught.

Eris-Tam! Aurora! Robless forced his eyes open and found himself laying on his back in the sand next to a trembling soldier that was holding his own head and sobbing. Sweat ran down his skin and was pumped out by his suit. On sheer willpower, he forced himself up and tried to look around.

His elite troops were mostly unconscious or unresponsive, only a handful of them still capable of active thought. The other dimensional leaders appeared to be having problems as well, even the powerful psyche of Archelaus seemed to struggle against the mental onslaught. They needed to get to the Lyikos' cavern quickly, or they would simply be reduced to shells of living beings.

[Lol, didn't know we had a stretcher. That's makes carrying him a LOT easier. I was imagining them holding his upper/lower half and practically dragging him. XD]

(Cassus has a ton of random stuff in his storage compression unit...think Borderlands SDU. Awesome stuff.)

(Come on, someone's gotta post. Arch and I already wrote pages. xD)

((Well I can't post so... xD It's up to somebody else. ))