Cormano, Ian, Dario, Romero, and their hostage reached the train graveyard after a stretch of bad rail country. Dead trains and train parts were littered all over the flatland on a massive network of dead rail. The pitch-black skeletons formed all sorts of odd structures. Some were lying on their sides, others on their backs. Enormous curved poles jutted out of the ground such as charcoaled ribs. A few coals were still glowing from their last voyages. Ian, Dario, Romero, and the Drifter shuttered as Cormano tipped his hat towards the labyrinth of scrap metal.
"Well boys, here we are. The train graveyard!" Cormano grinned as the sun began to set behind the mesa walls to the west.
"Man, this place is creepy. I didn't know the Filgaia Express had so many trains…" Romero latched onto Dario's shoulders.
"With monsters attacking the railways all the time, its no wonder this place is so full. However, the layout is a bit unsettling." Ian muttered.
Yep yep yep. We'd better find us a train quick. Don't want any night attacks on us." Cormano placed a hand over his eyes, searching for a workable train.
"So we're sending this guy back to see the Duke for us, right Boss?" Dario asked as he lifted a metal plate, looking for a train.
"Aye, that's the plan." Cormano replied as he started walking into the mess.
"Say, what kind of things live here Cormano?" Ian asked as he dived into the graveyard.
"Oh all sorts of creatures. This is the Den of Miasma, so it's loaded with deadly beasties. They say that when Filgaia began to die, this was the first sore that appeared on her skin." Cormano said.
"R-really Boss?" Romero stuttered.
"Well, never would have thought of that in a metaphorical process…" Ian placed a hand to his chin.
Dario glanced through a porthole left in a train to notice a few glowing embers. Smiling, he leaped inside and checked all the gauges. He was Janus' chief train hijacker after all. Dario placed his bearded mug outside the train window. "Boss! I founds us a working train!"
Cormano stopped his search to look for Dario. "Good work Dario! Now everyone else get yer asses aboard that train afore I shoots it off, if ya got me!"
Once they all got on, Ian took the liberty of ting the hostage to a pipe in front of the engine. Cormano was cackling while Dario and Romero tried their best at an evil laugh. Cormano placed a large weight near the lever for acceleration. He pulled the lever down, tying it to the weight with some rope. "All right men, lets move out." Cormano then looked towards the hostage. "Now my good friend. When your train collides with whatever blockade the Duke's men put out for you, use your last remaining strength to tell them what happened to the artifact."
Cormano then leaped out of the slowly moving train. The train was acting like a plow, pushing wreckage and debris out of its way as it gained speed. The Cormano gang watched it gain speed until it vanished along the tracks.
"Well, where to now, Boss?" Romero asked.
"We hunt that twenty-six million Gella reward! Move back men!" Cormano ordered.
** *
The Den of Miasma was an anomaly. A refuge of twisted, churned rock, molded into various positions, all-growing in a bramble of thorns. The rocks had been blasted to a perfect sand color by the various storms passing through this region. Holes of all kinds littered the rocky landscape, indicating the presence of an underworld. Paths seemed to join and split into random directions, going under the archways of horns and into the dark earth and out again. Clive was point, shortly followed by Ted, Virginia, Gallows, and Jet. The sun was setting fast, and Clive knew there wasn't much time left.
"Clive? How far does the Den of Miasma go on for?" Virginia asked as they descended into the bowels of Filgaia.
"The Den goes on for quite some time. This entire area is like this. However, we're cutting straight through." Clive said as he stepped into a pool of sunlight filtering through a hole in the horned ceiling.
"You know, besides the spooky rock formations, this place is actually nice." Gallows said.
SCAREEEEEEEECH! A high-pitched scream emanated throughout the cavern, coming from all places at once. Everyone drew his or her ARMs, walking slowly. Ted was sweating, his eyes searching back and forth.
"O.K, maybe I was wrong…" Gallows corrected himself.
"The Den is a monster breeding ground. And like I said, it's a heavily poisonous area, so be sure to have the ingredients needed for an antidote, Virginia."
"Right." Virginia nodded.
The five continued traveling, slowly with ARMs poised to kill, descending into the darkness. The sun was vanishing and the sunlight was becoming weaker. The pools forming underneath hole in the night sky were shrinking, and the monstrous calls were more and more common. The deep pits were starting to come into view. The farther they went, the more bizarre it became.
"Hey Clive?" Gallows asked point man.
"What Gallows?" Clive responded.
"What if we don't make it out of here before nightfall?" Gallows asked.
"Yea! What do we do?" Virginia asked.
"We can use lanterns, right?" Jet suggested.
"I'm afraid that is correct. We'll have to be much more careful though, as lanterns like to leave certain holes left unseen." Clive answered everyone's questions.
It was then when the sun vanished for good. The light stopped pouring in. Everything was immersed in a blanket of darkness. Yellow and red eyes formed out of the darkness and sounds began to be heard. Gallows tried to take out and light a lantern as fast as he could.
"Careful Gallows! Don't spill any of the kerosene!" Virginia spoke.
"I'm trying! I'm tying! Ah, there we go!" Gallows held a lit lantern, swinging it from its handle. He lit another one and gave that one to Virginia, who moved behind Clive and in front of Ted. Gallows held the first lantern; as he was now second to last. They continued on through the inky darkness, being followed by a hundred pairs of eyes in all directions. It made everyone incredibly nervous.
"Clive, you've been through here before, right?" Virginia asked.
"Yes, but I don't remember it being filled with so many monsters. Could it be because Filgaia is still decaying, producing more aberrations?" Clive said.
"No, remember we fixed Filgaia! It shouldn't be decaying any farther!" Gallows said.
"It's recovering, but incredibly slowly. There are more flowers. I… I can sense it…" Jet stated.
"Jet? Can you feel Filgaia's pulse?" Clive asked.
"…Yes… That's how I know it's recovering…" Jet said.
"Well, it may be recovering as fast as it wants to, but if we don't get out now, I don't think we'll ever see another flower." Gallows bit his lip.
The eyes were closing in. Certain faces were appearing within the lanterns circle of light. Teeth and claws were forming out of the darkness. Virginia was trying her hardest to keep her wit.
"Clive? If we fire into this horde, will it scare them?" Virginia asked.
"I'm not sure. If they are a group of unrelated animals, it should. However if they are drones and one of them falls, all will attack. With that number we'd all be dead before the poison began setting in." Clive answered.
"Then what the hell do we do? I'm not seeing an exit and they're getting closer every second!" Jet called from the rear.
The creatures were coming into light, the notorious Barghest, reptilian canines that made the underworld their home. Their scaly skin reflected in the lantern light, as their teeth and tusks did shine. There was practically no end to them. One was moving in right next to Virginia's boot. She bit her lip, hoping it wouldn't try to bite her. Jet had the airget-lamh trained on it, no longer paying attention to the rear. The Barghest opened its toothy maw and moved in for Virginia's calves. Virginia screamed, and Jet shot it dead before it could snap it's mouth shut. The cavern was suddenly filled with a relentless howl.
"Shit!" Gallows cursed.
"This means that they'll be coming in for a kill! …I'm sorry I failed you, my friends…" Clive turned to see his compatriots.
"We can't give up that easily! There has to be a way o get out of here!" Virginia offered.
"That or we take down as many as we can before they take us out!" Jet said.
The Barghests finished their mournful cry, their eyes seething with animalistic rage an their mouths foaming. Their claws began scratching at the dirt as they crawled foreword, moving into the lantern light. And then they stopped. A loud cry echoed throughout the chambers, sounding much more massive than any Barghest. The canines instantly turned tail and fled into the dark recesses from which they came, the hundreds of eyes all disappearing. But now the earth trembled for a different monstrosity, it's cries coming closer and closer.
"Run while we have the chance!" Clive shouted. Not caring about the infinite pits, the Drifters began to dash through the pitch-black cavern, trying to find an exit. The call was becoming louder and louder. The lanterns flung all over, sending the globes of lantern light all over the cavern, illuminating hiding Barghests, pits, and spiked rocks. Clive could feel an incline. He smiled, as he knew that would mean out. Jet risked a glance behind him, only to see what was chasing them. An enormous milk white claw, fashioned in the likeness of a mole cricket, crashed through the spiked pillars behind them. The monster behind them resembled an enormous, hairless, eyeless star-nosed mole, except with a longer snout, filled to the brim with large dull teeth, perfect for crushing. Jet turned the airget-lamh on the beast, pouring lead into the beast's broad head. It cried out in pain and dropped behind them.
"What the hell is it Jet?!" Virginia cried out.
"Looks like some freak form of mole!" Jet replied, trying his best to keep up with the group and still see behind him.
"The Subterranean White! It's not a mole at all, but an enormous insect. The antennae are too small to notice, and it is blind because it lives in the dark all the time. Those tentacles on its snout are feelers! It's best to keep out of range of those!" Clive instructed.
"Yea! I figured that one out!" Jet called back as he tried firing into it again. The beast dropped back into the cavern again before trying to catch up.
"You see an exit yet Clive?!" Gallows called as he started firing shotgun shells into the beast. "Cus this thing can take a beating!"
Clive noticed a small trail leading to the side and upward at an insane angle. He immediately turned for it, surprising Virginia and Ted.
"Clive?! Where are you going?!" Virginia asked as she tried to catch up.
"This will get us out of here! Just climb with all of your might!" Clive replied.
Virginia leaped onto slope, dragging her body upward. Gallows grabbed Ted and began an ascent. Jet was the last one up the slope, firing at the approaching White at every opportunity. The White's massive claws ripped through the rock, widening the slope so that it may have its meal.
Jet looked up the chain. "Faster people! Lets get moving!"
"We're going as fast as we can Jet!" Virginia called back.
"Well it isn't fast enough!" Jet screamed. The White's mouth was about to cover the last climber when a shot was fired into its belly. The White drew backwards, crying out in pain. Jet started climbing again, noticing everyone had made it to the top and outside, and all were firing at the White. He grinned.
"Jet? Are you O.K?" Gallows called.
"Yea, I'm good." Jet said as he reached the top of the slope.
"Well, lets never do that again." Virginia exhaled.
"Shit. We have to go through again to get back to the train…" Clive moaned. The other four fell over in despair.