Chapter 25: Ground Zero
Stellar and Luna's hole was long and tiring. Luna felt like her claws could just rot off. She had never felt so much aching pain searing through her wings before. Occasionally, the two bats would hear low rumbling noises and bits of dirt would fall from the ceiling, but it did not seem to be very important to them.
Finally, they reached a part of the tunnel that sloped upward. When Luna saw the slope with her echo vision, she nearly cried out in frustration. Stellar climbed up first, Luna hesitating for a moment. She outstretched her claws and weakly blew against them. She did not know how much longer she could keep this up. She finally started to crawl again and she noticed that Stellar was already far up the tunnel.
Using her echo vision, Stellar caught sighting of an end to the tunnel. Sighing with great relief, she crawled over to the edge as quick as she could. She suddenly gasped and crawled backwards, accidentally kicking Luna's face with her foot.
"Ow!" Luna hissed. Stellar waved her wing in apology and felt a drop of sweat run down her face.
"I saw him." Stellar said.
"Who?" Luna asked, rubbing her nose.
"Goth. Get down!" The two bats lied on their bellies as far down as they could, concentrating on the figure walking across the room outside the hole. The Vampyrum king was walking alongside a female Vampyrum and about ten soldiers. When they all disappeared into the opening to the right, Stellar crawled out and scanned the room.
"All clear." Stellar whispered, and she spread out her wings and flew into the room. Luna sighed happily and jumped out as well, unfurling her wings and flapping them gratefully. They both landed on the stone floor.
"Let's follow them." Luna said. Stellar nodded in agreement.
Goth, Phoenix, and ten of his followers walked casually into the main sacrificing room. The Vampyrum king looked down and saw the Sacrificial Ring set in its place just below the Stone. Goth unfurled a single wing, commanding his followers to stay put. He bent over to pick up the ring and put it inside of the circular depression of the Stone.
"King Goth!! King Goth!" Two followers who were badly cut and bruised ran into the room hastily, breathing hard. One of the followers lifted his wings frantically. "Our sacrifices! All of them!" Goth knew something had gone wrong.
"They have escaped haven't they?" The followers nodded vigorously. Goth sighed and put his hand on his forehead in frustration.
"He witnessed what happened in the Bone Room!" The Vampyrum said, pointing to the other follower.
"A single Silverwing bat! He wiped out our entire shadow army with – with lights, and a human weapon!" The second Vampyrum explained. Goth thought that this was too crazy to believe.
"Lights and a human weapon." Goth said to himself as if those words were new to him. "Great."
"King Goth, we must act fast! Something – something spiritual is at work here, and it's powerful!" The second follower stated, breathing in between words.
"Then we shall get our prisoners back! Command the Vampyrum army to-" Before he could finish, he heard the sounds of tearing and piercing screams echo in from the distance. Everyone in the sacrificing room, including Goth, immediately went out of the room and into the main lounging room to find hundreds of owls and wolves massacring the Vampyrum army. The whole room was a battlefield and there was not one place that was safe. Goth stepped back and growled in anger and Phoenix and the followers stared in pure horror. The Vampyrum king bent down and went on his knees, putting his hands on his head. Phoenix and the followers looked down at Goth in shock as his entire body started to gradually grow – bones popped, fur shed off, and pieces of tough, stone armor started to form on Goth's skin, pushing through the soft dermis layer forcefully. Mists of blood started to spray out of Goth's body as it changed and mutated, growing and growing. His fur completely shed off and in its place was hard and tough sinew-like skin, Goth's face changed, growing flatter, his teeth and jaw swelled into a great and fearful size. Goth's eyes even changed, his pupil shrinking into a vertical slit, his irises glowing a bright yellow. His ears started to rot off, as well as his wings, ripping as his body increased in size. His claws became extremely sharp, extending in length at about half of an average Vampyrum's height. Soon, Goth was no longer a bat – but a demon, just like the abominations formed from Zotz. His height was about the height of four Vampyrum stacked on top of each other on their hind legs. A long, snaky tongue lolled out of his fierce jaws and Goth growled in satisfaction. He felt the greatest power he had ever felt in his life. Below him, Phoenix and the followers were frozen in terror.
"My…King?" One of the followers choked out. Goth did not even take notice. The war raged on, but many of the owls and wolves were transfixed on the horrific figure of Goth's demon phase, serving as an advantage for the Vampyrum army.
"They are ours now. The time of sacrifice shall begin! Tear out their hearts and give them to me!" Goth commanded the Vampyrum army. Fueled by their king's orders, the Vampyrum Spectrum gained an advantage in the battle, ripping the owls and wolves apart and shoving their sharp claws inside their chests and then pulling out their hearts. Massive bloodshed was the only sight in the lounge room, and one by one, Vampyrum flew over to Goth with hearts in each ones claw. Goth opened his huge mouth wide, signaling the Vampyrum with an obvious order. Each one dropped the hearts inside Goth's waiting mouth, and he swallowed each one whole. Hundreds upon hundreds of hearts dropped into Goth's stomach, and the ritual was closing into the climax at great speed.
However, the battle seized the ritual to go as fast as planned, and this greatly angered Goth. The Vampyrum King growled and closed his mouth, causing confusion among the waiting Vampyrum soldiers.
"Back into the sacrificial chamber! We must sacrifice the Sun and Moon quickly!" Goth ordered the army. With the owl and wolves severely weakened, the Vampyrum quickly retreated into the depths of the Pyramid following after the demon Goth, running at fantastic speed.
When the Vampyrum had finally arrived in the room, they noticed that Goth was nowhere to be found. They flew upward into the rectangular hole on the ceiling and entered the old sacrificing room. Goth stood just on the edge of the sacrificial abyss, back to his normal Vampyrum form. Two followers were on both Goth's sides and two bats stood in front of the Vampyrum king – a Brightwing mother and her son wrapped in her wings, their heads bowed as if in a trance.
The Vampyrum immediately landed in a neat square formation just in front of the abyss and all fell on their knees as if they'd just been hypnotized. Every single soldier bowed their heads and put their claws on the ground, chanting a worship song. Goth closed his eyes and put his hands on the air, breathing in deeply.
"We give to you, Lord Zotz, the Sun and the Moon." Goth said slowly in a low, hoarse voice. A cold wind started to blow throughout the room like an increasing hurricane, and the piercing cry of the wind echoed across the room, surrounding the entire scene. As the winds grew, the Vampyrum flapped their wings in unison, louder and louder, until – everything grew silent. The mother and son toppled effortlessly into the void of the abyss, and no one said a word for a just while. Goth put his wings down and opened his eyes. His face became grim and the Vampyrum turned around in response to their king. On the very end of the room, stood a single Silverwing bat, wielding a deadly blade, his eyes glowing bright. His lifted his chin, transfixing his eyes upon Goth as the dim silence hung in the room.
"Kill him." Goth commanded. On cue, the entire Vampyrum army sprung from their positions and pounced on the bat, shouting and screaming war cries and extending their claws for the kill. The Silverwing bat merely positioned his feet and shifted side to side, dodging the falling claws yearning to slice into his flesh. As he did this, he swung his blade effortlessly around him like a whip, never stopping. The blade was like a mad serpent, swinging its body around in a frenzy. Vampyrum fell like flies, and blood-curdling screams filled the air as blood sprayed and stained the once clean floor of the old sacrificial room. The Silverwing bat started to walk forward, keeping his shining eyes on Goth as he still swung his blade around, slicing into the soldiers that opposed him like butter. Dying in vain without putting a scratch on the Silverwing's body, the corpses of the entire Vampyrum army lied across the floor in a heap. Goth stared with disbelief at the bloodied warrior that stood before him on the other side of the abyss, glaring with determined eyes.
"You're mine." Nocturna's voice rang out from Shade's mouth. An evil smirk appeared on Goth's face and his entire body started to become blurrier gradually. Shade could feel Nocturna's surprise within him, and his entire body started to become sick with nervousness. Suddenly, Goth's body became a crazy, nonsensical blur and was sucked into the abyss in just less than a second. Shade gasped in shock and stood frozen for a moment before bending down, peeking into the void.
"I must confront my brother." Nocturna said. Shade looked up in confusion.
"Cama Zotz?"
"Cama Zotz." Nocturna repeated. "He is inside the Vampryum."
"Why has he descended down this hole?"
"To confront me in Ground Zero. We must leap in, quick."
"But then he has already sacrificed the Sun and the Moon."
"Just to the perfect cue. It will serve me well in the Uprising, but not if we cannot banish Zotz immediately."
"What is Ground Zero, Nocturna?"
"Leap." A sudden force pushed Shade from behind, and his body careened into the void, his vision going blank instantly. He felt like he was floating.
His eyes opened. His face was against a cold dirt ground – was it dirt? It looked like dirt, but it was black – black as ash. Shade slowly got up, feeling twisting pain in his back. His blade was sunk in deep into the dirt just beside him. He grabbed the handle and pulled the sword out of the earth and looked before him. He was in a plain of black dirt, an endless plain that did not change even at the horizon. The sky was pitch black, but grew a soft red at the end of the plains. The place looked utterly dead and the silence was so tense and sickening that Shade found it hard to even breathe.
"Hello, sister." Shade turned around to see Goth standing several wingbeats away from him. He sighed casually. "How was your slumber?" Shade felt a pang of pressure in his brain and his voice changed. Nocturna took over.
"Enough for me to regain my energy. You cannot kill me, Zotz, we were born one and the same."
"But with different intentions." Goth walked over to Shade, his eyes starting to glow as well. "Why have order when all can be united as one?"
"Because I made it that way, Zotz. You do not have my permission to attempt to change that. Now, do you know why the past rituals have failed?"
"This one may have failed, but I'm not through yet." Goth bared his teeth. "Once I kill you again, nothing will stop me. I will rise one day and all natural order shall be gone. No more connection between the living and dead. I will rule as king!"
"If I'm not mistaken, brother, you are nothing close to my position. I made you. I made you to control the Underworld, but you have rebelled, and I must punish you." Goth laughed hoarsely, causing Shade's face to strain in apathy.
"In my position, you won't even have a chance – "
"In your position, the dead shall cling onto you and banish you to the depths of Ground Zero." Nocturna casually stated. Goth's face instantly altered into a sour look.
"Banish me? Oh, dear sister, you would actually do such a thing?"
"I'm afraid I have to so that you may learn not to oppose with my authority in the future. The natural order shall stay as it is, Zotz. That is all."
"So," Zotz began as Goth folded his hands behind his back, "this is it. This is where we determine who shall be in favor of keeping both worlds for themselves – the afterlife and the physical life." A powerful force of wind caught Shade off guard and his blade swung from his hand and into the ash ground once more. Shade looked back and saw Goth in the air, extending his claws for the kill. The sharp pincers pierced easily into Shade's chest and knocked him onto the ground on his back. He screamed in agony as Goth's claws dug deeper and deeper into his chest, blood oozing out of the deep wound slowly. In a matter of seconds, Goth's claw retracted with Shade's heart – it was not beating. Goth looked at the heart in pure shock and confusion as Shade lifted up his leg. He shoved the Vampryum off with a mighty kick and slowly stood up. He looked down and winced in disgust as he saw the gaping hole in his chest. He was still alive. He did not even feel like he was dying. Nocturna kept him alive. Shade quickly ran to his sword and unsheathed it from the earth, brandishing it at Goth who was still staring at the heart.
"It's not beating." Goth himself said.
"You idiot! Drop the heart! We must cast Her out of his body!" Zotz spoke within him. Goth's claw unclenched and the heart fell to the ground like a rock. Shade lifted up his blade and with a mighty shout, dropped it headfirst into the earth as hard as he could. The sword was driven all the way into the dirt, its handle sticking out. A small tremor started to vibrate through the earth below, and cracks started to form on the dirt, increasingly growing and shifting. The earth was starting to crumble, and a crack skidded just between Goth's feet and started to shift open. Goth immediately moved to the side, trying to balance himself against the quake so he didn't fall. Figures that looked like badly cut arms started to reached out of the crevasse just below Goth's feet and various moans of pain and sorrow filled the air as the rumbling grew more violent. Goth was frozen with fear in the spot, looking at the arms reaching out for him with pain-staking horror. Even Zotz himself was in a state of fear. The arms lengthened and hundreds started to reach out of the hole like tentacles, desperately attempting to grab a hold off Goth as if they were in a deep grudge. Several of the tentacle-like arms managed to grab Goth's waist and he started to shout and scream in absolute fear as they started to pull him down little by little. They were so strong that he could not even let himself free. He opened his mouth and sunk his teeth into the appendages, but in vain – the arms would not let go, and the flesh tasted dry and rubbery. There was no way he could stop it, but he would not accept his fate. He managed to let out both arms and hung on to the edge of the crevasse for his life, but the arms were getting stronger and more aggressive, and more reached out for his upper body. Goth desperately turned his head and looked at Shade, who was glaring down at his pitiful figure.
"Help me!!" But his words were cut off as two hands wrapped around his mouth and pulled him down, his hands slipping off. Shade stepped forward with a sense of pity, but it was too late. Goth's body disappeared in the gaping void and the rumbling stopped, the moaning stopped, and the shifting stopped. Shade was breathing heavily, but he did not know how he was doing it. He felt a sense of nervousness in his chest and could not believe what he just saw. He suddenly heard singing voices that were so quiet that he had to perk his ears up to hear them. He looked up and saw two glimmering balls of light, one brighter and one with a more silvery touch. They looked like the ones he saw in the Underworld. He could hear the voices clearly now – they sounded joyful, and so happy. He heard some singing and some chattering excitedly, causing a grin to form on Shade's face.
"The Sacrifice of the Sun and Moon were unsuccessful in completing Zotz's ritual of one thousand hearts." Nocturna said. "Because He failed, the ritual did. Now he has been banished into the earth." Shade looked down and gasped in surprise as he noticed that the cracks and fissures had disappeared completely. He looked back up and saw that the two balls of light separated from each other. The bright one sat far above and the silver one resting on the ground.
"Are you ready to free the souls wrongly sent to the Underworld?" Nocturna asked. Shade nodded somewhat nonchalantly, knowing that he picked the right choice. The ball of light above suddenly glimmered and exploded, sending a sea of swirling light coursing across the once black sky, turning it into a sky of angelic radiance. Shade thought this was better than one hundred suns. This was a sight so beautiful that he nearly started to cry. He looked below and saw the silver light melting into a liquid form that shimmered with light. The liquid spread out and covered the entire dirt ground, spreading out even across the horizon in the blink of an eye. The pool brushed against Shade's legs, but felt more like a misty spray than pure liquid form.
"The Pool of Life." Shade breathed out.
"The souls are ready to rise. Shade, prepare. They shall come into me and will enter my kingdom. They will all live happily for all eternity." Shade knew this was happened when he saw the figures of the bodies of bats rising out of the pool. They looked like bats with no faces, and not even a body with fur to comprehend, but bodies made completely out of luminescence. He could feel their happiness, their joy, and their relief. He could not even count how many of these souls stood surrounding him. One by one they started to walk and close in around Shade. They moved so gracefully, that he did not even feel any fear. The first bat walked up and stood just beside Shade. He could feel the warmth coming out of its body. It lifted its hand and touched Shade, and he knew it was smiling. It then walked straight into his body like a ghost and merged within him. Shade felt a pang of pleasure exploding in his body and he lifted his head, shouting out spontaneously. He could not amount up the great amount of happiness that spread in him. More and more souls entered his body, and it seemed like the amazing delight would never end. They were not walking any longer, but being sucked into him like a magnet, their bodies becoming blurs of light. In seconds, hundreds of the souls entered his body, and more and more combined in him with each second. Shade's own body started to glow with scintillation and his vision turned brighter and brighter and his eyes never strained in pain. He was lost in a sea of happiness, until suddenly he felt cold and in just a second, he felt himself fall, and his brain stopped just before he hit the floor.