Author: Seraph of Enigma
Challenger: Technow
AUTHOR'S WARNING: This story goes straight into horror. It's dark and detailed in descriptions of violence so consider it an M rating. If you're familiar with Silent Hill it has heavy influence from that. I've been told it has elements from Dead Space as well though I've not played that game. Aside from that it's a very obvious alternate reality.
Swallowed by Darkness
Earth has had a tremendously negative impact on Skylands. Yet it is Earth that fears Skylands. The various governments of the world have begun to actively hunt the creatures and citizens that find their way to Earth. On top of that they have also strictly prohibited the actions of Rift Jumpers. I am a Rift Jumper. I was born on Earth. I am human. I have lived my whole life on Earth and only recently have found my way into Skylands. I'm a good person. I work a normal job; I pay my taxes and have never been to jail. As far as I know no one hates me and I'm a nice person. I'm a crazy cat lady because the neighbors keep moving away and leaving their cats. I can't take them to a shelter, I just can't. I donate to charities and have volunteered my time before.
But I am seen as dangerous because I can move between Skylands and Earth. As if being a Rift Jumper wasn't enough I'm also a Portal Master. See, Rift Jumpers can travel between the worlds. Portal Masters can do that and so much more. I can wield magic. On Earth I've been called a witch, devil worshipper and God Slayer. How that last one came to be I'll never understand. It's no wonder that I have chosen to almost exclusively live in Skylands.
The Skylanders are my charges. I am not the only Portal Master either. There are hundreds of us, maybe more. But only a few of us work with the Skylanders. There are many more that have chosen to stay on Earth and rescue the Skylands natives that get stranded on Earth. And there are even more that want nothing to do with their abilities and turn a blind eye to them. It doesn't matter which category of Portal Master one is, we're all marked and can tell each other on sight. These are normal people, sons and daughters. Mothers and fathers. Even grandparents and political figures. But humans, our own people, hunt us and blame us for the sudden influx of magic and ideas to Earth that humans weren't ready for yet. They see us as a plague and harbingers of the End of Days. That isn't what we are at all. We are guardians. Protectors and shepherds. We are misunderstood however and forced to hide.
No one chooses to be a Portal Master. Either a person is born with the ability or not. Why we have all been activated suddenly after millennia of magic being folklore I don't know. Portal Masters are young and old, rich and poor, from all races, ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs. There are good ones and bad ones. There are many of us that remain untrained. It is because of them and the very young that we even have a problem with Skylands "bleeding" into Earth as it is. They simply don't understand what they are doing. Or perhaps they do. But the actions of a few shouldn't be held against us all.
Earth fears the "aliens" that have "invaded" it. Skylands has welcomed the friends that reached out to them. Sure Earth influences have reached Skylands. There are a few animals in Skylands not native to it. My house cats for example. But nothing has been more devastating than the evil Earth brought. Even if physical items and persons are not passing between the worlds thoughts, feelings and ideas are traveling freely through the ether.
Too many humans feared and misunderstood magic. Their thoughts turned to dark dreams and fed the Darkness of Skylands. A sentient being yet formless. Earth made it grow stronger with our fear, doubt and hate. And still Skylands doesn't blame Earth for their misfortune.
Earth doesn't understand that it too is now threatened by the Darkness. Portal Masters can sense it and it has begun to spread willowy thin tendrils towards Earth. The Skylanders fight the Darkness. So do the majority of the Portal Masters. We are the first, last and only line of defense against it. We fight for the Light. The Light still shines brilliantly even if eyes fail to see it. So long as one of us stands the Darkness can never truly win.
Skylands did not bring the Darkness to Earth. The Darkness has always been there in our hearts, in our ghost stories and ancient tales of fantastic creatures. Skylands holds the true potential of the Darkness at bay; it keeps the Darkness from spreading out to consume other worlds. Earth included. Skylands has protected Earth from the beginning and the people never even knew it.
There is so much more I could tell you. So much more information to divulge but are you ready to listen? I don't write you this letter to scare you. I write it to inform you. You have heard much of the same from the Portal Masters you've already captured, no doubt. How many more times must you hear it before you believe it? Release the Skylands creatures into the care of Portal Masters; allow those poor souls to return home. It isn't their fault they were thrown adrift on Earth's soil.
When you are ready to talk the Portal Masters and Skylanders will be there. Earth and Skylands should be united, not secluded. We can help each other. You just have to be willing to accept that help.
Seraph of Enigma
Lead Portal Master of Life
Seraph, wearing a pair of gloves, rolled up the letter Jet-Vac had just taken dictation for and sealed it with a glob of green wax before she pressed her raised signet ring, a sun burst overlaid by the symbol of Life, into the wax. The human blew on it softly to aid the drying. "Thank you, Jet-Vac," she said to the sky baron.
"Of course lass," the eagle-like Skylander said with a slight dip of her head. Jet-Vac had penned the letter as Seraph spoke. The Portal Master could have easily done it herself but she didn't want a handwriting analyst to find anything that might lead them to her or her family. Jet-Vac cleaned the quill she had been using then pushed the chair back before she stood. "An' where might ye be sendin' it?" she questioned with a slight tilt of her head.
"United Nations Headquarters," Seraph replied. She shifted the rolled parchment to her left hand and turned her right palm up before a tiny swirling vortex of portal energy opened. Seraph fed the roll through it then closed her fist to crush the portal. "I will keep sending them letters asking the same thing as long as it takes." She pulled the one-use gloves off and threw them into the nearby trash bin.
"I would like to request Skylander letters be added as well, Lady Seraph," the Air Element offered. "They should hear from us as well."
"Of course," the Portal Master conceded with a nod. "You deserve to have your own voices." She sighed and pushed up her glasses to rub at her eyes. "That's all for today, Jet-Vac. I've taken up enough of your time."
"Go eat," Jet-Vac said softly as she rested a clawed talon-like hand on the Portal Master's elbow. "Ye've been goin' nonstop since ye awoke this morn. Skylands needs ye healthy to make the best impact."
After Seraph had assured the Skylander she would get something in her belly the two separated. Jet-Vac went to check up on the modifications Technow had been implementing on her vacuum gun and Seraph left the library to head towards the mess hall.
While Seraph could have gone through the building's halls to reach her destination she chose to head outside and take the long but scenic route. Seraph's eyes immediately flickered out about the span of a soccer field from the island's edge where the ever-present Darkness had accumulated to swirl, churn and roil like an angry entity trapped on the other side of a wall.
In truth that was exactly what it was. The Core of Light kept the isle free of the taint and drew it at the same time. Right on their doorstep the blackest and thickest collection of all the Skylanders stood against lay in wait.
That wasn't to say the Darkness had rolled over all of Skylands and choked out the Light but it was a constant reminder that snaked out in thick ribbons to wind between every island, floating body of water and reach for any ship that strayed too close to it. Occasionally the Darkness would seep into the soil of an island and rise from the dirt like a foul mist. When it did as such it brought with it all manner of diabolical problems. Those caught in the mist for too long would grow sick, some even died. Others were forever changed as if hit by Kaos's Evilizer ray of old. Death was the only cure for that illness of heart and mind. At least if an Elder Portal Master wasn't around.
The earth could hold onto deposits of Darkness that would stagnate until set free by another force digging down to free it.
Plants seeped in Darkness would sicken and die and some would thrive as if nothing had happened. Any life form that ate a tainted plant would either fall to sickness or become a slave to the Darkness.
Water that mingled with Darkness could carry the taint in small doses that wouldn't do much harm until enough had accumulated in a being.
Air too could thin the Darkness into an undetectable force that poisoned the lungs and bodies of those that breathed it enough.
Fire always belched smoke and it hid Darkness so well in the oily blackness it secreted.
Machines could malfunction from the touch of Darkness, even gain sentience from it and spread infection in subtle ways.
The promise of power in magic could lead a caster astray to play with things that seemed harmless at first but slowly altered their thinking.
Even the undead that had always been viewed as seeped in Darkness could be harnessed. With fear and hate looming over an undead's head it was so easy to simply give in and become that terror others stereotyped one to be.
The Portal Master didn't realize her feet had stopped moving until Hot Dog nosed her palm. The fire hound might have been made of lava and molten rock but as with everything in Skylands magic could alter the state of things quite easily.
"You okay?" the young dog asked. Her ears were down and her eyes wide. She had even tucked her flaming tail under her.
"I'm fine," Seraph replied as she scratched the dog's head. "Just thinking."
"Arf!" Hot Dog barked as her ears shot up and she bounced around happily. "You hungry? Wanna come join Hot Dog for lunch?"
"I would love to," the Portal Master said with a smile. She let the dog think she had been talked into it.
The mess hall was bustling as it often was at the right time. Trigger Happy and Pop Fizz had started a food fight. The two gremlins were gleefully slinging anything they could get their hands on at mainly each other but also whoever got in the way.
"Hey! Now I'm all for a good time slinging food around but seriously, I'd like to eat once in a while too!" Food Fight grumbled. He had tucked himself under a table with his tray; the only thing left on it was a quivering mass of gelatin. The artichoke looked up when he caught sight of Seraph enter the dining hall. "Oh you're in for it now," he grilled trollishly.
Hot Dog ran off with a happy bark to lick everyone in sight and help them clean up from the splatters. "Pop! Trigg! Front and center right now!" Seraph barked. The Portal Master's brow furrowed deeply and her cheek twitched as she clenched her teeth.
With their ears laid down in submission both gremlins walked slowly towards Seraph as if they were about to face death row. "It was meatloaf day," Trigger Happy said in his defense.
"Yeah!" Pop Fizz chimed in. "That stuff can stand on its own! You even said it yourself; they don't know how to cook it here!"
"Get the broom and mop now," the Portal Master said curtly. "Clean this shit up. Now," she stressed.
"Yes ma'am," Pop Fizz said meekly as he pressed the tips of his fingers together and scurried around the woman that held herself with such authority that he felt compelled to jump when she said so.
"And no one else saw fit to stop them?" Seraph raised her voice as she turned around to look at the room. The Skylanders had grown vastly in the time Seraph and the other Portal Masters had been active. The team had to, the Darkness was increasing in strength and active in so many places at once that they needed to branch out or fall by the wayside. The lower ranked Portal Masters had also gone out to set up other bases of operations and new Skylanders only stayed in the Citadel of Light long enough to get oriented with their new positions and skills before they were sent to an outpost. The Cores, the longest serving Skylanders, would rotate in duty of helping a Chapter Portal Master oversee each outpost. Elder Portal Masters, what Seraph and those closest to her were called, would rotate as well to help the Chapters keep their charges in line and ensure Skylander protocol was being followed.
"But they were Cores," one of the new recruits said at last in reply to Seraph's question. He was a kitsune of no more than seventeen years. "We didn't think we had any say in the matter." His burnt orange fur was speckled with bits of unidentifiable food and Seraph was pretty sure she had seen him throw a few things as well.
"I want everyone to help the gremlins clean up. Now," she said in a voice much calmer than she had used with the Cores. "This kind of behavior is unacceptable."
"Yes Elder," the collective response was.
"Uh, me too?" Food Fight asked as he slunk out from under the table.
Seraph glanced at the abashed looking artichoke and nodded her head. "Even you. If you couldn't stop 'em you coulda gone for help."
"Aw man!" the artichoke protested as the leafy covering that resembled hair on his head shook. He looked up at Seraph; the Portal Master aligned with his Element, and gave her big puppy eyes.
"You too, Camo," the woman said instead of paying attention to Food Fight.
"How did you know?" the dragon balked as he peered around the door to the kitchen. He watched Seraph give him a flat stare before she simply pointed at mounds of watermelon and the remains of firecracker peppers. "Oh right…" the dragon grinned in embarrassment. With his head low and shoulders hunched he ambled out to help with cleanup.
"It's like babysittin' at times. Love workin' with you guys but man are you terrors off-duty," Seraph mumbled before she made her way to the kitchen. She was going to eat and let the recruits as well as Cores deal with the mess.
Seraph had made herself a sandwich and leaned against one of the cooler doors to eat it. She kept her ears open and made sure that there wasn't too much laughter out in the dining hall that might mean everyone had strayed from their duties. Her mouth was full of a large bite when Stealth Elf strode in. He had his head turned back to watch the cleanup and his shoulder length blue pony tail had rolled to the front.
"No wonder I heard it get quiet," Seraph said once she swallowed. "You ride the recruits harder than me."
"You coddle them too much," Stealth snorted. He raised his chin up then clasped his hands before him and bowed deeply for the woman. His shoulder length pony tail rolled over his shoulder and cupped the side of the mask he always wore. "Grandmaster Eon has summoned you, Master Seraph." Respect flowed freely from his words. He might have thought Seraph wasn't strict enough on the recruits but he gladly called her his ally and Master.
"Of course," the human said as she brushed her hands off and grabbed a plastic bag to shove her sandwich in. She followed Stealth out of the kitchen and deposited her half eaten sandwich in a fridge in the dining hall. If someone else got to it before her it was no big loss.
The cleanup crew paused in their movements to watch the Portal Master and Core walk through the area. Trigger Happy and Pop Fizz both hid their faces to avoid another withering glare from either of the pair. Stealth walked right through the door out into the lawn and Seraph stopped long enough to sweep everyone with her gaze. Most looked away and went right back to cleaning. The young ones were always hard to get into the habit of acting like the military group they were. Cores like the gremlins certainly didn't help set the standard. Trigger Happy caught her eye and seemed to freeze as if he were expecting another reprimanding. Seraph pointed to her eyes with her index and middle finger then pointed out at the gremlin. He gave a curt nod then swatted at Pop Fizz who had taken the broom to ride like a witch. The blue gremlin's yellow eyes grew wide when he saw Seraph and he jumped back to work instantly.
"They like to test you."
"I know," Seraph replied to Stealth once she closed the door. "I enjoy workin' with both of them. But when they step out of serious warrior mode they also shrug off maturity. It must be nice to swing so quickly from one mindset to another. I guess it alleviates stress."
"I stay active to alleviate stress. I enjoy our morning runs."
"Er, sorry I missed this mornin'," the Portal Master headed off what she thought he was about to say. "I was watchin' Earth news again. Jet-Vac wrote a letter for me I sent off to Earth's United Nations. We can go again tonight?"
Stealth nodded as he began to walk across the lawn. "Yes, I will join you tonight."
"Good, I don't want you thinkin' I'm bailin' on you." Seraph hung back slightly before she followed Stealth. One of the Portal Master's guilty pleasures was watching the elf when he moved. He carried himself with such grace and purpose it was hard not to notice. She had an eye for the other elves too; Rider and Flameslinger, but Stealth just had that deadly grace to him. Flameslinger was all cocksure and flamboyant while Rider had a slight sense of showmanship with some flowery moves that were goofy at times from his years as a tournament jouster. Sure they were impressive figures but Stealth moved more naturally and had no idea how many eyes he drew when he did so.
"If you miss that sandwich I'm sure the Grandmaster wouldn't mind you taking time to finish it."
Seraph winced and trotted up to join Stealth at his side. She had just gotten onto others for starting a food fight and there she was acting like a little girl and staring at a boy. She hoped her face hadn't flushed red when she fell into stride with him. "Do you know what this is about?"
Stealth gave a half nod, "Partially. Eon says there was a distress call from the Nautilus Outpost that just suddenly stopped. There was no follow up, no word that everything had been resolved. It just stopped broadcasting. Oak Outpost too was broadcasting a distress. It however is still active and communications have not ceased. Elder Hootie has already taken a team consisting of Zook, Punk Shock and Chill to look into it."
"So is it safe to assume Stink Bomb and Trap Shadow are joining us?" Seraph reasoned out the ability of stealth was what the Grandmaster was looking for. Seraph wasn't as stealthy as her Skylander companions but she could be nearly as effective.
"Yes," Stealth answered her. "Though the skunk's smell hardly makes him stealthy."
The tone was flat and there was no emotion on Stealth's face but Seraph got it anyway and grinned at the elf's joke.
The pair approached the Core of Light, Stink Bomb and Trap Shadow were already there and silently conversing in the glow of the beacon. When Seraph and Stealth were finally close enough a misty form stepped out of the Core's base and coalesced into the shape of Grandmaster Eon. All three Skylanders and the lone Portal Master dropped down to one knee and bowed their heads in respect.
Eon smiled warmly at them and swept his hand out, "Please. You needn't do that every time we speak. You embarrass me so!" the spirit chuckled.
When Earth and Skylands first collided and stirred the Darkness in ways Skylands had never seen before Eon had merged with the Core to not only strengthen it but use it as a way to monitor the movements of the Darkness. It was through Eon's sacrifice that they learned miniature replicas of the Core of Light could be produced to help safeguard the outposts. Enchanted crystals, Augments, were set as the crown jewel in each outpost and radiated bright light in a radius large enough to protect the outpost island from the clinging Darkness. The outposts themselves were stations for refugees as well and often overflowing with lean-tos, carts and tent cities while the normal people of Skylands tried to get back on their feet.
The spirit waited until everyone stood before he continued. "I trust Stealth brought you up to speed, Seraph?"
The younger Portal Master nodded, "He told me what he knew. Yes."
Eon nodded and sighed deeply before he closed his eyes. "The Augment in Nautilus has failed. The outpost island is shrouded in Darkness and my eye cannot penetrate it." Eon opened his eyes and locked them with Seraph's. "You are a reconnaissance team first and foremost. If the opportunity presents itself to get innocents or our people out of there without conflict then I urge you to take it. Otherwise you gather details and either send for backup or get out of there so we can move in when we're properly supplied."
"I understand," Seraph said softly.
Two months ago the Firestone Outpost was overwhelmed by the Darkness. When the Augment failed during Portal Master Lily's rescue attempt the Darkness had rolled over Firestone like a tidal wave and corrupted the weakest minds first. The other Portal Master had barely escaped with her life. Boomer though had fallen to the Darkness as had the two younglings he was trying to protect. Lily still hadn't recovered from the shock of the event and blamed herself for the deaths of three Skylanders. She spent most of her time now visiting the other outposts to check on the status of the Augments. Seraph nor any of the other Elders hardly saw her anymore. As her superior Seraph could have very well ordered Lily back to the Isle of Light but with the Chapters freely sending information on Lily's actions as well as moods it was deemed unnecessary. Lily wasn't any less effective at her work; she was simply grieving in her own way and would return to face the Cores when she was ready.
"Grandmaster," Stink Bomb said with a short bow of respect. "If we arrive and find the island is lost do we continue our mission or… fall back?" The green ninja skunk was known for his calm head but he was obviously shaken by the prospect. With Earth's influence the Darkness had changed so much and felt like a new entity to the Skylanders.
"We must accept defeat gracefully," Eon replied cryptically. His eyes flickered to Trap Shadow when the smiladon's ears laid back and his face softened. No one liked to think that the Skylanders now lost as many battles as they won. "A single defeat does not mean the war is lost," he spoke directly to the blue and purple cat. "We will rebuild and make a foothold elsewhere. That is our way. The Darkness might bend us but it can never break us."
"It broke Kaos," Stealth pointed out without shame. "It filled him to the brim with malevolence, power and everything he could have desired before it burned him out and left him a lifeless husk."
Eon cocked his head to the side as he regarded the elf for a good while. "Yes. That is a fatal weakness and flaw of the Darkness. It needs hosts to be truly effective and not everyone tainted is capable of surviving the harsh demands that much malice will put on their shoulders. Walk in the Light, my friends. It will provide you protection without asking for anything in return." The spirit shifted on his ethereal feet and looked again to Seraph. "You have been quiet, Elder Seraph. What is on your mind?"
"Worry," she admitted as she placed a hand on her heart and balled the plain purple t-shirt she wore in her fist. "I do not worry about my Skylanders or myself. I worry about the innocents on Nautilus. They have been through so much, they already feel despaired and as if nothin' else could go wrong. The recruits and Chapter James will be hard pressed if even a fraction of the refugees turn."
"Then make your preparations quickly and head out. The longer it takes help to arrive the greater the chance of our failure."
"Yes, Grandmaster," Seraph said with a bow. As soon as Eon had vanished back into the pillar of Light she separated from her teammates and raced back to the citadel and her rooms.
In the citadel there were eight rooms set aside for portal travel. Portals could be opened anywhere on the island but the rooms cut down on the chance of opening a portal in the middle of a crowd.
After Seraph's group had made their solo preparations they began to trickle into the Life Portal Room. It was a plain room with a vaulted ceiling inlaid with a skylight that gave a promising view of the pillar of Light that reached up from the Core. The only thing that marred the view was the green stained glass seal in the very center of the Life Element. It cast a splash of green on the polished stone floor and added the only color to the room other than the occupants that stood around in the middle awaiting the fourth and final member of their team.
"Geez, Trap. And here I thought the woman would take the longest," Stink Bomb chided and hooked a thumb over his shoulder to Seraph.
"Hey, you and I both know if things went south in Nautilus I'm gonna need some special traps," the smiladon scowled. He held up a large pack, no doubt filled with all manner of physical and magical traps. He was now dressed in light armor, akin to riot armor on Earth with a thick but lightweight covering over his torso, shoulders, lower arms and thighs as well as shins. Seraph, Stealth and Stink Bomb were all dressed the same. The Portal Master and Stealth had each braided their hair with Seraph rolling hers into a bun on the back of her head. The Portal Master also wore a protective set of goggles, her glasses were gone so it either meant she wore contacts or the goggles were fitted with prescription lenses.
"Here, Technow stopped in a minute ago and gave these to me," Seraph said as she handed out masks that looked very similar to a gas mask. "He says they're untested yet but they should cut down on our exposure to airborne Darkness. He told me don't rely solely on them and use extreme caution still but in a pinch I guess we'll find out his results for him." She slipped hers over her head and settled it around her neck like a clunky necklace as the Skylanders with her did the same.
"Is everyone ready?" Stealth asked sharply. He tightened a few straps on his armor and turned his head just barely to eye everyone else in the room. Seraph was standing with her arms crossed over her chest and her feet apart as if she were disappointed with someone while Stink Bomb subconsciously checked his cache of throwing stars and Trap Shadow struggled to get his over-filled pack on.
"You look like a turtle with a barnacle covered shell," Stink Bomb snorted before he moved to aid the other Swaplander.
"And you smell like ass," the cat replied. He flinched slightly when Stink Bomb punched him in the arm and walked away before he finished helping Trap Shadow get the pack on.
"For the love of God," Seraph hissed before she helped Trap Shadow out. "And how do you expect to get to these traps easily?"
The Skylander blinked at her. "Uh."
"Let's go," Stealth snapped. "We've wasted enough time. You can figure it out later."
Seraph moved away from the Skylanders who continued to squabble quietly behind her as she opened up the portal. "Game faces, ladies," she said. That got their attention. All three of them stood up tall and squared their shoulders off. "We go together. One after another."
Stealth glided in to take the lead and made Trap Shadow stand behind Seraph with Stink Bomb in the very back. "Be ready for anything," Stealth murmured softly before he stepped forward.
The portal let the Skylanders out in the portal room of Fort Nautilus. It was pitch black inside the room and smelled moldy and damp, as if it had been abandoned for months or years. There was another smell as well that was even darker and more chilling.
"Light, that reeks," Stink Bomb coughed first.
"Coming from a skunk that's a surprise," Trap Shadow muttered.
"Don't move," Seraph snapped when she felt someone leave her side. She summoned a small ball of Light in her hands. She was so focused on it she didn't see anything else.
"Light save us," Trap Shadow said suddenly.
Seraph's head snapped up instantly and looked in the direction Trap Shadow had pointedly looked away from while Stink Bomb stared dumbfounded and Stealth had taken a battle stance. The Portal Master spread wide her hands and the ball of Light drifted up to shine down and illuminate the room with the intensity of an incandescent bulb. Darkness rolled back from the light and pooled in the darkened corners like an animal temporarily held in check.
Against the door was a pile of bodies. Mangled and hardly recognizable as such. Entrails had been hung up and bodily fluids were smeared on the wall. The wall itself looked wrong. It looked aged and decayed, the paint was peeling as if extremes in temperature had warped and weathered it. In places, under the paint, rusted metal peeked out. The walls weren't metal though. All of the outposts were wood and stone, there might have been metal components in places but that was only in pipes and ductwork rather than the shell itself. Seraph looked away from the mutilation and found another curious sight. Under the paint in another area there was glass and it looked like a window into murky water. She had been to Nautilus before; it wasn't an undersea base at all. There were no fish tanks built into the walls last time she had been through and certainly not in the portal room.
"Don't move yet," Stealth reached out to take the Portal Master by the shoulder when she drifted away.
"But look," she pointed at the glass. On second glance it was under the paint. The paint had peeled off it. "Why would they paint over it?" Seraph reached out and ripped off a large strip of paint to prove to the elf there was more than what had been exposed.
"The Darkness?" Stink Bomb asked when he glanced over his shoulder. "Not to distract you or anything but doesn't anyone else wonder where the thing that did that went to? I mean that is the only door and the bodies haven't moved to indicate the attacker left…"
"See the elf in the corner?" Stealth said without even looking back. "She did it to them then killed herself. Her wounds are self-inflicted."
"How can you tell?" Trap Shadow asked. Carefully he knelt by the dead elf. Only then did he notice her blood was more black than red, a sure sign of the taint. The smiladon covered his nose and mouth with a hand before he remembered the breathing apparatus and slid it easily into place. "Oh Marcella," he said sadly a moment later.
"You knew her?" Stink Bomb asked as he knelt next to the smiladon. His voice too was altered by the mask. He watched in horror as the cat reached out with a discarded shoe he found and pushed away the entrails that Marcella wore as a necklace. The same sort of situation was around her waist and tied up like a belt. Her clothing was soaked in gore, some of it the contents of stomachs that had been sliced open during her attack on the others.
"I trained her a few weeks back. Promising Magic Element," Trap Shadow sighed. "I thought she was stronger than this." He let the shoe drop; it made a sickening squelch sound when it hit the entrails that were pooled in her lap. Not all were taken from her victims, her own were spilled just as easily and added a muddy black quality to the whole pile. The rusty tool she had used was still clasped in her rigid fingers.
"You guys really need to see this," Seraph said from behind them. Her voice was quivering and she leaned up against Stealth's side. The elf had placed a hand on her shoulder but kept his solid white eyes narrowed and focused on the wall of glass.
It was indeed a wall, nearly the whole one of the back had been replaced by glass and in the murky water on the other side shapes swam up towards the meager light and pressed disfigured faces against the glass.
Trap Shadow forgot Marcella instantly and stood to join the duo at the glass with Stink Bomb joining him. "Some of them were gillmen at one time," he pointed out. "The others are everything from elves to mabu and kitsunes."
"Why are they all missing their skin?" Stink Bomb asked as he pushed his mask back down to his neck. "Ugh, this place gives me the willies. Give me hidden enemies, armed threats and trolls over whatever this horror story is any day."
A large figure, possibly a yeti judging by the four arms, pounded the glass with meaty balled fists. The creature's shoulders were hunched so much it looked swollen out of proportion with tiny legs. On land it probably moved around on its thick arms with legs only used to maintain balance.
The skinless face was squashed, the brow so heavy it rolled over the eyes and made them completely vanish. The nose was ragged like a skeletal apparition with the barest bits of cartilage still attached. The mouth possessed thick lips that flapped freely and when pressed against the glass turned into a perfect circle as it sucked on the only thing between it and the scouting team. Rows of tiny blade-like teeth sat behind the lips and circled the mouth in whole; the yeti no longer had a working jaw and most likely simply shoved things in past its massive lips and across the razor blade teeth.
Milky fat deposits on the monster jiggled in the current of the water and naked muscles and tendons rippled with each movement the yeti made.
"Come," Stealth said softly to Seraph when she covered her mouth and turned pale. She looked about ready to get sick.
The Portal Master gratefully hid her face in Stealth's shoulder and accepted the hands belonging to Stink Bomb and Trap Shadow that touched her lightly.
"What next?" Trap Shadow asked. He looked to the corpses piled at the door and really didn't relish the idea of moving them. Seraph's vines could do it easily enough but he felt like a coward relying upon her to open a door.
Behind them the yeti made a strangled sound and the pounding stopped suddenly. Stealth chanced a glance back over his shoulder and saw only a single dismembered and ragged arm drift downwards before it vanished below the window. The red-black blood in the water only seemed to further cloud it over. If something more dangerous than the tainted yeti was out there then they had better leave the room before it came back to break the glass.
There was a growl in the room suddenly, deep and throaty before the Light suddenly died.
Seraph was the first to scream and reacted without thinking. She used a skill given to all of the Elders following Eon's merging with the Core of Light and released a brilliant pulse of Light contained within her body to illuminate the whole of the room and instantly banish the clinging darkness from it.
A canine-like shape whimpered and hit the floor. A fire hound at one time, now a smoldering and blackened monster with a face that not only split in the traditional fashion of horizontally for the jaws but vertically as well so the head could open further and display the active embers contained below the blackened hide. Its legs bent awkwardly straight out from the beast's sides and if it had a few more pairs of them could have passed as a spider.
Seraph released a series of rapid pulses of Light and all of a sudden the room looked normal again. The walls were pristine stone, no paint present on them. No window along the back and most of all no corpses or bloody entrails. The lamps on the walls provided light again and Seraph took the Light back within her to release later if needed.
The Portal Master accepted Stealth's and Trap Shadow's support as they sat her down on the floor. "The outpost is," she choked on the words. She pushed her goggles up and rubbed furiously at her eyes. "The Darkness is absolute here. It has taken over. The Light feels so weak against it. Don't doubt the Light will keep us safe. Don't let hope die." The Portal Master sat heavily with slouched shoulders. She looked tired and defeated with her posture even though her words spoke of the opposite.
"Just open a portal then, get us out of here," Stink Bomb reasoned.
"I… can't. Portal Magic has been blocked from me. The Darkness doesn't want us to go."
Stealth scuffed his foot against the floor and moved towards the door. He pointed at it furiously. "Then we fight our way through."
Stink Bomb took a seat next to Seraph and leaned down to look at her face. She angled it to look at him and managed a weak smile. "Trap, maybe you should start to pull out some of those traps of yours. We should each probably take a few just in case." The skunk looked back up as Stealth moved to help Trap Shadow shed his unwieldy pack.
Halfway through Trap Shadow's sorting of his equipment it became apparent they had a time frame to work with. The Darkness had started to creep back into the room. Before the team's very eyes the walls began to change again as decay set in once more. Stains blossomed and spread slowly, parts of the walls cracked and crumbled. There was no peeling paint that time. Only stone that aged and became pitted as if acid ate at it. The floor itself began to break and fall away in large chunks. Things were quickly stuffed into packs before the team scrambled for the door. The unnerving sound of stone falling away and crashing ever so quietly a long while later put a sense of urgency into everyone.
"Locked?" Trap Shadow screeched when the door wouldn't budge. "Who the bloody hell locks a portal room!?"
"Move back, now. As far as you can without falling," Stink Bomb commanded. He pulled out a series of small bombs, an addition to his arsenal that he wouldn't be caught dead without. He shoved one as best he could in the warped area between the door and the doorjamb before he did the same to the hinges. Stink Bomb lit them and joined the trio to the left of the door in the corner, the furthest place they could reach and avoid the steadily widening hole. "Pray," was the last thing said before the report of the explosion filled the room and caused the ears of everyone to ring painfully.
The room quaked in protest and though it couldn't be heard yet the floor and walls groaned. The group was already on the move however and passed the threshold of the door before the room behind them crumbled into nothingness and left a yawning blackness to fill the door. Seraph quickly summoned another orb of Light, a very small one that was about as effective as a flashlight in an open field. She felt anything larger would draw attention to them.
The hall wasn't what anyone expected. The floor was dirt, cracked as if by drought and ashy with loose dust everywhere. The walls looked like leather, stitched together in a patchwork quilt of different colors and textures. Some areas of the wall showed distorted faces, almost as if the skin had come neatly off the bodies it had one time clothed easily. The stretched eyes, ears, noses and mouths were gaping holes of blackness.
Masks went up quickly if only to avoid the pungent reek of rotten meat and something else sour.
"Here," Seraph whispered as she summoned a small orb of Light for each of the Skylanders. "Hide it for now; use it if we get separated."
"Don't talk like that!" Trap Shadow hissed in mild irritation.
"Better safe than sorry," Stealth rebuked him quietly. He tucked the orb away with a murmured thanks to Seraph.
Together they made the decision to move down the left side of the hall. Dirt crunched under foot loudly and made all three Skylanders stare at their feet in amazement. They could move silently over any terrain, why was the dirt floor so noisy suddenly?
Doors seemed to be absent in the hall made of discarded skins. Well, not entirely. Gleaming, eerily pristine and clean doorknobs were present in areas as were holes where one should be. A few door knobs seemed to have been replaced by the knobbed ends of large bones that would form a joint. Each door was tried and all were locked or maybe not even a door at all.
The group walked for what seemed like forever without a change of scenery. Stealth looked back to the wall and gave a start. He glanced to the other side and saw the gaping hole of Darkness that they had fled from via Stink Bomb's explosives. "We went in a circle. I never saw the hall curve."
"Son of a," Trap Shadow grunted. He shivered as he looked hard at first the empty door then wall. "Yeah, that creepy gremlin face there is familiar. Can't be two of them that look exactly the same, right?"
"Walk the other way," Seraph said as she turned around.
"You're joking right? We went in a circle. We just came that way and it will lead right back here," Stink Bomb pointed to the floor.
"Walk the other way," Seraph repeated in a deathly calm voice. "We are bein' toyed with." She had tried to put on a brave face but no one missed the deep shudder she made as she walked away stiffly.
Stealth pulled Stink Bomb by the tail when the skunk decided he wanted to be stubborn and crossed his arms. "If we lose her then we lose our only chance of getting out of this place."
"And I want to get out," Trap Shadow agreed. "I'm sure you do too."
"If we come back to this place then Seraph I'm going to set you up on a date with Wham-Shell for making such a stupid call. You understand?" Stink Bomb grumbled as he followed the other three.
They hadn't been walking to the right for long when the hall opened up suddenly into a T junction and the group stopped dead in their tracks.
"Um. When we get home, Seraph, I will shave myself bald and wear a pink tutu. I'm sorry," Stink Bomb apologized with a mixture of disbelief and amazement. He looked behind him to find a solid wall blocked their progress. Seraph was right, the Darkness wanted them and was going to do everything it could to herd them in the right direction.
Stealth studied each path carefully. "Which way?" The left hand hall had walls made up of incredibly thick, spiked brambles and the dirt floor continued. The right hand hall had walls made of polished green marble that seemed to ooze blood from the top that pooled in thick puddles along the length of solid black flooring. Parts of it shone in Seraph's Light and parts seemed to be dull and empty. The blood vanished at the lackluster parts of the floor as if proving further it was riddled with pratfalls.
"The brambles signify Life," Seraph sighed heavily. "I find it easier to follow the path that at least has the promise of change behind it. The blood flowin' in the other is too much of a bad omen for me."
Stealth couldn't accept that reasoning. "What if the Darkness knows that's our thoughts? What if the path that looks less appealing is actually the right one?"
"Regular ball 'o sunshine, huh?" Stink Bomb commented.
Laughter drifted out from the right hall. It was a dry and raspy sound with a deep rattle to follow. Something made a dragging sound then a thump. It repeated itself; drag, thump. Drag, thump. Drag, thump. Another chuckle, much closer and the intake of breath after the rattle was much crisper. The Light didn't penetrate the hall suddenly past a certain point. Heavy breathing came out from the hall and the Darkness seemed to swell and swallow more of the Light.
Stealth narrowed his eyes, "Damn you," he spat at the Darkness. "Damn you back to the depths from which you crawled!"
"Damn you," a voice wheezed. "Damn all of you to my embrace," the voice hissed like a snake on the last word.
"Time to go," the green skunk exclaimed. He shoved Stealth hard in the back. "Seraph got us out of the circle hall of doom. I'm going to trust her to get us away from the living Darkness!"
As they ran into the bramble hall Trap Shadow threw something behind him. It exploded in a brilliant flash of Light and the Darkness squealed. For as long as the magic in the trap lasted everything illuminated by its glow looked like a normal hall in the outpost. There was no path in the direction the Darkness had crept up on them from. Masks were pulled down as it was harder to breathe when the wearer was panting so hard.
"Light guide our way. Light protect our backs," Seraph murmured her prayer as she clutched her small orb close to her heart. The orbs that the Skylanders held brightened alongside hers and Light leaked out of the pockets they had tucked theirs away in. In the shafts that grazed the brambles smooth wall took over until the beam passed and left warped brambles, although a little greener than the rest, in their wake.
Feet splashed in water and the group halted to study it.
"Dare we trust it?" Trap Shadow asked Seraph.
"We don't have a choice. There's a wall behind us again," Stink Bomb answered. "You still can't grasp portal magic?"
"No," Seraph shook her head. "I can't use my Life magic either. All I can do is wield the Light." She waded out a little farther in the ankle deep water. "Where ever it's leadin' us the pressure is getting greater. Don't leave my side, please," she pleaded the Skylanders. "I need you for strength. Together we can do this. I know we can."
"It's so cold," Stealth commented. "Like ice." His pants were soaked up to the knees even if the water never rose above his ankles. They walked in a tight formation with Seraph in the center, Trap Shadow in the front and Stealth as well as Stink Bomb slightly behind Seraph on either side. The Portal Master's aura might be the only thing protecting them from the Darkness pressing in. If she was taken from them they would fall for sure.
Trap Shadow faltered and yelled out when he stumbled and splashed down in the water. He seemed to roll down and by the time he was on his feet again he was shorter than the others and neck deep in the water. "Stairs," the smiladon sputtered and spat a few times. "Mother fucking stairs."
"Uh. We'll drown. And I can't swim," Stink Bomb admitted.
"I'm a poor swimmer," Seraph sighed. She studied the water and noticed a ripple further out. "Trap," she called softly to the Skylander. "Get back up here. You're not alone."
Painstakingly slow Trap Shadow ascended the stairs. He didn't want to trip any more than he wanted whatever was in the water to know he was trying to flee from it. He heard a splash and picked up his pace a little more. Something wrapped around his ankle and the smiladon cried out as he tripped and hit the stairs hard.
"Hold on!" Stink Bomb splashed in to grab Trap Shadow by one hand and Stealth followed to grab the other.
"Pull!" the elf commanded the skunk.
"I am!" he yelled back.
"Pull harder!" Trap Shadow yelled. "How can it hold on, it feels slimy! Oh Light, what if it's just as skinless as that thing we saw in the water window? What if this is the room the water window showed us?"
"Shit, he's slipping!" Stink Bomb howled. A moment later and Trap Shadow's hand slid from his.
Light once again erupted from Seraph just as Stealth lost his grip. When the Light had filled the hall the water was gone and so was Trap Shadow.
"No!" Stink Bomb gasped. He ran down the stairs yelling to his friend. "Trap! Trap! Can you hear me?"
Stealth reached out to take Seraph by the hand, her body still engulfed in Light she took it and followed him down to meet up with Stink Bomb. "Move forward," Stealth commanded in a steely tone.
Stink Bomb whirled furiously on the elf, "What if he's still here? Take the Light back in, Seraph. Let the Darkness pool again. We can still save him!"
"SB," the Portal Master said gently. "It will take a while for the effects of the Light to fade." She didn't want to say it but it was implied that the Swaplander was gone for the time being. Regardless Seraph did draw the Light back into her being. Stealth gave her a questioning look. "I can hold the Darkness at bay, yes. But it doesn't bring my magic back. If we're gonna stand a chance we have to face it head on in the heart of its concentration."
"And where is that?" Stealth questioned. Stink Bomb was still calling to Trap Shadow, his voice echoing as his panic rose.
The Portal Master rubbed her temples, "At the inactive Augment, of course."
Stealth said a few choice words and pointed up to the ceiling, "But that's located in the tower who knows how many floors above us. We're being herded downward." He shook his head, his blue braid thumped dully against his shoulders. "How do we get to it?"
"We press on. Once the Darkness thinks we're weak enough it will allow us in. If we don't break before then." She looked past Stealth to Stink Bomb, the skunk had pressed forward without them and the corruption was starting to creep back in where he was. "We're gonna lose him if we don't go after him."
When the Darkness had finally reclaimed the area and the corruption returned the water was missing. It did however leave stagnant puddles that had a scum of some kind over the water with an oily appearance when the Light touched it. The walls seemed to be made of jet black obsidian that reflected the trio perfectly with Seraph's small Light source. Things moved in the walls, behind the inky surface and seemed to scatter from the Light and remain just out of sight enough so details couldn't be discerned. No one missed the shapes swarm back in to fill areas no longer bathed in Light. At some point Stink Bomb had gone silent and fell into step next to Seraph with Stealth on her other side.
"I don't like this," Stealth whispered. "I can fight foes. I can't fight a building." More than once they had seen paths block their way instantly with one form of obstacle or another. The floor map of the outpost seemed to warp and change at will and more often than it had when they first arrived. They were forced down three more flights of stairs; one even seemed to wind on for an eternity and had heavy breathing press down on them from above to keep them moving at a dizzying pace.
The outpost should have only been six stories tall. So if they had started on the sixth floor they should have reached the second floor. If it were the fifth then they would be on the first. Seraph had already said the portal room was located on the first floor. The Darkness was warping the outpost in impossible ways.
Stink Bomb's head jerked up suddenly. "Did you hear that?"
Stealth cocked his head to the side, "Hear what?" His hearing should have been just as sensitive as the skunk's yet he had heard nothing.
"Trap Shadow!" Stink Bomb exclaimed. "There is was again! And closer, you heard it, right?"
Seraph approached the Skunk and forced one of his eyes open wider to look at the pink skin around it; it had begun to grey and blacken in the corners. She scowled and pushed the skunk back. "You heard nothing, SB," she told him firmly. "It is the Darkness. We've all been touched. It is starting to wear on us."
"No! I heard him, I heard him! Hysterically he was calling for all of us! So pained, so much fear. We can help him!"
Without warning Seraph lit up the hall again. Something shrieked and skittered away with the sound of claws and something dragging behind it.
"How bad?" Stealth asked. He moved on Stink Bomb and fingered one of his daggers which until then had been sheathed.
"Not bad. I think I can cleanse it since it hasn't rooted in too deep."
"Look, I'm fine!" the skunk insisted as he began to walk away from Seraph.
"Then let me boost your resistance at least," the Portal Master tried to reason with him. She staggered suddenly and gasped. Stealth was there in an instant to keep her from falling when her knees buckled.
"What happened?" the elf kept his eyes on Stink Bomb yet couldn't help but let his gaze slide behind the skunk. Seraph didn't have to answer, Stealth saw for himself. A great wall of the deepest blackness was pushing in against her halo of protection and Stink Bomb was slowly backing up towards it. "Stop!" Stealth commanded. "Stink Bomb, look behind you! You must stop!"
Stink Bomb did look but apparently didn't see the same thing the others did. "Trap Shadow is back there! He's bound in chains and something is pulling him back! I can save him, come with me, Stealth! We can get him back!" the skunk extended a clawed hand with a pleading look. Stealth helped Seraph up but didn't move from her side. "I can see where your loyalties lie," the skunk hissed. "It was because of Earth the Darkness is even this bad. Stay with the human, she's probably feeding the Darkness with her vile thoughts. I'm going to get Trap Shadow back."
"SB, no!" Seraph surged forward as the skunk passed out of her halo and was swallowed by the Darkness. She screamed in outrage and pushed with all her might. The Darkness shattered all the way down the hall where it ended at a door she didn't remember going through. Stink Bomb was gone.
"Let them go!" Seraph screamed into the empty hall. Her voice echoed down it and from behind them echoed back but in a tone that sounded more like a tearful pleading than the hoarse scream of rage she had uttered. Another echo rolled in of her hysterically screaming the same thing before a third and final one came in of nothing but gibberish and broken yells pierced by an insane cackle. Seraph pressed her palms to her ears to shut it out and whimpered when it seemed to rattle through her skull instead. The next thing she remembered was Stealth pushing up her goggles to pull down on her lower lid like she had to Stink Bomb.
"You're clean," Stealth said in amazement. "No taint at all. Quickly. Chase it from me before I follow in the skunk's footsteps."
Seraph sniffed a few times and summoned another orb of Light in a small size before she handed it to Stealth. "Swallow it. I'll make it grow once you do."
The elf popped it like a pill and swallowed smoothly. He felt the warmth spread outward from his belly as Seraph put into motion her promise. Stealth hadn't realized until it was gone how heavy and weighed down he had been. "Thank you," the elf said. He grabbed the back of Seraph's head and pulled her forehead against his. "Hang in there. We'll get them back. They aren't lost." He released Seraph and stepped back as he waited for her to make the next move.
"The Darkness is tryin' to drive doubt into my mind. The Light won't regenerate as fast if I doubt. I know this and am fightin' it. But it's gettin' hard. Why didn't SB listen to me?"
"We weren't careful enough," Stealth replied. He pulled his respirator mask back up over his face and muffled his voice. "But we're going to take more caution now. Right?"
Seraph pulled her own back into place. "Right."
Seraph hated the sound of her breathing through the mask. She could hear Stealth's as well and it was unnerving after hearing the Darkness use similar tactics against them. Stealth put an arm out to stop Seraph suddenly and she walked a few paces more before she realized he was holding her back. She gave him a questioning look and Stealth ushered her to walk again. She did so and he stopped her once again. That time Seraph heard it. Footsteps were shadowing them. Halfway through her turn a bipedal shape of skinless meat bowled her over. Seraph shrieked as it pushed her down and snapped in her face with two mouths. One set of teeth snapped shut before another in front of it snapped shut a second later. The inner set of teeth were flat and blunt, the outer were sharp and serrated. Again there were no eyes on the creature. There were no features other than the mouth; the face was smooth without even remnants of eyes, ears or a nose.
The Portal Master screamed when the figure forced her hands above her head, it had two thumbs with one where the last finger should have been. Each thumb was tipped in a thick claw riddled with barbs and Seraph felt them pierce her flesh at the wrist.
Blunt force caused the smooth, nearly featureless head to snap to the side before one of Stealth's daggers caught the creature in the collar bone. He roared as he hauled the slick, skinless beast off Seraph and kicked it to the side. Blood black as pitch rolled out of the wound and slapped against the floor where it clotted instantly into crusty heaps. The beast opened both sets of teeth and gave a guttural roar before it clamored across the floor on its knuckles sideways much like a gorilla from Earth moved. It raised a thick arm to take a swing at Stealth but met Seraph instead when she stepped in front of the elf and rammed her hand into the creature's face.
It squealed and dropped to the floor where it writhed around in agony, a bright spot of Light was visible in its throat and more poured out of its mouth. The creature seized a few moments then went still. Only after it had stopped moving did the duo realize it was wearing boots but nothing else. The Light burned out of it then moved to hover next to Seraph on the side opposite of her first orb. "Take yours out," she said to Stealth as she moved back down the hall in the direction they had been going. "You're going to need it. The Darkness is done playing."
There were more junctions in the hall now than should have been possible. Blocking each one was a twisted shape, a former resident of the outpost or refugee. Snarls, wet snuffling sounds and all sorts of strange noises filled the hall as Seraph and Stealth walked down it like a gauntlet.
Behind them was a sound similar to a bleating goat and a slapping sound. Seraph dared to look behind her and saw a large bipedal figure with an elongated torso waddling down the hall. It had no arms and the neck ended in a smooth stump where there should have been a head. It wasn't skinned meat like the other creatures but rather a sickly yellow color. Maybe it was supposed to have been a quadruped with the way the long torso was held up off the floor. The slapping sound came from large, floppy feet that should have tripped it up but the way the creature swung its legs to the side apparently got around that hazard. The figure jerked up as if it knew Seraph was looking at it and made an angry sound before it picked up speed.
Seraph gasped and blindly threw out one of the traps she had taken from Trap Shadow. Metal jaws opened up and laid flat on the floor before a floppy foot stepped right into it and the teeth snapped shut. An agonized wail of pain escaped from… somewhere on the headless creature and it fell to the side kicking feebly in an effort to remove the trap.
Stealth pulled Seraph down suddenly and before she could complain something large swung over her head with an angry roar. She looked up and the ceiling had what looked like monkey bars all along it. One of the skinless, overly muscled yetis with a heavy brow and long, loose lips was clamoring around on them with its short, stubby legs hanging down and trying to grasp at her and Stealth. The elf pulled Seraph back up and they dashed down the hall while the hanging monster was trying to turn around.
More of the skinless abominations began to shuffle out from the seemingly endless halls. As each one left its former position the halls closed up via some form of crackling crust that grew from the wall and hardened like cooled lava.
The hall was filled with skinless, eyeless monsters possessing long arms, sharp spikes and horrifying mouths filled with more teeth than even a shark would possess.
"Stay by my side, use the Light in small amounts but let my blades take care of them," the elf commanded. He had tried to use a few of his special talents but like Seraph found they too had been blocked when he couldn't touch the magic needed to activate them. The Light was their most powerful weapon and only one of them could wield it.
Light reflected off of Stealth's blades as they danced and cut into abominations on all sides. Blood blackened by the Darkness flowed and pained moans escaped the creatures. Some lost interest and vanished in the Darkness behind the mass and others grew angrier as they lashed out harder and more fiercely. There were just so many attackers that it didn't take much for it to degrade into monsters fighting monsters when they hit each other enough. That allowed Stealth to disengage from multiple foes at once and focus more on the ones that still came at them individually.
To her credit Seraph used the Light in a way that fooled other attackers into thinking one of their own had lashed out at it. She turned many on each other and with some careful contorting was able to slide by the brawls she started without harm. The cacophony of noise in the hall was deafening, the smell of tainted blood had managed to seep in through the protections of the masks and became dizzying.
Something large dropped down from the ceiling. A black shape that swallowed the light and raised arms that trailed streamers of blackness like a cloak or wings. Stealth slashed out at it and while his blades cut through the blackness it simply flowed back in a moment later as if nothing had happened. It advanced on them and flicked out a tendril that swallowed one of Seraph's small orbs.
When the curtained arms began to slide up the walls to either side Seraph let out a powerful burst of Light once more. All of the creatures behind them vanished. The willowy, barely formed figure of Darkness did not. The splayed wings closed in rapidly on Seraph and Stealth. The Portal Master reached out to take Stealth's hand and tried to tug the elf closer to her but failed. The curtain of Darkness parted around her and crushed in on Stealth to consume him completely. It fell to the floor like a cascade of water and melted away into nothing under the radiance of Seraph's defense. Stealth was gone.
Seraph pressed up against the wall, at the moment it was blocks of stone with a carved wooden runner along the top and bottom where the joints met the smooth ceiling and polished floor with the strip of blue carpet lining that went down the middle. She choked back a sob; she had lost all three of her Skylanders. The Darkness had picked them off one by one and each time weakened her resolve. She doubted herself, if she couldn't protect them what chance did she have?
The Darkness swam back in quicker and the floor began to tilt. Seraph backed away from the wall and tried to move up the incline. She reached a solid wall and knew she could go no farther. The floor tilted more and dark liquid began to ooze out of the wall behind her to slicken the surface. There was nothing to hold onto and a moment later the Portal Master was sliding helplessly down into the depths with a howl equal parts anger and despair.
Her slide ended when Seraph rolled across the flat surface of a floor made of padding and quilted to look like a bed cover. Her breath came out in ragged gasps, her throat hoarse from her screams. She heard muffled footsteps and looked up to see a pair of polished shoes heading towards her. The Portal Master scrambled away on hands and knees before she rose to her feet and turned to face whoever was in the room with her.
A figure dressed in all black approached, his coat brushed the tops of his shoes and covered the whole of his body with a cinch around the waist. Thick gloves with a decidedly latex shine covered his hands and overlapped the coat to the arms. Most notable of all however was the silvery bird beak that was visible from under the hood that covered his head. Seraph backed away out of instinct, eyes behind the mask followed her move and the hands came up almost in a soothing manner.
"I do not sense the disease in you. Therefor you have nothing fear from me. I am the cure as are you." The voice was hardly reassuring but it sounded so matter-of-fact and precise that it seemed to ooze truth.
"You're not tainted," Seraph said hoarsely when she detected no Darkness in the other figure. Her voice was raw from her scream and she swallowed hard before she tried unsuccessfully to clear it. She wanted badly to remove the gasmask she wore but decided against it. The Darkness was so thick in the room she could see it drift before her goggled eyes like tendrils of mist.
"I cannot be tainted," the bird masked figure said as he raised his head slightly. Seraph thought she saw a pale jaw line under it but couldn't be sure. "I am the cure. We fight the same disease. Our methods are different but we are cures nonetheless."
Seraph groaned and slid down the wall. "I know who you are now. 049, the rouge Portal Master."
"Precisely. Though rouge is not how I see myself," the other figure agreed partially. "I cannot let the disease spread and am not afraid to take steps those of your ilk frown upon. I came with four others. I was forced to cure one and the other three remain untreated. Am I to assume you met the same fate? Surely you did not think you alone could fight so much disease here? I can feel it touch me like a promise of plague," he said sourly as he rubbed at his arms and flung his hands out as if to clear something from him. "But it cannot take me."
Temporarily calmed Seraph let her eyes roam what she had determined to be an enormous padded cell. It didn't make much sense though; the hole she slid through was still open as were the ones on each of the other three walls. The liquid that flowed out of them drained into grates just under the holes but 049 had left a trail of inky footprints from the hole he had apparently come out of. Seraph looked behind her and saw the mess she left when she had rolled across the floor then scrambled away from the figure she and the other Elders commonly referred to as Doc.
"Your Light has promise. Give it to me," 049 said with an extended hand.
Seraph eyed him skeptically before she summoned a large orb and rolled it off her hands to the other figure. The room was illuminated with the addition and the dingy fabric of the walls was yellowed in places, stained in others and overall tinged with a brown show of age. The liquid that came from the huge tubes was black as pitch, liquefied Darkness no doubt. Seraph became paranoid when she imagined it trying to seep into her skin. She flared up long enough to burn the Darkness from her riot armor and found 049 studying her closely.
"Your gifts are different from mine," he commented. "Now I understand why our methods of curing are so very different. May you cure your allies before I do," he said cryptically.
"You've found no way out of here?" Seraph ignored his odd comment. She looked up to the ceiling. Well, she wasn't sure if there was one as the Darkness hung like a cloud over her head.
"No. The inclines in the tunnels are too steep. The disease that seeps out makes it too slick to try. Your Light warps the Darkness. Can you increase the range?"
Seraph frowned behind her mask. In the back of her mind she thought she must look terrifying in riot armor with a gasmask and goggles covering her face. Then she glanced back at the figure she knew as Doc. His beaked face made her feel a little more normal in her attire. "Yeah. I can. The Darkness always comes back and each time it does the rooms are different. It's sort of a gamble. You want me to chance it?"
"I would like to get out of here and continuing curing. So yes. I would prefer you take a chance on it."
The Portal Master of Life rolled her shoulders and gathered her thoughts before she sent a pulse of Light out. She drew it back into her being a moment later and was shocked to find the Darkness had already returned. As she had promised the room too was altered. She looked through a large window into a smaller room where 049 stood alone. There was an empty and dingy gurney in the room with him. A metallic table smeared with blood was in the center of the room with a drain directly under it and a slight tilt of the floor around, there were remnants of blood around the drain but most had gone down it. The whole setup was of an operating room. The equipment was rusted, filthy and the surgeon's light flickered with weak shafts of illumination that only managed to make harsh shadows dance on the floor. 049 swat at the tray of instruments and knocked them to the floor. Seraph couldn't hear him but he had raised his head and shook his fist. Perhaps in anger, the operating room did look pretty sad and hardly effective.
For the moment Seraph ignored 049 and turned to look at her room. She gasped and threw herself up against the window behind her when she saw the hanging corpse on the wall. It was in two pieces, hung by the arms was the upper body of Chapter Portal Master James. He had looked over Nautilus Outpost, Seraph had worked with him and knew him quite well. Next to his torso and hung by the ankles were his legs. The bisected Portal Master's entrails had fallen out into a heap on the floor below his upper body with one thick rope of intestine apparently caught on something still within his abdominal wall. His blood was still red; he hadn't died from the infection. He had most likely died at the hands of an infected refugee or even Skylander.
Banging on the window made the woman spin around to see 049 there. He pointed behind him to an open door then waved simply at her before he turned around and went for it.
Seraph tried to bang on the glass to get his attention, he could break it with something in the room and let her out but he either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her. "Wait!" she yelled, her voice still hoarse. "Come back!" She howled in outrage when he closed the door behind him. Seraph pounded her fist once more on the glass before she turned around.
She hadn't noticed it before but right behind the dead Portal Master's torso was a ladder slick with his blood. Seraph wrinkled her lips in disgust; it was a way out even if it was undesirable.
But Seraph couldn't pull the corpse down. The chains were too thick and as the blood splattered her she felt her stomach tie into knots. Blood had smeared her goggles when the entrails still attached finally came loose and slapped her in the face before they slid like wet rope to the floor. She tried to clean her lenses and only managed to smear the mess around. With a deep shudder Seraph pulled the corpse out and let it hit her in the back as she climbed the ladder and slipped multiple times on the slick blood that covered the rungs. Tears burned at her eyes, Seraph remembered the Chapter well. James was a nice guy, an older individual like her and former military man. How easily he had fallen under the crush of Darkness. Seraph's knees shook as his wrists bumped the backs of her calves when she had nearly climbed above the corpse.
With the chains clinking behind her Seraph finally reached a hatch. With a great deal of struggling she managed to throw it open and climbed up into pitch blackness. She felt heavy and sluggish. She had found the Heart of Darkness. It must have felt she had been beaten down enough to finally pull her in and crush her spirit for good. The hatch door slammed shut and made Seraph jump.
"It's all your fault."
Seraph's heart sank. Stink Bomb's accusation hit her hard. "No, SB. I tried! I tried to save us all!"
The skunk walked out of the inky blackness, his solid white eyes burned balefully bright. He had multiple cuts and wounds, his armor was gone and he was dressed only in undergarments. The Life Element's green and cream fur was patchy and matted; his red blood was mingled with black. The Darkness hadn't taken him fully but he was beyond being able to fight it anymore. "But you failed. You brought this monster with you. All of the Portal Masters from Earth! It was a mistake to have ever accepted you! Skylands was fine without you!"
The skunk let out a garbled wail as he ran at Seraph. She threw her arms up to try to fend him off. His clawed fingers locked with hers and he snarled at her mask as he tried to push her backwards. "SB, please!" Seraph pleaded with him.
"Why? If we remove all of the Portal Masters from Skylands maybe the Darkness will go back to normal! You don't belong here!"
The Portal Master let the Light she held seep out, not in a large burst but enough to give her a soft glow. Stink Bomb disengaged with her and scuttled away with a feral hiss as he threw his partially furred tail up before him. "The Light is nothing to be afraid of!" she yelled at him. "Let it in, SB. Let me help you!"
"No!" the skunk snarled. "You are filled with lies, deceit and corruption! I don't want to hear you anymore!" He pulled a blade from out of nowhere, quite literally and cut off both of his ears before he threw them at Seraph. The skunk didn't even seem to feel the pain and gave her a crooked grin.
Seraph pulsed strongly and let the Light fill the area. She opened up a halo in the blackness all around. All she could see was the stone floor below her. Stink Bomb cried in dismay and tried to ball up on the floor as Seraph approached him. He fought her weakly and mewed like an infant as she forced his head up and then pried his jaws open before she shoved a ball of Light past his teeth and clamped his jaws shut. The skunk swallowed reflexively when she rubbed at his throat with her fingers and Seraph watched the Light travel down his throat and vanish behind his ribs. She expanded it all at once within him and moved back as she skunk convulsed violently. He rolled over and propped himself up on shaking arms before he vomited up a thick mass of writhing black tendrils. They squirmed and burned away under the Light. Stink Bomb wretched again, a smaller mass was expelled and he tried to crawl weakly towards Seraph.
Four more times the skunk emptied his belly onto the stone and on the last one there was no more Darkness to expel. The skunk's body was engulfed in a soft glow by then, Seraph kept the Light in place to shield him from reinfection.
"Stink Bomb?" she said softly as she knelt next to him and picked his head up into her lap.
"Thank you," he said weakly. "Forgive me. I didn't mean anything I said. I don't doubt you or any of the Portal Masters." He brought a hand up and felt around on his head before he found the ragged remains of his ears. The Skylander made a garbled sound and tried to ball up.
The woman tugged him up more and hugged his back tight against her front before she sobbed loudly. "You're back. That's all that matters. You're back." In frustration she pulled the mask off. She was still glowing herself, the Light would keep the Darkness from touching her and that was all she needed at the moment. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to keep you safe." Stink Bomb shuddered in her arms but did manage to find one of her hands. He squeezed it and tugged her arms tighter around him so she was crushed against his back.
"Help me," the weak call came. Seraph shuddered against Stink Bomb and tried to hide her face between his shoulder and neck. "Please," the voice called again with more strength.
"Did you hear that?" the skunk sounded almost afraid to ask.
"I did," she answered just as reluctantly. Chains sounded and scraped with a distinct dragging sound.
It seemed like it was all around them. Stink Bomb carefully pulled away from the Portal Master and stood on shaky legs. He accepted Seraph's support as both of them swiveled their heads in effort to pinpoint the source of the sound.
Slowly but surely a figure materialized out of the Darkness and stumbled towards them. Trap Shadow was in much the same state as Stink Bomb, his armor was gone and he was wounded. But his blood was far more red than black; he fought the taint much harder it seemed. Across the electric blue stripes in his fur thick metal shackles shone and were marred by equal parts rust. A few of the chains were secured to him with meat hooks and Trap Shadow's arms were pinned to his chest so he couldn't remove them. Worse was the fact his right arm ended in a stump just below the elbow. The wound appeared to have been cauterized by fire and singed skin as well as fur surrounded it.
When he had fully made it into the halo of light the other two could see the corpses he was forced to drag behind him. Heavy and mangled, some were skinned and others twisted at odd angles with obviously broken bones. "Help me," Trap Shadow murmured again.
Seraph made a move to help him but squealed in pain when a whip lashed out from the Darkness just beyond the end of the corpses. Trap Shadow took a few more steps and fell to his knees in the halo of light. The whip cracked at him mercilessly and from a thick shackle around his neck a chain jangled as it was tugged. Seraph took hold of it, heedless of the whip that assaulted her, and pulled hard on it.
Stealth stumbled out on the other end of it. He grinned wickedly at Seraph without his usual mask to cover his face. His armor was gone but his skin was untouched. The soft green was smooth and taunt over his lithe frame and lean muscles covered only by undergarments like the other two Skylanders. The elf's normally white eyes were solid black and seemed to dim the Light around them rather than be brightened by them. His hair was loose and brushed at his shoulders like a perfectly kept mane. The elf looked like nothing had happened to him, as if he hadn't been in combat at all.
"SB," Seraph called to the skunk. Without taking her eyes off Stealth she handed him an orb of light. "Treat Trap for me."
"You don't stand a chance against Stealth."
"You're still weak," she told the skunk. "Help Trap. I'll do what I can with Stealth. Get Trap up and together we might stand a chance."
Stealth was in the process of wrapping the whip up as Seraph conversed with Stink Bomb. Strangely enough the elf wore wraps of fabric around his hands and feet. If his undergarments had been a loincloth he would have passed as a barbaric slaver. "My dear Seraph," Stealth said with a double voice. One was his own, the second something else. "Yes," the elf laughed when the Portal Master's eyes widened. "I took your elf as a host. He has a strong will. He holds just enough Light to keep me from overwhelming him. He will make the perfect host and will last longer than any others before."
Seraph balled her hands into fists and glared defiantly at the possessed Stealth. "You can't have him."
"But I already have him," the figure laughed. He seemed to dematerialize in a cloud of Darkness before he was at Seraph's side an instant later. Her halo of light pushed against his of Darkness. Stealth wrapped his arms around Seraph and pinned hers at her side before he forced her head to look back towards Stink Bomb and Trap Shadow. The two Skylanders were stuck in a cage of Darkness, Stink Bomb could make the bars bend with the halo he still possessed but they never broke and flowed back in when he stopped pressing against them. "I'll take them back too. Breaking the skunk again will be fun and to finally break the smiladon will be a thrill. But I'm more than willing to share Stealth with you, of course," his double voice purred into Seraph's ear.
The Dark Stealth pulled Seraph further away from the two Skylanders. "Did you know Stealth has lusted after you for quite some time? Oh it's true. He enjoys your morning runs together so much. There is something enticing in the way your body moves and flows when running." The hand he had used to force her head around became gentle as it caressed Seraph's cheek instead. "Portal Masters of Light are hard to break. I haven't yet figured out how to do it. But I have in my hands a new opportunity for experimentation."
Seraph tried to squirm away when his second restraining arm moved to touch her in a way she found deeply unsettling. "You aren't Stealth!" she hissed.
"But I am!" the double voices laughed. "I have his body. I have his memories. I have all his thoughts on what he wanted to do with and to you. Such honor and nobility! He never once acted upon it and instead waited for you to show interest. Don't you want to give your precious Stealth his deepest desires before he vanishes completely under my dominion?" the darker of the two voices took over at that point and whispered to Seraph as one of his hands resumed wandering over her in ways that made the woman squirm.
"Seraph," just Stealth's voice pleaded with her. "All I ever wanted was your touch. Can you grant me this one wish?" His lips grazed her jaw line and his breathing had deepened into a suggestive pace. "You won't regret it," he promised.
"Light! Shut him up! I think I'm going to be sick again!" Stink Bomb yelled.
Seraph managed to break free from Dark Stealth and whirled on him fast. He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her front up against him. "If you would only put that energy into pursuits of passion," Stealth gave her a sultry grin. "A primal dance, a joining of bodies as one. Such a simple request my dear Seraph. Such a fulfilling one."
"You aren't Stealth anymore!" she protested as she tried to wiggle free. She managed to break his grip, or maybe he simply let her go. The woman put a large distance between herself and the elf before she strengthened her glow. "I can't allow it. I won't."
"I will take it, then," the double voice was back. "I may finally be able to break a Portal Master of Light and find myself the perfect host. I will have you in any way I so desire!" the wicked promise seemed to ring through the Darkness from all sides at once and reechoed in whispers of different voices.
If she wanted to stand a chance Seraph knew she had to get Light into the elf's body. Each way would require her to get uncomfortably close. But if she could put Light into him then so too could he put Darkness into her since he was the embodiment of it. Seraph couldn't risk that. But she had to. The woman backed away from Dark Stealth as he strode towards her, a walk full of purpose and more of a strut meant to show off his lean physique and tempt the woman. Seraph stepped on chains and nearly fell. As she stumbled she saw something she could use. A single spike hung from a rusted loop so degraded she might be able to break it off. Seraph took hold of the spike, an object about as long as her forearm, and stepped on the chain it was attached to before the tugged hard on it. The loop broke and a puff of rust and metal shavings rained down.
"I still have my whip, you know," the double voiced Stealth reminded her. "I had hoped to use it in more fun adventures but if you are going to resort to weapons then I have no choice."
Seraph didn't wait around for Stealth to make his move. She ran at him howling with the spike raised up above her head. She drove it down hard into the arm that had gone for the whip and she summoned an orb of Light in the other hand at the same time. Stealth tried to push her away but the woman fought in closer anyway. The spike came out of his arm and she clamped the hand holding the orb onto the wound. His solid black blood flowed freely between her fingers as she forced the light into Stealth's arm and increased its glow at the same time.
"You can't cure me as easily as you could the others!" the dark figure laughed. He finally succeeded in pushing Seraph away. The Portal Master hit the stone floor hard and the spike clattered out of her hands. She crawled frantically for it and just as her fingers brushed at it Stealth grabbed her by the back of her armor and hauled her to her feet. "Woman! Stop making this harder on me!" Stealth bellowed. He slammed her up against a wall of solidified Darkness before he raised his second hand and the fingers elongated into black obsidian claws. He took them to the front of her riot armor and tore through the nylon fabric that provided the movability she needed.
"You can't do this!" Seraph gasped as he began to methodically cut through her armor. Seraph wore only a cami and bike shorts under the armor. She felt so exposed and tried to break out of Stealth's grip.
"I can and I will!" the possessed elf hissed at her. He worked a hand in through a slice to fondle Seraph as she screamed at him.
"No, you will not."
Seraph had never been so glad to hear 049's voice before. Stealth released her with an outraged cry of pain when the rouge Portal Master stabbed him in the back with one of the meat hooks that had been in Trap Shadow. The woman bent down to grab the rusted spike and ran back at Stealth since he was focused more on 049 at the moment.
"Twisted creature that you are," Stealth hissed as he knocked another meat hook out of 049's hands. "Not aligned with the Darkness or of the Light. Things are far more black and white than that!" he roared.
"Grey is all there is," 049 said without any hint of fear or worry in his voice. "But you are black with the disease. I must cure you; it is for your own good."
Stealth jerked away from 049 when Seraph drove the spike into his shoulder. He turned on the Portal Master as she pulled the spike out and ran with her to slam her back against the solid wall. The air was knocked out of Seraph's lungs but Stealth wore a shocked expression.
"Oh God, I didn't mean to," Seraph gasped. Stealth stumbled away from her. The spike had been driven deep into his chest. Seraph grabbed it and pulled it out just as the elf crumpled to the floor. "I can't heal, my magic is still blocked. Oh God, hang in there Stealth!" Seraph watched Darkness flow out of the elf, his eyes faded and eventually returned to white. "Stealth?" Seraph asked.
The elf reached up weakly and took her by the back of the head before he pulled her forehead down to touch his. "I forgive you," he whispered through a wheeze.
Seraph poured Light into him, right through the wound in his chest hoping she could use it to heal. She released it in a torrent and shattered the Darkness around her as well as the others easily.
Early afternoon sunlight flooded in suddenly. Wind caressed Seraph's face as she focused on Stealth. The elf gave her a gentle smile; his hand never left her cheek. Magic flooded through Seraph instantly and she poured into the elf in healing waves.
Stealth's hand slipped from Seraph's cheek and she gave a strangled wail as she poured more healing magic into him.
"Such a shame," 049 said sadly. "I would have loved to witness and record your method of curing the disease. I already know the method you just applied to him."
"Seraph, Seraph come on. It's okay," Stink Bomb said as he tried to pull the woman away from Stealth's corpse.
"I murdered him," she choked. "I killed him!" Seraph tried to shrug out of Stink Bomb's embrace but the skunk wouldn't let her. Seraph didn't even look up when she felt the portal magic but she knew 049 had left.
Seraph's view of Stealth's body was blocked when Trap Shadow knelt before her and put his one good arm around her so she was pinned between him and Stink Bomb. "You chased the Darkness away. You cleansed the outpost, Seraph. It's over."
Seraph broke down into tears and the Skylanders could only hold her as she sobbed. "I failed you all."
Trap Shadow shifted his shortened arm and took Stink Bomb by the shoulder to further press the Portal Master between them. "You failed no one. The Darkness is gone." His pale eyes didn't move from the blackened stump of his arm. The smiladon bit his lip, they had been through hell but they were alive. Stealth was a deep blow and Trap felt it keenly but a sort of numbness had set in that made it hard for him to think of anything other than the human that quivered between him and Stink Bomb.
Once Seraph had finally reined in her grief she saw to the wounds Stink Bomb and Trap Shadow had sustained. Neither Skylander would ever be whole again and they had finally begun to realize they would carry the reminders of that day forever. Trap Shadow tucked his short arm behind his back so he didn't have to look at it and in shame Stink Bomb hid the ragged remains of his ears under the bandana Trap had given him. Once they were ready the trio finally stood to take survey of their surroundings.
The group was surprised to find themselves on top of the outpost's Augment tower. The darkened crystal lay on the stone below its stand. Seraph righted it and jumpstarted it again so it shone with a beam as bright at the original Core of Light.
"What a mess," Stink Bomb said from the ramparts, he kept fingering the knot of fabric under his chin that held the missing bandana over his ears. Seraph joined him and Trap Shadow and sighed heavily. The refugee camps had been burned, smoke still drifted up from the remains. The earth was torn and moved in great rifts, there had been a fierce battle down there. Twisted corpses littered the area; some mangled horribly and others simply blackened and left where they had fallen. The Darkness might have been forced out but the mutations it brought out were still visible in the monsters that were strewn about.
"Is it safe to assume there are no survivors?" Trap Shadow asked. He made a move to lean on the ramparts and made a strangled sound when he hit the tender nub of his missing arm on the stone railing.
Gently Seraph touched the stump of his right arm and rubbed it. With her healing applied it had grown fur back and hid the scars nicely but the smiladon would never feel whole again. "I want to perform a sweep of the fort. But I want to bring others in. This place will never be reopened as an outpost but it can serve as a memorial. From now on I'm goin' to take special note of the Augments and make sure they're functionin' correctly." The Portal Master gratefully accepted the hug both Skylanders laid on her simultaneously. "It's time to go. I have to break the news of Stealth to Eon."
"We'll come with you," Stink Bomb said softly. He looked back to the covered litter they had constructed from vines and components of Trap Shadow's disassembled traps. He felt guilty over fretting about the loss of his ears when Stealth had lost so much more.
"The Darkness is stronger now than it ever was but we are stronger still," Seraph said as she threw her head back defiantly. "And I'm not givin' up." She clutched one of Stealth's daggers close to her chest; she might keep them to remind her of him if he wasn't buried with them instead.
"Until my last breath I'll fight it," Trap Shadow hissed as he glared at his arm stump. "I'll never give up."
"Neither will I," Stink Bomb promised.
So this is the result of a comment that I did too much fluff. Not very fluffy now, huh? Oh yes and today marks the release day for Trap Team in the USA, woo.
