Ekobean: Huzzah! Chapter nine!

The Chronicles of Theta: Part I

The Hellcat's engine's roared with great intensity, the thick trail of smoke left behind resembling a black walkway leading back to Haven City. To safety.

Ashelin was watching as that walkway was formed, her lean frame twisted in its seat. She wished beyond anything that she could take that walkway, that road back to Haven and forget Erol and his master's twisted intentions.

She knew what she was doing was for the best, the welfare of Haven City and the rest of the world. Scarcely a year had passed since that horrific scene in Mar's Tomb. She never told anybody this, but Ax's twisted, fleshless frame was still burned into her memory like a fresh scar. No matter how hard she tried to push it away, it was always there. And it would never go away.

Ashelin looked at Torn from over her shoulder, pushing a lock of blood-red hair out of her crystalline eyes. She couldn't help but smile when she saw Torn. He was conversing with another member of Theta group, asking how long before they would reach the Red Sage's palace at their present velocity, how far to a safe camp site, blah blah blah…

His dark, braided hair drifted calmly in the slight breeze, giving him a near godly appearance. Her god…

Ashelin shook her head, clearing the ridiculous thought from her head. What was she thinking? She and Torn had feelings for one another, they both knew that; half the city knew that. But she sounded like some damsel in distress from one of those sappy romance novels she had been forced to read in school.

The sun was setting quickly, spreading a bountiful array of jubilant colors across the cloudless sky. The iron frames of mountains, their pinnacles shimmering in the setting sun, gave off a light reflection that dazzled the onlookers of Theta group.

Ashelin twisted around, sitting back down in her seat, checking the Hellcat's fuel gages.

"We'll be landing in about another half hour," Torn informed her, clicking off his radio. Ashelin nodded, acknowledging his information. Torn shivered suddenly, despite himself. She had to admit that it was pretty cold at their present altitude, but her years in the Krimzon Guard as a commander had taught her to always stay strong, and to never show any sign of weakness. "Aren't you cold?" Torn asked, nodding to her less-than-modest garb.

"I'm fine," Ashelin said, chuckling slightly, "but thanks." Why did she wear so little clothing? Her excuse to everyone as much as herself was that it gave more ability for quickness and agility in combat. She said that she figured it was better to never get hit in combat than to get hit with armor.

The red-haired she-elf slid back in her cushioned chair, crossing her arms close to her chest. Just another half an hour and she would be able to have some sleep. She hadn't had a wink of sleep since Samos had first relayed his news to her and the rest of the group. Ashelin smiled to herself. How were they right now? Were they safe? Had they had any more success than Theta had had?

Minutes seemed to pass at mach speed. Ashelin had busied herself by going over strategies in her head. They were growing close to a lave tube. Torn and herself had figured that the hottest possible place was at the center of the planet, and what better way to reach it than through a lava tube? It was just like one of Jak's stories about the things he had done centuries ago.

The Hellcat's engines began to hum at a lesser pace, the fans within slowing as the vehicle's altitude lessened. Torn made a motion with his hand, signaling to the rest of the squadron behind them to follow. The Hellcat slowly passed below the thick layer of trees that covered the expanse of the land below. Ashelin looked about the clearing they had landed in, leaping out of the Hellcat to test the ground.

Dozens of other Hellcats landed behind theirs, the roaring of multiple engines slowly dying off one by one like a distant storm.

Ashelin marched about the expanse of the clearing, ignoring the crashes and distant thrashing of underbrush as small animals and assorted creatures fled from the new arrivals. Seeing that there didn't seem to be any problems with the makeshift landing strip, Ashelin walked with Torn one by one to each of the Hellcats, helping the pilots inspect the wings and frames, testing the engines and fuel cells, most of which seemed mostly undamaged.

Ashelin drew her Red Eco pistol and fired a single shot into the air, both gaining the Krimzon Guards' attention and silencing everything around the immediate area simultaneously. "Alright listen up!" she barked, demanding each and every person's respect and attention, "we are to set up camp immediately. Nobody rests until we know our surroundings like we do the city. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!"

"Zephyr, Marx, and Deima; you are to thoroughly examine all area within a kilometer from camp. We don't want any unwelcome visitors in the nights. Move!"

The quiet clearing was a mismatched, unorganized mess of people and supplies; each person working on one individual job, whether it be setting up camp or venturing into the woods. An hour passed like a lightning strike, quick and unexpected.

Most of the tents had been set up in that time, their occupants already in a heavy sleep or stripping away their armor to do so.

The three scouts returned an hour afterward, relaying that most of the surrounding area was all forest except for a large canyon to the east. According to the scouts it extended for about a mile, a deep crack in the earth's crust. It was about a hundred and fifty feet before ending in a narrow river at the bottom. Its sides were shear, jagged rock. No roots are plants grew from them. According to them, it looked like a road to Hell.

Ashelin thanked them deeply and relieved them of duty. They thanked her with equal graciousness and traveled to separate tents, throwing aside bits of armor and underwear before slipping through the outside flap.

Ashelin sighed and took one final, long gaze across the expanse of the dark clearing. The sun had long since set, and had been replaced by a star-laden night sky. Each star was like a glowing eye winking back at her, almost teasing her.

She stiffened slightly as Torn's gentle hand clasped about her hips. "Come on, let's go to bed," he muttered, half asleep.

"You go ahead," she said pulling away slowly, "I'm going to stay up for a while."

Torn shrugged and shuffled awkwardly to a larger tent set off to the side of the clearing. Once he entered, she began traveling to the outskirts of the clearing, heading eastward. She wanted to have a closer look at this chasm.

The forest was a natural deathtrap, full of holes and burrows. Several low hanging vines had caught her around the neck at different times, and each time it had felt like some the deadly cord of a sly assassin trying to choke the life from her. And several times he had drawn her curved, flawless blade from its sheath around her hips and, crying savagely, sliced the vines to pieces.

After what felt like a century of walking, tripping, and choking, Ashelin had finally managed to slice her way through the thick wood and plant life of the surrounding forest.

And now she saw it, the chasm that the scouts had relayed to her with such detail. It did indeed span a great length, like a winding serpent across the pitch black earth of the night. Testing her will, she dared to sneak to the very edge of the cliff, peering down into the pitch darkness of the chasm. The outside walls were indeed rough, each outcropping like a jagged tooth in the maw of a giant Metal Head.

She groped in the back pocket of the skin-tight pants, and produced a small flare, which she lit. Leaning as far as she dared over the bottomless pit, she let the flare fall, watching the bright pink light fade rapidly, falling ever downward until it was invisible, completely swallowed by the foreboding darkness within. Ashelin sighed deeply, stepping slowly away from the chasm. She had had enough. She turned and began walking back to the campsite, stealing one final glance into the chasm before turning completely, only to jump in shock.

Torn was standing there watching her with a hard look of distaste. "Torn?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he hissed, "do you have any idea about how risky that is?"

"Torn," she groaned.

"If you had fallen we wouldn't have any idea where to look for you. You could have died!"

"Torn!" she roared, "I know what I'm doing, ok? I've been in the KG a lot longer than you have. I know what I'm doing!"

"Ashelin, I never would have forgiven myself if something had happened to you," he said, his demeanor softening greatly. "If you" –

Ashelin chuckled slyly. "So, he has a soft side does he?"

Torn lowered his head, a small smile creeping across his tattooed face. Looking back up at her, he clasped her gloved hand and pulled her close to him. "I" –

Ashelin stiffened suddenly, her sensitive ears picking up something from the bottom of the chasm behind her. Breaking away from Torn, she jogged back to the very edge of the cliff, and peered down again, trying to see, to cut through the unbreakable darkness below.

There were voices down there, muffled voices, gruff and hard, unlike anything she had heard before. "Do you hear that?" she said, signaling Torn to come closer. Abandoning all hope of safety, she bent lower, crouching down on her hands and knees, holding her head farther down into the chasm.

"Ashelin" – he warned.

Things happened in a sequence too quick for Ashelin to comprehend. One moment she had been there, leaning over the edge like a victim on the brink of life and death. The next moment there was a sound of crumbling rock. Torn had shouted, and the next moment she was falling, screaming, down into the depths of the chasm. Torn's form silhouetted against the night sky shrunk rapidly. The sky above seemed like the blaze of the midday sky compared to the blackness that swallowed her entire body now.

Nothing but the sound of her own screaming and the echoes as they bounced off the closing walls of the chasm.

And then nothing. Nothing but cold and the hard iciness of water. And she was swallowed, swallowed in the nothingness of her own mind…

To be continued…

Ekobean: I like this one very much. If it felt at all rushed please feel welcome to tell me. I tried to put a bit of TornxAshelin in there for y'all. From here on until the end it is going to be split up into three parts: The Chronicles of Theta, The Chronicles of Beta, and The Chronicles of Alpha. I'll try to update soon. Ciao!