Note: I am so sorry to those who have been reading this fic. I haven't updated in a long time. I lost the handwritten chapter to this so i had to rewrite it all. I'm going to keep updating, slowly but surely.
Chapter Three: Shadow Dancer
Her breath was louder than it had ever been, echoing in her ears along with the steady drumbeat of her raging heart. The light from the moon outside had been quickly swallowed up by the darkness that seemed nearly a physical force in the air, pushing in on the Priestess on all sides.
She could hear the steady drip drip of water slipping down from the frighteningly high ceiling above.
As soon as she was about three meters into the cave she could see nothing, the blackness was equal to that when she had her eyes closed. Groping the slimy wall to her right she continued on, shivering in the sudden cold. No light touched this stone, no warmth from the moon. The air was dank and heavy, completely still. There was no breeze, not even a whisper of the Wind Goddess who had ordered her to leave the safety of her village.
Angry tears appeared in her eyes. The village was now left defenseless to whatever evil force theshard came from. To Talim it felt as though she were on the right course, but that was just a guess...
In the darkness hopelessness appeared ready to spring on the wary mind of the young Priestess, praying on her courage, waiting patiently for fear to start eating at the corners of her mind.
Talim was the youngest of the wind dancers. She was the protector, when most her age were still the Protected. It was a nearly unfair way for her to live, but her talents set her apart from the beginning. A long time a go she had decided to accept it and make the best of it. She had still been a young caring emotional young woman, but the expirience of the searing evil shard had left her defensive and angry...
Despite her best efforts to stop it, the moment in time had changed her, traumatized from lack of better word.
The world had once been her friend, the Goddess a leader.
Things were no longer the same. She had never wanted to disobey the orders of Elders in the village, but the Goddess 'was' above them, no matter how much she hated to admit it.
As these thoughts passed through her young mind a new one took hold, and this was the moment that the hopelessness seemed to have waited for.
She could die on this voyage.
Fear nawed greedily at her mind, making a tight knot in her chest and her breathing speed up. She was gasping just loud enough to make the bats above shift restlessly, listening to the odd being amidst them.
Talim rubbed the bloody wound on her arm, worried. If they smelled it and decided she was worth the fight they might just decide to come after the blood trailing her arm.
Quietly she began to rip off a sleeve from her top, her fingers trembling as she refused to drift into the dark thoughts in her mind once more.
Sniffing slightly she continued walking, tightening the make shift bandage on her arm, wincing as hot pain spread up her limb to numb her shoulder.
Suddenly, at the moment when she lost her concentration her foot hit a rock, sending her tumbling to the ground, but instead she kept going and hit liquid, freezing cold liquid.
Gasping, she broke the surface, kicking frantically, gasping. Her ears rang as the echo of her splash rebounded towards her, repeating. She hadn't realized it, but she had cried out in surprise and her voice was magnified a million times over.
Wincing she scrambled to grab the side of the pool. She couldn't tell how deep the pool in which she stood went, nor how high the roof above was, but from the gut feeling in her stomach she could tell it was too deep and too high.
Scrambling, she grabbed the stone that her fingers rubbed and heaved herself back onto the slimy rocks, wincing as her arm throbbed.
She sat crouched for a moment, panting, listening as her voice and the splash of the water very slowly faded away.
Her senses were blazing with fear now, sharpened to be her alternate tools for her eyes.
She ground was cold and above she could sense the roof was very high, high enough to create a small breeze as the air moved through it. From the sound of liquid gently lapping against rock she could tell there was more than one pool around.
Rubbing her face slightly she sniffed the air, ignoring the dank heaviness of it.
And there was the key... smoke... burning wood.
A sudden light caught the corner of her eyes and she turned around sharply.
From a sharply twisted tunel came the light of a torch of some kind, moving as the flames danced.
She couldn't see the being holding the torch, but by the sound of the heavy treads whomever it was was heavy. Bigger fighter...
She turned around quickly, searching for a hiding spot.
The image of the chamber in which she stood hit her by surprise.
The roof was so high above she couldn't see the spikes of the rock trailing down. It extended forever as well, too far for the little light to allow her eyes to see.
The ground was heavily webbed with skinny little trails of rock standing to seperate pools of dark water that glittered by the light of the flame coming her way.
Talim spun around, frightened by the hugeness of the place. Her eyes caught sight of the boulder by the side of the tunel from which the light peeked.
Swiftly she crouched down behind it, licking dry lips and settling into a deadly stillness brought on by the heavy training she had under taken long ago.
The heavy steps came closer and suddenly past by, the light reaching around the boulder to touch her. Wincing she pressed herself to the rock, crouching carefully in case she needed to get up and run.
Her hands clenched her elbow blades idly, the comfort of the heavy weapon made her heart slow down slightly.
The creature beyond made a sound, like a grunt of quizzical curiousity.
Soft sniffing followed the odd comment lacking vocabulary.
Talim's eyes widened slightly and she froze.
It must have smelled me... only predetors have a sense of smell of that kind.
The flame stood still a little ways away from the rock, as if waiting. Talim closed her eyes for half a second, forcing her frightened mind into a calm fighting mode.
You are a Warrior, a dancer, a Priestess, a Protector. You have all to fear and all to overcome, face it, fight it, conquer it.
Get up.
Slowly and with the liquid grace of a killer Talim stood up, her eyes calm and glittering by the light of the opposing fighter's flame.
Her hands were loosely holding on to the elbow blades, swinging them with the slight movement of her body.
The gruesome sight that met her eyes did nothing to her expression.
The creature was a greenish brown color, the head small for such large shoulders. A heavy bubble-like dome was pressed against his chest, glowing blue and flashing in and out of light.
He was already facing her as she stood, obviously he had known she'd be there. He had smelled the blood from her wound, had known the creature was afraid and had waited for the game to begin.
To defeat such a female would be easy, she was hardly full grown.
Talim looked back at him, her hair flying about her face as the small carress of a tiny whirlwind whispered in her ear.
Necrid... the creature Necrid...
"Let me by." Talim whispered, her voice louder than usual in the echoing chamber.
Necrid snorted. And paced in front of her in challange, a smirk plain on his horrid face, the eyes watching her emotionless, but most importantly, merciless.
Talim sighed softly, her eyes still calm. "Please."
That earned her a mocking laugh.
The creature waved a hand and there materialized a long axe-like weapon made up of nothing more than electric vibes flickering in and out of focus.
Talim looked down for a moment to collect her thoughts as her body fell into fighting stance, her hands tightening around the blades. The breeze still whispered about her, murmuring unknown words of encouragement.
For a moment there was still silence, and the torch which Necrid had at one point or another tossed aside danced across the walls, lighting up the dark scene with even darker light.
With a grunt and a sharp cry of dislike the massive creature swung the weapon over his head forcefully, shattering the stillness like glass.
Talim twirled out of the way, planting a foot firmly on the weapon and as he began to lift it up with her along jumped off, using the extra push to fling herself into the air.
His cry echoed in her ears, rebounding from the walls. The blade swiveled up and he swung it up aiming towards her.
Talim gasped and threw her weight backwards as she landed, spinning out of the way, in the same movement she threw her blades at his side, eyes narrowed into slits of concentration.
The blades met solid flesh and a splash of blood sprayed over the ground as she pulled it out and danced out of the way, just in time for his axe to miss her, shattering the rock she had been standing on before.
The wound on his side was pumping blood slowly but he didn't seem to notice it.
Talim was panting slightly with the effort of moving her wounded arm, and she was tired so the work was starting to get straining.
The wound she had inflicted was deep and the blood poured well, yet he hardly seemed to notice it.
Gasping she flung her blades up to block a heavy hit, of his blade. The force made her forearms go numb and she made a small sound of pain before kicking at his kneecap. He grunted sharply and lost his balance, in that moment she stepped out of the way sharply, driving her blades into his chest.
Her blades met metal as he flung his weapon in the way. For some reason it looked different now, though how he had changed it was not something she could understand.
With a harsh shove her threw her off balance and she stumbled backwards, giving a small jump to regain her composure.
Grunting heavily he waved the glaive over his head and swung it sideways towards her.
Talim gave a jump into the air, grunting with the effort as she twisted and landed smoothly on her feet. The glaive came crashing down, hardly giving her time to roll out of the way, gasping.
He's moving too fast... I can't keep up!
The butt of the glaive caught her unawares in the stomach, sending her small figure crashing to the ground. Talim cried out in sharp surprise, feeling the pain burn her torso.
Her eyes widened as the blade side of the glaive was lifted above her head.
"No!"
At the last moment she rolled on her side, flinging her blade at his leg, aiming for the tendon on holding it in place. With another splash of blood his leg buckled beneath him and he fell, grabbing the glaive and using it as for support.
Talim didn't give herself time to think before driving her two blades into his torso. She turned away as his scream bounced off the walls, burning through her ears.
Don't look at those you kill, don't look at those you kill...
Grunting with the effort she pulled the blades out of his body, twirling it where her instincts said his neck was.
The cry was cut short and the warm sensation of blood flung over her arms.
Choking on the knot that had builta home in her throat she turned away and began to walk towards the torch, wincing as she heard the body fall and hit the ground.
"I am but a tool and a small thread in a grand design, I do what I have to. I do what I judge to be right. Forgive me... Forgive me."
One dead. How many more were to go?