Chapter 7: "Dark Reflections"

Light Jak shot off the cliffs, spreading his wings, and dove at the sand beneath Jalnoth. The war-master was out of his path long before he hit, but Jak hadn't really intended to hit him. Instead, when the Prowlers leapt at him, his shield flared, blasting several of them out of existence, creating a cloud of black liquid and dust for a moment. Jalnoth heard the explosive pulse of the time-freeze, and only watched as several more Prowlers were vaporized amid brief glimpses of a luminous body.

Just as Jak came out of the second freeze, he grunted, flying back into the water with an explosive crash, Daxter finally flipping off with his own entrance into the water. Jalnoth rose upright from delivering a punch, and calmly let his tail lash on the sand, almost like a contented cat. "I am not so weak to your power as my minions, hero. Tire yourself with them, by all means."

The Prowlers on the cliffs and surrounding sands suddenly charged en masse. Light Jak used his wings through the water to blast himself to Daxter, and then shoot out of the oasis, slamming into Prowlers with his feet and free arm while his friend sputtered in recovery. He flipped down into a hard landing, only to barely dodge a whip-lash of Jalnoth's tail by leaping backward. Already unstable, he grunted as a suicidal Prowler tackled him, impacting and dispersing. Finally, he summoned his shield again, and looked gravely up at Jalnoth while the Prowlers circled. A few more were crawling down the cliffs as well. It didn't seem this battle was going to end any time soon, and Jak was already feeling the strain. Even his Light form was showing fatigue as Daxter looked up at his transformed friend warily. "Jak…?"

"Just hold on, Daxter…" And, taking his friend up, he shot off with a blast of his wings and explosion of sand.

(Meanwhile…)

Another thunderous boom sounded from the shuddering doors in the Precursor temple. Panels of the monolithic wood opening were splintering already, and the locking blocks were fairing no better. Several monks were only pretending to meditate, far too terrified to truly focus. Seem, herself, was having a hard time controlling her anxiety, but was indeed far away from her body, examining the nature of the darkness trying to enter their sanctuary.

Boom.

She had to learn something, if only she could. It was so cold, so empty of emotion, of connection to the world. So empty of life… yet it whispered.

Boom.

It rushed upon Seem like a torrent of freezing water. She actually shuddered, curling over with a gasp of shock, her eyes flaring open. It was here. The darkness from the desert. "…No," she breathed, despair finally starting to sink frigid fangs into her heart.

"What is it, my lady?" the monk who had called her out of her room before the attack had begun asked, fearful but attentive.

Seem looked over to the other monk, on her left, with empty eyes and a slack expression. Part of her mind hated herself for being so weak, for setting such a horrible example to the younger monk, but it was just too much. The power was so overwhelming, so destructive, and it was just outside, almost at the door! She saw the other monk finally fall into the same fear already gripping the others, realizing that only a truly horrible fate could cause such a despair in her teacher.

"I'm sorry," was all Seem could think to say, barely above a whisper, lost to another room-shaking crash against the doors, but the younger monk saw her lips move… and smiled back.

Seem's face shifted with astonishment… just before the doors all but exploded off their frames, flying open into the room. She was thrown forward herself, the other monks flung away from the opening, a few almost slipping off the edge on the left side of the room as the dark creatures entered.

A Prowler for each monk swarmed inside with wraith-like precision, little more than shadows before appearing with each one, restraining them… but not harming them. Seem saw it as she turned onto her back, near the pedestal at the back of the chamber. Her eyes soon focused past her fellow monks, to the center of the doorway.

Floating amid arcs and splintering snaps of Dark Eco energy, the air beneath her limp legs violently distorted, was Maia. With her head tilted forward in a baleful manner, she smiled too sincerely, and began to move forward, her hands open upward, held low at her sides. With her glowing eyes focused on Seem, Maia ignored the rest of the room, drifting right up to the pale, armor-clad monk's feet. Seem actually cut off a yelp as one arc of energy snapped at her foot, causing her to yank both legs closer to herself, and focus up at Maia with gritted teeth as she held the injured extremity.

As if that was exactly what she was waiting for, Maia let herself land, the energy calming, and leaned down at Seem. "Mmm, I've been so looking forward to meeting you, girl. I understand you are all monks? For the Precursors?" Her tone was so light and conversational after her seductive start that Seem was even more disturbed for the contrast.

Unsure how to respond, Seem finally managed, "Yes… we respect the Makers and protect their secrets from… those who would misuse them."

"Referring to me," Maia said with a great deal of relish.

Seem's jaw clenched. Maia reeled back with laughter, letting her hands up as energy crackled and burst off them, splintering into the floor and shattering tiles without any real effort. "The mighty Precursors! …Relying on little boys and girls in face-paint and rubber to protect their ever-so-powerful secrets," she finished in an almost motherly tone, looking down at Seem in a manner most patronizing.

Seem's firm dislike was replaced with startled alarm as Maia shot over her, one, ice-cold, crystal-smooth hand clamping around her narrow neck. The monk couldn't breathe, and grasped the wrist, clawing at the shoulder of the arm restraining her. Maia was almost animalistic in her intensity as she rasped into the young woman's face. "I don't care what kind of useless junk you protect, sand-rat. The dark one, that warrior who controls the metal animals, he is connected to you. Is this not so?"

Seem's eyes flared with more urgent alarm beyond her fear of strangulation. "N-no…!" she wheezed out. "H-he… is… not known… to… m…" she was actually starting to black out… and then the grip eased. She gasped, inhaling as if just freeing herself from a deep dive in the ocean.

Maia's evil smile returned, her glowing eyes almost blinding Seem for their proximity. "I know you're lying, little girl," she almost sang. "I also felt you give another signal like that one in the desert battle."

Seem's heart sank even further through her stomach, which she'd not thought possible. "W-wait, he only—!" she was cut off.

Maia snapped her free hand backward, and leaned away from Seem. It allowed the young woman to watch the other Prowlers grab the other monks by the neck, keeping them painfully restrained by one arm with the other claw, or simply lifted off the ground by the grip on their neck. Maia then leaned back into Seem's face. "You will beg this warrior to serve me, or your monks start dying… Starting with her!"

Seem's eyes snapped to the monk who had smiled at her just moments ago, the Prowler lifting her small feet right off the ground while squeezing her neck. The younger monk gurgled horribly, gripping the claw starting to crush her neck, but looked over at Seem with her rapidly watering eyes. "D-don't…" she rasped, "It is… not your… fault…"

Tears were forming in Seem's blazing, crimson eyes, her mouth falling open. She looked back to Maia, frozen. The dark woman only smiled back. "Oh yes, very noble and brave of her, but you are responsible for her, aren't you? It is your job to keep all of these innocent people alive!"

"P-Please… You have me, l-let—agh!" Seem yelped, her hand snapping out to the other monk as the Prowler raised her higher, and squeezed hard enough to make the younger monk's eyes flare with panic, no air moving from her wide mouth at all, her feet scrambling horribly in wild hope of freeing herself.

Maia whispered, "You're wasting her life…"

"Wait! Wait, I beg you!" Seem shouted desperately.

Maia nodded, the Prowler easing enough on the younger monk to let her gasp for air, panting.

Seem focused on Maia with a deep-rooted mixture of sorrow, outrage, and guilt.

But a bright purple glow filled the room, just before a snapping burst and thundering rush. Maia growled in aggravation, Seem feeling herself free of the crushing grip on her neck, and fell back enough to see that the Prowlers had been thrown across to the far wall, most of them already dispersing into nothing, all of the monks free on the ground, some just getting up from their abrupt rescue.

And standing on the ledge, his cloak lashing in the high winds, was the hooded figure of Frost, his red eyes blazing with dark rage beneath his skull-gem, his onyx face bowed in a haunting reminder of Maia's own entrance. "None of these monks die today," his already distorted voice thundered even more inhumanly, energy rolling down his limbs and crackling off his claws.

Maia eyed him with intrigue, an eye-ridge raised. She flashed a smile, and the remaining Prowlers leapt straight for him. Seem watched Frost shoot off the ground to meet them, roaring and unleashing his power, resulting into a stream of dark lightning in his own wake. He flew like an animal, all of his limbs pulling back to snap inward, leaving his front completely open, and his sharpened, glistening teeth exposed by a full-mouth roar.

"Oh, I do like him…" Maia muttered with very sincere admiration as he slammed into the four Prowlers.

It was over with explosive speed. All four Prowlers went flying in different directions, streaming like comets with tails of purple-red lightning from a cloud-like sphere of the same energy. They exploded against the walls, and Frost dropped to a crouch, one claw to the ground, his hood down and his eyes locked on Maia.

In the next instant, while smiling at him, Maia flickered. Frost seemed to realize what was happening before Seem herself did, as she saw him focus on her in urgent alarm, and only then did she feel the crushing grip explode around her neck again. This time she was yanked off the ground, choking painfully, and pulled back through the air, facing Frost while dangling from her own neck. As Seem cringed in pain, clawing at the cold hand gripping her and kicking her legs, Maia smiled past the monk at Frost. "If anyone moves, she dies."

All of the monks froze where they were, focusing on Maia in renewed fear. Frost was almost a freeze-frame himself, even the energy on his body slowing to a stop before vanishing. Seem could see his face, and the horrified guilt etching across it only made her empathize with him even more. She could see how much any harm coming to her would hurt him.

"…What do you want with these monks?" Frost finally asked, his voice back to its normal degree of ethereal rasping.

Maia couldn't resist a laugh. "Nothing at all, actually. I want you."

Confusion clouded his expression instantly. "…Want me…?"

"Tell me your name."

When he didn't answer immediately, she squeezed, and Seem gagged.

"Frost!" he snapped, his hands jerking forward. "Don't hurt her! I was… just…" he didn't bother finishing.

"Frost, you said?" Maia confirmed, amused as she tilted her head down, raising an eye-ridge.

"Yes… my name is Frost…"

She continued to smile. "You may call me Maia…" She savored the moment, and continued, "Look at us, Frost. We are very similar, you and I."

Seem saw his eyes sink balefully.

"You have immense power at your… talon-tips. An army, no less. Join me, help my new friends take over this world… and I can probably persuade them to let you keep this girl and her friends as… pets, perhaps?"

Never thinking Frost would consider the idea, Seem only glanced aside with a darkened expression of her own.

Indeed, Frost's response was instant. "Save her, only to destroy everything to which she's devoted her very existence? I wouldn't be saving her life, I'd just be ending it differently."

Maia squeezed. "I don't like your tone, Frost."

Seem tried to avoid gurgling, but choked anyway. Frost immediately raised his hands. "W-wait! WAIT! I apologize… Look you… You have Seem. You know I won't do anything while you do… let the others go… Please…"

Fortunately, Maia eased her grip enough for Seem to give Frost a look in the eyes. He tightened his own as he saw the deeply sincere gratitude in her expression. She even mouthed, "Thank you." He just shook his head faintly, sorrow starting to crawl over his face as he looked down.

Maia smirked. "How right you are. Mm, it simplifies the situation anyway. The rest of you may go. NOW!"

They started running as she crackled energy from her free hand, but one hesitated. The same monk who had been at Seem's side the whole time. She locked gazed with her mentor, only to have her mouth, "Go!" emphatically. The sorrow in Seem's eyes said much more, even so, and the girl ran out of the room, controlling her tears.

Maia focused back on Frost, who wasn't easing very much at all. "You are far too attached to this girl to be as cool to her death as you seem, Frost. You are tempted by my offer… you could treat her nobly, of course, even if the Darken thought of her as a 'pet'."

His jaw clenched, energy crackling around his fists before he could calm it away. "Yes, I am tempted. Anyone would be. I know she would hate me, rightfully, if I did what you ask, and so it would do me no good to go along with your deal. If you harm her, I will hunt you down until I am also dead."

Her body was becoming quite pained from her awkward position, but Seem was still sympathetic as she heard Frost explain himself. Maia only laughed again. "Ruthless, Frost, absolutely ruthless. We could work so well together!" She pulled her other hand out, and a black gem formed in her palm, like the one embedded in her own chest. "Just imagine it, Frost… commanding an army of Prowlers and your metal animals. You could do anything."

"Except what matters," Frost retorted flatly. "You are only offering me death, Maia. It's not an enticing deal."

Finally, the woman seemed annoyed, floating while she held Seem by the neck as she was. "Then I will kill her!" She squeezed firmly, Seem choking until no more air would move, in or out, her body thrashing with instinctive panic.

"Stop! STOP!" Frost screamed desperately.

Both Maia and Seem, who could breathe again, panting, focused on the terrified, heart-broken expression on his face, his glowing eyes wide with desperation, his mouth hanging. Seem met his eyes, her own tightening as she saw the growing guilt in his. Frost finally slumped down, onto all fours. "…I will do what you ask… do not hurt her…"

"No, Frost!" Seem gasped, and dropped, crashing to all-fours herself. "No!" she shouted, but Maia rushed down to Frost, crouching with him herself.

"That's my boy…" she tilted his head up with a finger under his chin, holding the gem in her left hand. "In time… you may come to like it anyway… I find it… intoxicating, personally."

"No, Frost! I do not fear death! But if you join her, our friends… Please!" Seem shouted, starting to run toward them before a shield of dark energy appeared in front of her, blocking her approach.

Frost's eyes squeezed shut, and he heard Maia's faint chuckle.

Maia's eyes flared when his right claw shot up, clamping around her left wrist like a vice, and his eyes snapped open, remaining narrow with malefic rage. "You're right," he rasped quietly. "We are alike."

His right claw clenched with violently force, energy exploding off of it and his whole body while he roared, driving his left claw into her chest, around the black gem embedded in it. Maia screamed in true pain, and then roared with her own deep-seeded rage, energy rolling off of her as she rammed her right hand into his stomach, unleashing a beam-blast of dark energy.

Frost jerked back, his lower body almost vanishing inside the beam, but he held on like a rabid dog, roaring as much as dark lightning stormed around them both. Maia simply grabbed his neck at last, and started unleashing her own storm of dark power, the two all but invisible within the fracturing, thunderous display. Seem fell back in startled awe, watching the two shiver with animalistic rage as they remained locked in each other's grasp.

Frost was the first to use his legs, wrenching them both into the back wall with an explosive crash and shock-wave of energy. The pedestal somehow survived, but Maia flew back into the air with him, twirling rapidly and slamming down into the floor again, Frost's back leading. He slammed her down into the ground on his right, toward the ledge, and then rammed both feet into her stomach. All the while they crackled and flared with dark power, Maia finally skidding off, almost sliding off the edge. She rose up, only to flare her eyes as Frost body-slammed her out into the open air with an air-shuddering roar and fresh explosion of energy from his body.

Seem ran up to the ledge, her shoes grinding to a halt as she looked down. The two were swinging around each other, arms locked, crashing off the temple's outer wall as each could muster the force to ram the other. Seeing that they would probably hit the ground… hard, Seem ran back into the temple proper.

Frost was rammed into the wall last, energy crackling off the crater his back made, only to have Maia swing him down into the ground next. He grunted as his body slammed flat, and she hopped up, only to come crashing down into his stomach with her feet. She used so much force and energy that a shock-wave burst outward, her senses stretching as the ground caved in around the former commander.

Maia laughed, stepped off, and yanked him out of the crater, throwing him back into the wall of the temple. "You're too dangerous to leave alive to contest me, Frost. Have it your way. I'll deal with your little monk friend after I'm through with you." Frost exploded into the wall, hanging limply, as if already unconscious. "Oh, don't worry. I'll make her scream your name for you to hear in whatever kind of hell you wake up in." She threw a punch, energy rushing down her right arm… only to have it halt upon meeting his open right hand.

Maia grimaced as her fist was slowly crushed, his eyes peeling open, energy snapping down his cheeks like dark tears. "I think I'll make you scream instead." He roared, rushing out of the wall, and put his entire body into the vicious, ramming punch he delivered to her head with his left hand, pulling her into it by her own fist.

A shock-wave exploded vertically as his senses lengthened, the ground caving in and fragmenting as the wave hit it, the purple energy as it zoomed out, and Maia's body convulsing back through the air, rocketing back as the force undulated down to her feet through her body while she started to twist off to his right. Dark-lightning streamed after her from his fist, and she simply flew off as his senses returned to normal. She was gone from sight, and a loud splash sounded later, from the ocean around the temple's mountain.

Frost moaned, and simply collapsed to his left, his body faintly sparking with energy even so. A Leaper landed heavily nearby, and Seem hopped down, running up to him, crashing to her knees at his front. "Frost? Frost?"

She gripped his shoulder, and gently pushed him onto his back. "…Frost?"

His eyes did roll open, but he was obviously dazed, his mouth open with a slow gasp. He focused on her, as if in a dream, and his right claw slowly reached up through the air. She was focusing from one eye to the other rapidly, unsure what would help him best, but then she saw his weak smile, his claw gently caressing her cheek. "…Ms. Monk…"

She gripped his hand as it started to slip down, and held it in both of her own. His eyes drifted shut again, and his head lolled gently. Seem carefully put his hand back on his chest, and faintly sank over him, pressing both of her hands to his still. When she raised her head, there were tears dripping down her face, and she calmly placed her right hand on his forehead, just over the skull-gem embedded in it. "Rest peacefully. I will take care of you…"

(In the Desert…)

Light Jak twirled around, his wings fanning out like glowing whips, actually slicing several Prowlers apart. More came flying down upon him, but he simply crouched, one hand to the sand, and summoned his shield again. Some tried to flip-backward, saving themselves from impact, but another group simply burst into nothing against his power.

Just as he was rising to his feet, his shield flickering away for a heart-beat, he sensed an approach, and twisted around… to take a clawed uppercut from Jalnoth's left arm straight into the chin. Jak grunted, his wings trailing along his body as Daxter barely held on to the flying warrior. His glowing body slammed back into the sand near the edge of the sand-storm, just at the base of the high dune he'd used to reach the oasis. Daxter gave a pained 'oof' as he was plastered into the sand himself.

Jalnoth's eyes narrowed with pleasure, and he sprang, landed, and sprang once more, crashing down in front of Jak, his right fist swinging inward. A blast of light made him twist his eyes away, and he roared as pain seared through his right arm. Jak was on his knees, his right hand pressed into the path of Jalnoth's fist. Their glowing eyes firmly locked for an instant, and then Jalnoth rammed his other fist inward. Jak's left hand crossed his other arm, and blocked that blow as well, small walls of blue light holding the attacking limbs just away from his open palms. "Stronger, but not invulnerable," Jak's luminous voice echoed faintly even so close.

The war-master let his jaw open, roaring as his bladed tentacles came shooting out, but Jak suddenly snapped his arms out. Light exploded, sand blasting across itself from the blazing sphere of pure power that resulted from Jak's release. Daxter was unfazed, but had his eyes squeezed shut as he stood down at his friend's left leg.

Jalnoth was flung back, out of the sphere, his steaming body plowing back into the sand. Prowlers started to surround the light already, however, and when it faded, Jak's form reverted with a flash and burst of its own. He moaned, back to normal, and slammed face-down into the sand. Daxter leapt to his friend's shoulder. "Jak? Come on, talk to me?"

His friend managed to open his eyes, his face angled in the sand enough to do so, and gave a wan smile. "…Sorry, Dax… I can… barely move…" His eyes became firm. "Use the gun… try to… stop him…"

Daxter turned grim, but the two friends shared an understanding in their eyes. The ottsel suddenly ripped the morph-gun from Jak's back-holster, and flipped it into a hulking, long configuration Jak hadn't used in a long time. The orange-yellow rodent was dwarfed by the weapon, but held it steady with his body weight and a dark smirk as he aimed the large, dish-like barrel-tip at Jalnoth, who was just rising to his own feet. He fired.

A blast didn't rush out. Instead, a wave of green light pulsed out from around Jak and Daxter, panning across the entire area within the sand-storm Jalnoth was making. The Prowlers surrounding Daxter and his friend squealed as gravity inverted, and they started to float helplessly up into the air. Daxter flipped the gun once more, a laser-sight sprouting and locking on Jalnoth, who managed to keep himself on the ground by some manifestation of his powers. A large, purple and black missile was locked on the top of the gun this time, and Daxter locked his eyes on Jalnoth. "Hey! Tall, black, and ugly! You want some a-dis?"

Jalnoth did pause, but seemed only intrigued. "That missile would kill you and your friend as much as it could me at this range, rodent. You know I am not the only source of the Prowlers," he gestured up at the black monsters vaguely, all of them still scrambling in the air. A few managed to cling to the trees around the oasis, but were barely stable enough to stay there. "Is it really worth it?"

"…D-do it, Dax…" Jak moaned quietly.

"Just hoping he'll open that yapper one more time before he comes any closer, pal," Daxter muttered back quite seriously. "Lodge it right down his throat for good measure."

Even Daxter noticed a strange, building whine behind himself, and both Jak and Jalnoth became abruptly puzzled. Daxter just hefted the Nova Strike cannon, aiming precisely. "Gimme a reason, charcoal-wonder!"

But the sand-storm high above and behind Daxter suddenly burst around a pale-blue and gray Zoomer. Long and narrow, it was still quite large, with a smooth cockpit rather than just being open… and three articulated nose-cannons that were all opening fire at Jalnoth. The war-master was knocked off the sand, and finally lost his fight with the inverted gravity.

Daxter finally looked up, gawking as the Zoomer shot down, twisting around to almost slam into the sand beside Jak and he. The cockpit snapped open, the tinted bubble rising forward, the frame lowering on the right side, and leaning out, her hand stretched down to them was…

"Keira?" Daxter yelped.

"Help Jak! Get in!" she shouted urgently, her eyes intense with focus as her hand snapped for him to hurry closer to it.

Jak was in shock himself, but roared as he made his body push him off the sand. Keira pulled the Zoomer closer with her other hand, the underside of the craft blasting at the sand with two long rows of thrusters. Keira took the gun from Daxter, yanked him behind her, and then they both grabbed Jak's hands. Keira strained her throat as she pulled her friend up into the cockpit with her. Jak managed to get his waist over the edge, and then managed, "Go! Into the air!"

Keira still grabbed his belt for good measure, and yanked on the controls, pulling the Zoomer high into the air. The Mass Inverter wave finally lost its effect, and Jalnoth and the Prowlers slammed back into the sands below. Jak finally pulled himself in behind Keira, and while it was a tight fit, they had the space. He and Daxter simply curled up just behind her in the spare space. Keira was about to close the cockpit, when she looked down and saw Jalnoth simply flying up to meet them.

"Turn left!" a hoarse voice surged.

She did so, and glanced aside in shock as Jak leaned past her, aiming the peacemaker down. His eyes tightened and he fired. Jalnoth locked gazed with him for just a second, and then rocketed back down into the sand amid a pulsing storm of powerful energy.

Jak started to sag, so Keira caught the peacemaker before he dropped it, and tossed it back to Daxter. Jak finally collapsed, directly across her right leg. Keira ignored it for a second, slamming the cockpit controls with her right hand. The Zoomer sealed up, swerved completely around, and jetted straight into the storm.

Daxter was laughing at the good of being alive, and sprang onto Keira's shoulder from behind, causing the poor woman to yelp as she flew through the blinding storm, watching some kind of radar-device down at the controls between the handles for the steering. She recovered with a faint laugh. "It's good to see you, Daxter."

"And I have never been so glad to see you, sister! This Zoomer of yours is great!"

Keira flushed a bit, and then glanced down at Jak, his chest and head resting on her right leg, her cheeks turning pink. "Um… Daxter?"

"What?"

"Do you think you could… pull Jak off my leg? It's a bit distracting…" Her head was sinking down with embarrassment as they finally cleared the storm.

Daxter chuckled a little too much for her liking, but he was down and pulling the poor, unconscious warrior back from her leg the next moment. "Clever boy, my Jak. And here I bet you think it was accidental…"

"Daxter!"

"I'm just yankin' yer chain, Keira. You saved our butts back there." He hopped up and leaned over her left shoulder, looking at her from the side.

He saw her smile gently. "I'm just glad I could help… this time…"

Daxter blinked. "…You didn't before?" He grew more puzzled when she glanced down quietly. "Uh, right… ah, well nevermind. It's all good, right? So where are we headed?"

"Spargus," she answered with a nod, back on an easier topic. "I'm kinda worried about Jak, and that's the best place to update the others back in Haven without going all the way back to the city."

Daxter glanced back to his best friend. "Yeah, our boy here really went through the wringer this time. We got the device though, it's in his pack. Weird-lookin', floaty, cube thingamajig."

Keira giggled. "We'll get right on it, don't worry, Daxter."

"Sounds like a plan," he finished with a grin, leaning back down on her shoulder as they shot across the desert.

(Later…)

On the cliffs South of Spargus, high above the sands, Jalnoth strode effortlessly across the jagged rocks, carrying the much smaller, limp form of Maia in his arms. Finding a good spot, Prowlers crawling all around them both, Jalnoth lay Maia down. She was shivering, but not from cold. Her body was badly battered, and energy was crackling across various parts of it. Her mouth hung open, shaking, and her eyes blankly gazed upward, blinking in quivering rushes.

Jalnoth crouched on her left, and held his claw over her shadow gem. "I shall mend your wounds. In the mean time, our master would like to speak with you…" His claw jerked open, and black energy burst down into her gem.

Maia screamed, her back arching, and her eyes turned solid black before she went limp. Her mind became vague, and she almost felt like she was rushing upward, off her world, out into the depths of space. Her 'vision' cleared, seeing the great absence of light growing larger and larger every heart-beat. Her eyes widened just before she was engulfed in complete shadow.

Abruptly, she was on some kind of hard, black ground. Maia picked herself up slowly, feeling quite physically real, but knowing she was only her mind. Focusing forward and up, she could feel the other presence in the space she'd found herself. "You are… the one who controls the Darken?"

The voice that replied seemed to shake the very foundations of her perceptions, almost splitting her head with power, yet freezing her heart with malice. For an impetuous child, your idea is at least applicable. More accurately, I AM the Darken. Jalnoth, the Prowlers, and even yourself to a lesser degree, are simply part of me. Your new power comes from me, you belong to me.

Maia's eyes, glowing red, shivered with outrage. "I belong to no one! I agreed to kill that hero for you, not be your slave!"

Yet you understood that fact the moment you grasped the shadow gem which now rests in your very form. The lure of power and knowledge I possess tempted you beyond your will to resist. You have only yourself to blame for your current condition, in every sense. As you share my power and have access to my knowledge, as do I you. You have flirted with Dark Eco's power since long before I ever detected your ruined body.

Her expression twisted, but her rage was mixed with horror. "No! I am not part of you! You can take your power back!" She clutched the gem in her chest, and dark eco energy crackled off her body as she strained, but her eyes flared with panic as she realized she couldn't remove the gem. In fact, it had burrowed deeper into her body. "No…" she breathed, falling to her knees. "NOOOO!" she screamed, grabbing her head as the presence chuckled, making his effect on her mind completely obvious to her own senses.

Still enjoying itself with malicious humor, the voice continued, And so you see. Dark power merely enslaves those who use it to its own source. So many creatures assume freedom is only expressed by refuting order, by raging against any kind of authority. It took a moment to slowly laugh. If you don't control yourself, someone else will.

Maia reeled back with a gasp, falling back as the presence rushed closer from the shadows. Clusters of red, glistening eyes, almost like an insect's, but each large enough to engulf Maia herself, rushed into view, the two of them glistening with their own crimson light from every lens. Rushing down from between the cluster-eyes, and out to the sides, was the same, armored carapace as the Prowler's mouths. For Darken itself, however, the armored plating split down the middle, and lowered down on the sides, like massive mandibles. The tentacles that flowed out were nearly the size of a Prowler's head in thickness… and the ends were exactly that, armored jaws with razor-sharp edges.

As they rushed forward, threatening to engulf and consume her, Maia exploded with power, screaming in desperation. They pushed through her energy without effort, though, and as they came rushing into her vision, all she could do was continue screaming…

And she snapped upright, screaming aloud, on the jagged rocks atop the cliffs south of Spargus, Jalnoth crouched down on her left still, with dozens of Prowlers clinging to the rocks around them both. Maia's glowing eyes were wide in residual panic, and she was panting, energy crackling off her body, especially around her shadow gem. She abruptly focused on Jalnoth, and saw the dark, calm focus in his beady, crimson eyes.

"I imagine," he began, "you will no longer hesitate in service to our master?"

Practically shaking with fear, Maia could only shake her head. "I-I will… do what I… promised…"

"Good," the war-master drew the word out slowly, lowering his voice and his head, so his eyes could blaze directly into hers, finally revealing the nature of the horrible power she'd seen when they first met… an echo of the Darken itself. She could practically see the clusters of red light rushing in upon her.

At last, Jalnoth rose up, and strode away, allowing Maia to look down, still breathing heavily. …What have I done…? I can't escape…

(Author's Note…)

I hope this chapter was satisfying after that cliff-hangar. Again, I really appreciate the positive reviews, they help keep me focused. And I apologize for any typos I've missed in my proofing.

I'm glad the humor in some of the scenes is working for some of you. (Seem's blush when Frost asked about her celibacy is one of my favorite moments in the story, honestly.) Thank you very much, and critiques are welcome, too.