*pant, pant* Another chapter done, readers. This one took a while, mainly because it took a lot of motivation for me to get back into the swing of things. For that, I'm very sorry; please forgive me. In any case, I have more here now, lots of action-y goodness and even a little opening up and exchanges of witty banter. I do hope you'll enjoy this as an extremely belated Valentine's gift, because I love you all so much. ^^ In the meantime, on with the chapter.

P.S.- It's not until towards the end of the chapter, but there is another part where I again took liberties with the environment. You'll see why, but I merely wanted to avoid any confusion. ^^

Disclaimer: I do not own Death or the Darksiders universe. They belong to the original creators and developers of the game. The fabulous picture of Eleyna was made on the 'Dark Fairy' dress up game on the Azaleas Dolls website by 'The phantom's girl'.

Chapter Four: The Forgotten Mother

Death heard the splash as Eleyna followed him into the water below. To his surprise, she kept good pace with him, not even having to stop for air. He would have to remember to ask her how she did that- out of his own morbid curiosity. It was a long tunnel, after all, and one as small as she could only hold in so much air.

They surfaced in a tall room; the way out did not seem apparent to them until Death happened to look up, finding a path in several exposed wooden ledges. He reached for and grabbed Eleyna. Ignoring her cries, he pulled her arms around his neck and swam for the wall. His skinny, adept fingers gripped for the wall and with a slight grunt of effort, he pulled them out of the water. Instinctively, she tightened her grip around his neck and wrapped her legs around his abdomen. Such contact nearly surprised Death. No such creature had ever touched him in such a way, not in centuries. Pulling his thoughts from such places- especially when he began to hear the sinister cackles in his mind- he focused instead on pulling the two up the wall, vaulting over the remains of two posts jutting out of the wall. He then veered right, jumping the corner and catching himself on the vines that grew just at the edge and pulled him and her both to safety.

The next room they wandered into was open, the ceiling cracked open to bathe the room in the dim light of the sun. Unfortunately, their moods darkened when they were joined by more prowlers- some leaped in through the crack in the ceiling, a few even crawled down the pillars surrounding them. Eleyna pulled the staff from her shoulder and Death pulled the scythes from his side, neither of them taking their eyes from their enemies. He rushed in, taking care of them with well-placed slashes and lashing kicks. She lingered back, touching the shaft of her staff until a small outcropped branch- a perfect handle, it turned out, for using her staff as a baton to spin about expertly and knock a few demonic skulls loose. As her foes were disoriented, Eleyna spread her seeds. The new saplings sprouted in seconds, strong and seemingly growing to kill. The enemies were skewered in but moments, leaving her to wipe a splotch of blood that landed on her arm nonchalantly.

He cleared the rest of them, but was still on edge. Those were merely the cronies; where was the big bad one? Looking up, he saw it peeking through the crack in the ceiling upon Eleyna. It leapt for her. As Death had decided that he would alert her to it, she rolled away just in time, swinging the staff in a low, wide arc. The stalker's head jerked to the left with the sting of the swung staff, but it turned back slowly with a low growl in its throat. She then jumped back from the enraged creature and used the thick wood of the staff to block another swipe. In an attempt to distract it, he raced in and began slashing at its backside, creating deep gashes. It turned on him and he ducked away from its furious swipes. She, jumping to dodge the powerful swing of its tail, jumped onto its back gingerly. Lowering a palm loaded with seeds to the gashes in its back. In the activation of her power, vines then grew from its back to wrap around its chest. It thrashed against its confinement, giving Eleyna a chance to leap away to safety and Death a chance to move in. In one quiet moment, the two stared each other down before he lunged for it, swinging around its neck as it attempted to lunge for him, razor teeth bared. Now standing on its shoulders, he placed his scythe blades at its neck and pulled them in different directions, severing head from shoulder and leaping down in spite of the blood.

After a turning hall, they found themselves in another long hallway with another deeply carved aqueduct in the floor. Eleyna, however, could only sigh in frustration when she saw that the door at the top of the stairs- the door forward- was locked. Death, however knew that there would always be a way around this sort of thing.

"Where there is a lock, a key cannot be far away." he murmured. After he determined that the other way out of the room, he looked curiously into the aqueduct, finding a branching tread. "Where does that lead off to?" he asked. She shrugged.

"Only one way to find out." she noted, dropping into the aqueduct. He followed obligingly. The other tread broke off into a large, basin-like room, rounded at one end. He jumped down and then looked back up at her as she looked down.

"Do you need me to catch you?" he asked. That was before she closed her eyes and jumped herself, bending her knees in midair. Her landing was not completely graceful; she tumbled before she pushed herself to her feet once more, but she was not injured- not even fazed by it.

"I've jumped from trees taller than that height." she replied. He watched her shrewdly for a moment before his eyes came across another tunnel. This led into another tall room. Any ledges or anything that looked climbable was beyond his reach, but that mattered not. He found what he was looking for- a chest that held the key they needed to move forward.

They returned to the aqueduct hall- after Eleyna had used one of her trees, claiming it to be easier for her than holding onto him- and Death had his spectral pair of skeleton hands force the key into the 'jaws' of the lock and then turn the key. When the lock dissipated, the two followed the long, wide and empty hallway.

"So," she began, her arms innocently locked behind her back as she leaned in with slight interest, "what brings the Pale Rider here, exactly?" He spared a glance at her, noticing that she had become a little girlish in nature, possibly hoping that he would lower his guard. Still, he thought in amusement, he had to admit that she was quite tenacious.

"I seek a way to the Tree of Life." he answered simply.

"Ah," she began slowly. "And what do ye hope to find there, if I may ask."

"Under normal circumstances," he countered sharply, "I would say that you may not. Still, since I feel you will not stop pestering me until I give you a good enough answer, I will tell you. I am doing this because I was told the Tree may help me find a way to erase the crime my brother War committed." At this, Eleyna froze. She had heard about this crime, that supposedly the Horseman War had doomed the Kingdom of Man by prematurely beginning the Endwar. The Archangel General Abaddon had fallen and the demons now inhabited the terminally ill Earth. Such a thought that they sullied everything good and natural in creation caused her blood to boil and unconsciously, her hands tightened into fists. "What?" he asked in response, snapping her from her outraged thoughts. "Does it bother you to travel with the murdering brother of the man who supposedly single-handedly destroyed the Earth, the very essence of Nature that you claim to love so?" Hearing his outrage now nearly caused Eleyna to step back from him- not in fear but in indignity.

"I wasnae suggestin' anythin'." she replied as calmly as she could muster. "I know what it is to have fingers pointed at me for somethin' that was beyond my control. If ye truly believe that yer brother is innocent, then that's yer sayin', not mine."

"And what of you?" he asked as they continued down the hall. "What do you have to gain by venturing in here?"

"Relinquishing the water in this fortress to the plants here." she replied quietly. "I have heard their cries from afar before." She picked up the pace of her stride as the duo approached a corner. From around it flew a whole flock of the stingers. Death was about to intervene and draw his scythe, but Eleyna instead propelled her staff in her hand so that it spun rapidly like a baton. The stingers were razed in no time at all, leaving him the larger prey in the prowler he had heard coming up behind him.

He recovered from the relatively easy prey and found that she had already ascended the staircase ahead of them and grown a tree to the upper ledge. As she dropped an inert bomb onto the crystallized Corruption, she nodded to an empty bowl-like cavity in the middle of the room and then to the space just beyond said Corruption. He immediately understood and shot at it before racing down the slope where he found the stone orb. Eleyna watched as he put his hands on it, guiding it to where he needed it to be. Then with a steady, yet forceful push from both him and the spectral hands, the orb rapidly rolled up the impressive incline into the main body of the room. Touching it again, he guided it towards the bowl-like cavity. When it settled in, the lift at the other end of the room, leading up a set of stairs to the doors lowered level with him.

"I need another one of those." he said. With a nod of understanding, she grabbed it and then tossed it toward him; he caught it with deft hands and then planted it on the bomb as she jumped down and then ran for the lift. When he stepped onto the lift, he wasted not a second in lifting the gun and firing toward the bomb. The two were lifted and Death pushed their way through the door.

Another stinger hive was there to greet them, as well as a pair of prowlers.

"Deal with the hive." he told her before he dashed in to deal with the larger prey. She started to protest. Her miasma could still harm him- Death or not. Not that he could be bothered with that, Heaven forbid. Grumbling, she pressed a hand into the wall. Beneath her palm, there sprouted the vines of the poisonous orchid- traveling along the edge of the wall. This time, though, she was pushing the limits of her abilities by not blossoming merely one but two blossoms, one near the hive, the other reaching over the hall and around, near the Horseman and the prowling creatures.

"Death, get back!" she called. The named Horseman appeared not to have heard her, and kept fighting, as if to speed up the miasma. Only at the last second did he begin to feel the burning effect of such a potent poison and leapt back, watching both the hive and the prowlers decay into seeming ash. Perturbed, Eleyna put her hand against the wall, killing off the vine before trudging forward.

"That was a terrible gamble to make, Death." she snarled as she stormed past him. "Ye want to get to the Tree? Poisonin' yerself is not the way to go." He could tell that he had struck a nerve in her, something that never failed to entertain, it seemed.

They emerged outside once more, again to a rounded balcony where a switch was found. She called to him before he could move the switch, pointing out the Corruption that was blocking the lifting path of the gate. He dealt with it with the simple fire of his pistol. Next came the pull of a switch and the flow of water. Same as the first time, Eleyna leapt into the strong current, followed by him.

When they were finally back in the main hall, they were discouraged to find that the current stopped because of an extra block in the aquifer. Eleyna noted to him the position of another switch, just beyond their reach in its own little alcove. Death himself noted that the water was following a different path. Pushing himself into this other current, he ended up in the rounded, basin- room. The tunnel that lead up into the high room was nearly invisible at this point, but still he managed, swimming through it and then climbing atop the high surface. From there, he ran along the wall to the revealed railings and then climbed his way up further until he found the alcove. He noted that Eleyna had pulled herself from the aquifer and he pushed the switch. At the same time that the gate lifted, the grating in front of the door also opened. He leapt down and followed the current until he was at the other end of the room and pulled himself out.

The two entered into the main part of the fortress once more to find that the basin tracks were now in perfect balance and the water now streamed into the great basin. Knowing what had to be done last, Eleyna led the way around the upper track to the south-facing doors.

The next hall was nothing spectacular. Death swam across while Eleyna preferred another way, sprouting lily pads across the water that were large and strong enough for her to walk across. He held out a hand when she reached the other side and helped her to her feet.

The next antechamber was open and cavernous in appearance, covered in green moss. In the middle was a strange-looking stone, round like the ones meant to match up to the cavities in the floor, but there seemed something almost organic about it. Eleyna had taken to looking around, ignoring the fact that the doors had shut behind them and a giant metal gate fell over it, blocking out the path back.

"This would be where she'd roost..." she murmured.

"Who?"

"Karkinos, the Queen of the Earth Crags, and the Guardian of the Drenchfort." she pointed out aloud. Death noted the strange mound of earth- plants and rocks, with one suspiciously curved and jagged stone meant to resemble a horn. Noting the strange stone, he pushed it with a powerful blast from his spectral hands. The desired effect was instantaneous; the creature, indeed a giant insect-crab crossing with jagged teeth and no visible eyes emerged from the earth and let out a nasally roar. Eleyna spared a moment to glare at him before she placed herself in front of the creature. "Karkinos," she called out, holding out her arms to the great creature. The Earth Crag Queen shook with anger, causing the young woman to flinch and pull her hand back. It did not take too much for her to realize that the Earthen creature was no longer in its own mind, especially as it reared back on its hind legs.

"Get away!" Death called. She just barely cleared as Karkinos charged past her and barreled straight towards Death. He deftly moved away, joining the young Druid for only a second. Karkinos instead hit the wall, shaking the entirety of the cave. From above came another round, organic stone. He charged forward without hesitation, merging both of his blades into the one enormous scythe. As it turned out, he learned quickly, that the beast's outer shell was harder than stone; to his great annoyance, not even his more powerful strikes could not penetrate the body beneath. He nearly paid dearly when it crashed into him, opting for Eleyna next. He picked himself up off the floor and sat back for a moment.

The young druid dove out of the way as Karkinos attempted to charge her, knocking another sphere from the ceiling. She rejoined him as he gathered his thoughts.

"Everything has a weakness." he concluded. "With such a thick armor, it's likely on it's underside..."

"We have to knock it onto its side." she added.

"How?"

"Her eggs- they're the only thing hard enough to actually do damage."

"So be it." With that, he rushed toward the fallen sphere, thus having his spectral arms ready to forcefully push it. Another Earth crag lunged for them, caught just in time as she put her arms up, fingers splayed like the vines that suddenly sprouted and restrained the smaller creature until it dug into the earth and disappeared.

Death, in the meantime, had taken to lashing out at the exposed underbelly of the Queen angrily. It was only a few minutes later when Karkinos recovered, kicking herself to her feet and charging back to her original place in the middle of the room, roosting again beneath the soil. They did not miss the slight rumble and Eleyna felt her lips press into a thin line before she knelt, forcing her hand to the ground. It was a risk, as she was used to being able to see where she was sending her vines when she wanted something restrained.

This tactic did indeed slow the surges of power, accompanied by flying rocks, dirt and twigs. He twisted about them and then deftly moved away. Truly angered, Karkinos reeled back and slammed her legs down on the ground, creating another minor tremor that knocked Eleyna to the ground. When she pushed herself up onto her elbows, she found herself completely at the mercy of a creature she had at one point considered an ally.

Death took this distraction as a chance and launched the egg that had dislodged itself in the previous tantrum directly at its mother. Karkinos fell to its side, unveiling the fleshy underbelly once more. This time, however, Eleyna was held still by her mix of fear and amazement at the being now floating where the infuriating Horseman had been but a moment ago, hooded and winged, carrying a much more massive scythe in its skeletal hands. It wasted no time, and with two rapid yet precise swings, the flesh was cut into in a nice criss-cross pattern before it swung to build momentum and then threw the scythe into the belly of the beast via the opening in the pattern. She could see the blade moving and hear the sounds of flesh tearing before the weapon forced its way out, as clean as how it had entered the body. Blood and mutilated organs seeped out of the wounds not but a second later. The sight alone made Eleyna gag.

It was a slight moment before she realized that this being was looking at her. Even beneath the hood that all but blackened out those features, she could still feel those burning eyes upon her. She looked back at it, allowing her breath to leave her for but a moment.

'Does this form not frighten you, child?' The question was asked with a whispering, breathy voice that, although nothing unlike his usual voice, still rang in her head as Death's. He and this creature- they were still indeed one in the same. Such a thought was horrifying and oddly awe-inspiring at the same time. She allowed herself a small smile.

"At least I know now where the humans got the idea of a robed skeletal figure holding a scythe from." she answered smartly.

Death was taken aback, amused, and irritated all at the same time. This child- he would never begin to understand her, not in the least bit. Letting go of this power, he reverted back to his original self. "You are without a doubt either the most reckless or the most odd child I have ever met, Eleyna." he noted, to which she merely grinned. That smile quickly faded when she looked to the remains of the guardian. She shook her head.

"I didnae think that she would fall to Corruption. She was too strong."

"It seems even the strongest fall prey." he noted. When Eleyna bent down and started to apparently prey for the soul of her lost friend, Death moved past the fading corpse and past the lowered grate to the lever overlooking a vast pass. A simple tug was all it took before the gates parted and the water flooded into the pass, filling the valley rather nicely. Eleyna stepped up beside him and watched with satisfaction.

"What now for you?" he asked, his curiosity in this girl slightly more piqued now.

She gave a non-committal shrug. "It'll depend. If ye can truly awake the Guardian, maybe there'll be hope for you yet, Horseman... just as long as you don't cut down anymore 'a my trees!" With a smug smile towards his annoyed stare, she turned and stepped down the stairs. "Yer welcome, by the way- not that ye needed that much 'a my help." As she turned back to him, he realized with widened eyes that her body began to break apart into dark green leaves, carried off by some sort of breeze. The last of her broke after she gave an informal mock salute.

Something about that struck him as being familiar, but from what, he could not fathom, so he merely let it go in favor of returning to the Tri-Stone.

Alya and Valus were no longer in their little shop, he noted. He moved past the falls- one bright red of fire and magma and sulfur, the other blue of cooling water and through the massive doors into the newly reclaimed forge. The clang of the hammer and metal against the anvil rang in his ears from the central rounded altar of the room and he approached the stairs to see what all of the commotion was about as he stood next to Eidard, who was also watching with interest.

"I see then that you were able to make it into Eleyna's good graces." the Elder noted.

"Not without losing a great deal of my pride along the way." Death replied dryly. He watched carefully as Valus picked up something from a hot furnace, perhaps about as long as his arm, and placed it on the anvil, nodding for his sister to lift the hammer. Alya raised the hammer over her head and then forcefully brought it down. Death could have sworn then that he saw a bright shining flash of blue light upon contact between the instrument and the creation. It happened again as Alya brought the hammer down a second time, the light more radiant this time than the last. The third time was almost blinding and he felt power lock into this mysterious creation of theirs. Valus then picked it up and plunged it into the cooling tears before pulling it out moments later and handing it to Eidard.

The Maker Elder sighed upon looking at the work- a three-pronged sort of key with runes marking the shaft and a glowing gem at the base. "It is finished, then. At long last." He then turned to the Pale Rider. "Death, this is a Maker's Key, and you had best take it now... before I come to my senses."

The Horseman gave a morose chuckle as he took the offered creation. "You seem more likely to lose them, old one." he answered.

"A problem, aye." Eidard replied. "But, there is also a solution. The Guardian. Meant to be our greatest weapon, and capable of clearing the forest around the Tree. But an Earthquake drove us from the Foundry and, now, I fear something else roams within. The Guardian was never finished."

"If the Guardian is your masterwork, how am I to complete him?" Death asked.

"In the forest lies another construct. One of the few remaining who have not fallen to Corruption. He is not as vast as the Guardian, but his heart is strong. Seek him out, and he will guide you to the Foundry. There you may activate the Guardian, using the Maker's Key." The Horseman was silent for a moment, working through his confusion.

"The constructs are awakened... by a Key?" he echoed slowly.

"Aye." answered Eidard. "Constructs do not have a soul, like you or I... not until that soul is given. This key unlocks the stone, and prepares it for the ebb and flow of a maker's life force. In fact, it will bring to life most any construct you find in the realm."

Death could only laugh at what he had heard- an ironic sound. "And what makes you think I have a soul, old one?"

"Isn't that what troubles you?" Eidard asked.

Ignoring the previous question, Death pressed on. "How will I know when I've found this construct?"

"Constructs are beings of boulder and stone, animated by the maker's life force. Most possess but a fraction of a soul. Just enough to drive them, and give them purpose. But through others course the whole of a maker's being; his memories, and emotions... a story half-remembered. Life weighs heavy on us all. Not even stone can bear it."

"If Wardens can resist Corruption, why not use them to cleanse your realm?" Death asked.

"Sadly, the Wardens were called when the Seals were broken... the maker's toll to be paid at the end war. This Warden is all that remains."

The Horseman contemplated that. "Then the seals were broken." he concluded.

Death walked back out into the open air, allowing himself but a moment to breathe. In that moment, he felt a soft, cool eastern breeze. Following its path, he noted a smaller door hidden away in the corner, possibly leading off to some unknown wing of the forge. How odd, he noted, that the door was smaller than most he had seen here in the realm of the makers. From that, he drew that it was likely that something valuable was kept here. What better way to conceal it, he thought, than to hide it behind something that was bound not to attract the attention of an enemy. He admittedly would have kept walking past it were it not for his need to stop for a moment.

He was gentle with this door, instead opting to push it himself. He was greeted only by another gentle, cool breeze and shadow. Silently, he walked in and followed the long hallway; he needed no illumination. The shard fragments in his chest glowed, casting enough eerie green light for his eyes to catch on- though it was not without a price, as the demons within had begun to whisper incredibly loudly in his ears of certain obscenities. Death did the only thing he could manage at this point- ignore them.

Finally had he cleared the tunnels and entered a full chamber; like everything in the realm of the makers, it was gargantuan in its size, but not merely because of the size of the inhabitants. All around him were murals- murals that must have depicted almost every moment remembered in the maker's history. He could not even fathom when it ended and where it began.

"Our greatest treasure," murmured Eidard. In knowing that it was the Elder, Death was relieved, but also perturbed. He did not like being snuck up on, and usually the person that did so was sliced to chunky bits before they could even do anything.

"It seems that Corruption has not set its eyes on it yet."

"And thank all manner of goodness that it hasn't." countered Eidard. "Many things we treasure. But more so do we treasure who we are, from where we have come. Can you not remember any of these things, pertaining to your own kind, Death?"

"No." the mentioned entity rasped defiantly. "The Nephilim were not born- we were created, and let me assure you that it was not for the betterment of the universe." He paused as the pain bit at his chest, bidding him to cease in his commentary. "We ravaged, killed without thought, brought about conquest. For what, you may ask? If you were to ask some, it would be said that we were bred with the need to kill in our veins. Others were under the impression that we fought to claim a place we could call home. Whichever story you listen to does not change the light of what they did- which is why I felt compelled to do what I did."

"Do I sense regret?" asked Eidard. Death growled low in his chest, to the amusement of the Elder. "I must admit, you are much more talkative now than when we first met in the glen."

"Don't get yourself too comfortable, old one." the Horseman growled. "Such a mistake may come back to bite you."

"I see." mused the old one before he turned to gaze upon the murals. Death also allowed his gaze to drift towards the wall.

"I imagine that none of your more recent history is up on this wall." he commented. Eidard did not answer, but he did not for Death to know that he was right. After a moment of gazing, he moved along, scanning carefully.

He stopped once he came upon a mural that was close to a rare opening in the wall, providing a view of the tree line outside. The light that filtered in onto the wall perpendicular brought to view a dream-like image, at least to the Horseman. The mural depicted a pale young maiden, barefoot and dressed in a gown of vibrant gold, greens and the purest white, unmarred even by the dust gathering on the wall. Her eyes were closed serenely, as if she were in a deep sleep. Hair like the rays of a setting sun crowned her head in a bun of braids while the rest drifted and cascaded about her face and shoulders in the picture of elegant grace and beauty. Flora of nearly every species imaginable surrounded the wreath about her head and gentle leaves and petals lay about at her feet. To Death, it was like looking at a ghost.

"The immortal, Eibhlen." Eidard clarified. "The First Mother of the Makers. It is said that she taught the Makers the secret art to crafting the soul within the creation. Sadly, that was the only thing she could do to replace the children fate cruelly prevented her from having."

"I have seen her before." Death murmured. It had been a long time ago, long before the mass genocide of the Nephilim, but this was her- he was sure of it.

"You are referring to the subject of a mere old wives' tale, Horseman. She was far beyond my time, if she existed at all."

"Not all old wives' tales are completely false." commented Death.

"If Eibhlen truly existed, she is either lost-"

"Or the stories of her immortality were exaggerated."

"But it has been that way for millennia, Horseman."

"What do your stories report?"

"Many things- that if she died, then the Earth swallowed her as she allowed it to, for she died of a grief unknown to us. Some say she went into hiding for fear of the Mad Queen." The Horseman couldn't help but snarl bitterly.

"Yes," he began, "the fact that Lilith would set her sights on someone like Eibhlen is not completely out of the realm of possibility."

"But for Eibhlen to return now would be disastrous. Her manner of Creation would only fuel Corruption's need to destroy."

"Is that why...?" Death paused, mulling over his thoughts. Without a second thought, he ran, determined to reenter the forest of Baneswood. He only hoped he wasn't too late.

So now we come to a crucial part of this story. More things will come to light as time goes on, but for right now, this is where I leave you, my wonderful readers. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. ^^