It Stared Back.
Blood curdling shrieks ring out as the man trudges as quickly as possible through the almost knee deep water of the nightmarish tunnel. Trailing not far behind, the mob of monsters navigate the space with little problem, easily gaining on the man while he makes his desperate escape. To keep the horde off him, Klutz swiftly turns around to face the rapidly encroaching beasts and enters a stable firing stance in one smooth motion. Nearly in sync with her lethal companion, Spark turns her light to give Klutz as much visibility as possible. Klutz lets off a few bursts of fire at his pursuers, his aim is impressive under the adverse conditions. Most of the shots find their intended targets. The creatures recoil as many of them explode into dazzling violet power that totally annihilates others around them. Taking advantage of the chaos of his destructive volley, Klutz quickly turns back in the direction of an eventual exit and races forward.
More Hive monsters occasionally pop out ahead of the man as he pushes forward, but they are quickly taken care of with skillful use of the extraordinary rifle.
"It can't be far now!" Spark shouts as she notices Klutz begin to tire.
"Really? This was… just getting fun!" Klutz returns sarcastically between labored breaths. Klutz notices a faint sliver of light ahead that he knows could only mean an exit is near. With determination, he speeds up his pace.
From the darkness ahead, a loud and horrific roar echoes through the tunnel.
"What the hell is that?!" Klutz asks while refusing to slow down.
"Something we REALLY don't want to mess with right now!" Spark warns.
"Not sure we have a choice," Klutz says bluntly as he tightens his grip on his weapon.
A little farther into the tunnel, Klutz notices a branch in the path. It is hard to see from his position, but it appears to be a steep decline further into the tunnel system.
"Just keep moving forward. I think the exit is just up ahead," Spark says, clearly trying to move the man's attention as he looks into the branch while they pass by.
Inside the declining passage, Klutz sees something he wishes he hadn't. Dozens of green glowing eyes stare back at him from the darkness below. The eyes bob side to side as the figures they belong to make their way up the tunnel.
Klutz gasps slightly and turns his head around to see the horde of creatures still chasing from behind. He looks back into the passage just in time to witness a huge volley of dark energy begin to fire from the weapons of the green eyed figures.
Klutz rushes out of the way as the blasts pour through the opening. Following their shots, the green eyed creatures start to enter the main tunnel with surprising quickness. Klutz stumbles backwards for a moment before recovering and making a break for the light.
Only about a dozen feet forward from the branch, Spark's light meets something truly dreadful.
A dead end.
Natural light pours in from the clearly visible opening to the tunnel. Unfortunately, this opening sits at the top of an almost vertical mossy incline that is nearly three times the man's height. With seemingly no way up, Klutz stops dead in his tracks at the sight and his heart sinks. An enraged roar radiates from behind and shakes the walls of the tunnel, freezing the blood in his veins. Klutz gathers his resolve and spins around quickly with his rifle in hand.
In the middle of the horde, a towering beast lets out another roar before its grotesquely massive head begins to glow and project rapid wisps of energy flying in the man's direction as it stomps forward. The green eyed creatures start to fire their weapons as well and the smaller skeletal monsters race forward to attack.
Klutz dives behind one of the tunnels' support struts and narrowly avoids getting shot while picking off the quickly approaching creatures with gunfire from his invaluable weapon.
"Klutz! There's no time, look up!" Spark says, floating above the danger.
Klutz turns to see his Ghost hovering above at the tunnel's exit.
"You need to jump!" the Ghost screems in a panicked voice.
"Jump!? How am I supposed to-" Klutz's questioning is interrupted by an attack from one of the many monsters swarming his position.
The creature grabs and claws at the man for a moment, but he eventually wrestles it off and delivers a strong blow to the creature with the weight of his rifle, knocking it to the ground. Klutz attempts to shoot the downed creature to finish it off, but before he can pull the trigger, another beast tackles him with reckless abandon, sending the rifle flying from his grasp.
The creature shrieks and claws at the man as he tries to get from the wet floor to his feet while avoiding as much damage as possible. Klutz finds an opportunity and rolls out of the creature's way while grabbing the revolver from his holster. The creature shrugs off four bullets before a fatal filth shot to the head forces the creature's body to the ground.
Finally able to stand up, Klutz turns to find the enormous beast standing far too close for comfort. Klutz feels the vibrations of the beast's roar down to his bones. The beast swings its massive arm, connecting with the man's body and sending him backwards until he collides with the steep incline under the tunnel's taunting exit. Still reeling from the pain of the impact, Klutz desperately fires the last few shots from his revolver at the beast's huge head. Unfazed by direct gunfire, the beast stops for a moment and roars loudly with its arms raised.
Klutz thinks for a moment that the beast is gloating about its victory, but he quickly drops this thought when he notices that nothing about this beast exhibits pride. Only all consuming rage.
"The Light, Klutz!" Spark's words pour down from the light of the exit. "Use the Light to get up here, please!"
With his doom only moments away, Klutz shuts his eyes and focuses on the power he felt before. He searches inside himself and to his surprise, he doesn't find comforting darkness.
He finds the Light.
Without much thought, Klutz crouches into a low squat before propelling himself from the floor of what was soon to be his tomb. Opening his eyes, Klutz is astonished to find himself levitating upward and shrouded in a veil of pure Light. Effortlessly, Klutz maneuvers his way up to the exit before somewhat clumsily dropping his battered body on its threshold to meet his Ghost.
"What… what just happened?" Klutz asks about his seemingly miraculous escape.
"Just like before… You found your Light," Spark proudly says in a soft voice.
Klutz is happy to be outside and finally out of the water as he looks around to see they are now almost out of the city. The pair share a moment of silent relief in the low hanging sun's light before the beast's roar interrupts.
The Ghost flies into the tunnel and learns that, unfortunately, the monsters are proficient climbers. The rabid creatures claw into the mosey surface and climb steadily. Even the enormous beast makes its way up, smashing footholds for itself in the sheer slope.
"We have to keep going!" Spark warns as she darts back out of the tunnel.
Klutz struggles through the pain to get to his feet. After following his Ghost for a few feet, he stops. From the sounds of their shrieks, he can tell the monsters are nearly out of their nightmarish tunnel. "We aren't getting out of here unless I stop them," Klutz says in a pained voice.
Spark stops and turns to her partner with subtle concerned movements.
"This 'Light' has gotten us this far, and while I don't really know what I'm doing, I've got to try," he says, now standing toward the tomb's maw.
Closing his eyes, the man looks inside for the Light once again. Expecting to dig deep, Klutz is surprised as he feels the power inside him already bursting through to the surface. Klutz channels the power through his arms as they begin to glow with bright purple colored energy. With his palms now facing each other, the Risen starts to conjure a breathtaking ball of energy that doubles in size every few moments. Klutz opens his eyes and sees the beast's huge head just now cresting at the opening, along with a number of small creatures about to come pouring out.
The orb of energy is now so large Klutz has trouble keeping hold.
Purple energy totally encompasses the man's body as he leaps high into the air and hurls the immense orb directly at the opening. On impact, the orb explodes with incredible force, obliterating all of the monsters unfortunate enough to be within its radius. Everything from the huge beast down to the smallest creature is almost instantly vaporized by the bomb's explosive power. The tunnel's opening and much of its roof collapses entirely, crushing the horde of monsters below. Klutz comes careening down to the floor with a thud.
"You hear that?" Klutz asks his Ghost while his beaten body lays on the floor. "No more shrieks… or roars… I-I think I did it."
Spark floats in close enough to feel the man's breath on her shell. "Yes, you did," she says quietly, "You are even greater than I imagined." Were she capable of crying, you would swear she was holding back tears.
Klutz carefully rests his hand on top of her shell and says, "Thank you Spark... For giving me a chance."
After the words leave his mouth, Spark feels no more breath. She rests under the man's hand for a moment before slowly moving out of his limp grasp and letting his hand drop to his chest. She floats above the man's still warm body and stares. Trapped in thought while his shadow stretches under the amber light of the setting sun.