As much as Rex tried to be careful, it was hard to resist a peaceful night of reading lore especially without having to wear that accursed metal with its horrible 13-letter names. Rex was of course to so negligent that he went out without some kind of protection, but he had less of it, and had left most at his camp site, which was only about a quarter mile from the lore site.
He expected no trouble. After all, the darklings were holed up in their caverns. Even if they weren't, he was a fellow predator.
So it came as a surprise when Rex saw a fairly large group of slithers flying overhead. He began to walk back to camp, still not really expecting an attack from the descending creatures.
Then, their formation parted, revealing three giant hawk-like darklings. Rex broke into a run, and the enormous hawks flew after him.
They were gaining distance, and the rough terrain kept Rex from running at his fastest. He unhooked a metal band from his feet, wincing as he touched the metal.
"Bacteriologic!" he named it, stumbling as he threw it. All of his weapons were double-edged swords.
The birdlike darkling was hit it the wing, sending a shower of blue sparks into the trees around it. Its flight slowed, but the two others quickly passed it, leaving Rex in essentially the same position as before.
He looked at the darklings closing in on him, and then back at the camp. He wouldn't make it. So Rex stood his ground, and stopped fleeing like prey. Rex let out the most primal growl he could muster, hoping that they would halt their advance. They didn't.
The first hawk dove at his arm, and Rex punched it, something he hadn't tried before. The darkling bit his finger.
"Ouch!" he cried, cradling his hand as he tried to rub the pain away. In those few moments of distraction, he was surrounded.
"What do you want?"
You, came the mental reply.
Rex felt talons enclose his arms, then was surprised to feel midnight gravity course through him. So Jonathan wasn't as unique as he thought.
Do not struggle. The fall would be painful, and we would only pick you up again.
Rex looked up at the blue moon in the sky. As long as it had seemed, Midnight was less than 10 minutes through. He was once again the darklings' prisoner.
The hawk-like darklings eventually dropped him in front of a cave deep in the badlands.
Go, the lead hawk commanded.
"No," Rex replied. He doubted they would be able to carry him through the cavern's narrow tunnels, and he sure wasn't going willingly.
The seer looked up again. Still 40 minutes to go. Stalling wasn't the best option, but it was the only one he had.
Yet they didn't seem to mind. The hawks merely formed a semicircle around him, as if they were waiting for something. Which they probably were.
Sure enough, a jet-black horse-shaped darkling came out. He couldn't help but laugh. Did they really expect him to ride it?
But his laughter turned to fear when the horse sprouted tentacles, forcibly binding him to its back.
Great, he thought.
Despite the oddness of the situation, Rex was soon carried deep within the Earth, with no escape attempts possible. In addition to numerous darklings present and highly confusing passageways, Rex was nearly blind here. Not even the light from the blue moon penentrated this place.
Soon, he felt the tenticles unravel themselves. Rex dropped to the floor, but stood immediately, not wanting to appear weak.
Rex stood there for a minute. Then two minutes. Nothing happened.
So... they had gone to all the trouble of kidnapping him, only to just leave him here?
Rex reached his hands out in front of him, then stepped forward. Only to immediately fall into a pool of water. At least, he originally assumed it was water. The liquid was thicker, like the substance that coated his wings after his transformation. But it was far less sticky. Almost like blood. But it didn't smell like blood either.
Whatever it was, Rex wanted to get out of it. He tried to climb back onto the ledge he fell off of, but the sides were too slippery. It was also impossible to get a foothold. Rex slid back down into the unknown substance.
Although it was clearly deeper than Rex was tall, it was dense enough that Rex wouldn't sink. He carefully felt his way around the ledge, and eventually discovered that it was surrounded on all sides. Whatever he did, the darklings knew he would fall in eventually.
However, upon further investigation, he found that widely-spaced stepping stones led away from the ledge, so the tenticled horse-creature would be able to get across. Knowing that was how he came in, Rex followed them, and managed to swim back to the dry cave floor.
Now came the hard part. He had absolutely no idea which way it was to the surface. What if he was still in here when the sun came up? Would he be trapped forever? At this point the blue time was probably over. But when it came back, he had no doubt the darklings would keep him here.
Rex ran over his options. He could a. Wander randomly to get out. or b. Wait here for someone to find him. Neither was a good option, but given that Dess had no idea that he was even here, the first was significantly better.
So again, Rex put his hands in front of him, this time sliding his feet as well. He walked forward until he came to a cave wall. He felt the ground slanting up, so he continued to travel in the direction of the slight slant. Although it was some progress, he had a feeling this would be a long day.