Chapter 13

Deep within the Labyrinth, Shardak followed Blast and Kyhrex through a seemingly endless network of twists and turns. Despite the fact that Shardak had become more than confused after a few hours of travel, Kyhrex seemed to know the way like the back of her hand.

How long had they been travelling? Shardak couldn't say. Hours? Days? His mind was numb from what he'd seen back in the Spire and in the Labyrinth during the battle with Flareus.

"We'll—" Kyhrex began, but a new voice cut her off. Shardak had enough time to draw the Blade of Arcturas before a tall thin being in orange armor staggered around a corner and into a tunnel. Seeing travelers, the being gave a smile. However, his dark eyes and staggering gait made him seem less than sane to Shardak. And his aura...it was almost unreadable, a disjointed, scattered mess of conflicting thoughts and emotions that he didn't dare to read.

"Travelers!" hissed the orange-armored being. "Ix-beings!" his insane eyes fixed on Kyhrex, and, raising one fist, grabbed her arm before she could even draw her crossbow. "No! You shall not kill me!"

"We're not Ix!" said Blast. "Let us go. We're trying to escape from them!"

At the sound of Blast's voice, the ancient orange-armored being whirled around. "That voice..." he said, eyes widening. "I know you from before."

"Before?" Blast asked, confused. "I—"

"Before!" said the orange being, with more force. He seemed agitated, and did not relax his hold on Kyhrex. Shardak saw he had a long knife in one hand and was raising it slowly as he saw Blast raise his scythe. "When the world ended."

He's insane. Thought Shardak, with a touch of sadness. He could see the being's armor was rusted, pitted and scarred. Trying to maintain his calm, he stepped forward, raising the Blade of Arcturas. "Let us go," he said again, hoping his voice sounded steady.

The being's eyes fixed on the sword, and recognition flashed again in his eyes. "Fire sword! I knew you too, before the end. We were friends. Before the fire scarred me, I was an ally." On the last sentence the being's voice became more certain.

"We've never met before," said Shardak, more than confused now. The being obviously thought he was someone else. "But you have to let us go. We've done you now harm."

"You Ix-beings," said the ancient being, in a flash looking all suspicious again. "The wanderer knows when you lie. He knows you're not real."

"We're not Ix," said Shardak. "I...wanderer, we need to pass. We mean you no harm."

"Yes! You must go!" said the Wanderer. "Anything for you, my friends." he released Kyhrex, then in a flash he became suspicious again.

"You're dead," he said, pointing at Shardak with ominous certainty. "I know you died. This is—"

"Run. Now." hissed Kyhrex under her breath, as the Wanderer drew his knife and a longer sword. "We could probably attack him, but it's better if we leave him in peace. He's no threat."

Shardak knew Kyhrex was right. The being was so broken and insane that he definitely was no servant of the Ix. As he drew near Kyhrex, he halted, confused. "I know the Toa," he said, uncertainly. "I know. You need to go, before the Ix catch you."

"Yes," said Kyhrex, trying to keep her voice steady. "Yes. Thank you."

The Wanderer muttered something unintelligible. Then he turned and the darkness of the Labyrinth swallowed him.

"I've never encountered him before," said Kyhrex, after the Wanderer was out of earshot. "Did you ever meet him?" she asked Blast and Shardak.

"No," said Shardak. "He must have mistaken us for someone else."

But inwardly he was not so certain. There had been a cold, almost ominous tone to the Wanderer's voice as he'd said, You're dead. I know you died.

But it was impossible. What had the being meant? How could he have recognized Blast and Shardak? It was impossible.

He must have been completely insane, concluded Shardak. There's no way he could have recognized me or Blast. Besides, we have bigger problems than an ancient wanderer in the Labyrinth.

Shardak awoke, eyes wild. He'd slept for a few hours after his watch ended, but his dreams were full of violence, fire, and death. He could still see Nightshade, raising her scythe like dagger to kill him, and Flareus, eyes alight with burning fire, holding him in his clawed hands, about to snap his spine with impunity.

"Shardak." said Blast. Shardak turned, surprised to see Blast standing upright. Despite the injuries he'd suffered, he looked alert, albeit scared. He reminded Shardak of a cornered animal, one ferocious because it has realized there was no hope for survival.

Which, just maybe, we are, he thought. They were trapped between the Circle and the Ix's Division, and the odds that they'd survive another attack were very small.

"The Ix. They're coming." said Blast. "We have to make our escape now, into one of the Air Shafts to the surface."

No. thought Shardak, as the mention of the Ix made his blood run cold again. "Is Flareus with them?"

"No." said Kyhrex. She was holding her Laser Crossbow and had a bolt readied. She'd repaired it easily after the encounter with Flareus. "He's either retreated or is regrouping with the Kranr pursuers. I've been scouting ahead, and the passageways are swarming with Eliminators, the Ix's soldiers."

"Where will we go, then?" asked Shardak. Dread was mounting within him. He imagined Nightshade standing over his body, laughing as he died.

Nightshade! The thought of his former sister made his cold hatred well up within him once more. She had changed everything. Now he couldn't even look back to the life he'd led before the Ix had slain Arcturas, for she'd been there, tainting his memories with her spying.

"We'll head for the lowest tunnels in the Labyrinth, where the old cities are still mostly intact. Hopefully the Stalkers haven't picked up on our trail by now."

"Stalkers?" asked Shardak.

"The Hunters of Darkness." whispered Kyhrex bitterly. "They're completely undetectable by any of the senses except touch, so you don't know where they are until they've ran a dagger through you. Their keen sense of smell and vision allows them to track targets over long distances. They're the Ix's assassins. I can't even sense their locations with my elemental sense."

Shardak felt his heart sink even further than before. More enemies seemed to be appearing every moment, with no hope of escape. The Stalkers strengths seemed insurmountable.

The thought that one of their enemies could be standing right next to him served only to galvanize Shardak into action. Grabbing his Cold Fire torch and the Blade of Arcturas, he leapt to his feet.

"Let's go. They could be watching us now."

Kyhrex, crossbow readied, led them down many winding intersections of tunnel. Shardak's mind was so focused on the Stalkers and the Ix that he barely took in the vivid scenery around him. Cold Fire torches, long burned out, either hung from lampposts of corroded metal or lay scattered and in fragments on the ground.

Sometimes the tunnels intersected with other tunnels, other times they did not. Eventually Kyhrex halted, her voice a low whisper.

"Ix."

Shardak felt his heart freeze. "Where?" he whispered, careful to keep his voice low.

Kyhrex pointed down the tunnel. It was slowly widening, opening into a larger cavern similar in size to that of the Circle. Shardak could see Cold Fire burning in the distance as well, but was unable to pinpoint its source.

Then he saw the Ix, and locked eyes with a soldier. He was tall and thin, like all Ix, with a pale face from which horrible, intense eyes scorched him almost physically. He carried weapons decorated with the Imperial Insignia, and his presence in the aura field was a black abyss, a miniature void in the aura field of unreadable emotion.

Then everything happened at once. The soldier hissed something in the Ix's nasal language, Kyhrex fired a crossbow bolt burning with energy that struck a second soldier in the face, and something struck Shardak from behind.

Stalker! The word exploded in his mind as he was flung off his feet and slammed against the wall. Swinging wildly with the Blade of Arcturas, he managed to make contact with the Stalker's weapon, but the Hunter of Darkness would not be stopped.

As Shardak rose to his feet, the Stalker struck again. A line of corrosive acid seemed to materialize from thin air. Shardak twisted narrowly, avoiding most of the blow, but the acid struck his shoulder and knocked him off-balance.

Shardak felt cold numbness spread through his arm, then screamed as excruciating pain tore through his body. He could feel the acid eating away at his armor, burning through the muscle beneath. Shardak screamed again, louder, and heard a rush of air as the Stalker struck at him again.

Swinging wildly through the haze of pain, Shardak brought down the Blade of Arcturas on something solid. With an inhuman screech, the Stalker suddenly appeared on the physical world for the briefest of instants, and then vanished again. Shardak struck at the Stalker over and over again with his blade, sometimes hitting, sometimes missing.

The Stalker snarled again, and Shardak felt it strike him in his burning shoulder. For the briefest of moments, he saw the Stalker's teeth, long and jagged, tearing through his already horribly damaged shoulder. He felt the Stalker tear through burned armor and muscle.

Shardak screamed in pain as the Stalker forced him against the walls of the cavern, acid flowing from its clawed limbs as it tore at his armor, trying to rip out his heart.

No! Shardak screamed silently as acid burned through his body. No! Stop! No...

How long he struggled against the Stalker, he did not know. Pain made time seem to slow, and he was conscious of every minute of his excruciating pain. He was dimly aware of Blast being forced back by one of the White Lightning soldiers, and saw Kyhrex grappling with two more Eliminators.

Then, suddenly, he felt the Stalker's claws lessen, felt the spatter of the creature's blood against him. The Stalker, now a blurry outline, staggered backward and collapsed against the wall.

Shardak gasped in shock. The creature's body was a hideous amalgam of teeth, claws, and overlapping scales that covered the monster's entire body. The creature's face had slitted orange eyes, but the true horror was the creature's mouth. It was a black void of emptiness that covered the creature's entire lower face, framed by fangs as black as the Ix's cloak.

There were five crossbow bolts embedded in its back. Shardak turned toward Kyhrex, and saw that one of the Ix, badly wounded, was staggering away from her, black energy crackling from its hands, but the other had dealt her blows to the shoulder and leg, impeding her maneuverability. Her laser crossbow, useless in close-quarter combat had been thrown aside, and she was fighting with her protosteel talon.

But the Ix were overmatching her. Kyhrex was agile, but the Eliminators were much more so. She was slowly being backed up against the wall, and would be slain soon if they continued fighting her.

"Shardak! Run! Blast needs help. He's being pursued by a group of White Lightning soldiers!" she had no time to say anything more, for the wounded soldier struck her with a bolt of dark lightning, forcing her back. It was as though they were toying with her, trying to make sure she couldn't go to Blast's aid.

The thought of Blast's life in danger brought Shardak back to reality. Ignoring the excruciating pain from his injuries, he raced down the tunnel. Neither of the Eliminators made any move to pursue him, but continued their relentless attack on Kyhrex.

Racing down the tunnel, the Labyrinth became a bloody chaotic place of destruction. He could see Blast in the distance, grappling with a wounded Eliminator, but could see more of them converging from all sides. Several charged Shardak, but the Toa was an unstoppable whirlwind of cold fury. His torch slammed against the face of one of his attackers, and the Eliminator vanished from view. Two more came at him, but they were struck down by the Blade of Arcturas, wounded badly. The Ix, unprepared for such a suicidal lunge, froze for a moment.

That was all the time Shardak needed. Racing down the tunnel, he grabbed Blast, pulling him away from the wounded Eliminator. He gasped as he saw Blast was bleeding from several scythe wounds. Shardak winced as he remembered the cold pain brought on by the Ix's scythes as he raced down the tunnel.

He saw the gaping maw of darkness just ahead, the darkened tunnel that led into the deeper tunnels of the Labyrinth. He narrowly leapt to one side to avoid being tackled by an Eliminator, and fell against the stones that surrounded the maw. The Eliminator swiped, and missed Shardak's mask by a fraction of an inch. In the darkness, only the Ix's eyes could be seen, red and feral. The soldier swiped again, glancing off Shardak's armor plates. The Limiter's massive strength flung him against the mouth of the cave.

For a moment, as he watched the scythe snake out at him again, he saw Nightshade's face flash before his eyes. Her expression was laughing, as though she enjoyed every moment of watching him die.

No! he thought. Get up, Shardak! You can't let her win!

Shardak grabbed Blast, flinging the scythe at the Eliminator to block the dagger from killing him instantly, and then half-dragged Blast into the cave. Kyhrex's lantern gleamed in the darkness, illuminating the dark passageways before him. As he ran deeper into the caves, he could hear the harsh voices of the Eliminators in the distance. Feeling his way along the wall, Shardak saw that he was in a wide, open cavern. Looking around, he could see no tunnels leading deeper into the caverns.

No. Shardak thought. No.

But his sight confirmed the horrible truth-there was no way out of the cavern. He had run into a cul-de-sac, and was about to pay with both his and Blast's lives.

There was a flash of light as a lantern sliced through the darkness of the cavern. Shardak saw an Eliminator standing like a demonic horror before him, clutching a lantern and a long scythe. More Ix surged toward them, and Shardak tensed. He was not going to surrender without a fight.

The Eliminators will not kill me. I will die on my own terms, like Barit and Kyhrex, thought Shardak grimly, as the Eliminators struck them.

The tall Eliminator dropped his lantern and slashed the Scythe into Shardak's uninjured shoulder. Shardak felt deadly pain as the scythe struck again. The cold iron chilled his muscle, bones, and every fiber of his body burned with icy fire. The Eliminator's green and black mask glowed in the pale lantern light.

The Eliminator struck out again, and Shardak parried. The long scythe that the Ix carried struck Shardak a glancing blow to the neck, and an explosion of pain rocked his world. Shardak braced against the walls of the cavern as the Ix soldier raised his scythe. Shardak saw Blast kicking out at the oncoming, but the Eliminators caught him and raised a sickle to his throat.

"No!" Shardak screamed, and as the Eliminator prepared to deal Blast a death blow, grabbed the strange objects Silencer had given him and flung it at the Ix.

The object impacted against the Eliminator's face, and as it struck the creature's mask, exploded. The Eliminator screamed in pain and rage as his entire face exploded into flames, and Shardak heard the jarring crack as his neck snapped. The dying Eliminator staggered back, and another Ix charged him. Shardak dove to one side, and grabbing the Blade of Arcturas, lunged at the Eliminator and ran the Blade of Arcturas through his chest.

Before Shardak's sickened eyes, the Eliminator collapsed, his blood pooling around him. The other Eliminator collapsed against the wall, his eyes fading in death.

Shardak saw Blast grab the lantern and fling it at the Eliminator as the Ix soldier slammed Shardak against the wall. The scythe struck him in the shoulder, reopening the wound the Stalker had dealt him. His vision blurred, and he fell to the ground in pain. Shardak, out of options, flung his three remaining spheres, two at the attacking Eliminator, one at the Ix attacking Blast.

Fire seemed to strike the Limiter's weapon as it came nearer, and Shardak was dimly aware of Blast shouting to him, but he had eyes only for the scythe about to end his life. Closer the scythe came, flame burning into the handle-

The Eliminator stiffened as the flame struck him, consuming his scythe in a flash of white-hot flame. For a brief instant the soldier stood there, his armor torn and ragged. Then a second bolt consumed him utterly. Blast screamed a warning, then he, too, vanished into the flames.

Meanwhile, behind him the Ix dodged his remaining sphere, well aware of the danger. The Sphere struck the cavern ceiling, and an explosion shook the cavern as an avalanche of earth plummeted down on them, burying the two Eliminators completely. Others were struck by the sphere and burst into flames.

Shardak dodged away from a surviving Eliminator, but a second, his armor charred and his mask in pieces, swung a scythe that caught him on the leg. He fell, half-rising as the Eliminator raised his Scythe to deal a second blow.

The Limiter exploded into flames and Shardak ran for the exit. With a burst of fire, the entire stretch of tunnel was dragged into a vortex of fire and earth, burying everything beneath a shroud of flame. Shardak could see Blast in the distance, shrouded slightly by the dancing flames.

"Shardak, run!" yelled Blast. Shardak rose to his feet unsteadily and dodged the Eliminator's weapon narrowly, racing toward Blast.

"A magnificent yet terrible sight." whispered Blast, his voice hoarse and breathless. "What happened?"

"I threw a sphere of fire at the cavern ceiling. I don't know how many of them survived, though. I know two are dead, but the rest are probably only wounded." It sickened Shardak to say those words. Barit had died a hero, yet he'd never killed anyone in battle.

He remembered Kyhrex, killing the Eliminator in the battle in the wider cavern. She'd probably died saving them. And yet...he was a Toa. It was his duty not to kill. It was a complete violation of the Toa Code.

I was only acting in self-defense, thought Shardak. But that doesn't make it right, does it? These battles are turning me into something I don't want to be. I-

Before he could say another word, he saw the flash of red eyes in the darkness.

"No!" he screamed as the figure drew several daggers and strode toward him. Wounded, both physically and mentally, Shardak raised the Blade of Arcturas and readied for battle once more.