The tide of the Battlefront poured out into the empty school hallway, the combat division members urging their friends along with strong gestures and nervous glances. The hallway was completely absent of NPC's, not a soul was in sight. The silence crept over them like a mist, as they rushed out of the gym.
Emily felt a hand latch on to her uniform's collar as she headed out the door. Her light form was hoisted off the ground and brought up against the wall. Once the last echo of a footsteps had faded, Mike released her.
Harry pealed himself off the wall from beside them, and the trio exchanged dazed glances.
"We can't let her go through with this alone," Harry said finally. "It's ridiculous! There is absolutely no good reason that girl should go after him alone, beside moronic pride. It's like she thinks we wouldn't be able to help her!"
"I got the impression that she took her mission very personally," Emily replied miserably. 'And, well, she didn't want any of you to be hurt-"
"Ridiculous!" Harry cried again, hand yanking on the back of his hair. "I'll be the judge of whether I want my a** kicked! 'Sides, I could be useful."
"I'm worried about her," Mike added suddenly, his voice withdrawn. "She was so… on edge, like she was being pulled forward. Like something'd got a hold of her, and wasn't letting go." His fists clenched. "I don't think we should leave her alone."
'That's what I'm saying!" Harry cried eagerly, throwing his hand up for a high-five. Emily watched the exchange, her forehead crinkling. "Wait, we are to go after Mrs. Washington? But she just told us to stay put!"
"Yeah, she won't be happy," Harry admitted reluctantly. "I imagine she'd beat us senseless once we caught up to her, and then leave us." He glanced over. The hole to the guild crouched on their left, drafts from tunnels far below brushing against their skin. Winnie's oldest lieutenant rubbed his stubbled chin. "I reckon we can just follow her. You know-just kinda stay behind, and jump in if she needs help.
Emily joined her friends, and gazed down into the hole. She felt a shiver, and noticed goose bumps coming up all over her arms. "I can think of numerous ways in which this can go wrong… But I believe it is necessary. Mrs. Washington should not be left alone.
"Let us go."
The tunnels flew past Fred as she journeyed, gravel crunching beneath her sneakers as she jogged. The familiar paths wound around her. She tried to focus on the sound of her steps, in the near dark; it was all too easy to let her mind stray.
Was this the right thing to do? The others certainly seemed unhappy. They wouldn't be able to follow her, though. The only ones who could were Hannah and Angel. Angel had no reason to, and Hannah would never let her personal feeling get in the way of her actions.
But, besides that… how on earth could she stop him? How could one defeat the Lord? The tunnel seemed to stretch out forever before her, the small torches sending shadows chasing down its endless length. The weight of her rifle against her back was no comfort, chills of fear tingled over her entire spine. Fred grimaced trying to concentrate on pounding her feet one in front of the other.
But, but, what if… what if she couldn't even see him? What if he was invisible, and he just laughed at her, as she stumbled hopelessly.
What if God was too fast for her to catch him? He could always just be one step ahead, always taunting, promising, and leaving her behind.
What if God just looked at her, saw her with unblinking, stormy eyes, and found her unworthy? If he cut her down with a glance, not even acknowledging her presence as an enemy, as an opponent, as a person?
What if he just takes it all away? If with one touch, the Lord could wipe away everything that she was, her every thought and desire, her every achievement. What if the Lord took away everything she had…one more time.
Her eyes stung as she surged forward, breath coming in gasps as she sprinted. He was all-powerful! He had total power over her, how could she-
She stumbled to a halt, feet from an intersection. No. No, he didn't have total power over her, he'd messed up. She was still free to make choices, to resist him. This was his mistake.
Her head flashed up as she noticed a change in the light. Above her, four lamps hung, one at the mouth of each part of the intersection. One was flashing. It dimmed and surged, the lamp's current flickering like a metronome. Cautiously, Fred crept forward, and peered down the tunnel the flashing lamp overhung.
In the shadows, she could make out a second intersection several yards on. Over the left tunnel, a second lamp flickered, beckoning.
Well. It appeared she was expected.
"I'm telling you, nothing else's down here," Mike explained, exasperated. They strode along, further into the stomach of the guild. "All the tech division guys left, and there's no way a shadow could figure out how to get down here."
Emily only frowned. "I know it is unlikely… but still, I am not very affectionate towards these tunnels. They give me the feeling of small insects dancing on my skin."
"Yeah, gives me the creeps too," Harry murmured, peering into the gloom ahead apprehensively. "You sure we're going to right way, Emily? I mean, I didn't know tracking was one of your abilities."
"Harry, this dirt is an inch thick. You can see her footsteps right there." Emily closed her eyes, shoulders briefly brushing Mike as she moved her hands up to feel her temples. "My passive abilities usually do not extend to super-extended hearing. Usually, there is too much disturbance for me to…"
She stumbled to a halt. Surprised, the guys turned to glance back at her.
Emily's eyes flashed open. "They are here."
Mike felt a chill crawl across his back, one far colder than any cavern breeze. He turned.
For a few seconds, there was nothing, just the dim tunnel, stretching ahead of them. Shadows lined the walls, thick, dense, and…dripping. The monsters dribbled down from the ceiling, spouts and splashed of sludge spraying from small holes and crevasses, to form puddles on the tunnel ground. Groups and pairs of the beasts grey up from the oily black, and turned towards their prey.
Mike found that it was here, in the dark, that he could truly see the anomalies. Their outer surface rippled and shook, shapes and images appearing one moment, then devoured the next. He made out faces, moaning and howling. The faces screamed one moment, to be replaced the next with a thousand cockroaches. The insects clicked hissed on the anomalies' surface.
"This…I don't understand," Emily breathed from beside him. "From their code, it almost appears… that their intention is to devour everything. To wipe everything clean."
The monsters danced before them, featureless faces screaming without sound. They shook, jerked, and attacked.
The lamps led Fred like a string of bread crumbs. At every intersection, a lamp was flashing, its power source inexplicably wavering, even as the light sources beside it remained steady. Fred found herself led further and further down, the minutes ticking by as she descended. Concrete turned to stone, lamps to ancient light bulbs, dust coated and dim.
Eventually, the founder of the Battlefront found herself in a section of the tunnel system she was sure she'd never visited. As she entered the cavern, she whistled in admiration. The sound echoed back at her, dodging strings of stalactites.
Fred walked forward carefully; the ground was rugged and chaotic. Abruptly, a tremor shook the ground around her, and she fell to her knees until it passed. What the hell was that?
She got to her feet shakily, blinking in the dim room. Her face cleared as she found the one source of light. At the far end of the room, several hundred meters away, was a single light bulb, flickering steadily over a small, plain, metal door. Fred smiled confidently.
Then she frowned. Her chill returned, freezing through her as she turned around franticly. The shadows of the cavern were moving.
Her hand flew to the rifle at her shoulder as the shadows emerged, forming a circle around her in no time. With a cackle of their bubbling heads, the circle began to shrink.
Grimacing, Fred let loose. The rifle came alive with noise, dispelling the hand of shadows that had reached out for her. She pivoted, dissolving the shadows descending from her right, and then her left. Her ears began to ring with the noise.
Cursing furiously, she tried to push towards the door, but the shadows kept coming. The wall was impenetrable. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a line of black behind her, gliding over where she had stood moments before.
Wa-CRACK! Air was vaporized as her grenade detonated, punching a hole in the ground in front of her. She leapt forward. She had to keep going, darn it all! She wouldn't take this from him. She woulnd't be thrown away before they even met, like an unwanted pest. She spun rapidly, unloading clips into the monsters closing in from all sides.
For a moment, all she could think about was playing dodgeball in elementary school. To seeme tough, she'd pretended to like it. In truth, it made her heart jump. Every instant you were bombarded, attacks coming from every direction, striking, colliding, bruising.
Sweat drenched her. Her heart skipped a beat as a form reared up in front of her: a massive shadow, crashing down on her. THAKA-A-THAKA-A-THAKA. She destroyed it, taking a cautious step back. The attacker dissolved, and she caught her breath. Then she felt the chill, climbing up her leg.
Something was behind her, she'd stepped into it. Fred quickly turned, knives flying out of her sleeves, but her arms were abruptly caught. Sludge raced up her shoulders. Fred had time for one look of churning darkness, before she was engulfed. She clamped her eyes shut, thrashed, and felt bone-crushing ice surround her.
There was a pressure at her mouth. She struggled harder, horror exploding through her in convulsions, as her mouth was forced open. Searing slime forced its way down her throat. It hurt, ARG it hurt, she couldn't see, couldn't feel, couldn't even…she…
The churning mass of shadows writhed, now one massive pile where Fred had stood. As the seconds passed, their activity slowed.