The first thing Sonic noticed when they arrived on the island was the intense heat. In reality 'intense' wasn't a strong enough word. Just standing there made his skin want to boil off and his eyes dissolve in their sockets. Kiarra hadn't been joking about this place. They were now standing in front of a pair of massive white doors that were open just enough to let a single person through. They moved quickly and Kiarra closed the door behind them.
"Convenient," Sonic panted as he slumped to the floor in a pool of sweat. "Remind me to thank the guy that left the door open. Also, where are we?"
"Welcome to the Devil's Gulag," Kiarra said wiping the sweat from her brow. "It's an ancient Magan prison designed specifically for Guardians and Dragoons."
"So what's with this place?" Sonic asked taking a swig of water from his canteen and passing it to Mina. "You seem to know an awful lot about it not to mention being able to shift here. Mind telling us why?"
"This place used to be the subject of bedtime stories," the fox said ignoring Sonic's question. "The most popular one was about how an evil wizard captured a princess and the heroic knight came to her rescue. Then with a swing of his sword he made it so that the castle could never be used for evil ever again. It wasn't until I was much older that I learned the truth." Her hand brushed the wall. "This building is made out a material that prevents the usage of our abilities. The entire spire is lined with it as well. These walls aren't white because of paint; it's the natural color of refined sourcestone."
"What do you mean it blocks our powers?" Mina asked.
"I'm not sure how but somehow it disrupts our focus, preventing us from accessing the mental acuity needed to gather and direct natural energy," Kiarra answered. "The headaches don't help either. Direct contact with this is even worse."
"That sounds a little too familiar," Sonic muttered looking at Mina who nodded. "So what does someone have to do to get sent here? Would have to be something pretty nasty."
"This is where the worst of the Guardians were kept until they were stripped of their powers," Kiarra replied with a nod. "It's another effect of sourcestone. Dragoons were typically kept here for centuries at a time."
"Brutal," Sonic said. "So where are we headed?"
"There should be a map in the Warden's office along with additional supplies," the fox answered. "Based on what the scroll said we will be heading into the Depths."
When they turned the corner they saw a wall plate with the word 'Warden' etched into it. Kiarra pushed the door open with ease to reveal a clean cut office. They began wandering around the office trying to find anything that could help. Kiarra walked around as if she knew the place by heart, pulling a display off the wall to reveal a safe.
"That's not helpful," Sonic mentioned when he saw the safe. "You wouldn't by chance know the combination too? You seem to know everything else about this place."
"I don't need it," Kiarra told him with a smirk as she pulled the door of the safe off its hinges. "Even if the heat doesn't affect the stone around here it did managed to wear the metal of the safe down." She pulled a small book out of the safe along with a rolled piece of, what appeared to be, paper. She spread it out on the desk with a metallic clang. "Thankfully it kept the contents intact, though. I don't want to stay here any longer than necessary."
"I didn't know you could get metal that thin," Mina said with amazement, looking at it closer. "Wait a sec. Is this...?"
"The actual map of this place," Kiarra replied. "The Gulag consists of several levels including a basement called 'The Depths of Hell'. Legend told of an escape route below the Depths but that no one's ever actually come out."
"Like you'd tell people about it if you escaped," Sonic muttered pulling a dull grey crystal out of a drawer. "Hey, Kiarra, what are these?"
"They look like lightstones," she said as she caught the one Sonic tossed her. As she held the crystal in her hand it began to glow with a faint light. "They're similar to flashlights but instead react to body heat. They're one of the few magical items that work here but I'm not sure what kind of condition these are in after several thousand years. Still, we'll need them before heading into the Depts."
"It still doesn't make any sense why they'd build an escape route into the prison," Sonic pointed out. "Not unless you're trying to give the prisoners false hope by leading them down there to die." Kiarra was silent and it only took the two Guardians a few moments to realize that was the case. "I'll say it again: This place is freaking brutal."
"As the scroll said, 'where no Dragoon dares tread'." Kiarra traced her finger along the map. "Okay, we're here in the Warden's office. The access to the Depths is here." They followed her finger across to the other side of the building. "It's not too far to here but I don't know what to expect once we get down there."
"Let's hope this place doesn't have any more surprises for us," Mina muttered as they left the room.
It wasn't long until they reached the entrance Kiarra had pointed out and they began descending down the stairs. Sonic was the first to notice the uptick in the temperature the deeper they went but it seemed disproportionate. They'd only gone down two or three levels and the temperature had increased several tens of degrees and it was more than a bit uncomfortable. They finally reached a dead end that was little more than a rock wall. As they approached the wall there were two distinct circles carved into it.
"That looks inviting," Mina said as she tore off a sleeve and wrapped it around her forehead. "So what now?"
"I don't know," Kiarra admitted. "Something is supposed to go here but I have no idea what."
"It's kinda obvious don't you think?" Sonic pointed out taking the lead. "The easiest way to open a door is to push." He placed his hands on the circles and Magan symbols flooded his vision. He quickly backed away trying to piece together what he'd just seen. Kiarra looked between him and the wall several times before cautiously placing her hands on the disks.
"It's a spell lock," she realized. "I haven't seen one of these in ages, not since I was a student at the Academy. I just need to align the symbols based on a pattern and..." Within moments red veins of energy spread from the disks and the door moved back and slid to the side. "For an escape tunnel that was a bit easy."
"Down into the depths of Hell we go," Sonic said with mock cheerfulness.
"Thank you for that wonderful thought," Mina replied, rolling her eyes, as they began down the tunnel. Once they were clear of the door it slammed shut behind them trapping them in complete darkness. "This day just keeps getting better and better."
"I can't find anything on this side," Sonic said as he felt around the wall. "We're trapped."
"They likely didn't want escaping prisoners returning to the prison," Kiarra suggested. "We have no choice but to go down now." The two Guardians grumbled an agreement and they followed close behind the Dragoon. Kiarra pulled out one of the lightstones and it began to glow with a bright white light that filled the tunnels.
The walls looked like the rock had just been ripped off it rather than carved and glints of silver sourcestone lined the passage. The ceiling was much the same way but the floor was relatively smooth with just enough grit to give them solid footing. It spiraled downward and even though they were getting closer to the boiling water the temperature, while nothing short of unbearable already, did not increase. These inconsistencies nagged at Sonic who, after what felt like hours of calmly walking, finally snapped.
"Okay, what the hell is up with this place?" he asked Kiarra. "And how the hell do you know so much about it? I've been willing to go along with this until now but if we're going to die down here I'd rather know the full truth."
"Are you okay, Sonic?" Mina asked feeling his forehead. "You seem to have lost your cool." The women giggled and Sonic just groaned.
"Yeah some things you just need to learn to keep on ice," Kiarra continued still giggling.
"WILL YOU TWO KNOCK IT THE HELL OFF?!" he shouted. The two women stared at him with confused and worried expressions.
"Knock what off?" Kiarra asked. "None of us have said anything for the past several hours."
"You mean you didn't just make a couple of cheesy puns just now?" Sonic asked and both of them shook their heads. "Oh man, I'm starting to hallucinate. This damn heat is getting to me."
"Combined with the darkness and how far beneath the ocean's surface we are that wouldn't surprise me," Kiarra said as she set her pack down. "This is probably as good a time as any to get some rest. If this passage goes as deep as I fear then we still have several more miles of ocean to descend." Sonic and Mina both nodded as they passed around a canteen and some of the rations they'd packed. After that they quickly fell asleep.
Sonic wasn't sure how long he'd been out or even what had woken him up. Mina was leaning against him for support and was still fast asleep. Off to his left Kiarra was seated and wide awake. Maybe it was the heat messing with his head or the faint glow of the lightstone but he could have sworn he was seeing tears come from her eyes. She looked over at him, realized he was awake, and quickly wiped her tears away.
"I didn't realize you were awake," she said. "Even as the Frost Dragoon the heat here is unbearable."
"Then those weren't tears I saw on your cheek?" Sonic asked quietly and Kiarra was silent. "Tell me the truth, Kiarra. I've been okay going along with this for now but it's too much now. How do you know so much about this place? I get knowing its function and the legends surrounding it. But how were you able to shift here? Or for that matter know exactly where to go to get to the Warden's office? I'd like to believe that you were once a guard here or maybe even the Warden."
"The Warden was the only security force the prison ever needed," Kiarra explained after a brief silence. "As far as the Chikaran Dynasty was concerned the prisoners could kill each other if they wanted. The Warden's only real purpose was to record the comings and goings of prisoners and to take them off the island when their sentence had been served." She closed her eyes and took several measured breaths before continuing. "I was friends with the last Warden seeing as how this place was shut down right after we left."
"Then you were..."
"I was the last inmate of the Devil's Island Gulag," she finished for him.
"What happened?" Sonic asked, his mind trying to accept what she was saying. "I mean, you are kind of an ice queen, and I mean that in the best possible way, but that's not exactly a crime. How the hell did you end up here?"
"During the last Ragnarök my youngest sister died," she told him. "She was chosen by our family to fight in the final battle against Xiaxos. As the eldest child and Guardian it was supposed to be my duty but I chose to have a family instead, something my parents viewed as unforgivable. I was travelling when I learned of my sister's death and something inside me broke. I went on a rampage killing anyone in my way. When I returned home Aleena and our children tried to calm me down but I...I..." The tears began to flow from her eyes again. "I murdered my wife and children in my anger. By the end of it I'd killed nearly forty Magans including several of the Kurōkami. I was immediately sentenced to the Gulag until I'd been stripped of my powers. I'd only served the first eighty years of my sentence by the time the prison was shut down."
Sonic was silent as he mulled her story over. He had never really settled on a solid history for her but this...this was almost too much. "A lot of things make sense now," he said after several minutes. "Why you didn't want any part in this fight, why you only joined when I swore to kill Xiaxos, and why you know this place inside and out."
"This isn't about revenge," Kiarra said before he could continue. "When I first became a Dragoon it was but after three thousand years I realized it's about my own failings. My sister knew the risks of fighting Xiaxos and she died sealing him away. Aleena died because of me, because of my weakness."
Sonic stared at her as he remembered what Aquira had told him in Mercia. "She died sealing...You mean Aquira is your sister?" Kiarra nodded as Sonic tried to put everything together. "Did you know Sylvanix and the others too?"
"All of them except Rosemary and Shada. The In'ei tribe tended to keep to themselves," she explained. "Why do you ask?"
"Is there a reason they won't tell me why Sylvanix hasn't said a word for the better part of a year?" Sonic asked her and Kiarra's normally hard eyes softened. "I know that look: you feel sorry for me. So what happened?"
"In bringing you back Sylvanix sacrificed himself," the Magan explained quietly. "When the dead die they cannot pass on or be brought back. As to why they haven't told you..." She shook her head. "I suppose they expected you to know or it's too painful for them to discuss." Kiarra stood up and brightened the lightstone. "Thank you for listening, Sonic. I have only ever told that story to someone that went through much of the same tragedy I had."
"Your secret's safe with me, Kiarra," Sonic assured her and she gave him a gentle smile. "And thank you for telling me about Sylvanix. I just wish I could've given him a proper goodbye." Sonic nudged the still-sleeping Mina until her eyes fluttered open. "Morning, or something close to it, sleepyhead."
"How long were we asleep?" Mina asked groggily.
"A few hours at best," Kiarra replied just as the lightstone gave out with a crack. "That's not good. It would seem age has been harder on these than I was hoping. We need to hurry before we run out."
They quickly pushed on, taking to the tunnel at a run. After the third spell locked door Sonic began to wonder just how deep they were going. His watch didn't work and the darkness of the tunnel didn't help them to know what time it was. And unless there was a section of tunnel at the very end where they weren't in range of the sourcestone they would be trapped in here until they died.
"Any idea on how much further we have to go?" Mina asked when they finally stopped to catch their breath. "It feels like we've been down here for days and I'm starting to feel a little worn out."
"With all this running I'd think we'd be near the ocean floor by now," Sonic suggested. "And it hasn't gotten any hotter in here, not that I'm complaining."
They continued after a few minutes and quickly came to another door. Sonic immediately noticed the change in the material of the stone. The flecks of silver sourcestone were gone but the rock was a deep red, almost the color of blood. The same two circles were cut into the rock and Kiarra placed her hands on them before pulling back.
"There's something wrong here," she told them. "This lock is...different. Like it's trying to warn us about something on the other side."
"This place is just a plethora of good times," Mina muttered. "Add to it we're down to three lightstones." As if on cue the one she was holding cracked and sputtered out. "Scratch that. Two lightstones."
"Well it's not like we have much of a choice about which direction to go," Sonic pointed out. "And it's the second-to-last door anyway." Both women turned to look at him as the lightstone brightened. "It's just a feeling I have. Ever since this whole thing with the scrolls started I've been getting them."
"And here I thought you acting crazy was normal," Mina commented and Sonic glared playfully at her. "He's right, Kiarra. There's no point in turning back."
"Don't say I didn't warn you," she sighed and placed her hands on the circles. Within seconds the door slid open to what Sonic had promised was the last passage.
In light of Kiarra's warning they took their time and walked down the spiral. Even though they hadn't seen anything yet Sonic could feel dread weighing heavily on his shoulders. The two women felt it too but none of them said a word. Sonic squinted his eyes and called for Kiarra to come by the wall. Four distinct scratches marred the wall in several places. Sonic touched the scratches and a rust-colored dust coated his fingertips. He looked on the floor to see the same markings.
"I don't like this," he said and the women nodded. "The only thing I can think of that would make those kinds of marks are claws or..." He hesitated at the last word but Mina knew where he was going.
"Fingernails," she finished and Sonic nodded grimly. "That would mean something dragged escaping prisoners down to the bottom."
"Please don't let it be zombies," Sonic wished as they continued downward.
Before long they came upon another figure huddled over with its face in its knees. Sonic cautiously walked over and looked at it. The skin was leathern and missing in several places exposing the bone. It was lanky with an uneven distribution of muscle and Sonic could see several stumps where its tails had once been. He quietly backed away as quickly as possible.
"Magan," he mouthed to the women. Both of the women mouthed the same curse. Kiarra dimmed the lightstone and they very carefully made their way past the corpse.
Soon they found even more corpses in the same position as the first. The deeper they went the tighter they were packed. It got to the point where they were hanging from the ceiling too. Something shifted causing some dust to fall and Mina began to sneeze until Sonic clamped his hand over her mouth and nose. The mongoose glared at him as the sneeze died down and he removed his hand.
"They're just corpses," she whispered as quietly as possible.
"If you believe that then why are you whispering?" Sonic asked and Mina had no answer.
It was a couple more hours until they reached what they hoped was the last door. Kiarra handed the lightstone off and placed her hands on the recessed disks. When nothing happened for several minutes Sonic tapped her on the shoulder.
"Something wrong?" he asked quietly.
"This one's a bit harder than the others," she admitted, "and I may have slept through the lecture on these things."
"Not a good time to mention that," Mina said as a groan filled the tunnel. The three of them looked at each other. "It was the rock adjusting to the water pressure, right?"
"Sounds good to me," Sonic agreed quickly. "See if you can get that thing opened up quickly. I don't want to be here any longer than necessary."
"Speak for yourself," Kiarra muttered as she placed her hands back on the circles.
Another groan filled the tunnel and Sonic felt the fur on his neck stand on end. Then another one sounded. As much as he wanted to believe it was water pressure he knew better. He felt Mina's free hand hold his and he turned to her smiling. She returned it nervously and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. When Sonic looked turned his head back there was an eyeless corpse shrieking in his face.
"Shit!" Sonic yelled letting go of Mina's hand and slamming his right palm into the zombie's face but not before it got a lucky hit on his forehead. It flipped to land on its feet to charge again but Sonic had already drawn Kaiyō Mujō and cut it in half. Another was running down the hall at them but Mina stopped it short with a kick to the stomach followed up by a roundhouse kick to its head, completely twisting it around. The ones on the floor slowly began to stand up as their groans filled the passageway.
"Any day now, Kiarra," Mina told the fox as she stopped another shrieker with a punch-kick combo. Sonic sliced down two more of them and caught a third before it got to Mina. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Sonic replied as the tunnel filled with shufflers. "Hopefully these guys slow down the runners." No sooner had the words left his lips than one came bounding over the crowd of shufflers. It slipped between Mina's attacks and bit down hard on her neck. The mongoose screamed in pain right as Sonic sliced its head off causing the whole thing to slump to the ground. "Are you okay?" Sonic asked. Mina didn't get a chance to answer as another runner came at them and they both planted their fists in its face. As it flew back another one stepped under it and clawed at Sonic's chest leaving deep gouges. Sonic kicked it in the chest with his knee and then split it in two with his sword.
"There's no end to these damn things," Mina said gasping for air.
"Any time now, Kiarra," Sonic told the fox.
"Just a couple more minutes," she replied as sweat poured from her brow. "I've almost got the pattern down."
"We won't last that long," Mina said dejectedly as she stared at the horde in front of them. Several of the shriekers clung to the walls as though they were waiting for their opening.
"This is not how I wanted to go out," Sonic admitted. "I mean, how the hell does this even happen? What do you put in the obituary? 'Mauled by zombies'?" He held Kaiyō Mujō tighter as he and Mina stood shoulder-to-shoulder. "If we somehow make it out of this I am NEVER watching a zombie movie ever again."
"If we make it out of this we are so going on a date," Mina told him and for a moment Sonic took his eyes off the zombies, "and then I wanna try something Fiona was telling me about. She sounded as if she really enjoyed it and now it's got me curious." She turned to Sonic and winked at him.
"Now that's something worth fighting for," he replied with a laugh. "Dinner and a night of whatever crazy ideas Fiona put in your head. Well Mina, let's do it to it!"
Sonic moved first, leaping right into the fray with Kaiyō Mujō swinging. He managed to clear a path where he planted himself, spinning in a flurry of flashing steel. Mina moved from one attack to the next as she tried to keep the zombies away from Kiarra. She got as close to Sonic as she could without getting sliced up. Sonic changed to two blades and blocked, parried, and struck with insane speed. At one point Mina switched to tossing zombies at him and he would chop them to pieces. Two managed to slip through her defenses and pinned her on the ground. Before more could join in she kicked up with all her, flipping back onto her feet and tossing the zombies backwards. They were thrown forward frozen solid, shattering as they hit their undead brothers. Sonic and Mina spared a glance back to Kiarra who had one hand towards them, snow blowing from her palm.
"I'm almost there!" she yelled as she placed her hand back on the circle. "We're far enough from the sourcestone your powers should be starting to return. I'm on the last bit of the pattern. Do whatever it takes to hold them back!"
"You heard the lady," Sonic commented with a grin. As he cut down the zombies he began focus the airstreams in the tunnel. "Mina! I could use a light right about now."
"You're not thinking what I think you are, are you?" she asked as she threw a runner to the ground. "Are you insane?!" Sonic stole a glance at her and she managed a sigh. "Who am I kidding? Of course you are." Sonic gave her an opening as Mina snapped her fingers, igniting the pure oxygen airstreams. Flames ripped through the tunnel before hitting the door they had come through, echoing back towards them. "Sonic?"
"Trust me." A hundred feet from them the flames pulled back, sucking the air away from them along with the zombies. The three of them dug into the tunnel floor as the flames cleared out. After a few moments Sonic and Mina dropped to their knees as exhaustion took over. "I can't believe that actually worked," he said as he gasped for breath. "I am never, I repeat, NEVER doing that again."
"You are absolutely brilliant!" Mina exclaimed, kissing him full on the lips. A groaning from down the tunnel interrupted their moment as the two Guardians looked into the darkness. "You're kidding me. But how did they-"
"They're dead Magans. What did you expect?" Sonic growled as he tried to lift Kaiyō Mujō. "Kiarra, we aren't gonna last another round with these things. Tell me you're close."
"I've almost got the pattern down," she replied as she panted for breath. "It's hard to breathe when you've burned up all the oxygen in here."
"Eaten or suffocated," Sonic said as the lightstone began to give out. "Great. The two worst possible ways to die and we get to pick." As he finished his sentence the lightstone started to flicker as its energy petered out. "You have got to be kidding me. How can this possibly get worse?"
"Please don't-" Mina started but stopped when she looked into the darkness. A pair of glowing red eyes floated in air followed by another pair. And another. And another. "After all you've been through you'd think you would've learned not to ever say that."
The light stone finally gave out, bathing the three of them in complete darkness. Sonic could hear flesh slapping against stone as the Magan corpses charged them. He swung blindly, catching a few of them before they pounced and pinned him to the ground. He heard Mina scream in pain for a brief moment before it was muffled and then silenced completely.
"Mina!" Sonic yelled just as a zombie bit down into his shoulder. He tried to cut it down with Kaiyō Mujō but another zombie bit down onto his wrist. The last thing he felt before blacking out was an incredible weight across his entire body as it was gnawed on.