The Kord Woods
Phantom, Falco, Katt, Connie, and the members of Star Wolf and MilLynx weaved their way through the woods, ears straining to hear any kind of noise. Not to mention Kaden having his telepathy on high alert.
As the group advanced further, the forest canopy got thicker, reducing the light from the star Dellis to just pinholes and then blotting it out completely.
A feeling of unease fell over the mercenaries, but they kept pressing onwards, soon coming to a break in the tree line.
The sight that greeted them was an absolute shock to the group, save for Phantom and Wolf.
Before the mercenaries was an expanse of land covered in a fine grey dust. What really got their attention was the trees. They were unnaturally tall and wide and swayed in spite of there being no wind.
In fact, when a gust of wind did blow up, not only did it not affect the trees, but it also didn't blow around any of the grey dust.
The entire scene had Wolf mesmerized. His trance was broken by Phantom clapping a hand on his shoulder.
"You've seen something like this before, haven't you?" the Elite asked.
"Only in a dream." Wolf replied in a clipped tone.
"Boss."
Wolf turned his gaze on Leon and Panther.
"Don't ask."
Meanwhile, Kaden rubbed the area between his eyes. He could sense that the group's objective was out there in the strange landscape.
To that end, the blue vulpine walked over to Phantom.
"I'd like to take point." he said.
The Elite nodded.
"By all means."
As the group began to advance, Miyu glanced about at the strange landscape.
"What could do something like this?" the lynx wondered aloud.
"A meteor with strange properties." Phantom answered.
He then elaborated.
"Something like this happened in a New England farming community several centuries ago."
"Well, that's comforting." Miyu replied.
After a time, Kaden held up a hand and signalled everyone to stop.
"There's a door in the ground."
"Well, where's the switch?" Falco remarked while leaning against a rock.
The pheasant almost fell over as the top of the rock began to sink. The result was that two panels beneath the dust spread apart, revealing a staircase descending underground.
"I guess that answers your question, hon." Katt remarked.
The others meanwhile, shined flashlights down the staircase. The beams of light did little to penetrate the inky blackness.
"Sense anything down there?" Phantom asked Kaden.
The vulpine put his middle and index fingers to his temple and winced.
"Damn, this place is brimming with evil." he groaned, causing Miyu to set a hand on his shoulder.
"We're in this deep." Wolf put in, "Might as well keep going."
After the rest of the group nodded in agreement, Wolf took point and began heading down the staircase. As the group came closer to the bottom, the darkness seemed to swallow them and the air became musty.
At first, they seemed to be in a stone hallway with strange hieroglyphs on the walls, as well as carvings of horrifying creatures.
While everyone recognized Cthulhu, they were not so sure about the others. Phantom was more than happy to fill them in.
Panning his flashlight beam over a pair of fish-like creatures, the Elite explained, "Those are Dagon and Hydra. They dwell beneath the ocean and are the creators of the Deep Ones."
Phantom empathized that by moving his light beam onto a carving of fish-like creatures standing on a shoreline and seemingly praying.
Shining his flashlight on a black form with red eyes, the Elite stated, "That is The Black Man, one of many avatars for Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos."
Finally, Phantom panned his flashlight onto a carving of a mass of tentacles and eyeballs.
"And that there is Azathoth, the Mad God at the Centre of the Universe."
"Mad God?" Connie asked.
"It means he's effectively brain dead." Phantom elaborated, "Good thing too. He's the most powerful of the Old Ones."
After a few more minutes, the hallway became a natural cave, complete with stalactites and stalagmites. Water could be heard dripping from the ceiling.
Then suddenly, there was a whooshing sound just up ahead, followed by what sounded like feet hitting the cave floor. The sounds were heard again, increasing in frequency and getting closer to the group of mercenaries.
"Kaden." Wolf whispered while switching his digital lens to night vision, "What the hell is coming?"
"A carnivorous lizard. And it isn't friendly." the Cerinian whispered back.
"Good to know." the lupine stated as he brought up his blaster.
The whooshing and stomping noises continued for a little longer before a quadruped form entered Wolf's vision. Without thinking twice, the lupine opened fire and put the reptile down.
In it's dying throes, the lizard let out an ear piercing scream that made the whole group wince.
"Gods, what a noise!" Fay groaned.
"Yeah." Connie added, "If I never hear that again, it'll be too soon."
"Too soon is going to be a long way off." Kaden interjected, "There's more headed for us."
True to the vulpine's word, more whooshing and stomping noises were heard. Some were louder than others, suggesting that their owners were larger than the first.
The group took up firing positions and waited for the carnivores to approach. As soon as the first lizards entered their light beams, the mercenaries opened fire. The sounds of gunfire echoed off the cave walls, as well as the dying screams of the lizards, as well as the sounds of some of the beasts choking on their own blood.
After the horde finally seemed to stop coming, Wolf shone his flashlight onto a relatively intact corpse. The lizard was brown in colour and had sharp claws on it's feet.
"What the hell are these things?"
"I don't know." Phantom said, "Makes me wonder what else Lord Synn has down here."
The group advanced, their boots squelching in the lizards' blood. A few minutes passed without incident, at least until Kaden signaled for them to stop.
"There's more trouble coming our way." he said mentally.
"More lizards?" Miyu mentally replied.
"No, something else. It's kind of odd, they seem to just be operating on instinct."
As if to punctuate the vulpine's point, a moaning sound was heard up ahead.
"Great, more zombies." Wolf grumbled, remembering his encounters with the undead during the Demon War.
To the lupine's shock, a chunk of flesh flew out from the darkness and struck him in the chest.
"Motherfucker!" Wolf exclaimed as a quartet of zombies shambled into view
Wolf, Leon, and Connie poured fire into the undead beings. The vaguely humanoid creatures fell to the cave floor while uttering out moans.
"Stupid fucking things." Wolf grumbled as the group began advancing again.
Suddenly, Kaden called out, "Guys, wait!"
But no sooner did he say that, then the zombies picked themselves back up from the ground, seemingly none the worse for wear.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Wolf barked.
Quickly pushing his way to the front of the group, Phantom ordered, "Everyone, get back!" and primed a plasma grenade.
As the others fell back to a safe distance, Phantom tossed the grenade at the central zombie and watched it stick to the undead being's torso before joining the rest of the group.
The sounds of the grenade going off and tearing flesh filled the tunnel. As the group returned to the spot, they saw that the zombies had been reduced to mincemeat.
"I don't understand. When we put these things down during the war, they stayed down." Leon murmured.
"Looks like these ones are different." Panther mused.
The group pressed onwards and soon found the cave turning back into a stone hallway. Upon hearing the moans of the undead, Wolf grabbed a grenade off his belt and hurled it towards them.
Gritting his teeth at the sound of the explosion, Wolf mused, "This sure as shit isn't doing our eardrums any favours."
"You can say that again, mate." Kaden mentally replied.
Walking through the hallway eventually led to a sealed door. The lead elements of the group parted to let Kaden up to the front.
"Can you open it?" Phantom asked.
"I'll certainly try."
The vulpine shut his eyes and concentrated on the door. He was able to learn that several raised spots on it needed to be pressed in a certain order.
"You all should get ready to run, just in case I get this wrong."
Miyu reacted by squeezing her boyfriend's shoulder.
"You've got this." she said.
From there, the vulpine pressed his hands onto the raised areas in the sequence he believed was correct. He turned out to be on the money, since the door slid to the side, revealing a stone chamber.
Within the chamber the group spotted the orbs resting in recesses on the wall, as well as an old tattered book laying on a pedestal.
"Is that the Necronomicon?" Wolf whispered.
"It is." Phantom replied, "Everyone, keep away from that thing."
From there, Falco, Wolf, Connie, and Phantom each took an orb off the wall and put them in their backpacks.
"Alright, let's blow this joint." Wolf said to the others.
For a time, all was quiet as the group headed back the way they came. Then there was a grunting sound up ahead, along with an exhaling sound.
"Kaden." Fay whispered.
"Don't know what they are, but they're airborne." the vulpine whispered back.
Seconds later, a trio of pale beings floated into view. Yellow eyes jutted out of the tops of their heads, while a small hole served as a mouth. The lower portion of their bodies consisted of a scaly tail.
After the pale beings once again emitted those strange breathing sounds, they fired green beams from their eyes at the group. Despite the confines of the cave, the group managed to dodge the attacks and returned fire on the airborne creatures.
After the trio of pale beings fell to the cave floor, Wolf glared down at the corpses.
"The fuck are these things?"
"I don't know, but I don't plan on sticking around and waiting for more." Connie replied.
The group quickly moved past the corpses and soon entered a more open area of the cave. Suddenly, blue light flashed from the corners, and a quartet of strange creatures appeared.
They were light brown in colour, with clawed hands and feet, horns, and mouths with no lips, showing off their sharp teeth. They did not seem to have any eyes.
With a screech, one of the strange creatures leapt towards the group, soon followed by it's brethren. Panther saw one hurtling towards Connie and quickly tackled her to the cave floor, lest she be decapitated.
"Thanks." the cheetah said.
"No problem, sweetness."
"Don't get any ideas." Connie replied as she shoved Panther off of her.
The rest of the group did their best to keep their distance from the strange creatures and avoid getting sliced into ribbons. The horned beings proved that they could take a lot of punishment, but they were eventually taken down by the mercenaries.
"Damn, this is really turning into a horror show." Fay lamented.
"You're preaching to the choir." Miyu responded.
No sooner did the lynx say that, then there was the same whooshing and stomping sounds that the lizards from before made.
Only these sounded far louder than the ones from before.
"Mommy's very angry." Kaden whispered.
Before the lizard even came into view, there was a roar from the passage the group had just emerged from, along with loud and rapid stomps.
Even as the group got into defensive positions, both of their hunters entered the chamber. One was one of the leaping lizards from before, only this one was far larger than the others, and was grey in appearance.
The other being was extremely tall, almost scraping the roof of the cave. It was covered in white fur, had clawed hands, and much like the horned creatures that the group had just slain, had a lipless mouth full of sharp teeth and no visible eyes.
"Holy shit! That thing's like a Yeti on steroids!" Katt exclaimed as the group opened fire on their new adversaries.
The white-furred being raised it's hands over it's head, electricity crackling between them.
"Hit the deck!" Kaden screamed.
The vulpine's statement proved to be justified, as a lightning bolt shot out from between the giant creature's hands. As the mercenaries dove away from the attack, the giant lizard leapt into their midst.
Curiously, she seemed to be gunning for Kaden, something that Falco quickly took notice of. As the reptile appeared to be winding up to attack him with it's claws, the avian ran over and pushed the vulpine out of the way.
As it turned out, the creature spun around and struck Falco in the chest with it's tail. The pheasant was sent flying and found himself falling into a hole.
He thought he could hear Katt screaming as the darkness swallowed him.
Back with the group, Kaden glared daggers at the white furred creature. It was taking a lot of punishment and seemingly not letting up.
"That's enough." the vulpine thought as he extended a hand towards the tall being.
To the shock of the group, the white furred giant turned towards the lizard and raised it's hands over it's head, preparing for the lightning attack.
The creature unleashed a bolt at the lizard. After a few seconds of intense screams of pain, the reptile exploded in a shower of body parts and gore.
Then, to the group's further bewilderment, the white furred creature plunged a clawed hand into it's chest and tore out it's own heart. It stood for a second or two, and then collapsed to the cave floor.
As everyone stared wide eyed at the sight, Fay stammered, "What the…"
"I made it do that." Kaden stated.
As everyone processed that and calmed down, Katt suddenly remembered something.
"Falco!"
"It's alright, Katt." Kaden said as he put his hands on her shoulders.
"I can sense where Falco is."
The blue furred vulpine then put his index and middle fingers on his temple.
"We need to hurry. There's something else down there with him."
"What?" Miyu asked her boyfriend.
"A demon."
Elsewhere
Falco landed in a heap at the bottom of the shaft. While he was certainly sore, both from being hit by the lizard and the fall, nothing seemed to be broken. The pheasant soon stood up and dusted himself off.
Walking out of the passage, Falco entered a chamber made of aqua coloured stone, with pillars reaching to the ceiling.
The avian became alert as he heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the chamber.
A hooded figure with glowing white eyes walked into the chamber. Falco knew from Fox that this being was Chermaya, one of Lord Baphomet's sons.
The hooded demon fixed his gaze on the pheasant and narrowed his eyes.
"I WAS EXPECTING THE TELEPATH. WHY ARE YOU HERE?"
"Guess your luck's not that good." Falco retorted.
"YOU DO A POOR JOB OF HIDING YOUR FEAR, MORTAL."
"Oh yeah? Eat This!"
Falco drew his blaster and fired several shots at Chermaya, who merely held up a hand and blocked the bolts.
"HAS MCCLOUD TAUGHT YOU NOTHING?"
"Why don't you show yourself, you coward?!"
Chermaya tilted his head at Falco.
"BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR, BOY."
Chermaya waved his hand and the dark robes disappeared. Standing before Falco now was a gargoyle-like creature with red skin, clawed hands and feet, and a pair of black wings.
"READY TO DIE, BOY?" the demon taunted.
"No, are you?!"
Falco fired more shots into Chermaya. Although wounds appeared on the demon's body, they quickly healed over.
"IT'S GOING TO TAKE MORE THAN THAT, MORTAL."
The gargoyle-like demon thrust out a hand and shot a stream of fireballs at Falco, who rolled behind a pillar. After he heard the sound of the projectiles banging into his cover stop, Falco leaned out to return fire, only to see Chermaya flying towards him.
The demon grabbed Falco by his flight jacket and threw him forward, causing the avian to lose his blaster.
"YOUR SOUL IS MINE!" Chermaya cackled as he dove towards his prey.
Thinking quickly, Falco rolled onto his belly and let his backpack take the brunt of Chermaya's claws.
To his shock, Chermaya bounced away upon striking him and landed on his back. Falco then glanced towards a pillar and noticed a sword mounted on it.
"SO, YOU HAVE ONE OF THE TALISMANS. MY FRIEND WOULD LIKE THAT BACK, IF YOU DON'T MIND."
"Come get it!" Falco retorted as he ran for the sword.
Chermaya responded by leaping towards Falco. Thankfully, the avian managed to get to the sword and bring it up to block the demon's claws from tearing him to ribbons.
From there, Falco attempted to land a blow on Chermaya, only to have his attacks blocked and parried.
Then Chermaya swung his claws in an attempt to disembowel the avian. Falco sidestepped the attack and slashed the demon across the chest. Chermaya screamed and backed away, glaring down at the wound that wasn't healing over.
Falco moved in to finish him off, only for Chermaya to snap his fingers and disappear in an orange light.
The pheasant stood in a defensive stance. When the demon didn't reappear, he relaxed.
"What a wuss." Falco remarked as he tucked the blade into his backpack.
He suddenly heard voices and footsteps. Soon, the rest of the group came into view, including a certain pink feline.
"Falco!"
Katt ran forward and wrapped her arms around the pheasant.
"Uh, I'm glad to see you too, Katt." Falco said as he returned the embrace.
Kaden suddenly winced as he received a message from Krystal.
"We need to get to the surface." he told the others.
"Fox and Kronos have been captured."