Memories of Gaia: Seeking Shadows in the Storm -
Chapter 3 Sincralwers
“This... statue is the way in?” Nyles sounded doubtful as he looked at Elden as though he had lost his mind. Elden removed a crumpled piece of paper from his jacket pocket and nodded.
“Yeah, looks like.”
“Give me that!” Nyles exclaimed as he ripped the paper out of Elden’s startled hand and examined it. “What the- It’s just a grocery list!” He shouted, crumpling the paper into a ball and throwing it in Elden’s face, where it hit just below his right eye.
“I thought this time was different!” Nyles shouted angrily, instantly regretting following his old friend. Elden did not react. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and searched the statue for any clues that may help convince him they were at the right location.
They had traveled miles through the foul smelling dead forest, Nyles humming loudly and drumming on the trees as they made their way through the sparse foliage. The gentle rain had made the air humid, and sticky. The scent of rotten trees and flesh clung sickeningly to their skin as they walked.
“Oh, I know!” Nyles spoke in forced excitement, shoving Elden aside roughly. Nyles faced the statue head on and held his own head in his hands, mimicking the statue, and released a loud, painful sounding howl; the earth shaking under their feet. Elden jumped back, startled as the statue crumbled into a pile of fine dust.
“Well, shit,” Nyles said amused, tapping his toe on the ground to remove the dust from his boot. “I guess that-”
Nyles stopped speaking mid-sentence as the stand that the statue had once been resting on split into two pieces. Each piece moving away from the other and into the earth to reveal a staircase leading underground.
Elden gave Nyles a half smile as he began to descend the stairs, ducking awkwardly to avoid knocking his head on the lip of remaining dirt. He was relieved that something had actual happened. The stairs he walked were steep and dangerous, having been roughly carved into the side of a giant, cathedral high cavern.
There was nothing preventing Elden and Nyles from tumbling to their deaths.The scent of minerals from the rocky walls hung in the stale air. There was a silent, almost breath like hush that was emitting from the depths of the shadows.
Elden hugged the sharp wall as they stepped cautiously down the stairs, gripping at the walls each time a piece of the step crumpled apart under foot. The only light was being provided by the opening high above and was becoming increasingly dimmer as they descended deeper into the cavern.
“Good thing we came prepared with torches,” Nyles mumbled sarcastically under his breath as he followed behind Elden, walking instead of flying. The sound of several tiny wings was their clue that something lived deep in the darkening shadows.
Elden could see well in the dark, his eyes had an extra lens that was able to filter the shadows, giving him a type of night vision. Nyles had no idea he could see in the dark and Elden did not offer the information.
He could feel his legs burning from the odd angle of the steps, getting heavier with each movement. Tiny scarlet eyes blinked at him from the shadows as Echo Bats hid among the cracks of the giant cavern walls.
“Dude!” Nyles called out suddenly, waving a hand over his face in pure disgust. “My mouth was open! Warn me next time before you pollute my breathing air!” Elden had to try hard not to laugh as he responded, doing his best to keep his voice low.
“That’s sulfur, not me. We are getting close.”
“Sulfur my rump!” Nyles cracked, throwing a stone at Elden that had become dislodged from the wall, striking Elden in the back of the head.
“Jerk,” Elden mumbled as he stepped on a loose step, the rock crumbling under his feet. He gripped the sharp wall and slid forward, regaining his balance, certain he had just cheated death.
The sound disturbed the sleeping Echo Bats, and several took to flight, screeching in protest as their bodies filled the darkness. They were about the size of a small cat, with four wings on their backs. They had narrow heads with sharp, pointed teeth, their bodies ending in long, forked tails. The bats were named after the type of call they used, for it seemed to echo off the walls, giving the illusion there were more of the creatures than there really was.
Nyles spread his wings and took flight, kicking and punching at the bodies of the flying creatures. He had his favorite weapon out, a long, duel ended spear made out of steel and redwood. Elden had the dull blade of his sword out, his back pressed painfully tight against the cavern walls. He was afraid to swing for his footing was uneven, and he was off balance.
Small rocks danced in the air as Nyles used his crystal to manipulate the ground, aiming for the Echo Bats. Several of the rocks struck Elden, as Nyles had terrible aim. Elden watched as the creatures circled Nyles body like a cyclone, screeching louder as they moved through the stale air.
Elden focused his eyes on the cyclone, his own crystal glowing as he tried to confuse the creatures. Nyles shook his head and swung at an Echo Bat, missing it. He squinted, rubbing the back of his head as his body began to sway in the air. He placed the spear on his back as a silly grin formed on his sleepy face.
“Not you, you idiot!” Elden hissed as his attack took hold of Nyles. The Echo Bats also began to sway in a type of lullaby dance, their eyes fighting to stay open.
Elden bent slowly, maintaining eye contact with the cyclone. He blindly felt for a loose stone and grasped it in his fingers, keeping his back pressed the wall as he stood up.
With a well-timed throw, he released the stone into the air, striking Nyles in the skull, breaking him from his trance. The Echo Bats began to fall out of the air like a grotesque rain storm, their bodies landing in the darkness below.
Nyles landed on the stone steps, shaking his head, still unable to piece together what had just happened. Elden offer no answers as he replaced the dull blade and continued the descent into the unknown.
Tiny dots of dim light began to twinkle as they continued their journey into the darkness. Scurrying sounds could be heard up ahead, their sounds reverberating off the bare walls. Elden could see various sized holes carved into the walls as he finally found the last step.
“One thousand and twenty-four,” Nyles said, bending over and puffing. “I think I’m gonna die.” He held his side and squeezed his eyes shut. “Good thing this is my last journey with you.”
“You have wings you know? You could have flown down here.” Elden informed him.
“What? And miss all the action? Why don’t you learn to fly?”
Elden chose to ignore him as he walked over to a pile of stacked bones, squatting down to investigate them.
“Hungry?” Nyles teased, pretending to smash Elden's head into the mess.
“There’s still wet blood on this bone,” Elden explained standing up and turning his head to the right as something moved deeper into the shadows.
“Dude, this place gives me the creeps. Let’s find this Phoenix Ash and go!” Nyles mumbled, kicking a bone at Elden, just missing his leg. Elden stood up, searching for the creature that lived down here.
A pale blue wisp wove by him, followed by a gold one, the two flicking out of sight just as quickly as they had appeared.
“Yeah…” Elden responded, peering around the cavern for another way out. He saw more piles of bones and skulls that were displayed on wooden spikes. Only one hole that had been carved into the stone walls had a torch in it. Nyles was already making his way towards it, not bothering to think.
Elden felt the tingle of dread begin to grow in his spine. Something was slightly off about this location. There was no reason a torch should be lit this deep in Gaia. He looked sharply to his left as a flicker of movement caught his attention followed by two clicking sounds.
Nyles had stopped in mid-step, spinning around. “You hear that?” Elden indicated he should keep quiet by placing a finger to his lips as two more clicks echoed in the darkness. Elden used his Crystal to try and sense who or what was there but the image was fuzzy; he could not get a strong reading.
“Not now.” Elden thought as the familiar burning feeling started to tingle in his leg where the scar from the Ankou bite was located. He had barely registered the sensation when the foul creatures began crawling out of the holes.
On their heads they wore skulls of their victims; their blood red eyes glowing through the eye sockets. Their teeth were two rows of sharp, deadly points at the end of disfigured heads. They used their long claw-like nails to slide down the wall, the sound similar to nails being drug on a chalkboard. Their flexible spines stuck out of their backs in thin blades.
“SinCrawlers.” Elden breathed, his eyes watching the creature move in the shadows. The vicious beast liked to borrow through the layers of Gaia and hide in holes near the surface. Then, they used their long talons to snatch their victims by the foot and drag them back down through the dirt, deep underground to die.
Nyles raised his fists and punched one of the SinCrawlers hard enough to crack the skull it wore as a crown, the beast stumbling back. Elden kicked another one in the ribs as it attempted to sink its teeth into his leg.
Nyles jumped as two of the beast lunged onto his back, a third weaving itself around his legs. Elden barely had time to step forward before the SinCrawlers were flung off Nyles’s back as two giant wings spread open, carrying his stone body and the creature holding his leg into the air.
The ground was shaking as Nyles tried an earthquake attack, the SinCrawlers not fazed by the spasm. Giant chunks of crumbling rock broke off the walls and smashed into one of the beasts, flattening its body. Nyles had his spear out, and stabbed a Sincrawler in the ribs, throwing his body aside.
Elden felt the familiar warm, tingle sensation as though a million ants were crawling under his skin. He broke out in a cold sweat; not even registering the SinCrawler that had managed to sink its teeth into his arm.
He could feel himself slipping away as the beast inside took over, grabbing the body of the SinCrawler in one hand as it tried to flee. The Ankou grabbed the head with his other hand and ripped it free, dropping the two pieces onto the ground.
Nyles was frozen by fear. He had known Elden since they were kids and this was the first time he had even witnessed him transform. ‘Was he always this way?’ Nyles thought as the image of the night he lost Sheila flashed in his mind.
Nyles watched in horror as the Ankou sunk its teeth into the neck of a SinCrawler, the beast screaming and twisting. He made sure to stay well out of the Ankou’s way as it attacked without mercy, ripping limbs off the SinCrawlers' bodies and throwing them aside.
Nyles was horrified. He was afraid to watch any longer as he peeled his eyes away from the scene, replacing his spear onto his back. Nyles turned his back on the chaos and flew through an opening in the rocks, the scent of sulfur growing stronger.
Nyles was forced to land due to the numerous stalactites that hung loosely from the ceiling. Several had already been dislodged from the earthquake and were laying in pieces on the ground. He could still hear the howls from the battle he had left behind and quickened his steps. He had no clue where he was going and decided that anywhere was better than watching Elden and the SinCrawlers.
As if his thoughts had summoned him, the Ankou smashed through the rocky wall sending chunks of stone flying in all directions. SinCrawlers poured out through the opening as smoothly as water.
Nyles started to run as panic overtook him; ducking and jumping and cursing under his breath. He could barely see as it was in the darkness, his body smacking the walls of the passage as he pumped his legs to escape. The area up ahead was glowing a hazy red, getting brighter and hotter the closer he got.
The ground was gone suddenly and he began free falling into the burning volcano. 'Wait- I can fly!' Nyles thought, spreading his mighty wings and forcing his body upwards. He darted around SinCrawlers that were falling helplessly into the boiling magma.
Nyles spotted Elden tumbling in after the Sincrawlers and was shocked he was able to grab hold of the Ankou’s leg, holding him tightly as they flew out of the mouth of the volcano; the Ankou struggling the entire time.
Once they were safely out of harm’s way, Nyles released the beast, dropping him from ten feet above. The Ankou landed on its back and was on its feet in no time sprinting out of sight.
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