09-10-2017, 02:29 PM
“Ah, still keeping the reins taut on your sanity? It seems you Liberators are a bit hardier than I had anticipated.”
The trio stopped their commotion at once, each looking to the other in varying states of panic and surprise. Strangely, they had all heard the ominous mocking voice even over their echoing cries. No, that was not the case. They hadn’t heard a single word. The voice muttered its dark taunts from within their own skulls.
“Where...where are you?” Celestia demanded, casting her light wildly around the room. Despite her efforts, the magicked spotlight showed nothing but dusty stone and wisps of noxious fumes. Was he or she standing just beyond the edge of her spell, or was the voice a hallucination brought on by the gas?
“You heard it too?” Revan asked, keeping a hand on the hilt of his sword. He took some small amount of solace in knowing that at least he wasn’t the only one hearing voices. This did little to quell his hammering heartbeat and the river of sweat pouring from his brow, however.
“I think we’re all hearin’ it,” Ash muttered, his rage dropping to a simmer as he squinted into the darkness.
“Most of my previous adversaries have been driven to the brink of insanity after a few whiffs of my concoctions. On way or another you three seem to be fighting it off.” The voice paused, a small chuckle punctuating his remarks before continuing. “I’ll admit I’m intrigued. Perhaps I’ll give you a hint as to where you can find me.”
Just as the telepathic communication ceased, the trio of heroes heard an unmistakable grinding from behind the veil of darkness. Revan stood closest the source of the noise, guessing that the sound was most likely coming from a wall, judging by the height at which it seemed to hang. Could their foe have opened a passage out of this dungeon?
Ash glanced down at the body of his fallen comrade before grunting and gesturing past Revan. “That must be where that creepy voice wants us to head.” The alicorn nodded in response, aiming her arcane torch toward the source.
“Gah!”
The slayer and the Princess made it just a few steps before their swordsman comrade came barreling toward them, shoving them out of his path. “Duck!” he cried, falling to the floor as the others followed suit. Though he had managed to knock his companions out of harm’s way, he couldn’t stop the rain of foot-long syringes from magically redirecting in mid-air and dropping upon the group, needles burrowing in their flesh as the toxic contents were released.
“This should spur you on,” the familiar telepathic voice blared in the liberators minds. “Hurry along now, or you’ll die long before you even reach me. Here, let me get the door for you…”
A loud, groaning creak echoed through the chamber, followed by an equally clamorous clang. A few short seconds later, a deafening BOOM shook the room as the liberators rose shakily to their feet.
“Sounds like that grate just gave way,” Celestia muttered weakly, pulling inert needles from her flank. She could almost feel herself weakening as the vile concoction swam through her veins.
“Great,” Ash quipped, exhaling.
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t get you two out of the way in time,” the cloaked swordsman said, stomping the large syringes into dust. “By the time I saw them coming, a few had already hit me.”
“Don’t worry about it,” the chainsaw-wielding slayer responded. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. What matters is we need to get down that pit and kill that bastard before whatever he pumped into us takes full effect.”
“If only I could still fly in this dimension,” Celestia sighed, approaching the rim of the role. “I could have maybe carried you two down one at a time.”
“That’s nice of you to offer, Princess,” Ash said, shaking his head. “But it looks like we’ll have to find another way down.” He gazed into the gaping void, a flicker of hope lighting within his chest as he saw a long length of rusty chain dangling from a hole in the pit wall just a few feet beneath him. “There’s a chain here, maybe we can climb down?”
“There are a few more around the edge,” Revan noted, spying the lengths of rusty links dipping into the darkness every few feet or so. “I’m not eager to climb down into the darkness on a whim, but there aren’t any other options.”
“We’d better get going before this poison weakens us to the point where we can’t climb.”
The trio stopped their commotion at once, each looking to the other in varying states of panic and surprise. Strangely, they had all heard the ominous mocking voice even over their echoing cries. No, that was not the case. They hadn’t heard a single word. The voice muttered its dark taunts from within their own skulls.
“Where...where are you?” Celestia demanded, casting her light wildly around the room. Despite her efforts, the magicked spotlight showed nothing but dusty stone and wisps of noxious fumes. Was he or she standing just beyond the edge of her spell, or was the voice a hallucination brought on by the gas?
“You heard it too?” Revan asked, keeping a hand on the hilt of his sword. He took some small amount of solace in knowing that at least he wasn’t the only one hearing voices. This did little to quell his hammering heartbeat and the river of sweat pouring from his brow, however.
“I think we’re all hearin’ it,” Ash muttered, his rage dropping to a simmer as he squinted into the darkness.
“Most of my previous adversaries have been driven to the brink of insanity after a few whiffs of my concoctions. On way or another you three seem to be fighting it off.” The voice paused, a small chuckle punctuating his remarks before continuing. “I’ll admit I’m intrigued. Perhaps I’ll give you a hint as to where you can find me.”
Just as the telepathic communication ceased, the trio of heroes heard an unmistakable grinding from behind the veil of darkness. Revan stood closest the source of the noise, guessing that the sound was most likely coming from a wall, judging by the height at which it seemed to hang. Could their foe have opened a passage out of this dungeon?
Ash glanced down at the body of his fallen comrade before grunting and gesturing past Revan. “That must be where that creepy voice wants us to head.” The alicorn nodded in response, aiming her arcane torch toward the source.
“Gah!”
The slayer and the Princess made it just a few steps before their swordsman comrade came barreling toward them, shoving them out of his path. “Duck!” he cried, falling to the floor as the others followed suit. Though he had managed to knock his companions out of harm’s way, he couldn’t stop the rain of foot-long syringes from magically redirecting in mid-air and dropping upon the group, needles burrowing in their flesh as the toxic contents were released.
“This should spur you on,” the familiar telepathic voice blared in the liberators minds. “Hurry along now, or you’ll die long before you even reach me. Here, let me get the door for you…”
A loud, groaning creak echoed through the chamber, followed by an equally clamorous clang. A few short seconds later, a deafening BOOM shook the room as the liberators rose shakily to their feet.
“Sounds like that grate just gave way,” Celestia muttered weakly, pulling inert needles from her flank. She could almost feel herself weakening as the vile concoction swam through her veins.
“Great,” Ash quipped, exhaling.
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t get you two out of the way in time,” the cloaked swordsman said, stomping the large syringes into dust. “By the time I saw them coming, a few had already hit me.”
“Don’t worry about it,” the chainsaw-wielding slayer responded. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. What matters is we need to get down that pit and kill that bastard before whatever he pumped into us takes full effect.”
“If only I could still fly in this dimension,” Celestia sighed, approaching the rim of the role. “I could have maybe carried you two down one at a time.”
“That’s nice of you to offer, Princess,” Ash said, shaking his head. “But it looks like we’ll have to find another way down.” He gazed into the gaping void, a flicker of hope lighting within his chest as he saw a long length of rusty chain dangling from a hole in the pit wall just a few feet beneath him. “There’s a chain here, maybe we can climb down?”
“There are a few more around the edge,” Revan noted, spying the lengths of rusty links dipping into the darkness every few feet or so. “I’m not eager to climb down into the darkness on a whim, but there aren’t any other options.”
“We’d better get going before this poison weakens us to the point where we can’t climb.”
Quote:Egads, you've been poisoned! ....again!
It will slowly, but steadily, work its way through your bodies, making you feel weaker as time goes on. This makes time doubly of the essence! Carry on, as you draw ever close to the final encounter.
You have one week, and one post up to 1200 words.