Pulse of the Maggots

[Dawnika Snow]

The finger flopped lazily out of the rings finger-socket. Blood dripped from the severed index’s open wound that Dawn had cause when she attempted to pull it free of the charred mans body. She didn’t know what was going on here, or why this ring was drawing her attention, but she would surely find out. She turned her head to Rogue, who was idly alert for any threats that might attempt to threaten her master.

“Rogue, can you try tracking the scent of this man’s body for me? I need to know where he has been, or at least where this ring came from.” The white husky gave a confirming bark and slowly edged towards the still fresh corpse it took a moment of sniffing around for her to pick up anything though. Once she had got something however, her attention shifted in the direction of the scent she had picked up. Dawn wasted no time. “Go! Find it!”

The dog bursted forward quickly without warning, her master following right behind her. Normally she wouldn’t have been able to keep up with Rogue, but this being a demigod thing was the tits. It allowed her to be something she wasn’t capable of being before - Useful. She hadn’t realized how much her life had been meaningless until she entered the Omniverse. In her home world, all she had been doing was withering away with no purpose other than to just wait until she died. Here that wasn’t an option. She had to find her purpose and keep going lest she wish to spend an eternity in idle suffering and lament over her father’s death.

It wasn’t until her moment of soul searching passed that she realized she had put the ring on her left ring finger. She must have done it subconsciously but there seemed to be no harm in it. The blue sapphire insignia did give off an uncomforting aura, but nothing happened so she should be okay.

Their journey was short. It took them only ten minutes of running to find the mark Rogue sniffed out. Dawn patted her head in approval.

“Good job girl, you’ll get a treat when this is over with.” She said to Rogue, who replied with a happy bark. The mark that Rogue had hunted down was another cave (lovely). As much as Dawn has had her fair share of cave spelunking, she was now too curious to turn back on this ring. The enterance was dark and misty, it was probably another volcano. The vigilante reach down to her boot and pulled the combat knife from its holster, flipping around with blade cover on it and turning on the flashlight. The light was pretty bright for being so small, but it still wasn’t enough to see very far into the cave. At best, she could see a few meters before the darkness consumed the light.

“This looks risky Rogue, do you wanna wait out her for me, or come with?” She asked her dog looking back down at the proud canine. Not a hint of fear in her eyes, she stepped close to Dawn’s side and looked down the cave. “Alright, stay close and watch my six. You know the drill.”

Upon entering the cave, it got a bit cooler. Normal temperature in the Ashen Steppes was unbearable, but a it was amazing how a few degrees less can make you feel like you’re walking through a frozen lake in the Fields. The cold shivers passed quickly, though, as it was still blazing hot in the cave. It was obviously pretty dry in the cave; there was no vegetation, moss, or mushrooms of any kind. The best thing so far was the whole ‘no lava’ deal. It was also dead silent in the cave. No wind blew and the only sound that was audible was her own footsteps.

You’ve come to save us?

Dawn’s blood turned to ice instantly, faster than lightning could strike. Did she just imagine a woman’s voice? It was like a soft whisper and she could have sworn she felt someone looming over her shoulder saying it quietly into her ear. Although her heart was pumping viciously, she perservered. Not many things scared her, but ghosts were one and she was hoping what she just heard was ust mental anxiety.

You have our ring. You can release us.

Again, Dawn stopped and look around frantically with heavy breathing. “Who the hell are you! I don’t want anything to do with ghosts and spirits!” A multi-toned voice let out a hearty chuckle. The woman’s voice she heard early laughed in sync with two other male voices overlapping each other as the spoke simultaniously.

It a bit too late to be leaving now, little Prime. The exit has been sealed to you. So unless you’re willing to help us, you will be trapped in this cave forever as we have. They told her. The voices seemed to be coming from every direction. There should have been a physical form near her, but she couldn’t find one and was having trouble locating anybofy else in this thick darkness.

“What do you want from me?” She asked trying to slow her heartbeat enough to think straight. Rogue’s terrified wimpers rose through the darkness. Dawn put her hand on the dog’s head and rubbed it comfortingly to get her to calm down.

We have already told you what we want. We want what you want, Prime: Freedom.