The Legend Of Black Eyes

I could feel Rimbaldi"s beasts approaching us at full speed. By my estimation, it would take them about half an hour to reach us. To make matters worse, we were walking a straight line. There were no branching paths ahead of us, no prospect to shake our pursuers off. 

Heda kept looking behind her, as though expecting the beasts to reach us at lightning speed. The more she looked behind her, worried, the more I felt doom approaching us. She was hiding something. I could feel it in my bones. I just couldn"t sense what she was hiding. 

Sylens noticed her nervousness too. "Why do you keep looking behind you?" he asked. His deep voice reverberated throughout the tunnel, carrying all the way back to our pursuers. 

"I get this eerie feeling, like something"s among us, watching every step we make." Heda shrugged. "Or maybe it"s just my imagination. We"ve been through a lot to get here." 

I stiffened. Heda would not imagine things. If she felt something, it meant it was there. If we couldn"t sense who was watching us, it only meant they were beyond our strength. I had the same experience with Omega. Despite his immeasurable power, I could never sense his presence. 

Then there was the way Heda brushed off Sylens"s concerns. She was hiding something. I just knew it. No matter how much respect or fear those three had for me, I knew they"d try to betray me one way or another; Heda most of all. She hated how she couldn"t read through me.

h.e.l.l, she"s already left me behind at the first sign of danger.

To be frank, I don"t know how she couldn"t read through my threads of fate. It isn"t like I had some secret weapon I hid from her. Omega trained me then threw me here, to the wolves" den, just a few days before the Holi Wars began. I cursed under my breath and kept going. 

Rimbaldi"s creatures were still hard on our heels, and it didn"t look like we were going to get away from them. I had my senses stretched as far as I could. All I could sense were the beasts behind us, and the three champions in front of me. There was no other presence, which made me even more nervous. 

What was the other thing Heda sensed? There was no point in mulling things over too long, however.

That"s when I decided to stop. The others turned to me, their eyebrows arched. "You go on ahead. I"ll buy you some time. Once Heda finds the entrance to the lab, she can contact me through my psionic link." 

Heda nodded at me then turned away. This only raised my suspicions. She knew we were getting close to the entrance. So she opted to leave me behind. She knew she was invaluable to me, the sly b.i.t.c.h! 

I stayed behind and turned to face the incoming swarm. Soon, I saw the first beasts approaching. The crystals that adorned the walls cast colorful lights on them, making them look less threatening. I could sense Rimbaldi"s spheres inside their manufactured bodies. They were like the insect creatures we fought earlier, only smaller and much faster. 

Their metallic feet emitted fast clicking sounds as they rapidly approached me. Some of them crawled toward me. Others crept up the ceiling and approached me as though gravity had no hold over them. They had shiny little orbs for eyes, and they were all directed toward me. 

I drew my staff and waited for them to get closer. The eerie clicking sound they made every step made me wince. It felt like I was about to face oversized metallic spiders. Once they got closer, I noticed their sharp pincers, protruding from their inflated, furry heads. I winced. They were the ugliest thing I"ve ever set eyes upon. 

And I spent almost ten years in Ulmir"s Domain...

Once the first batch of monsters got closer, I released my energy through the staff. 

"Na"ar!" I screamed. 

Fire surged out of the staff, whirling like a tornado. The creatures screeched as fire ate at their fur. I heard sizzling sounds, then I saw the beasts jump toward me, blazing and screeching. 

Their hide began peeling off, but their legs were intact. Rimbaldi had equipped them with metallic legs, curved like a sabre, and sharp, dangerously sharp. One of them reached me and hurled its fiery body toward my torso. Its legs were glowing red. One hit and I"d melt from the inside then out. 

I directed energy toward my staff and screamed, "Vent!" 

Wind howled as it left the staff and hit the creature in the chest. The fire that had caught on it flew backwards and intensified. It raged amidst the monsters that were still struggling with the first spell I"d cast. I heard them screech and scurry away from the scary element that was ravaging their manufactured bodies. 

As for the one that tried to attack me earlier, I slowly approached it. I drew my sword, directed some energy into it then stabbed the thing in its exposed belly. My sword went through it without any resistance. The fire had peeled off all the protection it previously had. The crystal ball powering it came into view, and as soon as I extracted it, the creature stopped moving. 

I spread my senses, looking for the creatures that fled. They had already met with the ones who were trailing behind, and more screeches ensued. Fire must have spread among them. Panic ruled at that moment, and the creatures fled faster toward the other end of the tunnel.

"When in doubt, burn them all," I said with a wide grin. Omega had taught me that, and I"d never miss a chance to apply his valuable advice. 

I felt a slight nudge in my brain. Heda was trying to contact me. I opened my psionic link then. "We"ve run into some trouble. How are things on your end?" she asked. She sounded deeply concerned. 

"I"ve chased them away. What kind of trouble?" I retorted. 

"You should come and see for yourself. We"re trying to hold it off, but the thing"s too fast and too... weird!" 

"Where are you?" I asked. 

"Just follow the tunnel. You"ll soon find us," she replied then quickly cut the communication link. 

I rushed toward them. Something nagged at the back of my head. Heda was not your typical ally. She was hiding something. No, scratch that! Heda was always hiding things. It comes as a perk with knowing what could happen in the future. I strongly suspected she was n.o.body"s true ally. I would hide things from everyone if I were in her shoes. 

The tunnel became wider and wider as I got deeper inside. Soon, I found myself standing in a s.p.a.cious room. A small village could fit inside it, with its houses and its populace. Heda and the others were engaged in a fierce battle against a giant creature made out of sc.r.a.ps of metal. 

Every step it took made the earth beneath me shake. No matter how much Sylens struck it, the creature wouldn"t budge. From where I stood, that thing didn"t seem to have any weaknesses. Its head glowed like newly polished metal. It had horizontal slits from which beams of light emanated. I took them as the thing"s eyes. 

Curved horns protruded from the side of its square head. They looked like a golden crown, threatening to pierce anybody who dared approach it. 

Its torso, if we could call that big chunk of metal a torso, had a golden color. Perhaps it was made out of gold, since Sylens had struck it and didn"t even make a dent on it. I saw Sylens curse loudly then jump high toward the creature. He hit its head, and a metallic clank ensued. Sylens wailed in pain then fell heavily on the dirt, clutching his hand and wincing. 

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