[Comm (Coins)] (6) Fire and Shadow

The next chamber was narrow and low-ceilinged, eerily silent compared to the fight of the predator’s gallery behind them. But the silence was thick and heavy with our tension and worry for Aska.

Arctic kept glancing back. “If that thing gets out…”

“It won’t,” Khaos nickered, his voice low and controlled. But a tremor in his injured flank betrayed how close the monster’s claws had come.

I nudged his shoulder gently. “Thank you, that was exceptionally brave.”

Khaos refused to look at me, limping along with his head high, as if pain couldn’t touch him. “It was necessary. Nothing more.”

Gravity glanced around nervously. For once, it seemed, her mind was not on snacks. “What if it isn’t alone?” She whispered, as if voicing the thought would cause it to be true.

I swallowed and glanced at the others. They seemed to share her concern, even Khaos.

“What are you saying?” Arctic whisper-shouted. “You think there’s another?”

Khaos nodded. “I smell another ahead.” I could see the tremble again in his muscles.

“There’s a second one?!” Daydream couldn’t hold in a whimper, despite her usually serene emotions.

Khaos’s eyes softened, unfocusing like he was listening to something distant. “Not near. But near enough. Stay behind me.”

We moved cautiously into the next chamber that opened before us. The room expanded into a massive, circular dome. The ceiling arched high above them, the stone polished almost to a mirror shine. In the exact center sat a raised pedestal holding a shallow stone bowl.

Inside the bowl smoldered a single ember. Small and non-threatening. But as soon as we stepped inside, it flared with light, illuminating the entire chamber.

Arctic squealed. “Why is there a FIRE?! Why is this even a thing!” But his curiosity got the best of him and he wandered warily toward the bowl.

My eyes widened as I took in the runes etched around the pedestal. “No… it’s not just fire. It’s a mechanism.”

Khaos stepped closer, examining the runes as well. “A stabilizing beacon.”

“Meaning?” Arctic squeaked, still fascinated by the flame.

“It holds this room together. If the flame goes out, the chamber will probably collapse.”

“Cool, great. Love that for us.” Yet still, his eyes refused to wander from the flame and I watched as tension and worry fled from his form, softening it to his usual nonchalance once again.

Then…from the corner of the room came a low, heavy clicking sound. Like claws tapping on stone. The second shadow creature emerged from behind a fallen slab.

This one was bigger, thinner. With less flesh to give it substance, pure shadow filled in its shape as if darkness itself gave the monster structure. Its limbs stretched too long. Its head elongated into a hooked snout. Its back rippled like smoke while eyes shone a dead, hollow white.

Gravity nearly fainted. “Nope. I’m done. I’m so done.”

The creature hissed, but it didn’t rush them. Instead, it circled slowly.

I glanced at the beacon. “I think… it can’t come near the light,” I guessed. “Or maybe it wants the beacon extinguished, because then darkness reigns.” 

Daydream whispered, “The dark hates light… and hunts anything that runs toward it.”

Then the creature lunged. Just far enough that he might have snagged Gravity, who stood on the edge of the circle of light which the flame created. I grabbed her tail with my teeth and yanked her next to the bowl of flame as a taloned limb slammed down where she’d been. The wind from the blow cause the flame to flicker and die slightly.

“Keep the flame surrounded, make sure it can’t go out!” Khaos pulled Daydream closer as well, and we circled the flame, attempting to shield it with our bodies.

The shadow tried again, this time sweeping low, attempting to create enough wind to knock the pedestal over entirely.

Arctic leapt between it and the brazier on instinct, regretting it instantly as he was forced to jump over the clawed paw. “WHY DID I DO THAT—?!”

The creature screeched, rearing back. For one horrible second, I thought it would decapitate him. Instead, the flame brightened.

Arctic stared. “Wait… was that ME?! Did my voice just stop the monster?!”

Khaos shouted, “It hates noise!” and the monster staggered back, clutching the sides of its head.

But with barely a rest, the creature lunged again, this time at me. I dodged, moving quickly and guiding its motion away from the brazier. The shadow shrieked as the brazier’s heat singed its deformed limbs.

Arctic screamed again, sending it further back into the darkness, allowing us to regroup.

Gravity immediately took a deep breath. “aaaaaaa-”

“Not you,” Khyova barked. “You have the lungs of a drowning potato.”

Gravity coughed dryly. “Fair.” But the creature spun toward him anyway.

“NO NO NO!” Gravity yelped, scrambling backward.

Arctic, on instinct alone, shouted again. “HEY UGLY!” The creature recoiled like he’d slapped it.

“Be louder than your fear!” Daydream pushed at Arctic’s shoulder. Arctic’s chest expanded as he looked at the monster.

Then he screamed. A long, furious, guttural sound that tore from somewhere deep and wild. The ember flared, roaring with heat. The creature shrieked back, stumbling, scraping its claws across the floor.

The whole chamber shuddered and echoed with noise. The flame jumped high, all the way to the ceiling where there must have been channels for the flame, because it shot out across the walls and ceiling. The creature lunged again, furious now, desperate to break the brazier. Daydream’s fox leapt at it — a flash of pale frost colliding with shadow. The monster roared, swiping wildly, missing by inches.

I pressed my shoulder to the pedestal, steadying it. “Yell again, Arctic!”

Arctic cried, “I AM TRYING! My throat HURTS!”

Khaos darted beneath a sweeping limb, slicing across the creature’s side with a sharp shove. The shadow reeled, exposing its underbelly, which was a swirling void of lightless smoke. Another yell from Arctic sent the flame roaring throughout the chamber and the light from it pierced the monster’s void of underbelly. The creature writhed in pain before dissolving like ink in water, collapsing to the floor.

The ember was now a roaring flame filling the room, warming us gently. 

Arctic collapsed dramatically. “I hate this place.”

Khaos didn’t speak. He was staring at the wall behind the pedestal, where hoofprints were now made visible by the fully illuminated room.