Teekay blinked several times, then picked himself up off the floor. Everything around him seemed to be cold, black stone. The floor beneath him felt cool and damp, and drips of unknown fluids dribbled from the ceiling. Unsure where he was, his first action was to send a telepathic message, to find his friends.
“Uh, guys?”
“We got split up!” a voice immediately replied. “It split us up!”
A second, much calmer voice spoke up. “Stay calm, Eksi. We are still telepathically linked. Now, where are you all?”
Teekay looked around, looking for some sort of, well, something, other than the grim, black walls. There were only two directions. Forwards or backwards.
“No idea. Everything looks the same to me…” Teekay sighed.
“Do you all have your gear at least?” a third voice asked.
“Don’t worry, Relkir, I’ve got my stuff!” Teekay added a little bit of positivity to his thoughts, just enough to cover his concerns. “I…”
Teekay paused, then looked around again. He swore he heard something. Something hidden just beneath the sound of dripping water.
“Teekay, you cut out for a second.”
“I know. I can hear something. I have a feeling that I’m not alone.”
Again, Teekay paused. He was certain he wasn’t alone. But whoever was watching him, they were eerily silent. Worse, they seemed to be resisting Teekay’s telepathy, not letting him figure out where the being even was.
“I’m definitely not alone…”
“None of us are!” Relkir’s response was louder than anticipated. “I am under attack!”
Just as Relkir’s sentence ended, Teekay felt something rush by him, which he instinctively ducked under. A horrible scraping sound echoed down the hallway, followed by sharp footsteps, something turning around to face Teekay.
With a snap of his fingers, Teekay fired a small bolt of lightning towards his attacker, briefly illuminating them. The bolt was deflected by what looked like massive, silver scythes that extended from this creature’s arms. While the light was only brief, it gave Teekay a chance to identify his attacker.
“Elksi!” Teekay exclaimed, recognising the being. “Elksi, it’s me, Teekay!”
Elksi didn’t answer. Instead, the Scythe of the Dessaron opened up her wings and roared loudly. There were no recognizable words or anything within her roar, nothing but anger and hunger.
“Oh dear…” Teekay muttered as he realized what was going on. He tried briefly to access Elksi’s thoughts, but was repelled by a sudden wave of nausea, with high peaks of anger.
Elksi roared again, then charged towards Teekay. Teekay quickly leaped out of the way, avoiding not just the blades on Elksi’s arms, but the tips of her wings, which were coated in metal claws.
“Elksi, why are you attacking me? What happened?”
Teekay didn’t receive an answer. Instead, he found himself dodging another flurry of claws and blades. Elksi span around, then growled menacingly.
“Master wants you dead. I will make that a reality.”
The Scythe’s voice sounded off. Teekay could sense an underlying level of mind control beneath her words.
“He is manipulating you!” Teekay shouted. “You don’t need to do this!”
Elksi stumbled slightly, then lowered her arms slightly. “Oh.”
“See, this isn’t you!” Teekay quietened down a bit. “That Voidborn is making you do this.”
“Yeah, I guess so…”
Teekay approached slowly. “I can help you. You just have to let me in.”
The Scythe of the Dessaron hesitated for a moment, before suddenly flailing and lashing out at Teekay. Her normally green eyes glowed red, overtaken with anger and hunger once more.
“Well piss…” Teekay muttered to himself as he very quickly backed away, chucking a few bolts of lightning as he did so. The bolts were enough to keep some distance between him and Elksi. “I’m gonna have to think of a new plan…”