Maren led the group down another dimly lit corridor; they had been moving for several minutes without issue, weaving through the labyrinth of hallways in the maintenance shaft. The metal floor vibrated beneath their feet with each distant explosion, the tremors growing stronger with each passing minute. Elias was growing tired of the eerie red glow that constantly surrounded them, his ears practically bleeding from the constant sirens clawing at his mind.
The recycled air had grown noticeably thinner, carrying the acrid scent of burning electronics and the metallic taste of corruption. Sweat trickled down his back despite the steadily dropping temperature as life support systems failed section by section. The faint purple hue from Twilight Twins did not help to alleviate the grim mood of their environment, casting strange, shifting shadows that seemed to breathe with a life of their own.
"The bridge should be two decks up. If we take the equipment ladder at junction C-12, we should be able to reach the bridge in the next five minutes." Nira was once again putting her memory on full display. She had seen the layout on the console for only a few minutes, yet had perfect awareness of where they were and where they were headed.
Elias nodded, the weight and frost-like chill of Sable Kiss in his right hand contrasting with the gentle warmth from Mourning Coil on his left. His artifacts had been eerily silent since their clash and the Mourning Coil's miraculous healing of Maren.
Minutes passed as they continued down the corridor, black tendrils lining the walls every so often. Corruption seemed to be the only thing that triggered a reaction from his temperamental tools.
"There!" Etta's voice beamed with enthusiasm and a modicum of relief. "C-12! We made it!"
The group's pace quickened as they drew closer to their salvation from this nightmare.
BOOM
Another explosion rattled the ship, causing it to list and sway. The deck plates beneath them buckled, hot air rushing up from below as if the ship itself were exhaling in pain. The walls groaned like a living thing, rivets popping free and clattering across the floor like deadly hailstones. Elias and Maren managed to stay on their feet as Etta and Nira fell, their palms scraping against the suddenly scalding metal flooring.
"What are these explosions?" Nira asked, her voice vibrating with the same frequency as the trembling ship.
Elias's expression darkened. "The scuttling sequence. Markov is blowing off the lowest portions of the ship." The sour taste of fear filled his mouth as he helped Nira to her feet, her skin clammy and cold despite the waves of heat rolling through the corridor. Maren assisted Etta, both of them swaying as the ship struggled to stabilize. "We need to go, now."
A voice, mingled with static interference, spoke to the crew through the ship-wide emergency intercom.
"ALL PERSONNEL, EVACUATE TO EMERGENCY PODS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. REPEAT: ALL PERSONNEL EVACUATE TO EMERGENCY PODS. FULL SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATED. T-MINUS TWENTY MINUTES."
"Etta, try to reach Keldric and Lyara again." Sweat was beginning to bead on Elias's forehead. The plan seemed to be falling apart. Their timeframe just got condensed to twenty minutes. "We need to adjust our approach, taking the new timeline into account." He hesitated, then added reluctantly, "If we run into more of those things, stay behind me. Sable Kiss seems effective against them."
Each one signaled agreement in some form or fashion.
"Keldric, Lyara, do you copy?"
Static came through, each moment increasing the tension.
"Keldric, Lyara, please respond, do you read me?"
Again, the only response they got from the radio that Reeves had given them was the white noise of static.
"Looks like the emergency battery backups have finally run out of juice," Nira muttered, clearly upset by the latest development.
Maren began to climb the equipment ladder, followed closely by Etta. This was the last leg of their journey before they reached the lower bridge platform, where they planned to meet the other Chosen. Nira began to climb next, nimbly working her way up the ladder, her mind seemingly stuck between the need to go faster and the fear of being blown into the abyss with another part of the ship.
Elias approached the ladder, placing his hand on the rung just above shoulder level. His right foot came to rest on the first rung from the floor when he felt it.
Sable Kiss finally reached out, where a slight chill existed before, his hand felt like frostbite would claim his fingers. Hairs on the back of his neck stood up as his body knew intuitively what the obsidian stiletto was trying to convey.
Danger.
Not a word or a whisper, but a feeling. Elias moved, his legs collapsing under him so that he dropped into a low crouched stance. He craned his neck as he turned his torso, just in time to see a flash of whip-like, jet black tendrils rip through the ladder, right where his chest had been.
"Elias!" Nira was paralyzed with fear now. She was stalled on the ladder, trapped with an expression of worry written all over her. There was nothing she could do. Neither Etta nor Maren could do anything about it. Elias was on his own.
A black streak flashed through space, severing several of the monstrous limbs. Elias didn't believe he would ever get accustomed to the eerie feeling of his blade slicing through flesh as if it were air. A monstrous howl erupted from the darkness—the main body of the Corrupted one just outside of view.
The tendrils turned to wisps of smoke as they fell to the floor, only to be consumed by the glass-like blade. The jewel on the pommel was radiant with crimson beams, its intensity varying with Elias's beating heart.
A small surge of energy flowed to Elias through the hilt.
This is it. This is what an artifact is meant to be. At least one of them is a true boon in this nightmare.
Elias kept his blade ready, his body prepared to move at the first sign of the devil's attack. Nothing moved in the darkness; even the shadows held their breath in anticipation of the bloodshed that was to come. The emergency lighting seemed to have no effect on the impenetrable darkness that lay before him, adding to the sense of dread creeping into Elias's mind.
No, I won't panic. Must not panic. I will survive this wretched place. His mind calmed, returning to a place of clarity and focus.
In that moment, all hell broke loose. The echoing horn was now accompanied by inhuman screeching and the grating sound of metal being shredded like paper. The shade finally stepped forward from the dark with inhuman speed, both hands extending, and a multitude of vines sprouted forth to impale him.
Elias dodged a few, severed several more with Sable Kiss, but the onslaught was too much. Several stems pierced his left shoulder, the force slamming him into the wall behind him. Pain radiated through his ribs, the sound of bones breaking ringing in his ears.
He cursed.
Suddenly his hand moved, the beautiful stiletto came soaring in an upward arc, driving into the empty space only inches from his head.
At least, it had been empty only a moment ago.
Now, the head of the shade occupied that space.
So... so fast!
Elias hadn't had time to blink, much less notice the shade coming in for the kill. Sable Kiss had saved his life. Moving, attacking with almost clairvoyant accuracy.
Yeah, this is the only artifact I truly need. Sable Kiss wasn't finished yet either. The monstrous essence began to pour into the mystical knife, transferring to Elias as if an invisible cord connected the two.
He heard several pops as his ribs returned to place, and the burning in his lungs subsided to a small degree. Nothing was done about the chilling pain as it continued to reverberate across his body.
Then a flash, another fragmented memory, yet this event was different from the others. Elias did not experience the thoughts, feelings, or memories of the crew member that had been transformed into the heinous ogre. Instead, he experienced the insatiable hunger and a sense of purpose that transcended mere destruction.
He saw memories of corridors, lined with Corruption. A constant call, nay a command, that dominated his entire existence.
Destroy the Architect...
Accompanying that thought was an unquenchable thirst for blood. Human blood.
The vision ended. One positive aspect of these visions is that they seemed to occupy only a moment in time. Almost as if the world stood still while Sable Kiss showed him these dreams.
"ELIAS!" Maren finally cut through the veil that consumed his mind. Turning to look at her and the others, he offered a warm smile.
"I'm alright." Elias straightened, his mind already calculating their next move. "More importantly, I've learned something critical."
"What happened?" Maren pressed, her analytical gaze scanning him for signs of contamination.
"I think I experienced what it was like to be a shade for a moment." Elias measured his words carefully, not revealing everything. "I saw the world from the Corrupted's point of view, felt their undying will to kill humanity at any cost. They're not just randomly attacking—they're coordinating, communicating somehow."
Silence hung in the air, only the continuing blast of emergency horns filling the void between them.
Elias turned back to the ladder and began to climb. It seemed like the rest of them did not want to pry any further... for now.
BOOM
Another explosion, another section of the ship plunged into the abyss. The panels on the wall were hanging by threads, wires sparking from every angle. Time was running out.
As they reached the halfway point between the bottom of the equipment ladder and the lower landing, all power went out. Elias, Maren, Etta, and Nira were consumed by darkness. If it weren't for the faint glow of the Twilight Twins, the inky air would have been so thick that their hands would have vanished in the shadows.
Silence, true silence, finally filled their ears. Relief as the piercing wail ceased.
"Let's keep moving." Elias could finally whisper and be heard.
The ladder trembled beneath their fingertips as they climbed, metal groaning under stress never meant to endure. They were three-quarters of the way up when the vibrations changed—no longer random but rhythmic, deliberate. Thump. Scrape. Thump. Scrape. Something massive dragging itself upward in pursuit.
"Move faster," Elias hissed, but they were already climbing at their limit.
A guttural sound echoed up the shaft, not quite animal, not quite human—a sound that existed in the space between worlds. The air temperature plummeted, their exhaled breath suddenly visible in Twilight Twins' purple glow.
Elias glanced down against his better judgment.
The darkness below wasn't empty anymore. It churned and pulsed like a living thing, tendrils stretching upward with unnatural patience. But what froze his blood wasn't the corruption itself—it was the faces embedded within it. Dozens of crew members' features pressed against a membrane of blackness, mouths open in silent screams, eyes tracking their movement with hungry intelligence.
One face in particular stared directly at Elias, its lips forming words he somehow understood despite the distance.
"The Architect sent you too late," it mouthed. "We've already won."