"Darkness Rising" -Chapter 1 Twilight By Angelwing AUTHOR'S NOTE: For any of you who's a fan of Dungeon Keeper the game, then you may realise that this is heavily inspired by it. I've tried my best to keep away any blatant copyrighting but if you think it hits a little close to the mark let me know. No copyright infringement intended! Silence now. The rustling of the silver, midnight leaves ceased, leaving the forest in a soundless and eerie twilight. He could hear the faint whispers of ancient spirits circling the cold stone carvings and then fading away into oblivion. This whole place existed in an aura of mystery; set with ancient stones engraved with the magic of long ago. Shivers ran down his spine; this place wasn't safe during the witching hour...he could feel it. There it was again...that faint rustling and sound of slight breathing. Squall drew his Gunblade without a sound, his back to the camp where Rinoa and Zell slept unaware of the danger. Squall's eyes darted to the right where a glint of light was briefly manifest in the trees. Quick as lightening, Squall sent Rinoa's Blast Edge slicing through the delicate night air. It carved it's way through a branch of brittle wood, causing the intruder to lose her footing and sending her hurtling to the ground in the centre of the camp. She sprang to her feet, with inhuman feline agility. Her hair was a vibrant mixture of black and red, and her eyes were black, like open windows onto the darkness of her soul. She was mostly dressed in dull silver chainmail and her expression was desperate yet threatening, like a cornered wild animal. Her ebon eyes bore holes into the SeeD Commander. Squall envisioned that she saw a red tint in the infinite darkness of these eyes of pitch. The girl snarled at Squall, revealing two unusually long and pointed canine teeth. With a fit of incredible agility and athletic flexibility, the girl bounded into the dense foliage above the camp. Squall's gunblade remained drawn in defence, but he made no form of attack, he merely held it as he heard the gentle yet frantic rustling of the leaves above him becoming increasingly distant. Squall gazed up and onwards in silent submission as the intruder disappeared into the denseness of the night. Rinoa began to stir, disturbed by the gentle confrontation going on beside her. "S...Squall?" she managed, rubbing her tired eyes and propping herself up on her elbows. Squall gazed down at his delicate companion. He smiled adoringly. "Shh...don't worry," Squall soothed, stroking Rinoa's forehead. "Who was that woman, Squall?" began Rinoa. Squall's expression changed as he frowned at the direction, which the girl disappeared into. Nothing could be seen or heard now, it was as if she had the help of a God to make her disappear from danger. Squall left Rinoa's question unanswered, he didn't want to frighten her, but he had a pretty good idea of whom the assailant was. If his suspicions were correct, then he knew her VERY well. "Squall? I asked who she was. Do you know her?" Rinoa was becoming impatient at Squall's secrecy, even though she knew she would probably not get an answer from her boyfriend this time. Rinoa let out a sigh and slouched back into her bed covers. She was confident that Squall would let her know in his own time, meanwhile she just had to be patient. Rinoa grimaced, easier said than done, she thought. Oh yes, it was just so much fun being the quiet submissive little sidekick, you get to spend your whole life in your mentor's shadow. One day she would be able to solve the riddles and save the day, but not yet. She trusted Squall to make an informed decision as to when to involve her; he knew her abilities and of what aid she could be. She just had to wait...and wait...and...oh forget it. Rinoa turned over wrinkling her nose in dissatisfaction and drifted off once again into the lush greenery and peace that were her dreams. The air was coloured red, amidst the faint sound of metal clinking on metal. Small, scuttling, imp-like creatures busied themselves, hauling giant picks and striking them against the glimmering wall ahead of them. Huge chunks of precious wealth fell to the floor as a result, being immediately picked up by other workers and loaded into a cart. The atmosphere was hot and stuffy but the ceaseless workers continued the arduous task of mining to please their Empress and of course the great God that moulded them into existence. The whole place ran like clockwork, gradually relieving the underground of its precious metals and gems. The laden cart was now overflowing with bountiful treasures and it fell to the responsibility of two imps that were casually leaning on their picks to drag the weight of it to the treasury room for counting. They wheeled their load down a dimly lit, eerie corridor, mindlessly passing many doorways that led to other rooms, but for the imps, certain death. The imps' huge, ebon eyes deviated neither to the left nor the right, ignoring the mystic and powerful runes carved into the huge stone walls beside them. The two imps were of one mind and concentrated on fulfilling their purpose; they knew their price. They were merely formed to serve the Empress and that was their meaning. What happened beyond the accumulating of the wealth, they did not know. They were aware of the huge army of beasts which they shared their dungeon with and were also aware that if they ventured into the creatures' lair unbidden, that they would be greeted with a less than pleasant welcome. The labourers were created with enough intelligence to steer clear of the brutes that inhabited the lairs for the simple reason that many of them had teeth larger than the imps themselves. Not that that was much of a danger anymore, the Empress thought very highly of her labouring minions and was responsible for the breaking up of a number of disputes. Many of the disputes involved the Aracnines ! ! who were notorious for their spitting venom and of course the Hulks who disliked their strength to be challenged and were prepared to settle every little disagreements with their fists. This was worsened by the fact that the Hulks were actually merely stone and this tended to leave quite an 'impression' on the poor imps who had merely passed through the lair to run an errand. Many of the minions were actually formed from stone: the Hulks and various others were dangling at the bottom of the creative ladder and clearly the Great God's inspiration was wearing a little thin by the time they came to forming them. The Aracnines, Beetnaz and Winged-Beetnaz were wonderful in that they were twenty times larger than a regular insect and ten times as hardy. The dungeon boasted one hundred of these insects all living together in perpetual harmony in the dingy lair. The Aracnines living with the Winged-Beetnaz had caused quite a stir at the beginning, basically because the Aracnines were ! ! bad-tempered and private but the Winged-Beetnaz were flight! y and annoying, insisting on intruding on their personal space. A quick stab of venom from the eight-legged Aracnines often quietened and immobilised the Winged- Beetnaz but that did tend to create a problem, since the winged-beetnaz never regained consciousness and the only way the practice was halted was thanks to the recent installation of a torture chamber. The Empress found that the threat of physical torture was a splendid way of keeping the peace among her subjects. She grew tired of being called to the rescue of a dying Winged-Beetnaz next to a Aracnine that was whistling and inspecting the walls around him in seeming ignorance. In general though, the Great Goddess and the Immortal Knight did a fine job in the production of a terrifying army of beasts. They joined their efforts when the Great Goddess became tired of working with humans and the Immortal Knight was still reeling from having his butt kicked by a certain group of do-gooders some time before. The Great Godde! ! ss heralded through a newly opened portal, an array of terrifying creatures and the Immortal knight added his personal touch with a small collection of fresh, new vampires. They were but a small addition to the dungeon, but they were the most potent and deadly of the army. Now all the Gods needed for world domination was a fleshly leader. Someone to mould into a terrifying nature and threaten the peace of the entire known world... "Just forget it Rinoa," moaned Squall, rolling his eyes for the hundredth time, "it isn't important." Rinoa's eyes widened in fury as her temperament slowly approached boiling level. "What?!" she exploded "Okay, next time one of my freaky, demon-possessed friends jumps on our camp-fire in the middle of the night, I'll be sure not to tell you who she is even though she could come back and slaughter us both in our sleep!" Squall groaned, "Come on Rinoa, if it was that serious don't you think I'd tell you?" Rinoa snorted in a very un-lady-like way; "I'm beginning to wonder." With that she flounced off, her hair billowing in the wind. Squall sighed; sometimes his peace- loving companion was very capable of causing some less than placid arguments. He'd tell her of course, but not yet, the time wasn't right yet, especially if the intruder was who he thought she was. He needed to speak to someone who would be more informed on this subject than he was, as much as he hated to do it, he had to speak to Gehazi. Why? Squall suspected his involvement in this for a long time, but it was not his style to keep it a secret and it was certainly not in his nature not to inform Squall of the threat unless he rejoined his force. Squall supposed that he had been involved in the formulating of the situation but was unsure whether he was aware that his creations had broken their mould and have ventured above ground into the human domain. Somehow they'd grown wise and were capable of materialising above ground and he had a funny feeling that this ability had something to do with the stone pillars that were situated next to their camp. He made a mental note to inspect them before he and Rinoa moved camp that night. Correction, IF they moved camp, Rinoa had wandered off and Squall saw little possibility of a reconciliation in the near future, not until Squall kissed her toes anyway. Squall walked over to arrange their camp for the night. He wandered to the small stream to fill a beaten kettle, watching the rays of light bounce and reflect off the water's surface. He stooped down and cupped his hands scooping out some water, to get his mouth ready for some serious toe kissing. Meanwhile, the dungeon continued in its routine dank duties. But today was a special one, for the Empress of the Dungeon had promised to visit the working areas to ensure that the dungeon was being run in the efficient and orderly way she liked. No creature knew why it was so irrationally afraid of the Empress, it was almost an inbuilt fear; something each one was created as possessing. The Dark Empress was certainly something to be afraid of, she allied with the most dangerous Gods and possessed a potency unlike any the natural world had ever known. She had not always been this way though; once upon a time she was just an ordinary girl. The gods are cruel and twisted her fate into their design. Despite possessing infinite power and strength, she was doomed to spend the rest of her days as a servant to the dark gods. Her brilliant blue eyes surveyed the landscape before her. She took a deep breath of the freshness of the morning and smiled at the atmosphere around her. How wonderful it is to be alive she thought Life could not be more perfect. At that she turned around and saw her love advancing towards her. Elated, her dainty feet ran to this figure in the distance. He caught sight of her urgency and with an adoring smile he caught hold of her in his arms and hugged her. "My darling..." she purred and buried her head in his strong chest. "I love you," he whispered softly in her delicate ear. "And they lived happily ever after!" snorted a cynical voice. A tear formed in the deep, black chasms that were the eyes of this vampiristic being. That was how things were supposed to be; that's what her mother had said would happen to her when she got older. That was before...selfish cow...if she cared so damn much why did she leave. She welcomed the death, any excuse to leave her. I know I was a failure but why didn't you stay with me? I needed your help and you left me...how could you? There was an urgent tapping at the huge, gothic structure of her door. She hurriedly wiped away the stray tears that were burning her pale skin like acid and beckoned the visitor into the room. "Yes, what is it," she said briskly with a voice that could chill a bonfire. The tiny imp before her lowered his head in respect and looked into her eyes. "Your vissit, Ma'am? You intended to tour the dungeon thiss morning to note our progresss and inform uss, your humble sservantss, of your immediate planss." The Empress waved a dismissive hand in the direction of the snivelling little creature. He leapt up off his knee and scuttled back to his work. 'Drat', she thought 'I forgot about this miserable event. The Knight better have a darn good explanation for this'. Rearranging her chainmail armour, she glanced into the magnificent mirror in her chamber. Her heart sank as she regarded the empty space of nothingness that stared back at her. Why did she do that? In the hope that I would see myself again one day. What's the point? Obedient imps lined the passageway as she glided down the corridor. She came to a halt as she reached the first door. Ah, the lair she thought. She entered through the door and regarded the situation. Countless of her minions were fighting amongst themselves and many of the smaller creatures were attempting to escape. Aracnines, Winged- Beetnaz, Hulks and Beasts occupied the ample lair and all seemed to be engaged in kicking the crap out of each other. "ENOUGH!!!" screamed the Empress, as several terrified eyes became aware of her presence in the doorway. Silence hung in the room like a fog; every creature's eyes were fixed upon the Empress, watching the elusive flashes of red swirl around in the depths of them. "WHAT is the meaning of this?" she growled. The creatures cast their gaze downward, too afraid to have the audacity to look up and allow those pools of darkness to consume their insides. The Empress noted the silence and she licked her vicious teeth, almost cutting her tongue on the sharp, protruding edges. "Well?" she purred, her terrifyingly melodious voice, hypnotising the servants. A single imp scurried forward not taking its eyes of the floor. He dropped to one knee and decided to speak, realising that this would result in its ultimate demise. If the Empress didn't kill it...the Hulks and Beasts would. "Your Greatness," it hissed, a sharp, two-pronged tongue flicking out from its mouth. "There wass a sslight commotion with the Aracniness and the beasstss..." It chanced a quick glance up to determine the Empress' mood and she smiled a horrible smile that denoted death and torture. "You are a faithful slave," she mused, "but all Beasts and Aracnines are to be tortured tonight...and..." she continued... "if this imp dies...I will kill all Aracnines and Beasts, because remember, I don't need you...I can make my own." She turned around, her long black cape swirling around the flickering flames of the lit torches. The tints of red in her hair seemed to spread in line with her reddening temper as she glided effortlessly out of the room. Squall finally decided that it was no longer safe for Rinoa to remain camped with him, but telling her that was a whole other story. After several angry accusations and countless heated words, she agreed. She would leave Zell and Squall to...do whatever they had to do. Squall refrained from revealing to her the true extent of what he believed about this, if it was anything like what he thought, it wasn't good. In fact...it was pure Hell. TO BE CONTINUED... Drop me a line and tell me what you thought! Constructive criticism is more than welcome so direct it to: Rinoa@angelic.com