Alex sighed. “He can never make it easy.”
“Though Aurata does have a point,” Midna said. “There’s always an exit.”
“But finding it will be a challenge,” Aurata replied. “We currently have no way of finding it. And to make matters worse, we have to find it while avoiding those abominations of nature de Sade summoned.”
“I guess we’ll just have to take our chances,” Alex said, picking a path to follow. “Let’s go this way.”
After walking through the seemingly-endless maze for who knows how long, they came to another split in the path.
“So which way to we go?” Midna asked.
“I have a good feeling about this way,” Alex said, pointing to the right.
“I think we should go left,” Aurata said.
Just then, the echoes of their voices in the caves fell dead silent. An ominous quiet hung in the air for a few seconds before they saw further down the corridor what could best be described a sort of cross between a man and an insect, but with far more legs. As it skittered around on the wall, a long ebony shroud larger than the creature itself extended from the upper part of its body beyond. In comparison to a human being, it was slightly smaller, being about four feet in length. Long antennae protruded from its head, purpose unknown.
Alex took cover behind the wall. “What the hell is that thing?” he whispered to Aurata, his fear beginning to show in his quavering words.
“Dream seeker,” Aurata said, beginning to lose her level-headed temperament, “a somnambulist’s worst nightmare, if you will.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Definitely,” Aurata said, visibly shaken by the bug, looking around the corner, and hiding once more, “you see those antennae? It uses those to put its victims to sleep, and then travels into their dreams to kill them from within.”
“That doesn’t even sound possible,” Alex said, slumping down onto the ground.
“Trust me, it is! They don’t know for sure how they die! They say the shock of seeing such a thing in your dream makes your heart stop, and they also say that thing feeds off your soul!”
“So how do we kill it?”
“I’m honestly not sure,” Aurata admitted, rubbing her palms together.
Alex peeked around the corner to check if it was still there. It had appeared to vacate the premises.
“I think it’s gone,” Alex said, raising his rifle and dashing around the corner. “Let’s go!”
“Alex, wait!” Aurata cried. “The cloak makes it invisible, it could still be here!”
Unfortunately, Aurata’s paranoia would soon become reality, as the dream seeker revealed itself before Alex, training its psychic antennae on the Twili in armor, and delivering a prompt wave of sleep-inducing power. To Aurata’s horror, the black-armored man fell on his back unconscious, the rifle still in hand. The insect positioned itself over Alex’s unmoving body, and touched its antennae to his temples. With an arcing of what seemed to be electricity, Alex’s life energy, as precious as the blood in his veins, was leeched. The entire process took but a few moments, as the bug worked frighteningly quick.
Midna, watching only in horrified silence, finally said, “Is…he…?”
He couldn’t be. As the seeker finished the leeching, Alex’s cerulean eyes suddenly sprung open. With the speed of the best Kandarin quick-draw, he grabbed his rifle and squeezed the trigger. When all was said and done, the insect had received a smoldering hole through its head, and fell on its back, legs curling up in its death throw.
Aurata sprinted to his side to help him up, promptly losing balance and needing to lean against the maze’s rock wall.
“Alex, that was incredible!” Aurata cried, dumbstruck with the man’s inherent immortality, “no one has ever survived that before. How did you do it?”
Alex shook his head, his ears were ringing, his brain was aching, his eyes only allowed him blurred vision. “I…” he groaned, “don’t…know…”
“Check this out,” Midna said, poking around the dead body, paying special attention to the cloak. “I bet we could use this to get through the rest of the maze unseen.”
“Great idea,” Aurata said, ripping the shroud from the corpse. In her soft hands it felt like fabric, despite it being an obvious part of the creature’s anatomy. “We could both fit under here.”
“Alex, let me take your shadow. I have a feeling I’ll do you some good there.”
Alex could only nod as his regained his stamina.
As the imp took his shadow, Aurata draped the cloak over Alex and herself, soon vanishing from world perceived by the naked eye. Under the cloak Alex and Aurata had to stay close, as the cloak itself was rather small.
“Alex,” Aurata addressed him as they walked, “I’ve noticed something about you.”
“Yeah?” Alex said, finally regaining his ability to form coherent thoughts, “What is it?”
“De Sade seems to know you from somewhere. Pray tell, where?”
“Well, I can’t say he knows me exactly, but he used to know someone a lot like me. In fact, he killed that person.”
“Oh dear,” Aurata sighed, “whatever for?”
“Because that person was a member of a race being oppressed by the faction de Sade used to be part of, and that person tried to fight back, and lost.”
“So would you lose if you fought him?”
“I hope not, as fate of an entire race counts on my victory.”
“Is that why you need these pages, to prepare yourself?”
“Yes. You see, I’m--”
“I already know. You’re the Twilight Warrior.”
“What? How did you know?”
“I could sense it. My people are closely attuned with magic, to the point where by being near someone, such as right now, they can tell who they are.”
Alex looked upon the girl. She was a magnificent one to behold, a beautiful young woman with long, flowing black locks, innocent brown eyes, and pale skin, almost the same hue as her white robes.
“Is something wrong, Warrior?”
“No, not at all,” fighting back his emotions. “Nothing.”
As Midna monitored Alex’s thoughts within his shadow, she became less and less satisfied with this mysterious young girl.
Who does she think she is? I don’t like this girl at all, I think she has something planned. And Alex? Urgh!
For a brief moment, fortune seemed to replace fate, as the page they had been seeking for so long appeared before them on a stone pedestal.
“Alex, it’s the page!” Aurata said.
Alex threw off the shroud and secured the page in his hands. Scanning his eyes over the lines, he found the ancient Twili scriptures he desired so much. He heaved a sigh. “Finally,” he sighed, securing the page in a pocket.
“Congratulations, Alex,” Aurata said to him, “but I’m afraid your test is not quite finished.”
“What? What are you talking about? We have the page, we should be able to leave.”
“Alex, there lies one final obstacle that you must overcome. It is right before your eyes.”
“You mean…”
“That’s right. I’m sorry Alex, but the Twili cannot be allowed to prosper.”
Suddenly it all clicked together in Alex’s mind. Aurata was never here to help him. She was sent by de Sade to ensure his defeat. As much as he wanted to perish the thought, Alex would have to dispose of this girl.
“So be it,” Alex said coldly. He raised his rifle. “Necavis.”
The two stared each other down, each silently daring the other to make the first move, and possibly, their last.
Aurata chanted some incoherent speech, and was surrounded by a field of magical energy. “You will only pass if you deem yourself worthy. Now come at me!” She formed a ball of light in her hands, and launched it through the shield at her opponent.
The ball itself moved rather slow, but Alex knew it could very well pack a punch. Thinking fast, he drew his blade and swung at the ever-approaching white sphere. To his astonishment the ball deflected off his blade and back towards its origin. Aurata swatted her hand, deflecting the ball once more. Alex would have to continue until one mistimed the swing, and would take the full brunt of the blast.
Perhaps deflecting the ball at her would get rid of that shield, Alex thought to himself, and then leave her vulnerable…
Alex deflected the ball once more. Aurata put more power on the ball with each deflection, growing faster and larger each time. Eventually, Alex swung back, and Aurata fatefully mistimed the swing, taking the full power of her own spell. The spherical shield flickered out, revealing the young girl within. From nowhere Aurata spread her hands, launching a blinding circular wave of light that filled the whole chamber.
Alex did his best to prepare for the attack, only to be knocked to his feet by the wide-reaching spell. Aurata walked up to him and charged another energy ball. Alex rolled out from under her and began unleashing slash after slash with his blood-red blade. Strangely enough, the girl did not appear to bleed. Winded, she forced him away and reinstated the shield around herself once more.
“You are stronger than I give you credit for, Alex,” Aurata said to him in a coldly alluring voice. “De Sade was right when he said you must be eradicated. So wonderful he bestowed that honor upon me, hmm?” With the wave of her hand, three light balls appeared before her. “You are very capable of focus, but can you multitask?” She launched the spheres of light at him once more.
Alex, winding back, unleashed a gale-force spin on his blade, deflecting the three balls, two exploding harmlessly on the walls around them, which brought rocks from above crashing down. Distracted with the quakes, Aurata once again took the hit from the remaining energy ball. In her stunned state, a hefty boulder crashed down upon her.
Alex stood his ground, staring at the boulder, expecting it to blow.
And that was just what it did.
The explosion’s force rocked the whole room as Aurata freed herself from under the rock. Alex, thrown against the wall, had the sword wrenched from his hand by Aurata, who brought it to bear on his neck.
“And so the second epoch of the Twili comes to an end,” Aurata said, confident in her seeming victory.
“Every epoch dreams of its successor,” Alex retorted.
“De Sade will be disappointed to know your death was swift, but death is death nonetheless. So long, Alexander.”
“NO!” Midna shouted, suddenly emerging from Alex’s shadow on the wall, ripping the blade from Aurata’s ghostly hand with her hair-hand. When that was complete, she brought the glowing orange hand to the girl’s neck, placing her in a perfect spot to be strangled.
“You impudent imp!” Aurata hissed. “You know not what power you trifle with!”
“I know enough to realize we should have never trusted you all along!” Midna tightened her grip.
Aurata gasped for air. “Perhaps…it’s time…you saw the LIGHT!”
As soon as Midna’s hold reached Aurata’s fatality, the chamber exploded in blinding light. All that was heard was the wordless screams of the two.
Alex came back to consciousness to see Midna lying motionless on the cavern floor, and a portal on the other end of the room.
“Hurry…Alex…” Midna gasped through labored breaths, “Get us…out of here…”
Saying nothing, Alex picked the imp up in his arms, and escaped de Sade’s twisted trap once and for all through the portal. Within moments, he had returned to where he had met Barnes the dwarf.
Aurata had scored a devastating hit on Midna in her death throws. Now Midna was dying in his hands, what could he do?
“The Parasite,” he murmured.
