Everglow: The Trials Of Agaron

40 - Hall of the Phoenix

Ko didn't even want to turn around as she heard the thunderous crashing behind her. She knew it was Quin. But she didn't know what had happened. She didn't even think she wanted to know what happened. She had quickly put the puzzle pieces together and the only thing she could think about was seeing Kori's hand sticking out from under the rubble back at the temple.

A huge gust of wind suddenly blew against her back as she stood there contemplating what to do. Quin said she would be right behind her.

She wasn't there.

She waited for a few more seconds.

She wasn't there.

Her heart dropped like an anchor. A soft whimper escaped her lips. She didn't know what to do. She could keep going like she was told, potentially link back up with Fischer and the others.

And tell them what? That Quin was dead?

No.

Gently tapping her knuckles together, she began making her way back towards the sound. The pain-filled screech she heard moments earlier filled her with at least some confidence that the creature was dead.

She hoped it was the only thing that was dead.

Slowly but surely she made her way back down the hallway. Without Quin's biolights, it was pitch black. Her eyes had begun to adapt to the dark, she could barely make out the wall as she approached, but aside from that there was nothing.

The hallway gazed back at her like an abyss. She half expected some shadowy figure to jump from the darkness and take her away. She couldn't help but shake the feeling of being watched. The thought of Lust's smokey white eyes gazing at her as she walked.

"Q-Quin?" She whimpered. Her voice came out raspy and quiet, too terrified to speak up lest the demons that lurked in the darkness find her.

There was no response.

Her heart began beating faster and faster. Her eyes darted all around her. A petrified look was etched onto her face, her pupils slit and her brow tiled upwards. She held her cloak tightly around her. The sound of her footsteps was the only thing she could hear.

"Quin?" She repeated a little louder this time. The result was the same. She started to walk faster.

Keeping a hand on the wall to make sure she knew where she was going, she retraced her steps until she found the remains of Quin's handiwork. A quiet gasp escaped the zapher's lips as she saw what was in front of her.

The hallway was completely blocked off. The other side was nigh unreachable due to the immense amount of debris that had come crashing down. Ko was shocked the entire cave system hadn't collapsed.

Sticking out from underneath the rubble was the corpse of the creature that had been chasing them. After realising what it was she was standing in front of, Ko let out a terrified yelp and jumped backwards a few steps. She kept her eyes locked on the beast but it made no advances. It didn't even make a sound. Atop it lie what she could only assume were tonnes of stone. It was most likely dead.

Not one to take that risk however, she cautiously picked up a stone on the floor before hurling at the creature. It bounced off the beast's exoskeleton and dropped harmlessly to the floor.

Slightly more satisfied with the fact the creature wasn't going to be getting up any time soon, she moved a little closer.

"Quin?"

Her horns tilted backwards and a horrified gasp escaped her parted lips as she made out the body of her friend lying unmoving underneath the creature.

The top of her chest was showing, her arms laid out on the floor. Her head was rolled to the side and there was a line of bioluminescent blood seeping from a wound above her left eye.