Spark in the Abyss

Who could have guessed that stepping through a random magical portal in a spooky cave in the middle of nowhere could have led to this?

Andromeda trailed behind the group currently being led by Cteno, looking just as filled with trepidation and shock as the rest of them. All semblance of merriment and cheer the lost city once held had been replaced by the somber reality of what they just witnessed.

Fear was an emotion someone as enthusiastic and adventurous as Andromeda is rarely felt... but when all the light in the city we're smothered and that creature crawled out of the darkness itself, she felt her blood turn to ice and her muscles stop responding to her brain's commands. Even now, long after the beast slithered off, it still itches uncomfortably beneath her skin and she shakes with the feeling.

Part of the fear came from knowing that she didn’t know. Didn’t know what this being was, didn’t know what to do in that situation, didn’t know if her friend would survive those next few moments. She had been frozen to the spot while it towered over Angea and dripped inky tar from its parted jaws.

She decides that she wants to face that fear head-on. Even through the terror she feels gripping her heart and catching her breath, she knows this beast is not pure evil. A misunderstanding, she thinks, a matter of miscommunication and ignorance of how this world functions, rather than one of malice and malcontent.

“The most experienced of all of you,” Cteno had said. They only wanted the best and brightest to accompany them on the mission to track down the big, scary beast, and reasonably so. It would likely be very dangerous, regardless of whether or not the Dalon - she thinks she heard Cteno call it that - sought to truly harm them.

She bites her lower lip and ponders whether she made the right decision. Did she even have any fighting experience? The most physical exertion she goes through on a daily basis would probably be lifting relatively heavy tomes around her room- not exactly the makings of a warrior. She thinks about how she felt before, the frustrating feeling of helplessness… Rarely did she use her magic past the most basic of uses, but even if she could control it, would she have? Or would her inexperience have left her dumbfounded and she’d have been just as useless all the same? It would probably be better for her to turn tail and head after the other group instead.

And yet she couldn’t shake the unshakable urge to go with this one. To confront this creature and learn more about it and the mystery that resides deep within the heart of this wondrous city. Even if she could just as easily hear all about it after all was said and done… she wanted to be there and experience it for herself. Books and stories and hearsay, as much as she loves them, could only satiate her ever-growing curiosity so far. She may be young, but she could be strong, too! Maybe not so much in body… spirit, though, most definitely!!

She manages to momentarily psyche herself up with an internal pep talk, but with every step she takes towards the deep, dark underbelly of the town fills her core with an eerie sense of dread. She worries, not entirely for herself, but for the safety of the others around her and of the citizens of this world. If this ink borne creature truly was malicious, truly wished harm upon this place… would she be able to stop it?

No, she refuses to think that way! Negativity isn’t good for anyone, especially not one who’s potentially marching into battle. Instead, she ponders over all the things Cteno has told them about the situation and the Dalon. In all her - admittedly limited - knowledge about this hidden realm, that name had evaded her. Dalon. She wracks her mind for any trace of it or any creature matching its description, even in dreams or nightmares she’s heard tales of in passing. She comes up blank and sighs.

From what little she could decipher in Cteno’s tongue, they had mentioned something about the Dalon being… part of one? Part of… a group, maybe? Perhaps they traveled in packs, and this one had somehow been separated from its kin. That would surely explain the reason for its sudden rampage - most social animals will become depressed or even frenzied if away from others of its species for too long. She wonders, then, if they’ll come across more of them on their way to who knows where. It chills her involuntarily. She swallows it down, standing firm by her belief that this creature truly means no harm.

Soon, an entirely new part of the City of Ink opens up before them. She never would have imagined this place could get any more captivating, and yet despite the unpleasant circumstances that brought them here in the first place, she couldn’t take her eyes off the new surroundings.

This area is stripped of all the vibrant flora she’d come to know of this world, leaving only the cold, dark stone with cobalt hues. Buildings hang from the ceiling above and spread out across the cavern falls, stretching so far back into the cliffside she can’t tell if it’s just too dark to see that far or if they were swallowed whole by the encroaching Void.

It feels abandoned here. Unlike the celebration happening in the city proper above, not a single living creature walks the unfamiliar streets, nor does she see any Candleblight decorations or market stalls packed with homemade crafts and baked goods. There are windows built into these buildings just as the ones above, she’s sure she can see them, and yet not a single one is lit. It’s almost like this part of the island was where people once lived, but one day everyone decided to head closer to the surface. Though, maybe they’re just hiding away from the beast they’ve all come here to track down, locked safely inside their homes until everything calms down again.

They don’t dwell in this strange part of the world too long. Cteno leads them past the town area and deeper into the cavern into which the buildings seem to be carved. That somber ambiance grows stronger here, and eventually she starts to feel lightheaded.

Was the barrier between this world and the Void thinner here? Is that why she feels like this? Her soul thrums against her chest and twists in a way she’s never experienced before. Her next step falters as the world around her appears less stable, but thankfully no one seems to notice. In fact, everyone else looks to be just as on edge as she is; the tense situation has their lips taut and their brows furrowed. That’s probably all it is. Just nerves. She wouldn’t bother someone over something as silly as that, especially when they all came here on a mission.

It doesn’t take long for them to realize that the torches and candles many of them brought to aid them through the darkness didn’t seem to work as well as they should have; it’s like the weight of the air itself crushes any trace of light brought into this ancient place. Perhaps another trick of the Void, absorbing all non-magical light within its inky blackness. Andromeda suppresses the shiver threatening to overtake her and steps just a little bit closer to the person in front of her. All of them do the same - they group together and the combined light of their candles is enough to at least make sure they don’t walk into a wall or down a sudden crack in the floor.

She doesn’t miss the way their steps and whispers fail to echo as one would expect them to in a cave like this, either. It’s eerily quiet as they continue down, deeper and deeper into the forsake earth. The stone below her feet slowly turns to something dark and tar-like in substance and she’s afraid to walk on it. After the others ---, she’s emboldened to take a ginger step across what looks like thorns. There’s a bit of give, there, like it’s not entirely stone beneath, but it doesn’t prick her feet nor suck them all up like a sinkhole of ink like she briefly worried it might.

It’s a lot quieter than she expects it to be for the supposed den of a creature who caused so much havoc. And then… it wasn’t.

A primordial screech fills her ears, ringing off the cave walls and causing her fur to stand on end. It appears before them, dropping from the ceiling in a puddle of ink. The bravest of them block the way as it rushes, jumping, over their group, and the fight begins in earnest.

Everything’s moving so fast and she feels removed from the action. What should she do? Others are trying to wear down the beast with magic, but their spells don’t seem to be affecting it much. Even their physical weapons, blades and whips and arrows phase through the ink like… well, ink. The Dalon hasn’t directly attacked anyone despite how agitated it is, but that could change any moment. Right now it seems content to twist around the walls and ceiling dodging the majority of things hurled at it.

Andromeda scans the scene. Most of the group she arrived with look to be fine, but she notices someone injured off to the side of the cavern. She rushes over, her feet moving before her mind can react. She’s happy to learn that it’s just a scratch; they’re reluctant to give her the whole story, thought from what she could surmise, they had tripped and scraped their arm in the fall. An easy fix for her Astral magic. She helps mend their injury and they jump straight back into battle, leaving her to sit on the sidelines.

A moment later, she sees the creature slither along the ceiling, causing rocks and rubble to rain upon the cavern floor below. Most of it is small and easy to brush off, but then it hits a stalactite and the rock splits in two - right above a Satyr who stands unwittingly below. She’s even faster this time, miraculously, and projects a dense shield of aura above their heads a second before they both would have been crushed. The Satyr thanks her breathlessly - likely panicked from the close call - and continues hurling magic at the rampaging beast.

She spends the battle as not an active participant, but running from place to place, aiding others where she’s most needed.