Mark’s foot bumped against a small pebble, sending it clattering down the last couple of jumps. Only to clack to the ground and spin a good way toward the bruised mound of flesh in the middle of the blast radius.
The sharp sound briefly drowned out the heart's steady beat, drumming like a metronome. Mark felt certain the Guardian would wake up and summon its minions at that, but the bottom of the hole remained quiet, and most importantly, quiet. There was not a single Corrupted in sight at this point, which was all the more nerve-wracking.
Letting out his trapped breath Mark made it the rest of the way down. Chloe was waiting for him on a stable portion of the ground. Bits of crackling concrete still cooled silently to itself as they made their way toward the healing beast.
Chloe glanced over and Mark heard her whisper.
“We’ll need to get through the outer layer and kill the core to end this thing. Follow my steps and I’ll get you through, save your Mana till we’re in there.”
Mark nodded but his teeth began to itch. ‘In there?’
Sure, this thing was as big as a double-story house by now, but the thought of entering it could not be less appealing.
They continued to get closer and when they stepped onto the growing ichor, the tempo of the beating creature changed. From a soft and steady beat to a more erratic and excited pace.
It knew they were here and several cords of muscle no thicker than a fist rose from the Guardian's body and greeted them with a lunge.
Chloe stepped up and Mark followed. When the first two arrived she swiped through the first one and ducked under the second.
Mark moved with her, trusting her to get them there. The third attack came almost as soon as they recovered and Chloe cut this one down too.
What came next was a dance of sorts.
The Guardian would send its appendages to block them, in turn, they would advance a few of steps, cut down a couple of attacks, and sidestep the rest. Now and then they would take a step back losing some of their progress, but Chloe didn’t seem bothered at all.
They circled the large creature, edging closer with each exchange. Mark tried to stay in tune with Chloe’s movements, but every so often she had to move him out of the way of a slamming tentacle. They weren’t moving that fast so Mark could easily keep up and finally, they got to the wall of the Guardian’s heart. With a powerful swipe, a cut opened up in the fleshy barrier, dark ichor oozing from the wound.
Mark could see another chamber beyond, but with each beat, the room was blocked from sight.
Using the smallest hints of Mana, Mark triggered [Telekinetic control] and pushed the wound apart big enough for them to enter.
Chloe hopped in and so did Mark, his boot sinking into the spongy goop below. The chamber had plenty of space to accommodate them but with their entry, an overpowering smell of blood crept its way down Mark's throat. Slamming a hand over his mouth was all he could do to keep himself from vomiting at the overwhelming wave of Corruption that hit.
Wrapping them both up in a construct in the mean time. Chloe was already fighting against more appendages coming from within the room and Mark turned his sight to them. [Force bolts] flared to life around Mark and hit the bases of the tentacles in the room.
For a short while this worked but very soon the room began to change. Countless cords of muscle grew up from the walls, floor, and ceiling. Attacking them from all directions as though they had woken the Guardian's immune system.
Unfortunately for it, Chloe would have none of that. She moved through the space like lightning, her rapier swishing through the air, cutting a path through the jungle of flesh. Mark stuck close and kept the [Force bolts] coming, he attacked further up ahead, but Chloe always seemed to know what chords Mark would get to, and what to focus on herself. They cleaved through the room in no time flat, but Mark knew that predicting this many attacks had to be using up the last of Chloe’s Mana. Mark wasn’t doing so well himself, just a couple of small spells had sent fresh waves of pain bouncing around in his head. When they reached the other end of the room Mark noted they had moved in a direct line toward the center. Chloe made two quick slashes and an ‘X’ appeared in the next wall. Mark pushed the muscle aside as well and Chlow dove in, he followed.
The moment he got through Mark realized they’d made a mistake.
The room was cramped and Mark had to stoop his head to avoid knocking it on the pulsing ceiling.
Chloe was already wrestling a cord of muscle that was wrapped around her ankle. Mark couldn’t turn around in this position and the appendages closed in all at once.
They were caught like flies in a web.
Mark looked ahead and noticed a narrowing shoot curving upward.
Then Chloe turned and instead of freeing herself, she cut down towards Mark, severing the approaching tentacles on either side.
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“Mark, forward, now!”
Freed for just a moment Mark pushed ahead, passing Chloe and pressing his back up against the narrowing tunnel, ichor soaking through his armor.
From this vantage point, Mark could just make out what looked like a core. Muscle and tendons beat around it and Mark realized he was looking at some tiny creature nestled in the depths of this enormous heart. An umbilical cord connected it to an outer core.
This must be the Guardian's true form.
Without any further thought, Mark launched several [force bolts] and then manifested a spear of iron, launching that too.
All the attacks hit dead center but Mark felt a growing sense of despair as none of them could pierce whatever the outside of the core was made of. Mark tried again with an orb of light but even as it burned at the layer Mark saw no change, though smoke and the smell of cooking flesh did fill the space.
Coughing and killing the light Mark looked back at Chloe.
“I can’t get through we need to get closer!”
Chloe glanced down at her ankle and back up at him.
“Mark neither of us have the firepower to get through that thing’s last defense, hell even Jonathan probably couldn’t.”
Mark's eyes widened as he used the blade to cut away another approaching tendril.
“Then why the hell did you bring us here!” Mark’s anger rushed to the surface.
“You know exactly why. Lisa asked you to do it back then, but it was too strong, now you have a chance! Force it to lower its defense, it's our only move left!”
Mark looked back up at the core, it was at most a couple of meters away but the distance meant almost nothing when he was this near the source of all of this. If he’d known this was her great plan Mark would have just told her to go stick it. He'd made his choice though, he had to focus on the now. The real question was if his body could handle that much Corruption. Chloe clearly thought he had a shot, and nothing in his arsenal would be able to pierce the core.
‘Fine’ Mark thought as he gathered his calm and roused his stubbornness. If this was how it was going to be then he’d give it everything he had left.
Make took a breath and centered himself, taking the staff off his back and pressing his right glove against the wall of flesh behind him, triggering [Draw Corruption] at full force.
The spell took hold not just near Mark's arms, but any and everywhere he’d made contact with the Guardian. His boots, back, and arms were immediately covered in hardening ichor as it dried and bloomed into mold. The turbulent light in the space evened out as Mark dove into the mycelium network, tiny amounts of alien life blooming around him.
Strengthening the connection, Mark stretched out his awareness and pulled cords of energy under his will.
A soft voice brushed against Mark's ear and then the presence spotted him.
It was weak and moving slowly but it mattered little when they were so close. They met halfway and Mark felt his advance come to a halt. The Guardian’s will and his clashing, all the while Corruption flooded his body.
A groan escaped Mark’s lips and he felt a stuttering in the beating heart around them. Tentacles loosened and the walls of muscle went still, relaxing as Mark took hold of them. The sensation of touch flooded his brain and Mark could feel the surrounding muscle through the network.
The loss of control woke the Guardian fully and its screaming voice slammed into Mark’s mind, it sounded like a wounded animal.
There was no distance to protect him this time, nor did he have the Prana to shield himself, so the unfiltered power of the Guardian came streaming through the connection. Pain tore at Mark's mind , but he’d expected this and braced for it.
Mark stabbed his will toward the core, he just needed a small opening and he could end this tug of war.
Power flooded into Mark and the mold began to wrap around his chest like a vice, avoiding the staff in his hand, but burning away what little Prana he had left.
He made good headway but the Guardian seemed to know what he wanted and did everything in its power to stop him, and as weak as it was, it was still a Guardian. Its power washed away Mark's will and he began to lose ground, he felt the exact moment he ran out of Prana because the Corruption suddenly flooded in faster than ever before.
Mark's mind warped under the pressure and normally he could feel what Guardian wanted through its emotions, but now he could swear he heard its words.
‘First champion.’
‘Mine, friend.’
‘Help me forever.’
Mark's thoughts were being pushed aside, if he lost now, he knew he would cease to exist as the person he was. His will eroded as the Corruption took hold, he was reaching his limits too quickly.
Something moved next to Mark, pulling his attention away from the battle.
It was Chloe, she must have freed herself when Mark had wrestled control away from the thing.
Mark couldn’t move or even open his eyes to look at her but he could hear as she came over and crouched down next to him.
Distantly he heard her speaking but he had to focus to make out what she was saying.
“Mark if you can hear me I hope this gives you some peace. I’m aware you are going to hate me after today, but know that I did it to give you four the best chance at this. You and Cara were the linchpins. She needed to delay the invasion long enough for us to get this last piece.”
Mark sort through his growing confusion, but Chloe just kept taking.
“We actually got the better end of the stick, you and I. If you had gone back with them, your chance of survival was less than a single percent. Just know that you needed to be here, needed to figure this out, to give us the best possible chance at all of this.”
Pain prickled across Mark’s body but he couldn’t even grunt out a question. The Corruption was robbing him of control of his muscles. He wanted to shout at Chloe, and demand to know what she meant.
But then he heard her straighten up and take a step back, and then another.
Despair spiked Mark's struggling heart rate through the roof.
She was leaving, and Mark couldn’t do anything to stop her. He had no direct control of the surrounding Corruption, or he would have used it to make her stay.
Chloe spoke again but her voice was further now probably near the opening they had made.
“It probably won’t seem like it, but I am on your side, always have been, always will be.”
Then he heard the sound of Chloe’s form getting softer, he used the pressure she created on the mycelium network to follow her steps out, and finally, that disappeared too. Chloe had left him here to die, or worse become something else entirely.