"It should go without saying, but stay sharp. Only god knows what's down here." Shado said. Carrying his rifle in his arms.
"The lights down here are terrible," Riven muttered, holding his speargun close.
"Well, what do you expect? The nobles couldn't care less about what conditions workspaces were like down in the smolder."
Shado clicked on a lantern he had carried with him for ages now.
"Finally, could put that thing to use now, huh?" Liora said, walking behind the boys.
"Yeah, because that little light source is comforting," Riven added.
"It's a cone of light, and we're comparing it to how efficient it is in a tunnel," Shado said, checking corners as they passed them. "It's not much, but it's something at least."
"Still could be nicer," Riven muttered.
"No, it couldn't," Shado responded, already over their conversation.
As they made their way down the tunnel, their footsteps sounded both close and distant at once. The deeper they went, the more the walls seemed to close in—not physically, but in the way tunnels somehow would feel narrower the longer you were in them.
A low hum vibrated through the floor, travelling up their boots. Eryndor paused. "Uh, should the ground be buzzing?" His arm began to glow in rhythm with the buzzing as he spoke. Just like countless times before.
"It should just be some old machinery overhead," Liora answered. "Nothing to worry about, although your arm is glowing now."
"Yeah… that's…"
"It's fine, it's not like he's turning into a forgeling or anything," Shado said, continuing on the path ahead of them.
They walked for several more minutes in that quiet, tense atmosphere, hearing the machinery just humming slowly as they walked. As they ventured deeper, the worse the conditions were. They ducked under pipes, avoided faulty flooring, and even some gas that had begun leaking out of pipes.
"Hard to imagine that the gate and the train could cause all this," Eryndor whispered.
"Considering the poor conditions of the south, something like this was bound to happen," Shado whispered back.
"Yeah, but everything is in total ruin… Doesn't that seem extreme?"
Shado stayed silent, and so did the rest of the group. Eventually, the tunnel ahead split into three directions.
"Liora, could you pull out that map again? I want to make sure we're headed the right way." Shado asked, stopping before the intersections.
"Yeah, on it." Liora reached into one of her pockets, pulling out the metal disk, then setting it on the floor. A few moments later, the beam shot up, flickering, then emitting a steady light that revealed the paths of the nearby area.
"It's not much to go off, so we'll also have to navigate using the signs then…" Liora whispered. "But for now, we'll head left according to the map."
Shado nodded, then looked onto the paths again.
"Left it is then."
The routes in question all looked different.
The left was narrow, sloping down even further into the underground.
The middle was wide, having rails embedded into its floor.
And finally, the right, it was also narrowing much like the left, but much cleaner than the rest of the paths. It was eerie to say the least.
"Of course, we have to go down the smallest path." Eryndor sighed.
"I'll go first, I'm the only one with a gun anyway," Shado said, steeling his resolve as he began heading down the slope.
"I have one too, you know…" Liora whispered back.
"Well, I have a rifle; all you have is a pistol," Shado said, descending the path.
"Our hero…" Riven whispered, following close behind Shado.
Just as Shado and Riven went down the slope, the sound of clanking metal and a low screech came down from the path on the right.
"Hey, hurry up!" Shado whispered angrily. "We don't want to deal with those things right now!"
"What do you mean?" Eryndor hissed, already picking up his pace.
"Just move!" Shado said, waving them down the slope without looking back.
The group hurried after Shado as he booked it down the path. Their boots scraped against the uneven floor, forcing them into an awkward half-run. The lantern's beam bounced around violently, stretching some of the shadows across the walls like they were reaching for them.
As they ran, it sounded like something dull and heavy hit the floor, maybe because it was because of the metal flooring all over, or maybe because the thing chasing them was huge; whatever it was caused a shockwave along the floor which the group felt.
"That's definitely not just pipes settling," Riven muttered breathlessly.
"No kidding!" Eryndor responded.
The slope then curved sharply, cutting off the line of sight of the right path—and whatever was on it. They didn't stop until the corridor had straightened out again. That hum of machinery returned steady and low, masking out whatever sounds were following them.
Eryndor bent over slightly, catching his breath. "Okay… are we going to talk about what just happened?"
Shado leaned against the wall, catching his breath as well. "Later, preferably when it's not behind us."
"You could've said you didn't know what was chasing us," Riven said, standing up straight, not looking phased at all.
"How are you not tired? We ran like hell…" Eryndor said weakly.
"I've run a far greater distance than that."
They all went quiet after that, taking a moment to collect themselves before pressing on.
The air down here felt even thicker than before; it was like the tunnel had been holding its breath for years. All the pipes down in this lower section were beat and battered; it was clear nobody had been down here in years.
"Let's just keep going.." Liora said, her voice steady. "The longer we're here, the worse it'll get."
"You don't have to state the obvious all the time," Eryndor said, now standing.
After a few moments, the group was back on their feet in no time. They walked deeper, Shado's lantern glow flickering over the rusted rails and collapsed metal grates. Every sound that came around them felt like it was following them.
Finally, the corridor widened into a grand room, filled with old machines that just sat in place collecting dust. Above the room lay a massive grate that was teetering between collapsing and staying attached to its poorly bolted nails.
"This must be the room," Riven said with confidence.
"It can't be, we're too deep for this to be the service room for the gate, which sounds weird considering how much machinery and parts that seem like there for the gate," Liora said, checking her surroundings.
"This must be an underground warehouse, I mean, look at all the parts here," Shado said, walking towards the corner of the room where some boxes were lying.
"Eryndor, when you worked for the logistics services, did this room ring any bells?"
The group walked deeper into the warehouse, looking around.
Eryndor looked around, like a kid in a candy shop. "Yeah… yeah… I remember, this is where they would keep any broken or unused parts for trains or vehicles. Although most of the time, these types of places were empty because of high demand. So I wonder why most gear is still intact here."
Eryndor said, crouching down at a nearby crate. Riven stood behind him.
Liora and op 1 and op 2 walked to the other side of the room, looking at the nearby sign.
STATION 28
WAREHOUSE 19
EXT 81–
The rest of the text was scratched off, leaving only some flakes of rust where the numbers used to be.
"Station twenty-eight… warehouse nineteen…" Liora murmured, brushing her thumb over the faded lettering. "If this is right, then we're way deeper than we should be."
"Way deeper, or just the wrong tunnel entirely," Riven asked.
Shado shook his head.
"No. This lines up. Eryndor's right—look at all this. These are replacement rails, engine housings, gate coils… some of this stuff is ancient."
Eryndor stood, wiping dust off his hands. "Still weird, none of it's been moved. Warehouses like this don't stay full long. Usually someone's grabbing parts every week."
"They stopped coming down here after the incident," Liora said. "And probably because there isn't any need to do so anymore."
Shado reached for his lantern, then lifted it higher. The room stretched out wider than they realised—pillars, shelves, that same old machinery. All stacked in rows, kind of like a graveyard. Above them, the massive gate groaned, the metal whining faintly with every vibration of the tunnels.
Riven squinted up at it. "Anyone wanna mention how that thing looks like it's about to drop?"
"No," Shado said almost immediately."
"And why not?"
"It's bad luck"
Eryndor stepped towards Liora, just about to ask something—but the room trembled.
The group looked up, hearing the sound of what sounded like a faint echo of screech from the group.
Liora's eyes flickered upward. The massive grate above them bowed, the metal now screaming under its weight.
"Shado—" She started
Op 1 suddenly pushes Liora out of the way of the incoming falling grate.
However, the grate didn't fall—it slammed onto the ground.
Op 1!? OP 1!? Liora screamed, being dragged away by Op 2.
The brutal impact shook the whole warehouse. The dust detonated upward in a thick cloud, swallowing everything. Shado's light vanished instantly, making the group's visibility drop to next to nothing—just darkness.
"I can't see shit!" Riven said, unslinging his speargun while coughing.
"STAY SHARP SOMETHING'S HERE!" Shado screamed, raising his rifle.
"Stay close!" Liora shouted, somewhere to the right of Shado and Riven. Her voice was already fading into the chaos.
Then came a sound.
Eryndor's arm began to glow frantically as the dust began to become thinner. Inside the dust, however, a pair of white slits pierced through the haze. Cold, rectangular, and mechanical-looking.
Just then, a corrupted static-sounding voice crackled out from the centre of the room.
"NAVIGATION… ERROR"
RECALIBRATING ROUTE…"
Eryndor froze. "Oh hell no."
The forgeling took a step, rattling the floor beneath them. The forgeling began adjusting its body with sharp twists and turns until it eventually became taller and even wider.
"LOCATING LIFE FORMS…"
Shado fired a shot at the creature. "MOVE—NOW, WE'LL CATCH UP WITH YOU LATER!"
The forgeling lunged, not a slow, messy charge, but a sudden, brutal, piston-powered burst that sent some crates flying into the dark.
LIORA, WHERE ARE YOU? Eryndor shouted, running behind pillars and shelves.
"KEEP RUNNING THAT WAY, I'M RIGHT BEHIND YOU!" Liora screamed back.
Back over at the centre of the room, Riven and Shado were stuck fighting the grand forgeling. The thing was giant, lean, and much more unusual than any forgeling that the two have come across before.
Riven fired a shot at the forgeling without hesitation, striking it in the shoulder. Shit, I was meaning to aim for its core!
"I'll KEEP IT HOOKED, YOU KEEP POURING THOSE ROUNDS INTO IT," Riven yelled to Shado.
"RIGHT." Shado continued opening fire on the forgeling while he began trying to change positions.
"WHERE'S OP 1 AND OP 2?" Eryndor said with worry.
"I'M NOT SURE, JUST KEEP MOVING! AND DON'T GET CAUGHT BY THAT THING!"
The forgeling screeched in pain, but quickly gathered itself, turning now to face Shado and Riven's position. It swung its clunky, twisted arm in front of it, cutting the line of Riven's spear.
"FOUR… LIFEFORMS… DETECTED…"
The system crackled.
"INITIATING COMBAT MODE…"
"F-four?" Eryndor thought to himself.
As the forgeling turned, it revealed a fresh gust of dust cleared-just enough to show what lay just next to him.
Op 1 was crushed beneath a slab of the fallen grate, and as for Op 2, the forgeling swung its arm, shaking off op 2's body, sending it flying across the room into a shelf in which it crashed. He had pierced op 2 straight through his chest as he was trying to flee with Eryndor and Liora.
The forgeling then surged forward. Not caring about the lives it took.
A massive metal limb struck near where Riven had been a second earlier, sending shards of metal skittering across the floor. Riven rolled behind a crate, gasping as he reloaded his speargun.
"Dam this thing!" Riven said, getting back on his feet to flank the forgeling.
"IT'S ADJUSTING! HURRY AND MOVE!" Shado yelled, firing another series of rounds at the creature. His rounds pinging off its armour, denting it but not slowing it whatsoever.
Riven fired another follow-up shot, sprinting to the next piece of cover he could see. The shot connected—but the forgeling dodged the incoming harpoon, only tearing off the plating from what would've been a fatal blow.
"THAT SHOULD'VE PINNED IT!" Riven snapped, sliding down as the forgeling struck just above him. Riven rolled and tumbled, losing grip of his weapon from the quick attack of the forgeling.
This thing is like I've ever seen before! What the hell is this thing! Riven thought, gritting his teeth.
The forgeling slit-eyes locked onto Riven, glowing brighter.
"PRIORITY TARGET ACCQUIRED."
It stomped forward, each step sending vibrations through the floor.
"RIVEN!" Shado sprinted out of cover, firing wildly to draw its attention. "IT'S ME YOU WANT! I HAVE THE GUN HERE, YOU FUCKING MONSTER!"
The forgeling whipped its head back towards Shado.
"RECALIBRATING TARGET… PRIORITY TARGET ACCQUIRED."
The forgeling lunged again.
Shado rolled aside as the machine's arm cratered the ground where he stood. He flung from the floor, coughing, as his rifle slipped from his grip.
Shado reached for it, but the forgeling swiped his weapon away in the blink of an eye, like it was a toy.
Shado's eyes widened as he flew through the air, in utter disbelief from the intelligence coming from this forgeling.
Just before the forgeling struck Shado down, Liora fired shots at the forgeling with her pistol, hoping it would change the forgeling's mind.
The forgeling just glanced at Liora, then dashed back. Faster than it should've been, considering its size. It was like it blurred out of existence.
"LIORA BEHIND YOU!"
Liora's eyes widened, knowing there was no way of dodging the strike, h-how is it so fast...? She shifted her body just slightly enough not to get pierced through her heart, but rather through her shoulder. Liora let out a blood-curdling scream as she fell to the ground, the forgeling struck her at lightning speed, then dashed back into the darkness.
"LIORA!" Shado screamed, running over to her, gripping his own injuries. "EVERYONE FALL BACK! WE CAN'T KILL THIS THING!" Shado gripped Liora's arm and helped her to her feet, beginning to walk her to the narrow entrance of the room.
"I LL DISTRACT IT, YOU JUST GET OUT OF HERE WHILE I DISTRACT IT!" Eryndor yelled with a mix of fear and determination.
"ARE YOU CRAZY!? YOU SEEN WHAT THAT THING CAN DO, RIGHT!?" Riven yelled from across the room, running over to the entrance.
"IT'S FINE! I'D RATHER YOU ALL GET OUT OF HERE RATHER THAN US ALL DYING IN HERE TO THIS THING! BESIDES, I HAVE A PLAN! JUST GO!" Eryndor said, scanning the darkness, waiting for the forgeling to pop out.
LIFEFORMS DETECTED… RECALIBRATING MOVEMENTS…
"DONT BE A IDIOT RETREAT!" Riven protested.
"JUST GO!" Eryndor said, running into the centre of the room, his arm glowing a steady bright red.
"ENERGY SOURCE IDENTIFIED… NEW PRIORITY ACQUIRED…"
Before Riven could say anything else, the forgeling was already on top of Eryndor. Its footsteps echoing into the wide open area.