Chapter 11 - Egg

The column of rodentia led by the cloaked prince entered the cave through the chiseled rectangular archway which bore the same carvings from Mari’s dreams, but was distinctly unique from the cave she had awoken in back in Long Valley.

The daylight faded quickly as they progressed, but their eyes adapted, just as they always had back in The Burrow, however even there the bioluminescence and soft lighting aided in their vision. This was a deep darkness, an unnatural darkness.

The Prince and Guardians deployed the same autonomous drones that had patrolled the camp earlier. The Prince handed a small disc to Mari and the Guardians did the same for Jerro and Greg. 

“Place these to your temples” the Prince commanded quietly to the group. They followed and were greeted with a mental heads up display that illuminated their vision perfectly.

The Prince turned and continued down the hall, “You are all now tapped into the psionic matrix transduction field. These devices interface with the psionic architecture that permeates the universe.”

He turned and looked at them all, “It also allows an encrypted telepathic link between the users.” he communicated plainly without moving his mouth and turned after a lingering stare.

“Was this network unique to Lunda’s network from Station? How can we even control our own thoughts versus what goes into these telepathic network spaces?” Mari thought to herself, waiting for a possible response from either her friends, Lunda or the Prince and Guardians. None came.

“Lunda, how do we control which telepathic network we are communicating in?” Mari communicated, hoping it would go to the right place.

“Mari, it’s great to hear you! To answer your question, you’ll be able to modulate the void frequency naturally. This is something that all psionic users will do without thought or consideration as part of the psionosympathetic nervous system. It’s not possible to communicate with anyone you do not intend to.” 

“Oh gross!” Jerro said aloud

“QUIET” Guardian Natal immediately responded over the telepathic network.

“Sorry, I just stepped on something, it’s all cold and mushy…” Jerro responded in the network.

“It’s okay, let me see your foot” The Prince said in the network moving back towards Jerro.

A black tarry substance covered his foot. It moved in a strange pulsating manner. Jerro flipped down his sound enhancing monocular and could see that it was reverberating at an odd frequency. He started seeing a pattern in it, a sound wave that loosely translated into a series of ‘A’ and ‘W’ sounds. 

“Awawa?” Jerro said with confusion in the network space.

“What are you talking about?” Guardian Maxuun asked as they all gathered around Jerro.

“I’m not sure, that's what this black sticky stuff said to me… I think I can invert the frequency to collapse the waveform” he said, holding his paw to a temple. He produced a barely audible sound which caused the goopy substance to start to vibrate. The vibration grew in intensity until finally, the sticky tar turned to granules and dropped off Jerros webbed foot.

“Very interesting…” Prince Lukyaza communicated calmly as the Guardians looked at him.

They group proceeded further into the cave system. The tunnel's crude carving was a stark mismatch to the carefully etched entrance. The tarry substance also became more prevalent, now covering the walls and ceiling leaving only a small footpath for them to walk which narrowed and closed. The entire way was now covered in tarry goo.

Mari was about to suggest they turn back when a faint red glow began to illuminate the tunnel.

The Prince stopped in his tracks and threw up a quick, fisted paw, while the two drones zipped silently down the cavern towards the source of the light.

The advanced heads up display seamlessly integrated the drones view, creating a layered multidimensional space as they mapped the forward surroundings of the cave, illuminating it in a soft green hexagonal pattern which overlayed on the real world structures.

As the drones moved deeper into the red glow, the forward most drone’s feed suddenly went to static and dropped off. The second drone’s footage caught this, as the first drone froze mid flight. It slowly rotated toward the second drone then accelerated at high speed towards it.

The sudden collision caused a feedback through the heads up display that drove the entire group to shudder slightly, their fur standing on end as it tore through their minds. The cavern sank into a deep darkness, lit now only by the red glow emanating from around the corner.

Jerro’s personal display was showing the same modulated frequency coming off the deep pearlescent goo. It was waving in pulses towards the source of the red glow.

Jerro took lead in the group and turned back towards the others “Follow me” he said plainly in the mind space.

He focused his mind on the substance and once again inverted the frequency to collapse the waveform in a linear path. The tarry goop subsided through the center of the cavern and Jerro pushed forward, paw to his temple, guiding the group through the sticky mess.

As they approached the corner, the familiar wave of nausea swept through them. The friends knew it, this was certainly Hyraxian activity. 

The crude tunnel opened up into a sharply contrasting chamber with massive vaulted ceilings. Suspended in the center of the room was a large egg shaped object, emanating its own blue hue that mixed with the red glow creating a violet boundary that ebbed and flowed around it, as if the colors were locked in battle.

Within the egg was a silhouetted object, the details of which could not be made certain. The gooey substance covered this room completely, masking any of the architecture that may have existed beneath it.

Below the egg stood the large creature Jerro instantly recognized from the incident at The Deepworks, now knowing its true name made the scene somehow more disturbing than the first time. The large hyrax stood on its hind legs, channeling a stream of energy which coalesced from the six smaller hyrax which formed around it.

Before any of the group could act, the bottom of the egg shattered and fluid poured out, followed by a hairless bipedal creature which was gently guided to the tar covered ground by the energy beam emitted by the large hyrax.

The large hyrax looked over its shoulder at the group and let off a small sneer and in it’s deep guttural language gave a quiet command.

The smaller hyrax turned, emitting a volley of deep red blasts towards the group. Jerro summoned a shield which deflected the blasts sending them careening around the cavernous chamber.

The guardians ripped forward as their mech suits carried them through the air towards the formation of hyrax, their shoulder turrets deploying and returning a volley of their own. Of the barrage, only one blast made contact with a hyrax, causing it to vibrate intensely and disintegrate into the goop.

The large hyrax turned in anger, raising a paw. A column of dark pearlescent goop shot from the opposing wall, ripping through both guardians, consuming them in the darkness. The column returned to the wall, with no sign of the guardians.

“Maxuun, Natal, report!” The Prince commanded over the mind space. He was answered by silence, then a voice, the deep guttural voice of the large hyrax permeated the telepathic communication. “They have been consumed by the Glorp, and you will join them there as well”

“NOO!” The Prince yelled aloud and shot into the air. “Lukyaza stop!” Mari pleaded with him.

In a flash of speed, The Prince channeled a massive blast, his arms gesturing as the room began to shake, debris and goop chunks falling from the ceiling.

They could feel the psionic energy, they could see it, well not visibly, but as if it were a blanket that covered everything, a sort of matrix that spiked towards Lukyaza. He drew it in around him and through him.

The three friends huddled together around Jerro as the room violently shook. The power from this blast drew everything into it, sound, matter, even time itself felt as if it were slowing. Jerro channeled his shield, aided by Greg and Mari, just small enough to contain the three of them and Phlip who pressed his fluffy body closely into the group.

Then it stopped, a calm returned and darkness resumed in the space. “Prince Lukyaza?” Mari questioned over the shared space.

He did not answer. Rubble encapsulated them just outside of Jerro’s barrier which emitted a faint blue glow.

Mari reached into her pack and grabbed out her lantern, expanding and twisting it to activate it. She hung this around Phlips neck on his harness.

Greg and Mari both channeled a mini blast and contained it in their paws, fully illuminating the area within Jerro’s barrier.

“Can you guys see any way out?” Jerro asked while focusing on maintaining his barrier.

“I’m not sure, but I think there’s a break in the rubble over here” Greg answered and asked “Can you lower the shield in just this spot?”

“Let me try” Jerro responded and shifted his weight toward Greg and moved his paw over attempting to reduce the shield.

Rubble began to drop through the area adjacent to Greg and he let off a thunderous paw strike that sent the rubble flying.

The same red glow began to permeate through the broken rubble.

“Dang, are they still out there?” Mari questioned in the mind space.

“Must be” Greg responded as he hoisted himself through the small hole to poke his head out.

As he crested the rubble he saw the large hyrax, carrying the bipedal creature over its shoulder and dragging Prince Lukyaza through a dark circular portal.

“Guys, we gotta go quick!” Greg said to them as he pulled his body through and reached a hand down for Mari.

She grabbed on and they pulled up Phlip behind her.

“Jerro, when I say so, release the shield!” Mari said urgently.

“NOW!” Mari yelled.

Greg and Mari pulled Jerro out as the rubble collapsed inward, consuming the refuge of the shield.

The smaller hyrax were gone, but the portal remained. Swirling with a deep inky oily darkness. Pearlescent swirls glinted as it began to close.

The goo that covered the room was shattered now and the friends could make a quick path to the portal but it was closing too quickly, they wouldn't make it in time.

Mari stopped and thought about what Rufus had told her back on station, channeling in a way that she was taught to activate the chronoarch. The portal stopped, she had it, she stopped it!

She looked at her friends and Phlip.

“Let's go for it” she said as she confidently made way towards the portal flanked by Greg, Jerro and Phlip taking up the rear.