Blurred Horizons

There was a moment of complete stillness as the tunnel went black, then Ben heard Scarlett scream as someone tried to pull her away from him. He kicked out blindly with his foot, his heel meeting something solid. Scarlett clung to him like a frightened cat.

"I suggest we run," Doc's voice said from somewhere up ahead. Ben pulled Scarlett back around into his arms to keep himself between her and whatever was attacking them. He set off up the tunnel, feeling more hands grab and tug at him. He struggled to pull his pistol free of its holster, though he knew there was a good chance it wouldn't even work against these creatures of the island. He didn't fire off any rounds at first, afraid in the darkness he'd accidentally shoot Thomas or Doc.

"Ben!" Scarlett gasped. He almost dropped her and realized one of the red eyed beings was attempting to pull her away again. Cursing, Ben fought to keep a hold on her and fired in the direction her attacked would be. The tunnel was briefly filled with light as the gun went off, and he saw the bullet go straight through the skull of one of the tunnel creatures. He fell back and didn't get up again. The gunshot seemed impossibly loud in the narrow tunnel and Ben's ears rang almost painfully.

"It hurts." Scarlett's voice was ragged. Ben's grip on her had tightened so he could fend off her would-be abductors and try to move faster.

"I know, love. I'm sorry."

He thought he could see a faint light ahead; perhaps the end of the tunnel. He could hear Thomas and Doc shouting but their voices echoed and overlapped and Ben couldn't make out anything they were saying. Someone hit him from behind, sending him sprawling on the ground. Scarlett fell from his arms, whimpering as she landed on her wounded side. Ben frantically tried to crawl toward her but the red eyed cave dwellers surrounded her, trying to pull her straight into the tunnel wall. Ben got to his feet and knocked one aside, slipping into their circle.

"Ben!" Scarlett shouted frantically. One of the beings was dragging her by her leg, and was starting to melt into the wall. Ben shot it, and it dropped Scarlett, freezing half in and half out of the wall and going limp. Ben dropped to the ground beside Scarlett, hovering over her protectively as they were surrounded by a crush of shadowy bodies. Ben held Scarlett close as he fired off every round in his pistol. But there were far too many of them. He'd never be able to stop them all.

"They don't want you, Ben," Scarlett whispered. "They want me and the amulet. Maybe you should just-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Madeline."

Blinding light filled the tunnel and Ben shielded his eyes against the sudden brightness. He could see the nightmarish faces of the cave monsters as they hissed and shrunk back. Streams of aether began striking them down one by one and Ben could see Thomas holding up some sort of flare and Doc firing a ray gun. He reached the two of them and offered a hand to help Scarlett up. Ben lifted her partway toward him, and then she took Doc's hand and he pulled her to her feet.

"Get her out of the tunnel," Ben ordered. Doc tossed Ben another aether gun and pulled Scarlett in the direction of the tunnel's end. Ben stayed near Thomas and his flare, since it seemed to keep the creatures at bay slightly. He kept firing until they stumbled out of the tunnel and into a lighter, more open cavern. Ben expected the creatures to continue their mad scrabbling along the walls and floor to follow them, but they stayed just inside the mouth of the tunnel, only their red eyes visible in the shadows.

"Ben?" Scarlett called. Her eyes looked unfocused as she sagged against Doc to keep from falling down. Ben rushed to her, pulling her back into his arms. He met Doc's gaze and gave him a quick nod of thanks. Even though the creatures didn't follow them, Thomas seemed reluctant to extinguish the light he was holding yet.

"What is that thing?" Ben asked.

"Oh, it's just something I put together so I wouldn't need to use to much oil for lamps."

"Let's get out of here," Doc muttered. "I told you that tunnel gave me a bad feeling."

"Yes you're a genius," Ben said, rolling his eyes. "It was the fastest way to get where we needed to go."

"And how do you know that? We don't even know where we are now."

"You don't know where we are," Ben corrected. He lifted Scarlett into his arms again and wound through the stalactites that seemed more like pillars. Thomas and Doc followed him, seeming confused. They emerged from the forest of giant stalactites and Ben found himself once again looking upon the ca earn where they had found the amulet. Their crew had taken a lot of the treasure with them when they left the island, but the wealth was even more vast than any of them had imagined and they hadn't taken the time to take it all. There were still piles of gold and jewels filling the cave.

Doc let out a low whistle. "Incredible."

"So how do we put the amulet to sleep?" Ben asked. Scarlett reached for the amulet tucked into her dress. She pulled it out and studied it's wild flickering.

"There was a piece missing from it when we first found it," she said. "I put the piece back in and that's when it became bound to me."

"So can't we just remove the piece you added?" Doc asked. Scarlett fumbled with the amulet, but she couldn't pry the piece free. Ben felt a vibration rumble through his bones. It passed after a moment.

"What is that?" Doc looked around, frowning worriedly.

"We need to get that amulet shut down and find that stream, before it's too late," Thomas said, looking pale as they felt the vibration again.

"Before it's too late?" Doc repeated.

"The shaking," Ben said slowly. "We need to put the amulet to rest and get Scarlett to the stream before the cave collapses."