***
Chahzuu peered through the lush foliage into the clearing. It backed up against the foot of a mountain thrust up from the jungle floor with its craggy top lost in the ever present mist shrouding the Great Light above. The jagged slope was filled with broken rock jutting up through the lush growth. There must have been great violence during its creation. It seemed to have pushed up through the level earth, breaking and rending the solid mass of rock beneath as it was the only mountain rising above the jungle for some distance. Why here? This is where the crystal had led him.
The clearing was several spans across. He could see it'd been kept free of growth by carefully placed pavings surrounding an entryway cut into the rock face of the slope. This was a place the ancients had built.
Chahzuu looked around then moved over until he could see directly into the entry. It was small, barely big enough to fit through. And it was dark. Too dark for him to make out anything inside.
His travels had brought him here swiftly. He'd been surprised that it wasn't further from the other Article of Power. Then again, he'd been traveling night and day, stopping only for brief rests.
What awaited him inside? Chahzuu knew whoever left the Articles also left protections. Only those who were meant to find them would.
He should probably stop now and get some rest, but the urgency of his mission forbade it. He gazed around.
There wasn't any discernable threat. So he stepped into the clearing and ghosted over to the entrance.
Chahzuu ducked his head inside, trying to let his eyes grow accustomed to the dark. Something kept his eyes from focusing. It seemed darker than it should be. Still, nothing happened. He couldn't sense any danger, so he stepped inside.
Immediately, he was shrouded in darkness so total he couldn't even see the entryway when he looked back. It was as if he'd been transported to another place far away.
The crystal in his breast turned ice cold and fear crept upon him in a way it'd never come before. His legs trembled and his breath fluttered.
Chahzuu clenched his fists, willing his body under control, and continued to look about. Somewhere there had to be light. But there wasn't. It was complete, absolute darkness. This was more than just a cave.
Chahzuu didn't know how long he stood. It seemed long, not daring to move. He could just turn back, retrace the single step he'd made into this place. Something told him it wouldn't work. He craned his neck, trying in vain to see . . . anything.
A sudden flash of brilliant light blinded him. He raised his hands to cover his eyes. Then he was again bathed in total darkness. Everything was exactly as it was before . . . except the crystal. It wasn't cold anymore. It wasn't . . . anything. It wasn't there! No sensation of it at all. It had been extracted from him in that flash of an instant. Loneliness filled him. His breast felt empty, hollow.
Chahzuu hadn't noticed its constant warming presence in his body until he felt its absence right above his heart. But why take it? Was it again the key to getting into the place where the Article lay? If so, then he'd passed hadn't he? He'd had a crystal. Shouldn't that be the sign to let him pass and obtain the Second Article?
The darkness remained and Chahzuu stood, waiting. There was nothing else. Then the darkness changed. It wasn't that he could see, but the texture felt different. The darkness took form and substance, closing in, enveloping him.
Icy fingers of fear again started to slip around his heart, chilling his soul to the point he shivered. Not from cold, but from a fear that started to overwhelm. Again he clenched his fists, focusing his mind against it. Still it came, uncontrolled and uncontrollable.
The darkness continued to coalesce with increasing force. A constriction started to press in from all sides. Pushing, squeezing in an ever relentless pressure.
The Void! It's here! How? Has it overrun this place? Chahzuu sensed intelligence behind the dark, the mass nothing of constantly building pressure.
Malevolence. Darkness of soul. Of thought. Evil! Ever building. Ever growing. Consuming. Hungry!
I must escape! Even as Chahzuu thought this, the pressure grew, and evil oozed inside.
Despair! Hopelessness! There is no succor, no salvation!
It can't be! Chahzuu continued to fight.
But it is! You can't stop it! The malevolence answered, mocking as the pressure grew more intense.
Chahzuu's body spasmed, being crushed, but still fixed in a standing position, the pressure holding him upright.
I will die. Chahzuu felt his will caving.
Yes, you will die! You will cease to be!