Puck stumbled out of the plume of the gas, coughing. Wheezing. Feeling the burn in their lungs. Like they'd inhaled a fireball. Dizziness overwhelmed them, and they nearly collapsed then and there. But they couldn't. Those voices in the dark, they were horrifying. He ran to catch up to the group. He forgot about his little attempt at evil. Not when all these voices were out there, calling to them.

Puck grasped Ifrit's tail, climbing up the gembound. Not with permission, but Ifrit was large. A larger target than him. He didn't like this. Any of this. The screams, the begging from the dark. It was all horrible. He hated it. If it were a prank, it were a terrible prank. One Puck did not like being on the receiving end of.

"Shut up!" Puck screamed in reply. Puck covered his ears."Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

The extra stones once carried in his hands, long abandoned. Only the singular torch was there, flickering out rapidly.

Puck is rolling to survive.

The horse's screams tore at him. He went from determined to horrified in the space of a heartbeat, ears pinned back at the horrid whinnies and squeals.

Fireheart paced to the edge of the dark-... and then hesitated. Every instinct in him roared for him to go and help, but-... Those who entered the dark did not come back. His imagination ran through every possible terror that might be killing Warrior: fanged things, faceless things, nameless things, things that would madden him even to see. Massive predators, or serpents with legs... he had no idea, but it was heartwrenching, gut-wrenching, listening to the screams.

They didn't stop, either, and Fireheart called out, shouting against it, stepping into and backing away from the shadow time and time again. "HORSE-!" he cried, and struggled to remember his name. He never gave it. Neither did the others. The one who saved me--I don't even know their names. "HORSE-!"

Screams. Fireheart paced. Screams. Screams that--if he survived this--would haunt his fucking nightmares.

At last he turned away, as the last of them died into a gurgle, feeling as though he had died with them. With all of them who had fallen. They were half their numbers, now, and down the one scout who seemed to have known the place.

I have to bring the fire.

A late thought--a weary excuse--but the truth, nonetheless. If he failed at the fire--how would they survive at all..?

"Stay close, he offered hoarsely, his magic reaching for the flame. And it answered, readily, a coil of it sweeping gently to hover, crackling and shapeless, overhead. For a moment, he almost took comfort in its glow, past the near-despair.

But around him, in the dark, voices began.

Movement.

Pleading. Crying. Begging. Empty. Wrong. He stumbled, now and then, eyes widening as he looked around. "Come into the light, then," he demanded, somewhat hoarsely. "Come into the light, if you're out there. If you can move. Where's your lights?"

They'd had baubles, hadn't they?

Fireheart's voice reached a too-high pitch as he staggered on in the darkness. "Where's your lights?!"

Fireheart will attempt to protect everyone.

The bird shuddered, and began to knuckle walk after the others, ruffling her feathers. 'Please, please I want to go home.' The voices were horrifying, and she spread her wings, staggered into the air, afraid that something would leap out and grab her, knowing she would be left behind if she tried to knuckle walk, was far too slow.

She reached for her magic, tried to call up a gust to speed up, and called, still rattling, shaking from fright, "Please, can I ride someone?"

Speech. Thought.

HERA is rolling to survive.

Ru was ready when the gem began moving again. Their feet muffled from the previous spell, and a pickup ready to carry them further. Ru was not, however, ready for more voices to join the fray. The distant sound of footsteps, off and shuffling was horrid to their ears. A reminder of their cruelty. Leaving them to their deaths. Ru shuddered.

"This is not the Hydra I knew. I knew this trial would be bad, but..." Ru trailed off, lips parted.

"It--You shouldn't worry about those already facing death," Ru said. "The merchant wanted us to follow the wisp and light the torches. That is what I will do." Ru nodded to themselves. Saying it almost made them feel better. They had a goal. One they could follow. Ignore everything else. Do as they were asked. As it always was. Their mind inevitably drifted. Ru imagined all those they left behind in previous trials. What if they had come to haunt Ru like this? Would Ru have been here today, suffering?

"Follow the masked merchants instructions. Follow the Overseer's instructions. That is what I've always done. What all of you must do."

Ru's gemstone gave them a spot of warmth, before the winds of pickup whisked the warmth away. Cold, chilling air. But they were with the group.


Quartz Five-Two-Four is rolling to survive.

Charles flinched and looked up as Ifrit lowered his head down towards him. He clacked his beak and looked back at the darkness once before hopping onto Ifrit's nose and climbing onto his head. He glanced at Morganite and sighed softly. "We are not meant to be here! We are children of light and love and joy and hope, yet the darkness picks us off, one by one, falling into fear and pain! We do not deserve this torment! We wanted to see the light, yet all we were given was more darkness!" He chirped with despair in his voice and clutched tightly to Ifrit, but not tight enough to hurt the giraffe.

But then they started calling for them and crying for them to help and Charles let out a small gasp of agony. "No...no, why must they torment us, so? I can't bear it, I can't! Let their souls rest if they are gone! Don't use their bodies and their voices anymore, foul creature! This is cruel and sick and we will not fall for your horrible tricks!" His voice rose until it was almost a screech, his despair flipped quickly to anger as he flapped madly atop Ifrit's head. He was furious, despairing at all his lost siblings and terrified of all the ones he would lose yet.

"Do not listen to its twisted words! Those are not our siblings, not anymore! They are twisted and ruined and they wish only to drag us into the darkness with them! Press onwards, my family, my friends! Stay in the light!"

CHARLES is rolling to stay in the light.

They continued to follow to wisp, and their light seemed to shrink. He huddled in close to the others with Charles's safety in mind; but as the screams and shouts started up around them, he pinned his ears back. Puck said it best: shut up!

As the wolf called out into the darkness, Ifrit's eyes followed. He was right. Where were their lights? He couldn't see his own bauble, but he could feel it resting upon his head. And to check, too, he swept a brief gaze around the others to make sure they still had theirs, too. Morganite was offering comfort to everyone, and Ifrit offered a gentle nudge of his nose in return. But the sounds...

His head lifted again, but still low enough to be within the group, and he shuddered at their words. Was it really them, out there? It sounded... almost like them. Mostly, but a little off in a way that made his skin crawl.

"Here," he offered to @Hera and with a quick grin, "but I'll let you know next time before I go running off—er, I don't plan on doing that, anyway." He had been so caught up in following Pumpkin that it hadn't occurred to him to dislodge any passengers then.

"I have a lot of room, for others," he added, if others needed a rest as well.

Charles, atop his head, had a lot to say though. Ifrit's ears curled to listen, and he nodded in agreement—gently enough that he would not disturb Charles or the speech though. It was cruel and sick. It was honestly disgusting. As much as Ifrit hated to agree further, Charles was right... those couldn't be their family members anymore, right? And the others, they had to be gone somehow.

His attention was turning to Ru. They'd been here before, he could gather, and he nodded. Yes. Follow the instructions. Light the torches. What if the darkness cleared when the torches were lit, and all of their friends came piling back in, laughing, and joking about being in the dark? What if it would all be okay after?

That's what he had to hope for. He had to hope for something, at least.

But as he tried to find that flicker of hope inside of himself, he felt the chill of the darkness creep in and snuff out the warmth he had kept through the entire trial.

Charles's words came clawing back in with the cold. What if it... wouldn't be okay? What if it was all a sick game? What if they were all destined to fade away out here, lost in the shadow?

IFRIT is rolling to protect the entire group, but those riding him first (if ok: Hera, Charles, + any others)

The pandemonium wasn't yet enough to drown out the shrieking whistle of metal on metal, nor the heavy thump-ssh, thump-ssh, thump-ssh! of hoof-claws trudging through the mire.

Elyon, caught between a mewl and a roar, escaped from the dark. It sounded like it was coming from ahead of the group, waiting at the next torch. "The Black Dog found it," called the voice, "a safe spot up here - come on, come on. It can't reach you here."

Suddenly, her speech ramped into urgency, yet still delivered in a rattling monotone - somehow... "hurry!"

There was the sound of an axe wedging into wood, and more metal shrieking.

brief emetophobia warning

Another crushing grip on them, and another lost to the dark because of them. Ribs spasming painfully, Howl retched at the coppery taste in their mouth, and half-expected to find white strands in there. Nothing but bile.

Shaking miserably, singularly focused, still yet ignoring all of those around them - was that selfish? They didn't know themselves very well, but they knew that they were selfish. Or... self-preserving? Selfish? Self-preserving - just wanting to survive. Keep themselves safe. Pay no mind to the screams they were compartmentalizing and shoving off for the deeper, quieter never-fronting personalities to hold.

It was a cheap way to make lost time.

Mismatched eyes stared at the vague cyan blur above, trailing near-blindly after it.

HOWL is rolling to survive.

His family's voices, everyone who had been lost, he could hear them. They were out there, somewhere, lost and cold in the darkness, all alone. Here he was, with a group, under the light, though not safe they were at least together. He just couldn't bring himself to ignore those voices. The cries. The temptation. Yet, he knew that one step out into the darkness and he would be lost. How could he. How could they. They're just leaving all of them out there, but what were they supposed to do. What could they possibly do.

Charles' voice brought him back to the present, moving on, under the light which had lost some of its glow, some of its safety. How long until it was completely gone and they had nothing to protect them from the enclosing darkness, the voices, the things out there pacing the edges waiting to grasp them. "Calm down Charles, we have to keep everyone positive, you're not helping." The darkness was fraying his nerves, he kept his smile up, though stretched and forced and afraid, but he couldn't listen to Charles as he made everyone doubt their survival. "We will make it, we will all be fine, just stay together and away from the darkness." Yet, he almost couldn't listen to himself when he could hear those voices out there. What if they were still alive, what if they were unhurt? He knew that wasn't true, having been out into the darkness himself, but they needed hope. Though Charles' words were right, don't listen to them, don't go into the darkness, he was still going to rile everyone up and tear at their hope.

Oren attempted to reach out with his magic again, hoping he could prevent someone else getting hurt, hoping he could prevent them all getting hurt, there was something ancient and evil out there, there had to be.

He snuggled closer to Morganite's side as they held him close but whilst doing so he kept his ears open to listen to everyone, their voices and footsteps, hoping he could catch them before they step away. Though he couldn't keep his eyes on them, the light fading had made his eyesight worse, he kept twisting his head as if he could watch them all. "We're going to be fine, guys."

ORENSTEIN is rolling to protect the entire group.

Anemoi

The tension is making her almost sick with worry, the rotten smells of the not dead others out in the dark making what short hair they have stand on end. The death of the horse of Hydra's light seems like an omen, a promise against the whole group and she swallows her shrieks, tears rolling down her face and hitting the sand as she turns and makes her way to her family, or whats... left of it.

"Guys, we really need to stick together, this light is only going to get smaller the more torches we light."

But we need to light them, otherwise... I don't think we're going to be able to get out.

Her voice is steady, and so is her flopping stride, but she can feel her very being curling under the pressure. The physical weight of the bloated shadows pressing in.

I don't want to die, but if those among us with fire do... everyone will.


ANEMOI is rolling to protect Ifrit