[L18 - Belsavis - FZ] Mysteries of the Sith (II) - Confrontation at the Temple

Deep in the dark, remote cenote...

The first thing that struck Carm was how hot it was down here. They had felt warmth in some of the other cenotes on Belsavis, but at the base of the temple it felt different. It wasn't the relieving heat of escaping the bitter cold of the Wastes above. The heat seemed to come from everywhere at once, seeping through the ancient stone beneath his boots and settling somewhere deep inside his bones. There was no comfort in it. It was suffocating, oppressive, almost as though the temple itself was breathing.

Ahead of them, a deep, yawning maw opened into the darkness. Carm could only assume it was the entrance to the tomb, though something about it made him doubt that the word tomb was even appropriate. It didn't look like a place built for the end of life. It looked like something that had been waiting to awaken.

The next thing that struck him was the flames. It wouldn't have been unbelievable for the rivers of lava surrounding the temple to set the ancient stone ablaze, but the ethereal green flames burning at the entrance were something else entirely. They danced without heat or fuel, their unnatural light spilling from cracks in the pillars and curling around the ancient carvings that covered the walls. Carm had seen plenty of strange things through his travels across the galaxy, but this felt different. There was something almost wrong about it, as though the flames belonged to another place entirely.

And then there was the silence.

As they descended on their ropes into the depths of the cenote, the darkness had gradually swallowed the sounds of the world above. Now there was nothing. No wind. No distant rumble of machinery. Not even the faint hiss of their equipment. The silence seemed to press against Carm's ears until he could hear his own heartbeat.

Beneath the cracking, ancient stones of the pathway to the entrance, Carm noticed a contorting pool of red. At first he assumed it was more lava, but as he looked closer he saw that the surface was perfectly smooth, almost silky. It moved in slow, deliberate ripples despite there being no wind or current. He turned away from it quickly.

Despite every instinct telling him that this place was dangerous, Carm found himself inexplicably drawn toward the temple entrance. His mind screamed at him to stay away from the roaring green flames, but another part of him wanted to step forward. To walk directly into them. To descend into whatever waited beyond that dark doorway and let the temple consume him.

There was power here. He could feel it. Maybe it was the price you had to pay for true power...

"There better be a mountain of treasure in there," Bern said, snapping Carm out of his trance.

The Flame Trooper shifted uneasily, looking from the strange flames to the darkness beyond them. "It would make this journey worth it for sure. The sooner we're out of here, the better..."

A mild buzzing began somewhere in the darkness, and Carm narrowed his vision to focus. At first it was barely noticeable, little more than a vibration at the edge of his hearing. But he could feel it pressing against his mind. He glanced toward Bern and the Flame Trooper, expecting their own reactions. They seemed oblivious.

"Is it coming from the temple?" he wondered.

The hum grew louder in response. Carm tried to focus on the world around him, but the harder he concentrated, the worse it became. The sound was no longer coming from one direction. It seemed to be everywhere, vibrating through the stone, through his armor, through his skull. For a brief moment he thought he could hear something beneath it. A voice, perhaps, or thousands of voices speaking at once in a language he couldn't understand.

He closed his eyes. The buzzing became a roar.

Then something moved like a flash behind Bern. A shadow swept into view, impossibly fast, and a towering figure seemed to rise out of the darkness itself. Bern barely had time to turn before the attacker struck, knocking him violently to the ground. The Flame Trooper fumbled for her blaster, and she turned toward the figure looming over her.

"Stop where you are!" Those were the last words she spoke. A knife flashed, cutting through her plated armor with horrifying ease, and she collapsed onto the ancient stones.

Carm lurched forward, but the world seemed to tilt beneath him. The buzzing had become a deafening cacophony. His limbs felt numb, even his mechanical arm hanging uselessly at his side.

Then the attacker was upon him.

Carm threw a punch, but it landed with nothing more than a dull thump. Another followed. Then another. His fists felt impossibly heavy, as though he were fighting underwater. The figure displayed no notice of his feeble attacks.

Carm looked up and saw the dark visage of death itself staring back at him through an imperceptible mask. There was no face behind it that he could make out, only darkness and two cold, unreadable eyes.

"Who... are you?" Carm managed to choke out.

The figure seized him by the throat and lifted him from the ground with effortless strength.

For a moment Carm thought he saw something behind the mask- not a face, but a shape moving where no shape should have been. Something vast and indistinct, as though the darkness behind his attacker stretched far beyond the confines of the temple. Then came its soft reply.

"A servant of someone far more powerful."

The words seemed to echo inside Carm's head rather than through his ears. Then the knife came down.

The butt of the weapon struck Carm across the side of his head, and the world disappeared. For several moments there was nothing, as an eerie silence returned to the scene.

The masked figure turned away and began dragging Carm down the ancient staircase. His boots scraped uselessly against the stone, leaving a faint trail behind him as the pair disappeared into the unnatural darkness surrounding the temple entrance.

Bern slowly struggled back onto his feet.

His head was pounding, and his vision swam. For several seconds he couldn't remember where he was. "Ugh... what happened?"

He looked down. The Flame Trooper they'd been traveling with lay motionless against the rockwork, dark blood barely visible against the deep red of her armor. "Oh no..."

Bern pulled off his helmet and felt warm blood trickling from the wound on his own forehead. He wiped it away, still trying to clear the haze from his vision. Then he noticed the empty space on the stairs.

"Carm?" No response came to him.

"Carm!" he shouted, his distorted voice echoing through the cavern.

"CARM!!" Only the echo answered.

Bern stared toward the temple entrance. The green flames continued to burn without flickering, illuminating the ancient doorway and the darkness beyond it.

For the briefest moment, he thought he saw something move deep inside. He blinked. Obviously there was nothing there.

"Krak it all..." Bern muttered. "Gire's going to kill me." His headache threatened to split his skull, but he forced himself upright. Whatever had taken Carm was out there, and they needed to find him.

"I've got to get back to the rest of the crew."

He retrieved his helmet and placed it back over his head. The familiar hiss of its seals was strangely comforting in the oppressive silence.

Bern took one last look toward the temple.

Then he turned and started climbing. Behind him, deep within the ancient darkness, something was stirring. It wasn't ready to awaken yet, but it was closer to the world of the living than it had been in an age.

----

Thanks for reading! I had fun playing around with more lovecraftian/sith elements in this build, though I've been trying to keep them more unknowable and strange rather than super obvious and tangible. And now the story moves on to the desperate attempt to save Carm! As always, I welcome any comments, critiques and suggestions!