"It worked..." Lana mumbled. The green shards had finally worked. She didn't know what had changed, but it didn't matter now. She had saved him. The green light would restore him to full health. She had seen the others. The tears she had suppressed ever since Bill brought her crystallized, emerald hope spewed forth once more. Joy mixed with grief. One would live, but the other was still cold and dead. But then the light began to fade.

It was too early, Duke had barely begun to heal. There was a minor improvement in the strength of each rasping breath, and a slight sign of color had returned to his pale, drained face. It was an improvement, but it lasted for only a moment. He continued to bleed internally, and the dark blotches on his skin continued to grow and swell, "No! Bill! I need more! I can do it now!" Bill turned back to look at her from the entryway with a look of broken sorrow, "I'm sorry... It won't... It won't work... Please... Let him go. " "No! It worked! It just worked! He was glowing! He was healing! I swear!" Bill looked down at the mangled remnants of a heroic young man, but it was obvious she was lying. He had seen the wondrous effects of the shards. Just a few would have made a great difference, and she had taken a heaping hand-full. "I'm sorry." he sighed, and turned his back on her. He couldn't bear to see the look on her face. He couldn't bear to see that last, desperate glimmer of hope die. "No! Bill! Don't do this! Don't-" Pike's hand reached down, and squeezed her shoulder gently, "It's alright Lana, I saw. He will be alright." "Thank you." Lana sobbed, "Can I have some more shards?" "No, you don't need them now." "What!? No! Why!? Why would you do that!?" she screamed. He gave her new hope, and now... "It's alright. You can do it without them. Please, trust me miss." "What do you mean it's alright!? And trust you!? This is what trusting you has brought!" she screamed as she clung to Duke with one arm, and gestured to Earl with the other. Pike flinched. The words cut deep as truth often did, but he pressed on, "Please, we don't have much time. Do you want to save him or not?" Lana glared at him, with hate in her eyes, but his calm and confident words were the only shelter in the storm of her wild desperation, "I'm listening." "Alright. Set both of your hands on his chest, one over his heart, and one over the worst wound." She complied, but cynicism strained the thin threads of hope, "And? What now? I don't have any left." "You are overflowing with energy. It is so thick that it has formed a nimbus of light all around you. Now, why your body hasn't processed it all I can only guess, but it doesn't matter now. You need to use that light." "How!? What am I supposed to do! It's just light! I can't grab it! I can't use it!" "Bear with me. You can do this. Focus on the energy around you. Try to collect it, try to gather it into your hands." Lana glared at Pike, but she sighed. It wasn't any more crazy than everything else that she had seen today. She tried to relax, and cleared her mind as much as she could with her brother dying beneath her. But then, she felt something. It was a fleeting connection, but there was something else there, both beyond and within her body. It was an alien sensation, but it seemed as if the aura of light was a part of her. From the outside it appeared to a fairly stable aura, a persistent glow. As she examined it, it seemed like a liquid, slowly swirling around her body. "Bring it in, focus it onto your hands." Pike's voice refocused her on her objective. She pushed, and pulled the energy towards her hands. She called it, begged it and slowly it began to obey. The longer she tried, the more she began to understand. It wasn't a matter of force, but her control that mattered. When she viewed it as an external force, she tried to force it with her own will, to dominate it, and that worked to a very limited extent. However it was a part of her, and she found that it willingly obeyed her, she needed only learn how to ask. Just like learning to whistle, it was difficult to manipulate your mind to control things it had never done before, and it was even worse when it wasn't even naturally a part of your body. At least when you first learned to whistle, you already knew how to move your lips and tongue. It was just a matter of learning how to move them in the right way and to exhale just the right amount. Slowly some of the excess energy circulating around her was directed towards her hands. Within a few minutes there was a small, but notable buildup around her hands, but she was out of time. Duke was so pale, and his breathing was almost too shallow to notice, even as she held her hands on his chest. "Sheriff! What do I do now!" "Exactly what you did before. Focus, use all of your will, and pour the energy into his body. Save your brother." Lana grit her teeth, and her beautiful, but dirty face scrunched up as she strained to direct the glowing power around her hands. It was faint, but his body glowed once more. "I'll be damned..." Pike mumbled as he saw the emerald light embrace the dying man for the second time. The first time, it seemed as if the shards had somehow worked, even if there was a delay, but Pike's supernatural sense saw through it. It was all her, and her desperation to save her brother. She just hadn't known it until now. Even Pike wasn't entirely sure, but if he had psychic powers, it was entirely possible that she could do this. As best as he could tell, it was nowhere near as efficient with the power as someone breaking a shard themselves, so much of the life granting glow vanished into the cavern, but it was only her second time. The light of realization dawned upon Lana's face at the same time that color returned to her brother's. Pike had been right, both his heart and his wounds sucked at the mana once she poured it in. It made it slightly easier that his body was instinctively helping, but it was still a huge strain on both her mind and body. She held on for ten seconds of pouring energy into him before she had to stop. Her mind was dizzy, and she could barely keep herself upright, but her brother had made significant progress. "Take a short rest, and try again. You are doing well." Pike's horribly scarred face split in a grin as he saw the exhausted delight on the young woman's face. There was nothing like having a purpose and feeling useful to get you through hell. But then his eyes drifted over to Earl, and his grin vanished, "I'm so sorry Lana." He spoke softly, with a weakness that seemed impossible for a man so tough, as he turned away, and wandered over to join Art and the healed men resting against the wall "Thank you." Lana whispered, as she caressed her remaining brother's head. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Duke awoke from a peaceful nap with a blissful smile on his face. He could feel his partner's toned thigh cushioning his head, and her hand caressing his face. He felt the crisp grass beneath his back and the warmth sun on his skin. And then he breathed. The movement of the air through his nose brought with it the stench of blood. The air around him was heavy with the aroma of death, it was so thick he could almost taste it. No, he could taste it. The inside of his mouth was coated in blood. He heaved himself off his back and onto his side, trying to right himself before he puked, but as he rolled he came face to face with the face of a bear, it's maw open wide and eyes glimmering in the sunlight. Dead, he was dead, and the beast had followed him into hell. The massive man threw himself back, he heard screaming. Someone was yelling at him. He scrambled on the ground, and then launched himself upright into a sprint, at least he tried to. His second step caught on a discarded rifle, and he tumbled down atop another man. He scrambled to rise before he noticed who he had fallen on. It was his brother. He would recognize that plaid shirt stretched over his brother's broad shoulders anywhere. He looked behind him, and saw the severed head of of the bear they had fought with, it's lower jaw hanging limp without support. He saw his sister standing next to it, joy and grief warring for control of her face. He must have worried her, as hurt as he was. He laughed at how scared he had been, and turned back to share his embarrassment with his brother, but the laughter died in his throat A wretched scream echoed across the cavern, a dirge of grief, fury, and despair. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Time to leave." Pike said to Bill as they stood watch at the entrance to the cavern. "Can't we give them some more time?" Bill sighed, as he glanced over at the mourning siblings standing silently over their brother's resting corpse. Art had wrapped a mostly clean bandana around the remains of his neck, but little else could be done to conceal the horrid abuse his body had endured before his valiant end. Lana had gotten it into her head to heal him too after Duke had calmed down, but Pike had put an end to that. It took far more energy to heal without the body helping, and Pike had said that the extra energy was doing something horribly unnatural. Luckily, Duke had gotten his wits together enough to pull her off, but going by the dark look in his eyes, he wasn't handling things much better. "No, the light is fading, and I don't think we can make it out without it." Pike grumbled as he gestured up towards the crystalline sun at the top of the cavern. Bill glanced up, "Seems as bright as ever boss, you sure? Besides, we've got those flares. We'll be alright" "I've been watching it for awhile now, and it's slow, but is getting less bright, and it is fading faster as time goes on. It seems to be that it drew power from that damned gem." Pike spoke the word 'gem' with a scowl, "As for the flares, do the math. It took us two sets to get through half the floor above, and we only have four left. Even given that the path through the first floor was half as long as the second, we will have to use them all to get out. That's assuming we can leave without a fight or any delays, and that this light here holds up all the way to the end of this floor." "Oh. Hell." Bill's eyes went wide, the thought of being trapped in the dark was far worse than fighting. But the momentary fear settled into confusion, "But Art had a full case, there was tons in there! Besides, you got us in here easy enough, can't ya go the same way?" "Duke, Earl, Mark, the two men holding up the rear and myself each had eight flares, and art had 10. We all used two, Earl's were crushed, and half of Duke's were broken. Mark's are missing, probably in the stomach of one of those damned rats." Pike paused for a moment, the pain of another dead deputy weighing on his heart, "Now apparently, the two men in the rear fled as soon as the beasts reached us, taking their flares with them. David saw them run off. That leaves Art's, some of Duke's, and mine, except I used one to cauterize my face, and then old Frank got desperate and used some of Art's on the other men. So no, we've got Fourteen. I'm not leaving the rear without light, and I like having two spares. We need to move, and quick." with a brief sigh, he added "I can probably guide us out, but it'll be much harder than coming down. I followed the green bastard down here, without anything to track, leaving is much more difficult. Following our own trail is the better option, and I'd really prefer to not get ambushed in the darkness." "You got it boss, I'll go round everyone up." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bill had gathered up the few survivors, and in a few short minutes they were ready to go. They were loathe to leave their valiant dead behind, but the darkening of the room had quickly become noticeable. The eight remaining hunters stood at the cavern mouth, and with a little bickering and arguing they had decided on what trophies were worth taking. It seemed macabre to think of at such a time, but Pike had made a good case. Noone was going to believe this. The men up above had the goblin, pictures, and videos. A few of their battles had even been recorded. But pictures and videos were only worth so much in the modern era of digital alteration. People could even say the goblin was a child in makeup, or that the skulls were fakes. Testing would prove otherwise, but they needed immediate proof, and the head and paw of the largest grizzly ever seen along with the head of a rat the size of a golf cart would leave even the most ardent skeptic without room to argue. There was also a more precious cargo. They had gathered something from each of the fallen. They had taken the badges and patches from Mark and the other four fallen deputies, the rest were a mix of hats, phones, wedding rings, and wallets. Anything that could be used to identify them, and a memento to give their grieving families. Pike was ashamed to admit he didn't even know some of their names, and a memento was the least they could do after leaving them here to be eaten and rot. The only exception was for Earl. Duke had outright refused to leave him behind, and had pulled his gun on the Sheriff when he had tried to convince him that they couldn't slow down to carry him or risk being weighed down in a fight. Duke heaved his brother's body over his shoulder, and that was that. The somber heroes began their long march to the surface, winding their way back through the unnaturally lit caves and tunnels of the third floor. The crystals above had continued to fade ever faster until there was nearly no light at all as they reached the long ramp to the second floor, and the abyssal darkness beyond. "Hold up a moment there, Sheriff!" Art called out to Pike who was leading the way. Art had taken the rearguard with David. "Did you spot some of the bastards?" Pike's eyes darted wildly as he scanned everything he could see without turning around. "No sir. There's something we forgot to take back with us, and something I aim to try." Pike turned from his vigilant forward watch, now that the immediate threat of danger had passed. "David, take the lead would you?" With a nod, David stepped forward, and Pike turned to answer Art with an annoyed expression, but with more than a hint of curiosity, "What are you thinking? What is worth waiting for down here?" "The lights, sir. We should bring some back with us. More proof, and I have an idea that won't cost us any time at all." "How do you plan on getting to those crystals in the middle of the darn ceiling, more than 20 feet-" While Pike was talking, Art had pulled his sidearm from his holster, and Pike stopped to stare at the gun in Art's hand. "A damned 50 cal pistol and a grenade. What in the hells did you think we were hunting? Tanks?" Pike paused, confounded by the absurdly over prepared hunter in old army surplus cammo gear. "Hell, as long as you don't make it explode you can do whatever you damn well please." Pike turned to the rest of the survivors, and gestured into the tunnel ahead, "All of you, into the tunnel. I don't trust those unnatural lights not to explode, and I don't trust Art to not find a way to make them explode even if they aren't supposed to." Art began to protest at the insult to his virtue, however a smile and a nod from Pike put his mind at ease. "Have fun, but try not to hurt yourself. I don't want you wasting any of those shards to patch yourself up. You've got five minutes" Pike said to the disturbingly excited man. "I'll do it in one!" Art cheered, before he darted towards the center of the cavern, and aimed for the shelter of a particularly large boulder. The other survivors saw his urgency, and ducked into the tunnel to the higher floor. Piked looked at the annoyed, and impatient expressions around him, he could see the overflowing power fading from their bodies as it was either absorbed or dispersed, and his unique perception of the energy had given him a new danger to worry about. The fel energies of the cavern and forest above were like a drug. His men had quite literally been high off of the battle, or more specifically, the energy they gained from the wholesale slaughter of their foes. It had kept the majority of their fear, pain, sorrow, and nerves at bay, and while great emotions could still power through, they were dulled, and softened. He needed them to be out of the cave system before the magic high wore off, or else it was going to get very ugly. Pike was pulled from his brief reverie by the sounds of obscenely high caliber gunfire, and then the screeching crash of something very large, and very fragile exploding from repeated high powered impacts. The light from the tunnel entrance below dimmed greatly as the structure was broken, and delighted cackling echoed from the cavern. They heard the sound of ducttape, something being dropped, cursing, and then a exuberant cheer, "It worked! The damn thing works!" David turned a questioning gaze on Pike, silently asking what the hell was going on, but Pike could only shrug with a smirk. But David's unspoken question was soon answered when a brilliant light slammed into his sensitive eyes that had attuned to the darkness of the tunnel. "What in the hell!" David cried, alongside the groans and cries of pain and surprise from those around him. "Sorry! Sorry!" Art shouted from the bottom of the tunnel, hastily tearing off his hat and pressing the front of his jury rigged headlamp into his bloodstained jacket. "What is that!?" David yelled, "What in the hell did you do!? All the lights are dead! And they sure as hell aren't that bright!" "I found a work-around, toss me one of the dead lights and I'll show you!" Pike let loose a knowing grin, and threw his long-dead light down the tunnel to the creative hunter who caught it by the dim glow escaping from his flashlight face-down in the dirt. Then he unscrewed the front, unscrewed the light-bulb, and pulled out a piece of black rock, a shard of the magical gem, and more tape. As soon as the gem touched the rock, the rock lit up like a beacon, and as soon as it was strapped together, Art stuffed it down inside the flashlight housing, and they suddenly had two working flashlights, albeit in a form no-one had ever seen before. Art had just re-discovered light in the darkest of places. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the victorious heroes marched out of the depths, the gem chunk dropped by Bill began to squirm and wriggle in the depths of the pool of blood it had fallen in. Where once this cavern had teamed with life, now only this mysterious pool remained. The pool thickened, and tightened around the chunk of emerald, until it began to turn to jelly. Out of the pool of blood and the shard of a dungeon, an ooze monster was born!