Stella stayed where she was left for what felt like an eternity. Hope had long died in her heart—the hope that his soft footsteps might return.
The only sounds in the damp, brown tunnel were the irritating skitters of Hive beasts and the horrific moans of things echoing from the nest.
Her eyes were closed as she hugged her knees, she stopped crying even before he left. Something in those cold blue eyes told her it was pointless, Matthew was the definition of solid.
Nothing could shake him, Stella quietly wished she was fearless like him—brave enough to charge into the nest and save her friends. Fear had sunk into her bones and chilled her spirit, she no longer knew what to even do.
Maybe Matthew was right, she was useless and weak—so painfully weak. What right did she have to disagree with him?
Yet a small corner in her spirit was angry, burning with rage that was suppressed by her fear. She wanted to get up and track him down, tell him he was wrong.
She cared about him, about Kory, John and most importantly Paul.
They weren't bad people, especially compared to the animals they had in the group. Paul was kind and steady, he always knew how to calm everyone down.
He was a good person even to assholes like Keith and Stefan.
You see! I do hate some people, but I don't want them to die. I'm not like you, not strong and fearless. But I still want to try, face fear just like you.
Still her spirit fought against thinking so horribly about people, no one was perfect—especially her. What right did she have to say they were wrong?
To refute the little jokes they made about her when she asked what spirits felt like? She wouldn't be able to use them like they did, she would be slower and weaker.
It would be better to just give up, avoid pointless arguments and just do what she could to be useful.
Yet something had been eating at her heart, when she saw Matthew's little, blue spirit, when she saw him dismantling the Sword demon like a petulant child.
When she closed her eyes she saw herself as him, standing over dead monsters—a defiant and unstoppable power in her gaze. She screamed as she stood.
"I'll die then, since that's what you want. I'll die if it means I even have a chance to save everyone."
Her chest heaved roughly as she glared at the brown stone in front of her, she slapped her shivering fingers against her cheeks and growled in her throat.
Then she saw what was beside her.
It was a larger Hive beast, its grey chitin armour was rough, thicker and imposing. The blue spikes on its back resembled spears and its spike legs were serrated and sharp.
Its insect-like eyes were paired with two large orange eyes, two blunt black horns on its head and a suspiciously large pool of saliva, gathering beneath its unnerving mandibles.
Stella and the beast locked eyes for a couple seconds.
Then she let out a guttural scream from the bottom of her heart and ran away.
Her mind spun, a dizzying amount of thought flashing through as she ran for dear life. Her green eyes darted back and forth as the creature just watched.
I'm dead, I'm so dead. Matthew! Where is he? I can't do it, I can't fight. Look at that thing, what am I meant to do against that?
She sneaked a look behind her once more, to see if the monster wasn't still moving.
It was gone.
Where did it….
She let out another scream as the monster had appeared just in front of her, sliding to a stop as she cowered under the massive beast.
The strange Hive beast stared at her, hauntingly quiet and instead raising two spiked legs to pin her down.
Stella folded her arms and rolled just as the spikes slammed into the space she'd left behind, gettting under the Hive beast and clinging to its body.
The beast skittered about to try and throw her off, its serrated feet cut into her legs with a mind-boggling amount of pain.
She whimpered as she held onto the beast, the beast couldn't dislodge her and for some reason didn't sit on her so she thought she was safe.
Then it shifted space.
It was a strange feeling watching the ground and ceiling dissolve into darkness. Even the darkness seemed to disappear, becoming something ancient and beyond the absence of light. Everyonce in a while sparks of light tore through the darkness like streaks of lightning.
Things moved through the empty space, so horrible in shape she had no words to describe it. Stretching onward into eternity yet limited by the boundless expanse of the ancient darkness.
An eye opened, turning to her, then a million more surrounding her in seconds.
If she could scream she would, she would scream till she coughed up blood and her lungs collapsed.
Then the world returned, she fell off the Hive beast, convulsing. Her teeth chattered, she ran her hands through her hair, staring into space with utter detachment.
Oh god, what was that? That thing! I can still see it, it's eyes watching my entire life! Just behind me at my high school graduation and…. It can't have always been there?
No it's a trick, it tried to touch me, but there was something blocking it out. I survived, but I should never go back there again. It'll consume my entire life, from the beginning…
It took her a couple minutes to grapple with the horror of something like that existing out there. She then remembered the Hive beast was still behind her.
She jumped up quickly, raising her hands and whimpering. The beast sat there, still and completely quiet.
It stared into space as though it was lost.
Stella pushed herself up with the wall and glared at it.
"Is this one of your little tricks, i won't go back with you to that place. I don't care how creepy you are, I'll…I'll kill you."
The last part sounded pathetically weak coming from her, she cringed and groaned. Thank god, Matthew didn't hear that.
She eyed the frozen creature, inching forward a little and then kicking it. The creature wobbled freely, then returned to its locked position.
"It's not dead? What the hell? Did that thing destroy you? Don't tell me I let it into the real world through you or something. "
Stella quivered and imagined the ungodly shape of that creature in reality, she kicked the beast again and touched its blunt horns.
A bolt of electricity ran up her arm, disparate images flashed through her head making absolutely no sense. She crouched down holding her head as she tried to combine the misshapen images.
It became clear, eerily fast to her.
She stared at the horrifying beast and her mouth dropped, eyes welling up with tears.
"This is so horrible. Why? Why did they turn you into this?"
Stella stared at the horns that vaguely resembled burned lightning rods. She hovered her two arms over it, breathing hard and staring at them unwilling.
She held them both and an entire life unravelled in her mind.
Red lightning coursed between her and the beast, it wasn't from this world however. It was in the hidden world she and the Hive beast had travelled to.
And in that plane, the Ether. She saw the horrible thing unfurl and shake, its vast and inconceivable existence shook with apocalyptic anger.
Then she closed her eyes, cutting the connection it tried to make and dove into the memories of the Hive guard.
——
Far away, Matthew was engaged in the fight he expected would be the end of him. The division of spirit had allowed him to escape the ruinous, black spear.
The very sight of it sent daggers into his head and had him seeing pinpricks of light.
Then he kicked off the wall of the tunnel to escape a second spear and shot towards the Hive beast like a vengeful demon.
The creature surprisingly fast, struck with a serrated leg.
He batted it aside and struck right at its head.
The air in front of it ignited with sparks as Matthew faced resistance from the air itself, a vibrating screech tore into his ears and he fell back grunting in pain.
The spiked leg raised to end his life as he fell to his knees.
His little, blue spirit dove onto the claw and the feedback from his spirit made him instinctively activate a replication, diverting the fatal strike.
He grit his teeth ignoring the pain in his head as he attacked the grey, motley beast. His spirit flew above to circle it.
The air shimmered around the Hive beast, before exploding outward.
The force of the blow threw Matthew through the air and pushed back even his spirit. He spun and fell safely, jumping back up without a second wasted.
A cluster of spectral, diaphanous black lights gathered above its horns with loud, crisp pops.
Meanwhile Matthew could hear the other hive beasts pushing against the clogged smaller tunnel.
He grimaced as the black spear formed once again.
"Never easy, is it?"