Silver remained silent for nearly a full minute before speaking. "It's... not impossible. There are prisoners that wouldn't be missed. But I won't put that burden on you unless I have to." The path began to widen, and the Deer village came into view. The charred remains of a twenty huts were scattered throughout the clearing, and a dozen Deer stood silently as a doctor looked them over. At the edge of the forest, several Night Guards were examining the dead, while a several more were digging a wide trench that would serve as a mass grave.
"Desperate times," Xarame murmured, looking with grim concern at the scene of destruction that lay before her. Sad though it made her, she ignored the dead and the wounded; the dead were beyond her help, and she could see the survivors were in good hooves. instead she made a beeline for the ruined huts, frowning as she approached. "Do we know how this happened?" She asked Silver, kneeling down to examine the burned remains. "I have not heard of a creature of dark magic using fire; they usually go to great lengths to avoid the light it produces."
"I'm not sure. I encountered dark magic flames once, but they were... different. No light or warmth." Silver examined the remains of the largest hut, pushing charred timbers aside. "Here. The firepit. When the hut collapsed, the dry wood went up in flames. The fire must have spread from here."
Xarame nodded thoughtfully. "That may be what saved them, even if it has left them homeless; the light most likely drove the creature away more than anything. Fire may well be our ally if it comes to corralling the creature." Standing up, Xarame looked towards the ragged path beaten through the forest on the other side of the village and sighed. "I suppose we had better follow the beast's trail and see where it leads,"
Silver nodded. "Holly, you know what to do." The Timberwolf began sniffing the ground, and quickly caught the scent. She ran forward, stopping every hundred yards to make sure Silver and Xarame were keeping up.
The further they went into the forest, the denser the vegetation grew, the closer the air became, and the more uncomfortable Xarame felt. She missed the wide sweeping plains of her old home, and the comfort of her new one, but she put it to the back of her mind. After a while, they came to a fork in the trail; either the beast had split in two, or it had come across one of it's old paths. Xarame waited to see Holly's opinion on the matter.
Holly didn't hesitate, rushing down the path at the left. Silver followed, nostrils flaring. They were getting close.
The path led a little further, over some fallen and splintered trees, and into the mouth of a particularly foreboding looking cave. Xarame paused uncertainly. She peered inside, but could see only darkness; she guessed it was the entrance to some kind of cave system. "Are we certain we wish to follow the creature into such... confines?" She asked, looking at Silver. "It seems to me a good way reverse our role from hunter to hunted."
Silver stopped, and called Holly back. "Even if I kill or disable the host, the parasite remains. I can go in alone, I can fight it... I can hurt it... but I don't know how to finish it." He sighed. "We have five hours until sundown. We can't ask Celestia to keep the sun out without starting a panic. This thing attacks at night, and this cave probably has a dozen exits. We have the advantage right now. We can surprise it." He thought a moment. "Night Eye potion. It will let you see in the dark as well as a Bat Pony."
Xarame shifted uncomfortably. "I have such a potion, but that is not where my concern lies." She thought for a moment, then sighed. "You are right, I know, but the truth is I am afraid." Closing her eyes, she steeled herself as best she could. "I will follow you, and provide what aid I can." She said, determinedly.
Silver tapped his pack, which still contained most of a bottle of whiskey. "Afraid? That's understandable. I've got a 'potion' that might help, if you're interested."
Xarame looked at him curiously. A potion of courage? She thought herself a fairly knowledgeable alchemist, but she'd never heard of such a potion. She pondered it a moment longer before realization struck her. "Oh, you mean alcohol? I am not certain that is a good idea..." A deep, malice-filled rumble came from the depths of the cave and rolled over the trio. "...but then when has that stopped us so far? I think I will take you up on that." She said, forcing a grin.
Silver passed her the bottle. "Once we disable the host, how do you plan on destroying the creature?"
Xarame sighed. "I am not certain that I can; as far as I know, dark magic cannot be destroyed as such, only dissipated; that is why this creature came to be. At any rate, only unicorn magic is strong enough to tear the being asunder, but I can perform a ritual to trap the magic in a more innocuous form; and inanimate object, rather than a host it can manipulate." She looked troubled, and glanced into the cave. "The problem with this approach, is that the ritual takes time; the beast will need to be kept in one place for a few minutes, which will not be easy."
Silver nodded. "I guess it all comes down to how connected the creature is to the host. Once the paralysis poison takes effect, we should have the time we need... unless it abandons the host." He grimaced. "I'll be honest... I'm really hoping that that doesn't happen. Given what else lives around here..." He let the sentence hang. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if the Shadow infested a Hydra... or an Ursa.
Xarame thought about this for a moment, then quickly took several swigs from the bottle Silver had given her. She found the warming sensation very pleasant, and her nerves were steadied somewhat. "I suppose we will just have to ford that river if we come to it." She said, rummaging through her pack and producing a night-eye potion. Drinking it, her green eyes glowed faintly. "I am ready," She said, nodding to Silver.
Holly walked ahead, following the trail of the dark magic. It was strong enough in the caverns that Silver could sense it, too. The trio followed the winding passage for what seemed like miles, before reaching a dead end. A rockfall had completely blocked the passage ahead.
A deep, rumbling growl somewhere in the tunnels behind them suggested that the rockfall was no accident. "Malkia wa Nyota tuokoe..." Breathed Xarame, fear etched into her face once more as she realised the hunters may have now become the hunted. Due to the twisting nature of the tunnels, she couldn't see more than a few hundred feet behind them, but there was no question the beast was there, somewhere... She gulped, and downed some more of the amber liquid from the bottle Silver had given her, hoping it would help her overcome her desire to run. "What do we do?" She asked, looking to Silver for guidance.
"I fight. You run." Silver could hear the creature overhead. It was in one of upper passages, and moving quickly. "Get behind me. Stay with Holly. When I tell you to run, take her and get out of here. Don't stop until you're outside. I'll signal you when I need you to come back."
Xarame looked at him for a second then nodded. "Alright. But do not underestimate the creature; a dead hero is good to no-one but the story-tellers." She moved behind him to stand with Holly, still glancing around the tunnel nervously.
