At loggerheads...

     We stood in front of the three HoN Co. guards, who were now together in a line before us. No-one said or did anything for some time; I watched as the one I assumed was the leader look at us from top to bottom, assessing us probably as a potential threat, both individually and together. Finally, he put his hands behind his back and began to pace back and forth in front of us, a small smile creeping onto his face as though a plan had just come to him.

"So... I assume it's a pretty stupid question asking you why you're here? I know what you're after, and I'm pretty sure you know the same about us... That leaves us with a big problem. Now what do we do about this... Problem?"

We stood motionless and silent before them, not saying a word, although I couldn't tell whether it was out of fear or defiance. I felt a mixture of both...

"Remaining silent isn't going to help you, you know... In fact it could save your lives. Why I could kill you now where you stand, take the Eye of Ender you have in your possession and use the map that you have in that bag to find your little base camp you've set up. Obviously that's the hard way."

The guard pointed at THEROS, and then to the bag he was carrying; THEROS didn't seem to react at all, not even flinch, but I noticed his grasp on the bag tightened slightly. The guard must have noticed this as well, as he seemed to ease up on the intimidating approach and move towards a more peaceful resolution. I knew that was highly unlikely considering our circumstances, and judging from how I felt, our positions from where we stood remained unchanged.

"Put it this way: if you hand over the Eye you have to us now, we can take this one here and be on our way without a moment's hesitation. Consider yourselves loose ends... We'll let these creatures deal with you..."

"That would never work..."

I turned slightly to look at THEROS, and the rage on his face was now visible; his jaw was clenched tight, and when he spoke, the words were muffled slightly by the small amounts of spittle than had accumulated. The guard turned to face THEROS directly, before walking directly up to him, a look of mock surprise on his face.

"Oh... Really? Is that a... Threat...? I don't think you're in the position to be making..."

"It was a warning..."

"How so...?"

"The Guardians wouldn't attack us. We wouldn't be the ones taking it, so they wouldn't bother with us... They would go after you..."

"Nice try, but that's not going to work with me... Lying isn't going to get you out of this one..."

"Who's lying...?"

There was another moment of silence as the guard studied THEROS further; from the look on his face, the guard considered this as more of a game than a serious situation. Obviously he was the one in charge, so he called the shots, but even so there were lives at stake regardless of the outcome. If we took the Eye, we'd be attacked by both the Guardians and the guards. If the guards took the Eye, they'd be attacked by the Guardians and probably us. We were at a stalemate... Eventually the guard seemed to settle on an idea after summing THEROS up in his mind, the sly smile returning to his lips.

"Simple then... We need a head start to get running, so you pick up the Eye and throw it to us in the corridor. You'd have no choice as you'd be killed otherwise. Think of it as us doing you a favour..."

"That seems a little unfair for us don't you think? Why don't you just destroy the cages and take the Eye...?"
>
"There's no negotiation to this... And you think we haven't tried...? These things are impervious to practically everything we can throw at them."

The guard walked over to the one to our right and thumped it forcefully with his right fist. The slight clang of metal reverberated around the room, before ebbing out into silence again.

"Well...? Are you going to cooperate, or are we going to have to do it the hard way...?"

"Fair enough... But you're not having the map, or our Eye..."

"I wasn't asking for them..."

After a moment of silence again, the three guards moved past us into the corridor, waiting just at the corner within throwing distance of the Eye. We walked forward towards the basin, trying to understand what was going on...

"THEROS?!?! What do you think you're playing at?"

"Don't worry, I have a plan..."

As we walked over to the basin, THEROS mumbled the plan quietly to us. It was brilliant! It was genius! It was... Suicidal! Nonetheless we had nothing else to go with. THEROS bent down to the basin, whilst myself and THEXIS turned to face the guards, flanking THEROS on either side. I allowed a smile to creep onto my lips, and locked eyes with the leader. He smiled back, knowing full well he had won this one... How little he knew. THEROS scooped the Eye up from the basin, and immediately, vast amounts of swirling smog began to pump into the roof from between the bars in the cage.

"Throw it! Throw it to me now!"

"No!"

The leader looked confused, as THEROS remained between us, still holding the Eye, looking at the strange but powerful object resting in his palm.

"You idiot, they'll kill you!"

"I don't think so..."

I readied myself, as the smoke circled the room, once twice, thrice... Then it slowed, beginning to settle right before us, blocking the view to the corridor, and sealing us from the exit. The smoke approached us, the metallic breathing began, and the yellow flesh of the creatures began to glint and shine as they emerged from the smog.

"NOW!"

Syeonyx signing off