14 The Demon Within: The Abyss

The Professor's vessel went hurling through the vortex, throwing Lindsey and the demons all over the place. Lindsey however in the confusion crawled out of the room and sealed it shut behind her. It would probably only hold the demons back for a few minutes once they got back on their feet, but that might be enough. As Lindsey ran towards the weapons cabinet, she could hear the moans and screams from outside.

She had a feeling she knew were they had landed but it was too horrible to admit. Still she had to be sure, so Lindsey first went down to check the scanner which was just below the room with the weapons cabinet.

To her horror Lindsey saw her suspicions were correct. They had landed in the Abyss, an area of time and space where time travellers who had changed history were taken by hideous creatures known as the Guardians.

Time could not be changed in any way shape or form. Doing so would create a paradox that would threaten to poison the timeline and destroy the universe. The Guardians job was to fix any paradox's and imprison time travellers who created them.

Time had no meaning in the Abyss. Anyone who was imprisoned there would remain so forever. The Abyss itself was nothing but a large, dark, empty wasteland. Prisoners were not made to suffer by the Guardians, but at the same time there was nothing for them to do. Prisoners couldn't have children in the Abyss, there were no resources for them to even build houses or shelters, just endless sand. There were certainly no luxuries or forms of entertainment either. Life in the Abyss was just an endless tedium which would almost always drive its occupants insane. Many of the occupants resorted to attacking and killing each other just to have something to do.

It wouldn't take long for the Guardians to notice a time ship had crashed. They would most likely just return it to the vortex, but Lindsey didn't want to take the chance that they might see the Professor's ship as a rescue attempt and decide to just imprison her anyway. You did not want to be on the Guardians wanted list. No time traveller had ever escaped these mysterious creatures. Their power was beyond comprehension.

Above all else Lindsey hoped to escape before her former friend, Hilioma found them.

On the scanner, Lindsey could see through the darkness, several humanoid figures from races all over the universe gathering around the ship, all former time travellers like her who thought they could change their destiny in some way for the better and had paid a heavy price for it.

Many of the prisoners had been driven mad to the point where they simply jumped around the time machine like animals, but a few began to inspect it. Lindsey so wished she could help them, but if she even lifted a finger for any of the prisoners then she would join them in a second.

Lindsey went for the weapons chest and pulled out the largest weapon she could find, a Miserik canon. The Miserik were vicious warrior demons who had weapons built into their bodies. The canon was a trophy from one of the Professor's greatest victories in stopping an invasion of a world in the Heavenly realm from them. The Professor however generally tended not to use his weapons chest unless he had to.

He didn't have anything against using them in defence. The Professor, much like Lindsey preferred non violent means, but was willing to use them if need be.

Still the Professor often felt that his weapons got in the way more than anything else. His spells which he could recite from memory, were often just as, if not more effective in dealing with magical creatures, and unlike the weapons could not be disarmed or taken away from him, and were easier to hide.

Nevertheless Lindsey was glad the Professor hadn't thrown them out now. She ran back down the corridor to where she had left the demons, but they had already broken out of the control room and were waiting for her.

Lindsey raised the Miserik canon and shot at the first rock demon. The canon was so strong however that she stumbled back a little when she fired, and hit the monsters shoulder instead.

The blast was strong enough however to take the demon's shoulder and arm below clean off. Lindsey then fired a second shot into the demons chest, blowing a hole in it. The demon then sank to its knees, where Lindsey delivered a final shot to its head blowing it up.

The other two demons fled down a nearby corridor. Lindsey tried to run after the monsters, but she suddenly saw three humanoid figures standing at the end of another corridor beside her. They were all dressed in ratty clothes, with a confused look of despair on their faces.

"Help us. Please I can't take it anymore. I've been a prisoner for." one of them said before Lindsey raised her canon. The prisoners, (who had been able to enter through a hole in the ship the Demons had created with their weapons) very presence here could make the Guardians think Lindsey was helping them.

"You need to get out NOW." She said with regret. The woman got on her knees and started begging Lindsey. She hated herself for it, but Lindsey rammed her canon into the young woman's ribs

"I mean it." She said more forcefully. The young woman began to back off somewhat as did the others.

"I'm sorry, I really am. I wish there was something I could do, but if you don't leave you'll doom me and my crew." Lindsey explained.

"Misery loves company." The young woman said whilst smiling. Suddenly a large figure appeared from behind and grabbed Lindsey in a bear hug. She tried to break free, but its strength was immense.

Lindsey looked up to see that the figure was a member of a race of creatures known as the Mystelians. Mystelia was a dead world. At least by the time the earth had formed. It was one of the oldest planets in the universe. Lindsey had never been there. Nor had the Professor. Its timeline was so closed off that virtually no time traveller had ever been able to visit it. However the Professor had managed to obtain a few artefacts from a pod sent from the dead planet.

To now actually see a Mystelian in the flesh was incredible even for a time traveller like Lindsey.

"All I wanted was to save my people. Yet here I am condemned to this nightmare forever. If you can travel here, then you can leave. Take us with you." The Mystelian said.

Lindsey didn't even respond to the alien. She simply tried to struggle free, but it soon shoved her against a wall and grabbed her by the throat.

"You will help me. You will help my people. It's all that's kept me going in the thousands of years I've been locked up here. As long as I live there is a chance for my people."

Lindsey gasped for air as the beast throttled her, but she was soon relieved, ironically to see the two demons she had chased away earlier sneeking up on the alien.

They both attacked the Mystelian from behind and pulled it away from Lindsey. The Mystelian however proved to be stronger than anyone there thought as it tossed both demons away with each hand.

One of the demons charged at the Mystelian hoping to tackle the alien to the ground, but the creature easily overpowered the rock monster and then tore its head off, whilst the other demon fled. Lindsey meanwhile picked up the Miserik canon and fired it at the Mystelion, blowing it to pieces. Death had no meaning in the abyss however, and within a matter of minutes the Mystelion's body would reform again. If you were a visitor and you died in the Abyss however then you could never leave without dying on the outside.

Lindsey ran to the communications area on a lower level of the ship. The other humanoids dared not to follow her out of fear and any others she encountered she soon warded away with her weapon. In the communications rooms was a magical device which could allow Lindsey to communicate with the Professor wherever he was. Assuming he had remembered to bring the amulet. She couldn't remember if he had under that cloak. He could be so absent minded.

"Professor, Professor." Lindsey shouted through the communicator that was a giant glowing purple sphere in the centre of the room.

A voice came through the sphere, faint, but clear.

"Lindsey will you please keep it down. I'm trying to stay hidden from a group of Maliak's and demons fighting up ahead."

"Thank god you're alive. I need your help."

"Yes well I could be doing with some help myself right now."

"It's the engine. The demons blew it out. The repair unit should fix it, but I can't afford to wait that long. The ship's been blown into the Abyss."

The Professor's blood ran cold at the mere mention of that place. "I'm going to need a more powerful spell to repair the engine. It's completely destroyed. I can only remember the basic regeneration spells" Lindsey continued.

"Now Lindsey I've tried to make you remember all the regeneration spells. If only you listened to me just once in a while." The vampire moaned.

"Yes well you can bore me with this later, but if you don't mind I'd rather not spend an eternity in this wasteland. Even one of your lectures is better than that."

The Professor started to repeat the spell, whilst keeping his eyes on the warring demons and aliens up ahead.

"Thanks Professor. We still have the bomb. When we get back to the Maliaks home planet we'll set it off after we've teleported you back on board."

"You'll have to detonate it as soon as you arrive on the planet Lindsey."

"Professor you're a vampire, a demon in case you haven't forgotten, the spell will destroy you."

"Yes I'm aware of that." The Professor said impatiently. "The Maliaks so called god is planning to suck this entire world into hell. As evil as the Maliaks may seem, they've just been lied to by a false god. There are innocent civilians, even children among their ranks who'll suffer eternal torment if you don't act as soon as possible."

"Professor I."

"No but's Lindsey I'll expect you to do all you can to save the Maliaks."

Suddenly in the middle of their argument the door was broken down by horde of moaning prisoners of the Abyss. Lindsey lifted her cannon, but the prisoners swarmed her against a wall, making her drop her weapon.

These prisoners were more wild and feral. They started to bite, kick and scratch at her. Lindsey tried to fight back, but she was soon overwhelmed by a sea of dirty hands.

Back in the medibay the Maliak commander and Kirsteen grew impatient and scared. They could hear the sounds and moans of the prisoners.

"What the hell is going on out there." The Maliak Leader said.

"I don't know but I'm starting to think it was maybe a good idea to leave us in here." Kirsteen replied somewhat nervously.

Suddenly the door came crashing down and the last of the rock demons emerged knocking the Maliak off his feet and the weapon out of his hand.

"Maybe you both can tell me what is going on here? Or I'm going to have to get rather unpleasant." The demon said as it kicked the weapon out of reach of the Maliak.

To Be Continued