by K. C. May
To his relief the boulder was in the same place. The cross he’d scratched into it had greatly faded but was still visible. Excited, he began to dig, trying not to speculate about which of the innocent people in that house, people he cared about, had screamed. They could be dying right now. Hurry. He dug as fast as he could to the depth of his elbow, but there was no sign of the pouch. The mark on the boulder was directly above his hole. Maybe the new hole was slightly farther away from the rock than his first. He grabbed handfuls of dirt deep in the hole along the side and pulled them out. His fingertip brushed something soft. The pouch. Digging his fingers into the moist dirt around it, he was able to get a firmer grip on it and pull it free. He withdrew his arm and opened it, now dark with the stain of earth. He muttered a curse in relief when his fingers brushed the cool stone. The summoning rune was right where he’d left it.
He had no time to spare. After opening another vortex, Gavin stepped in when it was a deep, angry red.
They’d all heard Ravenkind choking, heard the monster take his soul with its breath, heard the lifeless body thud to the floor. Feanna didn’t need to touch anyone or shift to sense the terror that gripped Liera, the children, and even Daia, the swordswoman used to staring down her own death. It was the same fear that shook her own body. That thing in the cottage would soon kill them all. If only she’d had the chance for one last good-bye to her parents, one last apology for not giving them the grandchildren they’d wanted. She hoped the monster would take her first so she wouldn’t live her final moments listening to these poor children scream before their lives ended with the same stomach-turning crunch that had surely ended Cirang’s. She bowed her head. Asti-nayas, I humbly submit my life to you. Please take these innocent children into your loving embrace before this demon slays them.
It approached the edge of the cellar and looked down at them. Everyone froze, staring back at it. Tansa and Jilly stopped crying. Feanna held her breath, knowing what would happen next and wishing with all her heart that by not breathing, she could pause time itself.
One of Ritol’s clawed hands stretched out toward them. A powerful gust pushed them into the back wall, away from the monster. Then the wind reversed, pulling at them. They held each other, trying to keep from being sucked toward the demon. Jilly began to slide across the floor toward it. She screamed. Feanna held one arm, and Daia grabbed the other and braced her foot against the cellar wall. Jilly’s legs lifted off the ground as the monster tugged harder, stretching the girl’s body between them. Feanna remembered the Rune of Protection Gavin had given her. “Hold on, Daia.” She let go of Jilly long enough to withdraw it from her pocket, then took hold again and prayed it would work. “Kiloenth.”
The wind stopped.
Together, Jilly and Daia collapsed back onto the dirt floor. Jilly scrambled into the comfort of Feanna’s waiting arms.
“If you will not come to me, then I shall come to you,” the demon said in that horrible voice. The ladder slid to the edge of the floor and tipped down into the cellar. It lowered until it hit the ground with a thunk. Everyone huddled into the corner farthest from the ladder. A loathsome sense of anticipation emanated from the monster, like malicious glee.
It felt emotion.
The realization startled her. If it felt glee, it could feel fear.
The ladder slid to the edge of the floor and tipped down into the cellar. It lowered until it hit the ground with a thunk. Everyone huddled into the corner farthest from the ladder.
“Daia,” Feanna whispered, holding out her hand. “Take my hand. I’ve an idea.”
Confusion flashed across the swordswoman’s face, but she didn’t hesitate. When they touched, Feanna felt everyone’s fear acutely. Sweat broke out all over her body. She began to tremble from the fright, swallowing hard to rein it in. Her impending death loomed even larger in her mind with ghastly images of the children’s bodies covered in blood, their faces twisted in horror. She shifted, which increased the feelings tenfold. Her heart pounded. Her stomach roiled. The pressure in her throat tightened so much that the scream bubbling up from deep within her lungs couldn’t escape. They would all die. Their screams would be cut short one by one as the monster snapped their bodies and drew its dreadful breath, devouring their lives. The terror of the moment consumed her thoughts. Her mind painted images of lifeless bodies thrown about, of blood spraying the rest of them as they screamed, huddled together during their final moments.
The thing’s claws, red with blood, gripped the sides of the ladder as it began to descend. Jilly screamed, loud and shrill, and Feanna joined her.
“Feanna!” Daia cried, gripping her hand more tightly.
Hearing her name shocked her out of the throes of panic, disrupting her terror long enough to shift again and push the collective fear at the monster.
It stumbled on a rung, nearly losing its grip, then scurried back up. The screams quieted. Everyone watched in stunned silence.
If only she could touch it, the physical contact would increase the effect and pass it the entire depth of the horror everyone in the cellar was feeling.
“I... hunger.” It started to descend the ladder again but stopped, cringing. “I devour souls of the zhi-bent.” Its voice, though hideous and grating to the ear, sounded pathetic, as if it was trying to inspire courage within itself and failing.
“Everyone, come to me. Touch me,” Feanna said. One by one, hands lay on her shoulders, arm and opposite hand. The feeling of fear intensified, and she fed it to the demon. Not only the fear but also the feeling of failure she received from Daia and grief from Liera and her sons. She shuffled forward a step. The monster let out a sound like a whimper and recoiled into the corner, out of sight. She didn’t know how they would get away, but for now, holding the thing off was enough.
Gavin expected the beyonder’s realm to be dark and gloomy with gray skies and scorched earth. In reality, it was identical to the midrealm but for the eerie quiet. No birds twittered from the trees, no bushy-tailed rodents scrabbled up their trunks to safety. The breeze ruffled his hair and bathed his sweat-covered face and neck, but something about it was different. It was tiresome rather than refreshing. It tugged at his haze, sapping his strength, as though it was trying to tear it from his body. Every step was heavier than the one before, every movement took more energy. He had little time. Soon the inhabitants would notice his presence and come for him.
He climbed down the slope to a flatter stretch of land to give himself room to run. He didn’t know how long it would take for Ritol to arrive once he spoke the name of the rune, but if he needed to flee, better to have flat ground than a rocky slope beneath his feet. Grass and weeds drew toward his boots, like they, too, hungered for the zhi-ness within him.
Aldras Gar.
He spun as he drew his sword, looking for the danger. To the north, he spotted a silvery form closing in. That didn’t take long. Concentrating on the gem in his ring, he searched for Daia through the boundary between the realms. With his hidden eye, he glimpsed her orange tendril and reached for it. Once he had enough of a connection that he could open a vortex, he saw more clearly the hazes on the other side. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. Daia was infusing Feanna’s haze with power. From Liera and the children tiny granules of what to his hidden eye resembled sparkling salt flowed into Feanna and out at the ugly black haze that he took for Ritol. Everyone was huddled around Feanna with Daia powering her, while Feanna held Ritol at a distance with a steady stream of granules.
At once, Gavin realized that Feanna needed Daia’s strength to keep Ritol at bay, yet he needed Daia in order to summon Ritol to him. If Daia cut Feanna off to feed Gavin, Ritol would slay them. Daia was already giving him some of her power to enable him to hold the vortex open, but the majority was going into Feanna. To take away that power would leave them vulnerable. It could mean the end of them all.
Another haze moved in. Though he didn’t recognize it, he knew it had to be Adro. Now was his chance. If
Adro could distract Ritol long enough for Gavin to summon it, the others would be safe. He had to try, but not here, not so close to the vortex that the monster could come back through with him. He ran about twenty paces away, enough distance to give himself a running start. With every ounce of his energy, he gripped Daia’s orange haze. Taking the connection away from Feanna, he knew he had little time to pull Ritol away. With the summoning rune in his fist, he held Ritol in the front of his mind and focused his eyes on the gems in his sword. He hoped to hell this was how a summoning was done. “Whemorard,” he whispered.
A sudden pressure in the air squeezed Gavin’s eardrums, dampening his hearing. A blue slit opened in the air about five feet away, widening like a mouth about to devour its prey. A clawed foot, as black polished ebony, stepped through.
Aldras Gar!
He shoved the rune into his pouch as he sprinted for the vortex. He dove for it. Something slammed into him, knocking him onto his side. Aldras Gar flew out of his hand. The jaws of the silvery beyonder clamped onto his head. Its teeth ripped painfully across his scalp as he twisted away. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ritol step completely through the opening, which then snapped shut behind him — and the vortex along with it.
When Gavin grabbed the connection, ripping it away from Feanna, Daia thought their song had been sung. Though Feanna needed her, he needed her more. She focused all her energy into holding the connection with him through the vortex and magnifying his strength. In her mind’s eye, she saw him standing in a grassy field with a mountainous backdrop, sword in hand, practically glowing with magical energy.
Then the connection was severed. Ritol was gone, but so was Gavin. No! Where was he? She had to get him back. She groped for him, not knowing how to find him across the boundary of the realms but knowing she had to do something.
Distantly, she heard cheers erupt around her. Hands patted her shoulders. Voices congratulated her.
“It’s over, Miss Daia,” Feanna said. “We’re safe.”
“No!” she cried. It wasn’t over, not for Gavin, and if it wasn’t over for Gavin, it wasn’t over for her either. She tried desperately to reach him by focusing her gift on the ring, hoping he wasn’t dead. She pushed that fear from her mind. He would find her. He would come home.
A battler with long blond hair stood at the top, looking down. “Is everyone all right?”
“Adro!” Feanna cried. “Thanks to Asti-nayas you’ve come.”
“Adro!” Jilly cried.
“You’ve saved us!” Liera exclaimed.
“Where’s Gavin?” Feanna asked.
Daia gritted her teeth. He was alive. He would find her. She’d wait here forever if she had to.
Adro shrugged. “I don’t know. Let’s get you out o’there.” He gave everyone a hand as they climbed up one by one, first the children, then Liera, followed by Feanna. After he pulled Feanna up the last two steps, he took her into his arms as if they were lovers. Feanna kissed his cheek.
Edan and the other Sisters stormed in with weapons drawn but quickly saw the danger was gone. He asked two of the Sisters to move Rogan’s body out of sight until they could give him a proper burial. The children spoke over each other to tell them what had happened.
Gavin, damn it. Where are you? Daia felt along the ring’s thread with the core of her conduit strength, hoping he would see it and take the connection.
“Come up, Miss Daia,” Feanna said, looking at her from above. “It’s all right now.”
“No, it’s not,” Daia said. “Gavin is—” She couldn’t say it.
Feanna pulled Gavin’s warrant tag up by its thong and wrapped her hand around it. “Oh, no!”
“Gavin’s still there?” Edan asked.
“Still where?” Feanna asked. “What’s happened?”
“He can’t find me,” Daia said. “The vortex closed. He’s trapped there.”
“What can I do to help?”
Daia didn’t know if it would do any good, but she had an idea. She climbed up the ladder and sat on the edge of the opening with her feet dangling. “Give me your hand. If you sense Gavin, tell me. Edan, can you try to quiet everyone while we concentrate?”
Feanna tucked her skirt, sat on the floor and took Daia’s hand. Together, they searched for Gavin.
Ritol stood tall and stretched. “Come, my children!” it cried, its voice echoing off the mountain cliffs around them. “Feast!”
Gavin grappled with the silvery beyonder while also reaching for Aldras Gar with his left hand. It slid across the grass into his palm then rose as if it had a will of its own. It chopped the monster on top of him. Though its blade cut deeply, it wasn’t a killing blow. Hot liquid, stinking like a decaying cadaver, spilled across his upper torso. Gavin had to breathe through his mouth and fight the urge to puke. Get OFF! he thought. A wave of power shot down his arm and through his sword as he swung it again. The thing went sailing over the grass. It landed hard about ten paces away, tumbled and lay still.
Gavin rolled to his feet, holding his sword at ready. He focused on his ring, found Daia at the other end, and connected with her.
“Wayfarer,” Ritol said. “Welcome to my realm.” It advanced on two legs, towering at least a foot over him. “Now witness my power!” It made a motion to strike him, though it was a good eight feet shy. Gavin watched the ground fall away under him as he sailed through the air. The connection with Daia was ripped away.
He had the presence of mind to tighten his grip on Aldras Gar but lost it when he hit the ground. His left ribcage felt like it had been crushed. The white fluttering magic set to work on it, mending his injuries while he struggled to rise. He snatched up his sword and sank into a fighting stance again, though his muscles burned with pain and exhaustion.
Get away, he thought. He held up one hand, palm outward, and shoved with the last of his strength.
Ritol flew backward a dozen paces and landed hard on the ground. It tumbled and stopped, then started toward him again, roaring with rage.
Gavin focused on his ring, followed the thread toward Daia. There she was—
Again it motioned with its arm, and Gavin went sailing through the air. He landed on his right hip and shoulder on the rocks further up the slope. The pain was crippling. The air pulled at him and burned the breath within his lungs, drawing his strength instead of empowering him.
Daia, he thought, following the thread of his ring. I need you. He groped for her orange tendril. All he saw was darkness, like a veil had been dropped over the world. It sucked at him hungrily. This was Ritol’s haze, he realized, enveloping him, attempting to devour his soul even while he still lived.
He scrambled to his feet, tried to run and found himself pounded again to the ground amidst the rocks of the mountain slope. Pain shot through his legs and knees, his sword arm and shoulder, his chest, and his spine. Blood trickled from a cut in his right eyebrow. The healing magic couldn’t keep up with his injuries. The plants beneath him grasped at his limbs as he tried to crawl away. His hidden eye was blinded by Ritol’s haze. He couldn’t see Daia’s orange rope, let alone open the vortex. He reached for Aldras Gar, which lay five paces away. It shivered and started to move toward him.
Hands grabbed him. Claws snapped the rings of his mail and dug painfully into his flesh. Gavin screamed. Ritol lifted him over its head and hurled him again into the rocks.
He landed so hard, he heard something crack. Pain exploded in his side. “Daia,” he whispered. The pain lasted only an instant before blackness engulfed him.
Daia concentrated on the last image she’d had of Gavin surrounded by magical energy, hoping that the connection would flicker in his gut, that he would find the strength to take hold of her again. She focused, pushing past her fear, and followed the thread of silk that started in the gem on her finger.
The image began to crumble. A seam ripped open and widened to reveal blackness so profound that it touched all the senses. She saw Gavin entombed by a vast hunger where he lay l
ike a battered animal washed ashore after a storm. His voice echoed in her mind as he called to her one last time before the light in his eyes dimmed and blinked out.
It was the image from the stairs, the one at Ravenkind’s house she’d glimpsed while Gavin was healing the paralysis that had left her vulnerable to Ravenkind’s attack. The realization felt like a slap: she’d seen into the future. She knew what that blackness was now: Ritol. It was the monster’s haze suffocating Gavin’s own, trying to feed upon his soul before he was even dead. No, no, no, no! Her mind railed against it. This couldn’t happen. They couldn’t lose. She had to reach Gavin. She knew where he was, but she couldn’t connect with him. All she sensed at the other end of the ring’s thread was Ritol.
It was a huge risk, but if Gavin didn’t survive, Ritol would become Wayfarer and they would all die. All she needed to do was give Gavin time to find her and come home. “Be ready,” she told Feanna.
Daia connected with Ritol.
The shock of its wretchedness nearly made her recoil. Her throat thickened and her stomach lurched with the strong urge to retch. It was pure evil. She knew no other way to describe it. It was the very definition of darkness and chaos. It was hatred. It was destruction.
“Daia, no!” Feanna cried. She jerked her hand back, but Daia held it tightly.
“Hit it hard. Now!”
Feanna pushed her fear at Daia. Daia let it flow through into the connection, into the monster. Ritol recoiled, but only for a moment. Feanna’s fear wasn’t enough. Her personal terror had passed, and all that remained was a deep concern for Gavin’s wellbeing. It ignored the feelings, instead drawing on Daia’s conduit to strengthen itself. “No, the other way. Think of your children and what you feel for them. Think of Gavin.”
Feanna’s fear ebbed, and pleasant feelings began to flow past. Daia felt them all as Feanna pushed them to her — the love, the admiration, the acceptance, the loyalty. Ritol tried to block them, and when it couldn’t, it tried to shake off her connection. Daia persisted. “It’s working.”
