by Eric Vall
I awoke a few hours later with the burning need to take a piss. Arwyn was still sound asleep, curled up as she faced the wall, so I slipped silently out of bed. I pulled on my undergarments, pants, and boots, and left the room. There was a small washroom I could have relieved myself in, but I fancied a walk and some fresh air.
As I walked down the hall, I noticed that Nia’s door was ajar. Curious, I poked my head into her room and found the lady Kenefick absent. I scratched my chin. Maybe she needed some fresh air too. I certainly wouldn’t blame her.
I made my way to the common room and found it empty, so I went outside to the square, and lo-and-behold, that’s where I found Nia. She sat in front of where the rift had been, knees hugged to her chest and chin rested atop them. Her white-blonde hair was swept over her face so I couldn’t tell if she was awake or not, and she didn’t make a move as I approached her.
Tentatively, I reached out and gripped her shoulder. “Hey, Nia. Are you awake?” She jolted suddenly and scampered away before she realized it was me. I chuckled. “I guess not.”
Nia blushed and collected herself before she resumed her vigil, assuming the same fetal position as before. “I didn’t mean to doze off like that. I suppose it’s good I did though.”
I sat down next to her, shoulder to shoulder. “What are you doing out here?”
“I couldn’t sleep,” Nia confessed with a sigh. “And unlike you, I didn’t have anyone to keep me company.”
“Ahhh,” I said. “Arwyn and I--”
“Not that I care, really, Gryff,” Nia interrupted me. “I mean, I’ve seen the way she looks at you, so I’m not surprised.” She nodded once. “Arwyn is… well, she is amazing. I respect her immensely, so I kind of like that she’s into you.”
My brows furrowed. “So you’re okay with it?”
“Yeah. Layla is fine too. I see the way she looks at you. All I know is that you make me happy. You challenge me. And in bed, well, you… ahhhh. It’s just really good. You are the only man who has treated me as a person and not some sort of ornament because of my family. I don’t want to lose you, so I don’t mind who you’re with as long as you’re with me too.” She laughed loudly, a sound I was sure probably woke up some of the remaining residents. “When I say that out loud, I guess it sounds a bit crazy, but it’s the Maker’s honest truth.”
“I don’t want to lose you either,” I grinned and then decided it was probably best to change the subject before she changed her mind. “What kept you up? Nerves?”
“Maybe,” Nia replied with a shrug. “The fresh air calms me. I want to savor it in case the rift opens back up, and we have to deal with that hellish stench.”
I chuckled. “That I can agree with.”
Nia sighed and leaned her head against my bare shoulder. “I guess that, if I had to boil it down to something, I’d say I couldn’t sleep because I’m afraid of what will happen when we go in there.”
“You? Afraid?” I asked incredulously.
She scoffed. “Of course I’m afraid, Gryff. It would be insane not to be. My father once told me that he was terrified every time he went to the Shadowscape. He’s right. Every time we go, there’s a good chance that it will be the last time, that we’ll never come back.”
I nodded. “True, I simply never thought I’d hear a Kenefick say so.”
“We have a reputation, definitely,” she said softly, “but only a fool wouldn’t be afraid. And fear is okay. Fear is what makes humanity better. Fear makes us sharper, more cautious. Overcoming our fears is what makes us stronger. So, fear isn’t bad. It’s what we do with it that defines us.”
I stared at her. “That was… some damn fine inspirational stuff right there.”
She smirked a little as a hint of her usual cockiness returned to her. “Just something I learned from my family.”
“That’s something everyone should learn then.”
“Yeah, it is,” Nia said with a smile in her voice. She laced her fingers with mine and held on tight as we sat there together for another hour, sleep never coming as we dwelled on our fears and readied ourselves for the fight to come.
Honestly, it might have been the perfect way to prepare for the next plunge into the hell that was the Shadowscape.
Chapter 2
It was still very dark outside, and Nia and I had half-drifted off leaning against each other when a familiar voice suddenly called out behind us.
“You two look comfortable,” Arwyn said. How she had managed to creep up on us despite the creaky old inn door, I have no idea.
We jolted apart, which caused Arwyn to laugh. Nia looked from me to Arwyn then to her feet. It was hard to tell because of the lack of light, but I had the feeling she was blushing. Arwyn looked at the both of us, arms on her hips, and it was near impossible to read her expression. It was a cloudy morning, so the moon was covered, leaving the world in deep darkness.
“Go,” Arwyn said as a hint of a smile touched her lips. “Change quickly, I don’t want to dawdle.”
I stood and helped Nia to her feet. “Yes, ma’am,” we both answered.
We returned to our rooms and got dressed as fast as we could. Once I was ready, armor strapped and secure, bandolier across my chest, my numerous crystals humming with energy, and short sword at my hip, I strode out of the room with a confident gait. Nia joined me in the hallway, all geared up as she fished a tiny loaf of bread out of her bag. She broke off half of it and handed it to me. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was, but I appreciated the small meal.
Varleth and Orenn were ready as well when we arrived back at our meeting place before the rift. Orenn stretched out his limbs, while Varleth stood next to Arwyn, arms folded and looking impatient. I still didn’t think I’d seen him crack a smile for even a heartbeat yet. Oh well, now wasn’t the time for smiling, anyway.
Once we were all assembled, we waited until the first shafts of daylight cracked the horizon. For a moment, it was blissfully peaceful, which was when I realized it was too quiet. And as the realization that I couldn’t hear any sounds in the early morning, no birds, bugs, or dogs, there was a flash of light and an explosion in front of us as the rift reappeared with a loud pop. The shockwave of it hit me like a punch in the stomach as the scent of the thing washed over me and filled my lungs with the smell of rotting fish and day-old garbage.
“Damn. Well, I guess I was right to stay then.” Arwyn nodded to herself before she cleared her throat. “Okay, I want to do this fast and efficient once the soldiers are here. Hopefully, the Catalyst won’t be too far away. Masks on everyone.”
We did as she said. I secured the gasmask snuggly against my face and made sure the filters were adjusted and secure. I didn’t want to have to breathe any of the noxious air of the Shadowscape if I didn’t have to. As we made our final preparations, more light struck the portal, and sickly purple energy ran up and down its length as it pulsed violently.
As per Arwyn’s plan earlier, we waited for a good half-hour before the soldiers had assembled. Thankfully, nothing came out. Satisfied, Arwyn turned from the portal to us and nodded to Orenn.
“Orenn, metal up, you’re in first.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he barked back. He cracked his knuckles with a grin and punched his fists together. Metal flooded over his skin in a flash until he seemed to glow silver in the sparse daylight. Then he cracked his neck and stepped into the rift.
After a few seconds, Arwyn clicked her tongue and tapped my shoulder with a nod toward the swirling portal. “Gryff, Nia, you’re up.”
We nodded. We knew the drill after all. I looked at Nia, who gave me a nod as her cheeks rose in a smile beneath her mask. I smiled back and then we walked in.
Orenn was waiting for us. His hands were balled into fists, and his easy-going smile was gone, replaced with a serious stare. He was in work mode now.
“It’s a bit too quiet, don’t you think?” he asked as I scanned our surroundings too but spied nothing, not even a hint of a monster.
> Nia nodded. “A bit, yeah.”
The silence was heavy and eerie. Normally, a prevailing moan of winds and distant thunder permeated the air here, but that was all absent. This sort of deathly stillness was not normal and made my hair stand on edge. Another oddity was that, unlike most landmarks that were twisted and duplicated in the Shadowscape, the huge bones of the walking mountain were gone here. Curious, but the Shadowscape was a curious place after all.
Arwyn and Varleth entered a few moments later. Arwyn was all business now, her lips set in a grim line.
“Report,” she ordered.
Orenn crossed his arms, his eyes still taking in the surroundings. “It’s very quiet, and I don’t spy a so much as single monster, which is odd.”
“Interesting,” she murmured with a nod. She looked to Varleth. “What do you think?”
Banishers like Varleth could sense the Catalyst stone since it was a massive concentration of magical energy. However, to a lesser degree, banishers could also sense nearby monsters, especially the higher graded ones. Grade E monsters had very little magical essence about them, so they had a sort of natural camouflage from banishers. Not that it mattered since monsters never hid.
Varleth furrowed his brows after a moment’s concentration. “I don’t sense anything.”
Arwyn considered that. “That’s disconcerting, but for now, I don’t see why that would be a problem. Perhaps all the monsters are sleeping.”
It was an obvious joke to break the tension caused by this strange situation. Monsters in the wild had never been known to sleep or do anything else other than attack and kill. Some did idle about, like speed slugs and bullet basses, but sleep wouldn’t be the word I would use for that.
“Stay alert,” Arwyn ordered as she conjured her sword with a flare of magic. “Perhaps we’ve been given a blessing, but I want everyone to be prepared just in case.”
We nodded. I drew a handful of crystals to have them at the ready, and Nia summoned up a crackling ball of flames in her hands. Varleth pulled out his sword and held it out in front of him, blade flat. He closed his eyes and ran his hand slowly over the sword while he muttered a spell. The sword began to glow with that shadowy black magic that I saw during the last mission.
“Varleth, how close is the Catalyst?” Arwyn asked.
He cocked his head as if was trying to listen to something. Truthfully, I wasn’t quite sure how banishers actually sensed the Catalyst. Was it a sound, a smell, or simply a natural gut feeling that told them where to go? I’d ask Varleth if I didn’t think he’d bite my head off with the response.
“Very close.” His eyes narrowed. “Too close if you ask me. This feels too easy, if you ask me, ma’am.”
She nodded. “Noted.” Her eyes flitted between each of us. “Let’s get to it, you all know what to do.”
“Yes, ma’am,” we barked back. Varleth took off toward the twisted shadow of the inn with Orenn in tow. Nia took up a position in front of the rift that faced where the giant skull had been. Now though, it was simply a forlorn, run-down gate with only a frame of wood to support it, so I took up the other direction with Arwyn in the middle of us. We were ready for anything, or so I thought.
Orenn and Varleth weren’t even to the doors of the inn when a terrible shriek pierced the heavy silence. I slapped my hands to my ears, crystals still in my palms, and gritted my ears at the pain, while Nia dropped to her knees near me. Orenn didn’t look as bothered, but maybe the metal coating helped. Varleth did the same thing I did. Arwyn winced and pinched her eyes shut with a grimace before trying to yell something.
While her words were lost to the terrible sound, I could partially read her lips, and I thought she said, “Can anyone see what’s doing this?”
That was a very pertinent question. I scanned the area around us and caught a flash of movement in the corner of my eye that I couldn’t track right before the screeching finally ended. Nia stayed on her knees and took heavy breaths through her mask, and Arwyn took a knee beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Nia nodded, though it was clear that the sound had rattled her badly. It was possible that she had more sensitive ears than the rest of us.
“What the hell was that?” Orenn asked.
Arwyn stood. “I don’t know.”
“I saw something move,” I said simply. Gooseflesh ran throughout my skin. “We’re being watched, that much is certain.”
That’s when I saw that flash again and spun to get a good look at it. My companions followed my gaze, and we all got a solid look at the approaching menace.
Perched around us on the buildings that lined the square were a trio of large winged monsters of a type I’d never seen before. They had long serpentine bodies that ended in a wormlike head, eyeless and, from what I could tell, mouthless. Large muscular legs ended in wicked talons that sank into the wood and stone walls. While they had no arms, their wings were something else.
Those wings writhed and swirled like masses of smoke, swirling shadows given form. In fact, when I squinted, they looked like they were made of the same black energy that covered Varleth’s sword. He must have thought the same thing as he stared with wide eyes at his weapon and then back to these creatures. He lifted the sword and gripped it tightly.
“What are these things?” Orenn asked nervously.
Arwyn shook her head. “I… I’ve never seen or heard of anything like them before.” Nia and I both nodded in mute agreement.
“Whatever they are, they’re extremely powerful,” Varleth said as he seethed. “You can see the magical essence leaking off of them.”
“Do you think you could grade them if you had to guess?” Arwyn asked. She held her sword at the ready, and her eyes didn’t leave the monsters.
Varleth licked his lips. “It’s… it’s hard to tell. I’m getting some mixed sensations about them.” He rolled his shoulders and took in a breath as he leveled a grave stare at us. “I think they can mask their presence which is why we didn’t even know they were here. If I had to guess, I’d say they are grade C at a minimum, but probably B.” He took a deep breath and shut his eyes in concentration. “Yeah, definitely B.”
“That isn’t good,” Nia breathed. She snapped her fingers, and fresh tongues of fire licked her fingers slowly before engulfing her entire fists.
Arwyn nodded slowly. “No, it isn’t.”
I drew back my arm, ready to throw the crystals in my hands. We were in for the fight of our lives, I could feel it.
This whole time, the monsters sat perfectly still and watched us. Well, that’s what I assumed since they didn’t have eyes, a mouth, nose, nor ears. I didn’t know why they had stopped their shrieks, but I was thankful for it. They stood silent, their heads occasionally cocking as they studied us. It was very unnerving.
“What should we do?” I asked.
Arwyn opened her mouth to respond, but the monsters deemed that to be the time to finally act. They unfurled their shadowy wings and let out their deafening shrieks again which left no doubt that they had been the source of the cries. The screech rattled my bones and made my teeth ache. Nia screamed and dropped to her knees as did Arwyn. Orenn was again the only one that seemed less affected by the noise, but even he shook with pain as his metal form vibrated like a tuning fork. The scream seemed stronger now, so much so that I dropped to a knee and clamped my eyes shut, Varleth as well.
Then, just like that, the cries ended again, but this time, the monsters didn’t let us recover. I wrenched my eyes open in time to see the winged beasts launch from their perches and soar toward the three of us near the portal. I didn’t think as they came closer, I just moved and tackled Nia and Arwyn to the ground.
The first thing passed over me, and it felt like a severe icy blizzard blew over me. My body still over the girls, I looked up, and to my horror, I saw the first one fly through the rift. Then the second one followed. Shit. The third one was nearly there, but Orenn jumped
up and wrapped a hand around the monster’s leg.
That didn’t stop it. In fact, it was as if Orenn weighed nothing, for it carried him effortlessly through the rift with it.
And then the rift closed, blinking out of existence.
“Oh no,” I breathed.
I pushed myself to my feet and looked to the scorched mark in the ground where the rift had once been. Then I looked around. We were still in the Shadowscape.
The others were staggering and struggling to their feet. Arwyn helped Varleth while I saw to Nia. She stayed crouched on a knee, her hands still over her ears. Blood trickled down from her ears. I knelt beside her, put an arm around her, and leaned in close.
“Hey,” I said gently as I tried to pull her hands free from her ears. She looked at me pleadingly, her pain obvious. “It’s okay,” I mouthed, unsure if she could hear me. Finally, I got her hands away, though they were cold and shaking. “Can you hear me?”
I really hoped the shriek hadn’t done any more damage to her than it did to us. My ears still rang, but I could still hear alright.
Nia nodded. “Yeah,” she croaked.
“Come on,” I said. I wrapped an arm around Nia’s waist and helped her to her feet. Arwyn was there then, flustered but deathly serious, her lips in a grimace.
“Are you hurt?” she asked Nia.
“No, ma’am,” Nia got out as she rubbed her temples. “My head hurts, and my ears feel like they’ve been stabbed, but I’ll live.”
Arwyn nodded. “Good, because we’re in trouble, and I need you to fight.”
Nia gulped and nodded. Then her eyes went wide as she took in the breadth of our situation, and it was a dire one. Three unknown and powerful monsters had just swept into our world and took Orenn with them. Now, we were stranded in this hellscape. I didn’t even know how this had happened.
“The rift is closed,” Nia lamented. “Why are we still here?”
“The rift closed on its own,” Varleth explained. “If it’s forcibly closed, if I had destroyed the Catalyst, then we would have been ejected back to our reality. But when one closes naturally, anyone inside is stuck there. Think of it as the difference between breaking this shadow reality altogether versus merely closing the door.” He gestured at the scorched spot. ”They closed the door and locked it, in essence.”
