Whisper of a Demon's Shadow
By Richard LeBlanc
And he shall cross over
From one world to the next
A voice from old shall aid new
The dream - will live on...
...The Prophecy
Chapter Fourteen: crossing over
It had been over two weeks since their encounter at the tower happened. Thomas had not spoken much of what had happed to Tia and they Gnar and Louie chose to respect his space. Everyone grieved in different ways after all.
The two were unsure as to why Thomas was so driven to relentlessly press onward to the east and was causing them to worry slightly for the chosen one.
As of late they had noticed him sleeping longer - tossing and turning. On one night Gnar heard him speaking in a language that was hundreds of years old - a dwarven dialect that was used in the time of the Three kings. The only way he recognized it was from stories he himself had been told from his great grandfather.
They had asked Thomas about the episode - but all they got was a blank confused stare looking back at them. They let the issue drop.
It was then that they reached the top of a steep hill. The three looked down - and saw a gaping chasm that seemed to stretch out forever in both directions. There was no easy way across save one. An old bridge that had stood since the time of the three kings. Thomas scowled - it was the bridge he saw in his dream. What he sought - what he had to do - was on the other side.
"That is where we have to go," Thomas stated - pointing to the old bridge.
"The pass - legends say - that the bridge was made with magic," Louie remarked.
"Bull! It was built by engineers of the dwarf empire," Gnar rebutted. The two continued to argue the issue - but Thomas wasn't listening to them - he was focusing on the bridge. Thomas walked a short distance away from the arguing duo and stared at the ancient structure. He was about to look away when he saw what looked like a woman standing on the cliff beside the bridge.
"That girl," Thomas muttered. The two stopped arguing for a moment and looked over at their friend that seemed to be in a trance. It was then that Thomas saw the girl fall over the cliff. "No!" he screamed as he bolted down the hill towards the bridge.
"I hate it when he does that," Louie remarked.
"You and me both," Gnar remarked as they hurried after their headstrong friend.
Within moments Thomas was at the cliff. He looked down into the yawning chasm. It had to go down for miles. He quickly looked around for any trace of the girl he had seen - but all he could see was the jagged shoreline of a rapid river.
"Why - exactly did we sprint here?" Louie asked - looking around for any sign of trouble.
"Saw a girl - she was standing here - she fell," Thomas panted. The dwarf and thief looked around for any sign of the person. "I know I saw," he muttered.
"Lad - even if you did - in the time it took us to get here - she could have hit the water and been taken downstream. If it is all the same - I would be feeling a lot better if we weren't quite so close to the edge," Gnar remarked. It was then that the ground below them began to shake. Louie slowly looked over his shoulder and could see the ground all around them beginning to give in.
"Not good," Louie muttered. The ground beneath them caved in. all of them began to plummet. All around them the rocky cliffs raced by. Down below - the jagged shoreline and roaring waters screamed at them. Thomas reached over and grabbed his two falling friends and concentrated. A dim blue aura glowed around him. He strained - trying to pull his friends up - unwilling to lose anyone else in the name of the prophecy.
The ground still raced closer - only - now - Gnar and Louie noticed that they were falling slower. They hesitantly looked around and then noticed that Thomas was holding them up. Slowly Thomas landed gracefully on the point of a jagged rock.
"How far?" Thomas strained - not looking down.
"A - few feet," Louie replied. Thomas dropped them and shot straight up. He shot up like a bolt from a crossbow. Everything around him was a blur until he shot up from the chasm and hovered high in the sky. He gasped and looked around. It was just like his dream - everything looked exactly as it did that one horrifying night.
"My god," he muttered as a confused bird flew by him. He looked at his hands and saw the dim aura around him. From there - he saw the world as he knew it in a way that he knew few living people ever could. He had seen where he had been - only - now he saw it as it was. Even though the darkness gripped the land - he could see the beauty in it.
He then looked to the east.
He saw the trail of destruction that led all the way - towards a towering ruined castle - the last bastion of the two kings - the sanctuary - of Rubius. He shook his head and looked down into the chasm. His friends were still down there. As if merely diving into a pool of water - he dived down - he was not falling - he was flying.
In the chasm - Gnar and Louie were speechless at what had happened and what they had seen.
"You have any ideas old timer?" Louie asked.
"Watch it lad," Gnar remarked as they both looked up the jagged surface of the cliff behind them.
"Looks easy enough to climb," Louie began as he craned his neck - watching as the two opposing cliffs seemed to arch towards each other. "Looks like a long climb," he remarked. Just then Thomas flew down and hovered behind them.
"Did I miss anything?" he asked curiously. The two jumped. "Sorry," he added - landing on the shore by his friends.
"Is there something you would like to share with the group?" Louie sarcastically asked. Thomas smiled as he took out the Burning Star.
"Has the power to make people fly," he stated calmly.
"And you learned this - how?" Gnar asked curiously.
"Saw it in a dream. I saw a cave a fair distance up. Was thinking that - it might connect to the series of tunnels where the mines used to be," Thomas answered.
"There might be an air shaft. How far up is this cave?" Gnar asked. Thomas concentrated. They watched as the blue aura surrounded him. Then watched as he flew up - higher and higher until all they could see was the shimmer of his aura. "That's a long climb," he muttered. Thomas then flew back down.
"Would you be able to fly us up?" Louie asked.
"One at a time maybe," Thomas stated. Louie tensed up and closed his eyes. "Problem?" he asked. The thief opened his eyes and shook his head.
"We're being watched - and not in a good way," he muttered.
"Probably Rubius," Gnar mentioned.
"No - something tangible - close. The cave - it - is the way out - but it is a trap," he muttered. He shook his head and looked at the glowing pearl on the handle of the dagger. He saw a vision of darkness - contrasted with sharp venom coated fangs. "And - a monster with big teeth," he added - putting the dagger away.
"Take me up first then - if there is danger - it will have to get through me first," the dwarf stated confidently.
"Don't take too long - I have little desire to meet that thing on my own," Louie pointed out. Thomas hovered over - gripped the heavy dwarf and then slowly flew up. Louie looked around. The roar of the water made hearing anything next to impossible. But everything inside him was screaming that he was in the middle of a trap.
Moments later - Thomas landed by his anxious looking friend.
"Ready?" he asked. The thief nodded. Thomas gripped the thief and flew up. Louie looked down at the ground and how it seemed to fall away from them - but before he knew it - the two were in the dank smelly cave with the dwarf standing guard.
"One way in," Gnar began as they looked over their shoulder at the chasm behind them. "And we will have to find another way out," he muttered as they slowly trudged through the cave. Everything seemed normal enough at first - but the deeper they went - the more they began to notice something - unnerving. Along the walls - were bones - lots of them - stripped clean.
"I am not liking this place," Louie muttered. He took out a torch and lit it. The walls around them - were coated with silky webs. Tiny spiders scurried out of the eyes of the skulls and over the remains of past victims.
"Why do I feel like a fly?" Thomas muttered.
"It is all these wretched arachnids," Gnar muttered as he batted one off his arm. He blinked and his fire aura began to pulse around him - a sickening hiss resonated as the spiders on him burned. Seconds later - they saw and heard no spiders. "That - is not a good thing," he muttered as they made their way forward.
After walking through the web-covered tunnels for what felt like hours - the three found themselves in a large chamber. The way was blocked with a cliff that faded into seemingly endless darkness. Louie stepped forward and dropped his torch. It fell for a few seconds and then hit ground - or something coating the ground.
All of their eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
"Bones," Gnar muttered.
"There must be thousands of them," Thomas added.
"Millions," Louie muttered. It was then that they looked to the center of the room. There they saw a pillar. Around it was a series of intertwining rope-like webs. It was then that they all saw - what - was atop that pillar.
"A girl," Thomas muttered. His mind flashed back. The reason he ran. The woman was naked save for a loincloth and was lying motionless near the edge. Her bare foot touching one of the webs. Thomas stepped forward - his foot touched a web. The woman stirred and slowly stood up.
"Oh my," Louie muttered - staring at her voluptuous womanly body. The woman smiled at him - running her fingers through her hair - flaunting her body. "What is a girl like that doing in a pit like this?" he muttered.
"Good question," Gnar muttered.
"Maybe she got trapped here," Thomas began as he floated up and flew over to where she was. The woman gasped at him and backed away. "I won't hurt you," he reassured.
Back where the others were - something stabbed at Louie's distracted mind. He saw images of the darkness and fangs again. It was then that he slowly - slowly looked up at the roof. Eight glowing dots the size of melons appeared.
"Do not move!" Louie shouted. But it was too late. A loud hiss filled the chamber. Thomas grabbed the girl and flew her over to where his friends were. A large furry elephant sized spider slammed down where they just were and bared its fangs at them.
"Ideas?" Thomas asked. Gnar began to glow - he drew his massive axe and mentally readied himself to fight the giant beast. Louie was going to say something when he saw the size of the beast. He remembered the webs that coated the halls. He looked over his shoulder at the woman Thomas had saved - she was smiling.
"Whatever we do - we had better do it quick," Gnar pointed out as the spider began to move towards them.
"That - isn't the beast," Louie muttered - the spider - stalked ever closer - venom dripping from its mouth. Thomas looked over at the thief and saw that Louie sincerely believed what he was saying. In a blur of motion he spun around and slit the woman's throat. She hissed as she staggered back. Her eyes flashed red as she glared at the thief that had cut her.
"What are you doing?" Thomas demanded. But the question was answered as the woman began to shift and mutate. Her top half still resembled a voluptuous woman - but her lower half was replaced with that of a horse sized spider.
"Clever thief," the spider woman hissed - holding her bleeding throat. "But not clever enough. Get him my slave! Kill them now!" she ordered. Gnar watched as the giant spider stopped and began to back away. "How dare you defy me!" she barked.
"Gnar - if you don't mind," Thomas asked seriously. Gnar turned and glared at the spider woman before them. His fire aura began to grow more fierce. He let out a battle cry as he charged the beast before them.
The corridor before them burst into flames. The sound of the burning flesh and fur filled the tunnel and was followed by the pungent smell of burnt beast. It was then that they all slowly returned their attention to the giant spider that was once again on the pillar. A holy glow began to surround the spider. They heard it cry out - as it began to shrink and change. Within moments - a man was standing where the spider had been.
"That was weird," Louie remarked. Slowly the man staggered to his feet. He looked at the back of his hands as though they were a sight he had never seen before. "Warrior monk," he began as he drew his dagger and prepared to defend himself. The monk merely looked at them and began speaking in a language they had heard once before.
"King's tongue - the old dialect," Gnar muttered. After a few seconds the monk realized that they could not understand. He sighed and knelt down to pray. The more he prayed - the more his words became clear - until everything he spoke - they clearly understood.
"And in her name - shall all be cleansed and free," the monk concluded as he slowly rose. "I am Gailin of the Order of White. You have freed me - I am in your debt," he concluded.
"How did you get down here?" Thomas asked.
"Me and others of my order - we left our temple within the glorious capital - to take down Rubius and cleanse his evil from our lands. The others - they crossed the bridge - I - was swayed," he began.
"A creature of darkness - seduced me. Her beauty clouded my mind. Blocked - everything save her scent - her touch. Only too late did I learn what she was - that - spider beast you slew. I had prayed to the goddess to help me - but I had forsaken her for my lust - so she too - had forsaken me," the monk shamefully recalled. "The beast turned me into that monster you saw. I did acts perverse and horrid. I feared - that I would never be free - that I would never be able to atone - yet - the goddess in her infinite wisdom saw fit to grant me a second chance," he added - whispering a quiet prayer.
"Will you help us?" Thomas asked.
"What is your quest?" the monk asked.
"I am going to stop Rubius once and for all," Thomas replied confidently.
"A chance to redeem myself in the eyes of my goddess - and a chance to avenge my fallen brothers. Noble one - I am your servant. Together we will cleanse the world of his taint - and madness," he replied - bowing.
"Fine and good - but how do we get out of this place?" Gnar asked.
"I know the way to the surface. If you would follow me - I will take you to the bridge and guide you - to where the Frozen Heart is guarded," he offered. The small band made their way across the camber and after navigating through the series of tunnels - the group was once again topside.
"My goddess - have I been gone so long?" the monk asked in disbelief as he looked at the taint that stained the land he once knew. The small band talked about what all had happened in the great length of time that he was away as they began to make their way across the bridge.
To be continued...
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