- Chapter 18 -

 

"Glones."

That one word was the first thing Mararen said as he looked out across a cavern as big as a city, maybe large enough to contain Freeport Rock itself, in its entirety. With the exception of an island at the very centre, from which grew a single sinuous column of rock, the whole floor of the cave was covered by a herd of awful squirming things, creatures like massive maggots shaped from moist clay. Each was as big as a ship - if not bigger - and together they sang a chilling chorus, part whispered sigh, part mournful moan, part catlike mewing...

"Glones?", queried Raven.

"If you've not spent much time outside Freeport, it's no surprise you haven't heard of them", said Mararen. "Freeport seems to be immune to them."

"I know them", added Sshraada. "They come to the Naagian Worlds from time to time. They appear from nowhere, stumble around blindly for a time, then vanish."

"Sages have gathered much evidence to suggest that they both come from, and return to The Darkening", said the Waeribane, "but only now do we witness the proof of their theories for ourselves."

Raven wrinkled up her nose in disgust. "Repulsive", she snorted.

"True, but we cannot avoid them", Mararen told her. "The tower on the island - that is the place my sword showed to me."

Moments later, Raven was on the wing again, Mararen hanging on to one wrist, Sshraada keeping a firm hold of the other. Flying across Deepscar Rift carrying both warriors had been something of a strain, even with mystical winds to aid her, but in The Darkening her energy and strength were seemingly limitless. It caused her almost no difficulty to swerve to avoid one of the maggot-monsters, its previously featureless bulk growing a slobbering mouth as it lunged upward, and just as much effort was involved when Raven sent her fire down into that mouth, burning out the creature's insides.

The creature ceased its moaning, then that eerie sound was replaced by the equally unpleasant sound of boiling innards, issuing from deep inside. The horrible thing then seemed to deflate, like a balloon with a slow puncture, losing its form and pooling in a steaming mass on the cavern floor.

"I heard those things were unkillable", said Sshraada, watching in disbelief as the slain monster dropped back into the swarm, and was set upon by its ravenous fellows. "By He Who Made The First Scales, just what are you, girl?"

Maybe this place will answer that question, Raven thought, but that hope was left behind and forgotten as the tower, and revenge, drew closer.

Even Mararen did not have Raven's single-minded focus, and so both the warriors were free to take in the unearthly majesty of the structure as they approached. It had the same faintly unsettling organic appearance, looking not unlike a twisted mass of living innards clad in a contour-following opaque reddish skin. The tower was hard to look at for any length of time, for the fear existed that one might possibly catch sight of something pulsating or wriggling under the surface...

Near the base was an arched opening, the rock around it carved to represent a writhing serpent with wings, and Raven turned into a steep descent, flying heart-stoppingly close to the tower, when she caught sight of the arch. Her descent seemed too swift, verging on the suicidal, but Raven subconsciously summoned the winds beneath her, and a swirl of hot, dry air that forced her passengers to squeeze their eyes shut provided them all with a soft landing.

"It's huge", murmured Sshraada, gazing almost directly upward. "It...it never looked quite that big when we were flying up to it..."

"That carving - a sign of intelligent inhabitants?", pondered Mararen. "I've read all the available texts, and there was never any suggestion that anything intelligent lived in The Darkening."

"And was there a lot of material to read?", asked Raven, sending a sidewards glance Mararen's way.

"No", he admitted. "Most of what's known was assembled by scholars...who tended to be particularly interested in the Glones. They followed them back to their place of origin, and - well, none of them came back."

Raven looked back at the sea of writhing flesh. "I can see how the pursuit of that particular knowledge could prove harmful to one's health", she said thoughtfully. "Now, let's focus on what we came for - this isn't a voyage of discovery."

The winged dancer was quite happy to lead the way, despite protestations from Mararen and concerned growls from Sshraada. Her boldness evaporated the moment she stepped inside, and glowing symbols appeared under her feet, taking the edge off the darkness within.

"You're the expert", she warily asked Mararen, "so what do you make of these?"

"I think we've already established that it doesn't take much reading to know all there currently is to know about The Darkening", the Waeribane replied. "Anyone who spends an afternoon in the central library of the Waeribane Order can become an expert, and they, too, would have nothing to say about such symbols."

"We must find another way in", suggested an increasingly cautious Sshraada.

Raven felt no ill-effects from the rune-like symbols, but was not about to give anything a chance to stand in the way of her vengeance. "There's an easier way", she offered, spreading her wings. "I'll just not touch the floor at all."

Flight did not solve the problem. The symbols still followed her, appearing on the nearest wall or area of ceiling, casting a brief glow then vanishing as she flew past. Mararen took a chance and stepped inside, but the symbols that appeared under his feet were considerably dimmer, and faded far more quickly. The shapes appearing under Sshraada's feet were even less luminous, and started to fade even before she stepped off them.

Soaring up into the tower was a disorientating experience, for nothing about the inside of the tower seemed "right". The symbols were not part of the problem, for they were simply alien - it was the very structure of the tower that threw off the observer. The walls appeared straight at first sight, but if she glanced out of the corner of her eye at them, they exhibited strange curves and undulations, and none of the angles they formed, with themselves or with the floor, was an exact right angle...

None of these things was disturbing in itself, but combined, they suggested the workings of a mind other than that of any thinking being Raven had encountered to date - and she harboured no wish to encounter the architect in the future.

"This isn't Dark Breed magic", Mararen reported with almost complete confidence as he examined the symbols appearing beneath him. "Even if this is simply some kind of illusion, it's too sophisticated..."

"Spare me your tricks, monster!", Raven shouted into the darkness. "I dare you to face me!"

"I knew you would come", hissed the reply, coming from high above, near a ceiling Raven was still to reach, and apparently originating from no single point. "You could not resist the challenge..."

"Do not listen", advised Mararen. "The Dark Breed are known to try and talk their way out of a corner..."

"...and the Waeribane, so noble and just, are more than willing to use people's fears an beliefs to their won ends", interrupted the Dravwyrn. "Their 'Bright' masters allow them to manipulate anyone and anything in pursuit of their 'prey'. How else did you two ladies end up here?"

"I am here because I want your head", spat Raven. "You are going to pay for what you did to my friend. I hold you wholly responsible for her death."

"The girl in leather? The little rabbit who tried to run from me?", queried the monster. "She still lives - only one of two of my brood to have survived your assault. You are to be congratulated for your efforts, but they are just a minor set-back. It will be easy to replace my children. I can reach every corner of The Realm with ease from this place."

"Not if you are dead at my feet", the dancer snarled, her illusionary second set of eyes widening, ready to send out the fire within them.

"You will have to find me first", chuckled the Dravwyrn. "If you manage that, you are welcome to try and slay me."

The monster laughed, and the hollow, mocking sound echoed unnaturally, reflecting off unseen surfaces set at irregular angles high up the inside of the tower. When that laugh, and its echoes, ceased suddenly, the silence was more awful and soul-numbing than anything else the monster-hunters had ever felt before.

Except for Raven - she could not tell which was preferable. She had been hearing sounds that unsettled her almost from the beginning of their foray through this weird alien world, sounds that the others had either not heard, or chose not to mention. Sounds like those uttered by the Glones, and sounds that were more like spoken words, distant, whispered utterances in a language no mortal tongue could possibly produce...

And to make matters worse, she was becoming more and more afraid that this, and her new-found strength, were signs that she had at last, and quite by chance, traced her roots back to the world of her birth. She could not think of a more awful place to call "home".

 This page hosted by - Get your own Free Home Page