Jeff Inlo - Nightmare's Shad

Fire upon the struggle, fire upon it all!

This was the anger that burned within him. Forces for good or evil, he didn't care about any of them. It was a sick, twisted game, and the only ones who suffered-that lost in the game-were the innocents.

Dzeb could not help but sense the growing rage in one he believed with all his faith had been touched by Godson. If it were possible, it might have crushed Dzeb's spirit, but a cliff behemoth's soul is mightier than the colossal body that holds it. He offered solace and explained what he saw as the only reasonable solution.

"We will come with you. The other cliff behemoths have already agreed. We will help you get her back."

For Ryson, there was no comfort in the offer. He didn't see the benefit in leading an army of cliff behemoths into the badlands. He saw the truth. Time was his true enemy and he shook off the proposal.

"You won't be able to keep up and I have no intention of slowing down."

His tone was not defiant-he did not wish to blame the cliff behemoths-but he was resolute. He was telling Dzeb the absolute truth. Nothing would keep him, or even delay him, from going after Linda.

Dzeb understood Ryson's resolve, but held to hope that he could still sway the delver into making a more rational decision.

"You would not slow your chase even to give yourself a chance to succeed?"

"And what if we're too late? I can't take the risk. I can't keep you from following after me, but I won't wait for you."

"You would not give me your word to stay close to us? It is for both your benefit and Linda's. Time may not be as important as the force you bring with you. You will have a chance if you let us aid you. You will have no chance if you go alone."

Ryson replied with unflagging honesty.

"The moment you let go of me, I'll be out of your sight. I'm sorry, but I can't wait."

"Is there nothing I can say to convince you?"

"Nothing."

#

During the flight across the mountains and forest, Linda did not struggle. Although she wished to be free from the grip of the winged monstrosity that held her aloft, absolute fear clouded her mind. She jammed her eyes shut often as she could not stand the sight of being engulfed in the middle of the swarm. She could not, however, hold them closed completely. With every jerk in movement, instinct-certainly not conscious desire-forced her to take a glimpse of her surroundings to see if she was being thrown to her death.

Despite her absolute panic, she tried to assess their direction. During her momentary glances, she gauged the position of the sun. Unmistakably, the caelifera were headed south, and she remained almost certain as to their final destination.

When they closed upon the badlands and she could see the portal in the distance, her fears were confirmed. She knew they would be flying through the rift and into the dark realm. She did not wish to enter.

With her fear raging, she did begin to struggle. She knew that even if she broke the grip of the caelifera that held her, she wouldn't truly escape. She would only fall to her death. It didn't matter. Better to be smashed on the rocks below than to be forced into an unending nightmare.

The caelifera, however, would not release its hold no matter how hard Linda fought. It ignored Linda's futile movements and remained in the center of the returning swarm. As it closed upon the portal, it dropped low to the ground and prepared to pass through.

The rift had grown quite large, almost as if it threatened to envelope an entire region of the badlands. It was wide enough to allow many of the caelifera to fly through the opening at once. It eventually swallowed the entire swarm, but it remained open, like a giant eye that peered in two opposite directions at once.

Linda found everything about the dark realm sickening as well as frightening. She had been forced into the lands of horror against her will, and the sights, sounds and smells magnified the assault on her being. It was a place of pure misery and she was sure it was the place she was going to die. She was wrong.

The swarm moved toward the ravine that held the cave, but the other caelifera broke off before they reached the crevice. Only the caelifera holding Linda continued forward.

Linda saw another portal, but this rift appeared much different. While the gateway between Uton and the dark realm was like a connection between two dimensions, this new portal was but a shadow. There was no distinct realm on the other side. It was simply a break in one existence with nothing waiting beyond the veil.

The caelifera hovered in front of the shadow portal. It stared at the opening as if uncertain what to do. The uncertainty did not last. With one forward thrust, the monster tossed Linda into the rift.

Linda's body passed through the portal, but it did not disappear, did not move on to a new dimension. Her body remained in the dark realm and fell to the ground next to Enin's. Death did not claim her, but there was nothing left of her consciousness in the lands of nightmare. Her body clung to life, but it was nothing more than an empty shell.

Linda's true essence, the full scope of her spirit, fell into Baannat's presence and then fell into despair. She could not focus on anything. Gray blankness colored her senses. Her body was gone. All that was left of her was her consciousness-her awareness-and that was held hostage by the slink ghoul. She could not flee and she could not fight. There was only nothingness.

Baannat greeted the new arrival with a snarl.

"Welcome to a different kind of life," the ghoul announced. "You were immune to magic. You probably still are, but it doesn't matter. Not here."

Linda could not focus on anything. Even Baannat's sinister voice turned into nothing more than a low hum. The emptiness threatened to overwhelm her consciousness and she did not fight against it. Even if it was not true death, she welcomed oblivion.

The slink ghoul, however, had other plans for her.

"No, no, no. I won't let you simply fade out of here. You can't. I am the sole point of focus for you now and you will focus on me."

Baannat's image grew brighter before Linda and his form took hold of her consciousness. His voice boomed, became as clear as thunder crashing across an empty field in the early hours of dawn. She could not block him out. She had no eyelids to close, no hands to place over her eyes or ears. She was forced to look upon him, forced to hear him.

Linda remembered the first time she saw the slink ghoul. It was during their first battle, when Enin used her as a shield and Ryson sliced the monster in half. The current outline of the ghoul that took shape in the gray shadows appeared much the same as it did then.

His face resembled a distorted tiger. His long fangs helped define his cat like muzzle. His hands were like tiger claws and his hind legs were like those of an overgrown cat. The rest of the ghoul's body, however, was without true shape, and that characteristic took greater hold in a cloak of shadows.

The ghoul's core had always been malleable, but it seemed even less solid in the emptiness that surrounded him. Baannat's body appeared more translucent and barely capable of holding the ghoul together. He was more than a shadow but less than a material being, but in that existence, he found a way to strike out at Linda.

"I'm not going to cast some spell upon you. I'm not sure it would have any effect on you, so why waste the energy? I have other ways to hurt you."

Baannat's form moved upon the faint glowing essence of Linda. He opened his hand and revealed the narrow claws that shined bright in the all enveloping shadows. With one quick slashing motion, the ghoul sliced into Linda's soul.

The pain was both hot and cold, sharp and dull. It exploded through her consciousness. There was nothing in her previous existence she could compare it to. She couldn't imagine anything worse. It was like drinking acid and then diving in freezing water, but it went far beyond the physical pain of either. It boiled in her like wasted hate and then chilled her like choking dread. She wanted to scream, but she could not find her own voice.