Jeff Inlo - Nightmare's Shad

Beyond the pain, she had only one other focal point, and that was Baannat. His figure swam in and out of focus. If she allowed his form to drift from her awareness, she had nothing else to take hold of beyond the pain. Oblivion was no longer in reach as the torment of another slash kept her awareness from fading into the shadows.

Within the same gray shroud, Enin sensed the disturbance. He could not attack the ghoul, but he could expand his awareness. Though he was now separated from the magical energies, his essence remained strong. His exposure to different realms and dimensions allowed him the ability to reach out with his consciousness. The wizard focused on the disruption of the emptiness. He located another light, another soul in the dark. He recognized Linda's spirit.

He condemned himself immediately. It was his plan to have her sent to the mountains, to be protected by cliff behemoths. He had underestimated Baannat yet again, and his failure meant another captured soul.

He could sense her suffering, knew that Baannat was slashing and clawing at her as the ghoul had done to him. It was his fault she was there, his fault she was suffering. He could not let it continue unabated.

Enin called out to Linda. He did so not with a voice, but with a thought-a surge of emotion. He had experienced such links before-links with Holli-and moments of communicating while exploring planes beyond his mortal body.

Though he could not use any magical energy as a conduit, the gray nothingness presented no barrier to break through. He simply had to press with enough determination to reach out to another soul in the shadows. He focused on Linda, on atoning for his mistakes. It would lead him through the emptiness.

As the wizard strove to make a connection, Linda suffered through agonizing torment. The claws of the ghoul created no true wound, but they left her essence in tatters. Her reality blurred into two objects-a twisted ghoul bent on causing her pain, and the pain itself. There was nothing else for her. The moment she lost herself in twisting anguish, the face or the voice of Baannat would reassert itself as the focal point. When the pain dwindled, the ghoul slashed at her again and the torment overwhelmed her.

Just as the pain of another slash erupted in her being, Linda finally sensed something beyond the pain, something past Baannat. A glowing light in the distance called to her. It had no form, no structure other than being a faint break in the shadows, but it was something she could focus upon that did not cause her misery. She latched her consciousness upon the simple point of light.

Enin projected all of his hope and all of his strength toward Linda's consciousness. He could not save her from Baannat. He could not lead her out of the shadows, but he could take hold of her mind, siphon away some of the pain. It would become part of him. He would certainly suffer for it, but he would not allow her to endure the agony alone.

Latching on to the new source of light, Linda accepted Enin's offer of diminished suffering. She pressed the pain out of her and towards him as he attempted to pull it from her. The agony lessened, but did not extinguish completely. At the very least, the connection allowed her to concentrate upon something other than the slink ghoul.

The effort did not go unnoticed.

"So the two of you wish to comfort each other?" Baannat asked through a cackle. "That's wonderful. It won't last, though. You'll start blaming each other, and sooner than you think. Oh, I know you're going to tell me it won't happen, but it will. When things get really bad, it's only natural to want to find someone to blame. You're all you've got, at least for the moment."

The slink ghoul paused, but only for a moment. He then pressed his way past Enin's will and took hold of Linda's focus once more.

"The wizard knows what I'm talking about, but do you?"

Linda did not know how to answer, and she did not wish to try. Instead, she attempted to reach past the ghoul back to Enin, but the ghoul would not allow it.

"Someone else will be here soon," Baannat sneered. "You know who it will be, don't you? He's going to come to save you, stupid as he is. He has no chance, but he will try. He will try because of you. Isn't that funny?"

Linda knew Baannat was speaking about Ryson. A spark of hope glistened within her, but only for a scant moment, a flash and nothing more. She imagined Ryson trapped in the nothingness. He would suffer the same agony and suddenly a new focal point arrived for her consciousness; unimaginable, abject fear. It actually surpassed the pain of Baannat's slashes and the torment of his voice.

Baannat giggled, then turned his attention to the wizard.

"She has a hard time speaking in here. I guess she's not as experienced as you."

"Or maybe she's not meant to be here," Enin shot back. "This place is not meant to exist. It's an aberration, an affront to the true dimensional realms. Your very existence mocks any true balance and such deviations are destined for destruction."

"Are you actually talking about balance again, brother? Good and evil, right and wrong, and all of that? Don't you get it? There is no balance. There are only superficial rules, and no rule is set in stone."

"And there are other powers far beyond what you or I can even comprehend. Your deviancy will not go unnoticed. You will eventually be purged."

Baannat dismissed the charge.

"Are you saying that for your benefit or hers? Maybe giving her false hope?Admirable. You say the woman is not meant to be here. But then, what about you? Does that mean you belong here?"

"I deserve it."

"Taking blame for everything?Not only admirable, but noble as well. Should I applaud?"

"I don't care what you do."

"Yes, you do. And so does she," the ghoul then spoke directly to Linda. "You're a silly, stupid creature. You thought your worst fear was something happening to that pathetic delver of yours while he was out on some mindless excursion. You worried about him being hurt out in the forest, or falling down some mountain. He'd be alone and you wouldn't be able to help him. You tried to stifle that fear, even commended yourself on accepting it as part of life. How very courageous of you. Of course, it's not true, and now you know it. It will be so much worse to have something happen to him right in front of you… because of you. That's right, my dear. As I said, he'll be coming here to save you. Won't happen. I will torture him in front of you, and then you in front of him. You will both share in the same pain. Isn't that fun?"

#

"Ryson Acumen, you must understand," Dzeb stated. "The caelifera would not have been able to take her if it was not part of a larger…"

Ryson would not let him finish.

"Dzeb… just stop it! I don't want to hear about it. Don't tell me about Godson's will. If Godson cared, none of this would be happening."

The cliff behemoth did not agree.

"If not Godson's will, do you have another explanation?"

Ryson felt the blood pounding in his head. He grew angrier with each moment he was delayed. He stared at the cliff behemoth with a growing hostility he once thought would be impossible to direct toward such a creature of grace.

"I don't have time for this. You're keeping me from Linda! I'm already trying not to blame you for not protecting her. If you don't let me go, I'll blame you for anything that happens. Everything!"

Dzeb almost let go, but he had to offer Ryson one last point of consideration.

"You are not the only one who suffers in this land."

"So what?!" Ryson scoffed. "Is that some kind of grand excuse? Am I supposed to accept everything that's happened because other people are getting their fair share of hardship?" He clamped down his jaw. There was no time for this, no time for some philosophical debate. "Dzeb, I really don't care about Godson, or suffering, or whatever else is on your mind. All I care about is Linda. Let me go… now."