Brian Rathbone - Regent

Brother Vaughn held the herald globe over the ledge, and Sinjin stepped back from the dizzying height, but he was drawn back by the shadows on the distant cavern floor. A pattern emerged from the nothingness, random yet orderly. Right angles and plumb lines made what he instantly recognized as a city. Moving the herald globe to the other side, Brother Vaughn illuminated more architecture, yet on this side there were nearly no straight lines. All the buildings formed curves, arches, and other structures that seemed drawn from nature. Sinjin sucked in a breath when some of the shadows began to move. The others had seen it as well, and all three turned to run back the way they had come, driven by instinct to flee the things that creep in the darkness.

The noise of the demons grew more clear and distinct, and panic set a lump in Sinjin's throat.

"We're going across," Brother Vaughn said after a moment.

Trinda just looked at him, but Sinjin could see she was trembling. "I'll help you," he said. "It'll be fine. You'll see."

Watching Brother Vaughn climb down was little help, as it was more of a controlled fall, arms waving and body dancing as loose stone provided unsure footing.

"You're next," Sinjin said, but Trinda just shook her head, not meeting his eyes. "We need to go, Trinda. Don't worry; Brother Vaughn will be there to catch you if you fall."

Trinda raised her head and looked him in the eyes, tears falling from her own. "I can't. I'm scared. I want to go home now." The last statement was said with a quavering, high-pitched note, and the tears came more quickly.

Feeling helpless, Sinjin was torn by fear, empathy, annoyance, and helplessness. There was nothing he could do to help her, yet he could not leave her behind. With a sigh, Sinjin stood with his back to Trinda and held his arms slightly out to his sides. He didn't have to say any more. Trinda scrambled up, wrapped her arms around his neck, and clung to him. Sinjin hadn't been certain he could do it, but she was much lighter when she was conscious, and he stepped over the ledge onto the steep incline, which ended abruptly where the larger stones were piled. Brother Vaughn waited, looking concerned. For Sinjin there was no more time for thought. Once he put his weight on his forward leg, the loose stone broke free and sent him skidding downward. Trinda buried her face in his neck as they fell.

Trying to make sure he did not fall backward, Sinjin kept his weight forward, and for a moment they skidded gracefully, as if on sleigh rails moving over snow, but the smooth ride ended abruptly as one stone refused to move. Catching his toe, Sinjin pitched ahead. Tucking his legs and throwing his weight forward, they rotated in the air, and Sinjin landed slightly forward on his feet, which sent him sprinting straight into Brother Vaughn, who gave a great woof as the air rushed from his lungs. The three went down in a heap, and larger stones rolled away, clattering down the steep sides of the pile. It took a moment for them to determine that no one had been hurt, but the need for escape kept the inspection brief.

With the herald globe wrapped tightly, Brother Vaughn led them into a landscape that consisted of only a pile of rubble and darkness. Distorted echoes made it sound as if enemies approached from every direction, a mourning wail mixing with the grunts, barks, and growls. As the demons drew closer, one gave out a deep roar that sounded like thunder. Moments later came the clatter of stones down the slopes, and Sinjin knew the demons were on the pile of rock and gaining on them.

"We've got to move," Brother Vaughn said.

Sinjin stepped in front of Trinda and again raised his arms out to his sides. She wasted no time in climbing up onto his back once more. It looked as if Brother Vaughn would offer to carry her, but when he met Trinda's eyes, she just buried her face in Sinjin's neck. Half running and half falling, Brother Vaughn and Sinjin made their way across the loose and shifting stone, all of it the same deep black. Nothing new emerged from the scenery, just ubiquitous stone leading off into the darkness. Always expecting to see the other side suddenly materialize became exhausting. Outside of the stone on which they tread, they could see nothing above or ahead. It was as if they had left the real world behind. Perhaps they were already dead, Sinjin thought, but then a chill ran over his skin, and a rumbling boom echoed for what seemed an eternity. Brother Vaughn stumbled when lightning split the air and showed a frightening landscape. The pile of stone continued for what looked like a day's walk, and on the other end, above where the stone pile met with a towering wall of rock, waited a city that dwarfed those in the valleys below.

"What kind of place has lightning inside?" Trinda asked.

Sinjin wondered if they had not somehow come out of the mountain to open air, but it did not feel that way. He could feel the land pressing down on him, its weight always a reminder that the world could come crashing in at any moment. Trinda weighed on him in more than one way. Her whispered questions deserved answers, but he had none; all he could do was run. When the world lit up behind him, Sinjin spun around in time to see a giant demon, its treelike arm raised in the air, blazing like the sun, a thread of lightning throbbing and pulsing as it poured energy from the roiling clouds above into a single point. The shape of it stayed in Sinjin's vision long after the lightning vanished. The giant rolled to the side and took what sounded like a dozen smaller demons with it. The darkness closed back in and left him blind for a moment.

"Our bodies form the highest point," Brother Vaughn said. "Get down, Sinjin. Get down now!"

Feeling the hair rise on the back of his neck and Trinda choking him as she clung to him for dear life, Sinjin got low as fast as he could. Lightning struck the demons again, and when it did, they could see the rest still moving toward them. Sinjin prayed for the lightning to continue, but the darkness remained. Only a pattering rhythm filled the void. The first drops of rain struck with such surreal randomness that Sinjin could hardly believe it, but the patter became a roar, and a deluge rushed in.

"We've got to move," Brother Vaughn said, and Sinjin did not argue.

Now slick and glossy, the stone provided even worse footing, and they moved slowly. It seemed as if they weren't moving at all against the persistent, rain-filled wind. He blinked when he saw the stones ahead move in the deep shadows cast by the lightning. He couldn’t believe it, but soon they found out why as the stones were crawling with crabs. Sinjin remained still as the crabs gathered closely around his feet; their powerful claws ready to tear through the leather of his boots. Taking a deep breath, he was about to ask Brother Vaughn what to do when Trinda began to sing.

Sinjin wasn't certain if it was just the rain that drew the crabs or Trinda's singing, but they came in such numbers that he could only assume they heard her call. Either way, they did hamper the demons, even if only for a brief time. Cries and howls had come as the demons walked along the writhing blanket of crabs, and Sinjin assumed that he'd been right about the claws being both strong and sharp. The crabs had drawn around them first but then had moved toward the demons. Still more were coming, and the way before them remained clear, making it certain these creatures were under Trinda's control. The rain, however, continued to pelt them.

Shouldering his way forward, Sinjin set his mind to taking one step at a time, each one difficult, but his runner’s training kept him from faltering; he could work through the pain. Brother Vaughn struggled alongside him, not having a much easier time of it, despite the fact Sinjin carried Trinda. She remained quiet for a time after she stopped singing, and Sinjin suspected it had drained her, just like his mother's activities often did to her. There always was a price to be paid.