by and smelling and seeing so many souls all at once, and it was like jogging past a buffet line filled with an endless assortment of food, skimming my fingers along the edges of the endless table.
But, it was still too damn bright.
Instinctively, like looking for the nearest restroom when you feel the urge to go, I began scanning the land all around me for someplace to escape that dreadful light. I could feel it beaming down on me in waves, suffocating me, touching my skin unpleasantly, as if I were sitting too near a high-powered heater. I saw my destination in the distance, or felt it, rather, and I knew where I needed to go.
Wrong, that faraway voice whispered.
I didn’t slow my speed, but I wondered what that meant. What was wrong? As far as I could see, everything was right , just as it should be. Despite the fact that my eyes were closed, it was as if a blindfold had been removed from my inner eye, and now I could truly see things the way they were meant to be seen. I got the meaning of it all. Yeah.
And I was hungry.
But I had reached my destination, faster than was humanly possible, and this also made the tiny shadow of doubt about things, whatever those things were, pop up in my head. Something was off in the scheme of things, maybe. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I had room only for the sight of the souls and the hunger in my belly. And a dark place. A nice dark place.
I came to a smooth stop. I looked down. Sparse green grass breathed beneath my feet. Trees, pines and ferns mostly, stole energy from the hateful sun above and grew all around me, home to countless creatures from tiny to large. In front of me, a small mountain, gray rock and jutting cliffs. And in between these rocks, about fifty feet up, my dark place, where I knew something waited for me. I just didn’t know what that something was.
I placed my hands against the sharp rocks, and began to pull myself up. I crawled as might a four-legged spider, scaling the mountain’s side in coordinated, fluid movements. I could feel the air growing thinner, though it didn’t seem to be having any negative effects on me. My breathing stayed even and steady. A moment later, I climbed onto a cliff and stood. In front me were two large oval-shaped boulders, supporting each other tip to tip. And beyond those boulders, that dark place beckoned me.
I crouched down and began to crawl, feeling a little like a cockroach skittering someplace beneath the floorboards. The light behind me shrank and shrank, until the darkness swallowed me whole. This seemed to comfort me, like crawling into a clean, warm bed at the end of a long day. The blackness was as heavy as ink, and the tunnel I crawled through twisted and turned and slowly declined. My eyes were wide open now, and I could see everything just fine. Perfect even, though not in the way that one sees with the assistance of light, but rather in some alien, other way.
Eventually, I came to a large cavern and climbed to my feet. I rolled my shoulders, stretched my arms and legs. Then I heard something hiss. Actually, I heard multiple somethings hiss. My back went rigid, my head titled back, my eyes piercing the darkness. Above me, hundreds of Lamias hung suspended from the ceiling, clawed feet gripping the rock like human-sized bats, long flowing hair reaching toward the floor.
I opened my mouth and returned their call, a hiss rippling through my lips that matched their own deafening high-pitched cry, note for note.
Then they all started to swoop down to the ground, like bats taking flight, surrounding me as completely as the darkness, cutting off any chance of escape.
Alexa
We found a small dirt road off the highway that led us into a deserted area, just rolling hills and thick stands of trees all around us. If Camillia—I saw no more point in referring to her as “Queen”—was telling it right, we were only about fifteen
But, it was still too damn bright.
Instinctively, like looking for the nearest restroom when you feel the urge to go, I began scanning the land all around me for someplace to escape that dreadful light. I could feel it beaming down on me in waves, suffocating me, touching my skin unpleasantly, as if I were sitting too near a high-powered heater. I saw my destination in the distance, or felt it, rather, and I knew where I needed to go.
Wrong, that faraway voice whispered.
I didn’t slow my speed, but I wondered what that meant. What was wrong? As far as I could see, everything was right , just as it should be. Despite the fact that my eyes were closed, it was as if a blindfold had been removed from my inner eye, and now I could truly see things the way they were meant to be seen. I got the meaning of it all. Yeah.
And I was hungry.
But I had reached my destination, faster than was humanly possible, and this also made the tiny shadow of doubt about things, whatever those things were, pop up in my head. Something was off in the scheme of things, maybe. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I had room only for the sight of the souls and the hunger in my belly. And a dark place. A nice dark place.
I came to a smooth stop. I looked down. Sparse green grass breathed beneath my feet. Trees, pines and ferns mostly, stole energy from the hateful sun above and grew all around me, home to countless creatures from tiny to large. In front of me, a small mountain, gray rock and jutting cliffs. And in between these rocks, about fifty feet up, my dark place, where I knew something waited for me. I just didn’t know what that something was.
I placed my hands against the sharp rocks, and began to pull myself up. I crawled as might a four-legged spider, scaling the mountain’s side in coordinated, fluid movements. I could feel the air growing thinner, though it didn’t seem to be having any negative effects on me. My breathing stayed even and steady. A moment later, I climbed onto a cliff and stood. In front me were two large oval-shaped boulders, supporting each other tip to tip. And beyond those boulders, that dark place beckoned me.
I crouched down and began to crawl, feeling a little like a cockroach skittering someplace beneath the floorboards. The light behind me shrank and shrank, until the darkness swallowed me whole. This seemed to comfort me, like crawling into a clean, warm bed at the end of a long day. The blackness was as heavy as ink, and the tunnel I crawled through twisted and turned and slowly declined. My eyes were wide open now, and I could see everything just fine. Perfect even, though not in the way that one sees with the assistance of light, but rather in some alien, other way.
Eventually, I came to a large cavern and climbed to my feet. I rolled my shoulders, stretched my arms and legs. Then I heard something hiss. Actually, I heard multiple somethings hiss. My back went rigid, my head titled back, my eyes piercing the darkness. Above me, hundreds of Lamias hung suspended from the ceiling, clawed feet gripping the rock like human-sized bats, long flowing hair reaching toward the floor.
I opened my mouth and returned their call, a hiss rippling through my lips that matched their own deafening high-pitched cry, note for note.
Then they all started to swoop down to the ground, like bats taking flight, surrounding me as completely as the darkness, cutting off any chance of escape.
Alexa
We found a small dirt road off the highway that led us into a deserted area, just rolling hills and thick stands of trees all around us. If Camillia—I saw no more point in referring to her as “Queen”—was telling it right, we were only about fifteen
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