I stood at the top of a valley filled with boulders the size of giants, ancient as they slept in a deep slumber like the rest of the land. There was nothing to be heard, not a whistle from the wind, I could only hear my thoughts. Sieves of mist crawled up to my knees, the decaying air and stifling atmosphere caused my head to fall into a state of dizziness. A few lonely trees stood bare like skeletons without their cloaks of leaves. Soaring overhead, the bird that had led me here finally swooped down and landed upon one of the rocks near a lake.
The place made my veins freeze over, as I began to wander closer. The lake's waters were black and murky as I looked down at it's bottomless depths. Any source of life appeared to be absent from the hollow valley as I peered around. Water lapped at my boots, coating their ends in thick grime and fog gathered in the sky as the clouds darkened grey. Immense mountains caved their way around the lake, the rocks that scattered their slopes were like giant chunks of charcoal. Not a burst of foliage broke through the gloomy landscape, no streak of warm sunlight or delicate song from the birds back in the forest.
This was unknown, secluded from the heartbeat of the city. Ragged and feral, unwilling to become neat and chiseled like the mountains the King's castle was built upon. I felt it's ferocity with every passing moment with the heavy darkness settling around me.
My eyes darted back to the creature upon the rock. Gleaming white feathers rested inches above the black depths of the lake, illuminating it's surface. Ruffling it's feathers and snapping it's pointed beak, it looked towards me and tilted it's head. Slowly I took a few steps back from the water's edge, gravitating towards the boulder it perched on like it's very on throne.
"You brought me here, I know you did...why?" My voice was soft as I stared up at the creature, it's eyes only blinked back at me. I smirked a little, I was talking to a bird, magic had not gifted it with the power of speech just yet. "I've never seen one of your kind before, I'll be honest with you bird," I spoke quietly, reaching a hand to rest of the rock, the surface cold and jagged. "Eagles with feathers of burnt orange, even bright orchid, but nothing like you. Where do you come from?" I asked, my brow furrowing in thought at the question, I asked that question more to myself.
Here I was, stood in the middle of the unknown talking to a creature that could never belong in this world. Emitting a quiet call, the bird moved to the edge of the rock and lowered it's head to me, those long-ribboned feathers falling into the cloud of mist below. I stretched out my hand and my lips parted a few inches when the creature brought it's head towards my waiting hand. Maybe it had understood me. We were inches from contact when the bird reclined back suddenly, bellowing that all too painful shriek as it echoed across the empty valley. Shock overwhelmed me as I stumbled to the ground, the rush of stones under my weight as they poured down to the lake, and I slipped with them.
That was when it grabbed me, a long bony hand clenched around my ankle, a grip that could not be wrenched open. Wrinkled and warped was the face that emerged from the black water as a true nightmare eyed me maliciously. A nightmare that had risen from the inky depths of death. It resembled the stature of a young girl, a young girl so ancient that now hauled me closer to her and deeper into the water. Filled with distress, I desperately kicked and thrashed against it's touch in attempt to pull myself further up the bank. I looked up to the sky expecting to see the bird, but it had disappeared out of sight, it had known what lurked at the shoreline. It had known what was waiting patiently to grab me at the right moment. Long, bladed nails scraped down my skin, the claws of a monster. Blood trickled down my leg and I let out a cry full of pain, as the monster's hands were now washed with the deep crimson of my blood.
It's hair was long and thick, matted with knots and dirt. Skin as pitch-black as the night sky, with slender arms and legs, a body bare without clothing. I was unable to breathe nor think, all I could do was feel the sharp pain that now coursed through me. Eyes of glinting white flashed at me, those eyes from the bird but filled with wickedness and demonic intent.
"WHAT ARE YOU!" I blared, my voice trembled as I looked into it's face, now completely soaked from my waist downwards as I was submerged further into the water. It glided backwards slowly, still gripping my leg as it pulled and pulled. My hands dug into the stones at my sides, I had to find something, anything. I was running out of time to save myself.
"FABIEN!" a voice yelled a few meters behind me. My head whirled around, and everything seemed to stand still for the tiniest moment when I saw my brother standing there, spear gripped in his hand. I knew a million thoughts ran through his mind as he bounded towards me, his black cloak swaying behind him. A hiss was released from the creature's mouth, a mouth lined with rows of tiny, pointed teeth. Water ran up to my chest as my back began to slide from the bank. Hurry, hurry, quickly Zarek...
Zarek raced past the boulders and onto the uneven stones that surrounded the lake, his feet twisted in his effort to remain upright. I couldn't breathe, I was going under into the darkness with the monster that sunk those knife-like nails into my skin. "I CAN'T HOLD ON ANYMORE, ZAREK PLEASE," I shouted, my legs still kicked and propelled themselves towards the monster. Zarek stumbled over the stones, his spear wobbling in the air before he stopped and aimed towards the water. The spear would fly and pierce it, it would die, it would die...It would die before it could kill me.
But no spear tore through it's chest, no spear came hurling towards it at all. That's when I looked to see Zarek sprawled on the ground with Rafferty holding him down. My vision began to turn blurry as I could hear Zarek's grunts of anger. Spear to knife as they struggled on the shoreline, the King's son had a face contorted with excitement as he struck at my brother. Suddenly, the beat of wings above me as I tilted my head back to witness the bird darting towards the battle of the two men.
"To rid this world of Gallio's, it would be my pleasure. Death is here to greet you," Rafferty screamed in a state of delirium as Zarek struggled beneath him. The monster tugged once more; my body began to float on the glassy surface of the water before I was pulled deep below to the world of the Underneath
YOU ARE READING
The Deathly Nothing
FantasyHis world was split in two by the hands of darkness and he will stop at nothing to return his family home. Fabien dwells in the security of the Upper World, never comforted in the absence of those he lost to the Underneath, where each victim was pul...
