The Deathly Nothing

Chapter 8

The abscence of light deprived me of my senses, even my hands didn't know where they began anymore. This world so unlike my own allowed me to understand the pure essence of darkness. It was a breathing terror that delighted itself in devouring every last particule of luminosity. How did people dwell here without withering away, becoming nothing more than cold, shrivelled corpses.

We had walked for hours through thick, dark fog which blinded me so I was unable to make out anything. My ears rang but no noise echoed through the bare and desolate landscape we trudged through. The woman walked in front of me, her body a dark silhouette which glided peacefully through a place I could only describe as hellish. My arms had turned numb in the two men's iron-clenching grip. I gasped for air but all that was to be swallowed was a numb emptiness. No words were exchanged as we walked, I opened my mouth many times only to say nothing. Then, as if great hands batted away the ghostly clouds I could finally make out shapes in the distance.

"We take him through the front entrance, let our people lay their eyes on him," the woman ordered, her voice clear in command. At that point my face could have been described as crestfallen, well that's if you could see it through the dried layers of mud and blood. I wanted to run away, far away but I was only pulled closer. It felt as if that monster held me once more, delivering me to a very dreadful place.

"The entrance of what? Where are we- where are we going? Please  just let me go. I'll disappear from here," I stammered as I noticed our pace began to quicken. The woman did not turn to face me nor did she stop walking, it was as if she heard nothing at all. The prize of the hunt was what I became as these predators carried me onwards to a looming fortress. It stood isolated over a vast body of water, jagged mountains emerging from behind. The building burst out from the shields of rock it appeared to be built directly into. Just like everything in this dampened world, the castle was the deepest black, the colour of ebony.

Ragged and ruthless yet it looked sleek and powerful against the wild terrain. The heartbeat of the Underneath with great waves of clouds that hugged to it's asending towers, an ocean in the sky as they swirled high above. Thin towers stemmed upwards like razor-sharp thorns as they linned the front of the structure. I felt as if I shrunk in size with the castle looming over us, watching me. We began to cross a bridge that led to the entrance, the water murkier than that of the lake. The stone was tarnished and bruised as my eyes scanned the walls of the bridge. Still, I was yet to hear a single sound, I predicted such an unusual silence would soon be broken as I stepped foot into this empire of shadows.

At the entrance to the courtyard was a large archway and above it a drawing was carved into the ancient rock- the bird. Those mighty wings depicted with intricate detail as I stared up mesmerised- this was it's home. If that was true, why had it appeared in the forest? How had it crossed the border into the Upper World? The woman sauntered through, coming to a hault at two giant doors. It felt as if we were entering an underground cave with the walls of rock edging closer. Space and freedom began to drift further and further away. The doors were painted a sleek charcoal colour, engraved with patterns around their border. In the middle the bird was depicted once again painted a bold white, the only light I'd witnessed in this empty world so far.

"That's the bird! The one that led me here, it's that one on -on the doors," I breathed, trying to yank my hand from one of the men to point at it. I stopped struggling when the woman turned to face me, she didn't look the slightest bit interested.

"A little advice to you, speak only when you are spoken to, unless you wish to die of course," she replied quietly, straightening her belt and brushing down her clothes. I only stared in response, my eyes now stung and my body tensed. It was too cold to sweat here yet it felt as if gallons of it dripped from my forehead. Weighed down by dread at the thought of what lurked behind those doors- I was shackled with fear. Fear that was unfamilar to me. It made those encounters with Rafferty seem warm and welcoming and Zarek's eyes appear loving and bright. It was as I stood there I realised I'd never truly feared before, never understood what it meant to be utterly terrified. But now I did and I was scared. Fear became a tangible, living force that crept over me like some hungry beast, immobilizing me; my brain, holding me captive.