the thing

Corban blinked into consciousness and looked around. He was In the glade of the oath stone leaning on the great slab, but some thing was different. Wrong. Everything was pale,as if all colour had been bleached from the world. He looked up. Dark clouds boiled a above him ,bunching a d flowing like an angry sea. And it was so quiet. Too quiet. No bird song or insects, no sounds of the forest ,just the hiss of the wind in the branches. Then suddenly, footsteps, the crunch of forest litter, so loud in the silence. A figure emerged from the thickets about the glade, a man with a sword at his hip, his cloak travel-stained. Seeing Corban, he paused, bowed his head, then marched towards him.

" I've been looking for you" the man said,

squatting in front of Corban. Corban could not place his age. There were creases about his eyes and mouth through a close cropped beard hid most of those. His hair was dark dusted with grey. Then Corban looked into his eyes,yellow like a wolf,and old. No more than old. ancient. And wise

" why" Corban asked .

the man smiled, warm and welcoming, and Corban felt himself smile in return

" I need your help. I have a task to complete, and I cannot do it alone "

he pulled an apple from the pocket of his cloak, startlingly red in this bleached world, and took a bite, juice dripping. The mans nails were mud caked in there grain.

" why me" Corban muttered

" a direct mind" the man observed,smiling again. He shrugged

" it is a difficult task, dangerous. Not all are able or even capable of helping me" he inhaled , long and deep,closing his eyes.

" but there is something about you. Something of value. I feel it" the the man said slowly Corban grunted. He had never felt particularly special, never been told it, except by his mum of course. " what is the task?"Corban asked "I must find something let me show it to u" the man said placing a hand over Corban's eyes.

Then Corban was standing in a stone room,arched windows black against torchlight, the darkness outside seeming to suck the light into the nothingness. In the center of the room sat a great cauldron, a squat mass of black iron, taller and wider than a man. A scream burst from the cauldrons mouth, echoing around the room. It rose in pitch, containing an anguish that had Corban covering his ears , then suddenly silence fell , Broken only by the soft crackle of the torches. Pale fingers reached out from within the cauldron, grasping the black rim. A body heaved itself upwards and spilled out onto the stone floor. It slowly stood a man dressed only in loose cotton shorts, long dark hair unbound except for the loose warrior braid falling across his broad shoulders. His skin pale grey thin and stretched. Veins stood proud, bulging and purple against the pallid tissue, forming an

intricate spider web on the mans body. Then he turned around and looked at Corban . eyes as black as night, no pupil, no iris, stared at him. The mouth creased in a grisly smile, a thin line of blood trickling from it's corner. A droplet gathered and dripped on to the floor. Corban took a step backwards. The figure mirrored him taking a step forward . Corban was about to run but froze abruptly, sensing a presence behind him. He told himself to turn but his body would not obey, the hairs on his neck standing on end . the thing before the cauldron paused as well, face contorting as the black eyes stared past Corban .there was movement behind him. Out of the corners of his eyes he saw two great white feathered wings sweep about him. The figure in front grimaced raising it's arms to ward off a blow. It hissed at him,threw back it's head and howled, a high and piercing cry. Corban looked at the wings, felt his panic and fair draining away and a sense of peace taking its place,even tho the creature was still howling it's ululating cry slowly the room faded and all was darkness once again