Darkness & Light: Book 1: Shatter Our Fates [COMPLETED]

26 - Tiber

He has no idea where he is, but as he walks along in silence, he hears voices whispering all around him. Tiber turns, looking around nervously.  There's no sign of Dax, Delta, Atlas, or Hayley.

The ground beneath him suddenly trembles, and he looks down and sees that it's covered in black sands. He's never seen sands so dark before. He lifts his gaze to the sky, and he sees it is dark gray, like a thunderstorm is lurking. The air is also charged, and he can taste ozone.

Suddenly, there's a loud shrieking sound, and when he looks over his shoulder, he sees a massive creature, one that looks like a huge worm, that is moving toward him. Tiber starts to run, running as fast as his long legs can carry him.

The shrieks of the massive worm grows louder, and as soon as he sees a big outcropping of black stone, Tiber knows he's saved. He leaps onto the rock, and the sand-worm dives, falling into the sand. The ground shakes hard, and Tiber clutches the rocks, in an effort to stay on them. Once the huge worm is gone from sight, Tiber sighs. But he knows he is not out of danger yet.

He stands once more, his legs shaking as he heaves hard and heavy breaths. Tiber looks over his shoulder, at the rest of the black rocks that seem to stretch on forever toward the horizon. Tiber sighs and walks along the stone ground.

After he's been walking for a long time, his breaths evening out once more, there's whispers in the air again. He looks around, but there's no sign of life, just black stone and sand and gray sky.

The whispers grow louder, and Tiber's head begins to hurt. Seconds later, he feels his nose begin to bleed. Tiber coughs and suddenly, his world sways, and he collapses onto the stone.  The voices, once whispering, now scream.

"Rise! Get up!"

"It isn't safe here!"

"Keep moving, Tiber Moon!"

"Now! You must go, now!"

He covers his ears, but that doesn't help. The voices grow louder, until they at last crescendo. He screams, and they go silent. The sudden silence makes his ears ring, and his mind seems to feel like putty. He tastes metal on his tongue, his nose still bleeding.

Tiber rises, and he walks along, ignoring the gushing blood of his nose. He presses on, moving along in relative silence. The whispers start once more, but he then hears a voice he'd begun to fear he'd never hear again.

"Tiber, help me!"

"Hayley?!"

He begins to run, then, sprinting in the direction of the voice of his sister. Chaos begins to unravel behind him, as the voices from before beg him to not follow her. But he doesn't care, so he runs toward the voice of his missing sister.

But just as he thinks he will find her, a loud blast of invisible energy slams into him, the sound of it like a thunderclap. He strikes his head on the stone, and temporarily blacks out.

When he wakes, Tiber is not in the strange, black and gray land. No, now, the sand below him is red. The sky is red. And dust and sand hang in the air as the wind blows. It's both very big and very empty. He doesn't know where he is.

"Hayley? Hey, it's your brother!" Tiber calls as he stands. 

The nose bleed and the hard hit his head received are both no longer bleeding. Confused, he touches his face. Blood comes away on his pale fingers.

He begins to walk, his breaths coming faster as he walks swiftly up a slope in the ground. When he reaches the top of the incline, he sees a massive oasis before him. Suddenly very parched, Tiber runs toward the water.

"Hayley?" Tiber calls as he reaches the oasis. But there's no signs of life, he's alone. So, he kneels before the water, and begins to drink. But then, another blast of magick hits him from behind, and he topples forward, into the freezing cold water he'd been drinking.

The breath was knocked from his lungs, and he tries to swim up, back to the surface, but then, something coils around his ankles. Tiber tries to break free, but then, he remembers his satchel. He scrambles to reach for it, but then, thin, slimy tentacles wrap around his wrists. He screams under the freezing water, and he's dragged down deeper and deeper.

Tiber knows he's drowning. But just as he thinks he's about to pass out again, there's a woman floating in front of him. He looks up at her. Her short, black hair sways around her head in a messy halo, her green eyes glowing as she reaches a slender, tan hand out to him.

Without a second thought, Tiber takes her hand.

Suddenly, he's back on land, coughing hard as water he'd accidentally inhaled comes back out of his lungs. Tiber looks up at the woman, who saved him, kneels beside him, studying him closely. She tilts her head, watching him like one would look at a book they're unsure of what language it's been written in.

"Don't you know not to fall for the tricky waters?"

"Huh?" he asks, raising his head to look at his savior.

She laughs. "Newbie, huh? Well, lucky for you, I've got a place we can stay, just over that ridge. You're looking for someone, though.  Aren't you?"

He remains silent.

Sighing, the girl shakes her head. "Look, you can't not talk to me. I'm not going to hurt you, boy."

"Who are you?" Tiber asks her.

"Lydia," she says simply. "You?"

There's no harm in telling her. So, he responds.  "Tiber."

"Ah. Nice to meet you, Tiber. Welcome to one of the layers of Hell."