Fear Among The Shadows

Chapter XII - The Living Shadows

They walked on and on, never stopping for fear that any moment now soldiers will come crashing through the hidden entrance behind them. Cautiously, creeping onwards, they worried that the soldiers probably had already seized control of the riot outside and might be looking for the missing prisoners. Eddie and Eric were both silent in concentration; Eddie on alert for sounds of pursuit while Eric bent all his energy onto the earth below him.

You see, it had been a long time, my dear reader, since Eric had need to delve back into his darredh ancestry. He had left it all behind when he left his home. But, oh, how he'd missed it! He would never admit, certainly not to Eddie, but he was appalled by his complete disregard of the magnificence that is nature. His lost connection to all things that grow. Although he just couldn't find in him the will to care, he knew that The Just One, guardian of the land, was watching him, disappointed, disgusted even with what he has become. Walking barefoot to be more connected to the dirt underneath him, he was immersed in the trepidation and relief of finally being back where he was supposed to be, amidst the earth and the dirt and the soil. The dirt churned softly beneath his feet, stretching for miles and miles until reaching the planet's core. His mind wandered ahead, sifting through the particles of soil, grains of sands and pebbles, trying to land on a hollowness, an emptiness, a place of wrongness, where the earth was forcibly moved to make way for malice and hatred. Letitia had seemed positive that the basilisk would still be in this part of the palace, and it was his job to find it.

He needed to succeed.

Dear reader, Eric knew how obnoxious and irritating he was to his colleagues, knew they hated him (well, he didn't particularly mind that since he wasn't all too fond of them, himself), had to constantly remind himself that he didn't need to be kind to them. Yet, they were counting on him. He was the only person who could save them down there. In fact, he was the only person who could do pretty much anything at all in that tunnel; Letitia was just a Hashab, Adilah was mortal and Eddie, well he didn't really know what kind of mage Eddie was but he'd never really seen him do anything impressive. If he couldn't find the basilisk's cavern, they were screwed and stuck in the Shadow Palace. Even if they did find the basilisk's cavern, how would that be any better? They'd be stuck trying to obtain venom from a giant snake without anyone in the palace finding out.

Ah yes, that did sound quite impossible, didn't it? Oh, well.

Not for the first time since this mission, Eric hoped Joah was with them. Sure, the guy was arrogant and didn't know how to take a joke to save his life, but at least he was competent.

Letitia whispered to him, "Can't you find this entrance any faster?"

"Oh, I'm sorry why don't you come up here and have the entire mission and all your stupid lives resting on an ability you haven't used in a whole year? Oh, right, you can't, 'cause your ability is useless!"

Letitia merely rolled her eyes and didn't respond. She'd gotten used to Eric finding her ability moot. Seeing and talking to ghosts? Doesn't sound as fantastic as moving rocks or trees, does it? But, dear reader, Letitia didn't mind. She was also not in any hurry to find the basilisk. No. She just wanted to get out. Most of them knew this place as the Shadow Palace, but she knew it as its occupants called it: the Home of Lil, which was a word the Mistress had created and added to the Nendhardian dictionary, meaning 'a dark that is suffocating'. Even though it has been a long time since she's walked this path, Letitia felt that familiar unease, as if a thousand eyes were watching her at once, trying to discern the best way for her to suffer. Panic rose steadily in her, but she clamped it down. Now was not the place for her to lose her composure.

But it is hard, is it not? Returning to a place where you have experienced pain and anguish beyond belief? If I were to place you in Letitia's shoes, you would have never set foot in the Shadow lands to begin with.