Elfborn

Lokar

Moving without pause, the caravan made its way finally out of the town and onto the road that led up to the castle. Still cobblestoned, as it had been in town, the road narrowed slightly as it went up the side of the hill before curving around its northern face to climb the rest of the way to a spot that had been leveled behind the castle.

It was on this flat spot, also paved with cobblestones, that the caravan halted. With swords drawn, the Companions quickly unloaded their captives and bundled them through the dark portal in the rear wall while the drivers clambered down to hold their teams steady. Once through the portal, the small company was quickly pushed through a narrow corridor, which opened, into an equally narrow courtyard.

Crossing this, the Companions pushed their captives into the main keep. As soon as Kira, the first in line, stepped across the threshold, she stumbled to a halt, her eyes wide. There was something in the darkness beyond the light's reach, something that slavered with unnatural hunger just out of sight. Kira couldn't see it, but she could certainly feel it.

"No," she exclaimed as a thrill of fear rushed through her. She then looked over her shoulder at Max, who stood next in line. The young de Rohan quickly sprouted a puzzled expression on his face in response.

"I'm not going in there. Please, Max. Please don't make me go in there!"

As she began to sob uncontrollably, shivering with the unknown fear, one of the Companions pressed forward, a dark look on his pale face. Max was stroking Kira's shoulder in reassurance when he reached out and took the slender young woman by the shoulder. Spinning her around to face him, he shook his naked sword in her face.

"By the Ash, if you don't keep walking, half-breed, I'll gut you right here and now, Kava be damned!"

"No need for that, Baltus," a strange voice, hoarse and unnatural, said, filling everyone who heard it with dread.

The air beside the Companion seemed to shimmer as if the ground beneath it was radiating a great deal of heat. Then, as astonished eyes looked on, the shimmer solidified into a man, heavily cloaked and dressed in black from head to toe.

"You're interfering, fade," the Companion barked imperiously. In response, the deep cowl turned to gaze silently at the big man for a moment. And despite his anger, the big man actually went even paler than he already was, swallowing and taking a hasty step back under the weight of that look.

Fear gelling his own blood at the sight of the Mist man, Max was nevertheless impressed that even the Companions feared the creatures Lord Astor said were formed out of pure nightmare, creatures they apparently called 'fades'. An appropriate name for a thing that could fade in and out of the waking world with the merest wish, a walking nightmare for any that faced it. Whenever they had seen the things in the dream world, they had quickly turned and ran in the opposite direction as fast as their abilities could carry them. But, as the creature turned away from the now silent Companion to slowly approach a trembling Kira, Max knew there was nowhere to run now. Nowhere at all.

"Come," it said quietly in a voice that froze boiling water, reaching out with a gloved hand for Kira's arm. At the last moment, the young farm girl shied away, her face resembling a rabbit's caught in a trap. And stepped right into the darkness beyond the portal.

With a blink of an eye, she vanished, snatched up by some unseen force that left a lingering miasma of evil in the air behind it. Behind him, Max heard Naneen begin to softly pray.

"You're next," the Mist man grated, pointing at Max. Swallowing hard, he turned towards the portal, feeling his skin crawl as he thought about what lay beyond. Then, before the Mist man could reach for him, he stepped inside, knowing that they were now stepping into the very mouth of Doom! He didn't have time to set himself as cold tendrils came out of nowhere to wrap themselves around him. Only time enough to scream as they dragged him into the darkness.