by Dean Cadman
“Sounds like a good idea,” Alexia agreed, still watching for any signs of movement. Hershel gave it quite a lot of thought before ordering the exact placement of the spare weapons. But once they were strategically placed, the chances of escape for any new Netherworld creatures that emerged from The Rift, had been greatly reduced.
Twice more Aamon sent multiple creatures through The Rift, but due to their new restricted escape routes, none made it to the safety of the treeline before being killed by Alexia’s bow. For the rest of the day nothing seemed to change much. If the second Vesdari had affected the speed at which the inky blackness grew, it was all but imperceptible to Hershel. In fact, much to his relief, it didn’t appear to have grown in size at all since the previous night, and by the end of the fifth day, it was still barely past their second stone marker.
It was the discovery they made the following morning which sent shock waves through their camp. The inky blackness had grown so much overnight, that it was now almost touching the leading weapon of their perimeter. Hershel picked up one of the spare weapons and prepared to earth-bind it a little further behind the threatened weapon. His plan was to reform the leading edge of their circle a little further back, but unfortunately a new paladin named Joel had his own ideas. Already the closest person to the threatened weapon, Joel reached down and pulled it from the ground, no doubt planning to move it backwards to a safer place himself.
“NO!” Hershel screamed at him, but it was already too late. The moment Joel removed the weapon from the ground, the inky blackness rushed into the gap, covering him in a writhing mass of smoke-like tendrils. He screamed in terror and pain, but fell silent a mere heartbeat later. Hershel saw what was about to happen, and plunged his weapon into the earth by his feet. The inky blackness flooded the area where Joel had been standing, and washed up against the newly formed barrier of Aysha’s light emitted by Hershel’s sword. Everyone stared in disbelief at the spot where their friend and colleague had stood only seconds earlier, now a writhing sea of blackness.
Hershel watched as the smoke-like blackness bubbled and hissed at the spot where Joel had once been. It looked like boiling black oil, and a moment later he realised why. The blessed weapon that it had covered when rushing into the gap was still glowing with Aysha’s light, and that divine power was now boiling away the inky blackness around it. But it didn’t last long. The soft blue light faded away from the weapon, and the inky blackness flooded back into the gap once more, washing up against the new boundary of his weapon’s light. He studied the inky blackness for a few moments longer, just to make sure what had just happened hadn’t somehow changed the way it behaved. Apart from the new ingress of blackness into their circle’s perimeter, all looked as it did before.
Hershel turned to face the gathered paladins, and saw a fresh look of muted fear on many of their faces.
“Our brother Joel is now with Aysha. Let his sacrifice be a warning to us all, never to let down our guard or become complacent in our duties. As you just witnessed, one careless mistake can cost you, or your fellow paladins their life. Let us all pray now, and give thanks to Aysha for the life of our brother Joel, and wish him well on his new journey.” He removed his sword and knelt before it in silent prayer, and everyone else followed his example. He knew it would give them all an opportunity to say their goodbyes, and when the prayers were over, he saw a renewed focus in the eyes of everyone there.
Alexia approached the breached area of the perimeter and studied the inky blackness there. She, along with everyone else, had seen what effects the blessed weapon had wrought on the blackness, and wondered if they had just discovered a way of pushing it back.
“What’s on your mind lass?” Hershel asked quietly. He had obviously seen her deep in thought staring at the undulating inky blackness.
“You saw what that blessed weapon did to it, right?” Alexia asked, nodding towards the blackness.
“Aye lass, I did. And I know what you’re thinking, because I had the exact same thoughts myself. But the simple truth is, we can’t afford to sacrifice the number of blessed weapons it would take to push it all the way back,” Hershel replied.
“Well, we better think of something else soon then, or we’ll be over run by it. Sure, we can keep falling back and making a new line of defence each time it’s about to touch our weapons, but eventually I’ll be out of range to kill the creatures that come through The Rift.”
“I know, I’ve already thought about that too. I was just hoping that Lusam and the others would arrive before it came to that. I just wish I knew why it grew so much overnight. Surely its growth should remain constant both day and night, but it barely moved at all yesterday during the day, and almost swamped us last night. Maybe it’s …. Oh Seven Hells! Why didn’t I see it before?” Hershel said, suddenly looking at the clearing around The Rift in a different light. It was a large clearing, with dappled sunlight filtering down through the surrounding trees. There were a few areas of direct sunlight on the ground, but for the most part it was in partial shadow from the leafy canopy above.
Alexia drew her bow and fixed her sights on The Rift, half-expecting a fresh wave of creatures to emerge with Hershel’s sudden outburst.
“What is it?” Alexia asked, not daring to take her eyes off The Rift. Hershel chuckled to himself, and placed a hand on her arm to make her lower the bow.
“Look out there and tell me what you see?” Hershel said cryptically. “Tell me where you see the blackness, and more importantly, where you don’t?”
It only took her a moment to understand what he was showing her, and she couldn’t believe that she hadn’t seen it sooner herself.
“There isn’t any in the direct sunlight!” she gasped.
“No, there’s not, lass. And I don’t think that’s a coincidence either. I think the dappled sunlight is strong enough to stop its growth, but not banish it altogether. And at night when there’s no sunlight, it starts to grow again. I’m sure that Aysha’s light is slowing its progress, but it appears that it’s not enough to stop its advance completely. When we first arrived here I noticed that a few trees had already been cut down, but I assumed they’d done that to create space for whatever twisted method they’d used to reopen The Rift. But maybe they expected this blackness to come from The Rift, and took precautions so that it wouldn’t overrun them before they could escape,” Hershel said.
“It’s possible I suppose, but don’t forget there wasn’t any blackness when we first arrived here. I think it’s more likely that they cut down the trees for other reasons, but regardless of what those reasons were, we need to start doing the same thing. The sooner we clear the area of trees, the sooner that stuff shouldn’t be a problem any more,” Alexia replied, nodding towards the inky blackness.
“Agreed,” Hershel replied, then turned to speak with the others. “How many axes did we bring?”
“Four, sir,” Lexie replied, digging through one of the weapons’ bundles. Hershel cursed under his breath again, then silently asked Aysha for forgiveness for what he was about to do.
“We need to cut down every tree around this clearing right now. Whatever that black stuff is, it doesn’t like the sunlight. Start on the west side of the clearing. That should reveal the most amount of sunlight, for the least amount of trees. Use the axes, but also use your swords. I’m sure that Aysha will forgive us for using them in such a way, given the circumstances. How many of you have experience, or know how to fell a tree correctly?” Five people raised their hands. “Good. I want each of you to form a party of six or seven. I don’t care where the trees fall, as long as it’s not into this clearing, or on anyone’s head. Go!” Hershel said, causing a sudden rush of activity amongst the paladins. Alexia started to move towards one of the forming parties, but Hershel stopped her.
“Alexia, I need you here watching The Rift, just in case any more Netherworld creatures come through. I’m sure Aamon will soon know what we’re up to, if he doesn’t already, and he’ll no doubt
try to take advantage of our inattentiveness. The last thing we need right now is for a pack of Netherworld creatures to descend on our people while they’re so exposed out there. If you see any movement at all, signal to us immediately. We most likely won’t be able to hear you with all the wood chopping going on, but I’ll post a lookout at the edge of the clearing so you can still signal us,” Hershel said. Alexia agreed with him, but she still felt guilty about not being able to help the others cut down the trees.
The paladins soon organised themselves into their various groups, and the rhythmic thudding of axes and swords against tree trunks began in earnest. It took less than an hour for the first tree to fall, and several more followed shortly afterwards. The unrestricted sunlight began to flood the clearing, and Alexia could clearly see the immediate effects it was having on the inky blackness. At first it started to steam a little, then it began to bubble and pop like a sea of boiling black mud. She could hear it sizzling in the strengthening sunlight. It began to writhe around and fold in on itself, as if the top layers were always trying to seek the protection of being deeper down inside the black undulating mass.
Over the next several hours she watched in awe, as the combined strength of Aysha’s light and the sun burned back the writhing black mass. By mid-afternoon over half of the trees had been cut down around the clearing, and not a single Netherworld creature had emerged from The Rift.
A couple of hours before dusk, she noticed some excitement amongst the other paladins in the treeline, and thought they had come across one of Hershel’s fabled day-walking Zeadahl. But it later turned out to be something far more interesting, and far less dangerous. Apparently they had discovered the foundations of an ancient temple. One which was originally intended to watch over The Great Rift almost two millennia ago. Later, Hershel explained the full story to her and the other new paladins, of how the temple’s construction had been abandoned there, and relocated to what was now The Sanctum of Light in Stelgad.
By sunset the inky blackness had been forced all the way back to their first stone marker, and everyone felt a renewed sense of hope. Hershel ordered their defensive perimeter to be moved back to its original position, and they prepared themselves for the coming night. It turned out to be the quietest night since they had arrived at The Great Rift, and by dawn on the seventh day, the inky blackness had not advanced by much at all.
They continued to clear the surrounding trees well into the afternoon, but the distinct lack of any fresh Netherworld creatures emerging from The Rift started to make Hershel nervous. It was obvious that Aamon had changed his tactics now, but to what, he didn’t know. He had the distinct feeling, however, that they would all find out soon enough. And as the sun began to set on their seventh day at The Great Rift, he was unfortunately proven right.
The Carazhal had already risen a few minutes before sunset, and now patrolled the outer edge of the clearing. Alexia watched as it weaved its way in and out of the trees looking for any rising Netherworld creatures. It suddenly stopped dead in its tracks and looked towards The Great Rift, as if it had seen or heard something there. Then it began to slowly stalk towards it, staying hidden within the treeline. Alexia thought that she too could hear a noise coming from inside the inky blackness, and readied her bow. The sound was almost imperceptible, but it was definitely there. It sounded like a muffled intermittent clicking, and if the Carazhal had not shown so much interest in it, she might have simply dismissed it as being insects in the forest.
An eerie silence filled the air. It was as if everyone and everything could sense that something was about to happen. She heard quiet footsteps behind her, but she dare not take her eyes off The Rift.
“What is it?” Hershel whispered.
Alexia shook her head slowly. “I don’t know,” she whispered, pointing towards the Carazhal without looking at it. Hershel searched the treeline in the direction she had pointed, and spotted the Carazhal crouching behind a tree. It was looking directly at The Rift, tilting it head from side to side as if trying to hear something more clearly. He had never seen it act like that before, and he got the distinct impression that it was nervous about something. He was about to ask Alexia what her thoughts were, but the silence of the night was suddenly shattered by a high pitched scream. A small Netherworld creature emerged from the inky blackness, and skidded across the ground.
The small creature turned back towards The Rift and hissed loudly. Alexia released her arrow at the creature, but it simply bounced off it. She quickly sent a second arrow, but that too bounced harmlessly off its thickly armoured skin.
“How do I kill it?” she asked desperately, nocking a third arrow.
Hershel was at a complete loss. The creature was like nothing he had ever seen before. It looked similar to a Berzahl, but they were not heavily armoured like this creature, nor did they walk upright like this one did.
“I’m not sure how to kill it. I don’t even know what it is,” he replied truthfully.
The small creature was still looking back towards The Rift when the Carazhal broke free of its cover, and raced across the clearing towards it. At first the smaller creature didn’t see the Carazhal’s approach, but even when it did, it didn’t react like the other Netherworld creatures had. It showed no fear at all, and simply stood its ground against the advancing beast. It was almost as if it didn’t know what the Carazhal was.
The much larger Carazhal collided with the smaller creature with a sickening crunch, sending it sprawling across the ground towards The Rift. Even before it could regain its feet, the Carazhal had pinned it to the ground, and began tearing into its thick armoured skin with its vicious razor-sharp claws. The smaller creature screamed in pain, as it was literally torn limb from limb by the much larger creature.
Alexia’s momentary relief was short lived, as she watched a second Netherworld creature emerge from the inky blackness, and immediately start attacking the Carazhal. She sent an arrow at it, but it simply bounced off its thick armour, just like it had done with the previous creature.
It was massive, both in height and bulk compared to anything she had seen so far. It was at least eight feet tall, and must have weighed as much as five men. It was completely covered in thick overlapping plates of black carapace-like armour. A row of deadly looking spikes ran from the top of its head, all the way down its back, and it had another pair protruding each hand. Its claws dwarfed those of the Carazhal’s, and its thick armour seemed impervious to anything the Carazhal could do to it.
She turned to face Hershel. “Any ideas?” She could tell by the astonished look on his face what his answer was likely to be. “Let me guess, you haven’t seen one of those before either?”
Hershel shook his head. “No… I haven’t.”
Alexia turned her attention back to the battle between the two creatures, and it wasn’t going at all well for the Carazhal. It screamed in agony as the larger creature punched two large hole through its normally impenetrable armour using the spikes on its knuckles. The Carazhal clawed frantically at the creature, but its efforts simply slid harmlessly across its thick plates of armour, not leaving so much as a mark behind.
All the paladins had come forward to watch the battle between the two creatures, and were arguing amongst themselves as to what the creature actually was, and how best to kill it.
“There… did you see that?” Morgan said, pointing at the larger creature.
“What did you see, Morgan?” Hershel asked looking at the creature.
“Sir, when it pivots at the waist, two of its armour plates separate and leave a small gap. There, it just happened again,” Morgan said excitedly.
“Alexia, do you think you could hit a gap that small from this range?” Hershel asked.
“I think so,” Alexia replied, readying her bow to take a shot. She watched carefully for another opportunity to arise, but the larger creature was now on top of the badly injured Carazhal, brutally punching holes through its armoured skin. A moment later the Carazhal
was dead, and the larger creature roared its victory to the night sky.
It regained its feet, turned towards the paladins, and hissed loudly at them, before walking slowly back towards The Rift and vanishing inside the inky blackness.
“What in the Seven Hells was that thing?” Darryl gasped.
“A solution to a problem,” Hershel mused.
“What do you mean by that?” Alexia asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? We’ve just seen two new Netherworld creatures which have never been seen before. And I think there’s a very good reason for that. I don’t think they even existed the last time The Rift was open. I think Aamon has been tampering with things inside the Netherworld over the last two millennia, and created a whole new breed of creatures there. That first creature resembled a Berzahl, but had the armoured skin of another creature. And the second one… well, I’m not even sure what that thing was.”
“So you’re saying that Aamon has somehow changed them all?” Alexia asked.
“No, not all of them. We’ve already seen a few that we recognise come out of The Rift. But who knows what else he’s created in there over the past two millennia?” Hershel replied.
“That’s a comforting thought,” Alexia said sarcastically.
“Look!” Pippa called out, pointing towards The Rift. The large creature had re-emerged from inside the inky blackness, but this time it wasn’t alone. Walking directly behind it were six other creatures. It looked like two Vesdari, and four Culzach to Alexia, but they were almost fully hidden behind the much larger creature. She raised her bow to kill them, but could only see enough of one to take a shot. It struck the leg of a Culzach, causing it to fall behind the others. A moment later she ended it with a second arrow. The large creature hissed loudly at her, and continued to walk slowly towards the treeline, using its own body to shield the five creatures behind it. She attempted two more shots, but missed with one, and the large creature intercepted the second harmlessly with its forearm.