The Void Hunters (Realmwalker Book 2)

by Jonathan Franks

  He stared into the green eyes. He liked them. They never talked to him and when he looked straight into them, all of that terrible light from the rest of the world faded away. When he looked into the eyes, he felt his tiny body finally relax and his mind could calm down. Billy tried to make them come closer, but he didn’t know how. He let out a coughing, strained gurgle and they moved a little closer. He did it again and they came even closer. They were right on the other side of the bars of his crib now, still just too far away to reach. The eyes blinked and vanished.

  Billy panicked. Why would they go away again? Couldn’t they stay until he fell asleep? Those were the easiest nights, the nights when they stayed.

  The eyes blinked open again and there they were! Billy laughed, relieved that they were back.

  -

  He opened his eyes. He was standing in a cave. The walls were cool and gray. There was a light mist in the air that obscured everything. It was very difficult to see what was around him. He was pretty sure he saw many pairs of very faintly glowing eyes.

  A weathered, crackling voice said, “Welcome, our new arrival.” A deafening crack split the air and a painfully bright white light illuminated the cave. A tall, slender figure with a black cape and a long, black staff walked in a circle around the new arrival. The light came from a crystal at the tip of his staff.

  “Delighted to have you among us,” he said.

  The new arrival said, “Thank you.”

  “I didn’t tell you to speak,” the caped figure hissed.

  The arrival dropped his gaze to the floor. This was the first glimpse he saw of himself. He was naked and he, too, was slender. His flesh was gray in color and stretched thin and tight over his bones. His knees and the joints in his feet and toes were noticeable. His toenails were shiny black and curved down slightly over the tops of his toes. He looked at his hands. They, too, were gray in color and very thin, with long fingers and black nails trailing from the tips of his fingers into points.

  “Hands at your side!”

  The arrival put his hands down and stood up straight.

  The caped figure continued to circle the arrival, then stopped in front of him. “My name is Slynn and I rule this place. Kneel.”

  The arrival knelt and looked up at Slynn. Slynn placed his hand on the arrival’s head and closed his eyes. The arrival’s eyes felt like they were burning and his muscles clenched involuntarily. His hands twisted and his fingers curled inward hard enough that his sharp claws pierced his palms. Slynn’s hand on his forehead felt like burning acid. He could feel the flesh burning off of his skull. He tried to scream in pain but his jaw was clenched so tight that he could only make a throaty moan through his nose.

  Slynn’s grip on his head tightened and as it did, so did the arrival’s muscles. His hands continued to ball into tight fists and his claws pierced fully through the backs of his hands. His jaw clenched so hard that he felt teeth piercing his tongue and then shattering in his mouth. The taste of foul, coppery blood filled his mouth and he started choking on it, unable to spit it out or swallow it. His chest heaved with a cough and blood spurted from his nose.

  Slynn took his hand away and the arrival collapsed. His muscles relaxed but he didn’t have the strength to pull his claws through the flesh of his hands to open his fists. He opened his mouth and spit blood and shards of teeth on the ground. He lay on his side, coughing up more blood.

  “Back to your knees,” Slynn said.

  The arrival struggled to his knees again. The tears pouring from his eyes burned his eyes and his cheeks. When they hit the stone floor, they sizzled slightly and a wisp of smoke rose from where each of them landed.

  Slynn turned away from the arrival. “No,” he said. “This one will not do.”

  Hissing filled the cave, coming from all directions. The arrival turned his head from side to side. The glowing eyes advanced through the mist and a dozen or so gray figures became visible. All wore the same black cloaks as Slynn. The arrival felt terror twist his insides and he shook his head, trying to say something. He couldn’t speak, his tongue was torn to shreds. He screamed, howling a wordless, terror-stricken shriek.

  Slynn stepped back from the arrival, still facing him. Then the arrival saw that Slynn wasn’t wearing a cloak at all - leathery black bat wings unfurled from his back, revealing a black and red robe underneath. With his fearsome wings at full spread, Slynn slowly opened his mouth wide and revealed a mouth impossibly full of razor sharp teeth. A thin cord of saliva connected one of his upper teeth to one of the lowers.

  He hissed, long and low and full of hate, and all of the pixies descended on the arrival, biting and clawing and devouring him alive. The arrival’s own leathery bat wings had been dislocated and once free from the joints, the flesh ripped brutally from his body and cast to the ground.

  The delicate pathways of nerves throughout his body had been meticulously flayed open and pulled, scratched, bitten until his body had succumbed. They made it take as long as possible and the new pixie died after hours of agony. When it was over, all of this flesh was completely stripped and the muscles shredded. Bone showed in several places through the lacerated muscle. The body was drained completely of blood and his bowels were strewn across the floor.

  A chittering sound echoed through the cave. Within a few seconds, thousands of shiny, black insects swarmed out of every crack in the floor and the walls. They carpeted the floor and instantly, the dismembered corpse was completely covered with Void roaches. The chittery scratching was now accompanied by many, many small, quiet, wet slurping noises. It took less than a minute for the insects to clean every bit of flesh, organ, and blood from the corpse and the cave floor, then the mass of them swept back toward the cracks, reminding Slynn of the tide going out to sea. When the last of the roaches had retreated into the ground, the only thing left on the ground was a pile of clean, white bones.

  “Come,” said Slynn. “We’re done here,” and the pixies flew back into The Void.

  -

  The next morning, Billy’s mother and father took advantage of an abnormally quiet morning and finally, after almost two weeks, found the time to have sex. Usually, Billy would wake up before his mother did and he’d be screaming and yanking like a madman at the bars of this crib.

  His mother stretched decadently and slipped out of bed. “Apparently, our little sleepy head decided to take the morning off!” She said to her husband and slipped into her bathrobe.

  She tiptoed down the hall to Billy’s room and opened the door. She screamed loud enough that all three neighbors, left, right, and behind the Blaines' house, heard and rushed over to see what was the matter. Billy’s mother didn’t stop screaming for an hour as she cradled the cold, dead, blue-gray body of her son.

  chapter 7

  A loud clap of thunder woke Gen up with a start. Hope was still sleeping curled against her. The sky outside the skylight in their room was dark gray. Rain pelted the roof and the rattled off the glass. The sky lit up with a bright flash, then Gen counted.

  “One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi.” Then there was a boom of thunder.

  Gen loved watching the rain. The sound of it was different here, probably, she thought, because of the different size of the raindrops relative to the buildings. It was very loud and sounded almost like hail pelting off the wooden roof of the residence. It was different from what she was used to, but still familiar, and still soothing to her.

  One of her favorite things to do after a nice autumn rain was to go for a walk and enjoy the scent of freshness in the air, and see how clean everything had gotten after the rain washed dust and the grime away. She realized that now she could go for a fly, instead, and she wouldn't get wet or muddy. Is that what they call it? Going for a fly instead of going for a walk? Taking a fly? Taking a flight? She mused over that and willed herself to remember to ask when one of her friends was awake. Plus, she thought, it'll be great for the crops.

  Thunder crashed again and H
ope snuggled closer to Gen. Her skin was soft and warm against Gen's and Gen sighed, content. Another loud crack of thunder woke Hope up.

  Hope blinked a few times then tipped her head up to look at Gen. “Mmm,” Hope purred. “Good morning.”

  Gen gave her a crooked grin. “Good morning.”

  Hope arched her back and stretched, then settled her cheek back against the top of Gen's breast. She sighed. “I slept wonderfully! How about you?”

  “Mm hmm.” She kissed the top of Hope's head and inhaled the smell of her hair. “I love the way you smell. Smelling your hair is one of my favorite things.”

  “Aw.” Hope brought Gen's hand to her lips and kissed it.

  “I was just thinking how much I love the sound of the rain,” Gen said.

  “Really? I find it a little jarring. It's so loud and harsh. When the snow falls, it sounds so gentle and quiet.”

  “Oh yeah,” Gen said. “I guess you wouldn't get a lot of rain in The Winter Kingdom, would you?”

  Hope shook her head. “Nope.”

  There was another flash of lightning, followed closely by more thunder. Hope maneuvered on top of Gen and straddled her, knees on either side of Gen's hips. Gen looked up at her and reached up to cup her cheek in her hand. Hope nuzzled her cheek into Gen's palm.

  “What's a Mississippi?” Hope asked.

  “It's a state.”

  Hope still looked puzzled.

  “Like, a Realm, I guess. It's just a place where I come from. Saying one Mississippi takes a second, so you can count off the seconds. Or you can say one one-thousand, two one-thousand.”

  “Fascinating,” Hope said.

  “The weather isn't getting any better,” Gen said. “I don't think we're leaving today. You know what's the best thing to do on a rainy day?”

  “What?”

  “Stay in bed.”

  -

  Herron went to the common room and served himself up some breakfast.

  “Where did all of this food come from?” he asked.

  Shae was listening with her ear against Gen and Hope's door.

  “Oh, come on,” Herron started.

  “Ssh!”

  “Give them their privacy.”

  “This is very exciting!” Shae whispered. She absentmindedly traced her fingers down the side of her neck.

  “Enough, Shae,” Herron said.

  She said, “Fine!” She listened to the door for another moment, then giggled and flew to the sofa and sat next to Herron.

  “It'll be nice out tomorrow.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yep!” Shae said. “Anyway, I picked it up this morning before the rain started, since we were staying in today. But it's okay, we'll get moving tomorrow.”

  “How do... Never mind. I know how you know these things. Do you see everything before it happens?”

  “I knew you were going to ask me that,” Shae sighed.

  “I don't think you did.”

  “Oh, stop,” she laughed. “No, I don't see everything before it happens. It's hard to describe because this is the way it's always been. I don't really know any different so I can't describe what it's like because I don't know what it's not like.”

  “Okay,” Herron said. “I think that makes sense. What if we change our minds?”

  “Most of the time, I know when I'm being second-guessed. Sometimes I don't. But it can happen. Watch. We’ll do an experiment.” Shae went to the table and picked up some berries from the bowl. She looked back at Herron, thought for a moment, then picked up a few more. She cupped them between both hands and turned to face him.

  “How many berries do I have in my hands?”

  “I have no idea,” he said.

  Shae simultaneously said, “You have no idea. I know. Pick a number.”

  “Twelve.”

  Shae opened her hands and showed Herron twelve berries.

  “You knew what number I would pick?” he asked.

  “Right. Now,” she turned around, dumped them all back in the bowl and picked different ones. “Pick another number.” Herron started to say it, but she cut him off. She handed him a scrap of paper and a charcoal stick. “No, don’t say it. Write it down. Now think of a different number.”

  “Seven.”

  Shae opened her hands to show nine berries. “What was your first number?”

  Herron showed her the paper with the number nine written on it.

  “I picked these up and then asked you to change your mind. You changed the future.”

  “And you didn’t see that?”

  “This was kind of a simple example,” Shae said. “It was mostly demonstrative.”

  Herron grinned. “So you did, then?”

  Shae shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. You always have a choice. You can change the future if you want to. This was simple and the change was induced because I suggested it. There’s a big ripple effect that happens when something really takes me by surprise.”

  “That would drive me mad,” Herron said. “Always knowing what’s around the corner, what’s coming at me, what someone is going to say to me.”

  “I don’t know life any other way. I don’t understand how you can ask someone a question and not already know the answer.”

  “If you already know the answer, why bother asking?” Herron asked.

  “Because if you don’t ask, they won’t be able to give you the answer in the first place.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I knew you were going to say that,” Shae smiled at him.

  “Did you?” asked Herron.

  Shae winked at him. “It gets tough sometimes, especially for the predictions that are a little farther away. They're in my mind just like my regular thoughts. Sometimes it's hard to tell what's foresight and what's a memory.”

  “That must be tough,” Herron said.

  “It is.” She looked at Gen and Hope’s door. “Oh! They’re coming out, so look natural! Don’t tell them I was listening.”

  “I am looking natural. I wasn’t the one spying on them!” Herron said as the door opened.

  Hope asked, “Who’s spying on who?”

  Shae narrowed her eyes at Herron and formed silent, angry-looking words with her lips.

  “No one,” Herron said. “I guess you two already figured we’re staying another day.”

  Gen strolled into the common room. “Yeah, we figured. Shae, will it be clear tomorrow?”

  “Yep,” Shae said. “It sure will. We’ll make great time.”

  “Fantastic,” Gen said. “I’m starving.” She grabbed a handful of berries from the bowl and tipped them into her mouth.

  Shae grinned at Herron. He winked back at her and she blushed.

  “Shae,” Gen asked, “how long were you with the Mer Oracle?”

  “I’ve been training with her since, um, about three weeks after my arrival. It’s been a long time. All my life.”

  “Wow. And you’ve been down there, underwater with them this whole time?”

  “Yes,” Shae said. “I was there when all of you came.”

  Gen looked hard at Shae. “Did you know?”

  “Know what?”

  “You know damn well what.”

  Shae shook her head. “No, I didn’t. We could see up to your crossing the Bridge, then everything went blank. We didn’t even see your return from the Bridge until the day before you actually did.”

  “Okay,” Gen said. “Because I don’t want any nonsense about how too much information about the future could be damaging and some things we need to find out through the course of time. If we need to know something, we need you to tell us. Okay?”

  “That’s why the Oracle wanted me to go with you. That’s what I do. I don’t intend to hold anything back,” Shae said. “That’s why I need to tell you something,” she added, quiet and serious.

  “What?” Gen asked, just as serious.

  “Maybe you’d better sit down,” Shae said.

  “Ma
ybe you’d better just tell me!”

  “We can hear you having sex.”

  “What?” Gen looked back at the bedroom door. “Really?”

  “No, not here. I mean, we will be able to through the tent. But that's okay, you don't have to stop! I know you won't, anyway!” Shae laughed.

  Gen frowned. “That's what you had to tell me?”

  “No,” said Shae. “One other thing.” She sighed deeply and put her hands on Gen's shoulders. “You're going to die of wing rot.”

  Gen's eyes widened. “Wing rot? How do you get wing rot?”

  Shae laughed. “I have no idea. I just made it up.”

  Gen glared at her and shook her head. Shae laughed harder.

  Gen looked to Hope for sympathy. Hope laughed and shrugged.

  “No, it isn't.” Shae said, still laughing and wiping her eyes.

  “Hmm?” asked Gen.

  “You were about to say, 'This is going to be a long trip.' But it isn't. I was only joking. Trust me: soon, you'll think I'm hilarious!”

  Gen couldn't help but chuckle. “Yeah, I bet you're right.” She sat down on the sofa and stretched and put her feet up on the table. “Wing rot…”

  -

  “Shae was right again,” Gen said. “It's beautiful out today.”

  “Ready to go?” Herron asked.

  They all nodded and everyone except for Gen lifted off the ground to fly off. Gen looked at the residence for a moment. Hope flew next to her.

  “Are you okay?” Hope asked.

  “I was just thinking about home.”

  “Oh,” said Hope.

  “No,” Gen said and took Hope's hand. “I wasn't being homesick. I was thinking about my actual home. I left my home behind. We stayed here for a few days but it wasn't home. It just occurred to me that I really don't have a home anymore. You still have your house in The Winter Kingdom. I don't have a place to come back to when we're all done with this.”