Shadow nodded. “Home sweet fucking home. The rope is to keep anything from snatching one of you away from me while we move through it.”
Because to get lost there was to never be seen again. The darkness was ever hungry and sought any nourishment it could find.
Life being its number one sustenance.
Shadow roped everyone together and then double-checked the knots to make sure everyone was linked together.
He then lifted his arm and drew a series of symbols, reminiscent of an orchestra conductor directing a band only he could hear, and began a melancholic humming from deep inside his chest, haunting and thrumming. He picked up the crescendo and as he did so, the air around them stirred.
One moment they were standing outside, and in the next they were in a blurry, swirling world of dark sepia. It was like being trapped inside an old nickelodeon machine. Everything had a jerky, surreal feel to it, leaving them disoriented and a bit queasy.
“It’ll take a few minutes to get your bearings.” Shadow’s voice sounded as distorted as the scenery.
“Why is everything so weird here?” Brogan asked.
“You’re in the lining of the worlds. Think of it like a hollow realm.” Shadow held his left hand up and a small porthole appeared to show them a bright sunny park where children played a game of chase. “From here, you can venture anywhere. Past. Present. Future. In all the worlds.” He closed the porthole and opened one on his right that showed a storming sea.
It was both beautiful and terrifying.
Shadow walked forward, leading them through his eerie domain.
Time truly had no meaning here, and they couldn’t tell if they had been walking for minutes or days when Shadow suddenly stopped and let out a foul curse as the sound of a howling came through the air.
They all turned and could suddenly now make out the sounds of the Crom’s horse as he rushed toward them.
And he wasn’t alone.
What appeared to be a hundred shadow dogs followed in his wake, with their yellow eyes glowing.
Urian curled his lip at the sight of them.
Shadow handed the rope to Falcyn. “Stay on the road. Move forward and I’ll join you as soon as I can.”
“What are you—”
“Go!” he roared at Falcyn. “Forward. Don’t stop! If the barking dogs get to you, you’re finished.”
Falcyn rushed forward, dragging them in his wake. They ran up a small hill and turned back just in time to see Shadow overrun by the demonic dogs he’d sought to hold back from their heels.
Medea’s eyes widened at the horrific sight. “We’re dead.”
Urian, Blaise, Falcyn, and Brandor took positions between Medea and Brogan as the rabid dogs approached them.
There was nothing left of where Shadow had been overrun by them.
Not even a drop of blood. It appeared as if he’d been completely devoured. Every last bit. Body and soul.
Louder and louder, the barking and snarling grew. Brogan reached out and took her hand. Then, just as the twisted demonic dogs reached them, the shadowed earth shot up at a right angle, forming a wall between them and the demonic beasts. They slammed into it and howled out in agony. Swirling and twisting like smoke, the ground formed a giant hand that sent the animals scattering and running off into the dark.
The Crom came in the next wave, on his eerie ghost steed. Rushing and snorting fire, the beast seemed every bit as determined to add them to its menu. Just as it would have reached their position, the hand bent around and curved up to form a huge beast of a man.
“You have no power here!” Though the voice was distorted in its inhuman growl and pitch, Urian still recognized it as Shadow’s.
The Crom pulled his horse up short, causing it to rear and paw fire at the hand. “This kerling belongs to me!” The rasping voice came from Brogan.
Shite! Urian cursed as he saw that Brogan’s eyes were now milky white with no iris or pupil whatsoever. Her skin was ice cold to the touch.
The Crom had obviously taken her over completely so that he could speak through her.
