Hadagery, Page 2

  Chapter 2: The Edge of Darkness!

  Hallowed deep inside the pain of this slow burning venom, Hadge laid trapped in a near comatose condition for hours, feeling neither asleep nor awake. During which every repetitive drop of water in the cavern echoed to a maddening end. As the grayish blur of awareness flitted across his eyelids, a veil of secrecy drawn between reality and fiction. He blinked until he recognized the uneven rocky ceiling of his chamber, something tangibly real. A hidden place carved by eons of erosion from the nearby ocean, networking caves and tunnels far beneath a family mausoleum in the Grendlocke Cemetery.

  Suddenly he winced in pain, as memories of the spider’s attack replayed through his mind. And his concern returned immediately to his ailing friend, “Uwee?” However the words were barely audible. Hoping the annoying grubb was truly all right, while he naturally reached out a hand in the direction of his friend. Uttering once again, “Uwee?” As his hand greeted nothing but air, confused to find no one was there.

  The deafening silence throughout the constant dripping water was much more than he could bear, eroding away his sanity. Curious as to just how long he’d been unconscious, and beginning to doubt what really happened on Mount Ennead, “Maybe.” He considered, “We’re still on the mountain.” Very sure that the poisons in combination with the soama could produce any number of elaborate hallucinations. Knowing one thing, “However this all ends. The truth will become clear.”

  Hadge feeling devastatingly fatigued could hardly roll to his side. Initially still surprised to find Uwee was gone, but the overall shock of a completely empty room had hard-hitting ramifications. Wanting sorely to know, “What happened to my bed?” He growled, “And my plants!” Irritably scrutinizing the small room. While his ire loudly increased, “Where are all my herbs!” Instantly accusing the first grubb he thought of, “Uwee!” He’d been the only one who knew about the vegetable garden. As he acidly spat, “He told the others!” Slamming a fist onto the rocky floor, disregarding the infliction of pain. Hissing, “The grubbs took it all!”

  He stumbled to his feet. Fueled purely by rage. Ignoring the overall darkness of everything in his path. Then laughter echoed softly through the cavern. “Uwee’s childish laughter.” He seethed, hearing the foreign sound of his own voice, “I’m going to kill you grubb!”

  Lurching through the exit, he tore through the cavern like a madman. Hearing the manic sounds of his ranting and raving. Descending the spiral tunnel deeper into the ground, bypassing his friend Feo’s quarters, next leaving little Uma’s behind, then Nibb’s, and all the others that lived in the caves. Who’s quiet all seemed for the most part unusual. With every room the darkness had steadily grew brighter. While his footsteps splashed heavier with his ever growing anger. Until the drowning sounds of the ocean filled the depths of the cave, like the deafening hum of a seashell. And the tunnel budded open to the lower half of the cavern, a gathering room used by his entire group. Thinking “They all must be there.”

  At that time an intense shimmering light began to dance eerily from crook to curve along the black rocky surface of the ceilings and walls, brighter than anything he’d ever seen, momentarily mesmerizing. “What the…” It reminded him so much of a sunlit world that lived merely in pictures. As his tripping feet was abruptly impeded by something hard, and his eyes following the wayward journey, plunging face first into a pool of crystal blue water.

  Thrusting himself upright out of the water, he had swallowed what seemed a gallon of water, gagging and choking for a single breath of air. Wondering how and when in Yahveh did the ocean flood the lower half of the caverns. He’d only been gone a matter of hours. Until it dawned on him, everyone and everything had vanished from the cave. As he whimpered feebly, “What’s going on here?” And slumped to the watery floor, asking that terrible question, “Am I the last person alive?” Positive the reavers must somehow be involved. But then he questioned, “Where did the laughter come from?”

  Then he noticed the peculiar rock he’d tripped upon only moments ago. It sparkled from the shimmering light originating from the depths of the ocean, jutting directly in the middle of the walkway. It rested at the edge of the clear water, surely brought in by the tides, stuck in a layer of sand and silt. He quickly unearthed this rare find. A three inch thick square foot of white quartz fashioned in the shape of a book. The bizarre stone book was etched with gentle wrapping vines, and an extraordinary bluish flame emanating deep from the core. Strangely reminiscent of the blue torches, which had mysteriously appeared along the road, akin to some fanciful fairy tale. Frankly he didn’t believe in such things.

  Hadge found himself more confused than ever before, the torches, the strange rock book, all have to have some underlying connection. “But what?” Was his question, the answer elusive as reality or fiction.

  Unexpectedly the taunting laughter now resonated from whence he came. As he angrily clutched the rock to his chest, sneering as he followed the sound, “What kind of game is this?”

  Everywhere he looked, all was gone. As if he imagined this life in Grendlocke caverns, imagined all the people he knew. But still the laughter came and went. Drawing him ever upward, half scared it may be some kind of trick. Hearing that anxious inner voice, “What if I end up like the others?” Yet still he cautiously treaded onward, because he had to know what was happening.

  Hadge’s empty room eerily echoed as he entered. Noting a ghostly light stretched across his floor, as the wayward dust swirled in this brilliance. The path of the ghostly light led directly to an empty vault inside the mausoleum, where the lid must have been left ajar. Sadly knowing who was to blame, “This is all my fault.” He cried. “I didn’t shut the lid all the way.”

  “Stop!” he forcefully cleared the trash from his mind, and refocused on what was happening at this very minute.

  The weird and wonderful light was odd in itself, seeing that the world remained in a limbo of darkness. Nonetheless curiosity had gotten the better of him, and he had to discover where this peculiar light emanated from. As his apprehension bounced from interest to fear, imagining the glowing spiders waiting just outside, maybe a ghostly figure, or quite possibly a reavers trickery.

  Hadge was tired of living in fear, even as he dared to slide the lid all the way open, and bravely climbing out into the musty mausoleum. As a stained glass window caught this strange illumination, and the plain resting place of the dead was painted in a picture of colors. He hadn’t seen anything like this before, desiring to see more, no matter what the consequences. Following the beautiful light out into the open cemetery.

  Swiftly he felt beside himself, observing the oddities before him. The sky was the brightest blue he’d ever seen, and the green fields gently rolled towards the mountains, which swelled with beckoning tree’s that were alive, and swaying with a warm gentle breeze. Old Harrier Road stretched as far as the eye could see, as metal objects of all shapes and sizes followed the road to the nearby town. The town rose like a garden of color, buildings close enough to kiss the clouds, as thousands of people moved about their daily lives. And the grandeur of it all made him question, “Which is the dream?” An intake into the matter, “Here and now?” As the fragrant sweet smell of endless fields of wildflowers tantalized his senses, and the merry sounds of birds chirping in the trees. “Or…” His mind bleeding like and open wound, “The terrible cold dark place lain withering and dormant deep within his memories. A frozen dismal place he easily had forgotten.”

  Hadge found himself wandering aimlessly through the cemetery. He was seeing things differently than he’d ever seen before, enjoying the simplistic cushion of the grass beneath his feet, the warm gentle touch of the summer breeze across his face and through his hair, as well as the ultimate sounds of life all around. Gazing at all the fascinating headstones, discovering the writings on the headstones suddenly made sense to him now. “Here lies MARGARET E. EGDAH.” As he had to laugh at the similarity, “My imagination named me after a headsto
ne, HADGE.” Strangely the headstone seemed familiar, the bony arms folded over the edge, with one hand holding a whitish key, which had been imbedded into the cement. “How odd.” He breathed. Starting to believe all this might be real, and everything else he knew and remembered was conjured by his subconscious.

  Out of the blue a shadowy figure leapt from behind the headstone. Within that second an array of dark creatures invaded his memory, as he took a stance of defense.

  The dark figure began to giggle uncontrollably, “I.” Trying to speak in the midst of the amusement, “Knew you’d be here.” As the cover of soft brown hair fell away from the face, revealing a young human girl. Her eyes were as heavenly blue as the sky above, lovely creamy skin aglow by an underlying iridescence, like the breath of an angel, all dressed in white. He knew he was in love.

  “Hady?” She stopped a foot from where he stood, looking up into his lost expression.

  All of a sudden she felt concerned, “Are you alright?”

  Hadge nodded, barely noticing she said his name. As he answered, “I was just day dreaming Carrissa.” Quite surprised her name just fell off the tip of his tongue.

  The girl glanced impishly into his face, replying softly, “Dreams aren’t real.” Then leaned her body close enough he could feel her warm lingering breath, his eyes expectant to close, as the tense moments awaited a kiss.

  Unanticipated he felt Carrissa’s hand push away from the book rather amused, running through a field of tall grass, mischievously calling back to him, “Catch me if you can.” Leaving him somewhat stunned, “Oh.” He watched her tempting form depart, affirming as a matter of fact, “I will catch you.”

  Much to his surprise feeling the chill of the stone book in his hands shift. He shouted as he let it fall from his grasp, “Oh my Yahveh!” And watched in amazement. The quartz transformed into a worn dark leather-bound book, pages gleaming a dazzling blue, which was bound tightly with pure silver vines from edge to bind, locking the pages securely from wandering eyes.

  Carrissa’s giggles once more dominated his attention. As he scooped the book up with his hands, chasing the obscure image of the girl. He trailed her through places she’d already been, as the field of flowers gently parted a path she’d left behind, footprints left in the soft earth, through the broken branches of the thickets guarding the base of the tree’s surrounding the town. Then she’d vanished completely from sight.

  The whimsical game of cat and mouse had abandoned him in the middle of a busy street, as motorcars darted and honked around the idiot in the roadway. Quickly he stumbled to a sidewalk, where a self propelled two-wheel bicycle knocked him down. While the person shook a fist, yelling, “Get out of the way!” He sat perfectly motionless where he landed, watching the buzz around him. A typical residential street, lined with grand Victorian homes, white picket fences, flower gardens, people mowing their lawns, kids laughing and playing, also barking family pets.

  “Hey!” an elderly woman’s voice shouted from her front lawn. The startling noise causing him to gasp, jerking his nervous form into motion, as he turned in the direction of the insufferable sound. She was slightly overweight with a quarter size mole on the side of her nose. “A sight nearly as terrifying as the reavers.” He thought. As the sound of her grating voice filled the air once more, with her false teeth spitting and moving as she spoke, “That dog of yours dug up my garden!” He was thoroughly confused “What?” His mind asking, “What dog?” He had no dog, and no idea what she was talking about. He was interested as to what a dog really was, recalling only pictures and stories of the Elders. The insolent old woman’s voice continued to ramble, making thought next to impossible.

  Then the laughter he’d been searching for could be heard coming from up the street. As the young girl’s figure ran deeper into the city. Instantly he jumped up chasing her once more. Hearing the old woman yell after him, “Hey!” She shrieked, “Hey!” While the devilish sounds of trapped animals thirsting for a taste of his flesh, snapped at the nearby fencerows he passed.

  Oddly the girl halts at the street corner, then turned dashing through someone’s yard, and she once again vanished from sight.

  Breathlessly he halted for a short time at that same street corner. He could see numerous fliers all asking have you seen this dog or cat, understanding for the first time about dogs and cats. Most of the pictures had long since faded, as his eyes stopped on one dog in particular, with a dog named Reybe. A black sleek haired animal, muscular in build. He realized the picture was taken at the very house he stood before, a house that seemed incredibly familiar; “No!” He shook his head, still unsure of what was real.

  Unexpectedly a scraggily old man appeared out of thin air. The thinning layer of his gray hair visibly saturated with oil, one eye barely open in his gaunt face, and a mouth full of decayed teeth, looking more haggard than age revealed. As his sweltering breath smelled of rotting flesh in the midday sun, and his words rang a bit odd, “Animals go missing all the time.”

  Hadge instantly felt alarmed. The same amount of fear as the spiders had instilled in him, as he warily searched every possible avenue of escape, his vision nervously stopping on the open manhole cover. Promptly the disturbing old man’s eyesight tagged his gaze to the darkened doorway to this underworld of the city, leaning in a tad too close, saying, “They say monsters live in the sewers boy!” And Hadge swiftly backed across the busy intersection. Hearing the old mans maniacal laughter go on and on. Until his pace was virtually an all out run, and eerily the man faded in the background, among all the crowds of people spiriting his figure away.

  Suddenly he realized he was several blocks away by now. People were strangely halted in place. Everywhere motorcars had come to a standstill in the middle of the roadway. The occupants abandoned their vehicles, gathering in the streets, and the walkways, many exiting buildings, everyone looking to the sky. An indistinct shadow slowly was creeping across the town. He too gazed up into the unknown, as the moon began to block the rays of the sun, and the ground commenced to lightly tremble. The glass in the storefronts began to vibrate, but not break, and the dimness bit by bit blanketed the town.

  Hadge searched the confused faces around him, all staring in disbelief, as if to say, “What’s going on?” He watched the shadows eerily twisting and turning along every curve and crevice of their horrified expressions, transforming the innocent faces into devilish creatures he clearly remembered, but he fought to remind himself it wasn’t real. Hearing the low rumble as the people talked amongst themselves, “Are we supposed to be having an eclipse?” Until someone abruptly burst out, “It’s the end of the world!” Panic ensued the crowd. The intense shadows became monstrous, leaving his imagination to run amuck.

  Quickly a mans wrinkled visage suggestively materialized like a chameleon into a dark horrid creeper, bags of murky skin drawn-out in a gruesome distortion, with eyes no bigger than shiny black marbles, even as his elongated fingers pointed towards the darkening sky. Then a child’s petrified expression looked so much like the frozen face of the reaver, cold and terrifying. He was unsure once again on what to believe, as the line seemed blurred between this life and that life, however the fear of that darker world seemed much more threatening.

  Nervously he sifted through the contorting crowds, trying to get away. Something oddly brushed his ankle, as he searched to find nothing was there, yet feeling quite spooked. Then something sharp gouged at his side. Instantly he turned to glimpse a set of keys in someone’s hand, and still there were many more people with sharp objects in their hands as well. Reminded yet again to stay calm. Out of the darkness a hand grabbed his arm, pulling him in the opposite direction he was moving. Even as he searched for the unknown assailant, only to find shadows in its place, as he fought desperately to break away.

  Hadge was forced inside a dark building. A musty odor quickly invaded his lungs, and the door slammed shut behind him, dispersing clouds of dust, making visibility next to nothing. His quaking hands dro
pped the strange book, jerking hard on the handle, while his erratic breathing filled the space.

  “Hadyn?” A sweet familiar voice called out, “Its me.”

  Immediately the fears melted away, and his dark memories were nothing more than a child’s nightmare. As he suddenly felt foolish and embarrassed he’d allowed his imagination to wander so far, quickly masking that expression, in no sense of the word to be unmanly. His head tilting in her direction replying, “Carrissa.” Pretending to know all along, “Your perfume gives you away every time.”

  Carrissa’s heckling stare said more than words could ever say, as he swiftly changed the subject, “What do you think is going on out there?”

  The lines of her face grew solemn. She looked out the glass at the ensuing turmoil, and her eyes grew dark with a knowing sorrow, “The edge of darkness.”

  Then she leaned down retrieving the strange book. Without delay the silver binding turned green and alive, growing and moving. Then the intertwined vines untwisted from the book, unfettering the bound blue pages, even as the dried darkened leather had grown as lively as human flesh. The leather flexed back and forth, stirring beneath her very fingertips.

  Carrissa gasped, her hands suddenly trembling, and her face as white as a sheet. Hadge held out his hand for support, rather concerned, asking, “Are you alight Carrissa?” All at once the letters of the title carved into its soft tissue one by one, as each letter began to bleed, surely as if the book were living. The words were now clear, “The Edge of Darkness.”

  Hadge marveled, “How did she know the name of the book?”

  Carrissa opened the cover of the book. The pages were thin sheets of blue fire, as the flames remained in a perfect square, each fiery sheet clearly revealing the next, seeing that the written text were layers upon layers.

  Her ashen complexion turned even whiter. Swiftly she closed the book, looking quite grim, and bizarrely stared at him, but never seemed to truly focus he was there. Then she said, “No matter what happens promise to protect me.”

  Bewildered by this request, he discerned there was only one possible answer, “You know I will.”

  She nodded, as her eyes fell back to the book. Watching the blood drip from its surface, as if it were an eternity, but in reality only a second, until the blood struck the floor. At once that single droplet of blood sent a vibrating sonic type boom across the planet, and all grew astoundingly silent.

  Then the warmth began to be devoured from the environment, and the soil chilled to an ashy gray. Everywhere you looked bizarre black vaporous gas escaped from cracks in the ground. The gas expanding into solid black sinister forms, as the forms unsettling faces were drawn and frozen, with the excess skin seemingly pulled under the snout, which concealed the creature’s mouths. The hellish creatures had cold black shark like eyes, which gave it the impression of being able to stare straight into your soul. Ungodly as they were ominously shifting among the people, with the dust of ages falling from the tattered rags covered bodies, or maybe it was the ashes of the dead.

  The evil creatures extended their long sharp blade-like fingers, attacking onlookers one by one, as if they had come to do the devils bidding. What evils truly lain hiding beneath all of the Devils children, horror, death, despair, the answer as elusive as capturing a moment in time. But these hideous creatures were simply known as the reavers. At once people began screaming and running, as the reavers did what they do best, kill.

  Suddenly the floor beneath them began to shake, diverting their attention to the dilemma at hand. Boards began to snap and break, even as the floor tore open, and swallowed them into the dark chasm below. They were lost amid the fragments of Scheel’s Bargain Bookstore. Each choking on the dense billowing dust, as a ghostly bluish glow cascaded through the debris, which had left a layer of grime in its wake. Definite the shallow light emanated from the strange book, almost certain The Edge of Darkness laid hidden somewhere in the rubble.

  Weakly they crawled from under the muddle, encrusted in deposits of dirt. Both looking discouraged up at the precarious opening above them, but they were glad to be all right. At what moment Carrissa learned she’d lost the book, yelling, “The book!” He wasn’t quite sure why she was so upset over the book, yet could hear her every taut word. “Help me find it!” Filth flew from her fingertips, as she dug through the rubble.

  Then the room started to fill with several of those black vaporous gas pockets. Fear instantly seizing his lungs, hearing the urgent sound of his voice ricocheting through his skull, “Reavers!” And he knew they had very little time to flee. He quickly grabbed her arm, pulling her towards a basement window. It had been shattered in the collapse. She desperately fought against him, squealing, “No! We need that book!”

  Hadge forcefully pulled the combative Carrissa into the alley behind the building. He declared loudly, “The book won’t do any good if we’re dead.” Something she’d already known deep down inside.

  That very moment something small and black darted towards their feet, hissing. He believed they’d stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire, as they fearfully sidestepped the obscured creature, realizing it was nothing more than a terrified black cat. The cat hastily fled from sight, just like all the other animals, like they had known something was going to happen. At what time they breathed a temporary sigh of relief, without delay the brief moment of safety promptly ended. The empty window filled with the terrifying shapes of reavers.

  They rushed off into the maze of cars in the street. He observed the out of the ordinary blue torches following the roadways, not sure how these peculiar events have to do with the happenings on Ennead Mountain, or if any of this was factual. Nonetheless the devastation seemed exceedingly genuine. Bodies were flung here, people would run there, every which way they turned the path was red with death and destruction, amid horrific earsplitting shrieks that never seemed to cease.

  They rounded yet another car, running headlong into one of those dark demons. It wasted no time in aiming its deadly weapons upon them. Unerringly as Hadge flung the car door open, blocking the beasts assault. Giving them enough time to crawl through the vehicle, and escape to the other side. When he came to realize, “Leaving the city is the only hope.” Thinking of the Grendlocke Cemetery cavern, recalling how the caves had always been a haven from the darkness. As he suggested between breaths, “I know, where we can hide.”

  “No!” She reacted very adamantly, “We have to follow the road.”

  “Carrissa.” He pleaded. While they continued through the chaotic street, “We can’t do that.” She went stubbornly silent. He chillingly remembered the rules of the dark world. “The reavers watch the road.” True or false it logically made sense, as he stressed, “It would be suicide.”

  She gave him a fleeting glance, stony and complacent, “I have to do this.” Persisting to move en route for the mountains, as he tugged at her arm begging, “Please, Carrissa.” However knew her mind was set, furthermore there would be no changing it now, and he would follow her to the end of the world, if need be. Above and beyond he couldn’t break his promise of protecting her, praying she understood what she was doing. Thenceforth all words remained unsaid.

  Out of the hectic darkness he recognized the street corner plastered with numerous flyers. His mind reflecting upon the frightening old man he’d met earlier, as his eyesight promptly fell to the manhole, seeing people fleeing into the sewers.

  Abruptly the noise of distant thunder drummed across the town. Then dark ominous clouds rolled overhead, and the ground commenced to quake harder, causing a webbing of cracks in the land. The ground starting to split beneath their very feet, as they manipulated the surface like a game of chance, one wrong move could cast you to your death. Finally they had come full circle, to the street at the very edge of town, convinced they may still have a chance of escaping this maddening place. The picket fence still there, but oddly leaning, as Hadge half expected he would hear the old woman’s grating voice,
but she was no longer there. Only the reavers lingered behind, roaming for those they have missed.

  All of a sudden a reaver’s distorted head stopped, and crooked stiffly in their direction, as its hunched stance tensed with awareness. Then just as quickly it galloped in their direction, seeming to move much faster than they looked. Hadge shouting, “Run!” Which barely gave them time to take flight through the picket fence.

  They trampled the once prized flowers of the old woman. Hadge wasn’t sure if they could even out run this creature, curiously he couldn’t remember them being so fast, nor could he remember being so slow. Certain they would have to stand and fight this thing. They scrambled around to the back of the Victorian house, and he hastily searched the yard for a weapon. A shovel rested against the house, next to the old woman’s prize flowerbed, as he swiftly scooped it up on his way passed. Then pulled Carrissa flat against the back corner of the house.

  Hadge waited and listened for the demon to appear, not in the least surprised by its growls, a deep throaty rumble, similar to a big cat. A shadow rounded the building, and the shovel instantly slashed through the air, with swift and deadly might he severed the demons head. Ashes discharged from the deadly wound, until the twitching beast ceased to move. At what time he grasped the bizarre fact, that these reavers were never really alive, wholly the spawn of Hell.

  Hadge threw the shovel aside, anxiously seizing Carrissa’s arm, “We have to get out of here now.” As they climbed over the backyard fence, departing into the nearby trees.

  Grendlocke Cemetery could be seen from where they were. Everywhere you looked were heaps of bodies, all sick or deformed somehow, some covered in bandages, or others missing limbs. They dared not get too close, walking instead through the field of flowers. The ground trembled once more, with their vision falling between the flowing flowers, horrifyingly discovering the bodies of small children and babies strewn throughout the field. Hell had cast them all away, not worthy of the Devils army.

  “Oh my Yahveh!” Carrissa cried. He could feel her form become limp with despair in his arms, and he pulled her tighter to his chest, knowing exactly how she felt, because he felt the same way. But he had to remain strong for the both of them. Saying weakly, “We have to keep going.” And lead them towards the river.

  Eerie black smoke boiled up from the pines at the base of the mountain, rolling amongst the turbulent clouds overhead. Elysium seemed darker than ever before. Out of this blackness a distant rumbling echoed throughout the valley, it was thunder, as a storm was sure to follow. Streaks of lightning barbed across the sky, and the cold wet rain began to pour, however it wasn’t water, but droplets of blood. The red rain tinted everything in its path a bright scarlet, even staining the flowers in the field. The lightning wickedly grew more frequent. They ran faster, throughout the pines, searching for some kind of shelter.

  Then a dark looming structure came into sight. His steps faltering, as he questioned what the object could possibly be, “What is that?”

  The structure set just beyond the opposite side of the river, close to the lock and dam. It was a huge unfamiliar construction nestled amid the pines, at the base of Ennead Mountains, which emitted an eerie black smoke into the rain clouds. The structure was the shape of a massive mollusk shell, having the appearance of a living sentient being, as it breathed in and out, expanding its dark vein covered surface, as one large central vein traversed its entire expanse, and ending at the river. Even as it seemed to expel a red waste into the once clear river, and the stench was unbearably revolting, drawing a mass of flies to the putrid substance.

  They had noticed reavers coming and going from this place, from the very abscess of Hell. Quickly they ducked out of sight. Seeing that the reavers guarded the dam. Carrissa anxiously asked, “How are we going to cross the river now?” He confidently replied, “We’ll find a way.” However he wasn’t so sure.

  Abruptly the trembling ground rocked violently, as they ran in the direction of Old Harrier Road, along the riverside, the bridge swayed from side to side, dropping chunks of concrete, and a support transversely over the water, nonetheless remained generally intact. When the shaking stopped he pointed at the unstable concrete, stating, “We cross there.”

  She timidly yowled, “No.” Staring at the unsound concrete swinging above the site.

  “We don’t have a choice.” He briskly announced. Spotting a reaver nearby, from a trace of light originating from a bolt of lightning. He securely grabbed her arm, and pulled her to the provisional bridge. She reluctantly let him guide her over the unsteady concrete, as they inched their way across. Terrifyingly the sounds of concrete thumped all around them, as splashes of water doused them time and again. Most of the pieces were tiny, but even big slabs of concrete slipped into the river, sinking as fast as it hit the water. The river was wider than he had anticipated, as they jumped from one rock to the next, and some would sink as quickly as their feet leapt from its surface. At last they made it across, but just barely.

  “This way.” Hadge said, pulling her in the direction of the mountain, because if memory served him right the bridge would collapse right where they are now.

  He anxiously scanned the countryside as they ran, finding that the darkness and shadows seemed very much the same. Hadge feared that a reaver could emerge from anywhere, even amidst the haunting flashes of lightning, although the lightning was becoming few and far between. Safety was first and foremost, as he suggested, “We should keep going.” She soundly agreed, “Yea.”

  They tracked up the path, through the pines, where mushrooms grew in plentitude. She inexplicably stopped, and picked armfuls of the red cap mushrooms. He observed her odd behavior in sheer confusion, asking, “What are you doing?” And rushed, “We don’t have time to pick mushrooms.” Her reply seemed far away, as if her thoughts were on a different planet, “I need to do this.” Hadge could hardly understand the reasoning why she had to pick mushrooms at a time like this, when death lurked around every dark corner. Nevertheless all he could do was silently trail behind her, as they crossed the ridge, and hope they wouldn’t be seen.

  Carrissa mysteriously scattered the mushrooms all along the way, as he started to believe, “Those are the same mushrooms that saved Uwee and I from the spiders.” Hadge thought of the hideous spiders, how their strange glow reflected off the leaves of the widow’s weeds, and how their size could bring down even the largest of men. Suddenly he noticed small flashes of light all across the ridge, as tiny harmless fireflies soared everywhere in the darkness, glowing reds, greens, and blues. And he had to wonder just how these tiny bugs turned into something so horribly gruesome.

  Steeper and steeper up the mountain they’d climbed. Old Harrier Road was no more than a few feet away. “We have to follow the torches.” She exclaimed, as the flames gently tilted in her direction, and it was understood, “She has to finish this journey.”

  All at once tremors rocked more fiercely than ever before. The bridge once again swayed from the twisting force. Off in the distance the shadowy form of the city began to crumble, until it had vanished from the skyline. Rocks came rolling off the mountain, as they ducked and dodged the falling debris, and scrambled to the protection of the mountain tunnel. Vehicles were wrecked everywhere along the roadway. All they could do was idly standby and watch the bridge fall apart, section by section, taking vehicles, asphalt, and concrete all to the river and land below.

  Unexpectedly a reaver came from out of nowhere. It snatched Carrissa from behind, prying her from Hadge’s grip. Hadge roared an indistinguishable noise, “Naaaaaoooooooooo!” The sounds of her screams echoed like an eternity in his ears, a hopeless eternity, because he doubted he could save her now. The creature sped to the opposite side of the roadway in less than a blink of the eye. Hadge was in hot pursuit, yet the reaver was much too fast. It stopped briefly, as if to mock him. He was angrily shouting at the beast, “I’ll kill you!”

  A startling bright white light fast approached
Hadge in the middle of the roadway, next to blinding. He recognized the light a bit too late; it was a military truck, hauling full force in his direction. The driver was gone, bloodstains left as a clue that someone had once been there. The huge metal object was out of control, plowing into Hadges soft pliable body. Hadge heeded the sounds of his own breaking bones, even as the flesh tore from his body, and he could no longer move. He helplessly lay dying, half a man, and crushed between the guardrail and the truck, realizing he surprisingly felt no pain.

  Time had come to a standstill. Hadge was perfectly clear about his last conscious moments, how powerless he was not to be able to help the woman he loved, nor could he help himself.

  The reaver dragged Carrissa into the darkness. She was kicking and screaming, but her futile struggles didn’t hinder the beast in any way. At last they faded from Hadge’s wearisome sight, faded from any chance of keeping his promise. He hated the weak person he has become, until he despaired to think, “I deserve to die.”

  Hadges waning vision stopped on his distorted reflection in the bumper of the truck, it was not of a man, but the remains of the skeleton he’d so recently remembered from mount Ennead. His thoughts twisted in doubt, “Is all of this real?” Or “Could it be a freakish nightmare?” At last deciding it had to be real, because it explained so many things in his own world, things that all led to The Edge of Darkness, a book seemingly the root of all evil.

  His beaten mind could hardly process anymore, and all that he had left was a wish, “I want to go home.” As his darkening eyesight lastly fell upon a blue torch that lit a nearby sign, which read, “You are now leaving Harbinger.” Even as he deliriously whispered prior to this life’s demise, “The book…………..”