Fan Fiction ❯ Skyhawke ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Sorry for the wait on this one, it took a while to be beta'd. In any case, I wanna say thanx to WhiteMystic and siond for reviewing. BTW, if any of you readers see anything wrong with my writing _let me know_! I don't care if it's something as small as a typo or as large as undeveloped characters. I really am trying to become a better writer :).

Haven't done this in a while but… Constructive criticism is appreciated, praise is more than welcome, and flames will be used against whoever decided that swimming should be a unit in gym. Thank you.

Ch 6-

Morgan shivered as she watched the glimmering lake. The moonlight streaming from the skylight filled the cave with eerie shifting patterns. Roki and Sachi were sleep on opposite sides of the camp. Fierna, Rilla, and Maarkiss had arranged themselves on one side of the fire in a semicircle. Morgan sat on the other side of the fire, standing watch. She glanced around the cavern, wondering why she had to have the midnight watch. There was nobody in the cave but them…

The more she thought about that, the more uneasy she became, so she focused her mind on a small slug creeping along. So intent on ignoring her uneasiness, Morgan almost missed the low raspy noise. She slowly got to her feet and listened intently. The rasp whispered through the cave again. Morgan eased Tempest in its sheathe, slowly moving back toward her companions.

As she moved, her eyes scanned the cave, but they found nothing but the kaleidoscope of light and shadow reflected from the pool… Or so she thought, until one shadow made a slight, jerky movement.

"Eh…Eh…eeeaaaAAAAAGH!!!" A shriek echoed shrilly around the cave. Morgan turned with a wince and gaped at a panic-stricken Rilla clinging to an irritated Fierna.

"What's all the ruckus?" Roki muttered sleepily.

"I wonder that you could hear it. What with your snoring and all." Sachi muttered. Roki glared at her sleepily, but he was distracted by a whimper.

"Uh Mhmhmm…" Rilla pointed at her feet. Morgan wondered what could make the typically calm bard lose her composure so completely. The all looked down at what she was pointing at…

"A slug?!" Fierna exploded, "You woke us all up over a slug!?"

"It's a slug!" Rilla cried, her fear giving way to indignation. Fierna was about to hurl an insult when she froze at Maarkiss' gesture. Maarkiss was crouched motionlessly. They watched him for a minute, then his ears twitched slightly, hearing something they couldn't. "Something's here…"

Morgan belatedly remembered the mysterious shadow, "It's coming from some weird shadow over there."

"Shadows?" Sachi looked around, "I don't see any stran-"

"There." Fierna whispered, pointing at the strange apparition clinging to the wall.

"It's looks sorta like a monkey…" Maarkiss remarked.

"What'sa monkey?" Roki asked curiously.

"No time for that, it's not a monkey in any case," Fierna interrupted, "It's a spectre." She began to pack up camp, everyone else followed her example, and soon they were walking toward a tunnel. Anxiety began to seep into the group as the spectre watched them with something akin to curiosity, or so Morgan thought; she only looked back once.

After a moment, Roki ventured another question, "…So, what'sa spectre?"

"Flesh eater." Rilla replied. Roki shut his mouth after that. Morgan understood why the caves were abandoned now.

As they drew nearer to the tunnel, the spectre seemed to get more and more agitated. It seemed to notice their intention to get away. Morgan had to suppress the urge to run, knowing that it would just give them away. Within a yard of the tunnel, the spectre leapt from the wall and landed softly behind them.

"RUN!" Fierna shouted. They broke out into a full sprint for the tunnel, the spectre giving chase.

As they burst into the tunnel, Morgan chanced a look over her shoulder, "There's more of them!" she cried breathlessly.

The tunnel behind them was choked with the fathomless black shapes crawling over one another reaching for them. The passage was alive with their raspy hissing.

As they swung around a corner, Fierna dropped back out of sight. Morgan turned back to see what she was up to when a bright flash lit the corridor, followed by a roaring blast. A wave of heat cascaded over them along with a billowing cloud of smoke and a few faint hisses of pain from the spectres.

The group charged on through the haze of smoke, coughing violently as their overworked lungs tried to suck in air. Morgan felt the beginnings of real panic as she ran blindly forward, her burning eyes unable to see a foot ahead of her. Her ears, however, worked fine and they were telling her that some spectres had survived whatever explosion Fierna'd created, and were in hot pursuit.

Suddenly she burst into fresh air and she staggered to a stop, blinking the tears from her eyes. She was in a smaller bowl-shaped cavern. Concentric circles of benches spiraled down to the center where a carved podium rested on a raised platform. Rilla careened out of the smoke behind her, Roki clinging to her shirt. Loud hissing approached the cavern… but passed by, lost in the haze. Morgan released a breath she was unconsciously holding.

"I think we lost the spectres…" Roki said after the hissing faded.

"Yes," Rilla agreed grimly, "but we've also lost Maarkiss, Sachi, and Fierna."