Tic.... Tic. Tic.....

Your eyes flew open, and, out of pure reflex, you bolted upright and whirled around. You scoured the soft indent in the grass. Nothing.

That clicking...

Slowly, carefully, you raised a trembling hand up towards your shoulder. Your fingers had barely grazed your back when the sharp clack of a falling stone jolted you.

The hollow stilled. You surveyed the area. The sky was veiled by a stormy haze, like a stretch of gauze. Sunlight bled through, dribbling down in streams of warmthless, gray. The flowery perfume began to taste more sickly than sweet, and an ominous breath of wind roused the clawing masses of the Tryst. The clatter of leaves, a chorus of anguished voices, protested against the foul gust, as if denouncing the sinister force that paled their own threatening presence.

Even you felt strange, off balance in a way, as if you were being pushed. Or pulled...

An unnerving hiss snaked through the trees. At first a trickle of sound, but as the leaves' hoarse grumbling died, the rasp, echoing, swelled into dry, throaty cackles.

Obeying the unrelenting draw of the cairn, you reluctantly faced what you were now absolutely certain was a tomb; although, most tombs did not make your stomach coil into knots.

With an unnameable horror, you sucked in a trembling breath. Behind the chinks in the rock, something stirred and writhed. The first shoots of darkness curled from the pores in the rock, hesitant, flicking the air with their probing tongues. You released your arrested breath, and with a lurch, the buds of evil struggled to sprout from the cairn.

More came wriggling and worming. The tentacle-seeming appendages, void-black and almost formless protruded quickly now. The disturbing throng of arms pulsed and shimmered erratically, partial images blending together as if it were a object in constant motion.

"Mmmmm. Delicious, aren't you." The voice, barely female in tone, sounded frail and disjointed, but it rolled over you with a gradual intensity. Each oozing syllable seeped into your body, filling your mind with a woozy confusion and weighing your limbs.

The tugging sensation snapped into a sharp spike of prickling energy, pressing against the lining of your stomach, like a line going taught. The first attempt to twist away from the cairn's traction resulted in a surge of pain as the internal spike drilled further into your inner-flesh.

"Do not resist it. I do not wish to shatter such a promising vessel." The words caressed your senses, cold and dreadful, like scraping steel.

Your vision was soaked with red splotches, and your head lulled weakly, eventually dipping onto your chest. Your hands feebly tembled, worsening the splitting-effect that this monster was working on your body. Your feet plowed divots into the yielding turf as the gravity towed you against the hopeless slips of grass.

"Oh, my little firefly, how you butt against the glass. Such spirit to have lasted this long. The former holy-knight was not lying about your strength."

A violent torrent of rage ripped away the despair and honed your blunted brain. "You. You took him. You stole Cohen..." You seethed and shook, reclaiming clarity.

The voice paused and wavered before retorting, "He is already spoken for, Pretty. He will get the death he deserves without my involvement."

Intense fervor surged through your body, and you halted where you were. No longer did the void draw you, but it constricted your body. You remained unable to flee. Raising your eyes to meet the abyssal murk billowing from the cairn. "You will never break him. He is the strongest man in the world!"

The creature hissed and clenched your arms with venomous hatred. Still you spat, "He could kill anyone who stood in his way!"

For a moment your bones ceased to whine under the stress, and the arms recoiled slightly with a jolt.

"No!" The cairn shrieked, this time in the clear tones of a female, channeling a pure, guileless terror. "My boy, my son!" The vice-like crushing of the darkness slackened and slipped away completely. The tendrils curled back into their recesses, lashing powerlessly against another unseen actor. Staggering, you tested your feeble legs.

"Run, child. I can only hold it for so long. Save my son's soul, please! My poor Brand-"

GGGRRRAAAAHHH!!!

The peace was cleaved by a rumbling roar, erupting from the trembling stones. Luckily, this set you on guard just as a something whipped past the corner of your eye. Ever-nimble, you heaved yourself, landing unceremoniously on your back and narrowly avoiding the lashing limbs of the recovered monster.

The callous confidence to the voice was swallowed by the gnashing and raving a lunatic. "I will obliterate you, vessel! I will mash you from the inside, starting with that restless tongue of yours!"

A shade blotted out the sky and you yelped before rolling out of the way. In the place where your head had rested, a bulging tentacle smote the earth like a fallen log.

You craned your neck towards the Tryst's rank, seemingly quivering in the presence of the nameless evil. Scrambling under the waving appendages, dodging as obsidian fists thundered down around you.

"Mine!" The beast slapped viciously at your battered ankle, ripping away the splint and knocking you off balance. You climbed to your feet and bounded away from the dreadful scene, listening to the crunches of a splint becoming splinters.

The trees herded together, as closely bunched as before. They rustled noisily, beating against each other in a panic. You clawed at the clustered branches before twisting back to glimpse the advancing arms.

With a desperate growl, you summoned every drop of power and directed it into your palms, igniting it with your boundless fear. Pressing your palms to the oily bark, you scorched a jagged slit between the trunks. It was just large enough to squeeze into. It would have to do.

The voice composed itself and laughed cooly, "Mendax. Let that name sear your dreams." It beat its tendrils together in a sort of clap. "Go ahead, my firefly, bring him to me. Either way, I will have his soul."

You only half-heard the remarks as you fled, but your inner courage squirmed with the anticipation of what was to come.

What waits ahead? What hides behind?