Callisto

Light

The tunnel shook, caught in the blackened maw of the living dark that had lost its playthings.

Again, Jespar's cry that they flee assailed her ears while the rest of her senses were bombarded by the sight of the living mass of shadow that grew with every passing moment. In its raging wind of darkness, Rain-Born saw faces she recognized from the dream: the zombified tribesmen and wicked Father-Mother flesh puppet that had tormented her still screamed from within the gale. And there were other faces there, too. People in strange clothes that Rain-Born did not recognize.

But even in the face of such horror, she would not run. She resolved, then and there, that she would stand as she did upon that hill of blood and sand in the dream realm and face the evils of this world.

Resolved thus, Rain-Born held her arms wide and addressed the creature before her.

"Changeling!" She cried. "The test is passed. Go now in peace, and allow us to do the same."

Jespar's voice, more shrill and angered than she had ever heard him before, answered her plea.

"Bloody hell, Chief!" he yelled. "Cut the mystic crap already! You really think that's gonna save us here?"

The dog pulled at her vestments with its mouth, and his sharp teeth nicked her skin.

"What are you doing?" she asked, more enraged than she wished to admit.

"I'm telling you to run using the only language you dumb Tribals understand!" Jespar mumbled through his grip. "Let's go already!"

"Father-Mother chose me for this task. They have taught me these words. They will work."

And though Rain-Born's statement echoed through the tunnel and returned to her, as she listened to her wavering voice, she thought of the dream she had just woken from. And the image of Father-Mother that she had confronted there haunted her mind.

She looked at the darkness that surged before her and saw again that glare of hatred that had shone from the Elder One in the illusory world. For the first time, she wondered if the teachings were true.

"Come on already!" The dog protested. "I ain't gonna die here."

He resumed pulling, and Rain-Born felt his teeth sink deeper into her leg.

"Enough!" she yelled down at him just as the tunnel walls began to collapse around them, patches of light starting to stream through the cracks in the roof that appeared above.

"Just listen to me!" He kept on shouting. "For once, just do what I say!"

"I have done nothing but listen," Rain-Born replied, pushing him away from her and turning on him. "All your tongue does is flap and speak strange words. You have disrespected the spirits of the lands and my people. I will not hear more from you!"

The vortex of swirling black surrounded them now, obscuring even the small patches of sun that streaked through the increasingly ruptured roof. Pieces of concrete fell to the ground like steel rain being wept by an uncaring night sky. Rain-Born saw one break apart and fall towards Jespar, and in the moment of impact, she threw herself at him, hurtling both her and the dog to the ground.

As the world around them collapsed, he struggled out of her embrace and yelped in pain. But she saw on his body no physical signs of injury.

"Just...just listen..." he growled.

"No!" she yelled, standing to entreat the spirit again.

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE, NICOLE?"

In an instant, the storm ceased.

The steel shells of old-world vehicles plummeted back to the dry earth as the swelling mass of air and shadow receded, revealing streaks of sunlight that beamed through the roof and lighted upon Rain-Born and Jespar like celestial spotlights. The deafening howl of rage that had consumed the tunnel ceased as well, and all that could be heard was Jespar's panting and sniffling as he kept his head trained on the ground beneath him.