Asperity

Again she is in that void of sensory deprivation, terrified and unable to move. She stood so still, her muscles so tight with fear and anticipation, that they finally began to ache. It was if some huge fist had wrapped itself around her and began to squeeze.



And it was there. The thing that waited in the dark was there. See it? No. Hear it? No. She just sensed it, knew it was near and knew that it was aware of her. She felt it come near. How? No idea how. Did the tasteless, odorless air change, did she feel for the briefest moment a breeze of some sort? Not that she is aware of, she just knows that it is there.



When the light came, it was with a suddenness and intensity that only added to her terror. And it did not surround her, it was a shaft of light just in front of her. A singular, almost targeted shaft of illumination that seemed to be filled with a swirling cloud of smoke. The thing in the dark with her drew closer, don’t ask how she knows, she just does. It is if it has drawn up and stands at her back, leaning forward but not touching.



The smoke swirls and starts to thin, then almost in an instant is gone and what she sees in that shaft literally takes her breath away. It is Ba'atar. And the sound that came was deafening in it's volume, it's intensity. The pounding and clawing of the kaiila's feet as it dug into the ground, a roar like winds in a storm, but not really. It is the sound of other clawed feet also tearing up the ground in pursuit. Ba'atar is leaned over the neck of his beast, urging it to move faster, she can hear his ragged breath almost as if she is in the saddle with him. The tri-lidded eyes of the kaiila are wide with terror, and strings of blood and saliva stream from the lips barred from the fangs. It has been ridden at this crushing pace for longer than it needed to be, but the heart of the beast seemed to be the only thing keeping him going.



The venue shifts in the column of light, and she can see Ba'atar's face much clearer. There is fear there, but also determination and strength as he whips the beast to a faster pace. There she also can see his companions on this quest, all in a similar state of fear, as if they ride for their lives. And just beyond them? A cloud so dark, so ominous she wants to look away, but she can't. Is it dirt kicked up by riders that pursue them, or something more treacherous and deadly?



Then it was gone. She was left standing there in that silent, dark void, alone. No, not alone. It was there. She wants to whirl around on it, demand of it what it wanted, why it showed her this thing, what was she to do? She had finally summoned the courage to try and make her paralyzed body turn, to confront what was in the dark……..



She woke up, sat straight up in her furs, covered in perspiration, breathing heavily and crying. It takes a long time for her to calm enough to think, to try and reason the dreams out in her head, to no avail. Laying back down she curls into a ball, shivering and cries. The sense of loss that comes over her is gut-wrenching and she fights it, tries to push it away. She simply cannot give into despair.



She will not.