One day's uneventful travel over rough terrain had left Matiya and company exhausted. The mist from the spiral fall became visible just before the day's fading, and they made camp within earshot of it's thunderous roar.
"Shit, that might be relaxing if I didn't know what it was." Matiya groused, while gathering what flammable material she could find to get a small fire going.
Malachai stood on a hill staring off into the distance at the swirling mist. "How far do you think we are?"
"Perhaps a few hours of travel." Achilles answered, unpacking his supplies and rifling around for a pouch of smoke. He sighed as he found one with some in it, and then winced at how little there was.
"We crawl up the ridge there, and we'll be right at the edge of it." She said, lighting some moss and waving it into a tired-looking fire with the twigs of brush she'd gathered. "Fuck this thing." She grumbled, looking at her fire in disgust.
"Almost out of leaf." Achilles added.
"Mal, I hope you got something good to add to this conversation, because we're a bunch of bitches over here." she called to their companion.
Malachai looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Tomorrow we kick ass!" he said and thrust a fist in the air.
"Optimist." The way she said it sounded more like an accusation. "Since when are you such a bright ray of sunshine?"
He hopped down off his perch and headed back towards the camp. "Since I know each tomorrow brings me closer to Ruth."
Achilles clapped him on the shoulder as Malachai sat down next to him.
"Fuck yeah." Matiya said. "This is gonna be all right. Hope the Mother is in the mood for blessing tomorrow."
"To us." Achilles said, as he brought out the skin of wine from Hecksworth. He then raised the skin to the darkened skies above and continued, "And to Toddhelm and Hodge in the south." He took a good draught and passed the skin to Malachai.
"To Ruth and my son." Malachai said before taking a swig and passing it to Matiya.
"To Spearman and his people." Matiya added, raising the skin, and taking the final drink.
Achilles and Matiya shared a pipe to conserve smoke, while Malachai practiced form and movement with his sword. Achilles calling out advice here and there. The evening was oddly calm, and they felt more at ease than they believed they should. Eventually they fell into deep and dreamless slumber.
Hours later, Matiya woke with a start, the feeling of being chased by some unknown thing palpable and real. She went for her sword in an instant before she realized nothing was amiss.
"I felt it too." Achilles remarked, also awake and on alert.
"What the hell?" Matiya whispered.
"I know not. But Sol rises, and we should prepare."
Malachai awoke and furrowed his brows at them. "What is happening?" he asked.
"Time to head out, Slim." Matiya said.
In odd contrast to the previous evening, they now all felt on edge as if something were about to happen or had happened. They quickly broke down camp and moved on towards the rising mist and relentless roar in the distance.
At the high part of the day, they finally climbed over the last hill and shimmied up the edge of the pit that held the spiral fall. Malachai looked down at it in disbelief. He'd never seen such a thing and wasn't sure if he should be awed or horrified. An entire river spilled into a spiral-shaped trench that wound straight down into the ground.
"It's something, ain't it?" Matiya yelled right in his ear. There was no other way to be heard over it's raging din.
"We go down there?" Malachai yelled back.
Matiya just nodded while Achilles stared off into the distance, appearing to gather his fortitude. Matiya laughed at first, and then yelled over the noise, "Ain't easy! Just follow me. You first, and Lee, bring up the rear, OK?"
Achilles gave a quick nod of understanding and Matiya walked towards the edge of the fall.
She turned to face Malachai, leaning in close so her words would not be snatched away. "Do like I do, ya dig? Step where I step, even if it looks like there ain't no step there. Don't let your eyes bullshit you. Watch my feet. If you fall in, you're drowned for sure. No second chance. Got me?" Malachai nodded assent, and avoided looking at the rushing torrent next to him.
She stepped right off the edge of the spiral fall into what seemed like a shadowy nothing, but stood fast, and then took another step, right on the verge of the water and land. If she teetered much to her right, she'd be swept off. Malachai took a deep breath and followed right behind her, the only thing in his mind being Ruth's face.
He fought the urge to close his eyes, and instead watched Matiya's feet ahead of him. He tried to block out the wild rapids at his right and follow her. Soon he was waist-high to the ground above, and then head-high, and then he was completely engulfed in the strange, roiling channel. Solid rock wall on his left, just out of steadying reach, violent water on his right a mere yard or so from where his unsure feet carefully stepped.
They continued on in this fashion until Matiya stopped in front of him. He stopped too and looked up. Across their path was a solid wall of rocks and boulders. It extended across all the way to the edge of the water. It looked like a formation in place to keep people from doing exactly what they were attempting to do.
"Now what?" Malachai yelled.
"Hang in there, Slim!" Matiya said, eyes filled with mirth. "You and Lee get right up here with me. Crowd right up together, tight. Ain't no personal space for this part."
The three of them crowded up together, as close to her as they could.
"OK, lean left now, hard as you can!" Matiya cried. The group of them leaned left and the entire wall gave way and swung around until it tumbled them on the ground on the other side of the rock wall.
"Ow...damn. That hurt my ass." Matiya grumbled as she stood slowly up. Achilles was picking himself up making sure his shield was still on his back and sword at his side.
The way down was now much wider and easier, and they were not on the edge of the fall anymore. The violent rush of water could still be heard through the rock wall as it slammed along its path.
"Not many know about that." Matiya said proudly, brushing off the seat of her leather pants.
"Where did you come by that knowledge?" Achilles asked as they started back to their descent.
"Well, that's a long story. A dude that calls himself 'Abdul Alhazred' that hangs out behind the mirrors in the tunnel that goes down to the Vatican told me."
"Behind the mirrors? What does that mean?" Malachai asked.
"Mal, there's a whole 'nother world inside the human realm that most people have no idea about. Like I said, that's a long story for another time though." She looked back over her shoulder at her young companion. "For after we get outta here. I can tell it to your son as a bedtime story."
Malachai smiled at that, and then his smile faded as he looked into the darkness. "Soon, the light from above will fade. Is there any light down there?"
"You'll both be surprised at what's down there." She snorted and continued, "Shit, I might be surprised. Not sure how bad it's become. Might still be some good parts left. Let's hope we find those first."
Back in Gatlin, a pretty, young girl with auburn hair and light freckles across the bridge of her nose stood in front of a large sink washing the dishes from the evenings community meal. In Gatlin, food was made in large batches and everyone gathered around in an old barn that served as a dining hall to eat.
"Ruth, are you fine to stand? I could wash for awhile if you like."
The girl's hand immediately went to her swollen abdomen and rubbed there nervously as if to calm her unborn child. "Thank you, Rachel. I am fine." she answered with a frail smile.
Rachel nodded and walked away. Ruth turned back to her dishwashing. She'd finished one batch of dishes and was about to put the next into the sink when something about the way the flickering lantern light glinting off the dingy water and wan suds made her stare into the water. She picked up a large serving spoon and began to stir the water in the sink. She kept stirring faster, and faster until the water looked like a whirlpool. She couldn't stop, couldn't look away. She just stirred and stirred, trying to get the hole in the middle to form wider, because if it got big enough maybe she'd see all the way down. All the way to where Malachai was, waiting for her. Way, way down in a dark and strange abyss where unknown things moved and cried and...
She jumped as water splashed from the sink over the front of her apron and on her shoes. The baby gave a strong kick. Her hand flew to her stomach again as she stared out the dark window in front of her, a smeary, ghostly reflection of her own face staring back.
"The Lord seeth all." she whispered fearfully.
In Schilliner, Si Luum and Genette sat together at a table in the Bloodstone playing cards.
Si Luum laid down several cards one at a time, "I wonder how our friends fare." she said after taking a sip of her ale.
"I wonder too. I am worried for them." Genette said, carefully putting her cards down, one by one as Si Luum had done.
"I have had strange dreams I cannot remember." Si Luum said. She drew a few more cards from the worn deck in the middle of the table, arranged them in her hand and then placed more on the table carefully.
"I have had trouble sleeping." Genette said, doing as Si Luum had done. The women continued playing silently, drawing cards, arranging their hands and placing them on the table carefully and slowly.
Genette broke the silence finally, "I wonder if Lord Hajiru and Toddhelm have reached the South in good health. I wonder if Malachai and the Lord and Lady have reached the fall yet?"
Si Luum gasped and sat back, looking at the table in front of her. "I believe they have."
She and Genette stared in a mixture of wonder and dread at the perfectly neat playing card spiral they'd unknowingly made on the table as they sat talking and thinking. They looked up at each other and then simultaneously glanced out the front windows at their distorted reflections staring back.
"The Gods see all." Si Luum whispered fearfully.
"So, how do we know where we're going?" Malachai said. They'd reached the bottom of the fall, and parted ways with it as it dumped into a huge underground river that wound away from them.
"We follow the light, first. After that, we follow our noses."
"Literally?" Achilles offered, disliking the dank smell of the rock chamber.
"Maybe, smartass. Keep your voices down! We need to go through the open fields and inside the halls. We pass through the Room of Illusions. That is an extremely dangerous place. Then, to the opening with two big, blue pulsing rocks on either side of it. In there is the Grand Forge, and it's the place I can cleanse my sword and get that bastard's taint off it for good."
"Is this fall the closest to the halls?" Achilles asked.
"Yeah. I remember coming past this one soon before the main chamber. I guess it was soon." She turned and shrugged. "It was my first trip and time can get away from you down here. I kinda went the long way."
That statement made Malachai uneasy.
They began to move across the large rock chamber in front of them. The sound of the fall faded behind them. Malachai became aware that he could see fine down here, it was just a bit dim. What looked like veins of a light-emitting mineral ran through the rocks. It grew brighter ahead.
In rounding a corner, an amazing sight greeted their eyes! Instead of more rock and dank cave, the passage widened into an enormous, lush valley. A muted pinkish sky domed up overhead and a misty, strange forest full of alien trees and vines and pastures spread out before them. There was plenty of light and the air smelled fresh and green. They surveyed the scene from a ledge high above the valley.
"THIS is The Depths?" Malachai exclaimed in shocked surprise.
Achilles stood back with his eyebrows raised, saying nothing.
"Pretty ain't it?" Matiya said, surveying the lovely valley below. "Yeah, don't be fooled. The sky up there is actually just gas lit up by the larger light-rocks. It's essentially a massive rock bowl. It makes a nice atmosphere for these plants to grow though. As pretty as it looks, it's dangerous. We need to cross it to get where we're going."
The group headed down hoping they were quiet and unobserved. As soon as their feet hit the ground, they took stock of their surroundings. The ground beneath their feet was spongy and looked like layers of deep green and blue moss. A misty membrane clung to the tops of the strangely-shaped trees. Some of the trees looked like groupings of lollipops. Malachai realized they were actually huge fungi.
"Are we in a forest full of big mushrooms?" He asked.
"Bingo, Mal!" Matiya said with a wink. "Most of them don't look much like mushrooms, but I guess that's what they really are."
Achilles pulled his shield from the strap on his back, and Matiya positioned her sword at the ready. Taking a que from his companions, Malachai did the same, trying to watch every direction at once. The three of them moved through the forest quietly, not encountering anything more threatening than small lizards or lazily slithering snakes.
The lower vegetation grew thicker and they had to part it out of the way quietly. They dared not hack and slash at the obstacles as they had in the forests of the east as to not attract unwanted attention. Finally, Matiya veered right, and motioned the other two to follow her. They headed in the direction of the far wall, and what looked like the bore of a tunnel in the rock yawning over the tops of the jungle of fungi.
Suddenly, the sound of singing came from a clearing ahead. It sounded like perhaps a dozen voices raised in sweet song. Malachai began to wonder if those that thought Matiya was this realm's version of a nutty conspiracy theorist might not be right.
"Shhh..." Matiya cautioned.
Malachai glanced to Achilles to ascertain if perhaps he was also doubting their comrades sanity, but his gaze was intensely attentive. He faced the clearing just beyond the brush with a look of resolve, eyes narrowed. Malachai parted a large, broad-leafed plant in front of him so he could see what his taller companions were already seeing.
In the clearing stood a small circle of people ringing a pulsing blue stone. They sang in a strange language to the stone. Malachai noticed they all moved as if they were half asleep, and their skin had a blurry quality to it. They didn't look sparkly or misty or angelic but just...blurry. For some reason, Malachai couldn't quite make out the features of their faces. It was like his eyes wouldn't focus or communicate the information to his mind. He closed his eyes, shook his head. The unfocused quality was still there when he opened them.
"I can't see their faces. Who are those people?" Malachai whispered.
"Those aren't people, and we need to get out of here before they see us." Matiya said. She slunk off silently though the vegetation.
As he turned to follow Matiya, the edge of Malachai's pauldron disturbed a branch next to him, which in turn whipped back before he could catch it and knocked it forcefully into the branch behind him which hit into the trunk of a fungi. The trunk gave off a vibration that started off low but increased in volume as it went. The people in the clearing stopped singing. Their heads whipped up. Malachai didn't have time to hide himself before they saw him. Alarmingly, when they caught sight of him, the blurriness fell from their skin and features. Their arms and legs grew long and thin. Their eyes became sullen, red hollows. Their mouths opened into black, toothless maws, and they all pointed in his direction and hissed.
"FUCK!" Matiya exclaimed. "Follow me! Run your asses off!"