Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Across Worlds with You, Part 7
Kit Campbell
Despite being hyperfocused on listening, Will heard no sign of the dragging, hissing sound he associated with the Deathcrawlers. Of course, he’d always come across them in built-up areas—areas made of concrete, and stone, and asphalt. They probably didn’t make the same sound if they were crawling through flowers.
Despite that, they made it to the town across the field without being eaten or whatever a Deathcrawler actually did when they caught you. Theo, once again, sped up as they approached the amulet. This one ended up being embedded in the back wall of an inn. Destia distracted the innkeeper with questions about the safety of her establishment while Theo plunged his hand into the wall.
This amulet was silver with a deep blue gem. It, like the last one, went into Theo’s bag.
“Are you going to stay or not?” said a particularly frustrated innkeeper.
“I’ll have to check with my employer,” Destia replied. “Come on, boys, duty awaits.”
Back outside, the fog was more obvious. And definitely getting closer. “Does it normally move so quickly?” Will asked.
Theo had gone pale, though that could have been the drain of the spell. “I’m not sure. We had it mostly contained by the time either you or I were born. I don’t know what it was like at the beginning.”
“It swept in from nowhere,” Destia said, her gaze distant, remembering. “It liked wooded areas because you couldn’t see it coming.”
For a second, Will saw the little girl she must have been. He kind of wanted to give her a hug, but she might stab him.
Shaking her head, Destia took a deep breath. “Let’s get back to the portal while we still can.”
It was a much faster trip with Theo moving normal speed. The fog was definitely getting closer. Now Will could just make out its forward edge, and the blackened foliage beyond it. No one was in sight, thankfully, but it also meant that the Darkness was barreling through unopposed, wreaking whatever destruction it wanted.
He had done this to this world. If he hadn’t come after the amulet, hadn’t stepped foot into this world, Elewilde would still be safe and whole. How many were suffering, or worse, because of him?
Theo grabbed him by the hand, and he realized he’d stopped to stare.
By the time they reached the worldslip they’d come in through, the Darkness was closing fast. Theo immediately got to work opening it back up while Destia stood defensively in front of Will, her gaze never leaving the encroaching Darkness. It was worse now. Where the Darkness touched something living, it instantly shrank in on itself and died, in some cases disintegrating entirely.
Still no sign of any Deathcrawlers, though. Maybe, since the Darkness was here itself, it felt it didn’t need them.
“It’s open,” Theo said. He grabbed Will by the arm and pushed him through.
Will stumbled as he came out the other side into the waystation. Theo and Destia came through almost immediately, Theo turning to close the gate again.
Will’s hair stood up even before he heard it. The hissing. The dragging.
“Guys,” he said.
Destia’s sword was already out. “They’re between us and the next gate.”
Great. This was apparently where he died. “Can’t we just plug in a different location and go back through this gate?”
“It doesn’t work that way.” Theo was definitely pale. Worryingly pale. “There’s in-gates and out-gates for each waystation, and different gates can only—”
“Shut up,” Destia interrupted. “And stay behind me.”
Like a crazy person, she pressed forward. Theo again created his ball of light to illuminate the way, but Will almost wished he hadn’t. The light still didn’t penetrate very far, and he had the sensation of being trapped in a horror game, where you knew something was going to jump out at you, but couldn’t tell from where.
The main hall of the waystation finally appeared ahead. This one was dark green, like jade, maybe, and its archways were just square openings, though taller than an average door. There was no sign of any Deathcrawlers waiting there, which was somehow worse. Somewhere in the dark, the hissing and dragging continued.
“Okay,” Theo whispered, so close to Will he could feel Theo’s breath on his ear, “I don’t know how they got in, but if we move quietly, maybe we can get to another gate before they find us.”
“Which way?” Destia also whispered, sword still at the ready.
Theo slid along the wall toward another opening. He looked ridiculous. Destia stayed out in front.
Will narrowed his eyes. There was something…not right about the opening Theo was headed for. Almost like the corridor behind was too dark, or the light from the hall wasn’t falling in far enough, or…
He grabbed both Destia and Theo and pulled them back.
Destia almost dropped her sword. “What are you doing?” she hissed.
“I think…I think that’s the Darkness.”
As if in response, the noise from the Deathcrawlers grew, like they were running toward the main hall. Theo waited only a second before taking off in the opposite direction. He pointed down a different corridor before pausing and murmuring under his breath. A strong wind blew straight up from the floor as a near-translucent blue wall formed between Theo and the Darkness. Once it was in place he turned and ran, catching Will by the arm as he passed him.
Destia was already at the gate, setting up the candles Theo would need. “Pass your shield to me.” She stood, brushing at her pants.
“It won’t last very long if I’m not feeding it.” But he waved his hands, and the shield stayed by Destia as they switched places.
Beyond Destia, the light from the hall, just barely visible at the end of the corridor, went out.
Destia’s shoulders tightened. She shifted her grip on her sword, sinking lower into her stance.
What good was a sword going to be against a cloud of Darkness that literally zapped the life out of everything? Beside Will, Theo hurriedly drew the squiggles that would open the gate, but not fast enough, not clean enough. The chalk shook in Theo’s hands.
Will curled his own hands into fists. What was he doing? He was useless, once again. Theo and Destia didn’t need him—they could be doing this on their own, and they would be safer, since it was him the Darkness was following.
Something hit the shield, hard. Destia stumbled back, but immediately rallied. But the edges of the shield didn’t go all the way to the ceiling or the walls, and blackness pushed through around it, creeping closer. The hissing, dragging of the Deathcrawlers echoed down the corridor, but there will still none to be seen.
“I’ve got it,” Theo said, slamming his hand down in the middle of the chalk pattern.
The door behind Will began to creep open, spilling blue light out into the hall. Destia turned, just for a second, and in that moment the fog darted forward, wrapping around her foot.
She cried out, the sword dropping from her hands.
Will jumped toward her, grabbing her by her arm and pulling her toward the gate. “Theo!”
Destia’s leg gave out just as Theo caught her other side.
The Darkness continued to creep after them, though slower now that the gate was fully open and the corridor was bathed in light. As he and Theo hit the edges of the gate, the shield dissipated, and the entirety of the Darkness rolled in.
But the light took them, and the waystation was left behind.