Jan_16_2012

The travelling party moved into position in front of the giant fissure in the canyon face. The carriage wheels slowly creaking til stopped, and the gentle thud of the brakes being engaged echoing off the bare rock face. The driver, his long sullen face cast into sharp shadows by the carriages lamplight, stepped down and opened the door wide.
A man, tall and lanky, yet muscular, and some even say handsome, stepped out. His face was cool, calm and deadly, his eyes glinted with malicious purpose. He cast a quick glance around the deserted canyon basin, his eyes finally falling on the imposing chasm that opened in front of them. Great things will be accomplished here this day. The thought boiled in the Baron’s mind like jet fuel.
“Get him out here.”
From the depths of the large carriage came a low grunt, and the solid clanking of chains. A thin man flew from the carriage, evidently  pushed by the large Glovar gaurd inside;  and landed, crumpled and winded, at the Barons feet. The Glovar gaurd followed behind, his imposing mass casting a dark shadow over the prisoners pale body.
“Pick him up.”
The guard grabbed the figure by the scruff of the rag he wore as a shirt and hoisted him to his feet. Tthe baron grabbed the lamp from atop the carriage and swung it around to light the chasm. The light seemed not to pierce it, as though the light reached the entrance of the canyon and was absorbed into the blackness. The pale figure began to quiver, muttering incomprehesble phrases under his breath.

The Baron tilted his head to the Glovar and the gaurd led the way into the cave, the man in chains trailing behind. The path was flat for about a hundred meters, but littered with rubble, ranging in size from marbles to rocks that dwarfed even the impressive Glovar, so the going was slow. They would have to stop occasionally to hoist themselves over a paticularly large boulder or press themselves through a gap beside the wall. Eventually they approached the end of the passageway, where the path dropped off into a vast spiraling walkway, leading down into what they couldn’t say, thick fog covered the base of the cavern. The path itself was of an ancient stone. While it could have once been intricately carved it now lay in ruin, weathered and worn away so that it’s once beautiful inlays were lost to time.

Betraying only a hint of apprehension, the Baron waved the Glovar forward and grabbed the chained prisoner from him. He yanked the chain hard and the prisoner let out a weak yelp of shock as he hit the ground hard again. He tried to look up as the Baron urged the Glovar forward. Although he could not see it in his impenetrable face, the gaurd seemed cautious of the pathway. Gingerly he stepped forward, first placing the weight of one foot on the path and slowly the other, until at last the full weight of the gaurd was on the bridge.

Seemingly satisfied the Baron moved forward and was just about to step onto the path when a loud crack split the silence. It happened in a span The prisoner waited to hear the tell tale thud that would indicate the Glovars landings; but it never came.

“Curious,” Said the Baron, obviously noticing the lack of impact as well, “Very curious.”

The Baron cast a glance around the cavern, looking for another way down, but there was none. The prisoner had slumped into a sort of fetal position on the ground nearby, his breath passing in dry rasps.

‘Hmm, I had hoped not to have to use this,” The baron spoke under his breath, only really for his own benefit, “But desperate times I suppose.” He lifted a small gold disc out of his jacket pocket. It glowed with an almost etherial light, and looked to be not quite solid, as though made of thick fog trapped in the shape of a coin. The prisoner managed to raise his head slightly at the reveal of the glowing disc, but only for a moment. The realization of what was to come was more than he could handle at the moment.The baron lifted the coin to his mouth and began whispering very quickly and almost silently in a language the prisoner had never heard before.

The air in the cavern began to shift, it moved in odd ripples and undulations, although there was no wind. It begand to grow thicker, until it was almost chokingly so. Then suddenly with a head splitting crack, the prisoner and the Baron felt the universe invert and every particle of thier body ripped apart and scattered accross the furthest reazches of the universe. And just as suddenly as it had begun it was over. The world righted itself, the air became thin and breathable and the two beings were whole again.

The prisoner tried to vomit but he had nothing to expel and instead lasped into laborious painful dry heaves. The baron stepped forward, faltered only for a moment, but was quickly back to his collected self. He paused only the glance at the gold disc, now devoid of light, and cast it aside.

“Pity,” He turned his attention to the man doubled over on all fours, “Move.”

The word was cold and commanding. The baron pulled hard on the chains again and the man was dragged, still heaving, from his feet. They walked for several moments with only the sound of thier own echoing footsteps and the occasional coughs of the prisoner to accompany them before the prisoner began to realize where the Baron had brought them. The path here was narrower, the air cooler and thinner. They must be very deep.