Land of Smoke and Ashes

The Black Mountains

She screamed, throwing her hands up, expecting to hit the forest trail any second. And yet there was nothing. Still the sensation of falling.

Falling and falling with her eyes shut tight, and all around there was only silence, and the smell of smoke and lavender. Finally...she dared crack an eye open.

Natalie hit the ground hard, flat on her stomach. It knocked the wind out of her, and she wheezed, breathing in a mouthful of dirt. She lay there for a moment, unable to move, coughing and wheezing. For a moment of blind panic it seemed as though she would never catch her breath. Every time she took in a mouthful she inhaled dirt, which choked her all over again. Still coughing, she rolled over on her side, eyes shut tight against the dust cloud her fall seemed to have kicked up.

Where was the librarian now? Was he close?

The thought made her blink frantically, determined to open her eyes. To get up and keep running. But when her vision finally cleared Natalie stayed where she was, frozen.

The forest was gone.

In it's place stood a series of ramshackle huts. The trees had vanished, replaced by towering black mountains. They loomed so close they blotted out the sun and cast the houses around her entirely into shadow. On top of that, the sky was a strange burnt-red color, and the muted light was reflected on the metal roofs of the shanty town, which was filled with corroded looking tin huts, orange with rust. She could taste the soot and dust in the air. It felt as if it would blanket her lungs and steal her breath, and Natalie realized she was staring around slack-jawed. She snapped her mouth shut, tasting bitter chalkiness on her tongue.

What was this place? How had she fallen off the path and landed here?

Something beside her left leg was glittering, bright enough to catch her eye. The necklace.

The halfmoon pendant was...glowing. Not silver, but a strange, smoky red color. Stunned, Natalie leaned over to pick it up. The surface of the charm was white hot, and she dropped it with a hiss of alarm, shaking out her stinging fingers. She stared down at the glowing charm, eyes wide.

The distant sound of someone shouting jerked her head back up. The village around her, if that's what you could call it, was strangely silent. There was no one walking the crooked dirt paths between the houses, though here and there in the road a pile of black rocks—coal it looked like—was scattered. There were several upturned crates littering the spaces between the huts, as if people had been working and abandoned them just moments before.

Did anyone even live here? And where was here exactly? She couldn't remember ever seeing a place like this, not even on the outskirts of town.

You saw places like this on TV, and in National Geographic, not here. It seemed impossible.

The voices were getting louder. There were several, she realized, all shouting excitedly at one another, accompanied by a series of strange, dull rumbles and grunts. Something, or someone was coming her way, and they didn't sound exactly pleasant.

Natalie pulled her sleeve over one hand and grabbed the necklace, sliding it into her pocket. Even protected by a layer of jean, she could feel the warmth on her leg, but she had no time to question it. The voices were nearer now, low voices, male.

"The book says she's here somewhere." The voice was a deep base rumble. "Spread out, you useless Skulks. I won't have you losing her."