Everlast

Chapter 24; Nargulthrall: The path unwalked.

The joyous mood, however, did not last for long and after several days of traveling, dark clouds rolled in from the East, bringing with them the ominous rumble of thunder.

From either side of the once barren path sprouted tall stone outcroppings that rose to create a canyon of sorts, which the companions walked through hesitantly, basked in the cold shadow of the stone. It was then that the rain came; suddenly and with little warning, pouring down in rough sheets that stung the skin and made seeing nearly impossible.

Coughing water from his mouth, Ajay searched for a place of refuge. A cave. A ledge of stone by which they could hide under. Yet the stone walls of the canyon offered nothing and thus they walked on, all traces of song gone from their lips. Silence weighing heavily on them.

Glancing ahead of them now, Ajay could not help but ask-- or shout, really-- as to what sort of path was this, for there was an aura to it that made the air around them difficult to breath and would every now and then make the hair on the back of his neck stand up on end. 

There was something very wrong with this path. Something evil. And Ajay wanted to know what.

Surprisingly, it was Dagon who answered him, his clear voice carried by the wind. "It is Nargulthrall; the path unwalked. Dangerous, by all accounts and many have been lost to its treacherous paths."

"Because they got lost?"

"No... By a fate much, much worse." the goblin prince's eyes clouded over slightly. And when he spoke there was a guarded note in his voice, almost as if he was frightened, which was saying quite a lot.

Nothing scared Dagon.

Swallowing nervously, Ajay continued to look about, a dark feeling slowly building in his stomach. As if a shadow was hanging over him, watching him. He glanced nervously at a large boulder, nearly gasping when he thought he saw a shadowy figure dart from behind it. But when he blinked, nothing was there.

Thinking he may have imagined it, Ajay turned back to Dagon and asked shakily, "What sort of fate?"

The goblin grinned ominously, "The Haunters, of course. Hideous beasts with poisonous barbed tongues."

"Child's tales!" Emmer barked from where she walked behind them, her hair plastered to her face from the driving rain.

Ajay almost snorted; in a place with elves, monsters, and dragons, he doubted Haunters were a very big stretch from the truth. Still, if Emmer wasn't scared of them, then maybe they weren't real. Maybe they WERE simply folk tales.

Shivering, Ajay tried to put them out of his mind and focused on the path before him, hoping against hope that they would make it out of Nargulthrall alive.

                                .........................................

When evening fell, Jareth found a small cave for them to wait out the storm and to rest in for the night.

They made a fire-- in which Thistle managed to burn herself only once-- and had a supper of elven bread and cheese.

That night, Thistle took the first watch  while the rest of them curled up in the back of the cave on the damp ground and attempted to sleep.

Somehow, Ajay found himself laying next to Dagon, and while the closeness of all of them was uncomfortable for Ajay, at least it was somewhat warm. Yet while he was warm, full, mostly dry, and safe, he still felt as though something evil was lurking just beyond their sight. 

He felt his skin prickle with unease, the thunder outside sending shivers up his spine. His heart beat with an unfamiliar rythm, too slow and too fast all at once and his breathing came in irregular gasps. Shuddering, he scolded himself and tried to go back to sleep, despite the lingering feeling of wrongness.