I just have to say, in opening, that I have never written a novel before. I've tried on many attempts, but most of those tries died somewhere in my amygdala before making into my pen and onto paper. I have high hopes for this year. 

HOWEVER.

I feel that the best way to ensure my mad dash to 50,000 words by December is successful is through you. My faithful readers. I would love to create the best book for your viewing pleasure. The most adventure, the most intrigue, the most romance, the most discovery that I, as an author, can offer. I want you to stay on the edge of your seat begging for more (which I will of course be happy to give to you). 

So without further ado, continue reading, my readers. Continue to make this story worth writing.

Also, it's filled with fun Dante and Virgil quotes, just because I can. 

See you at 50,000. And thank you for reading The Descent.

PS. Thank you to Rebecca and Brian who mercilessly kicked my butt this month to keep me on track.

“Facilis decensus averni. The descent into Hell is easy.” - Virgil

She stood tall in front of the council members. A light breeze drifted through the pillared room floating the gossamer veils. She was not sure what to expect from the High Council. It certainly wasn't this. They stood majestically with stone faces turned towards her and her lover. Each towered over her tiny innocent frame without the podium on which they stood, but with it they were nothing less than intimidating.

“Your name?” asked the King, who remained in front standing a full head taller than anyone in the room, except perhaps his son who stood beside her. The prince's arm hovered against her back, reassuring her she thought. The Trial was no small ceremony, especially for one not of their kind.

“Kiera Linda Bray, sir,” the small girl answered as bravely as she could muster, despite her trembling.

“And what is your desire, Miss Bray?” from one of the other council members.

“To be with his Highness, the prince Raphael.”

“Do you agree to belong to him? By bond, by word, by life?” The council bored into her soul with their unblinking brilliant eyes. They seemed as bright as stars and darker than night all at the same time.

“Yes, I do.”

The king nodded silently as two of the younger members stepped from the podium in synchronicity, the other eight members following in suit till none but the king remained. He sat leisurely in his throne, elegant royal violet ceremonial robes swathed around his body the way a river clothes the countryside. A million crystalline stars scattered the room from the movement of his crown so that it seemed filled with playful faeries dancing circles around the ten men who enclosed her in the center of the room. Raphael stood a way apart. He had not told her the details of the ceremony, only that she would be safe in this world when it was done so long as she belonged only to him. She knew he would not be partaking of the ceremony but would stand watch as her future guardian. She also knew that he did not approve of what was about to take place, but beyond that she was blind to the traditional expectations of the Asethi.

Each of the council members wore a unique tunic, each a different color with various embellishments of strange embroidered symbols, pictures and magnificent crystals that seemed to come to life as they moved around Kiera rhythmically. The frail semitransparent red gown Raphael's maids dressed her in which seemed so elegant only minutes ago now felt like little more than a piece of rice paper between her and these creatures. As they circled her, slowly spiralling inwards till they stood shoulder to shoulder, they chanted a low melodious chorus in their musical native tongue. The language was still so foreign to her even though she had already lived within the city for over a full Blue Luna shift, although in that time she had never heard it sound so seductive. The voices hypnotized her in every beat, drawing her in till she could no longer move but simply listen to the gregorian hum and watch their dark dazzling eyes like a moth drawn to an open flame.

Between the flowering robes she caught glimpses of her lover leaning against one of the marblesque columns. He gave a look she thought as incredibly sad, almost apologetic, before darkening his stare and turning against his father still lounging in his throne. Why would he be sad when this was the equivalent of their marriage ceremony?

Kiera let out a startled scream as the Asethi elders suddenly burst into blinding flames around her. She cowered on the floor where she fell to her knees in awe. The ceremonial robes of the ten elders danced off their bodies like mists sifting through a dusk forest, mixing into a shimmering rainbow cloud before rearranging themselves onto the back of each man in the shape of a huge pair of feathered wings, leaving each man gloriously unrobed. With their wings unfurled in a wall around her, Keira felt suddenly vulnerable to these awesome creatures.

“Wait!” Raphael's voice echoed out across the room. Though the feathered wall did not budge, Kiera heard the prince glide purposefully towards the throne and his father, “Please father, this is madness. I cannot let you do this to her, she doesn't deserve this!”

“This is our way,” Kiera could hear this disapproving sneer in the king's voice, “If you do not take her then she is free to another. One who may not be so kind as you.”

Raphael pleaded little more than a whisper, “Please. Don't do this.”

“It is you doing it to her,” then to the circle of chanting angels, “Begin.”

The youngest of the elders, or so he seemed as they never appeared to age but only get more beautiful as the moons passed, deliberately stepped forward toward the center of the circle as the gap closed behind him. Kiera desperately tried to hide her near nakedness with her long golden hair to no avail. Without missing a beat of the chant the man knelt down beside her locking her fearful gaze with his shimmering cold stare. His mouth moved sensuously in the melody as he crept to her, still towering over her on the floor. Arms sinued with strong muscles accustomed to a life of hunting stalked her every move as Kiera leaned away from his advancing form, only to lose her grip and slide backwards on her flimsy gown. At this the Asethi pounced like a predatory cat onto his prey, pinning her pale arms to the cold cobbled floor. Squirming was as useless as fighting a brick wall, for her assailant was not about to move. Kiera let out another fearful scream as the angelic creature continued his sensual melodic assault, whispering into her neck, slowly sliding her legs apart while holding her motionless on the floor.

“What are you doing? What's happening?” Tears rolled down her face as the young human girl realized the peril the circle of men offered, “Raphael!”

No answer.

The deep song continued, the man on top of her slipping her gown to her hips, ripping it where it would not move.

“Raphael! Help me!!”

Still no response save for the constant droning of the circle of elders. Kiera could feel the weight on top of her, his flesh gradually creeping up her skin despite her frantic efforts to get away. The cold of the stone seeped into her body to chill her heart. Stone. Ice. Cold. Distant. She willed her thoughts away from her body, away from the terrible scene, to some dark unfeeling corner of her consciousness. The last thing she saw were the mocking sparkling faeries of the king's jeweled crown before her vision clouded, obscured by the dark red velvety wings wrapping her in her captor's ecstasy. Her screams lasted long into the night, though it wasn't till the golden sun tipped over the edge of the horizon that the circle dispersed leaving her cold and broken on the floor, a gift for Raphael to gather at his leisure.  

“In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself within a dark woods where the straight way was lost.” - Dante Alighieri

“Found you!” The dirty blond boy snuck up behind a large maple tree, its leaves ablaze in the oranges and yellows of Canadian autumn. His target, a petite girl with great brown eyes that could shame even the most adorable puppy, yelped as she jumped and ran from her hiding place. He laughed, giving her a head start knowing full well that he could catch her frantic running in a matter of steps. Built like a giraffe he galloped to his girlfriend, who had to stop running due to a fit of laughter, and tackled her to ground, “You're it,” he said, and kissed her lightly.

Breathless she stood up shaking leaves from her long curly hair, “Stuff's like velcro,” she laughed, “Luke have you seen my brother?”

“Nope!” He glanced over his shoulder to the small shrub where a young boy wearing a bright green superhero T-shirt was clearly hiding, “You were easier to catch,” he added with a wink.

Vyvian crinkled her face and stuck out her tongue attractively, before flouncing off the to the park bench designated as “T”. Hide-and-go-seek-tag was one of her baby brother's favourite games. They indulged him mostly because it meant he would pass out for the rest of the afternoon and leave them to their own devices. Defeated, she sat down with her head on her arms and began counting to thirty while listening for the pitter patter of seven year old footsteps trying to find a nearby hiding place. Unlike her boyfriend Luke, Vy wasn't one to humor her brother's lack of sneakiness.

“Thirty! Ready or not, here I come!”

Hmm. Apparently he had gotten better since the last time she played with him. She wandered around the creaking playground, purposefully remaining oblivious to Luke stalking her from ten feet away. There was no way she could catch him anyways, even if she tried. After circling the playground a couple times she sat at the bottom of the slide in feigned frustration.

“Three, two, one,” Right on cue her brother dove from the top of the slide in a poor attempt to startle her. Ninja reflexes kicking in, Vyvian whirled around and caught him up in her arms mid slide. He screamed and laughed as she tickled him mercilessly, “Sneak up on me why don't you?”

“Shut up Vy.”

“Hey now! That's no way to talk to your lovely sister,” Luke strolled up behind his girlfriend wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling into her neck. She turned grinning, meeting his mouth with hers. The stubble around his chin tickled her lips roughly.

Vy smiled against Luke's fuzzy cheek, “We should probably get going. Mom will have dinner ready soon.”

“No!” A green flash dashed across the leaf littered grass towards the wooded path.

“Yes! Jason don't you want white and yellow pie?”

The young boy stopped mid stride, contemplating his choice. After some apparent thought he returned to his sister's side, “I'm only coming back because I chose to,” he said crossing his lanky arms across the Hulk's face on his chest.

Luke chuckled, “Sure thing bud. Race back?”

Jason's face split into a grin, “You're on.”

Back at the house, delicious scents wafted across the yard as the three children raced across the lawn. “I won! I won!” cried Jason jumping up and down after touching the bright blue front door.

Luke trailed only seconds behind, “Yes,” he panted, “Yes you did kiddo.”

Vy came up behind her boyfriend and wrapped her arms around his waist, “It's so cute that you let him win.”

“Of course I let him win, silly,” Luke spun around and returned her embrace, “You know he'd have a hissy fit if I didn't.”

“This is true.”

Inside, a small spotted dog streaked past trailing beads of water behind her. Jason followed not far behind, super soaker in hand.

“Jason!”

“Uh oh. Someone's in trouble,” Vy smirked. With a seven year old in the house it was very rare to have ten minutes together without someone yelling at someone.

“Jason Fields! Come here!”

“What?”

“Come here!”

“Jason you'd better listen,” Vy recommended, “Mom's going to put you on the chair again.”

“Mom, what?” He sounded slightly more persistent this time.

“You heard me! Come here.”

Dejected, the young boy dropped the water gun with a grunt and stomped up the foyer stairs. From the landing Vyvian could hear remnants of the same argument she heard almost every day.

“Why are you playing with a water gun inside?”

“I don't know.”

“Jason,” warning tone. Mom is getting serious.

“I don't know!”

“Do you think Meg likes being shot at? Look at her, her ears are down. And she's shaking.”

“She needed a bath.”

“Not in the living room!”

“She asked for it.”

“How, pray tell?”

“She liked my toes.”

“Go sit on the chair for ten minutes,” typical whining grunt from her brother, “And give me that gun. This is staying in the shed from now on.”

“Mom that's not fair!”

“If you keep whining there won't be any white and yellow pie.”

“Mom! Ugh!”

And so it went. Every day. For about the past five years since her brother learned to talk in a language other than noise impressions.

“Oof!” Vy stumbled forward as her tall boyfriend fell into her.

“Sorry,” that half smile of his won her over every time, “I can't help it if your brother decides to leave his outdoor paraphernalia all over the floor.”

“Sure. All those fancy karate lessons taught you nothing.”

“Shut up.”

“You shut up. You know I'm right,” she flashed him an oversized grin. In response he poked her in the stomach, “Why?”

“You asked for it.”

“Just like Meg asked to be drowned?”

“Yup.”

Vy rolled her eyes and knelt to undo her other shoe. It was hard not love that boy. Both of them for that matter. Her man, eighteen and all elbows and knees and goofy smiles that could win the heart of any woman, asked her out while playing fetch with her tiny nut brown shitzu. Of course she said yes in a heart beat. Sharp harmonious notes picked their way into her reminiscent mind. Luke must have picked up his guitar before dinner. He had been playing since long before she had even met him back in high school. He would sit in the cafeteria with his tilted hat and undone vest strumming out the latest rock hits. Today's choice appeared to be from an old Christian band turned rock and roll. It was one of her favourites. She ran up the stairs to sit at his feet on the soft carpet, mesmerized by his fingers plucking each individual string while matching the harmony with his voice, telling her something being six feet from an edge and not being as far down as he thought. Word sprint He gazed at her fondly as he sang.

Luke finished the song and slid the guitar off to one side. Vy scrambled up onto his lap and lay her head against his shoulder fondly, “I love you,” she whispered into his neck.

“I love you too,” he stroked her back gently while holding her steady.

“I love you more.”

“I love you most.”

“why do you always win that?” Vy nuzzled his nose with hers feeling his rough stubble against her chin.

Luke grinned, “Because I'm awesome.”

Vy stuck out her tongue, then pulled it back in quickly as her boyfriend suddenly leaned forward and tried to bite it, “Hey! Don't be like that.”

“Be like what?” She never could get over that lopsided grin.

“Dinner's ready!” Vy's mom shouted from the kitchen, which was completely unnecessary seeing as the kitchen was directly beside the couch they were sitting on. Jason, eager for dessert already, jumped from the chair he occupied in the corner and ran to his chair at the table. Promptly he began kicking the table as he banged his fork on plate impatiently, “Jason!” The banging promptly stopped. Vy and Luke joined the table as her mom laid out the steaming hot roast beef and trimmings. It was Jason's first week back to school and their mom enjoyed any excuse to celebrate with special meals.

After everyone sat down and said grace Mrs. Fields addressed the love birds, “So do you guys have anything special planned for this weekend?”

Seeing Luke stuffing his mouth with mashed potatoes and gravy Vy spoke up, “Not really. We are probably going to keep it pretty low key. We have to save money for the solstice festival next weekend.”

“Oh that's right. You did tell me you were going to that.”

“Yea it's going to be great,” said Luke, his mouth finally free of mushy roots, “I didn't even know there was such a thing as a witches association.”

Vy jabbed Luke with her foot under the table, “What?” he said glaring at her.

“They're not really witches. They are a group of aboriginal Ojibwe from this area. The solstice festival is an old tradition of theirs where they welcome in the new season and pray for a good harvest,” she paused before adding, “It's a sacred rite of theirs, so you'd better behave.”

“I'll behave,” Luke said winking, “I promise.”

Two weeks passed quickly between work and studying for midterms. Vy and Luke saw each other almost every day, at least every day humanly possible. And as they were in the same private school, which was all of four classrooms and some offices, it was nearly impossible to not see each other even if they wished it.

September twenty first fell on a Friday this year. Luke, prompt as always, pulled up to Vy's driveway at five o'clock sharp to pick her up. “Bye mom! See you tonight!” Vy shouted as the door slammed shut behind her and she ran down to the purring black sedan waiting for her.

“Bye Vy!” Jason yelled after her through an open window, “I hope you have a nice day!”

Vy smiled to herself. Things kids said.

The couple drove along the autumnal highway dressed in fallen leaves that skated across the pavement as they whooshed along. Luke stared ahead lazily, absently singing along to whatever top twenty song Ryan Seacrest played. Vy couldn't hold back a gentle smile looking at her man. He glanced sideways at her and moved his hand from the gearbox to her leg, never missing a beat in his tune. Sometimes she really wished she could sing like him. His entire family had that musical gene. Lucky bugs.

After a while she turned her eyes onto the landscape flying past them on their way north to the festival and let her mind wander. As an artist at heart she found that she could rarely turn her mind off, her imagination determined to run free no matter how hard she tried to reign it in. Today, however, it meandered through less pleasant thoughts than the beautiful fiery trees along the side of the road. She glanced back to her boyfriend, still singing, and wondered if he would notice anything off when they stopped. He could always tell when something was bothering her, no matter how small. So far he was oblivious, wrapped up in Titanium. How the hell could he hit those notes and she couldn't?

“Uh oh.”

The car slowed, breaking Vy's upsetting fantasies into reality, “What's up?”

“Construction on the highway in Stayner. Looks like we'll have to sidetrack,” he glanced down the road directly across from the giant orange sign blocking their path, “Left or right?”

“Hills or beach?” Vy answered laughing.

“Hmm. As lovely as the beach is, I can't imagine it being very attractive this time of year.”

“Only if you enjoy ghost towns,” Vy and her family moved to Collingwood only last year, but she had familiarized herself with the surrounding towns very quickly. The city, if you could call it that, was not big enough to hold her annual interests, “Right for hills then.”

Luke turned right, and Vy slipped back cyclical train of thought. It was something that happened frequently when she was under a lot of stress. Depressing thoughts snuck in unnoticed until they snowballed into angry abominable snow monsters eating away at her sanity. Exams, such as the midterms happening that week, were usually enough to send her into a spiral of negative “what ifs”.

She felt a hand on her thigh again, strumming against the cords of her jeans, “It's going to be ok baby,” Luke offered her an encouraging smile, “You always do great on your tests. I'm the one who should be really worried.” She returned his smile. Unlike other couples who had regular arguments stemming around the fact that they assume their partner can read their every thought, Vy and Luke never had this issue. For some reason telepathy came naturally to them.

After a long hour of swirling dark midterm brooding, Luke announced that they were almost there. Signs pointing to the Native Autumn Equinox Festival told them they were about five kilometers away. Vyvian sat up taller in her chair, hoping to get a glimpse of tents, fires and other festive things in between the obscuring view of northern Ontario hills.

Suddenly a bright blinding light flashed in front of the car. Luke shouted in surprise and swerved to the shoulder in an attempt to avoid colliding with whatever it was. They hit the gravel along the side of the road, spinning out of control. Vy screamed, bracing herself against the door of the car as Luke frantically tried to right the car, to no avail. The dove nose first into a deep mud filled gully, slamming against their seat belts.

A moment passed with only heavy breathing audible, “Are you alright?” Luke finally managed.

“I think so,” Vy said, “What the heck was that?”

“ I have no idea,” Luke undid his seatbelt, then leaned over to help Vyvian with hers, “Let's see if we can get out of here before this mud swallows the car.”

It could not have been that bad, Vy thought. But as they emerged and scrambled up the steep slippery bank she saw that indeed it was. The hood of the black Ford was already have submerged, the front tires sunk hopelessly into the mire while the rear end did not even touch the ground any more.

“I guess we should call a tow huh?” she rummaged in her sweater pockets only to realize her phone must have fallen out when they went off the road and was probably somewhere near the engine by now. Her face fell even further when she looked up to find that Luke wore a similar expression, “Or not.” The steep wall behind them was slick with evening fog, unlikely to let them pass. Before them stood an equally impressive rock formation that proved to be less unyielding than the wet muddy grass. Vy shivered in her moist sweater.

“Well looks like we get to walk,” Luke, cheerful as always, lead the way further down the gully looking for some kind of path that would let them climb out of their situation.

The pass was unforgiving. In fact, it appeared to Vy that the further they walked, the steeper the walls got, and the further away from the road they wandered. Perhaps this was the pathway of some mud slide or flash flood wash out. That sort of thing happened often in the spring, and maintenance crews usually didn't care unless it affected roads, residence or their income. It was also getting dark, the sun already well below the hills that surrounded them, casting the world in an unearthly shadowed glow.

A flash of light bounced off of a tall rock just ahead of the couple, “Luke! Did you see that?”

“Yea. What was that? It looked like the same thing that popped up on the road.”

Nothing was out of place as they approached the rock, but they continued walking anyways having no where else to go except forward or back. A few minutes later the flash appeared again, sudden and bright, yet the source was still well hidden just beyond where they could see.

“Maybe it's leading us somewhere,” Luke joked. Vy could still pick up the nervousness in his voice though. They had been walking for what seemed like over an hour, away from the road, with no indication that they would find help before dark.

“Yea,” she decided it would be better to keep the mood light, “like a little witch's hut. And she is going to stuff you full of candy for dinner.”

“And make you scrape out the worms from her toe nails.”

“Yea well you get to sleep in drafty dripping hole in the wall with rats. At least I'll get to sleep by the fire.”

“You're going to sleep? Really?” Luke draped his arm across her shoulders, “You would sleep while she plots to eat your darling love?”

Vy looked up sheepishly, “I can run faster with a good night of beauty sleep.”

“Suit yourself. I'm crawling out the win-” The bright blue flash appeared just around the corner again, cutting Luke off mid hypothetical escape. He stopped and looked up grimly, “Either that thing is getting brighter, or it's seriously getting darker. Regardless, I don't like it.”

“There's nothing else to do but keep walking,” Vy sounded equally anxious, “I doubt we'd be able to get back into the car anyways without sinking it.”

“This is true.”

They wandered along the floor of the ravine, continuing to pick their way amongst jutting rocks and treacherous mud puddles. Within a few minutes of the last flash, the narrow pass opened out into a level floored clearing in the middle of forest at the base of the huge hill to their right. It was indeed night by this point. The forest welcomed them with all the sounds of sleepy creatures settling down for the evening, and slightly less sleepy creatures waking up.

The blue flash showed itself again, further into the forest this time and accompanied by a quiet hush. The forest silenced into a deathly still from which it may never wake, “Ok, now this is really creepy,” Vy said as she huddled closer to her companion. Luke shrugged off his biker jacket and draped it around Vy's shivering shoulders, rubbing her vigorously as if it would help.

“We need to find shelter for the night, and maybe something for fire. If we can't find help the least we need to do for now is survive the night,” Luke looked around at the cliffside as if answers would appear in the rock face written by the hand of God. An owl swooped low below the trees, but apart from the bird and the blue light nothing moved.

Vyvian sighed heavily. She knew he was right, and they needed to act quickly. The night was only getting colder, “Should we split up? I can look for somewhere to sleep while you get some fire wood.”

“Sounds good babe,” Luke kissed her forehead and pulled her close, “Don't get lost okay?”

Vy pulled a black bladed pocket knife from her pant pocket, “I'll mark the trees with arrows. Hopefully you'll be able to see them in this crazy dark.”

“The moon is almost full, I'll manage.”

“See you soon then,” and with that she started off in to the woods. At first she stuck close to the cliff side wall hoping for a an opening of some sort. After a few minutes of fruitless searching though, she turned further into the trees, leaving a trail for Luke to follow in her wake.

She had not made it even ten feet into the woods before the blue light appeared yet again, this time almost directly in front of her. It hovered at head height for a couple seconds before winking out, leaving the girl blinking in the sudden darkness. Was she imagining things or had she heard a voice calling to her? She shook her head, chalking it up to the madness darkness brings and continued walking deeper into the woods. Another few minutes of walking and the light burst into life again, once more directly in front of her. This time, however, it stayed, wavering like a mirage in sunlight. As her eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness, Vy realized that the light had form. Oversized pupil-less eyes stared at her unblinking in an oval insectile face. The tiny creature had to have been no larger than the size of her thumb, but the light it gave off could light a whole room. As it floated she realized that it had no limbs, only a phantasmal shimmering gown that ended at the handkerchief hem. It looked like it was floating underwater, and as she studied the alien face she heard the small distant voice in her head again, “Come.”

She approached slowly, stopping short of the creature, “What are you?” she spoke to herself as much as to the creature.

“Come,” was all it said. It closed its eyes and extinguished the light leaving Vyvian blind once again.

“What in the world,” she said out loud, “I must be going crazy,” she thought. Was it a ghost? The light appeared again further into the forest. With nothing else to go on she decided to follow cautiously, remembering to leave a trail for Luke. Hopefully he was not far behind.

Every time she approached the creature, or creatures as the case may be, it told her to come, follow them, before blinking their eyes and going out. She was thoroughly out of breath by the time she reached another ghastly creature that remained in front of her, floating nearly motionless beside a tumbled ruin of rocks.

“Come with me,” this one sang sweetly. It wisped around one of the rocks, disappearing into a hidden crevice.

Vy looked around, unsure of what to do. On one hand, this could be a place for her and Luke to hide for the night in safety. Alternatively, there could be all manner of ghoulies and beasties and things that go bump in the night hiding in there. Would it be any worse than what they could find outside anyways? Resolutely she broke off some branches of a nearby tree and made a sort of path leading from her last carved arrow to the cave mouth before stepping in and following the light.

It sat inside the crevice waiting for her, “What do you seek?” its voice resonating like crystal chimes through the rocks.

“Well, I'm looking for a place for my boyfriend and myself to sleep tonight,” she thought herself crazy for talking to what was probably a delusional cloud of swamp gas, “You see, we were in an accident and got trapped in this ravine, and our phones were lost in the mud so we couldn't call for help, and -”

“Come.”

“Why did I tell it all that I wonder,” Vy thought to herself, “I really should be more careful about what I say to my imagination, if it even is my imagination. But really? What else could it be?” An old myth came to mind of creatures the locals called wisps. They were said to lead travellers to something but she couldn't quite remember what. She hoped it was safety and rest, but seriously doubted it the further the wisp lead her into the cave. Drops of water echoed through the cave as she walked, the temperature dropping to the point where her breath expelled in great puffs of visible clouds. The soft crunch of dead leaves gave way to the unforgiving climb of craggy rock. The wisp, if that was indeed what the creature was, lead her quickly through an ever narrowing crack. This place sure didn't look this big from the outside. It must be delving deeper into the earth, which truly did not offer Vyvian any comfort whatsoever.

She was about to turn around and head back to the forest when she heard the thin whining voice of the wisp just ahead, “Come. Come. Come. It is here. Come.” She looked ahead to where the wisp hovered. It seemed to be the end of the cave, only a few steps away. As she looked, the wisp wavered in agitation. It looked impatient. Cautiously Vy moved forward, feeling the rock face whit her hands as if expecting some kind of trap. The wisp did not move until she was standing right in front of it. This close, Vy flinched because she could see through the flimsy garment it wore was a decaying skeletal body made mostly of half attached limbs. She stifled a scream and, in her muffled silence she heard a deeper deliberate voice saying, “Goodbye, foolish girl.”

The wisp unveiled its eyes like a second set of eyelids showing a mesmerizing pit of swirling darkness. This time, Vy screamed as loud as she could as she fell deep into her darkening consciousness.