Did you storm the weather Will you blather the blether? Angels and thieves gathered together Under parasols and umbrellas Turquoise skies and lunatic lullabies A seasons disguise Hazel eyes The seas roaring with our goodbyes Sail off to Jamestown Sail with me tonight A town lit bright Fireflies take flight Let’s not think twice

Expedition number one was to a cave on a deserted island. We had to take a 1 1/2 hour guided tour boat to get there. We figured we would get this tour over with first. We could spend the rest of the week doing party boats and enjoying the all inclusive amenities. Along the way the tour guide pointed out the various islands owned by celebrities and some historical sites. We would be the first ones that would be visiting this new island. It took the crew years to get the island ready for visitors. It was a pretty impressive island. Amazingly beautiful and pristine. The island itself was a self guided excursion. They gave us a map and told us to be back at the boat in 4 hours. It certainly would not take that long to see the entire island. It was only3 miles wide and 8 miles long. We walked along the paths looking at the exoctic trees and reading the little plaques with the descriptions. When we reached the other side of the island we were on another beach. This one was more beautiful than the one we came ashore on.
Instead of taking the pathway back, we looked around to see if anyone was looking and decided to dip off into the wooded area. There was no sign saying we couldn’t, so we took that as an Indicator that we could. About a half mile in we saw a small entrance to cave. It looked pretty cool and we had to take a closer look. The entrance was big enough for us to squeeze our frames in. It was a little chillier in here than outside but not bad. A few steps in my buddy decided he wanted to be a smart ass and scrape his stick across the cave wall. I turned around and almost ran into him trying to get out of there. He laughed hysterically but to me that shit wasn’t funny. We only had a little light from the entrance of the tunnel and this thing seemed to go a little ways down. I was over it! The further it went, the darker it got. But he wanted to go a little further. After a few steps he tried the same trick. This sound was a little more high pitched. It sounded like rock on rock. “You’re not getting me twice jackass!” “That wasn’t me.” “What ever.” Then he did it again a few more meters in. “Cut the shit. It’s old.” “Bro, that’s NOT ME!” he exclaimed. He put both his hands on my shoulders and while his hands were there we heard the noise again. Whatever it was, it was between us and the exit. I fumbled in my pocket to find a lighter. I was so nervous I was barely able to get it lit. On the cave walls were large scratches. But not like animal paws. These were large claw or talons like from an eagle or a hawk. I don’t know how far we came in but the light from the entrance was no where in sight. It was dark. I became even more terrified when I saw what looked like blood on the cave walls and skeletal remains on the cave floor. I dropped my lighter and tried to run with my hand on the wall as guide. I heard the scratches on the wall, they were right behind us. FUCK!!

THE END

Against the stone wall of the cave, a scraping talon sounds. Echoing through the narrow passageway, the rhythmic scratching and tapping gradually grew faster and more frantic. Soon it became accompanied by deep huffs and high pitched screeches. The sound alone would send a full grown man to his knees in fear, but not a soul was near enough to hear it; the creature made sure of that. Deep inside a large cavern at the top of the highest mountain in the region stood a mighty yet furious beast: a griffin. It’s once illustrious golden feathers were caked in a thick slimy muck. It’s beak and talons were frantically separating the sickly-green mush from its magestic feathers and scraping the abominable substance against the cave walls. The griffin was having a less than ideal day. Griffins are a prideful species; this breed especially. He was a Goldmane Griffin; one of the last of his kind, and he had suffered a humiliating blow whilst fighting a lesser wyvern in the marshes below the mountain. He refused to be seen in this sorry state, and had taken the wyvern’s head in return for the cheek displayed by the wretched thing. He had been scraping, pulling, and cleaning for hours, but he remained vigilant. The respect of the lesser beings was paramount to uphold; he would not stand to be seen filthy. He chittered his beak fearing he might never get clean. His status… his elegance… were they this fragile that they might be shattered by a passing blow from a lesser creature? It took over a day and a half, but his visage was finally beginning to poke through the grime. One last dip in the underground lake should be enough to clear the rest away and… there; perfect. Feeling again like his true magnificent self, he ventured through the cave and took to the sky. Flitting among the clouds, he soared high above the world beneath him; sparing nary a passing glance at the lesser creatures who, no doubt, noticed his absence. He remained the most powerful and magestic being in all the land and the skies. His elegance had not faltered; it was merely… interrupted.

You always knew something was off about the new apartment, but you never had the money to buy yourself out of the lease. The apartment itself was fine, but walking up the stairs to your door you had to pass the laundry room. The room had a door at the end that was kept locked, both knob and in chains. When you did your laundry there, you heard something from behind that door … and you never went back. You asked your neighbor once but they just shrugged it off. Then the woman started screaming near your window every morning, right outside the main office.

“Sinners!” She called. “Free my daughter!” And you just ignored her, day in and day out, until your lease was up and you left … left the city and found a small farm home.

Unknown to you, the woman is close to freeing her daughter. Beyond the laundry room is an ancient cave. Against the stone wall of the cave, a scraping talon sounds.

My mind starts to spiral, who, what, where, when, why. How did I get in here?

Seconds ago, I was laying across from my partner on our queen-sized mattress encompassed by darkness of the inevitable and long “rest”. I remember feelings of loneliness, and then all of a sudden I’m here. But where’s here?

Caves of darkness, so quiet I can hear my blood flowing through my veins and feel the movement of tiny hairs on my arms.

There it is again, a talon on the hard, cold stone. Scraping just the surface of again, an unknown place. I fell to rest with loneliness, now awake with the presence of something..

Scared, I slide through dirt without making a sound. I need to investigate. Heart pumping and anxiety flowing. I have no idea what I am about to see. When I am about to turn the corner with just my eyes, I awake. Laying in the exact same position I fell, with my partner next to me, in the same queen-sized bed. And back comes the loneliness, the exact same feeling.

Somehow, what I heard in that cave made me feel scared, but also slightly comforted. The lonliness withered away when fear showed itself. It was nice; I could’ve been stabbed, murdered, punched, kicked, but at least I wasn’t alone.

“It dwells in the depths of the caves, never breaking the barrier between light and shadow.” He steps back, leaving behind the light of the flickering flame, now veiled in shadows in the corner of the room.

“It only feeds off those who can’t curb their curiosity and go wondering too near.” My uncle crouches low to the floor, arms held high with fingers mimicking the claws of the beast called Hail.

“Story goes, the last thing you hear before it takes you is the tick, ticking of his claws against rock.”

He mimics the sound. “Tick, tick, tick...” as he creeps, head low, teeth bared, moving toward our bed. He drags a mock clawed finger across the edges of our quilt. “It all happens so quickly.” We watch with wide eyes as he disappears beneath the bed’s horizon. “Right before it...” he whispers from the depths of our bedroom floor. “JUMPS!!!” Uncle yells, lunging into the air, his hair in a tousled mess, when he comes barreling into my sister and me. Tackling us down into our feather-filled pillows. Where we both squeal in delight. When Uncle inevitably breaks character, we all lay there laughing at another epic bedtime story.

I'm smiling in bed with my mirror of a sister, our red hair a tangled mess among piles of pillows, and our beloved Uncle, who finally made it home after months on the road.

When I roll over in my blanket, laughing, I inhale dirt from the ground, and I’m jerked back to reality, waking suddenly in a coughing fit. Throwing myself over, I force the last bit of dirt from my throat and spit onto the ground where my sleeping bag lies. When I catch my breath, I sit up in my bag, wiping my mouth with the back of my sleeve.

“At least it sounded like a good one. What was it this time?” She’s sitting near a low burning fire. Her body hunched over her knees as she pokes a leaf with a stick. One of her favorite pillows is pressed against her stomach, and her chin rests on her bent knees when she looks over at me.

I rub at my watery eyes and yawn. “Uncle was telling us a story.” I say, watching intently at her reaction. “Back when we were kids.”

A faint smile crosses her lips. We both loved his stories. “Which one?” She tosses the stick into the fire and watches as the log shifts. The faint flicker glows against her skin, matching that of her red hair, and mixes with the radiating light stone hanging around her neck. I touch the one wrapped in leather around mine, thankful for their light in the darkness of the night.

“The one... the one about Hail.” I say, It feels both ironic and unnerving to say it aloud, and I can see shes thinking the same thing when her smile fades and she presses the pillow tighter against her stomach and pulls her coat tight at a sudden gust of wind. When she changes the subject to clearing camp, I know the conversation is over. For now at least, as inevitable as the days end, so too will this conversation.

It doesn’t take us long to reload our packs and hush the firelight that we used for a quick breakfast. Our journey will come to an end today, one way or another, and I can tell by our silence that we both feel the weight of what’s to come.

The climb will take another five hours. Since we left camp just as dawn broke, we expect to make it before noon, but time seems to be moving faster than I’d like, and I expect we’ll be there before I’ve had a chance to spark my courage and stamp out the feeling that we should run far away from this place.

“I wouldn’t have guessed this would be our world.” Victus says, sliding on a dusty rock as we ascend a particularly steep section on our path.

“What do you mean?” I ask, using a tree to pull my way up behind.

“Us, this path, our parents, Uncle, those… all of it.” She swears when she slips and takes a knee to the rocky ground. I reach to help but she’s already pulled herself up and moving forward again.

“Yeah, I know.” There isn’t much more I can think to say. She’s right. Ever since Uncle went missing, it seems everything about our lives has been centered on this place.

“They should have never gone looking for him that night.” She admits. Something I often ponder myself.

“Maybe Father knew something we didn’t?" I say with sigh, our steps now slowing when we approach the two large stones we came all this way to meet. Together, we lower ourselves down into the bit of grass growing around the stones, and look upon the final resting place of our mother and father.

I watch as Victus pulls the same pillow from camp out of her pack and lays it between our parents stones. She’s embroidered our family crest in the proper gold and green thread.

“What did you bring, Runi?” My sister looks up to me with a smile, her characteristic silent tears already trailing her jaw line. If you don't take the time to look, you’ll miss her expression of emotion all together. It’s taken her time, but she’s gotten better at controlling it.

“Just letters.” I pull the brown envelope from my pack and lean it against my mother's grave. From the same pocket, I pull a second letter and place it against my father's.

We exchange half-hearted smiles and spend the next thirty minutes telling stories from our childhood. Lightening the tension in my chest and reminding me why I came on this journey. To recreate times long ago lost. My sister stands and trails off behind the trees to relieve herself, all the while singing a song our mother would sing.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, eyes closed, hands lightly resting against their stones. “It just feels like the right thing.”

I’ve already pulled away and begun shouldering my pack when Victus walks back over. Holding a pink flower.

“Moms favorite!” She says smiling and lays it near my letter.

“It’s a Dainthus.” I tell her.

“Hmm, I like that name.” She adjusts the front of her shirt, then slips her pack over her shoulders. “May I have a moment before we depart? …with mom?”

“Sure.” I give her a reassuring nod. I know it must be hard not having here. Especially now.

         *     *     The Caves     *     *

We arrive just after noon, when the sun begins to warm the air around us. Another stone marks our final destination. But when I notice it for the first time, my stomach churns, and I want to turn and run back, far away from this place. But I know what I’d be running back to, and so instead I ground myself.

We don’t get too close when we finally stop, a good two meters from our uncle's final stone. The old helm I placed there years ago is still resting at its base. Even from here, we feel the cold, crisp air blowing past his stone and chilling our skin. We stand in silence for a moment. Listening, peering into the darkness of the caves beyond our uncle's final resting place.

“I can’t help but wonder if his armor is still in there? If he had it with him.” I say this after a few moments, when we hear nothing.

“It isn’t worth it if it is.” She says it more as a warning than a casual comment.

“Or… maybe he knows who took it?”

“No.”

“The kingdom could be safe again. How could we not consider it?”

“It’s too risky, we’ve managed without it.” She’s not mad. She says it with finality. We’ve had this conversation before; she’s avoided it all day, and she’s deflecting any further discussion.

“You brought something for him, didn’t you?” She’s ready to leave.

With a heavy breath I approach and kneel to lay a small book of stories by his stone. When I stand, a sudden rush of chilled air blows past me again, wavering my confidence, yet I still turn to look back at my sister, resolute. “If I just a quick look...”

“No Runi.” She’s letting her anger slip, and the wind picks up ever so slightly. “You need your strength for our decent.” Again, the finality of her words. She’s more of a queen to me now than I’ve ever seen her be towards me.

“I won’t stay long.” I say ignoring her protest.

“Runi! I demand you stop this.” The sky begins to darken with her words.

“Don’t!” I snap back. “Keep the light.” I warn her just before I take a knee and I lay an intentional hand against our uncle's helm. And I’m gone.

           *     *     The Realm      *     *

It’s hard to explain the sensation of falling into the realm of the dead. Growing up, I always kept my abilities secret. Never even got the chance to tell our parents before they passed. Those who know always mistake what my ability means. Thinking I can speak with those who are gone. But it isn’t quite like that.

I try to keep myself grounded as I mentally fall, the intense darkness beyond pulling at the walls of my carefully fortified mind. It takes everything in me to keep it all out, to keep myself from becoming enveloped, lost in the inky abyss, filled with memories from beyond. I’ve never experienced such fog; it’s thicker and colder here than I’ve ever experienced before. I know the location of where the fallen lie can cause distinct realm manipulations. This place is seething in what feels like malice; I feel it pressing in on me, heavy, clawing at my mental walls. It's clear that the caves, the lives lost here, and what lurks within make this place so dark.

But the helm is my link to Uncle, and it doesn’t take long before I see snap shots of his memories and hear small whispers of his past thoughts. The bits of him that still remain in the realm, long after he himself has gone. Even with my link, this place is strong, and I get bombarded by other memories that linger, ones belonging to those long ago lost to this place. Someone screams—a man. I hear the empty laugh of a woman and watch a memory as darkness engulfs her.

I don’t have long here; I can already feel the pressure on my mind. So I spin away, looking deeper, and catch a fleeting glimpse of a memory I know must be his. When I follow it, I see his hand resting on a railing as he looks upon the kingdom's largest light stone, resting in its sacred alter back home. I follow this path, knowing it must lead to more of his memories. Just as another flys past, my father is yelling at him. I hear my uncle's thoughts: “He’s wrong. He’s afraid. They will come for us.”

I let myself fall deeper along this path, searching for more, searching for memories from that night.

I see the glow from the light stone in the distance. “This has to work.” His thoughts are a faint whisper in my head. He's holding light in his hand; has he taken it?

Another memory swirls from behind, assaulting my vision, and a loud scream has me shaken to the core. My walls shutter and fail for a fleeting moment, and I feel my mind weaken. Terror in the form of thick fog seeps in through the cracks, and I’m suddenly blinded, falling, and flailing about as the screams of thousands of people fill my mind. The fear taints my every breath, and I think I can taste blood. My mind is failing under the immense pressure of the memories of a thousand dead souls.

But I feel something take hold of me, and I find I can ground myself once more. With the last strands of power, I throw up my walls up once more. Sealing out all that threats my sanity.

Nausea overtakes me, and my vision is faint. I’ve never pushed myself this far into the realm, and I fear I’m slipping. But I haven’t seen what I’ve come for, and I'm still being held; I’m no longer falling. So I send my mind out one more time, just along the path of my uncle's memories.

I get a glimpse of the caves as he approaches, the light stone wrapped in leather around his neck. The wet cave walls illuminated by his torch. And the light stone it's... But suddenly, I’m being pulled away, back up the way I’ve come. I’ve lost the memory, but I hear my uncle's voice one last time. Growing faint as I’m whisked away. “Hail is here. Run."

Then I’ve fallen backwards into my sister's arms and feel the drops of rain on my skin. She’s yelling, but it takes me a few breaths to come back enough to hear her.

“Runi! Can you hear me?!” My vision is blurry, but I feel her holding me, shaking my body with each question. “Are you back?” She quiets herself this time; she's slipping, and she knows it. And I blink back tears and force myself to look up into the cloudy sky.

“Keep the light.” I manage to choke out through a dry throat. Lifting a heavy hand, I press it against her cheek, reassuring her. “I’m here.” I say, wiping a tear from her cheek. The clouds begin to gently roll away, and I feel the warmth of the sun on my face again. Waking me from my uncle's nightmare.

“How dare you.” She’s stone-faced, once again, in control, but the grip she has around me tells me she’s still fighting the urge to roll thunder. “To be that...” she stops herself, her eyes boring down at me as I gather enough of myself to sit up out of her embrace.

“He thought it would kill Hail.” I can’t bring myself to look at her. “The kingdoms light stone.”

I now know what my uncle thought he could do, why he was the one who took the stone. But seeing it firsthand hurts me more than I thought it would. “He thought it would end it for good.” I look up into the sky, taking in the fresh air as I choke back the tears.

“He didn’t know it would make things worse.” She says this, keeping her composure. “He didn’t know how many more there would be without the light stone.” She says this as she fingers the light stone around her neck. “Can you walk?” She's looking now at where the sun sits in the sky. “We have to get going.”

         *     *    Queen Victus    *     *

I awake with a kick to my ribs early this morning, and I wrap my arms around my rapidly growing belly and squeeze gently. I'm surrounded by the many pillows I've made over the years. Cradling me in warmth and soft fabric.

The familiar sounds of my ladies in waiting come from my dressing room beyond the double doors. I sit up in bed and begin pulling apart my sleeping braid in anticipation of their entrance, when I hear an unexpected knock in the rooms beyond.

There’s a hushed conversation, and a moment later, the door to my dressing room opens slightly, and one of my ladies peeks inside.

“I’m awake. What is it?” I ask as I undo the top of my braid.

"Sorry, my lady, but a letter has arrived for you.” She closes the door behind her before shuffling over to my bedside. A tray in hand.

“Information from the outposts?” It had been another deeply dark night. I only imagine they hit the front lines hard. I’m reminded again, even days after having returned, how risky it really was for Runi and I to have visited our parents stones; let alone our Uncles.

“No, my lady.” I sense the somber tones In her voice, and my head snaps up to meet the worried lines set in her face.

When I see the parchment on the tray, I recognize the handwriting scrawled over the top, and I snatch it quickly, tearing at its edges. The room is clear before I steady myself enough to read.

For Queen Victus,

I saw where it fell. I have to try. Please forgive me.

I read her departing words scrawled at the bottom of the parchment. Near the stamp of her official royal seal.

I like the name Danthus too. It's a good one.

~ Runi

Tears fill my eyes at the moment rain begins to tap against my bedroom windows. “She wouldn’t?” I whisper. But even as I say the words aloud, I know them to be untrue. She would do anything for family, just as father had tried to do.

I feel another hard kick against my side and jump, surprised. I let the letter fall and I roll awkwardly over in bed, wrapping my arms around myself, around us. “Danthus. Dani.” I try the name out, and it feels… right. “You will meet your aunt.” I whisper. “She is strong, she will make it.” I close my eyes, willing my sorrows away and imagining calm, clear blue skies. “I’ll keep the light” I say.

It started quitely enough, moving shadows, a echo of a step. Then it came on louder, sharper, the drag of something heavy across the rocky ground. You quicken your step, it becomes louder still, your panic rises. Faster. Harder. Until you finally trip over your own feet and realize the scrap of claws you’ve been hearing are your own.

Against the stone wall of the cave, a scraping talon sounds.

The cold, the dark, and the constant drip of water all around.

Flee! Your mind cries. Stay! Your heart sighs.

For here and only here, dragon eggs abound.

Plagued by demons and demented thoughts Suffered pain only she knows The battle becoming too hard Being in the dark for too long Entertaining dark thoughts of herself The person called shadow queen The true cause of the suffering Battling yourself is hard and draining

But some things we can’t fight on our own I can give you my shoulder to cry on I can write empathic stories and texts I can give you encouragement but only ONE thing can help you

God is the Ultimate demon slayer Hes asted out demons Cured many off diseases Cured many people and preformed many miracles soo many that the Bible couldn’t hold them all

And he’s the same God now today and forever

Iv seen him heal people to this day People struggling with suicidal thoughts People who where demon possessed People who where beyond the help of doctors

The truth is and not many want to hear this

But only God can set you free from these thoughts and demons

For whom the Son sets free is free indeed

God put you here on the earth for a reason And God will not give up on you

I will neither leave you or forsake you I am with you till the end of times

Those words are found in the Bible Rylee if you want to be saved all you have to do is ask God to come into your heart

And that is the best decision you will ever make

I did four years ago and I have never regretted it not once…

And even I had my own battles of struggle and suicidal thoughts

As Jake entered the cave there were no noises. It was dark except a light that shone through an unknown hole in the ceiling of the cave that shone a singular island in the middle of a lake. He had been walking for a little while to get up to the cave. He wore jeans, a brown t-shirt, a flannel, and a jacket. His back-pack lay on his back, full of tools, food, water, and clothes. He finally found it, the lost cave of Aristanium. It was said that it held great treasures, but none had ever found it, and no one ever came back, so it was purely rumoured. As he entered the cave, he continually scanned the walls and corners for anything that could endanger him. He explored the cave and let little glowing objects to mark a path to find the exit. All of sudden he started to hear noises. It sounded like a scraping sound on stone but distant. He started to became wary of his surroundings because he knew that there was something in here. There were rumors about a certain creature that lived in the depths of this cave but he never believed them. As he explored further, the scraping grew louder and louder. Jake then got to a two way path and had to choose which to go in but was worried that if the one he chose was the wrong one, it might be the one with the scraping sound. He finally chose the path to the left because he thought he saw eyes in the other.

…

When he finally got through the tunnel of dark shadows and webs, he came to a big room. It looked like a dome and in the middle of it was a griffin. A light that punctured through the ceiling illuminated it and its surroundings. Treasure. Jake was not paying attention to the loot though, he was paying attention to the griffin. The griffin stared straight at him with eyes that looked like they were staring into his soul. As Jake stood there, the griffin continued to scratch the floor with it’s talon, making a sharp noise. “What do you want, man? Treasure?” Asked the griffin surprisingly. “No, I did not come in search of treasure,” said Jake “Liar,” hissed the griffin. “Fine! I may have been curious about the treasure but I really wanted to know what this cave was all about,” said Jake. “And are you satisfied?” Asked the beast still scraping the floor. “Yes, I did also want to know why you killed those men who came in this cave?” Asked Jake. “Men? I haven’t seen a single man for hundreds of years. You are the first in a long time.” Said the griffin in a puzzled manner. “Then who killed the men who came in here?” “Ahh, well, that must be my friend who lives in the entrance of the cave as a gaurd.” The griffin finished and looked behind him. “And here he comes now.”