“Malcolm?”
He wouldn’t be in the waters, so she turned her back to them, searching for the black door within the black world.
“Malcolm?”
A spray of the tiny creatures followed after her, winging their way around her head, around her body, and off to her left. She hesitated, unsure which way to go, and the lights buzzed down on her again. A circle around her head, a circle around her body, and then they dashed to the left, hovering there.
“Like Lassie leading me to Timmy in the well,” she murmured, and followed the lights.
There were more now, coalescing around her, darting and twisting, twinkling in every color of the rainbow. They lifted her from her feet and carried her forward, invisible winds blowing her hair as they flew.
And then they were gone.
Alone, she stood in front of an enormous black door, larger than it had been before. Malcolm had been putting effort into keeping her out, it would appear.
As she reached out toward the door, a small silver circle appeared. It grew as she watched, morphing from one object to another, expanding with each change until at last it reached its final shape.
A doorknob.
It felt warm under her hand, more like skin than metal, and she turned it, slowly, half expecting it to be locked.
The door gave way, opening slowly, silently, a sliver of width, barely enough to allow her to see inside.
A mighty stench slammed into her, turning her stomach, causing her to gag. She covered her face with her arm, fitting her nose and mouth into the crook of her elbow, and pushed the door open farther. Far enough to step one foot inside a pit of unbelievable filth and death.
A figure crouched across from her, face buried in its hands.
“Malcolm?”
His head snapped up and their eyes met.
“No!” he roared, launching his body toward the door.
“Tomorrow,” she cried out as the door slammed shut. “We’ll be there tomorrow.”
The crash of the door threw her off-balance and she stumbled backward, losing her footing to fall weightlessly into the black void.
Down and down she fell, gathering speed, until her eyes flew open.
She lay on her bed of furs, gasping for air, heart pounding, the stone at her feet gone cold.
Her stomach roiled with the disgusting odor that lingered in her nostrils, and she pushed back her covers to climb out of her warm little nest and make her way out of the circle and through the brush to a stream that ran nearby.
At its bank she dropped to her knees and leaned over it, splashing icy water onto her face. After a moment or two, she began to feel enough better that she no longer feared she’d lose her dinner.
That had been maybe the worst nightmare she’d ever had. Even now her heart still beat much faster than normal.
Another splash of water to her face and she looked up in time to see the figure of an enormous bird silhouetted against the moon. Round and round it circled overhead, in tight, silent loops, almost directly above her.
She couldn’t take her eyes from the creature as it dipped and soared like it rode its own personal air current. It was enormous and absolutely mesmerizing, beautiful and scary, all at the same time.
“He hunts.”
“Rauf!” Dani all but squealed the man’s name, he’d scared her so badly when he spoke. “Lord, man. I had no idea anyone was even awake, let alone out here with me.”
The groomsman smiled, offering a hand to help her to her feet. “Sorry for any fright, my lady. When I saw you’d left the camp, I worried for yer safety.”
“I had a bad dream, but I’m fine now. I was just watching that bird up there. Look at him. It’s so eerie to see him flying across the face of the moon with his wings spread out that way. He’s beautiful.”