The clicking creature came closer, the noises echoing around him, though Asher didn’t know whether to slow down or break into a sprint. The trees and their depressing decorations only grew thicker, soon breaking away from the neat rows into a woodland with empty branches waiting for more victims to claim. The crow reappeared again, silently hopping from branch to branch, following him silently. It wasn’t the one making the noise from what Asher could see, but the clicking turned into grinding and whistling, bone scraping against bone and ghosts of leaves rustling around his head, and he couldn’t see where it was coming from.

He broke into a light jog, ignoring the complaints of his leg as they grew sharper and more consistent, when something grabbed his collar and hauled him into the base of a nearby tree. Asher cried out in alarm and brought his cane down hard on the new attacker, but the humanoid figure knocked it away easily, and rough, clawed hands went for his throat. The creature was a mess of rags and fabric, patches on patches piled on top of each other, and anything Asher tried to grab only slipped through his fingers. He pushed the Fienta away and grabbed the bag of dust at his belt, plunging his hand in as the creature lunged again. He shoved his open palm into the creatures chest, at the same time a hand slapped over his mouth.

The dust did nothing. Both of them stood frozen, staring at where Asher’s hand pressed into the figure’s chest, stained grey with the dust. Whatever this was, it wasn’t a Fienta. Slowly, he lowered his hand, and the figure pulled their own hand away from his face. The figures hands were flesh, though rough and leathered, but beyond the wrist, bars of muscle turned into crystalline, fading into blue and green as they disappeared back under the rags. Then the hood slipped back, and Asher saw two thick, copper horns curve over black hair.

‘Penn?’ Asher asked.

The figure recoiled, and the face that locked onto him wasn’t Penn. There were similar features there; a long, sharp face and thick hair, the same brown skin, but another pair of horns curled around the side of his head, and the eyes were ice blue, cold and sharp enough to cut. Not Penn, but another Nakati.

‘daskenti madeki gashrei Penn?’ the man asked.

‘I don’t speak Nakati, I’m sorry,’ Asher said.

The Nakati’s brow furrowed, frowning. ‘daskenti madeki gashrei Penn? Daskenti tepri madeki.’

‘I…’ The realisation dawned on him. ‘You’re Nadu, aren’t you?’

The Nakati recoiled, then nodded. ‘Penn?’

‘I don’t know where Penn is,’ Asher said. Though it was a strange feeling to now be face to face with his father. Unless Nadu was a common name and the resemblance was a coincidence, though Asher didn’t believe that. He only thing he knew for sure is that he wasn’t bilingual like the rest of his family. Asher tapped on the band on his wrist, holding it up for Nadu to see. ‘I’m looking for Penn.’

Nadu inspected the band on Asher’s wrist, taking Asher’s hand in both of his and staring at it with a narrow expression. He glanced up at Asher again, then spoke in the same strange tongue. Asher stared at him blankly, then Nadu pointed at his own chest. ‘Nadu,’ he said. He then pointed at Asher.

‘Oh,’ Asher said. ‘Asher.’

‘Asher.’ Nadu repeated.

Asher nodded.

Nadu then lunged forward and planted a kiss hard on Asher’s forehead, before enveloping him in a hug that clicked his shoulder-blades together. A noise of surprise was the only thing he could manage, but Nadu held tight, filling his senses with the smell of must and dust. When Nadu did let go, he grabbed Asher’s face with both hands and twisted it from side to side, inspecting him and talking fast.

‘I-it’s nice to meet you too,’ Asher stammered. He pulled away just enough to tap the band again, but this time it jerked hard, throwing Asher’s hand into Nadu’s chest.

Nadu frowned. When he spoke again, it was slower and more forceful.

‘I’m sorry,’ Asher said. He tapped the band again, but the same thing happened, this time jerking hard enough to shove the other man. Asher flinched, and a wave of dread made his knees buckle. The thing had led him to Nadu.

No. This couldn’t go any worse. Wherever Penn was now, there was enough time to drag him to the other side of this strange world, and Asher was lost, defenceless, and had no idea how to get back. His hands started shaking as that one final thought echoed in his head. He had failed. He tried to shake the thoughts away but they had lodged deep.

Nadu gripped his shoulder, his face creasing as he gestured for Asher to stop. Asher only felt shame on top of everything else. This man didn’t speak Tarniyan; how was he supposed to explain how Penn was trapped here, and he had no way of finding him, no way of helping either of them?

Nadu spoke slowly, then, with one hand still on Asher’s shoulder, he took the hand with the band in his own and raised it up again. Asher watched, aware of how much he was shaking in the man’s steady grip. Nadu stepped around his arm, still holding it up and inspecting the band from the side. He then tapped on it again, and Asher’s arm knocked sideways into Nadu’s chest, throwing him forward. Nadu frowned, chewing the bottom of his lip. His eyes then widened, and he turned and disappeared between the trees. Asher swore and called after him, and in a split second the man reappeared, scooping up Asher’s cane – which he hadn’t realised he’d dropped – then took Asher’s hand in his and dragged him around that same tree. The gap between the tree and the hanging body shimmered as Nadu passed through it, and Asher realised it was a doorway the same time he stepped through.

His ears popped, and white spots flashed across his vision as the forest of corpses disappeared. They stood in another cave, this one with a mossy covering along its roof, the top of a forest flipped and stuck to the rock. Nadu held his free hand out, and his grip on Asher’s tensed as the crystal bars along his hands began to glow with a soft, white light. The rocks around them were spiked, craggy and jutting out of the ground, and veins around the bigger ones reflected Nadu’s light. Asher kept one hand on the pouch on his belt as they moved forward.

The cave grew wider as they moved forward, and Asher noted the bark forming around some of the crystals, the vines hanging from seemingly random spots on the walls, but the further they moved, the more dead it all became, withering and shrinking until even the moss along the top was nothing more than a handful of jagged twigs. Nadu’s grip on his hand tightened, and the man’s features grew harder, the lines along his forehead thicker, but they pushed on.

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The crow dropped onto Asher’s shoulder with enough force to make them both jump, but their shouts of alarm were cut off by a scream. The sound echoed out from deep in the cavern, and both Asher and Nadu exchanged a look before they broke into a sprint.

The walls grew paler, the light pouring in from cracks above, revealing a shift to grassy ground, though the grass was just as dead as everything else. When the path ahead ended, Asher’s leg gave out and he slammed into the ground, but Nadu only dropped down next to him and peered over the edge of a great drop that sat before them. Asher dragged himself forward and peered down with him.

It wasn’t more cavern beneath them, but a sparce and wide forest hollow, with dead trees stretching up higher than the ledge, their branches twisted and limp. Shrivelled vines fell from the rock walls, and the grass below was broken by sporadic white rocks, marble of different shapes and sizes, some standing like pillars that had been knocked crooked. Grey sky broke through large holes in the roof above, throwing long shadows on the scene below.

The place was covered in Fienta. Monsters trilled and shrieked and leapt around excitedly, as varied and horrible as the first time Asher had been in Le Torkani, and excited, fixated on something in the corner of the hollow. Asher shrank back against the ground, but none of them had any interest in him or Nadu.

A small group of creatures, small humanoids with large bat ears and four webbed wings sprouting from their back, descended from one of the trees and threw themselves at the Fienta below, creating a small scuffle of claws and fur and scales. Asher tried to see what they were fighting over, but as one broke away, bleeding from the eye, he realised with a start, they were Nakati.

Nadu nudged him and pointed across the hollow, and Asher saw humans. It was hard to tell how many, though more than a dozen huddled around each other, watching the scene with gaunt, fearful faces. Asher eased back along the rise, pulling himself up and looking for somewhere to get down there.

That was when Penn burst from the middle of the mass, his horns raised and spikes running down the length of his back, raising taller and higher above the monsters around him. The bat Nakati – and other crystal humanoids like Nadu – yelled and leapt excitedly at the sight, falling into a chant that thrummed through the walls around them. Debne, debne, debne.

Penn snapped at them, but it was swallowed by the chanting. A large group of the Fienta lunged at him, but Penn swept out of the way faster than Asher could blink, leaping up and scaling the pillared marble until he balanced dangerously over them, but the Fienta still leapt for him, claws and hands and fins all swiping at his feet as Penn jumped to avoid them. The chant continued, and Penn glanced around desperately, looking for something. He then turned his head upward, and locked eyes with Asher. Colour drained from his face. He shook his head frantically, then crouched down on the pillars, hunching in on himself.

Nadu leapt to his feet, throwing both his fists upward. ‘Debne!’ he cried. ‘Jaliti debne dayanki hani!’

Penn’s head snapped up to stare at him again, and Asher grabbed the bag of dust at his belt. With a silent prayer and a carefully balanced kneel, he tossed it as hard as he could over the edge of the rise, towards Penn. The bag missed him by a wide angle, sailing down over the crowding Fienta, as the edges of the crowd turned to stare up at him and Nadu.

Penn shot upright, and his hand thrust out to catch the bag, though he had no chance of reaching it. He then shrieked out a set of words that sounded more animal than human, something ancient and grating that would command the earth itself to bow to him.

Nadu reached up and tackled Asher back onto the ground, throwing his ragged cloak over them both as the hollow exploded.

The entire scene shook violently, the walls and floor ripping back and forth as rocks rained down from the ceiling, and Asher could only throw his hands over his head as screams tore through the air, harsh enough to make pain sear in his head and his ears to bleed. The shaking grew more violent still, the shrieks joined with the sounds of tearing flesh and breaking bone, of deathly wails calling out and panicked shrieks being cut off.

The shaking stopped with a shockwave that blew the rags off Asher completely, a rush of heat and energy that shot through him as much as it swept over him. The sound faded behind the ringing in his ears, and he slowly lifted his head to see a different place completely.

The hollow still stood as it was, but greenery had returned, the grass growing long and swallowing up the last of bone and blood and gooey mess. The vines along the walls had tripled in capacity, flowing over the walls with white and purple flowers blooming around them. There was no sign of the roof at all, instead there was only the canopy of a forest, sunlight breaking through intertwined moss and leaves. Nadu gasped in surprise next to him.

There were still creatures littered across the space, but each of them were in a different haze of excitement, chittering and dancing and calling out in triumph. Asher watched as a group of bipedal mouse in smart waistcoats dropped into the fresh grass and rolled around over and over, sometimes bumping into each other and joining together to roll. Penn still stood at the pillar, breathing heavily and watching over the scene. A king watching over his subjects.

Penn then sagged, his horns curling down and the spikes retreating into his back, before he fell from the pillar and slammed into the stone base, unmoving.

Nadu cried out and scrambled to his feet, already rushing down a steep slope to the hollow below. Asher followed close behind, half sliding and half stumbling down the craggy path, before collapsing on his hands and knees at the base. The mice-Nakati shrieked at him in surprise, but Asher ignored them and rushed over to Penn’s unmoving body. Nadu had already pulled his limp form into his arms, cradling him and rocking back and forth with small, panicked words.

Asher knelt down next to him, willing Penn to move, holding his breath in anticipation when the man’s eyes fluttered and his head lolled to the side. Watery, orange eyes met his, no longer burning or glowing in the way they had been.

‘What did you do?’ Penn’s voice was weak.

‘I followed you.’ Asher reached over and tapped his band against Penn’s, and a soft, hollow sound echoed out.

‘Stupid,’ Penn mumbled.

Asher laughed. ‘I know. But we won. You won.’

‘No.’

‘Penn, look up.’

Penn obeyed, then shot upright in a burst of adrenaline, awake and alert as he locked eyes with Nadu. He stammered, words failing him, and Nadu grinned, pulling Penn forward into a tight hug. Penn tensed, then broke completely. Words came out in a flood, fast and panicked and probably nonsense even to people who understood the language. Nadu replied between each gap in the slew, his voice calm though he was shaking and holding Penn tight.

The mice-Nakati had eased closer to the small rise of stone they sat on, their noses twitching and their small hands knotting together as they approached. A human woman, an older lady with wild grey hair and a torn dress, peered over from behind them, her face pale.

Asher nodded at her. ‘It’s alright,’ he said. ‘It’s over.’

The woman visibly deflated, and others stepped up next to her, taking in the new scene with wide eyes. Some of the Nakati wondered over to them and prodded at their clothes, or pulled at their hair, but most of them were approaching Penn, a wide ring of dozens of creatures, all slowly coming closer.

Nadu noticed as well and pulled away from his hug with Penn, pointing them out to their leader. Penn stared at the creatures around him, then recoiled as each dropped into a low bow, pressing their head into the grass. Penn shouted out in surprise and rushed forward, collapsing against the closest of the group and pulling at them, talking fast and wild as he tried to pull a handful of them back up, but they didn’t budge.

‘Pehnrylin,’ Nadu said. ‘Jaliti debne Nakati.’

He then dropped into the same low bow, his head pressed into the stone.

Penn stood amongst them with wide eyes, breathing heavily and mumbling weak protests. As his chest heaved, he locked eyes with Asher, silently pleading as though Asher could do anything. He could see what the others had told him. Penn was a king, and everything he’d done up to this point would never convince Asher otherwise. He pressed his fist into his heart, then bowed his head low in respect. Penn stared, then dropped to his knees and wailed.

The sound echoed through the hollow, pained and heartbreaking, and each of the creatures around him all burst into action, scampering up to him and chatting in a mess of words that drowned each other out. They stroked at his hair and hugged his arms, climbing over him and smothering him in their comforts. Penn didn’t protest or push them off, but stayed where he knelt amongst them, tears streaming down his face.