The tunnel they had set off into quickly fell into near total darkness, the grey orbs of light petering out after a few hundred yards. David held the lantern high, its eerie green glow filling the tunnel. The echoes of a bygone time no longer walked this area, which was somewhat of a relief to Lewis.

Aside from their footsteps and the occasional whistle of the wind, there was complete silence. This pathway probably hadn't been walked in centuries. Completely untouched and ancient, it almost seemed to give the air a thickness. Perhaps that was just the dust.

'Why did you run the night at the tower?' Lewis asked quietly, walking ahead of the others with Russell.

'It's complicated,' he replied.

'Then explain it; we have the time,' Lewis said.

'Actually, while travelling the leylines, you move much further than it would appear. What would normally be a week-long trek can be condensed into a handful of hours,' he said.

'You're avoiding the question,' Lewis said, raising his eyebrows.

Russell sighed. 'By now you've seen the tapestry that has been weaved together of all these pivotal moments; it's something that has been knit together since the very first days of existence. We are but bit-part players in something far larger than we can even comprehend.'

'That doesn't really answer why you ran, though.'

'Whether it's a gift or curse, I don't know, but I was given the ability to see different ways that scenarios could play out. I wanted to help; I really did, but I was needed elsewhere,' he said. 'The moment I saw Edmund with the crown, I knew our paths would cross again. It was only a matter of time.'

'Do you know what lies ahead for us?'

'All I know is that we will all face difficult choices and, although it might not seem like it, we are being guided to where we need to be at the right time.'

He seemed to have a way of always leaving Lewis with more questions than answers. When he did answer, it was always vague, as though he knew something no one else did but wasn't allowed to share that information. 'Does that mean that all our lives are already predetermined?'

'That would be a question for the Gods themselves,' he said. 'Personally, I believe there are moments in our lives we are destined to experience, but everything in between is what we make of it. It doesn't do to dwell on such things; just because something is written or part of a prophecy does not mean it has to be so.'

'Lewis, Russell, what's happening?' Captain Caldwell called from behind them. Lost in their conversation, Lewis hadn't noticed the walls of the tunnel vanish. Now, they walked on stone, with an endless, pitch-black void surrounding them that the lantern couldn't penetrate more than a few feet.

'It's spectacular!' Edward said excitedly, peering over the side of the stone walkway they stood on. 'It's the leyline itself.

Lewis looked over to the side where Edward was pointing. He couldn't judge the distance, but far below them was a river of pulsing blue light. Somehow, it seemed to be made of both rock and liquid at the same time. It was a thing of beauty and a sight to behold as it snaked through the darkness beneath them.

A gust of wind blew over them gently. Lewis felt the skin on his forearm itch as it blew past. 'We need to get moving quickly,' Russell said, suddenly off once more at twice the speed they had been walking.

'What is it?' Lewis asked.

'The leylines are a dangerous place, especially when exposed. They give off an immense amount of power, which can cause storms and flares,' he said. 'Prolonged exposure can have lasting effects; the storms or flares themselves can do far worse.'

Lewis glanced down at his forearm, where he had felt the itching. In the faint light, he could see that the skin was red, as if he had caught the sun for too long. 'Everyone cover yourselves up as best as you can,' he said, pulling down his sleeves and turning up his shirt collar to try and protect his neck a little more.

'I've got these,' Edward said, passing out a bundle of handkerchief-sized cloths. 'They might not offer much protection for your face, but it's better than nothing. In the distance, there was a whistle from the wind. They glanced at each other, hastily fastening the cloths as they hurried along the stone walkway as quickly as they dared.

In the distance, there was a low, growl-like rumble, and the pathway beneath them was trembling slightly. 'What was that?' David asked, casting the lantern around in the hope that it would reveal something more than endless darkness.

'There are a lot of things out here,' Russell said. 'They're unlike anything we would see on the surface.'

'Like creatures?' Loise said, peering over the side of the walkway as they continued to move as quickly as they could.

'All sorts of things. There is a lot more to the world than what we see of it every day,' he said. 'The leylines and this space exist within the planet, but it's not as simple as digging down far enough. It's possible you've come across places that, as you move through them, don't feel quite the same as usual. Those places are "The Fluctuations," and they exist where the fabric between different parts of existence is at its thinnest.'

'There's a whole host of different places, at least ones I know about, that exist like this. The world is not all one; it is many places knitted together, different elements, calm, chaos. It all has its own place, but it is all intertwined in our world, something like a patchwork quilt.'

Before any of them had a chance to question Russell further, the walkway beneath their feet shuddered, a chunk of the stone a few paces ahead of Lewis breaking off and tumbling into the darkness below. 'What's happening?'

'Not all the leylines are stable; that's why some waypoints were abandoned. The ones that do still work have to be monitored and maintained constantly to make sure they're safe,' Edward said. 'I've never travelled along an unmaintained line before but I've heard stories of people who have tried and either lost their way and ended up far from where they meant to or some who never returned.'

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

'Look out!' David shouted, the glow of the lantern held high as a huge, bright blue serpent-like creature soared up the side of the walkway, crashing against the stone. Even with the warning, it sent them all staggering. Dropping to his knees, Lewis just about managed to stop himself from falling over the edge.

The creature was as thick as some of the biggest trees in Fir Forest, probably eight or ten feet in diameter. It coiled its way around the walkway, wrapping itself like a snake around a branch. Where it moved out of the lantern light, it vanished entirely as if it didn't exist, but he knew it did as the pathway shook violently beneath them. It wasn't scaled like a serpent, as much as it looked and seemed to act like one. Rather, it seemed to have feathers—at least fifty pairs of small wings along the side of its body as far as Lewis could see.

'What is that thing?' Louise asked, steadying herself against the quaking stone.

'I don't know, and right now, I think we should be getting out of here before it breaks this bridge,' Captain Caldwell said. Lewis saw him drawing his sword as he tried to continue forward while maintaining his balance. On the other side of Captain Caldwell, he saw Louise and David drawing their own weapons.

'Don't hurt it!' Russell shouted as Captain Caldwell brought his blade down on the side of the creature where it was constricting the walkway and blocking their path.

It screeched in pain, whipping around in the direction of where it had felt the sting of Captain Caldwell's blade. From the darkness, a fanged maw rose up, piercing blue slits for eyes. Seeing the strike coming, they scrambled away as one, retreating back in the direction they had come from. 'What did you do that for!' Russell demanded, throwing up a hand, which crystallised the air between them and the maw of the creature.

With a crash like breaking glass, the barrier shattered. Beyond the creature's head, the tail whipped around, thumping into the walkway on the other side of them, sending them staggering. 'We need to get past it,' Captain Caldwell shouted back as he took a swipe at the tail, just missing as it flicked away at the last second.

'What is the matter with you bloody people and always wanting to stab things?' Russell said, backing away quickly as he threw up another barrier between him and the creature's head. 'Leyline Leviathans are pretty harmless unless they're provoked or attacked!'

Lewis heard Captain Caldwell mutter something darkly in response but didn't catch his exact words as the leviathan constricted around the pathway, sending a tremor through the stone as some of it disintegrated and fell away. Whether what Russell muttered under his breath was a response to what he'd said, Lewis wasn't sure, but he used a turn of phrase that he had never heard before. Judging by the tone, it wasn't something pleasant.

'What should we do, Russell?' Lewis called, reluctant to draw the sword he had received from Keon.

'You might as well pray it just gets distracted by something else or gets bored before it breaks the walkway and sends us plummeting to our deaths,' he shouted, throwing up shield after shield to try and withhold the leviathan's attacks. With a shout, Lewis saw one of the long, swordlike fangs pierce the shield, catching Russell in the shoulder.

He wished there was something he could do. Closing his eyes, he tried to envisage the leviathan being pushed away by a shield big enough to protect them all. 'Holy shit!' he heard David shout from nearby.

Lewis opened his eyes to see a pulsing, silver bubble spreading out around them, knocking the leviathan back despite its attempts to break through it with fangs and its thrashing tail. He was doing it like nothing he had managed before. Maybe it was the raw power from the leylines he was drawing on or the true nature of his power beginning to show itself, but he felt more in control than he had at any point while he had been at the tower. Slowly he flexed his fingers, the shield around them pulsing brighter, driving the leviathan back.

Burning filled his nostrils. As the tail of the leviathan passed by, he saw the feathers scorching, burning away as they came into contact with the shield. It screeched in agony, and Lewis couldn't help but feel guilty.

In that moment of doubt, the shield faltered, the powerful energy fading as if the dome had become glass. For a second longer, it held before a tiny crack appeared to Lewis' left. As if it had sensed the weakness, the leviathan brought its tail crashing down, shattering the dome into a million glistening fragments before it slammed into the stone pathway.

It took Lewis a moment to realise that the sinking sensation in his stomach wasn't from the shield failing but rather from the pathway beneath their feet breaking apart. With shouts from all around, they were sent tumbling into a freefall, the light from the lantern David clung to swinging wildly, illuminating a different empty space with each blink.

As they fell, strange creatures flashed in and out of view in an instant, from what looked like smaller leviathans to giant, twisted, and grotesque fish to luminescent red jellyfish that looked as though they would comfortably fit in the palm of a person's hand. He felt static up his right arm, only to look down and find one of the jellyfish-like creature’s tentacles wrapped around his forearm with a vice-like grip.

With his other hand, he ripped it away, screaming as it tore at the flesh, before hurling it as far into the darkness as he could. He had no idea which way was up or down at this point. If it hadn't been for the lantern light glinting off the weapons of the others, they would have been impossible to see, falling amongst the rubble. Out of the void, the leviathan screeched, its maw just missing him and shattering some of the stone that was falling beside him.

Instinctively, he threw up an arm to shield his face. He didn't know how big this cavernous place was, but, for a single instant, the entire place was bathed in a golden light as he found himself blinded by the lightning bolt that erupted from his hand. This time, the leviathan didn't make a sound or get the chance to, as it was completely obliterated. A bright blue liquid coated him head to toe and the smell of burnt feathers overwhelmed his nostrils.

Like hitting a brick wall, Lewis found himself seeing stars as he collided with something. It wasn't as hard as stone, but it had a solidity to it that he was certain would leave a lot of bruises. There were groans around him as chunks of rock shattered on the surface with echoing crashes. 'Everyone alright?' he grunted as he pushed himself up.

About six feet below them was a narrow stone walkway that ran alongside the blue, glowing, river-like appearance of the leyline. As far as he could tell, they were sitting on thin air itself. There was a murmur of affirmations around him. 'I wish I had never found out what a leyline is,' Captain Caldwell muttered, looking decidedly pale.

'What do we do now?' he asked, looking around for Russell, who lay sprawled out about fifteen feet away.

'Well, for starters, don't stab anything unless I say otherwise,' he said with a pointed look in Captain Caldwell's direction. 'We keep moving; hopefully we're not too far away but who knows how long it will take with terrain like this.'

Dusting himself down, Lewis got to his feet, taking in their surroundings for the first time now that they were bathed in the glow of the leyline. Off to the side of the leyline, the land dropped away a little before it disappeared into a dense forest of enormous trees, far larger than any Lewis had ever seen.

'How is there an entire forest down here?' David asked as he cast the lantern around.

For what felt like the first time, nothing unexpected showed up in its light. 'This place has its own ecosystem, just like anywhere else in the world,' Russell said. 'I'm not an expert but I suggest we move quickly and quietly; we've already had one very close call and I'm not of the disposition for any more without at least a week to rest first.'

'I could go a lifetime without experiencing anything like this again,' Lewis muttered, thinking back to all the close encounters he had had with death in the short time since he had first left the city with Emily. 'Lead the way, Russell,' he called, only to realise that Russell was already trotting off ahead of them down the bank to the treeline. With a nod to the others, they fell in line behind him once more, stepping from stone to soft, springy earth.