Nightfall (Book 1) by L. R. Flint Read Free Book Online

opening was two feet high, but just beyond, the ceiling rose another couple of feet. The tunnel was wide enough that I could easily crawl through and I could not correctly guess at its length; it was more or less straight with only a few places where it bent enough that the spaces beyond were obscured from view. Jagged rocks, broken sticks and sharp thorns littered the bottom of the tunnel, digging through our clothes and piercing our skin when we were not careful. Once through, we found ourselves in the strangest land imaginable—or so I thought, as I had never before seen trees. The tallest works of nature I had seen were cornstalks; what I saw there was not at all like anything I had ever before seen.
     
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    Beyond the Wall was far from what I had expected it to be—though there really was no distinct expectation I had held for it. A thick blanket of moss crept high up the side of the Wall and fringed the tunnel exit in a soft mane. At the base of the Wall a strip of blighted land lay as a void stretching between the imposing stone structure and the lofty reaches of forest that lay beyond. The forest rose as a dark, gloom-exuding mass. The tree trunks were black and the leaves of such a dark green that they could easily be mistaken for the same color; moss of a variety of dark, metallic tones hung from the trees’ branches. Dew was gathered on every surface and try as hard as it might, the sunlight would never make its way through the crevices of the forest canopy to release the moisture into the sky. In many places the drops of gathered moisture could be seen dripping from the springy fungus, which hung limply from the branches, and onto the thickly carpeted forest floor.
    In the distance I could hear unearthly cries of evil triumph, cries of anger, and cries of terror, the sources of which I could not begin to guess. “Wow,” Eskarne whispered in awe, her voice nearly inaudible. I glanced at her and saw pure wonder written on her face. “This place is creepy,” she whispered, smiling at me. “Much—much—better than Caernadvall.” She let her gaze wander again across the front of the monolithic trees and then back to me. “What do you think Arrats or Ekaitz would say if they saw this?”
    I shrugged. I was not even sure what to say myself.
    “We should look around,” she suggested; I supposed that there was no harm in going a short distance past the forest edge, so I followed her across the ring of barren land.
    Almost to the tree front, I asked uneasily, “Are you sure about this?”
    “Absolutely.” I was positive there had been a quiver of uncertainty in her voice, but I let it slide as we crept onto the soft carpet of moss lining the forest floor. Deep within the gloom I thought I saw a quick flash of red, but whatever it was, it disappeared as quick as it had appeared.
    “Izotz,” Eskarne’s voice was lowered to a whisper again as she said my name. “What was that?” Apparently she had seen the same phenomenon, but if I had known the answer, I would not have had time enough to say it before something huge came crashing through the trees toward us. We turned and bolted for the tunnel.
    “Go,” I shouted and Eskarne raced ahead of me and dove into the opening. I followed seconds behind her, but with far less grace. I felt the singeing heat of fire on my calves and caught a quick glance of dying flames flickering midair at the tunnel’s mouth. The hanging strands of moss withered and died, turning a sickly brown as they wilted. I followed close behind Eskarne as we scrambled from the mouth of the tunnel, fast as we could. I opened my mouth to speak, but she hissed at me to be quiet and pointed out the rise and fall of unfamiliar voices close at hand. We crouched as low to the ground as was possible—without falling on our faces—as we raced across the cornfield, careful not to disturb any of the plants which would give away our presence. Even after we had put a bit of a distance