When Autumn was much younger—ten or eleven or so, she didn’t quite remember—her parents had taken her to a fancy water park; one of those with a tall water slide named something stupid: ‘Death Drop’ or some other rubbish. And after much persuasion, her parents had somehow managed to encourage her to give it a go. 

Autumn hated it; she screamed the entire way down.

Much like now. 

A sense of weightlessness stole over Autumn as she plunged over the edge. The voice in the back of her mind that whispered “jump” winning for once. She wished she could have gone a life-time without knowing the fear of falling towards a crystal that might-as-well snap beneath her weight. Even knowing that it’d survived the others’ much heavier bodies didn’t help much.

What if they’d weakened it? Her traitorous mind whispered. 

Autumn’s imagination flooded her with horrifying images of the crystal shattering as she landed upon it. Of falling a thousand feet and a thousand more. In her mind’s eye, she saw herself breaking upon every crystal on the way down. She saw her blood scattering across the slick surfaces as she was cut and diced and—

The crystal below her came up suddenly. 

Autumn landed feet first. Immediately upon the leather of her boots contacting the slick surface, they slipped out from underneath her, sending the young witch crashing down with all her weight upon her hip. Her yelp of pain was strangled in its infancy as she began sliding down the length of the crystal, hurtling at a speed she was rather uncomfortable with. 

Glancing further beyond, Autumn paled. 

Much like the crystal she’d dropped from, the one she rode now sprouted out from the wall behind her. This meant that the end pointed out into the open air of the cavern. 

The open air that Autumn was unceremoniously rushing towards. 

And there was nothing she could do about it. Nothing she could do to slow herself. Her crystalline slide was far too slick and to either side of her was a perilous drop that promised to end swiftly upon the point of a crystal. The only thing that quelled her instinct to panic in the face of her doom was the fact that the others had survived this before her. 

Unless. Her traitorous mind spoke once more. Unless it was some sort of trick; something that could mimic the sound of a bird call…like a bird for instance. You threw yourself off a ledge, a bridge, because someone told you to. Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to? You’re going to die. Be an Autumn pancake or shish-kebab or—

‘Shut up!’ Autumn screamed in the confines of her mind before screaming out-loud as the crystal ended abruptly. 

Autumn went sailing past, flailing through the air as an empty void greeted her. Far, far below were rows upon rows of sharp teeth of crystal that glinted in the light. 

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately in this case, Autumn’s airborne journey came to a complete and sudden end. With a heavy thud that drove the air from her lungs, Autumn slammed face-first into a giant-sized pillar of crystal. However, unlike the previous two, this one sprouted up from the ground far below at an almost vertical angle and only the slightest of slopes kept it from being a straight and deadly fall. 

Autumn groaned in agony. In crashing into the wall of crystal, the contents of her pack had decided to acquaint themselves with her chest and stomach. She was just glad that she didn’t have all that many pointy or sharp objects within. 

The agony of impact did not preclude Autumn from the machinations of fate or gravity. Down the grand pillar she slid at a rapid pace and in her desperation she pawed at the surface for any means to slow herself, ill-fated as it may be. However, all she gained for her frantic actions was pain as her fingertips caught upon razor-sharp groves hidden in the otherwise smooth surface. Great claw marks ran all the way down the surface, evidence of a beast that passed this way before and had greater success in slowing itself than Autumn.

Flipping over, Autumn lay on her back as she rocketed downward, her heart beating wildly in her chest. By now she’d traveled far, over a thousand feet passing by in an instant. As grand and beautiful as the scenery passing her by might be, Autumn had no eyes for it, no mind for it; all she cared for was the ground rapidly approaching. Thankfully, it was relatively clear; no phalanx of crystalline spears awaited her at the bottom, only rocky dirt and the adoration of her peers.

All of a sudden, Autumn wanted to find another place to land. 

It was not to be. 

Autumn hit the ground at a run, propelled by the vast speed she’d collected. Thanks in kind to her inexperience and the rocky terrain, Autumn’s feet tangled up, tripping her. However, it was not a face full of dirt that greeted her but a pair of strong Elven arms.

Vuriac grinned down at Autumn even as he stumbled back. A flicker of amusement glinted in his eyes. 

“That’s a decent pair of lungs you got on you.”

Autumn’s pale face flushed red. Hastily, she scrambled out of Vuraic’s arms and onto her own two feet, as shaky from the adrenaline as they were. In her ears, blood pounded rapidly in a rhythm of fright. Slowly, she calmed. The fear that coursed through her veins was steadily drawn away, spun into threads of magic for her hat.

“S-sorry,” Autumn stammered out an apology. “I-I’ve never been all that g-good with heights, or falling from them.”

Vuraic shrugged. “It’s all good. Our lights lit the whole cavern up, anyway. If there’s anything in here, it already knew we were coming.”

Autumn nodded awkwardly. 

“Here.” Vuriac held out a small strip of fabric. At her look of puzzlement, he elaborated. “For your fingers. Try to keep them clean as we don’t have enough water to spare and you don’t want to get an infection down here.” 

As if waiting on the reminder, the sting of pain returned tenfold. 

Autumn winced as she took in the state of her fingers. The sharp edges had torn them to ribbons, almost shredding them entirely. Blood ran freely from the sundered flesh as tears welled up in her eyes.

Awkwardly, Autumn shrugged off her pack and dug around inside, all the while trying to stem the blood flow with the provided cloth. Earlier in their journey, Pyre had provided Autumn with a small pot of healing cream devised from her own recipe. While it’d not proved as effective as say her witch-brewed one and not even close to a ‘minor’ healing potion, it was the best she had. Within moments, she’d found it and, with a combination of her knife and teeth to cut up some spare cloth into bandages, she had her wounded fingers slathered and bound.

It was a good thing too, for just as she finished, the last of the others arrived down the crystal slide of death, albeit with a lot less screaming.

Leshana grinned at Autumn as she came to a graceful stop. “Hells Autumn. That’s a decent pair of lungs you got on you!” 

“Already made that joke.” Vuriac chimed in from the side without turning away from surveilling their surroundings. 

“Thief!” Leshana mock-gasped. “You low-down scoundrel!”

Vuriac just rolled his eyes. 

“If you’re quite done, I’ve got us a heading. The footprints all head in one direction. North, I think. Let’s get to it, shall we?”

Amidst the idle bickering and banter, the group set off, falling back into a familiar formation. 

As was above, so it was below; silence reigned supreme in the underground. However, it was not a total silence. Every so often, they’d hear the reverberating sound of crystal upon crystal. At first, they thought it might simply be the gentle shifting in the earth that caused the crystal pillars to rub up against one another, but as they moved through the crystal forest, it soon became clear to them that it was not the case.

Autumn was the first to see them.

Hidden amongst the myriad towers were a variety of animals; deer, boars, birds, and lizards, but these were not of flesh and bone. No, these were of the same crystalline state as the forest itself, and the sounds they’d been hearing were of these strange beasts feasting on the smallest of crystals that littered the floor. 

“Great.” Leshana stated suddenly upon being informed and finally seeing them for herself. “The first animals we find and we can’t even eat them.”

Autumn grimaced. She herself only had a day’s worth of rations remaining. There was no need for her to ask if the others had any to spare. Judging by the grim looks on their faces, she might be the most well off of the group. 

Reminded of the precarious nature of their supplies, the group picked up their pace. 

The hours melted past the group, moving both slow and fast. It was hard for the group to make any progress through the maze of crystals. Not only was the ground littered with innumerable crystal spikes, but the prismatic nature of their surroundings also amplified their light into blinding beams. It grew so bad that they had to dim their lanterns rather low just to see the way forward and not step on the aforementioned spikes.

Suddenly, the group came to a halt, catching Autumn off guard as she’d been lulled into a trance-like state by the exhausting march. 

Tension gripped the group in a tight hold, and all signs of playfulness vanished. 

Looking further ahead, Autumn could see that it was Vuriac who’d signaled the stop. After a beat, he signaled back to Autumn to move up. Swallowing her new nerves, she complied. 

With soft footsteps, Autumn quickly reached the Elven ranger’s position. Upon seeing her, Vuriac held up a hand for silence, and with her nod of understanding, gestured forward in the direction they were traveling. Looking over, Autumn had to stifle a noise of surprise.

They’d caught up with the owner of the footprints, and they were not of the convoy. 

Before Autumn’s black eyes was a whirlpool of grief disguised as a being, a beast of unrelenting hunger and cannibalistic greed. It stood upright, naked; a parody of man save for a leonine head. But that was as far as the comparison to anything humane went, for it possessed no soul, no guiding light of virtue or civilization. It was…other. Other in a way that made Autumn sick, like she was looking at something that should not be, should not exist. A stain on the canvas of the world. Something…eldritch, and not in any way that looked, felt, or smelt familiar. 

A being from beyond. 

Beyond what? Autumn could not say, nor did she wish to.

“What do you think?” 

Vuriac’s soft whisper broke Autumn away from her spiraling thoughts. She turned to him and said a thousand words with a single shake of her head and a haunted look in her eyes.

A look to say just no. 

Vuriac took in that look and nodded, his hand tightening around his bow. Swiftly, hand signals—which Autumn absentmindedly found she could read clearly—were sent to the others, and the party began readying for conflict. They spread out into as best of a formation as they could in the confines of the crystal maze.

They approached as quietly as they could to surround the lion-man—no, the monster. 

However, it proved to not be quiet enough. Hearing their approach, the monster turned.

Everyone froze. 

While everyone else only saw a face of mourning, glittering with shed tears and a friendly countenance, Autumn saw that it was false. A play, one put on, perhaps unbeknown to even itself. There was no life behind those eyes. Nothing but a void that ate and ate and ate…forever. 

And then…he began to speak. 

“Ḩ̶̼̞͇̙̜̠̰̮̊͐̈́͊̌̂̎̀͊̌̚͠ę̷̛̫͇͎̗̖̻̭͔̠̭̮̩͚͎̣̗͕͗̏̋͌̅̿͝l̵̨̧̡̢̪͙̠̭͇̼̖͍̳͍̹͕̠͇̺̤̮̹͖͓̽͗̃͒͝l̵̨̧̰͖̜͇̠̟̃̀́͑̈́ͅö̵̢̪̮̜̳͈̼̯̤̂̍!̷̛̯̳̩̤͇͍̩̯͔͓̫̬̖̙͚͔̥̼̘͔͕̹̺̳̟͙̹͑̔̋͋͒̎̋̃͗̓̿͂̈́̅̓͗̚ ̸̧̺̬̻͉͈͖̰̻͇͚̯̬͇̹̬͓͈̼̣̟̯̫̀̾̌͗̎̈̀͊͆͂͑̄̏̀͋͆̂͛̀̆̉̉͂͐̕͠͝͝ͅF̴̢̢̡̨̬̙̙͙͖̼̟͔͎̥̞̭̟͍̟̲͕͇̺̖̠̩̈́̾̀́̏̇̽̋̍̽̓͛͛̆̕r̶̢͚͚̱̲̯͍̙͚͇͎̥̺̠̐̒͋̈́̊͒͑̓̏̄̎̓̐̏̀̚i̴̧̖͍̗̻͆̈̎͒͋̆̃̌̐̎̂̓̆̿̃̉̌́͗̾̏̒̔͘ę̶̡̡̢̖̗̟̯̜̻̬̝̟̯̳̥̤͉̅͋̋̎͛̽͑͆̓͜͝ṇ̸̡̫̝̹́̍̓́̅̄̈́ḑ̴̧̝̥̟̲͈̺̽̄̔̊̐̐̄̄͗̈́̍̚ş̴͈̻̗̺̱̼͙̯͍͖̳̐͆̓̆̏̾̌̀̇̏́.̴̛͔̙̦̠̳̪͓͓͔͍͜ ̸̢̡̨̡̨̛̛̫̩͎͙̪̭̤͙͉̞̫͉̫́̍̉͋̊͊̃́͆͋͋̓̾̒̄͂͘͘͜͝͝ͅĄ̴̳̻̝̦̼̰̥̬̮̱͎̦͙͇̺̮̤̣͓̫̥̳̐̃̓̋̊̍̑̆͂̃̊͗͋̈̈ͅŗ̵̣̗̝̳̤͖̰͖̻̮̰̬̺̻̳̮͎̺̬̺͓̜̫͚͍̗̞̽͒͒̂̑̊͆͘̚͠ͅe̴̙̝̼̰̝͉̙̲̬̙͚͚͔̩̥̟̓́̅͛͐͑͜ ̸̡̩͙͍͖͇͈͇̖̳̭̹̼͇̹̱̟̱̤̈́̋̑͋̇̽͜͜͝y̸̛͚̭̤̙̗̤̙͕̲̬͈͕̥͍̣̲̝̱̠̫̪̣̯̼̳̖͍͉̅͆̈̔̂͗̍̈́̊̄͊̋̓̓̈́̍͘͜͜͝ó̸̢̢̺̘̥͓̣̞̥̣̙̻̜͓͔̳̬̗͓̝̥̯̘̭̻͈́̎͗̊̎͋̑͆͛̃̀͂̾̎͘͜ù̵̳̺̣̝̝̙̗͕̖͕̦̘͉͚̳̠̇̓̅͗́̂͐̎́͌͒̅̈́͜ ̶̯̖̼͙̻̱̀ḻ̸̨̢̝͙̱͓̼̝͎͍͇͈͈̥̜̦͖͙̫͍̯͖̜̣̑̂̊͗̊̄̊͊̑̂̈̇̅͆̇͊͊͐̃͘͠͝͠ͅo̸̡̨̡̡͎͍̳̯̬̦̺̲̙̖̦̗̦̹͓̮̖̞̯̗̘͇͇͂̌͜s̴̨̢̲͚̱̯͖̼͚̞͈͚̩͙͎̏̈̃̈͌̉̿͂͆͛͒̂̕͜t̴̡̞̺̗̪͔̻͕̯͈̣͇͇̬̽͐́̓͌͐̌̑̍̕͜͝,̸̪͇̺̬͔̖̪̬͙̅̈́̀͂́͋́̇͛̐́̽̌́͋̑̓̽̒̍͌̚̕͠͝ͅ ̴̡̳̙̯͙͇̦̻͖͙̤̣̹̻̙̞̟͐̑͒́̆̃͆̾̀͜ͅţ̷̡̨̢̢̙̞̻͕͔̩̲̠̻͇͇͙̯͔͙̹̪͊̾͛̊ơ̶̟͖̼̫̝̼͒́̅̇͆̂͐̈́͛͆́̕͘͝͠͠͝ͅǫ̴̡̧̛̟͚̫͉̪͇̗̳̘̮̣̗͎͕͚̳̤̼͈̠̠̮͖̣͂̅͐̈́̾̈́̓͌́̉̀̌̅̀͂̋͌̏̚̚̕͝͝ͅ?̸̨̜̱̫̦̯̝̲̭̗͌̏͂̂̐̌̀̔̋͐̈́̕͝ͅ”

Autumn screamed. 

Rusty nails of pain drove themselves into her skull. There were no words in its speech, only violation. The foul and tainted beast before them possessed no language of its own, nothing born of culture or community, so it stole. It reached into their skulls and ripped free what it wanted. 

Normally, this theft would go unnoticed, its very nature allowed it so, foul as it might be. 

However, the problem was, Autumn had transcended language. 

Of course, she’d tried to lie to herself. To tell herself that it was only the languages of mortals, written and spoken that she knew, but it was much more than that. Few could speak and understand the Fae after all. However, it wasn’t just the immortal-kind that damned her so. The wind in the trees spoke to her of the coming storms. Animals and people practically shouted their intentions in the way they moved—even if they had little to say. Buildings too whispered their history in the language of time, written upon their weathered faces. 

Autumn just didn’t want to see or hear.

So, when the beast had reached into her mind and tried to scoop out what she could understand, it spoke…..

Everything.