The Black Mass

The ladder creaked ominously under Katherine's hands. Despite Ve and Ethan watching from above, she climbed as slow as a slug, her mind churning. What could she do? What would they do? What would happen if she reached the dark mass? What did Ve want to archive? Could there be another cave further down this rift, one useful for escape? But what then?

Her head hurt, yet she found no answers. All she knew was that she wanted her baby to live - and thus, had to live herself. Survive.

A cold wind blew in the canyon, unobstructed by the walls that were smooth and flat like paper. Their earthen color was smeared with some kind of soot, turning darker the further she climbed down. Katherine wondered if there had been a fire below before it was flooded by this black mass, but if that was true, the fire would've had to be gigantic. All she could see from the opposite wall of the canyon was equally as smooth and charred as her side. Almost as if the canyon was molten into the mountain before slowly filling with the strange black matter from below.

Katherine shivered, similarly because of the might and extent of such a fire and because of the cold wind that slowly robbed her body of warmth. The sunlight that fell on the opposite wall was slowly receding. If she painted herself with soot, would she be able to hide in this black mass - as long as it was no water - and escape when the shadows fell completely over the rift? Something intuition told her that it was not possible.

Glancing down into the canyon from several dozen meters above Katherine, Ve pressed his lips together. His hands were crossed behind his back, but despite the deceptively relaxed stance, impatience hid in the depths of his grey eyes. "It is good that her power also produces light. It will be easier to see the results, even if she should bide her time until dusk. A shame that I can't observe from a closer viewpoint... but being obliterated won't do. Not unless I see my hard work bear fruit."

Even though Ethan stood right next to the researcher, the older man mumbled to himself and didn't spare him - or anyone - a glance. Ethan, meanwhile, didn't let Ve out of his sight, a harmless smile playing around his lips. "Alright... Just to summarize: when her power hits this swamp, a portal will be built. Correct?"

Absentmindedly, Ve waved it off. "Not directly. It will take great amounts of power clashing to cause even the slightest rift in our dimension. More power than any one human could possess, which is why I presumed that she will die. The... 'swamp', as you call it, does bear such power. But yes, in the end, the chances are high that a rift will appear if they clash. Remember, it is only possible because these two powers are of exactly opposite properties - one obliterating organic matter while the other builds it. If all goes well, it will work on the dimension membrane like the alternation between heat and cold on metal. It will turn brittle, then, hopefully, break."

"Hm." Ethan nodded thoughtfully. "What if the rift heals again? How do you plan to keep it open?"

"I will not give it an opportunity to close. Did you ever see a hole in a dam repaired successfully while a river bursts through it? As long as the portal emerges, I bet that my childish acquaintance will feel the pull to go through, back to its former home. He does not belong to this dimension, after all."

Ethan, who knew that this 'acquaintance' was the swamp of magic power beneath their feet, wondered if a tiny crack would be able to swallow half an ocean. Then he shrugged his shoulders. "I always wanted to ask: how do you even communicate? I never saw it speak."

"Well, because it can't. Do you see a mouth anywhere? Lungs? Teeth? No. I don't know if it is different for its master, but to outsiders like us, it can only communicate through signs. Which is why I taught it how to write and it started forming itself into sentences almost instantly. Its favorite word is 'hungry' by the way. Do you see it?"

With a soundless sigh, Ve pointed at the other end of the canyon, where, black-on-black, something like tentacles had formed the words 'I was about to get hungry. Thanks for the meal'.

"It sounds... strangely sophisticated," Ethan had the time to comment. Then his eyes narrowed as several more tentacles rose from the black mass and shot straight toward Katherine. Occupied with climbing, the woman didn't notice their approach. Her power, however, was a different matter. When the tentacles were about to reach and embrace her waist, a bright light flickered to life like a single star in the shadows of the canyon. Where the two powers met, the tentacles evaporated like smoke in the wind and jerked back in surprise.

But that was not the only reaction to the brightness. Just as her power flickered to life, Katherine threw her head back and screamed, her violet eyes wide with pain.

"Huh, what is this?" With great interest, Ethan crouched down on the edge of the canyon, staring at his cousin in confusion. "She never even noticed my poisons and now she starts screaming because of this? Did she grow weaker without my care?"

Katherine's scream tuned to whimpers when she hastily extinguished her power. Her cold, white hands gripped the rungs desperately as she gazed over her shoulder - and shuddered in horror. "B-Blacky..."

Now that it moved, the black mass was just like the one she encountered in her dream. Was it foresight? A vision? Or something else? Whatever it was, that situation was far from the dread she felt now. At that time, she could use her power freely to protect herself. And even more important: she'd been alone. Now, there was someone else to protect.

After a short second of confusion, the black tentacles closed in again. Their movement woke Katherine from her shock, and despite her lasting pain, she instinctively scrambled to climb up again, away from this dreadful monster.

Suddenly, one of the two ropes holding the wooden rungs ruptured. The ladder jerked. A sharp sound fell from Katherine's lips when her standing slipped, and she barely managed to hold onto the now-tilted wood. Swinging over the black mass, she knew that she was doomed. Certain death lingered only meters below her, sending its arms up to pull her down, and above - above were the people that send her into this hell and would push her back if she managed to escape its hold. The only plus from the swinging ladder was that it let her escape the immediate threat of the tentacles, but not for long.

Gritting her teeth, Katherine started to climb the remaining rope, hoping against all odds that she would somehow reach the cave again. Then, she heard Ve's cold voice from above.

"We cannot let her lead it up here. She is close enough to the ground to survive the fall for the few minutes I need. Cut off the ladder."

Sheer panic made Katherine's heart race.