It All Came Tumbling Down (Vanator)

[Mycroft]

Deafening roars filled the air, as if the earth itself were crying in pain as the chasm split open like a fresh wound. Tremors rocked the ground, threatening Nuvian's balance as he sped toward Endrykas. The city didn't guarantee any safety, but at least Larser would be able to warn everyone before the sinkhole swallowed all of them, too - if it even spread that far. It was belatedly that Larser remembered Vanator wasn't riding a Strider. This was plain knowledge, but he'd been too confused and terrified to retain any of his common sense. "Wait, Nuvian!" he cried out, tugging back on the horse and simultaneously stroking his neck to calm him. His voice barely sounded above the rumbling of the ground. "Wait for Vanator and Kalinda! You can outrun this in your sleep, but we can't leave our brother." Nuvian seemed to agree, but it didn't mean he liked it. The Strider slowed, bucking nervously as Larser clung to the yvas, watching Vanator close the gap between them. Every crack in the earth sounded like breaking bones, the earth still shaking as the thunder rolled from below. It was like a nightmare. Larser could hardly believe it as he looked out over the plains and saw a jagged, bottomless pit where grassland should have been. Swallowing, Nuvian began to fall in with Kalinda, keeping pace with her. He didn't anticipate that the sinkhole was still crumbling at erratic rates, and with an ear splitting crack!, suddenly the earth under his hind hooves was gone. The horse stumbled, his back sliding back into the chasm, eliciting a shrill equine scream that matched the volume of the quaking earth. After a brief struggle and digging his front hooves into the dirt, Nuvian did manage to get himself righted and onto solid ground again, stumbling in sheer shock and fear. It was only belatedly that he noticed his rider was gone. The Strider reared in panic, turning back toward the cliff. Larser was gone. The rumbling began to die down, and it appeared that the sinkhole had stopped widening. The dust clouds were still too thick to make out much, but at least it seemed the danger had passed. Nuvian was visibly upset, pawing the ground and grunting feverishly. As the earth stopped moaning, the sound of a voice calling out came from the opening, startling Nuvian. Just inside the chasm, Larser was clinging for his life to a rocky shelf within arm's reach of the surface. "Vanator!" he cried out, the cliff face around him still crumbling.

[Vanator]

As Kalinda's hooves pounded the grass, barely keeping herself and Vanator ahead of the widening chasm, the older Drykas grunted as he saw Larser pull Nuvian to a stop, obviously unwilling to leave his fellow Drykas behind. Commendable but unwise Van thought. His Strider could easily outrun the gap that stretched after them, carrying him to Endrykas to warn the city. But it was a fraction of a chime before the fleet-footed Kavinkan Paintedmount had reached Larser and Nuvian, Vanator motioning the younger drykas on urgently as he sped past. The two rode side by side, Van knowing Larser was holding Nuvian back, unwilling to leave the Denusk behind. "Go, go warn the city!" Vanator bellowed over the roar of the quake and the thundering of hooves. But his command was cut short as the crevice caught up to them. Larser's mount stumbled as his hind hooves lost ground. Van hastily drove Kalinda away, avoiding the disappearing ground. Looking back, he stared in horror as Larser fell backwards out of his yvas, dumped into the opening in the earth, even as Nuvian regained a steady footing. Kalinda carried Van a few yards further before he could coax her to turn around. Nuvian was rearing, panicked at the loss of his rider. But the Strider quickly paused, as if sensing a change. Then, as suddenly as it started, the rumbling ceased and the sinkhole stopped devouring the grassland. Then a voice, one that gave the shocked horseman hope, drifted out of the hole. Gingerly, Van urged his mare towards the chasm. Sliding from his yvas, Vanator neared the edge, then dropped to his belly, crawling the last few feet until he could peer over the edge of the giant pit. "Larser?"

[Lariat]

Another cry for help echoed from the gaping hole, and Laser's fingers strained to keep hold of the crumbling rock. He was no climber though, and it was clear wouldn't manage the position for long without Vanator's help. As Van looked over the edge, he could see Laser hanging on for dear life, though the man's eyes brightened as the fell over Van. " Quick, help me up! " he said, extending his right arm to its extent, but as Van reached for him, the ground under his left hand gave way, and he plummeted backwards. His right hand, arrested his fall for a moment, but it was slick with sweat, and he fell backwards to be swallowed up by the darkness.

Only a cold silence awaited him for what seemed like several moments, and Van would be forced to crawl back from the edge, as the edges of the sinkhole still slowly decayed. " Vanator " a voice called from the darkness, something distinctly akin to that of his friend. " Vanator, I think I'm in a tunnel " it called out again, more urgent this time, and a bit sharper as if he was choked with pain. " Vanator, I can hear voices approaching " It called again, not waiting for a response, and it was obvious his friend was in desperate straits, and almost as if in response, the sound of another masculine voice cursing, and the baying of a dog whispered from deep on the opposite side of the sinkhole.

Another few moments passed as the silence stretched out, and then the barking resumed, this time closer to where he had heard Laser's voice. " Vana... " his voice was stopped short by a sharp crack that echoed off the walls, but little else could be heard. Then there was silence again, and not even the dog could be heard this time, leaving Vanator alone with his thoughts.

[Vanator]

Vanator called out, "I am here!" Peering over the edge, he saw Larser, hanging over the black chasm. Reaching down with his hand, he stretched it as far as it would reach without compromising his own balance. "Take my hand!" He instructed. The rustling of clods of clay and spilling dirt could still be heard tumbling into the darkness, indicating the instability of the edges of the opening in the ground. More earth gave way, and Van saw Larser slipping. Reaching a finger's breadth more, the older drykas grabbed the younger man's hand. Vanator tried to grip it firmly, but Larser's weight was already pulling him away, and his sweat slick hand slipped from Van's grasp. "NO!" Vanator yelled as he watched Larser disappear into obscurity. More land gave way beneath Vanator, and he had to scramble back to keep from falling in after Larser. Once he was on solid ground, he heard his friend's voice again. Thank gods he is alive! Van tried again to approach the crack's edge, but the earth proved too loose, and he was unable to get close enough to look down. A tunnel. Larser had landed in one of the old tunnels that crisscrossed beneath Cyprhus' grassy plains. Vanator had fallen into one of them the previous year. He and Hex had stolen a glassbeak's egg, and the enraged mother had chased them until the earth gave way beneath them and dumped them into an old underground corridor. The glassbeak was swallowed in the hole as well, and Hex was injured by it before Van could kill the beast. Van listened to Larser, frustrated that he could not see him. But it seemed help was not far. Vanator could hear the dog and another man's voice. Good, help is on the way. For a brief moment the drykas wondered what anyone would be doing in the tunnels, but perhaps Larser was not the only one swallowed up in the earthquake. But an uneasy feeling, followed by a quiet panic gripped Vanator as he heard Larser's cry cut short, the sickening crack and following silence too coincidental to be anything other than harm being done to the young man. "Larser!" Van called "Larser! Dammit boy! Larser!" The silence was thick and foreboding. "Who is down there? Petching answer me!" Vanator inched again closer to the edge, hoping to peer down into the tunnel, if he could get close enough without risking another cave in.

[Lariat]

A dull, scraping sound hummed at him in response. It was distinct, but someone being dragged always sounded the same, or so it seemed. Then there was only cold, unending silence, and pitch darkness was all that waited Van's eyes as he peered over the edge. The angle of the sun and walls conspired against him, keeping hidden things hidden, and foes safe in the earth's sheltering embrace. For a time it seemed like no one stirred anywhere near them, but then a voice, soft, and crisp shattered the silence that burdened the air.

" What are you doing down their sir? " Behind him, standing not two feet away, was a rather tall angular man, dressed in a heavy tattered cloak that hid most of his body. His facial features where sharp, and he though the cloak hid him, he appeared to be rather thin. With a rattling intake of breath, the man's eyes leveled with Van's.

A shaky hand revealed itself from within the cover of the cloak, and he extended it to help the man up, his eyes calmer than his hand betrayed. " I am sick in the bones, so forgive me if my grip isn't enough to lift you " he muttered, and his pulling would feel more like a child trying to handle a greatsword, weak, but at least a little bit helpful for leverage.

" Forgive me if I may be intruding, but I saw the dust and thought to investigate. I was going to further search when I spotted you "

[Vanator]

Vanator peered desperately into the murky darkness of the newly formed pit. He could discern no movement, leaving it up to his imagination to paint a picture describing the sounds he heard. He was most certain something bad had happened to Larser, or more specifically, someone had done something bad to him. He heard the dragging sound, fearing whomever had harmed his friend was now dragging him away. "Hey!" He hollered into the dim chasm, "Petchin'....I will find you!" He roared in despair. The drykas scrambled around the edge, trying hopelessly to find a way down to help his friend, but there was no ledge, no foot or hand holds, just loose dirt, and the hidden floor at some unknown distance below. He growled in frustration as he lay in the grass, looking into the blackness. The sudden sound of a voice, so close behind him, compelled Vanator to roll to his back. He glanced up at the man standing before him. The stranger's thin features were unfamiliar, and the gaunt figure appeared rather unusual amongst the heartier folk of the horseclans. Van, still alarmed by Larser's fate, ignored the frail-looking man's hand and jumped to his feet. His eyes scanned the surroundings for any sign of anyone, anything that could give him a clue as to what had happened in the crevice. The words of the stranger were there, entering his ears, but barely registering consciously. Vanator whistled and his horse returned, less skittish now that the rumbling had ceased. He looked at the man distracted. "I don't know what that was, but my friend fell in, and then something, someone...hurt him. I have to find out who, who was down there."

[Lariat]

The man's dark eye searched Vans, ending up shrugging in acceptance of Van's claim in the end, and peering over his shoulder. " It sounds like a bit of trouble, more than I can handle at least, but I've got no reason not to help you stranger. I know of a entrance to a tunnel not to far from here if you'll kindly follow me. " he rasped, his older nature betrayed by the cracking of his pitch, and slowly he turned around and began to shamble in a seemingly random direction. His pace was slow but constant, and everyone and a while he would shift to adjust his cowl about his head to keep him safe from the sun.

Finally, behind a stand of particularly tall grass, the man pushed back a bush to reveal a rather large hole in the ground, big enough for a grown man to fit through comfortably, and he moved to the side to give Van a better look. " See, found this one a while back when collecting some herbs for a healer friend of mine. I think you can find your friend through here ” He gestured, and moved to walk away, and give the man his space.

[Vanator]

The mysterious frail stranger's unhurried demeanor clashed with the almost frantic Vanator. Something malevolent has happened to Larser, and he had to do something about it. "Yes, Yes, show me!" Van exclaimed curtly as the cowled man offered his help. "Please!" He added to be courteous, not wanting to discourage any help he could get. The drykas trailed the shambling man, the slow pace of his gait frustrating Vanator and the horse that trodded along behind him, sensing her rider's angst. Larser could be dead by now, the criminals who took him getting further away as they crawled across the grass. Finally, the strange man stopped in front of the clump of grass, revealing the hole. It was not large, and Van hesitated just a moment. Raised on the open grass, with the horizon almost always visible in every direction...the tiny opening was incredibly uninviting. But he had no other choice. The drykas looked to the field pack hanging on his yvas. He had no torches or candles, which would prove to be a problem if he got too far into the tunnel. Shrugging, he grabbed his battle ax and crouched down by the hole. Van tilted his head into the opening, straining to hear any sounds. Then, with a glance to the old man and a nod of gratitude, the horseman crawled into the hole.

[Lariat]

A pitch dark awaited him inside the tunnel, both behind and before him the tunnel becoming a distorted mass of shadows till he could see little else, the hole above him being the sole source of light in the subterranean space. The tunnel ground was soft; the earth seeming freshly turned as if wetted with water recently, and filled the clustered space with a heavy earthy aroma like after a particularly harsh storm on the grasses. Inside, it was much like you would expect it to be undergrounds this close to the surface, tiny stringy roots draping down from the ceiling which was just but a half a foot above Vanator's head. The sides of it weren’t much better; they were wide enough for him to walk without bumping into the walls, but little else. All was quiet in the tunnel for several moments, nothing echoing besides the occasional shifting of dirt to sprinkle against the ground. No, it certainly wasn't a place that just rolled out the carpet for visitors, or welcomed people with warm arms, and cold ale. It was a place of secrets, of a deep past, a place better left undisturbed and yet so often did it find it not to be so. A sense of purpose pervaded the place but that purpose was only revealed by the faintest whiff of decay, much like a smell of a uncovered grave.

Sinister whispers echoed down the tunnel before him, seeming to chant unintelligible words in a foreign tongue that sounded harsh, every word cutting into the silence like a blade. Then just as suddenly as they came they disappeared leaving the place once more silent. As Vanator moved forward, a rosy light slowly faintly broke the darkness, becoming brighter, and brighter till he came to a sharp curve in the earthen corridor. A lantern rested on the ground not five paces away from him, the owner crouching over something, murmering to himself. He wore a deep green robe that covered much of his body, a steel mace glittering at his hip as he worked over the body of a man, the feet barely visible with the man obstructing it so much. In the amber light radiating from the lantern, a oily sheen covered the smooth face of the mace, flickering red in color just for a moment when the flame in the candle shifted due to a phantom breeze. The man on the ground mumbled his voice thick with dizziness. " Why, why did you bring me here? " The man asked in, glancing to the side, supposedly at the man’s face studied him for a moment before sighing. " Because it is done as ordered my friend " he said in a gentle tone before getting to work on writing on the papers beside Larser's head. It was clear he was distracted, more concerned with whatever he was working on than any new arrivals, or even the constant shifting of his prisoner.

[Vanator]

Tunnels made Vanator uneasy, so confining. This one was especially tight, and dark, but the drykas pressed forward nonetheless, intent on discovering the fate of his friend. With one hand gripping the battle ax, Van used the other to feel for the earthen wall, using it to guide him forward. The drifting, haunting whispers reached his hears and as quickly as they appeared, they faded off. The hair on the Denusk's neck raised. There was something going on. He would not progress far if no illumination appeared. It would be foolish to explore the corridor in complete darkness. Then, as he was about to abandon the search, his eyes detected the hint of light ahead. He crouched unconsciously as he tread closer, seeing then the source of the soft light was concealed around a bend in the tunnel. A sudden realization crossed the horseman's mind. A battle ax was a fine weapon in the open grass, where one could swing it in wide, deadly arcs. If he would have to fight in this tunnel, there was no room to swing. Vanator contemplated pulling the dagger, or hand ax from his belt, but instead decided to keep the larger ax in hand. There was more than one way to wield an ax. His right hand slid up the haft near the head, the other several inches from the butt. Cautiously rounding the corner, Vanator halted at the sight of the two men. In an instant Vanator concluded that the prone figure was Larser. He also noted the mace at the cloaked figure's side, and the curious crimson glint to its metal. Perhaps the weapon was coated with a poison. The stranger, too, would have difficulty employing the mace in the close confines of the tunnel. The man seemed to be writing notes, and for the breath of a moment, was unaware of his appearance. With a swift movement, Van lunged forward, driving the ax forward and smashing the top of the ax head into the man's shoulder, his intent to knock the man off-balance and to the ground, and to render the arm unable to wield the mace. "What are you doing with him?" Van growled as he struck at the figure.