Shades of Grey

CRONAMIA— MARCH 1843

We fell for what seemed like days. Forma tried desperately to morph but at the speed that we were falling, she could not stretch her wings out long enough to stabilise herself for any significant change, so we were left to fall.

We continued to do so until we landed in a huge, murky lake in the middle of a dark cavern. After a split second underwater, Forma smoothly changed into a huge Hydra, letting her many heads scan the cave while Rodag and I climbed onto her long, snake-like back. I unsheathed my Flamesword and extended the flames to provide extra light, which did not do much good: we had landed in a monstrously large underground chasm and the light did not travel very far in the damp subterranean cavern.

“Do either of you see a current? Or anything that suggests a way out?” I asked.

“I don’t see anything beneath the water,” Forma replied, several of her long heads briefly disappearing beneath the surface.

“Hold the light over there,” said Rodag. “I thought I saw something.”

I turned the sword to the direction of Rodag’s hand and noticed a flicker of movement in the darkness.

“Swim over there,” I said to Forma. She did and I saw more clearly of what Rodag was speaking.

“Is that a tunnel?” I asked.

“It appears so.”

“Do we dare go through it?” Forma asked in a bluntly sardonic voice. She knew very well that we would.

“I don’t see any other options,” I replied. “So I suppose we must.”

“I don’t like this,” Forma remonstrated, swimming over to a small sandbar and changing into a Blackling: a level three dragon-like Creature commonly found underground near Cronamia.

Rodag and I leapt off her back and we walked for a few minutes more until we all began to hear dark murmurings in the distance.

“Can you understand them?” I asked Rodag. He shook his head.

“It is said it was once a beautiful language, almost Elvish. No one outside of Cronamia has been able to understand it for centuries.”

Suddenly a hole opened in the wall and I felt something hook around my waist, pulling me quickly into yet another dark tunnel.

“Grey!” Rodag shouted under Forma’s scream of shock as we were all been pulled into separate tunnels.

I looked up towards them as I fell deeper into the black chute, landing suddenly on a soft, buoyant surface.

I quickly stood up, wincing slightly as I felt a sharp pain shoot up through my arm and stop in the middle of my chest. I pulled my analgesic from the compartment on my sleeve and quickly drank some, quelling the pain.

“Who are you?”

I jumped at the sudden voice, drawing my sword reflexively.

“Who are you?” I asked in reply, searching the dark room for a sign of movement. I screamed suddenly as I did notice movement, but my brow furrowed in confusion as I saw that the source of the movement did not run. In fact, it stepped towards me in the same curious manner that I had adopted. Another figure in the blackness moved with similar curiosity and as I turned, I noticed other figures that moved with the same apprehensive sense of inquiry. I then sighed in irritation as I realised what was happening.

The whole damn place was filled with mirrors: I was looking at forty or so reflections of myself.