McCaber tossed and turned in his sleep. He was a light sleeper normally, but tonight it was even worse. He could feel death closing in on him. Sighing, he tried to focus his mind on one of the company, just in case...
He pulled his blankets about him closer. It was so cold in his room, and so wet--
So
wet.
His eyes opened with a start. He was on a grassy floor still slick from the evening's rain. From far off, he heard a long, keening
hoooooooooooooooowwwwwwl. Staggering to his feet, he ran.
The howl came again, but this time there was a thread of excitement in the cry. He shuddered. The wolf was having
fun with him!
The glade he was in narrowed into a pathway surrounded by rocky walls. He cursed as he saw that the only way forward led into a tunnel that was blacker than black.
The darkness was so heavy that he almost turned back, but he knew that if he did he
would die, whereas if he could just get through--
He was stuck--not by one of those spiritual-type barriers, but by an actual, sticky, physical one. A small part of his mind remarked how it was hardly surprising, given that he was in a tunnel that was blacker than black, but the rest of him merely reacted, flailing about and getting more of the cords wrapped around him. He was trapped like a fly in a web. And there was no Sting to help him.
Well, he thought,
if I get stung I suppose I won't die just yet
...
Just then he felt the wolf's paws creep up behind him, and its foul, rank breath hit his nose and neck. The wolf placed its arms around him, and squeezed him until his bones snapped and his eyes popped out.
* * *
In the morning the guests' corridor led directly to the tunnel itself. They found
McCaber's broken body lying wrapped in spider silk. And the guests mourned the loss of their seer.
IT IS NOW DAY THREE.
The Living:
Nessa Telrunya
Nogrod
autume98
Lalaith
Nerwen
Rikae
Eönwë
The Dead:
Feanor of the Peredhil (werewolf)
Boromir88
Shastanis Althreduin
Inziladun (werewolf)
Pitchwife (ranger)
McCaber (seer)