Tailchaser’s Song

They raced through nearly complete darkness, relying on their whiskers and keen hearing: these shafts were almost devoid of the luminous earth that lit most of Vastnir. They stumbled against stones and over roots in the floor; several times in their panicked flight they ran into earthen walls, rose, and ran on.

Eventually they had to slow down. They were completely lost, and had passed an uncountable number of branch tu

"I think we will be trapped here forever!" gasped Roofshadow as they loped along.

"If we keep our left sides to the wall, and keep turning outward. eventually we must come to one of the exit tu

Faint sounds whispered up from holes and cross tu

The air seemed to be getting chill; when Fritti commented on it, Roofshadow pointed out that they were approaching the surface, leaving the u

Moving down what seemed to their ears and whiskers to be a broad, high-ceilinged corridor, Tailchaser heard a different sound: something that-though faint-sounded like the padding of soft footfalls. He mentioned it quietly to Roofshadow, and they slowed to an almost silent walk, straining their ears. If they were footfalls, they must be quite far back to be so nearly inaudible. The twosome increased their pace slightly.

The hallway, such as it was, narrowed suddenly. They found themselves in a low tu

They had progressed several steps when Tailchaser noticed a difference.

"Roofshadow!" he hissed excitedly. "There's light!"

There was, although it was noticeable only in contrast to the dense blackness through which they had passed. The glow came from around a corner at the far end of the massive hallway, faint and indirect. It did not seem to have the same quality as the luminous earth.

"I think we're near the way out!" said Roofshadow, and for a moment Fritti thought he could see the gleam in her eye. They broke into a fast walk, then a run-able now to see the obstacles, massive tree roots and stones, which loomed black against the faint gleam at the end of the great hall. The air was still chilly, but drier; dust was everywhere, so much dust.

He had bounded ahead of Roofshadow, who reared suddenly, crying: "Tailchaser! Something is foul here!" Then one of the black shapes between them rose up, and with the movement the air was suddenly full of a sickly, spicy odor. Roofshadow squeaked-a strange, throttled noise-and Fritti stumbled to a halt.

Both cats stood as though paralyzed. A dry voice, like the sound of branches rubbing together, issued from the dark shape.

"You shall not pass," it said. The words were faint, as if spoken from a great distance away. "You are the Boneguard's now."

"No!" boomed a new voice. Unbelieving, frozen with an odd, exalted terror, Tailchaser saw the sunken eyes and malformed face of Scratchnail suddenly appear out of the darkness behind Roofshadow. The gray fela, overwhelmed, sagged in place and lowered her head.

"I took them from Hissblood and his Toothguard. These two are minel" Scratchnail growled, but moved no closer.

"You have no claim," whispered the odd, sighing voice. "No one may interfere with Bast-Imret. I do the bidding of the Lord of All" The Boneguard moved, swaying slightly with a leathery, folding noise, and the Clawguard chieftain quailed, reeling as if he had been struck.

"Take the fela, if you wish," continued Bast-Imret. "Our business is with the other. Go now. You tread in deep places."

Scratchnail, whimpering with some unseen injury, leaped forward and grabbed the unresisting Roof-shadow by the nape of the neck, then turned and disappeared down the dark, cluttered tu

The dark form of Bast-Imret turned-cat-shaped, but sunken in clinging darkness, even while facing the glow at Tailchaser's back. Fritti could not look at its face, at the dark spots that should have been eyes. Head averted, he struggled-and for a moment succeeded. His legs felt like water, but he managed to turn around and crawl agonizingly away from the Boneguard.

"There is no escape," whispered the wind.

No, thought Fritti, it isn't the wind. Run, you fool!

"No escape," breathed the wind, and he could feel himself weakening.

Not the wind, must escape, must escape…

"Come with me now"-it was not the wind, he knew that. He continued crawling. "I will take you to the House of the Boneguard," droned the unfeeling tones of Bast-Imret in the darkness behind him. "The pipes play always, in the darkness, and the faceless, nameless ones sing in the deep places. There is no escape. My brothers await us. Come."

Fritti could hardly breathe. The smell of dust, spices, and earth dizzied him… permeated him…

"We dance in darkness," chanted Bast-Imret, and Fritti felt his muscles stiffening. "We dance in darkness, and we listen to the music of silence. Our house is deep and quiet. The earth is our bed…"

The light seemed brighter. Tailchaser had nearly managed to reach the bend in the tu

Terror surged through him, hot panic, and somewhere he found the strength to lunge forward. As he struck, he felt the dusty fur give against his momentum. Bast-Imret crumpled with a sound like snapping twigs, clutching at Frkti as he tried, with what seemed his last dying strength, to push past. Beyond the tu

But the Boneguard clung, and in the darkness the choking dust and sweet smell enwrapped the two of them like another shadow. Fritti felt the paws of the Boneguard-brittle, but strong as tree roots splitting rock-curl about his neck. The flaking, dry snout quested for his throat. With a final squeal of revulsion, Tailchaser lashed out.

There was a hideous tearing sound as he pulled away from the creature. Great, flayed rags of crumbling fur and skin came off in his claws and teeth- and as he tumbled toward the light he could see the dull wink of old, brown bones, and the gri

As he scrambled up the short shaft he felt a searing pain. The space between his eyes throbbed and burned. When he reached the hovering, gray-blue disk of sky, he turned for a moment-and saw the terrible thing behind him. It was standing in the shadows of the tu