Part 57

The daggers gleamed in the dimming light of the chamber. David's eyes followed the blades as Rinius gestured.

"The door stands open."

He spoke softly. Calmly.

The swirling pool of darkness on the far wall sank inward, pulling at the air... the walls... the room and everything in it.

Hunger.

David couldn't see it, but each of his other senses raged against the unnatural onslaught. The stench sat like a weight on his chest. An unnaturally low hum hammered at his ears, and his skin felt the unmistakable pull of... something.

But his eyes... his eyes saw only the blades.

"I Call You, Lord of the Wasteland" Rinius chanted. There was no responding chant from the crowd. The blades danced above David's chest, carving a pattern in the air. "I Call You By the Secret Names... Given In the Covenant... Spoken Only In Tribute..."

David pulled at his bindings once again, fear adding strength to his effort. It still wasn't enough.

"Soga-Tur-Bal..."

Something moved. Something on the other side of the black wall. Something old and huge and not nearly far enough away responded to the words Rinius spoke.

Its name. It was responding to its name.

"Bal-Thay-Gur!"

A long, low moan reverberated off the walls. The crowd was silent. Rinius was silent.

David whimpered, swallowed, then tried to pull free again. The names! Rinius was saying the names! If only the Pilgrim were here. HE wanted the names... he would hear them and know what to do. He could SAVE him! But the Pilgrim was dead-

"Gur-XAH-Cruzithan!"

The moan became a howl that brought shower of dust and small rocks from the ceiling. Alternating bolts of intense heat and cold shot across the room.

The Pilgrim was dead. The voice was gone. No more colors... no more magic... only darkness and horror and those KNIVES! If they'd only stayed, he'd be safe! But they'd LEFT him! Both of them! They'd asked him to help, and he DID! He DID!

HE DID!

But now they were dead and all their magic gone with them! Why did the voice leave NOW! Why couldn't it WAIT! Why couldn't it help just one more time! All he had to do was get free... all he had to...do...

"Cruzithan-" Rinius began the final name.

David remembered. The Pilgrim! The Rune! Would it still work if the Pilgrim was dead? David closed his eyes and concentrated on the pattern on his skin, just below his armpit. He could feel it easily; it had been itching ever since they'd strapped him down... almost as if it were trying to get his attention. David focused his thought on the itch... on the Pilgrim... on the magic...

...please... PLEASE!....

"-Rut-" The second syllable fell from Rinius's lips as the itch in David's side became a burning.

...no, not please. Not begging. It would work. It would work because the Pilgrim said it would. It WOULD work! IT WOULD WORK!

"-So-" Rinius began.

IT WOULD WORK!

Leather straps fell away from David's wrists and legs. The strap around his neck flew to one side, slapping the metal frame as the cloth gag unraveled.

David sat up.

Rinius jumped back in shock, knives held high but motionless. David didn't see him. Didn't hear the gasp of the crowd. His eyes fixed on the great swirling wall of darkness at the front of the room. His mind reeled... raced... remembered.

The barn...

The prayer had only opened the door.

...the girl...

The voice had wanted its name.

The thing had to be called... called by its names....

...whispering in the wounded boy's ear...

....but there were other names...

... the ghost told him to listen... he had heard...

...other things to be called...

And they had to be called by name.

"I KNOW YOUR NAME!" David screamed at the wall of shadows. "SHE SAID IT IN THE BARN!"

"What!?! NO! BE SILENT!" Rinius leapt at him, blades lashing for David's throat as the boy shouted-

"YOUR NAME!! IS ERIC!!!"