The Devil You Know
Fear drove him forward, away from the horrible creature, sure it would fall upon them at any moment. The Dim tunnels continued to weave left and right, echoing the soft footfalls of Ivy just ahead and his own thunderous heartbeats. The short minutes they ran seemed to draw into hours, finally Ivy slowed as they came to a large stone door, a dead end. Gasping for breath, Tharne slowed and met her as they cautiously looked around for any sign of pursuit. Deepest penetrating darkness, accentuated even more by the soft lights, and permeating silence, counterpointed further by the deafening sounds of their breath. They were alone, or so they hoped.
Suddenly turning, Ivy threw herself onto Tharne in a close embrace, wrapping her small arms around him tight. He gently and firmly returned her embrace and small sobs racked her body.
Sitting together on the cold hard stone floor, Ivy softly lay across his lap, Tharne sat in a perpetual state of fear and caution, sure that at any moment they could be followed, watching endlessly down the shifting darkness of the nearby halls. Yet slowly, a soft and secure feeling of euphoria found him, stemming from the simple act of contact with Ivy.
Time passed immeasurable there in the darkness, splintering into countless individual moments, each fleeting and lasting for a fraction of existence, yet flowing into an infinite eternity of powerful emotion and thought. Such a simple mix of primordial instinct and desire for contact, and burning mindless fear combined to generate a clouded drifting state of mind, innert yet blazing with sparks of dreaming intent.
Finally, the settling adrenaline passed into cold, sore and tired muscles ached and yearned to be moved again. Desperate to maintain composure and allow Ivy to remain soft and safe, Tharne held himself still for as long as possible, finally forced by his mind into activity, he gently woke Ivy from her gently sleep and picked her up as they both brushed their clothes free of the dusty corridors crumbling, dusty refuse.
Their eyes met for a fleeting moment, Tharne felt his nervous unease grow, feelings unexplained flooded his subconscious, threatening to overcome his sanity and composure. He forced them out of his mind and returned to his secure and strong heartfelt state.
“Should we move on now?” Questioned ivy, her voice quavering with either fear or similar confusion to Tharne’s, He could not tell which.
“Yes” he muttered softly, “Yes I think that would be best”
He surveyed the nearby door, the strong surface comforting him with security and strength.
“We should find a safe place and then try to find the others” he added.
Reaching forth and pushing the doors aside, a feeling of familiarity and a powerful yet distant aura drifted softly into his consciousness, filtering through the worries and fears, replacing them with a warm and cautious flame of familiarity.
Ivy met his eyes as they turned towards each other, her eyes barely daring to hope as he did that they may be home. The concept foreign to him, yet surely the Idea of home, a place to be safe and secure, seemed deeply seated in his every pore.
Before them, a long corridor stretched forth, warm glowing light, speckled with wandering shadows beamed from ahead, filtering and wavering through endless forms and projecting an infinite spectrum of colour.
Before they knew it, they were both running, shedding all fear and flung themselves out into the rainbow of lights, sparkling in incredible hues and shades down upon them.
Dark and golden railings caught them as they emerged into an immense structure, a hanging garden of towering heights above, draped down to layer the hundreds of balconies and structures in a living coat of natural beauty, fountains and pools below echoed in rippling reverberations to every sight and sound and great statues of unknown faces stood resolute and lifelike in their infallible intensity around the expanse.
Yet all else failed in both wonder and presence at the sight of the great crystal hourglass, winding and weaving its way from the floor below them to the very roof of the towering structure itself. A myriad of reflections played from its crystalline form as its twelve colours and the mysterious thirteenth strand of red and black seemed to pulsate with hidden potential and energetic response.
Then looking down to the base, just meters from them, stood a small door, barricaded poorly with fallen stone beams and bookshelves. Inside, was their kitchen and the hidden library of books. Inside, was home.
A sound nearby startled them, stone scraping on stone, the dull sound blurred their minds into immediate fear.
Suddenly, the Familiar form of Erim strode out into the ringed balcony, her familiar confident and dangerous stride was marred by obvious wounds to her back and leg. she looked on at them warily from across the expanse.
Before they had moved, Their gaze was drawn to the floor below them, where Mia Blake and Ryan emerged from a staircase and flung themselves defensively into the middle of the room near the crystal structure.
Mia called to the other two and they all looked up directly at Tharne and Ivy, and then over at Erim warily, their weapons raised.
A tense stand off lasted for what seemed like hours, until Mia leant over and whispered to her brothers, never breaking eye contact with Tharne and Ivy, and Blake and Ryan lowered their weapons slowly.
“I think we should talk” said Mia. caution and unease coating her words with wavering intensity, her eyes blazing with uncertainty and caution.
Shattered Cosmos 
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