Reapers - Thirteen Brothers

L - Glitch

Trailing a Glitch wasn't the easiest thing. Sometimes it soared up high above the clouds so it was impossible to see. More often, it hovered a few feet off the ground as if goading us to try and catch it. And every time we did, it evaded us like a slimy eel.

I somehow convinced Vincent to wait two more days so we would just have to stay in Nirvana for twenty-four hours. Rest assured, Vincent would manage to withstand the tearing force of the 'other side' and if he's lucky, get out unscathed. Now, about me, that was another matter.

The forest floor proved to be a pain in the butt with all the hills and the cliffs hidden beneath the thick flowery bushes.

Vincent was persistent though. If every muscle in my body ached and objected with every stride, what more for him? Quickly healing his injury had sapped most of his energy.

Good thing I didn't feel hungry considering that I hadn't eaten for more than two days. One of the Halo's mysteries. No complaints so far.

Mechanically, I followed Vincent, his brooding quiet spreading to me like a contagious disease. My boots seemed to have a mind of their own, avoiding fissures, protruding roots and vines while I kept my eyes peeled for the Glitch.

He made an abrupt halt, pulling me back.

"What the hell-" I started to yell angrily before he put his index finger in front of his lips and pointed at something behind me.

About a foot short of where I was standing was a crag running down to what appeared to me as an abyss. It cut through the ground, as wide as a typical highway, travelling across the woods as far as my eyes could see.

The hammering of my heart doubled. Cold sweat trickled down my neck as I felt blood pump out of my face.

"That was close," he said.

In the darkness of the pit, I saw something move at the bottom. It was something dark and menacing, I supposed, since the mere knowledge of it being there made my stomach roil. The entity licked the walls of the deep hole, creeping up to the surface without much success. The gruesome creature must be gigantic.

I jumped back and swallowed. "Whatever's in there, I don't want to know."

Vincent looked stoic as he stepped closer to the edge and reached out for something invisible to me. He paused, his palm encountering some resistance. He tested the invisible wall. Reddish light appeared out of thin air, like a transparent barricade soaring three hundred feet over our heads, stretching down into the abyss' bottom. If it had one.

"A barrier," he said with a grim expression. He automatically backed away from the edge of the cliff.

"What on earth is that?" I murmured shakily, my caution easily defeated by curiosity.

"Souls," Vincent answered, eyeing the creature. "Millions of them. Got stuck here. Went bad. Joined the get-together. Became one hell of a nightmare. I thought you didn't wanna know?" he chided, giving me a lopsided grin.

I hugged myself, a sharp chill running down my spine. "If I'm going to die, I might as well know what ate me."

He kept walking ahead of me. I thought I heard him laugh quietly. Then he pointed a finger to the west where the ground sloped uphill to the highest point of the cliff. On the edge of the triangular jutting rock, precariously perched an old gondola, cream and gold against the sooty background. It stood proud, like a ship's mast.

It was unmistakably weathered by time. The pillars were overrun with vines and the gilded roof was crumbling in places. It led to a tastefully constructed wooden bridge that joined the two lips of the abyss.