Flux

spinning to try and gain a glimpse of whatever moved, his eyes fell on nothing but inky blackness.
    In the murk all was still. He could now see the ground was littered with skulls. Other bones and body parts also lay strewn about, but it was mainly skulls; all covered by a layer of thick red dust.
    After what seemed like hours of walking, Iain eventually found himself staring out over an abyss where the glow he’d followed came filtering up from the void. Peering over the edge, clouds of black acrid fumes rose up to embrace him, swirling. Faces of tortured souls extruded from the smoke screaming, rising up only to be reabsorbed. Their agonised expressions obscured any bottom to the pit.
    Through the smog shone the glow of unseen fires burning below, shrouded by haze. The vertical walls of the ravine were dotted with caves, some black and seemingly empty but many of the orifices glowed red from fires within. In their mouths, more shadows moved.
    Noises which were once faint had now become a din. Iain felt sick, overcome by fear. From what he could see, there were now two options open to him. Not far to his left rough stone steps, hewn from the rock itself, led downwards into the chasm. On his right and spanning the abyss, stood a bridge. Also carved from the same jagged rock, narrow and crumbling. Iain knew he had no option but to cross. To head downwards into the fires below would go against every instinct of even the most foolhardy of men. Even if it were possible to breathe through the fumes, Iain had no desire to discover what lay that way.
    Peering to the opposite side of the gorge there could be seen a wall of stone. Partway up emanated another light, white this time; an inviting and safe glow. Iain instinctively knew this entrance was where he had to get to, for it would be his refuge and maybe only means of escape.
    Gingerly placing a foot on the bridge, he tested its strength against his weight. Almost, but not a hundred per cent satisfied it wouldn’t collapse beneath him, he started to cross. Immediately overcome by vertigo he dropped to his knees, trembling, wondering whether or not he had indeed chosen the right path.
    Now that he’d ventured out over the lip, the heat intensified tenfold. His eyes streamed and his throat burned. It was becoming more and more difficult to breathe. Iain wasn’t ready to die, alone and frightened where his body would lie undiscovered for eternity, his skull joining the countless others to litter the sand.
    He had to carry on, his only beacon the white glow ahead. Now on hands and knees, he made his way slowly. Trying not to look down, he couldn’t help himself and what he saw only worked to intensify his terror.

    There was movement far below in the void, things climbing the walls of the abyss, coming from the caves and ascending from the murk to investigate what this new prey was; the man who dared enter their domain. Fresh meat.
    There were thousands of them, like spiders. Something else climbed too, something undefined and huge, dragging its bulk up the side of the rocks, rage in its eyes and a fire in its belly demanding satisfaction.
    A new sound joined the industrial cacophony, coming from inside Iain’s head. It was a voice, rasping and malevolent, repeating the words ‘ join us ,’ over and over again. With all sense of vertigo now overridden by a much greater fear, Iain was on his feet and running as fast as his legs could carry him, sending dust and loose rocks plummeting into the depths below. He would rather stumble and suffer a quick death than be caught by his nightmarish pursuers.
    His mind once again turned to the skulls lying strewn about the floor of the cavern; were they people like himself, men, women and children who’d found themselves lost just as he had done?
    Sprinting across the bridge, it seemed to be taking an age to reach the other side, like running through treacle, every step an effort. It trembled under Iain’s weight and the rocks which he continued to dislodge carried on falling. Eventually though, he found himself on the other side with firm ground underfoot.
    He didn’t slow, not daring to look back and unable to spare himself the time to feel any sense of relief at once again having solid floor beneath his feet. Not wanting to see what now chased him, his focus remained firmly set upon the little hole in the rock and the small white, inviting light.
    Reaching the wall of the cavern, Iain found himself faced with more rough,