V
The Descent into Hell
As the two of them broke from the water, they found themselves in a pool beyond the rock wall. Swirling eddies of the tide made frothy foam around them, but the crashing of the waves was now a hollow roar. They were inside a cavern, curved walls flaring up to a ceiling of rock above them. But ahead, leading from the pool, was a long sloping incline. And at the top of the incline, they could make out the tell-tale flickering orange of firelight.
Worse, now that they were insulated from the sound of the sea, they could hear the gibbering voices of what sounded like dozens of nightmarish creatures. Screaming, yowling, whining, all coming from the cavern entrance before them. And above it all, the clear, desperate calls for aid from a young woman.
"Aileen!" Colban said with a start, the single word echoing in the damp cavern of the pool. The volume of his own voice shocked him, and he suddenly felt the Hanged Man's fist at his throat, choking off his air. The red eyes locked upon his own, and Colban saw death in them. But another scream of terror and despair sounded from the depths of the cavern ahead, and the iron-like grip on his throat relaxed. The Hanged Man moved out of the pool, his body crouched low, the rope coiled tight around his right arm. Colban followed, distinctly aware that his sword still rested above the mantle of the room he was letting in the town. Instead, he pulled a long belt knife from its scabbard and held it in his cold, aching hands.
Together, the pair made their way up the slope, slowly and cautiously till at last, they were able to peer into the illuminated area of the cavern beyond. The sight that greeted them was almost enough to drive the sanity from Colban. In his mind, they must have descended into the blackest pit of Hell itself, so vile and unspeakably evil were the proceedings before them.
The cave was massive, illuminated by bonfires here and there in the open expanse. Acrid smoke hung in the air, mingling with the sickeningly sweet smell of cooking meat. All around, carcasses hung suspended from walls, each dressed and butchered, like meat ready for a banquet. But even at this distance, Colban could make out the unmistakable human characteristics of the meat hanging in this horrific larder.
And around these huge fires, terrible shapes cavorted and tussled with each other. They were the same smallish, ghoul-like things that he and the Hanged Man had fought in the churchyard. But now, in the light of the bonfires, Colban saw them for what they really were.
Children.
They were feral, wild, bestial things, but they were indeed children. Various ages and sizes fought with each other for scraps from the roasting spits above the bonfires or scratched wildly at each other for some bright bauble, no doubt pilfered from the victims these fiends had taken. Women, their hair ragged and filthy, fought amongst them, pulling some away as the fighting grew too violent, but then savaging the others with strikes from their own hands. It was a family, no, an entire village of man-eaters.
And at the head of the cavern, seated on a massive throne of bones, was a being the likes of which Colban the Reeve had never heard tell. It was a monstrous figure, towering over all the other assembled horrors, even seated as it was. The body was corpulent and swollen, like the abdomen of a spider, but the arms were long and grotesquely muscled. Lank, greasy hair hung in tangled mats from a huge head, but behind the curtain of hair, hard, black eyes gleamed with malice. One of the scampering imps strayed too near the imperious throne, and the monstrous lord of the cavern reached out with an enormous hand and snagged the young one by the foot. Disdainfully, it dashed it lifeless against the rock of the cave wall beside the throne.
Amongst all this horror, Aileen slumped against a far wall, her arms bound above her head with twisting roots that descended from the cavern ceiling. Her eyes rolled white with desperate horror and she screamed and screamed, her desperate pleas a melody to the madness of the scene.
The sight of all of these horrors threatened to unman Colban. This was the true mystery he had been sent here to unravel. Here before him was the dark secret of Galloway that had caused so many disappearances, so much fear and anger. The idea that he could have thought it possible for an old man and woman to be responsible for the disappearances in this land, now that he saw the true depth and magnitude of the evil that cursed this place, shamed him. He turned and the mysterious hooded man was staring at him once more.
"Get to the girl," the Hanged Man hissed. "Protect her with your life. Prove that despite being a murderer, you are not also a coward, Colban the Reeve," he said in a voice like gravestones grinding against each other.
Colban nodded, all of his shame and guilt coalescing into this moment, channeling into the words of his oath. "I will save her. I swear this before God himself," he whispered fiercely. "But what will you do?"
The Hanged Man gazed back at him, and then a wide smile grew across his face. He stood and began to walk boldly into the cavern.
Of all the terrifying things he had just witnessed, Colban thought that perhaps the dark promise of that smile was worse than all of them.