It was indeed a terrible situation but the ground was splitting apart beneath us, so terrible would have to do.
"Go!" I kicked my heels and Cindy surged forward.
Her hooves left the stone and caught air. Not running exactly, more like each stride found invisible ground for a fraction of a second before the next one landed. We climbed at an angle, following the curve of the canyon wall as it crumbled around us. Stone fell past us, close enough that I could feel the wind of it against my face.
The shadow creatures were everywhere. They flowed past us on the walls, a river of liquid darkness, their forms rippling as they climbed. Some passed close enough that I could see those eyes, that strange wet gleam of shadow staring out from formless bodies. None of them reached for us. None of them changed course.
They were simply leaving. Flowing out of the depth like water escaping a broken vessel.
'What are these things?'
There was no one to ask who would know.
