They Came From Beneath

"Baanu, have you completed preparations?"

"Just a few more glyphs," she gulped, tracing the shapes into the baked sands with the point of her staff. Another few minutes, and she may have stood to sketch them by hand, as the sun neared the jagged peaks off in the far west, and the air began to cool off. Yet she didn't have a few minutes.

Her arms shook, which made things even more difficult. The circle needed to be perfect.

"Hurry, we are running out of daylight!" Her uncle Ishaq, who also happened to be one of Ashne's stewards, insisted on distracting her with constant reminders about urgency. She wished she could scold him - tell him to leave her be, but he was her elder, and telling off one's elders was a great insult.

Still, the circle was nearly drawn, and the light would be gone soon.

"And... There." Baanu completed the string of runes encircling the town. "Here goes..." Palms flat, and fingers spread against the sand, she flushed the glyphs with mana. They glimmered to life, rising into the air, and forming a wall of energy in their place. Within moments, the settlement was covered by a gargantuan dome of pure force magic. A scarab came skittering over the sand, but when it met it, it served as an impenetrable wall, keeping it out.

"Good, it's working." She dragged the back of her hand against her forehead.

Ishaq sighed loudly, "thank goodness... You did well there, Baanu. It looks as solid as the barriers your mother used to make."

She hid her smile behind the patterned linen of her shawl.

"Come then, everyone will be waiting to hear the news."

When he headed off back towards the villa, Baanu lingered behind, gazing up at the scattering of stars appearing beyond the amber hues.

A crimson moon was rising - the first in twenty years. She could only pray to the divines that her spell would hold.

***

The council met in the twenty-roomed villa of the noble governor, Sepheres. They had been tentative to begin dinner before Ishaq and Baanu returned, holding their breaths upon hearing their footsteps.

"Well?" Sepheres stood up as they walked in, taking off their sandals and dusting off their feet.

Ishaq beamed, "she did it. Her barrier is perfect."

There came a collective sigh of relief, then a polite applause as the two of them took their places at the table - with Baanu seated at the end of it.

"Then we shall dedicate this feast to Baanu, Ashne's newest protector!" The council members raised a goblet each to her.

The meal went as well as it could have. Wine and beer flowed, baskets of loaves were passed around, and bowls of stew, plates of salted, spiced goat, and sliced figs were dispersed among the assorted prepped vegetables and pulses. With the food came conversation, and entertainment from harpists and drummers in the far corner of the room.

Baanu felt a little out of place. She'd never shared the council's table before, as she usually took her meals with the priestesses at the temple. But as the night went on, and she shared some of the wine, she felt more at ease, enjoying listening in on their conversations - so long as she was never the subject of them.

She was hit by a sudden bout of unease - and their laughter felt like needles in her head. The moment her uncle noticed her discomfort, the quakes began. The whole room shook - goblets spilling and oil lamps tipping off their stands, spilling onto the floor and quickly extinguishing. Each council member grabbed the nearest thing to them to prevent further disaster. It only lasted a few seconds, though it was enough to silence the chatter and leave desperate eyes glittering in the dark. Only the light filtering in from the shutters reached them - a crimson light, like a world on fire.

"Is everyone alright?" Sepheres asked, voice quivering. "What in the world was that?"

Baanu stood on instinct, hurrying to the door with her uncle following closely behind. Outside, the damage was, thankfully, minimal. The barrier stood, the walls were at most, cracked, and besides a few spooked animals and children, none of the townsfolk leaning out of their homes appeared harmed.

She took a firelight blazing nearby and cast it around as she searched the streets, seeking the source. The cracks seemed worse in the homes nearest to the temple. She headed up there - a chill creeping over her as she gazed towards the bricks illuminated in red, and the temple entrance caught in shadow. Her uncle appeared beside her, another light to hand, sweeping it overhead to confirm that the barrier hadn't been breached.

"Where did it come from?" He choked.

"In there, I think." She nodded towards the temple door, as other townsfolk appeared to investigate. She held her breath as she watched... for something kept her in place, warning her not to approach.

There came a second quake.

The sand shifted beneath her feet. Baanu and Ishaq managed to leap out of the way as a great chasm formed, and sands tumbled inside...

A decayed, desiccated hand with gnarled, clawed fingers crept forth from the pit that had opened, pulling itself out onto the surface. There were two, three, more. And each pair was followed by an equally grotesque creature - their eyes hollow sockets oozing with blood, sharpened teeth lining split jaws, some with extra limbs or joints, elongating malformed limbs and torn skin.

"They... They're..."

"Restless." Ishaq grabbed his niece's arm, sprinting back towards the villa, and away from the monsters. Baanu couldn't help herself from looking back over her shoulder, watching in horror as they threw themselves at the gathered townsfolk, sinking their teeth into flesh and ripping bodies apart. The screams were enough to make her blood run cold.

As soon as they made it back, Ishaq immediately slammed the doors shut behind them. "They're inside! Barricade the doors!"

The council hesitated. Sepheres spat at Baanu, "how could you let them in? Did you mess up the spell?"

"No! I promise you!" She begged, shaking her head violently.

"She's right! The spell didn't fail. The shake broke the ground - they came from beneath."

"Yes! It's the truth!"

Sepheres glanced about his council, sweat rolling off his forehead and his lip trembling. "Right..." He shook himself out of it. "Well go on then! Bar the doors! Block the windows! And someone, sound the alarm!"

***

The town alarm was sounded - the metal bell high in the villa's highest spire pounded with a mallet in rhythm with the steward's heartbeat. It was a tone that said, 'head inside at once!' However, the folk already on the streets heard the message too late. As the Restless ones approached, in their panic, they raced to the town gates instead, finding the solid barrier keeping them corralled like rodents in cages.

While the rest of the council worked on barring the exits, Baanu remained in the corner, huddled up with her knees to her chest, chest tightening as faceless voices begged to be let in, only to be silenced with the creatures' monstrous howls. Then came the claws at the wood of the door - scratches and slashes that may have broken through if it were a typical homestead.

"What do we do? Our families are out there!" A steward cried.

"We unbar these doors, and we're done for. Don't you dare touch those barricades!" Sepheres squealed. It was easy for him to protest - his family were already present. He sent his wife and children down to the cellar while the others prayed to the divines that their loved ones would be safe.

"So we've had Restless lurking under our feet all this time?" Ishaq shook his head, stacking furniture against the door as his clothes became soaked in sweat.

Baanu collected herself for a few moments. "The high priest mentioned there were ancient tunnels beneath the catacombs where our ancestors interred their dead."

"And clearly didn't give them the proper funeral rites." Another steward gasped. "But why are they only becoming Restless now? Ashne has seen many crimson moons."

Ishaq thought, cupping his chin in his hand. "It must have something to do with the ground shakes. The rock has shifted. Then when the light of the moon hit their resting place, they awoke."

"Whatever the case..." Sepheres began. "We should be prepared to evacuate."

"And go where?!" A steward cried. "Baanu, you must lower the barrier!"

"I... I can't..." She muttered between sharp breaths. "I performed it perfectly. It cannot be dispelled until dawn."

"Then we wait for dawn." Ishaq reached his hand down to her shoulder, as a comfort.

"Perhaps you could perform another one for us? Around the house?" Sepheres added.

"You want her to go outside?!" Her uncle snapped. "With those things out there?"

"I'm sorry." She mourned. "The ritual cannot be performed under the moon - only dusk and dawn.

The council swore, cursing her and her uncle for trapping them in.

***

Over the following hours, they continued with their fortifications. The human screams from outside quickly hushed - replaced with distorted shrieks as the few dead left intact also became Restless. The creatures slashed at the doors and windows, trying to climb up the walls up to the rooftops.

The night drew on. They fought to keep quiet, whispering only when necessary in the hopes the creatures would give up and leave. But as dawn approached, the council struggled to keep their eyes open, and their senses alert.

The ground shook again - more violently than before, spooking them all to attention. The barricades around the door shifted and collapsed, and the monsters swarmed. Baanu watched their nails scraping through the small gaps around the frame. Ishaq grabbed her.

"Quick now! We have to move!"

Most of the stewards fled to the cellar, which quickly filled. Ishaq looked at his niece, then at the door, and the council crowded inside.

"Please, let her in with you!"

"There's no room!" Sepheres barked.

"Won't someone let her take their place?" He gasped. He was met with cold silence and distant stares.

"Uncle, it's fine." She offered a weak smile.

Boards broke behind them, and the council shut the cellar door in their faces. Thinking quickly, Ishaq grabbed Baanu's arm and dashed for the stairs up the spire, shutting every door behind them on their way.

When they reached the top, he barred the way down as best he could and huddled with her in the corner of the belfry. Some of the Restless were already on the rooftops, so they kept as quiet as they could, even as claws scratched at the trap door. Baanu pressed her back into the cool sandstone wall, muffling her own ragged breathing with her shawl.

Ishaq reached for the mallet laying on the floor by his foot. It was heavy, blunt - useful as a make-shift weapon in a pinch, but unlikely to have any use against many Restless.

"Uncle..." Baanu muttered, her voice barely louder than the scraping of claws against wood. "I'm sorry."

"You did nothing wrong." He took her shoulder again. "This is not your fault. You did beautifully with that barrier - my sister would be proud."

She managed a smile, though it was quickly replaced by terror as a nail poked through the splintered trap door. Ishaq threw the mallet straight down on it, and the finger broke beneath it - whatever it belonged to left reeling and screaming down the staircase. It would summon more, including those climbing up from the outside. Yet through the slatted openings around the walls, they saw the crimson moon sinking over the western horizon, giving way to a soft, purple light from the east. Dawn was upon them.

Ishaq wrapped himself around his niece, using his body as a shield. "Divines, help us."

Baanu's eye fell upon the bell just over her uncle's shoulder, as the trapdoor gave way to a mad thrashing of limbs. Following was the crooked face of the same Restless they'd seen escape from the pit. It let out a shriek - a rallying call to others to say a living had been found. Ishaq swung the mallet, smashing the creature's skull with a sickening crack. It fell, but another was there to take its place.

Panic melted away to an enlightened clarity in Baanu's mind. She stared at the bell and saw... runes. Embossed into the metal - though battered by many years of alarms, were those oh so familiar symbols she knew from her years of magical study.

Her body moved on instinct. She pulled the mallet from her uncle's hands, pushed him aside, and swung with all her might into the bell. Flushing the weapon with mana, the moment it made contact, the runes ignited, and let out a deafening BONG that shook her bones. The sound and all its clarity rippled through the air, repulsing every Restless in and around the villa. The ones climbing the stairs came crashing down them. The ones scaling the spire went flying across the rooftops.

And in the same moment, the light of dawn washed over the barrier, dissolving it into shimmering motes of light, and incinerating any Restless that basked beneath it.

Ishaq held his hands over his ears, then reached them to catch his niece as she fell backwards, exhausted.

***

Silence fell. With her arm around her uncle's shoulder, the pair stumbled towards the arch, over the scattered barricade, and out onto the streets.

Bodies lay twisted and broken on the path. The dust left by the burned Restless was scattered on the breeze, which carried upon it the grieved cries of children left without guardians, and adults missing partners, siblings, and offspring. Doors were smashed in, carts and stalls were overturned, and scavengers had started to gather.

"You did it, Baanu." Ishaq began. "You saved us... What was left of us."

His praise made her heart ache. She turned back inside the villa, struggling through the main hall. A Restless remained on the ground floor - weakly crawling towards her though its skin had started to burn. Without a second glance, she crushed its head with the mallet still in her hand, as she headed for the cellar door.

She hesitated, and so Ishaq took a step ahead of her to rap his fist against it.

"The dawn is here. You can come out now."

After a minute, the door creaked open. The governor peered out, his eyes widened as he saw both Ishaq and Baanu - alive, and unhurt. They all began to emerge from the cellar - their fine clothes creased, and their expressions etched with shame.

Sepheres stared past them, looking about the carnage behind. Then he gazed upon Baanu.

"This was your fault." He bared his teeth. "You were supposed to protect us - all of us! You were our protector."

Ishaq would have struck him, but Baanu held up her hand. She met the governor's stare. "Without my barrier, we would not have survived the hour. I'm the reason we made it until dawn. While you hid in the dark, I did my duty. Now you must answer to the families of those you kept out."