Marie was falling, falling, falling. It is unthinkable, indescribable: the thought of falling so far and for so long, never knowing when it will stop.

  It took only a minute before Marie could no longer see the night sky above, full of stars and galaxies that she had never beheld before. All that surrounded her now was the absolute darkness and the roaring sound of air thundering passed as she fell so fast her skin began to burn.

  The attack, which had paralysed her, ceased after almost five minutes, but she was still powerless. The wind whipped at her so hard that she could barely move her limbs. Her face was pulled back so hard that she could feel the corners of her mouth bleeding from the strain.

  In all, she thought she had been falling for almost thirty minutes. But, this fathom-less abyss did have a bottom, and she was rapidly racing towards it. Not only that, but the remains of the hell-hound fell before her. It still clung to a slim remnant of life, perhaps enough to finally grab her and devour her - perhaps not.

  Marie's senses were finely aware of any changes in pressure, and amongst the rapid popping of her ears, she felt a loosening of the pressure around her, as though she had entered a vast space. Her eyes, fully dilated, saw the glimmers of distant lights, yellow, almost golden. This light was different to that of the rune-covered slabs that had powered her into this Other World. These new lights were soothing, calm and yet potent.

  The glow of the lights shimmered below her, reflecting in what must be - but it couldn't, could it? – a sea. A vast underground ocean spread out before her, the coast of which must be about one or two miles away. The surface of the water became clearer and clearer until she could taste the salt air.

  Oh God, she thought. Instinctively, she curled herself into a ball. Her body hit the water with the speed of a missile, sending a large plume reaching into the sky. Marie felt as though she had been punched in the stomach. The water was freezing and, when she returned to the surface, Marie could barely take a breath through the shivering and pain.

  Not far from her, she could hear rapid splashing, as though someone were throwing logs of wood into the water rapidly. Then, between the splashing, she could hear huge nostrils snorting, and growls of frustration. Marie's heart raced.

  Shit, it's that fucking thing, she screamed in her mind. She started swimming as hard as she could. But she couldn't get far. Her arms and legs locked suddenly, not with another attack, but from the cold. Her muscles were cramped and losing energy fast. No, fucking hell! She attempted another several pumps of her legs before she went under.

  The hell-hound, lasted only a little longer. It carried on ploughing at the water until finally it took in a deep breath of water, choked, and fell through the water like a rock. It struggled no more.

  ...

  Water lapped gently against Marie's face. Her body had been washed ashore on a beach of grit and smooth pebbles. It was featureless but for several rough rocks that were sparsely dotted along the coastline.

  Marie gave a choked cough, water spewed from her mouth leaving long trails of sputum as she tried to clear her lungs. When she could reduce herself to only small bouts of irritated coughing, she looked about her. Beyond the beach, the golden lights were clustered in what could have been a city, like New York or London gleaming into a vast darkness.

  The light from that city highlighted what appeared to be a huge void underground, bigger than anything she had seen on Discovery or any documentary. Much of it was just empty space leading to a ceiling that could have been five thousand feet high. The ground was dotted with rocks, some huge stalagmites which thrust themselves through the earth, and huge towers of stone which had the girth and height of skyscrapers.

  One of the lights was floating toward her in an almost meandering fashion. As it approached, it transformed from a mere star in the sky to a translucent creature with tentacles that hung below a bulbous body. It had no eyes that Marie could see and yet she felt certain that it was fully aware of her presence.

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  It stopped in mid-air ten feet before her. Its tentacles twitched gently before they rose as the creature came toward her. Marie meant to get up, but a force held her to the ground. She winced and looked away as it came for her. When Marie expected to feel the tentacles choking her, she did not.

  She opened her eyes, the glow of the creature was bright in her eyes. It hung within inches of her. The tentacles were searching over her body. Their touch was cool, comforting, and ever so gentle. Once almost all her body had been touched by them, the creature withdrew and hovered almost five feet away.

  'Hello?' she asked tilting her head a little as she got up. A piercing sound stabbed into her head and she collapsed into the mix of grit and sea water, pawing at her head. Almost as soon as it started, the pain slackened until it finally disappeared. Like an echo of the pain, she could feel her pulse throbbing inside her skull.

  What replaced the pain was a clear voice, the voice of an elderly man. She could not be sure, but it sounded like the voice of her father. It was that same gravelled tones, yet wise with years of experience. 'Hello, Marie.'

  'How...how are you talking to me, you're not even human?' Marie asked, once again making the effort to get to her feet.

  'I might not be like you, but I am able to speak mind-to-mind. But that is not important, what is, is the fact that you are sick.' The creature ebbed a little in the air as a gust of hot air brushed passed it and buffeted Marie.

  'I feel okay, considering,' Marie returned, laughing.

  The creature's tentacles danced in the air. 'There is an illness deep within your flesh, and it is destroying you, surely you are aware of that?'

  Marie sighed with all the conviction of a person doomed to a terrible fate. 'Yeah... I know all about that. Its haunted me for six God damn years. There's nothing that can be done.'

  The creature hovered a little closer. 'Why is that?'

  'Because,' Marie returned, shifting backward a little, 'the doctors back home said that anything that could be done, was being done - that I was going to die anyway.'

  The tentacles flicked excitedly. 'Not everything. Follow me.'

  'Why?' she asked.

  'There may be hope for you.' The tentacles relaxed.

  'Moments ago I was transported into a forest, then chased by a huge fucking creature and now I'm talking to a floating squid after falling God knows how far down a hole in the earth. Why should I follow you?'

  'Look about you, Marie. What other choice do you have?' The creature turned and began to float away, transforming itself again into a golden star.

  Marie laughed and, after looking about her, began walking, following the creature toward the mass of lights beyond the beach. You got one thing right, shout thought. I don’t have a choice.

  The way was difficult, jagged rocks lined the path, and she needed to rest regularly. The star hovered gently and with great patience. As she got up, the star would advance a little further. Marie clambered up huge mounds of rocks, before slowly descending the other side and having to repeat the process all over again.

  The light was very dim, only the luminescence of the light-city illuminated this vast underground cavern. To her, it seemed like an endless twilight, but her eyes were growing accustomed to it.

  After almost an hour, Marie could go no further. She wheezed and coughed. She pulled her head back and took deep breaths to try and calm herself. 'I can't go any more,' she said, hoarsely.

  'I cannot assist you unless we make it to the city, Marie,' the elderly voice said clearly into her head. 'You must continue.'

  'I can't, God dammit. The disease effects the muscles which help me to breath!' Her voice echoed from the stone and continued for two or three seconds before ending in a small chorus of words. Marie hunched over into a ball on the grit and sand between two large mounds of stone. 'I can't do any more, please.'

  The star transformed, like melting wax, into the tentacle creature. 'I had hoped not to have to do this, for you may not be ready for such power.' The tentacles came forward as the creature rushed through the air toward her.

  Marie flung her arms out. 'What the hell-'

  The creature flew through her, or seemed to, but it did not appear through her back. Instead, her body had seemed to absorb it. Marie felt a warmth inside her that was growing or boiling. At first her lungs felt scorched, the air becoming hot as it exited her mouth. Then her arms and legs became clammy and warm. Then her toes, fingers and ears were red, fiery.

  'What have you done, to me!' she screamed into the twilight around her.

  'Marie,' the voice was calm, it was indeed the voice of her father. 'Prepare yourself.'

  The pain was growing, becoming almost unbearable. Marie groaned. 'For what?'

  A golden glow began to emanate from within her. Her skin was glowing, her veins and arteries snaked across it like lines on parchment. It grew in intensity until it became white. Marie screamed.

  There was an explosion of light where Marie had been, as it faded the light became a million tiny stars. Each of them began to swirl in a spiral which at first was fast but then slowed until the spiral was a gentle rotating galaxy. Like a flock of birds, the tiny stars flew upward, racing along the stones and rocks and cliffs which led toward the light-city