Dark Thorn - Grim Oak Press

Chapter 1
The rat glared with beady black eyes at the broken man’s
approach before scurrying away into the darkness, a
lone vestige of life among the dusty bones of death.
Richard McAllister ignored the rodent’s departure and probed
the deep shadows of the tunnel ahead, a ghost given the substantive
aspect of life. All was still. Faint light from the city filtered
through squares of purple glass set in the sidewalk above, revealing
the subterranean remains of unhinged wooden doors, rusted
steel beams, and piles of dirt and mummified refuse. Brick from the
turn of the previous century lined the building’s wall on his left, its
windowless panes gaping maws of mystery; on his right, the retaining
wall of the city street’s foundation was thick and mortared,
unyielding. Dust and aged spider webs covered all.
The drip of distant water was Richard’s only assurance that
time had not frozen altogether.
He grew more accustomed to the weak light. It had been
weeks since he had been called to the depths within which he now
stood, but it was as it had been for the twelve years he had watched
over it—a forgotten world by all save a few.
And those who existed in Annwn.
1