Redhawk Caldera Vessel

The crack in the earth- it was back. 

It had seemed such a minor detail in the dreamscape, perhaps just a way to keep Ponyboy from simply running and running, but now he saw it was something she intended. It grew and spread, devouring everything as if it was a liquid strip of velvet ribbon. The scent of sulfur came from it, and he felt dread spread through his spirit. 

It was a pathway- a pathway that only went in one direction. 

He looked up when he heard his boy's name called- and with his own voice. He opened his mouth to call out, to find that there was nothing there to speak with. Niamh had stolen his voice! And his sweet young boy was summoned, looking sleepy still and shaken from the terrible dream. He wouldn't recognize Niamh- he likely wouldn't even know her name- and there was no way for him to warn his son before she lunged for him. 

The crack in the earth widened like gaping jaws, ready to catch a meal. 

Niamh landed and drew up, balancing on her hind limbs as she pulled one forelimb back, ready to strike the child off his feet and send him tumbling into the yawning abyss- but not before Bronco collided with her. He tackled her about her midriff, sank his fangs into her musty, golden fur, and carried the both of them over the edge and down into the impossibly dark crevasse. 

It slammed shut the moment they passed into the shadows. 

The moon was a fair shade of peach, now.

It might not have been the Blackthorn she had intended to sacrifice, but it had indeed been one of her bloodline.