The candle's flame went out, the mound of earth collapsed and water
seeped across the table, slowly crawling toward the edge. We were
all still there, gathered in mum and dad's living room, but the space
felt abruptly empty.
“What happens now?” Mum asked, almost immediately.
Raven looked at her, then at my wife. “Now we wait,” he said
eventually.
“Wait?” she asked, already resigned to it, “There's an awful
lot of waiting involved with you people.” There were tears in her
eyes as she spoke, clearly upset by what had happened. Dad stepped
forward, put his arm round her shoulder.
“Come on love,” he said, “This'll all be over soon enough.”
“Will it?” she asked, producing a hankie from her sleeve to dab
at her eyes. “How do you know? It seems like all this could just
go on forever.”
Before he could reply another rumble filled the room, stoking the
unidentified dread I'd been feeling in my stomach. It took me a
moment to realise it was the voice of the Nomad, clearing its'
throat.
