Free The Last Summoning---Andrew and the Quest of Orion's Belt (Book Four) by Ivory Autumn

kept reaffirming his pledge
to fulfill his task, to be a better Twisker, and to never forgive
himself for giving Talic that cursed piece of Twisker Zolic. He was
sure that if it hadn’t been for that, both Ivory and Talic would
still be alive and safe. Not eaten by that awful lava tube
monster.
    When he was sure he had put a safe distance
between himself and the soldiers, he rested on the smooth ground
where there was nothing but soft feathery grass as far as he could
see. It was a quiet land, almost too quiet. Almost as if the dead
themselves would be disturbed by the silence. With the coming of
night, fog drifted over the land, hugging it in a quietude that
even Gogindy could not compete with.
    “It’s too quiet,” Gogindy said, setting the
heavy footprint on the ground beside him so he could talk to it.
“It’s too quiet here. And the dirt is too soft here, too nice for
my bad feet. I would have been glad to walk on sharp rocks forever,
just to punish myself for being such a bad Twisker. I’m not brave
at all. I killed them. Killed them all. Wish I was dead, wish I was
dead, dead, dead, dead.”
    His nose twitched. He rubbed his tearful eyes
and moaned. “The world is so gray. So full of nasty things, so
wretchedly dreary when you have no one to share your troubles with.
Only a stupid footprint.”
    In tears, he took out a bit of cracker from
his pack and nibbled on it. Still the tears fell, and he could not
contain himself. He continued crying and eating until almost all
his food was gone and his tears dried up. He whimpered and sniffed.
The night was dark and filled with the creepy sounds of nothing.
The worst sounds of all to a Twisker.
    Nothing was the perfect place for the mind to
fill with words, and sad thoughts. Nothing was the perfect
atmosphere for the brain to conjure up all sorts of wild,
frightening beings with teeth, and fang and claw.
    “Oh…” Gogindy moaned, covering his ears and
curling up into a tight ball. “I can’t stand it.” He hid his eyes
and buried his face in his whiskers, gradually calming. Slowly,
without even knowing it, he drifted away into a troubled
slumber.
    Sometime during the night, his eyes flew
open. His ears trembled. He held his breath, listening. The ground
around him had formed to his body, a bed made of sand, making him
feel especially comfortable. He waited a long time, but hearing
nothing, he closed his eyes and fell back to sleep.
    A second time his ears began to twitch. His
eyes flew open. He jumped up, alert and afraid.
    “Gogindy,” a voice whispered. “Gogindy.” The
voice was soft, beautiful, and hauntingly mournful. The sound of it
caressed his ears like the chilly lips of a corpse. “Come,” the
voice sang in a pleading soprano voice.
    The ground had grown soft and crumbly around
him. He backed away. He grabbed his trusty rock footprint and
hugged it close. “Did you see anything?”
    The footprint made no answer.
    “Yes,” Gogindy nodded. “It was spooks.” He
looked around him warily, and then lay back down. “Spooks, spooks.
They’re all just in your head.”
    Just as his eyelids drooped shut, a voice
murmured, “You rest where many brave and noble now rest. You will
you soon rest with them if you do not move.”
    A crumbly mound of dirt fell onto Gogindy’s
face and ears. He sat up and shook the dirt off his body and face.
“What’s happening?” Gogindy asked, gazing at the wall of dirt
around him. He had sunk still further into the earth as if it was
quicksand. Above him he could see the outline of the sky and
moon.
    “The ground, it’s eating me!” he yelped. He
looked round him for his things, trying to find his footprint. But
it had vanished. He cried out in dismay, and dug around in the dirt
until he found something hard. “Don’t worry my friend,” he cried,
pulling it up. But it was not his footprint. It was a skull. He let
out a frightened yelp and tossed it away. “Oh my footprint, I will
save you,” he howled, sifting