and they listen

"Yes." The word was an exhalation, the release of a long-held breath. The Mourner nodded slowly. "I was... the first. Ages... ago. So long... now. I used to... mark the... days. But here... in the dark... they run... together."

Teysa suppressed a shudder. Beside her, Aliara was backing away, her hands making a warding gesture. "Why?" Teysa asked, weakly. It was the only question she could think of. She wasn't sure if she meant "Why are you still alive?" "Why are you down here?" or "Why did you kill Siri'ka?" but it was the third question that the Mourner chose to answer. "Because she... found me. Found... the truth. As have... you." She broke out into a fresh bout of sobbing.

"This is insane!" shouted Aliara. "You're mad! Your brain has been eaten living down here! You're not the first drow! That's a myth! You're just some crazy old priestess they sent off to die in the dark, and you killed an innocent because the voices in your head told you to!"

No.

Teysa wasn't sure if she heard the word or thought it. She looked around, startled, but if Aliara had heard it she gave no sign. Tears were rolling down the half-elf's cheeks now. "You killed her! So we came to this awful place to find her, to see if we could salvage something of value from all this, and all we've found is a crazy woman ranting in a basement! This was all for nothing! For nothing!"

As though picking up on Aliara's emotions, the Mourner broke into fresh sobs. When she cried, the **** rattle of her voice became deep and resonant, a chorus of misery that rolled across the room and climbed the walls. Teysa felt tears rise unbidden behind her own eyes. An ocean of sorrow rose around her, and endless well of it that threatened to drown her. It felt claustrophobic. As she fought for control of herself, that tiny, clear voice spoke again.

No.

It didn't echo. It was more of a thought than a word. But Teysa heard it, and the tears dried on her cheeks. She looked around, but neither of the other two seemed to have heard anything. Before her, the Mourner had drawn herself together.

"I was... the first. I waited here... for so... long. Above me... they built... a city. All for... her. My... mother. They tell... my story... though." Her lips turned up in what might have been a smile. "Not hers... mine."

Teysa sought her voice. "So you've lived down here this whole time? What is this, an old temple? The first temple? And Siri'ka found you? That's why you killed her?"

"She wanted... truth. I... told her. But she... could not... take it... with her." The Mourner raised a hand. "Neither shall... you." The torches ringing the room guttered as a cold breeze blew through them. They threw crazy shadows across the walls and floor as the flames danced, and the shadows seemed to collapse on the Mourner, drawn up and along her arm until they wreathed her hand. She extended her forearm and the shadow coalesced and burst outward.

Teysa saw the bolt arcing towards her. It seemed to move in slow motion. She fancied she could make out every detail, every ripple and swell of dark energy. It dragged a hissing, sputtering comet tail behind it. She turned in time to see Aliara, her face shiny, leaping forward. She saw every detail on her lover's face, every streak of grime, every delicate hair. She saw the Mourner, her face crumpling in grief, preparing to mourn another ****. She saw the statue. She saw past the rough granite, deep inside, past layers of stone and earth to the shining core, and saw what was in there. She gasped.

Then time reasserted itself. Aliara's outstretched arms caught Teysa in the side, shoving her to the floor. The bolt of darkness struck Aliara just below the neck. She jittered madly in midair, her limbs thrashing as dark fingers of lightning skittered across her body. A black stain appeared on her chest and spread outwards, fingers of blackness crawling along veins and arteries like a drop of oil in a bath of milk. Then her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed on the floor. Teysa stared for a moment in incomprehension, her mind still trying to process what had just happened. She scrambled to her knees and let out a terrible wail of grief, clawing desperately at Aliara, pulling her limp body onto her lap. The Mourner let out a fresh cry of her own. For a moment, the two of them screamed in **** harmony.

The statue's eyes shot open.

Teysa looked up, uncomprehending. Very little of her rational, conscious mind was left. She pawed at Aliara, trying to make her comfortable, trying to will life back into her cooling body. The statue stared down at her with eyes of inky blackness. They were not just dark like obsidian or the black marble of the Basilica. They were voids, holes into a dark and terrible realm beyond. Teysa could feel their gravity pulling at her. Her cry of sorrow trailed off as she gazed upwards, hypnotized. There was a presence behind those eyes, something that watched her from the darkness. She could feel its terrible regard on her. It bored into her soul, seeking, probing, stripping away the layers of self-deception and self-regard. Teysa was helpless before it. Her mouth hung open.

She felt lightheaded. A strange vertigo came over her, and she slumped further to the ground. She was untethered, like a balloon. It felt like at any moment she might fly away. Somehow, she saw her body collapse beneath her, letting go of Aliara's sad corpse. She was floating away from it, up, up, up, towards the statue's terrible black eyes. She felt them drawing her in. Their pull was inexorable. With no more control than a soap bubble carried on a raging stream, she passed through the eyes and into the darkness beyond.