[ IP ] Wrong Turn

I did not expect to see Beings here. World crossings are rarely orchestrated, let alone spontaneous as this seemed to be. The Beings' enormity - or rather, solidity, was unnerving. Their forms completely obscured the bright light behind them. 
 
 *HELP US* one shouted. *DADDY I'M SCARED* said the other. 
 
 Knife-words! I was used to the slow, gentle whisperings of our kind. We are vapor and shadow. These sharp, heavy voices vibrated violently through my very heart. I decided then that whatever wrong turn they took to breach the World barrier, they would not repeat. I would to smother them out. 
 
 `` No,'' said one of my brothers, staying my hand. `` No.'' 
 
 Why? I asked, surprised. Do their voices not hurt you as they do me? 
 
 `` I know the Beings. Do not fear. I will make them go away.'' 
 
 My brother drifted to the bright lights and the loud voices. Through him, I could see the louder, larger Being get to his feet. 
 
 *I AM CALLING IN MY FAVOR, SHADOW, * said the louder Being. 
 
 `` What is it you ask?'' said my brother. 
 
 *MY WIFE IS DYING, * said the Being. *SHE'S IN A COMA. SHE'S IN... DARKNESS. CAN YOU SHOW HER THE WAY HOME? BACK TO THE LIGHT? * 
 
 `` That I can do.'' My brother replied. As strange as the situation was, I knew this was true. Our kind know darkness best. We can bring anything in or out of it. 
 
 *WHEN? * asked the Being. 
 
 `` Now, if you show her to me.'' said my brother. `` Think of her now.'' 
 
 There was a moment of blissful silence where the Being did not speak. I could sense my brother reaching far away into the night. 
 
 `` It is done,'' he said after a moment. `` My debt is paid.'' 
 
 *THANK YOU, * the Being shouted. *THANK YOU. * 
 
 I wished it would go away and cease those awful knife-words. 
 
 `` Farewell,'' said my brother, and swept his hands across the jagged tear between Worlds. The Beings and their light and their awful hardness faded behind a flurry of snow, then vanished as the barrier sealed again. 
 
 Brother, I said. It seems you have a story to tell. 
 
 `` You have caught me, brother mine,'' he laughed softly. `` Are you at your ease? This will take some time to tell.'' 

