The footsteps grow louder still, until eventually a bearded figure emerges from the darkness, shadowed by the light. The figure is tall, has an elongated head and beard and as the figure steps more into view, the eyes begin to shine, light reflecting off them and illuminating large dilated pupils.
It is a man, only a strange looking one.
The three men fall instantly to the floor under the man’s penetrating gaze, prostrating themselves before him. But the man is not interested in them, he is far more interested in the solitary figure of the stranger, who stands there unabated. It’s the first time he’s seen someone who hasn’t prostrated themselves before him, the first time someone has shown no fear.
“And just who might you be?”
“Don’t know.”
“Bend your knee before me, earthling!” the man shouts aloud, still shrouded in the darkness.
But the stranger doesn’t move, only stands stoically. It clearly irritates the man, who in response raises his hand above his head and curls his wrist.
“Never mind, this will not take long.” His eyes close.
In a flash, he waves his hand in a circle, closing his eyes as he does so. The three men, in reaction, fall forward in their prostrating stance to the concrete floor. They shake no more. They move no more.
They are gone.
The bearded man breathes in heavily and lets out a sigh of relief. Seemingly satisfied he reaches into his pocket and retrieves a napkin, using it to dab at the sweat that has proliferated his forehead. Once clean, he opens his eyes and looks back up again.
As he does he has to do a double take, he doesn’t expect to see anyone still standing, but a man remains, standing alone.
“You there! Step forward into the light, let me see who you are.”
The stranger does as he requests, taking a giant leap forward in his stance.
“What the …” The bearded man squints in the darkness, recognising the stranger. “Aha, it is you! I have often wondered if we would ever meet again.”
“Don’t know.”
“Don’t know what?”
“Don’t know.”
“Do you not remember me old one? Are you too old or did my men do something to you to make you forget?”
“Don’t know.”
“Aha! I guess it is true then, for surely you would remember me. Over a hundred spins of the sun and now here you stand, wow, I guess you made your journey across the lands to find me.”
“You … Fahwad.”
“So, you do remember me then?”
“Blacksmith … see as seen ... Fahwad bad man.”
“Well I don’t care!” He stammers suddenly, “I told you back then to leave me alone but you didn’t listen.”
The stranger instinctively reaches out to touch Fahwad, who recoils at the attempt.
“No more of that shit!” he curses. “You touched me once and that was enough.”
Before the men can continue their conversation through, something unexpected interrupts them, a loud boom sounding from above. It is not a cannon, for the sound is far too powerful. A quiet silence ensues inside the room until the boom is followed by a siren, it is a warning siren.
“Saved by the bell.” Fahwad eyes Smith with a curious smile.
A man approaches them from another room, his footsteps echoing loudly as he comes down the hallway. He runs into the small room and calls out to his master that the sky is on fire.
“The mountain has erupted?” Fahwad asks of his minion.
“No my lord, it is rumbling as usual but the mountain hasn’t erupted. It is something else my lord, fire, from high up in the sky.”
Both men incline their heads at the comment and strangely find themselves looking at each other, it is not an awkward stare though, more a familiar one. Something about fire in the sky gives them a moment together, a moment they both comprehended the meaning of. For what could possibly have caused a fire in the sky.
Both had witnessed fire in the sky before.
Even though the stranger has lost his memory, he can recall the tale he told the blacksmith and family about the fire in the sky, the fire which brought Fahwad to the earth.
“Why have you come here old man, to kill me?” Fahwad asks.
“Cannot kill.”
“Yes, yes I remember now. You told me that you cannot cause harm to another ... I guess that means I’m safe from you, right?”
“My lord I am sorry to interrupt you …”
WHACK!
Fahwad does not appreciate the interruption and has reacted in the most violent of ways possible. With the flick of his wrist he’s able to propel the man who interrupted him, through the air and into a solid brick wall.
The body lays in a crumpled heap.
“Do you want to join me? Is that why you came up here?”
“Don’t know.”
“Well I tell you what …” he strokes his beard. “I have an idea.”
The stranger is all ears.
“We can’t seem to kill each other and it would seem I can’t rid myself of you. So, rather than fighting it how about we try to learn something from it.” He licked his lips as he spoke, eying the stranger like a piece of meat. “What say you?”
The stranger says nothing, just levels his gaze.
“I’m sure there is something special about you, it was long ago we first met by the red rock, meaning you have lived longer than any of these filthy beings. I sense something greater than what you appear to be.”
Still no response from the stranger.
“Ok,” Fahwad claps his hands. “I guess that’s a yes from you.”
The stranger gives the most perceptible of nods with his head in response.
“Right, first things first, what is your name man?”
“No name.”
“Damn well pick one then … only then will I let you join me, I have to call you something.”
“Soldier … blacksmith.”
“Blacksmith huh? … well maybe we just go with Smith yes? Come Smith, you may ask anything of me and I of you … this is the deal I offer you. Let us learn from each other, help one another to understand each other. Do you accept?”
The stranger looks at him thoughtfully.
“Well? What say you?”
The stranger nods his head again, this time extending his hand towards Fahwad. “Touch first.”
“Huh?”
“Want deal … touch first, see as seen.”
- -
THE STRANGER
THE STRANGER
THE STRANGER
Catlin
“Can you see?”
“See what?”
“I dunno.”
“Well why did you ask me then?”
“Well I just thought you might be able to see something.”
“Ursula!”
“What?”
“I’ll tell you when I find something, ok?”
“Fine, but if it was me we’d be out of here by now.”
“What was that?” Catlin called back.
“Nothing.”
“Cut it out you two.” Marion scolded them both.
It was a tight fit in the small shaft and Catlin could feel waves of claustrophobia come over her as she crawled her way along its length. She’d been the first to volunteer to go into the small opening in the thread room box and now felt herself starting to wonder if it was the right decision.
Head first Catlin, always head first.
It was an incredibly constricted squeeze in the shaft. Despite being expertly designed it was exceedingly small. Catlin was lying flat on top of a ladder that ran at a forty-five-degree angle upwards into the darkness, the roof of the tunnel less than thirty centimetres above her. Its width not affordi
ng much luxury either, as the sides were almost brushing against her shoulders.
Claustrophobic nightmare.
She turned to look back down its length and worried how Marion was going to make it through the tunnel, it was a tight fit for herself, let alone for the larger frame of Marion.
“I can see a light,” she called back down as she noticed something ahead of her.
“Where?” Ursula called back.
“Err, at the top I’m guessing.”
“No need to be sarcastic.”
“Whatever, and don’t get too close to me!” She shuffled uncomfortably along the shaft, fretting about the proximity of everyone inside the tunnel.
“Well hurry up then!” Ursula shouted back, wiping sweat from her forehead. “I can’t stand it in here.”
Marion, through her short breaths and panting, called out in a calming voice. “Easy you two, we’re in this together remember.”
Catlin turned and continued up determinedly, the sweat starting to drip from her forehead as she paced forward. Every now and again she would steal a look upwards, keeping an eye on the small dot of light she thought she could see at the end of the tunnel.
Satisfied, she took a deep breath and continued upwards, huffing with every rung of the ladder that she climbed. Tight space aside, it was poorly ventilated in the shaft which only made progress more laborious.
But abruptly and with an audible clang, she knocked her head into something solid.“Ahhh bugger it!”
“What happened?” Ursula called out from below her.
Catlin slowly took a step back down from her position on the ladder and looked back up. For a moment she didn’t realise what she was looking at, but then, as her eyes started to focus, she realised the light she’d been using for direction was not the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel at all. It was in fact an actual light, albeit a very small one.
She reached up, touching it and realised the small L.E.D had been fixed to a circular metal object that was blocking the way forward, she guessed it must’ve been the door. She fumbled around behind the light to try and push the door open but nothing happened.
She searched around in the dark, trying to get a grip on something that resembled a door handle, but couldn’t find anything of use. Fretting, she realised she was stuck in a dark tunnel with no way out and she couldn’t find the door handle.
“What’s going on up there?” Ursula called up. “Are you ok?”
“I’m stuck, I can’t move any further and all I can see up here is some tiny bloody light?”
“Is there an exit, a door of some kind?”
“I would have opened it if I saw it!”
“Well there must be a door handle?”
A moment’s silence while Catlin fumbled around again before a reply came back, “No … nothing.”
“What about the light?” Marion called up, panting. “Is it possible it’s the handle?”
Catlin hadn’t thought of that and now went to work on the light, twisting, turning and banging on it every which way she knew how.
“Nothing!” Catlin called out, “Not much use then are you Mr Light … are you!”
“What?” Ursula called out, hearing Catlin’s murmurings.
“Sorry,” Catlin replied, realising she must have mumbled her thoughts a bit too loud.
“What’s going on up there?” Marion called out again.
“We’re stuck.” Ursula called back to her.
They spent the next twenty minutes like this, calling back and forth in the darkness attempting to get Catlin to try this or that. In the end, she’d gotten too frustrated and told them to shut up and stop calling out commands to her.
The chatter stopped and silence ensued in the dark tunnel. The feelings of fear grew on the three women as they stood stuck, inside the stuffy, poorly ventilated shaft.
It was then, when the silence followed, the idea struck Catlin like a thunderbolt. She’d wondered on why whoever built this would stick a small light in the door, for upon first look it was seemingly pointless.
“What’s the point of having a light here?”
“What?”
“Talking to myself,” she replied. ”So, a light is used to show the way.”
She twisted in the tunnel, around so that her figure wasn’t blocking the small light. When she turned the light flooded back down and illuminated a miniscule part of the tunnel, highlighting a spot on the wall she hadn’t paid attention to on her way up.
And she saw it, a small bump in the wall right by her foot. Dark enough so it could pass casual attention but big enough so the light could illuminate it. “Catlin!” She cursed herself as she reached down and pressed down on it quickly with her toe.
Immediately it released a catch and Catlin looked up with delight to see she’d released some sort of lock on the metal plate above, she exhaled with relief as she heard the door pop with a hiss of air.
“I got it.” She called back down to the tunnel, pushing her weight against the lid.
“Finally,” Ursula exclaimed. “Mum?”
“Huh.” Marion huffed, clearly suffering from the poor ventilation.
“Catlin found it.”
“Ok,” she breathed heavily. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Mum, you ok?”
“Get going would you.”
Catlin forced her weight on the heavy door, opening it upwards and outwards. She climbed the remaining rungs on the ladder and exited the tunnel happily, looking to the beautiful blue sky as she exhaled with relief. She sucked in quick breaths of fresh air to calm herself as she climbed out, stealing a quick look around and noticing she was in thick bushland somewhere on the side of a mountain.
When she calmed herself she turned back to the opening and saw Ursula coming up, she went over to assist.
“Get off it … I’m fine!” Ursula said, pushing her away.
Catlin ignored her, grabbed her by the shoulder and helped pull her upwards, but she lost her grip, slipped on the foliage and fell backwards. Ursula was pulled forward by Catlin’s attempt and also fell forward, the two tumbling over each other like a couple of clowns in the undergrowth.
When Marion’s head appeared a few minutes later from out the hole, her exerted face suddenly changed to a look of confusion when she saw the two girls lying on top of each other laughing uncontrollably.
“Some help here!” She called out to them, face red and bursting with sweat from the effort of climbing through the small tunnel.
They both came over, smiles evaporating immediately as they noticed her condition, each grabbed an arm and helped haul Marion out of the tunnel. As they did so both observed the rips in her clothing that must have been caused by brushing up against the coarse wall of the tunnel. The two exchanged a quick look but didn’t say anything.
“Not as fit as I used to be.”
“Sit mum, sit down.” Ursula said, a little concern starting to show for Marion as she wavered unsteadily on her feet.
Marion was clutching her hand to her chest and visible signs of pain covered her face, her arms were still shaking and her breathing was laboured. The girls sprang into action, quickly pulling her out of the tunnel and laying her to the side.
“Mum ... are you ok?”
Marion couldn’t respond now, she’d rolled onto her side and was grunting with the pain she was experiencing. The girls, realising Marion must have been having something like a heart attack, looked at each other for help but neither knew what to do.
“Arrrrghh!”
“Mum, what’s happening?”
“Arghhh.”
“Shit ... we gotta keep her quiet!” Catlin worried suddenly and placed her hands over Marion’s mouth. “We don’t know who’s out here.”
“She can’t help it.” Ursula protested, slapping at Catlin�
��s hands. “Get off her!”
“It’s too loud.”
“Who cares, she’s in pain.”
“We don’t even know how far away the government people are Ursula, we don’t want them to hear us, do we?”
“Get off her!”
Ursula could have cared less if the government troops were over the next rise, her mother was in serious pain and her only concern was for her wellbeing. “You stay away from her Catlin Conley!”
Marion tried to interject but her breathing was too heavy and she struggled to concentrate with the immense pain she was enduring.
Catlin was taken aback from Ursula’s statement, thinking that she must have thought she meant to silence Marion’s cries. “I meant no such thing,” she objected. “I could never hurt …”
“Shut up!” Ursula yelled. “Just shut up!”
Catlin didn’t object, she just knelt there with her head down.
“Now get back down that hole, you need to go back down to the first aid station and get the defibrillator, get it and bring it back up here.”
“What?”
“Catlin!” Ursula yelled. “Defibrillator … staff quarters, doctor’s office, now!”
Catlin got up in a hurry, turned and leapt into the uncovered manhole, quickly making her descent back down the tunnel, trying desperately to ignore the cries of Marion as she went.
- -
Smith
After Smith accepts the offer to join Fahwad the two had shook hands and moved quickly up a massive set of stairs to see what all the commotion was about, what the fire in the sky was. As they step out in to the light at the end of the stairway, Smith is greeted with a sight to marvel anyone’s eyes.
They exit high above the city, on a levelled platform at the crest of a great pyramid, with a birds eye view of the entire city.
It’s not the only pyramid donning the landscape either, several others can be seen nearby and much, much bigger ones too. Smith observes the city for the first time, high above its skyline from the pyramid, and finds it surrounded by ocean on all sides.
It is an island, but channels of both earth and water run in a circular pattern, like a ring, until they reach the centre of the city. A straight canal runs up the centre, dividing the channels and allowing boats to reach the inside.
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