by Mitch
Each person had their own color scheme, some in strips around the shaft of different sizes. When the arrow was finished, it was an artistic piece of work. Bowstrings were made of spun flax rubbed with beeswax giving it more strength. A strong lye soap was rubbed on it to keep insects from chewing the string and weakening it. They had competitions on the best design and archery shoots. Of course, Careah had the highest score in women’s shoots. She had the medals and trophies to prove it. Kedar’s dad was the best in every event, and Kedar, most of the time, came in second. This enterprise was a big event for the Nano people.
Walking for a short time, nothing transpired, so they put their bows and arrows back in their quivers. A glimmer of light ahead drew their attention and they began walking toward it. They were not sure if it was their imagination, but they felt strange eyes peering at them. A movement ahead in the dark shadows froze, the form was black as midnight on a moonless night. There was a quick flash of light, then total darkness. Nothing drastic really happened, which prompted them to keep going. The path made a sloping downward turn into the gloom of the long, dark cavern. Jets of hot musty air spat at them as they went by. Uneven walls, and especially the ceiling, began to take on images, disembodied images of nasty looking things creeping in slow motion, like the slow motion in a nightmare of desolation and death. Their flashing lights bounced off large objects, casting long wavering shadows. The shadows seemed to come alive, forcing ghostly images to shift and waver, as if twitching and jerking, reaching for a last breath before dying. A ripple of fear had them both trembling. Their wings began pulsating. Careah, with voice fluttering, was the first to speak, “I hope those images are not real?”
The long corridor split, neither knew which way to go. They voted to bear right. Kedar knew every cave or cavern he had been in had secret corridors that concealed wild creepy things such as reptiles and vicious beasts. Their thoughts of horror spread quickly. What if a raving creature charged like a mad bull or a wary viper suddenly strikes its poison fangs causing instant death? Every sound, every shadow, every movement inspired fear. Thoughts of a monster leaping, swallowing them alive, didn’t help their imagination. What if something like tentacles of an octopus reach out, squeezing the life out of them. The though gave them jitters. Careah whispered, “I really hate the thoughts of being strangled on my birthday.”
Kedar responded scornfully, “What do you mean on your birthday? Any day would not be a good day!”
Hearing water dripping produced strange echoes, followed by squeaks and a loud exhaust, made goosebumps on goosebumps. A large granite slab with an open port belching green smoggy fumes startled them. One whiff was enough for a lifetime. They tried holding their breath; their nostrils began to close and breathing became a chore. What were they up against? It was too dangerous to fly, so, with neon lights flashing, they continued into the unknown. The mouth of darkness gulped at their flashing lights. They had to be very alert not to run into something solid, worse still, a demon-possessed monster. There was nothing else to do but continue moving slowly. They heard grinding, something like an axe being sharpened, then chopping, as if testing its sharpness, so they brought their bows out.
Careah jumped into Kedar’s arms when an unseen squeaking door slam shut behind them brought more jitters. In front of them, sounds of chains being dragged over stones stopped them cold. About to move on, hearing the chains being dropped on steel plates mystified them. Moving a few steps forward, a ferocious scream echoed ahead, then again behind. Chills crawled all over Careah. The hair on the back of her neck stiffened. Her heart thumped to the beat of a woodpecker’s beak pecking on a hollow tree. Sweat on the back of her hands turned pink. An inexplicable cold breeze hit them, then hot. Something yanked Careah’s hair and her eyes grew wide with terror.
A black shadow moved, jerking, stabbing at the air as it let out a low piercing sound of a trumpet. Its unseen eyes pierced the darkness with ease. The black shadow moved again. It was a puzzle, then it came unexpected, uninvited, unwanted. A gruffly hissing was the only sound coming toward them at a high rate of speed. Their neon lights refused to flash to see what was coming at them. As it got closer, its hiss turned to clapping as if someone was clapping rapidly. Their lights gave a quick weak flash. All that was seen coming were two red eyes burning with a path of hate. Suddenly, it gave a loud growl and long white fangs dripping with infected saliva came at Careah. She stood rooted, unable to move, her heart pounding rapidly. She had the motive to run, but her feet refused to travel. A weird overpowering force held her captive. She prayed, she cried, “If I’m awake, this cannot be a dream. I have to be hallucinating.”
A chilling swish, then twanging, followed by a grunt with a gurgling of cursing and a sour whiff of bad breath, hit her in the face. Kedar’s neon fluorescent headlight flashed on and he stifled a gasp. Lying at their feet was a misfit bat, larger than they had ever seen. He estimated it was larger than a four-foot high vulture. Its eyes moved and glistened before it echoed its last beep. Kedar wanted to step in front of his precious wife but only had time to get close to her. The arrow was in its chest before it got to them. Careah, shaking uncontrollably, chattering and whispering, took hold of her husband’s arm, “We were nearly its meal.”
He looked at her pale face, saying, “Nah, I would have left a bad taste in its mouth,” and chuckled without humor.
“No joking,” she sobbed! “You saved our lives! I froze, you, in a mere moment, had an arrow flying. You looked death in the eye.”
Trying to calm her, he replied, “It was through sheer blind reflex that I had my bow and arrow ready. I didn’t know I had let the arrow fly until I felt the string snapped, sending the arrow to its target.” He looked at his wife, she had a vacant look as she fidgeted, nervously twisting her fingers.
She forced herself to look at the crumpled bat. Turning to her husband with a baleful stare, she kept repeating, “Honey, you saved our lives. Had it not been for you, I would be dead.”
Traveling cautiously several miles, an odd sound of a man or animal deep into the cavern echoed from wall to wall. In the distance, a slight movement caught their attention. Whatever it was, it made no sound. It was vast and shadowy-gray, moving in the thick whirling fog. Now somewhat visible, it glanced disdainfully at them, its upper lip raised revealed dangerous, glistening fangs. Sour liquid coursed down its chin, giving a slight hiss as it swayed with a bold arrogant stride. Suddenly it stopped its strutting and smelled the foul air! The freak of nature faced them. It had the build of a huge ape, horns protruding above its ears, and wool-like hair on its head and over its face hung down past its shoulders. The glare of its elongated red eyes burned through the wool like hair on its face. A wreath of fog hung close to its lower body. Sweaty steam drifted from the creature; a rumpled tail began to whip back and forth thinking they were its enemies. The creature not only looked inhuman, it was inhuman to be sure. What little light there was, they watched its stalking eyes following every move they made. Giving a low growl, a long tongue shot out, licking its eyebrows of long dirty hair that dangled like unkept hedges. It bent over, wool like hair on its head hung down touching the ground. The barbarous predator picked up what looked like a six-inch thick log and bit it in half. Holding both pieces above its head, it started its lordly strut again!
Then there was no command; it simply stopped and stood, staring stupidly at something behind them. This puzzled them so they looked behind. “Aeee…!” yelled Kedar. His face tightened with something between puzzlement and horror of a nightmare. He closed his eyes for a second in disbelief. Careah wanted to fly, but her wings refused to lift her. Behind them was another prehistoric ogre (man-eating monster), which made them want to crawl into a hole; any hole they could find! Emerging slowly out of a ghostly mist revealed it was a huge hairy brute with curling tusk on its head. Its face, white as snow, was as defiant as anything they had ever seen. Its features were of a great awesome giant nearly twice the size of the one in front of them.
A scarred head of a gordillo—an ancient cousin of the gorilla—attached to a long neck, swung like a pendulum. Tiny fiery-red eyes burned with vicious hate and small puffs of smoke shot out of its hawk-like nose. The monstrous beast picked up a rock as large as its fist and squeezed. Sand sifted between its fingers. The ape-like creature’s head went up as it bellowed, echoing far down into the cavern. Careah, unable to move, cringed and recoiled in fear. She was having a nightmare wide awake! She never knew something could look so monstrous and brutal with malicious intentions. Its eyes bugged out and turned completely red, like flames burning the wick of a bomb. All Careah could see was a bulky shape of flesh covered with dirty smelly hair hanging down to the ground, hiding its powerful legs. It smelled of death. She heard a wild cry…her own cry! The thing empowered by the sound of the other beast, rose and opened its mouth, giving a shattering roar. Its powerful hind legs propelled it high into the air. Swinging a club above its head, it charged past them, causing the Earth to tremor like an earthquake. They both had their bows out ready to shoot but knew it would be useless against such huge creatures. Kedar wanted to shoot an arrow at either one to taunt it, not for vain glory but to provoke it into going after the other brute. There was no need, the creatures charged toward each other.
Kedar needed no prompting to leave the scene of destruction, so he instantly grabbed Careah and headed south. One thing for certain, the heat of battle spelled death for the loser. Not looking around, hearing loud grunts, screams, and shattering thuds from hitting each other was music to their ears. Who was winning, no one cared!
Running for a mile or so, Careah, panting, was the first to speak, “If I do not trip and fall killing myself, I’ll live forever!”
After a couple inhales and exhales, Kedar winked, “Forever sounds good to me.”
Coming to an incredibly large room having a thick, heavy steel door, Kedar tried closing it after entering through; it would not budge. The doorway led into a large area of beautiful stalactites and stalagmites bathed with colored lights making it an extraordinary place of beauty. Not knowing where the lights were coming from, mystified them. Suddenly, without warning, a whiff of hot musty steam flushed by, the heavy door slammed shut and a bolt lock shoved into place.
It was useless going back the way they came; the huge door forbade it. He asked his wife if she was afraid. She replied sharply, “No, I’m not scared. I’m petrified!” Suddenly, darkness! Without any indication, the darkness dissolved into daylight.
Kedar sighed, “I don’t believe this, everything was dark, and in an instant, it was daylight.”
It was as if they were outside gazing at the sky. The room was bathed in pure light coming from the ceiling. Long light beams, invisible on the ceiling, invisible to normal eyes, prevailed clear out of sight. The serene loveliness of the light drenched the whole room as far as the eye could see. A mist, barely visible, coming out of small holes in puffy clouds with pearlescent bellies, hung suspended close to the ceiling, making the false sky look real. A bluish light glistening on the walls displayed painted scenery. It was the most magnificent underground structure they had ever seen.
Kedar whistled with disbelief. “This is not an illusion!” They just couldn’t explain the extraordinary beauty of it! One thing for sure, they were in a strange charming place.
Careah murmured, “Is Heaven more beautiful? This is a picture out of an unbelievable fairy tale.”
Entering a huge subterranean room, Careah whispered, “This is a lush garden upside down, suspended from a trellis. It’s at least one mile wide, with flowered pillars every couple hundred feet and going clear out of sight.” Both were stunned by the elegance of the vegetation: vines, shrubs, plants, and exotic flowers. Baskets of flowers suspended from the trellis and on the sides giving it a look of a living garden full of plant life, so thick light was almost blocked out. Indeed, it was a beautiful garden upside down. The exquisite perfume pervaded, filling the whole area with an intoxicating aroma. Its landscape of green rolling lawns, shadowed cluster of semi-dwarf trees were highlighted by colorful lights. Fruit trees lined the banks of pure streams zigzagging throughout the serene place. Her eyes sparkled as she smiled and remarked softly, “This has to be man-made; it is unmatched anywhere on the outside world.” She felt a rush of pleasure and excitement. The intensity of the place made her whole being full of joy as she whispered, “I wonder if lovers come here and enjoy this dream getaway.”
He asked, “Do you want to stay here or go on?”
She pointed, “Let’s fly up there to that ledge and get a panoramic view of the whole place before we make a wrong move. We can follow these flower-lined paths.”
Kedar had to be different, “I’m for taking this gravel path that circles into that arcade inlet.”
“Okay,” she ogled, “this place is a haven of perfection and tranquility. I have never seen such beautiful fountains as these, pulsing pure cool water into the air.”
A magnificent avenue of tall cypress trees on one side and strange, strong dark red trees on the other were full of different kinds of beautiful birds singing. She marveled at the sight, letting out a cheer of approval. “This jewel of a place has the ingredients for a perfect home. It’s just the right place for a worry-free life.” Every step encountered a new fragrance of fresh flowers of every kind. The garnished fields in every direction were a riot of colors as far as one could see. She was admiring honeybees after the nectar from each flower pollinating, not knowing they were doing it for man’s wellbeing. It was impossible to miss seeing strange-looking round objects that looked like pale moons. Careah asked, “I wonder what they are?”
Kedar pointed, “I’ll fly up and see. They are some kind of glass bowls; all different colors with little flames flickering inside. They look like some kind of lights.”
To her left, as she went to get a closer look, were beautiful star-shaped flowers; the foliage was very thick along the path. The trellis was heavy with vines and shrubs shaded the path. Careah was not paying attention where she was walking. They missed seeing the leaves on the trees begin to shiver. Suddenly, there was a quick flurry of motion; Careah’s muffled scream ricocheted off the walls! It was as if her right foot was frozen to the ground.
“Kedar!” she screamed, “Something has a hold of my leg! It feels like a lecherous something mauling my leg.” Her squeaky soft voice was quivering, “Kedar will you look and see what it is? I’m too scared to look!”
He looked at her legs and gasped, “Oh my, don’t move!”
She shouted, “What do you mean don’t move? I can’t move! What is it?”
His voice was trembling as he wailed, “I’m not certain, but I think it is a python. It looks like a python!” Though it wasn’t completely dark, she gave her light with a quick flash. Looking down, she saw what looked like a python holding her by her leg and a man’s smiling face. She screamed, spread her wings, and jetted upward, forcing herself free. She and Kedar nearly hit the top of the trellis as they jumped onto a ledge. In a flash, they had their bows and deadly arrows in place, ready to shoot.
A man appeared as though he was rising mysteriously up out of the ground. Looking up and grinning, he said, “Are you two okay?” He chuckled. “It would have been disastrous had you fallen into this open passageway, breaking your wings before you had the chance to use them.”
She shouted back! “I saw a python trying to masticate my leg.”
“She’s right, I saw it with my own eyes,” quirked Kedar.
The man let out a hearty laugh and held up his hand that had a mitten on it.
They both replied, “That thing sure looked like a python.”
He reassured them it was only his mitten they saw. “Of course, as you can see, I have on a jacket of many colors zigzagging through it. With a quick glance, it was possible it could have looked like a python. However, there are pythons in here to help control pests. You can come down; I do not bite!”
A New Civilization<
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The man introduced himself, “My name is La`no Bel. You may call me La`no. You are in our country Hi-Why-O. Hi-Why-E is our capital.”
As they shook hands, Kedar was about to introduce themselves, “Our names are….”
“You do not have to tell me your names, I know who you are.” They looked at each other with a blank expression. “As for those weapons of destruction you have in your hands, they will not be needed in here.”
Kedar asked, “What makes you so sure they will not be needed?”
“There has never been any need for weapons here. This is a peaceful country. We never had a war or trouble requiring weapons. Anyone who ever has an eyetooth will confirm what I have said,” beamed La`no.
Careah looked around with a doubtful look, “Glory be, a country without wars. It’s hard to believe.” She was about to say, “I cannot imagine,” but changed her mind. “I do not see an open passageway.”
He grinned, “Of course not, it’s closed. Come here, I’ll show you.” Still grinning at her, he gestured where they were to stand. She turned scarlet because of his grinning. Her stance and uncertain look proved her character. He saw her unsure look, grinned again and winked, saying, “Trust me, you will not get hurt.”