From The Dark

by Tobey Alexander

  ‘I don’t know but Reg, I mean Archy, told me not to be afraid when we found it.’

  ‘Found what though?’ Gabe kicked at one pile of rubbish sending a black bag spilling its contents over the floor. ‘For all, we know we could look right at it.’

  Sensing her father’s frustration, Claudia walked across the room and picked up a substantial piece of discarded scaffolding.

  The pole was a little shorter than Claudia, and she tapped the end of the pole against the sandstone floor. The return sound was as she had expected, hollow and metallic.

  ‘Watch out the way dad,’ Claudia pushed past Gabe and buried the end of the pole into the piles of rubbish.

  Moving the pole around, they could both hear metal scraping on the ground as expected. Stretching out across the rubble pile Claudia felt the pole collide with something solid. The accompanying sound was not the same. Instead it was a deeper sound of metal on metal that echoed.

  Echoed downwards and away from them.

  ‘What was that?’ Gabe asked, his ears pricking up to the different sound.

  Filled with intrigue Gabe clambered over the bags and piles of debris to where Claudia’s pole had now buried itself. Scratching through the rubbish Gabe pulled aside a heavy rotten wooden crate and was surprised to find a large metal grate buried in the floor.

  The end of the pole sat wedged between two of the metal struts across the grate which was the reason Claudia could no longer move it.

  ‘Pull it back, there’s something here.’ Gabe instructed, struggling to keep his voice calm.

  Shifting the bags and rubble from around the grate it was only a few minutes before they fully exposed it. Drenched in foul-smelling water and sweat Gabe bent down and directed the beam of his torch down into the hole.

  The depth of the hole beneath the grate surprised him. His torchlight illuminated the base that was only a few feet beneath the grated lid. Mostly, it was full of the smaller pieces of debris and empty cans, but something looked familiar and out of place.

  ‘What’s that,’ Claudia pointed. ‘There.’

  Both beams of light panned to a small wooden box of the same design they had found in Wales. Gabe recognised the design, intricate carving across the wood of a sturdy box. It was the same as the bigger crate they had found in the cave above Arthur’s Lake on the Ranger Path of Snowdon.

  ‘It looks like the other one, that must be it.’ Claudia could not contain her excitement.

  Gripping the solid metal Gabe heaved, but the metal would not budge. Straining, feeling the fibres of his muscles straining he could not get the grate to move even an inch. Gasping for breath and red-faced Gabe fell to the floor cursing as he fell.

  ‘How did he get it down there then!’ Gabe spat in frustration.

  ‘Here, use this, get leverage.’

  Claudia held out another piece of metal, this time a rusted piece of steel that had been laid amongst the bags of rubbish. Brushing off the top-layer of rust Gabe wedged the metal into the edge of the grate and strained against the makeshift lever.

  At first, it did not move. As Gabe pressed all his weight against the metal, he felt the grate started to budge.

  ‘Get ready you must be quick.’ Gabe strained.

  Pushing and pulling the grate lifted painfully slow.

  As the gap got wider, Claudia dropped to the floor and reached her arm through the increasing space.

  ‘More dad.’ She strained as her fingertips brushed the dusty lid of the box.

  ‘Come on.’ Gabe grimace, his teeth clenched with the effort.

  ‘I… just… can’t… reach…’

  Pulling with all his strength, Gabe lifted the grate a few inches more, but there was nothing else he could do.

  It was just about enough.

  Pressing herself against the damp sandstone Claudia pushed her shoulder and head through the hole and reached down to grip the box. Pulling the box towards her, the wood scraped but moved slowly until her fingers gripped the rope handle on the side.

  ‘I can’t hold it.’

  The grate slipped a little as Gabe fought to hold it open and stop it from crushing his daughter.

  ‘Nearly there.’ Claudia strained.

  ‘Claudia.’

  ‘Just a little more.’

  ‘Claudia.’

  ‘Almost, there.’

  ‘NOW!’

  Claudia gripped the rope and pulled the box free as the sound of metal scraping on metal filled the surrounding air. Pulling the box back Claudia rolled over and yanked it free as the heavy grate slammed shut filling the air with the loud noise.

  ‘Did you get it?’ Gabe quizzed as he tumbled backwards.

  Claudia was silent, she stared at the box that lay at her feet.

  ‘What is it?’ Gabe asked as he stood and stepped across to her.

  Claudia’s mouth was agape, her eyes wide with what Gabe recognised as fear. Stepping over to his daughter his gaze dropped to the box, and he too froze in place.

  One end of the box was battered and broken. Splintered wood had been snapped beneath the falling grate and on the floor next to the shattered box was something Gabe could not quite believe.

  Laid on the damp floor was a Nivag, not a normal Nivag but one that could sit in the palm of his hand. The little creature looked to be a shrunken version of the fearsome monsters. Split down the centre the rotten flesh and exposed bone looked as gruesome in miniature form.

  Beside the lifeless body of the Nivag sat an envelope. To save it from the wet floor, Gabe lifted it from the battered box and opened the envelope.

  ‘Is that what I think it is?’ Claudia stammered. ‘Is that a Nivag?’

  Gabe did not hear the question as he read the note contained within the envelope.

  18

  Yebot

  ‘My dearest friend,’ Gabe began as he read the letter; his free hand traced the scar along his cheek. ‘Your time for rest has come and I think we both knew this was coming. I am certain your rest will be welcome and in time you will awake and serve others on the quest we have spent our lives following. My dear friend you have been my companion for many years, perhaps you are the one person I have spent most of my life with. I only hope your next companion cherishes you as much as I did. Rest well my friend.’

  Gabe recognized the familiar handwriting, but the scrawled name, Archy confirmed it. Lowering the note Gabe stared at Claudia. His daughter’s attention remained fixed on the miniature Nivag.

  Seeing the withered discoloured skin next to the pale bone sent a shiver down both their spines. Memories flooded Gabe and Claudia of more formidable versions of the creature. Thos that had stood defending Viktor and the Magdon. The time passed from their encounter on the Skeleton Coast inside the bowels of the wrecked ship had done nothing to dull the memories. Fetid smells of death, sounds of bone on metal and the eerie wandering eye and impossible movements of what should have been dead were difficult to forget.

  ‘How can this thing have been with Archy?’ Claudia asked, her voice hoarse and dry.

  ‘I’m not sure but I expect he has an answer waiting for us.’

  ‘You pick it up.’ Claudia declared rather matter-of-fact.

  ‘I beg your pardon!’

  ‘You can think again if you think I’m touching that thing dad.’

  A stern look appeared on Claudia’s face and for a moment Gabe thought he was looking at Sara. The older she grew, the more she reminded him of his wife. Knowing Sara’s temperament Gabe realized it was best not to argue and after a few seconds picked up the shattered crate.

  Scooping the lifeless Nivag back into the intact part of the makeshift coffin Gabe slipped it under his arm. Peering into the box Gabe’s curiosity overcame him and he reached his hand inside the box. Gabe recoiled at first as his fingertips brushed the leathery skin stretched tight across the fleshed side of the Nivag.

  Fighting the urge to pull away it surprised him, as his hand pressed against the bulbous head, how warm the
creature was to his touch. Allowing the head to rest in his palm Gabe peered closer and touched his finger against the hollow empty eye socket.

  ‘That’s enough,’ Gabe chided himself and pulled his hand from the box. ‘Come on, this is what we came for I expect so we should get going.’

  Striding over the disturbed piles of debris which had now spread across most of the cave’s floor they moved towards the exit. Dodging over and around the piles Gabe passed through into the twisting, turning labyrinth of tunnels.

  ‘What were these for?’ Claudia asked as they stalked through the tunnels with a purpose.

  As they followed the return route, passing the now sleeping drug addict, Gabe explained what he knew about the intricate caves beneath Nottingham. With centuries of manmade tunnels etched into the sandstone beneath the city it was easy to become lost and disorientated. As they took yet another wrong turn it relieved Gabe to see the bottom of the spiral staircase they had descended at the beginning.

  Almost racing up the steps both felt a wave of relief as they emerged back into the harsh sunlight. Both shielded their eyes against the sudden brightness and waited for a second for their eyes to adjust.

  ‘How long have we been down there?’ Gabe asked as they trudged up the slope back towards the roller shutter doors.

  ‘About an hour,’ Archy’s familiar voice answered from the ledge above them.

  Archy peered over the ledge at them, his face warm and filled with a warm smile. His eyes dropped to the battered box.

  ‘Is he ok?’ Something filled Archy’s voice with concern. ‘Was he there, did you find him?’

  ‘Yes, whatever it is, is in one piece.’ Gabe soothed as they climbed the rest of the slope and walked across the old car park to where Archy was waiting.

  ‘Where’s Nahem?’ Claudia enquired.

  ‘She helped me get in through an old service door and then said she would meet us back at the theme park, I don’t think she approves much of Yebot.’

  ‘Of what?’ Gabe’s brow furrowed.

  ‘Yebot, the little Nivag you’ve got under your arm.’ Archy chuckled. ‘May I?’

  ‘Sure, all yours.’

  Gabe rested the box on the concrete slabs atop the narrow wall dividing the car park from the slope into the tunnels. Stepping back he allowed Archy to move to the wall and peer into the shattered box.

  ‘Are you sure he’s ok?’ Archy’s attention remained on the crate.

  ‘Unless he’s supposed to look normal I’d say he looks like a Nivag should.’

  Archy span to glare at Gabe, catching him by surprise.

  ‘You’d do well to understand this little Nivag has been with me for a long time. I would describe him as my dearest friend.’

  ‘I read the note.’ Gabe bit back.

  ‘Yebot here was with me from my time in India and was by my side when I climbed out of the diamond mine in South Africa bloodied and broken.’

  ‘When you killed the Magdon?’ Claudia interjected, hoping to break the tension from Archy’s defensive frustration.

  ‘Not without her leaving her own mark on me.’

  Archy stood for a moment, his attention on Claudia and Gabe. Reaching up he unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it to one side exposing his upper body.

  ‘You see,’ he began. ‘When I drove the sword down into her heart, her teeth sank into me.’

  The bright sunlight caught on the row of scars along the right side of his body, chest and sides. The scar tissue was tighter and the deep holes where the fearsome Magdon’s razor-sharp teeth had pierced his skin were easy to see.

  ‘I have never felt such pain as I did then,’ Archy reminisced. ‘I was lucky to emerge from that place alive and it was Yebot here who nursed me back to health and watched over me.’

  Pulling the crumpled cotton shirt back into place Archy buttoned it up as he spoke.

  ‘A Nivag imprints in the moment of their birth. They latch onto the first thing they see.’ Archy explained as he adjusted his clothes, smoothing out the crumples in his shirt. ‘I was fortunate enough to observe a birthing ritual when I visited Egypt a few years after I had first discovered the burial chamber at Hadrian’s Wall.’

  ‘How are they made?’ Claudia interrupted.

  ‘My dear Nivags are not made. Each Nivag is born from a crystal egg. Where they come from I could never discover. The ritual should see the sacrifice of a Veks in order for their essence, their soul, to pass into the egg. When the time is right, and the egg hatches the ritual sees it done in the eyes of the Magdon.’

  ‘Is that why they were in Africa, someone had buried them with the Magdon?’

  ‘Right my dear. They will not forsake their queen but sacrifice their own existence in guaranteeing her survival.’

  ‘And this Yebot thing?’ Gabe pressed. ‘Why is he so small and why is he your friend and not the enemy?’

  ‘Yebot is a friend to Archy true, I am not the enemy to he or you.’

  Gabe was shocked into silence by the strange musical voice that had answered his question. The sound was a high-pitched, almost a squeal, and it pronounced the words with an unrecognizable accent. It was the musical rhythmic undertones that amused him the most and Gabe’s mouth dropped open as he saw the source of the voice.

  Brushing off the layer of dust that had settled on his body Yebot walked along the wall to stand beside Archy. The side of his face adorned with discoloured flesh twisted into a disturbing smile as the miniature Nivag turned his head to look up at Archy.

  It was a strange sight to behold. Even though the Nivag’s skin was lifeless it was obvious, the warmth in his look. A similar warmth appeared on Archy’s face as he turned to look at Yebot.

  ‘A long time passed since we last met, you said your fate was fixed and set?’

  ‘My friend things passed we would never have expected.’

  ‘She rose from deep beneath the ground, I knew I heard her awful sound.’

  As the two of them spoke Gabe leaned close to whisper in his daughter’s ear.

  ‘If he keeps talking like that it will get annoying, really fast!’

  Claudia tried to suppress her laugh which caught both Archy and Yebot’s attention.

  ‘And who are these that join you here? Their link to you smells rather clear.’

  ‘This is my…’ Archy paused, realizing it was the first time he had acknowledged their connection.

  ‘His great grandson Gabriel,’ Gabe completed Archy’s stumbled reply. ‘And this is my daughter, Claudia.’

  Yebot looked at each of them and then focused his attention on Gabe.

  ‘Yebot calls to see your skin, to see if you are Archy’s kin.’

  Gabe stepped forward and held out his hand towards Yebot. Moving with surprising speed the Nivag grasped Gabe’s fingers and pulled his hand towards him. Peering down as Gabe’s palm Yebot sniffed and moved his head this way and that. Bringing his boned hand up he found a particular spot on Gabe’s palm and pressed the tip of the bone to Gabe’s skin.