Ch. 12
It was once again silent, smelly, and full of murk. And that was the only way to describe Sorm, the town of broken . . . well the town of broken everything. There was no reason, in my mind, why those people had to hide. If the government was that bad to them just because they were in that town then why didn’t they move to another one? The fact that they just blindly follow Dimitrius who I’m sure has to be great from all the things I’ve heard about him is beyond me. As far as I knew he was just some loser who got exiled and then started telling people how great he was so he could get his job back.
I was still fuming when I got back to the square and found where I had to go. Eyes could still be seen through some windows and doors. I wondered if they knew about anything that I had said in the cave yet. It didn’t matter. By this point I was having serious doubts about my mission, not that I didn’t before, it was just that it was more easily masked then. But now, in Sorm, only dark thoughts remained. There was no hope in that dilapidated town, at least not to me.
The exit was up ahead, I almost ran to get there, and then, once again, somebody called to me. I looked back; a hand was beckoning to me between wooden slats in a window.
“Yes?” I said as I approached, not in the mood to hear anything from anybody in Sorm.
“You are the Earth girl, aren’t you?” The voice sounded like the voice of an old woman.
“Indeed I am.” I replied half-heartedly.
“Oh good, I just wanted to say good luck, you’ll need it.”
“Thank you.” I was a little surprised, I was sure she was going to ask about Earth, or want me to do something for her.
“I’m certain that in a few days we can all come out of hiding because of you. I’m not one of those fools waiting for the Voratiots, no missy, I am not. I refuse to believe that people who have the nickname ‘Terror Bringers’ will do any good by me. Now hurry along now, time is wasting.”
I thanked her again and left Sorm, its smell, and all the people in it. One of which made my overall opinion just a little bit better. At least I now knew that there was one sane person in that town. As I took my first steps onto the dirt road that would take me to Dimitrius I had a feeling that things were finally going to get better, and my vacation in Hurdeen was about to end. At least I had some great stories to tell, if anyone believed me that is.
The valley ended shortly after leaving Sorm, the exit much narrower than its entrance. A nice country lane was ahead. Trees stood every now and then, their leaves falling all around me. It wasn’t too cold now that it was midday. It was like the weather and environment knew some mystery that I did not, and had to get me ready by making me happy. I only hoped it was that I would soon be home. By now I was really homesick, though tried my hardest not to show it. I didn’t want anything more than to be back there, with my family, and I would do almost anything to see that I would be.
I started a little hop-skip thing in my mounting excitement of getting home, which is strange considering I felt pretty terrible just a few minutes before, I guess a well timed chat can do that. I didn’t think too hard on what that woman said for fear it would bring me back down. Dirt clouds followed in my wake, but I didn’t care there was nobody in sight.
And then it hit me, and I came back to reality as quickly as I left it. Why was everybody hiding? Who were they hiding from? How could I have not asked? My forgetting to ask the important questions was becoming a habit here. I had got so worked up in my destiny spiel that I didn’t even think about it. I mean how could I not ask them about living in a cave?! How does that make sense? I suppose it didn’t matter now, there was no way I was going back and that was final. I’m sure Dimitrius would know he seemed popular there.
I had to get these thoughts out of my head, but they wouldn’t go. They clung onto my hidden anxiety, waiting for me to feel good about something. And then they struck, like venom, all around my mind. There was no way to get rid of them once they contaminated all my happy thoughts, turning them, slowly but powerfully, into maddening ideas of loss and death. I might not be in Hurdeen; I may not even be in a coma somewhere. I could be dead. Already buried in a coffin, my family done grieving, already back to their lives. They had one less person to feed; one less to worry about and care for. And maybe that’s a good thing, maybe they could do more. My dad might finally take that thing he found and find its use. No doubt it’s from here. He could prove to the world that aliens exist . . . but wait! Was that piece of metal from Hurdeen? It couldn’t be. If I’m dead then Hurdeen is not real, it’s only in my head. So what is that piece of metal?
There were no answers. Really there were not any good questions. I had to get to Dimitrius, and that was it. That was my only real quest, though flawed, just like everything else. The world, both of them, the people, me, and it all was flawed. The people of Sorm lived their lives in hiding, those in Sorm were ignorant. And then there was me in between clashes of two belief systems, two countries. What was I supposed to do? Stop an invasion? Like that would ever happen. The only thing I could do was get home as fast as possible. So I needed to get to Dimitrius. He would help me. I had to keep saying it; it was the only thing keeping me going. If I had thought all hope was lost then I probably would have just gone back to Thurm, but it wasn’t lost. I still had one last chance. The council would never let me take the Tekogoly, and even if I managed to get a hold of it, I didn’t know how to work it. This was still my only chance, and I would make the most of it.
“You need to clear your mind.”
It was Poiye, he stood near a tree to the right of the road. I noticed him a split second before he spoke. By now I didn’t care if he was there or not. He wore a nice suit again, but I did not care to notice the details. I ignored him, didn’t even look at the tree as I passed. Keeping my eyes forward I marched on.
“The people of Sorm need your help.”
He was standing with the next tree, twenty yards ahead of the last one. There is no way he could have run up there, I would have seen him. I was determined not to respond.
“You can’t outrun me, I can help you.”
Now he was on the left side, leaning against another tree.
“I really can help you.”
“Yeah ri—” I almost forgot that I was ignoring him.
“Bessie you need me.”
I could tell by his voice that he was wearing that stupid smile I hated so much.
“Dimitrius is not too far beyond.”
He was now directly in front of me. I averted my eyes and pushed right by him.
“What you saw in Sorm is an extreme example of this world’s extraordinary behaviors compared with your own.”
What do you want?!” I finally shouted, sick and tired of his idiocy. “Please tell me because if you don’t I’m about to run you through with a sword.”
“You don’t have a sword.”
“How do you know?”
“Listen to me Bessie—”
“NO, no, you listen to me, I’m tired of you, and I’m tired of everything. And you know what? I’m dead, and this must be purgatory because it’s surely not heaven, unless this is just a place where people go when they don’t know their dead. So guess what? I know I’m dead so just take me away to where I’m supposed to be. Isn’t that who you are—the angel of death?”
He smiled.
“ANSWER ME!”
“Your mind has been clouded, you need to refocus and continue on.”
“That’s another thing; you just disappear and end up other places. Why don’t you stop the invasion? Or at least take me to Dimitrius so I can go home.”
“You don’t think this is your home?”
Was that a question? Did he seriously just ask a question? I was so mad at the time that it took a while for me to even realize that. I wonder why he did that, let it slip? It was so unlike him. I thought he was incapable of it, but I presume not.
&n
bsp; “I just want to go home, if you know of any way for me to do that then great, if not then just get out of my way.”
“There is a great hostility in you.”
“Ya think! Why shouldn’t there be?”
“You have not yet completed your mission.”
I was just about to really lose it. “I’ll be at Dimitrius’s soon, and then he’ll help me with whatever he is supposed to help me with, which better be a way home.”
He didn’t say anything; the smile was worth plenty of words. I was on the verge of yelling something when I saw a striking difference in our locale. We were no longer on the road surrounded by trees, but in soft grass. Rock faces of about seven feet high stood on either side, creating a small path that extended onward and then ended in what looked like a dead end. A later observation revealed that it was a maze of rock, and we were at the entrance.
“Where are we?”
He didn’t answer.
“This is a new location.” I said, once again unsure of how to make what I said a believable statement.
“Welcome to the Forgotten Lands.”
“Really?” I said under my breath.
“It is my time to go, but remember, I will always be with you.” He walked away from me, along the outside edge of the rock. I watched him, expecting him to disappear, but he did not. I stood for several minutes until he turned a corner.
I stepped into the maze. The grass was tall, hard to walk through, but I managed. The tight corridors got narrower in places, and after a few turns I felt good and lost. There was nothing I could do to remember which turns I had made and where. It wasn’t until I had been going for several minutes that I thought I should be keeping track.
Everything started to look the same, and it all was. There was no difference between any path, no crack in the rock, no patch of shorter grass, but I wasn’t going to give up, not again. I took a left, then a right, then another left. No good, it was far too late to care to memorize my steps. After a few minutes of wandering about, making sure to keep my head, I found a way out, or thought I did. It was a large clearing with a little pond in the center. On closer inspection I saw that the maze continued on the other side. The pond was pretty, light danced off the surface and into my eyes. I had the sudden idea that I could quickly wash up, but without soap I didn’t see the point. The water was so clear I chanced a drink, and it was good. It filled up my two empty water jars, and dumped the remainder of the third just so I could refill it. I didn’t even notice how thirsty I was until I started drinking, and then I couldn’t stop. Once done I started back in to the maze, certain that I was half way to the exit.
This half was a lot easier, not because I found my way any quicker, but because the water cleared my mind of the remaining dark thoughts that it had latched on to. I almost returned to my skipping, but there were still pressing concerns that kept me walking. And would you believe it? A few turns later I was out and in fresh air. The little rock ledges were still around, but I could tell that they were far apart; surrounding the marshy area I now stood in. The ground was very soft and wet. There were houses here, quaint little one room huts that looked like little cottages. They had stone walls, tiled roofs, and smoke rising from chimneys. It looked just like a painting I saw at a diner near my school.
These houses were connected by a boardwalk. I liked the clunk clunk sound it made when I walked. I had never been to a beach before and wondered if that’s how those boardwalks sounded. A man was sitting outside the first house. He had a beard, long hair, and wore Earth clothes, correctly. He nodded in greeting and I did the same. I should have asked him about Dimitrius, after all I had no idea what he looked like. That’s assuming that this place is the Forgotten Lands. I wasn’t sure how much to trust Poiye. It didn’t look much forgotten; in fact it looked really nice. It had natural protection, smelled a good deal better than Sorm, and was far less crowded than Thurm. It actually had one house every two hundred feet or so, in no particular order. Some were close to the boardwalk, some far away. And that’s what I liked about it, the controlled chaos of everything. It was not the neat and cookie cutter design that Thurm and Sorm were, it was unique, refreshing, and it gave me a carefree attitude almost immediately.
It was fun going through there, for a while it seemed that nobody else was around, so I was about to go back to the guy I saw, when I came to the last house. It was basically three put together, and I knew somebody important lived there. There was what I believed to be a name etched beside the door, but of course I couldn’t read it. There were seven letters so I assumed it did not say “Dimitrius”. I knocked anyway. A frizzled old man came to the door; he looked at me, grumbled something, and then closed the door.
“Excuse me,” I called, “Do you know where I can find a Dimitrius?”
The door opened slowly, only his eyes peered at me, sideways along the doorframe. “No thank you.” He slammed the door in my face.
“I’m not selling something. I’m from Yim; well actually I’m from Earth.”
The door opened again, this time his whole face made an appearance. “You what?” And then to himself, “So it’s true, those idiots are using my (Unintelligible)” he mumbled the last bit.
“If you know Dimitrius, or are Dimitrius, then I need your help.”
“You definitely need some help, but I’m not sure if I can do anything.”
“So you are Dimitrius, well it’s nice to finally meet you.” I said, feeling it was better to start off friendly.
“Not really.”
“Excuse me, what is that supposed to mean?”
Friendliness gone.
“If I knew those people at the capital were going to do something this stupid then I would have destroyed the Technology before I left. I never believed that anyone was going to be able to use it.”
“Well they did, so just get over it.”
He grumbled something.
“It would be nice if you let me in.”
“Alright come on.”
He held the door open for me and I went in. It was a nice little place. The first room was a sitting area, a door on either side opened up to the other rooms. There were two chairs, a table, and a small window in the back. I took a seat in one of the chairs. He took the other.
We stared at each other for a time, each wanting to figure out the other. He was an old man, older than I had expected, but not too old. He only had wisps of white hair on his head and he wore a cloak that could have easily come from Earth, but I wasn’t sure.
“It’s nice in here.” I said at last.
“Cut to the chase, what is it you want from me?”
“Miggins brought me here using your Tekogoly to stop an invasion by the Terror Bringers, or Voratiots, or whoever they are. I told him that I could not help them and he sent me to you.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, he said something about meeting the person who was responsible for getting me here.”
“That would be him.”
“Yes, but you created the Tekogoly.”
“The Technology.”
“Whatever, can you help me or not?”
“Help you with what?” His voice rose angrily.
“Help me stop the invasion.”
“If they are going to invade they are going to invade. Why would anybody think that you can help stop it?”
“Because you told them I could. Miggins read me things you said about Earth. Apparently it was an Earth that I have never been to.”
“Oh,” he said under his breath, “that’s right I did say some things.”
“Yes you did. What was the point in doing that?”
“If you are going to understand it then I have to tell it to you from the beginning.”
“Then do it.”
He closed his eyes, as if summoning up lost memories, and then began. “I was twenty three when I first started work in Yim. I sta
rted out in the kitchens, and it bored me to tears. I wanted something more, so after a few years I transferred to research and development. And to tell you something about Hurdeen, I was the only one there. That was a position they put people in if they didn’t want to see them again. Nobody in Hurdeen ever made anything worth using, but I did. A strident young man, I never let them forget me. I was always up there with the council, telling them things that I was working on, fighting for more funding. And to shut me up, they gave it to me. Soon I was creating things left and right. I had a team, I had material, and I was becoming a superstar. Everybody loved me for what I created, but it wasn’t enough for me, I wanted to go beyond our limits here in Hurdeen. To explore the world and bring back new ideas, but they wouldn’t let me. I began to despise the council, and everyone associated with Hurdeen for obstructing my visions. So I set out to explore without their permission, and when I came back they locked me in my lab. But I would not give up. I intended to make a teleporting machine. After twenty years at it, and with only supervised visits outside, I did it. I was going to leave that place forever.
“I ended up, as you may have figured out, not in Voratiot or any other place here, but in your world. It was so new and interesting, but I was so scared of where I was that I went back. I made a few quick trips to pick up some things to show the council, but they hated where I was going, said it was too dangerous. That it was not right and went against the gods. They said all kinds of things to get me to stop. I could not stop, I was doing what I wanted to do and nobody was going to put a stop to it. They then threatened to cut my funding, to take away my Technology and to lock me away in a vault forever. I had to think up something quick, and so I made up stories of Earth’s history. I was now going there so much and staying so long that I learned English, I learned your histories, and used it to my advantage. I admit that when the council began getting bored with the real stories I began taking liberties, mixing in movie plots and book synopses, but what choice did I have? Eventually they did get bored and instead of putting me in a vault, they exiled me here. This is a place that nobody in Hurdeen goes to for fear of the Voratiots who they have branded Terror Bringers to keep their own people in line. Yes they do conquer, and yes they are terrible at times, but other than that there is nothing to worry about. Of course until now when they are getting ready to invade, so I guess they are right to say—”
“So that’s it,” I started irritably, “That’s why I’m here, because you told them all those stories to keep your funding. They think that everyone on Earth has superpowers, and they need me to find mine to stop the invasion.”
“That’s very curious how stories can get enhanced over time.”
“Enhanced? You told them that way yourself.”
“I suppose I did.”
“And what are you going to do about it now? I still need to come up with some way to stop the invasion or they aren’t going to let me go home.”
He put his hands up, “Now keep your senses, let’s not blow a fuse. I’ll simply write you instructions on how to sneak into my lab and use the Technology, and you will be back at home in no time.”
“Really?” For the first time in days I felt relieved beyond comparable measures. “Wow, thank you.” I sank lower into my chair and fantasized about being home without the sting of not knowing whether it was ever going to happen.
“It’s a bit complicated, but I guess if you can find this Miggins character, and you trust him, then he can help you.”
“I probably won’t tell him, I don’t want him to know that I’m going to skip out on everyone.” I went back to my glorious thoughts when I suddenly remembered something. “Hang on; he gave me a note to give to you.” I pulled the note out of the inside pocket of my jacket and gave it to Dimitrius.
He began to read, “Let’s see, oh, well that changes everything.” He banged his hands against the arms of his chair. “The idiot, I knew this would happen if anybody used the Technology.”
“What, what is it?” I said cautiously.
“He broke it, and that’s why he sent you out here.”
Good feelings gone, every last one of them. How could he break it and not tell me? I guess he didn’t want me mad at him there, rather me be mad far away so I can’t do anything about it.”
“Can you fix it?” I asked, clinging to my last hope.
“Certainly I can, but it’s there, I’m here, and wouldn’t you know it, the piece that he broke is only made in Voratiot.”
“What? But I thought that they wouldn’t let you into Voratiot to get anything.”
“Back then there were still merchants who came and went, albeit seldom, but they got me what I wanted without ever having to leave the capital. If the piece was still attached I could just fix it, but it’s missing entirely.”
“What is it?”
“Think of it like a gas cap. With it gone, all the fuel leaks out on re-entry, which is a bumpy ride, believe me. After two re-entries all the fuel is gone completely. And wouldn’t you know it again, the fuel is easiest to get in Voratiot, they use it for their cannons.”
“What do we have to do?”
“It looks like you are going to Voratiot.”
“I’m not going, at least not by myself.”
He sighed deeply, “Well, let’s see then, I haven’t gone on a journey in a while, my last was to Sorm, and that wasn’t very much fun at all. I ended up preaching in a cave, how weird is that? Alright, I’ll go, maybe you can actually stop the invasion while you’re there. How many days are there left now, I heard when there were fourteen, but I don’t remember now.”
“I don’t remember either, I’ve spent too much of my time trying to figure out if I was in a coma or—I’m not dead am I?”
“No, you’re not dead, unless we all are.”
“Okay, so I am just thousands of miles from home.”
“What?”
“I said I’m –”
“Where do you think you are?” He said, a smile creeping across his face.
“In Hurdeen, on, well actually I don’t even know if this planet has a name.”
“You really don’t know do you?”
“Know what?”
“This is great, you think that you are on an alien planet, don’t you?”
“Well of course I am.”
“Young lady—”
“Bessie.”
“Bessie, you never left.”
This didn’t make any sense, of course I left, I saw the space ship. I woke up here, and so then I had to be on a different planet. “If I never left, then where did the Technology take me?”
He leaned toward me, “To a different Earth.”
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