Under Everest

by D. H. Dunn

  “Let us not waste the gift you have given us, Drew. We must see to getting home. Come, the room is not far from this one.”

  Upala headed toward one of the room’s far exits, Merin right behind.

  Drew noted Upala’s steps were slower but steadier than they had been after her release. Somehow, Upala seemed both less and more injured to him, one of the many things about the woman that defied his expectations.

  She had been a dream for so long and now she was real, walking right in front of him. His heart lurched between fear and hope, he tried to focus on her back as she strode forward. Keeping her as his fixed point on the horizon, he began to feel the deck under his feet again.

  Merin walked beside Drew as they followed Upala, both taking care to keep their eyes on the floor.

  “What you have done to him, to Kater,” Merin said, her voice quiet enough only Drew could hear, “it is better than he deserved. It is less than I wanted to do, less than my anger requires.” Drew sighed, keeping his eyes down. “Yet you honor my husband. I know of your desire to preserve life, it is one that Kad shared as well. He would have been shamed if I took a life in his name. For this, and for many things, I thank you, Drew Adley.”

  Drew became aware of the pain in his arms, on his chest. He was sure to have burns from his contact with Kater, but they did not feel too severe. They would scar over and become just another reminder of his time in the Under.

  Like all his hurts, he hoped they would heal in time.

  Drew was surprised that the room that contained the portal back to Aroha Darad was so small. There was barely enough space to contain the gateway and the three of them, which he supposed was why Merin had decided to wait in the passageway outside the chamber.

  Drew appreciated that Merin was keeping an eye out for any threats that might approach while Upala worked on stabilizing the portal. The corruption Upala had spoken of, the effect of the Under on the portals, seemed to be complicating matters.

  The gateway itself was no different than any of the others Drew had seen. A simple oval of stone, the gray rock melting away when Upala touched it with a pink and blue crystal from her robe. Inside the oval, an image began to form showing Drew what looked like an ornate patio, beyond which he could see a familiar mountainous view. The image blurred and shifted but was becoming more stable with Upala’s ministrations.

  Drew noted there was a pattern to the gestures she used with the crystal, bringing questions to his mind about how the portals worked. He pushed those thoughts aside. Now that he had a moment alone with her, his emotions were surfacing past his defenses.

  “I was worried you wouldn’t remember me,” he said. He looked over his shoulder to see if Merin was there but saw no one. He suspected she had moved just out of earshot, either to give him more privacy or Upala more space to work.

  “Of course, I remembered you,” Upala said, not stopping the motions of her hands. Her voice had regained its musical quality, something he had not noticed when they had first met. “I have thought of little else since that night, Drew.”

  “That seems like another lifetime for me,” he said. “Part of me never left that bar when we met. You and I, we . . .”

  “Yes,” Upala said. “I could not have forgotten that night, or you. You have become a challenge for me, Drew. Something that gets in the way of what I thought I wanted to do with my life.”

  “I’m . . . sorry to hear that.”

  “No, you misunderstand. My time with you has changed me, but slowly. It made me see things I have been avoiding for too long. I wish now I had changed faster, thought about things more quickly. With my brother and me, it is not our way.”

  She looked at Drew, and he saw again the woman he had met in Kathmandu, the woman whose memory he had chased across much of Asia. She had pain and regret now, but those were emotions he was familiar with.

  “Upala, everyone makes―”

  He never finished his sentence. His words were suddenly drowned out by a rumbling that shook the foundations of the room. The portal’s image wavered, Upala leaned in closer and chanted at it. Far off, Drew heard a roar he recognized.

  Merin ran into the room, her eyes wide with concern for the same person Drew was now thinking of

  “Nima,” Drew said. “Vihrut is after her.”

  Upala shook her head, perspiration flying as she did so. “I have the path home stabilized, but it is in tune with the Under. When the stability of the Under is affected, I have to steady the gateway all over again.”

  As if in response, the chamber shook again with the force of Vihrut tearing through some distant part of Upala’s complex. The roar was farther off now, and angrier. The image of Aroha Darad flickered and twisted, before Upala cleared it again.

  “He’s looking to get back to Nepal!” Drew yelled over the increasing vibrations. “Nima and Pasang!”

  “This creature, your Vihrut,” Upala cried, her voice quaking. “It will not find the portal in time, there are too many in the complex. Too many rooms. It may be coming for us, we need to move!”

  “‘The stench of you’ the beast said to Kater,” Merin said. “It’s an animal, it can smell. It can smell her!”

  Another tremor shook the room, forcing Drew to brace his feet to remain standing. A beam collapsed in the far corner, bringing small portions of ceiling with it. Another roar, angrier but more distant.

  “It doesn’t have to find the portal,” Drew shouted. “It wants Nepal and he knows that’s where Nima is going. Vihrut just has to find her.”

  Driven by Jang’s emotions and goals, the beast was headed for Nepal, with Nima and Pasang the only obstacles in its way.

  29

  “What is behind you is forgotten. You can’t remember danger and difficulty when it is behind you.”

  —Wanda Rutkiewicz

  The image of Everest’s snow-covered surface danced before Nima’s eyes. The view of the South Col shimmered inside the portal like a pool after a pebble had been thrown in. One step and they would be on the other side, back home. A long descent would await them, but she had plenty of rope and equipment in her pack, as did her brother.

  Pasang stood next to her, his hand in hers. Together they had nearly passed through the portal when they heard the first tremor. They froze, knowing both the meaning and consequence of the chaotic thunder that was rapidly approaching.

  She clutched the crystal tightly inside her hand, remembering the instructions Upala had given her.

  Vihrut was coming, and if they went through the portal they would leave the door open for him as well. Upala had said to smash the crystal on the other side, but that the portal would only close sooner.

  What if it was still open too long?

  The small room they were in contained many of the inert, stone, oval portals. They adorned the walls and ceilings of the space. None of them had been active when they arrived, but the center portal had reacted to the light blue crystal, just as Upala had said it would. The other gateways in the room remained shut, but before them was the way back to Nepal, right where the spell queen said it would be.

  “Nima,” Pasang said. “We cannot let that monster reach Nepal. Our homes, our people.”

  His voice was strong and steady, and she felt a surge of pride in her brother. The scared little boy was long-gone now.

  The chamber shook again, followed by another roar, closer than before. The monster was narrowing in on them. Nima thought back to Vihrut’s words in Upala’s library and remembered it had acquired Jang’s obsessions. If Vihrut came to this room and found the way to Nepal open, there would be no containing the beast.

  She had activated the portal, it would be her responsibility.

  She held one gloved hand out toward the rippling image, her fingers stopping just short of its surface. Nima’s other hand jammed into her pocket, finding the pencil Wanda had given her. Wanda’s choice had come not long after Vihrut’s arrival, a choice that had the greater good in mind.

  “Maybe
.” Her brother also reached out to the shimmering threshold of the portal. “How fast will it close after we go through?”

  There was no way to be sure. Upala had only said sooner. Maybe if she were here, or Merin. Nima had no idea how long the gateway to Nepal would stay open if they both passed through, but she did know how to close it instantly.

  “I’m not going,” Nima said. The decision was made in her mind, though she knew Pasang would protest. He would insist to stay here, with her. She was sure of it.

  Her father needed Pasang, but this wasn’t just about Awa. Pasang had a life waiting for him on the other side of the magic field in front of her. Pasang had a future there, one he wanted.

  But what life waited for her there, both an eyeblink and a lifetime away? What life did she want?

  “We can’t be sure how long it will take,” she said, squeezing his hand. The crash of a huge body colliding with stone echoed through the room. It was close now, time was running out. “I have to stay here and make sure it can’t get through. I need you to do something for me. Tell Dorjee and Gyalzen . . . tell them I love them.” She paused, feeling something unlock in her heart. “Tell Awa, too. Tell him I’m sorry.”

  “No,” Pasang said, crossing his arms. “If you stay then I will stay. I can’t do this alone.”

  She pulled her brother close to her and looked into his eyes, her vision blurred by tears. Behind him, the snows continued to blow past the morning sun on Everest.

  “You can do this alone, Pasang,” she said. “You were alone with Kater’s people before Drew and I came. You were leading their climbing teams! They called you Sirdar!” she laughed, hoping he’d echo the reaction. He did not. “You are strong, and you don’t need me or Ama or anyone. I love you, Kikuli. You only need yourself.”

  With all her might, she shoved Pasang through the portal, his shocked expression the last image she saw before turning away. He was back in Nepal, back on Everest. Soon he would be back home, a home that made sense for him but no longer felt like a place for her.

  With the gateway to Nepal at her back, she breathed a sigh of relief when Vihrut crashed through the entrance to the room, snarling as he eyed her. It was finally time to end things. She kept Wanda’s pencil clutched tightly in her hand, hoping to pull strength from it.

  Wanda had been strong, now it was her turn.

  “Stand aside, Nima-food,” Vihrut said.

  In the tight confines of the small chamber, the deep voice boomed with even more authority, bouncing off the many inert stone portals that ringed the active gateway to Nepal.

  “I cannot,” Nima said. “You are confused, Vihrut. What Jang has given you―this need for Nepal. It doesn’t make sense, there is nothing you can do there. Maybe I can help you, we can find a new goal together.”

  Vihrut moved fully into the room, the claws clacking on the stone. His wings spread out, casting a shadow and sending Nima into darkness. His eyes peered into Nima’s, his long neck bringing his face closer. She glanced down and could see the many shapes still churning inside his translucent stomach―crystals and dark spheres of stone.

  “You will not trick me, Nima-food,” Vihrut said, its breath blowing over Nima and bathing her in the odor of stale mushrooms and rotted meat.

  She braced herself, willing her insides to stay calm. Her heart pounded, refusing her attempts to control it.

  “Jang-gift respected you. With his memory, I see now you deserve our anger, not Adley-food. You seek to deceive us, stop us. We will leave this place!” Vihrut pounded the floor of the chamber for effect and Nima jumped, despite herself. “We will have Nepal. We will have a world!”

  “No, Vihrut,” Nima said, holding the light-blue crystal aloft. She watched the beast’s eyes narrow, focusing on the small object in her hand as she threw it to the ground. “You and I will both stay here.”

  The small crystal shattered against the floor, tiny fragments scattering at Vihrut’s feet. With an audible pop, the image of Nepal behind her faded, replaced by smooth stone. The door to her home was shut, but her people were safe. She braced herself for Vihrut’s fury.

  A sound began to build inside the beast, starting low in its belly and rising to its head. A sound that was not a roar of rage, but a cross between a cough and a wheeze. Vihrut repeatedly pulled air in through its teeth, then opened its mouth in an odd exhale. After a moment, Nima understood.

  Vihrut was laughing.

  “Jang-gift thought you clever,” he said after a final guffaw. “Perhaps to his kind you are. You think to bar me from my prize, yet you show me where it is. You show me what I need. Then you break the crystal, thinking the way sealed.”

  Vihrut’s arm snaked out with lightning speed, snatching Nima in a clawed grip before she could react. He hoisted her up to his face, allowing her to watch as he sank his other arm directly into his belly. His hand passed through the translucent membrane with a squishing sound, emerging after a moment.

  The slime-covered hand was brought up to Nima’s face, the talons unfurling to show what he held in his palm. A small light-blue crystal.

  “It is well that I have another crystal then.” Nima watched in horror as Vihrut casually tossed the crystal at the inert Nepal portal, where it shattered. The stone melted away to again reveal an oval-shaped view of the South Col of Everest, the image shimmering lightly.

  Footsteps led off into the snow, giving Nima one bit of relief. At least Pasang had gone. She looked back at the creature, the sides of Vihrut’s mouth turned up to show rows of yellow teeth. His green eyes squinted with his smile. The pressure of the talons wrapped around her waist began to increase.

  “We were going to spare you, Nima-food. Allow you to join us. That was Jang-gift’s desire. But you sought to trick us, trap us here. Deny us a world. For that, we will kill you. When we reach Nepal, we will tell your brood of you. Then we will kill them as well.”

  The pressure intensified as Vihrut squeezed harder, bringing his face close to Nima’s, his large snake-like eyes staring into hers.

  She looked around the room for a weapon, an ally, an option. Finding nothing, she pushed her free hand into her pocket in desperation and found something her fingers could grasp. Something small and sharp.

  With a quick swing of her arm she jammed Wanda’s pencil into Vihrut’s eye, burying the point deep. White fluid shot out and she was sent flying as the beast threw her against the wall, howling in pain.

  She landed hard on the cold, stone floor. Above her, Vihrut screamed, pounding the floor in pain. Claws and wings were all around her, she expected to be flattened at any moment. She scrambled forward, hoping to crawl to the exit, to run and hide.

  A gloved hand thrust in under the chaos, reaching for her. She looked up.

  Drew looked back, smiling. Nima put her hand in his, letting him pull her to her feet.

  “Drew?” she said. “How?” He was burned, his face and chest covered with sores, yet his grin was beautiful all the same.

  “Upala and Merin are holding the portal,” Drew said, pulling her toward the doorway. Vihrut flopped onto the ground, nearly shaking them all from their feet. “Come on.”

  “No,” Nima said, pulling back and planting her feet.

  Vihrut was already pulling itself together, shaking his head back and forth in the small chamber. His wings unfurled again, the edges scraping against the inert portals on the walls. He looked too big to fit through the portal to Nepal, but she knew he’d find a way; he had Jang inside him. Nima was committed to stopping Vihrut once and for all, she had to see it through.

  She reached into her pack, pulling out the long coil of rope. She and Pasang had each packed one rope for their descent from Everest. Drew was complaining, but she was not listening. She quickly stripped off her belt and tied a strong knot around the rear. Replacing the belt, she handed the end to Drew.

  “Hold on to this,” she said, looking him in the eye. She always felt safer with Drew at the other end of her rope. “Pull me out; you’ll
know when.”

  Drew nodded, coiling the rope around his arm and waist. The beast had not yet noticed them, with his one good eye he was turned toward the gateway to Nepal, twisting his body in an attempt to fit through. Nima ran at full speed toward the titanic creature, not giving her fear time to catch up with her.

  “Wait!” Drew yelled. “Pull you out of where?”

  Pushing as much strength into her legs as she could, she dove at Vihrut’s translucent belly with all the force she could bring to bear. Taking one last gulp of air, she passed through the outer membrane, lodging herself inside the creature’s stomach.

  The agony was instantaneous, like a thousand insects eating at her skin. The ooze inside Vihrut worked into her ears and up her nose. It filled every free space of air in her clothing, covering Nima in a warm, jelly-like coat of pain. She bit her tongue to stay focused, kept her eyes and mouth shut.

  She could feel the minds of Vihrut probing at her, many thoughts and emotions at once. Jang was there, angry and scared. Many other voices, wants, and needs. Which was the real Vihrut? The question was like a hook, and Nima refused to be the fish. She was holding her breath, but there were more threats here than suffocation. She needed to hurry.

  She felt around with her hands, she gathered as many of the shapes she was looking for as possible. The burning against her skin was growing stronger, a strange whine starting to build in her ears, like a pot ready to boil over. She knew she had to get out. She waved her arms, hoping Drew could see and understand her signal.

  Her body started to move, pulled by the rope tied to her belt. Nima clutched her prizes, it would be all for nothing if she dropped them. She felt her legs pass back through the membrane, the sensation of stinging wasps mercifully leaving her lower body. Another yank at her waist, and she felt the coolness of air again.

  Nima gasped, sneezing and coughing the vile fluid from her. She rubbed her eyes clear with her forearm, keeping her hands locked shut. Drew called to her and began to pull her toward him when she felt Vihrut’s claws close around her left calf, yanking her back.