The Other Realm

by Joab Stieglitz

  “You can wash up over there,” Lamb said loudly to be heard over the noise of Govil and Shemei. Anna glanced at the pool and followed his advice.

  ◆

  “At least they are back together,” O’Malley said. “Maybe they’re getting directions to where Brian is.”

  “It would appear that they are making progress.”

  “It’s still strange that some of the people are blurred for some reason, while others are not. What is so special about them?” Bierce’s lights flashed.

  “The Junazhi believe that those beings have been corrupted by Utgarda, and their true forms are incomprehensible to the human mind.”

  “But Harry doesn’t seem to be repulsed.”

  “He can see the illusion that is being presented.

  “The sooner this is done, the better.”

  ◆

  Some time later, Anna and Lamb were lying on the bed. Ganon and Govil watched them expressionlessly with their compound insect eyes. Anna had bathed, with the help of Shemei, who had joined her in the pool after her encounter with Govil. She showed Anna some lotions and cremes to cleanse herself with.

  Anna now wore a rough vest and pants made of animal hide. The vest had been a shirt until Govil tore off the long sleeves. They had been included in a basket of things that had been confiscated when she was captured. Ganon had sent Shemei to get it after her bath. In the basket were also a bandoleer containing six throwing knives, a belt, a dagger in a sheath, a pair of thick-soled traveling boots, and a pair of throwing knives in forearm-mounted sheaths. The guards agreed not to reattach the chains as long as Anna did not attempt to escape. They ordered that she was to be barefoot unless they needed to travel on foot. And, of course, they refused to let her have any weapons.

  “What are we waiting for?” Govil asked in irritation. “The queen commanded that we kill Gho-Bazh and bring back Deb-Roh.”

  “To begin with,” Anna said, “I have not eaten in who knows how long. Shemei will return with food shortly. We will depart after we eat. “

  “What do you suggest we need for this journey?” Lamb asked, trying to break the tension. Govil scowled, but Ganon knew what he was doing and unrolled a rough map.

  “Assuming Gho-Bazh is at his palace in Kreipsche,” he pointed to a castle symbol, “we will cross the Narrows.” He referred to an isthmus that connected the so-called Isle of Brynne to the surrounding continent. “From there, we will skirt the Endless Barrens of None,” indicating a mountainous region dominated by a large plateau, “down the Tiornen road. We will probably need to resupply in Tiornen,” a city symbol, “before heading up the Weltschmerz road along the eastern side of the Groaning Slopes of Woe.” The indicated road passed between a mountain range to the west and the plateau to the east.

  “That’s the easy part,” Ganon continued. “Once we reach the Dirge, Gho-Bazh’s troops will be patrolling the area and we’ll have to sneak past them, around the mountains to Kreipsche, and then into his palace.”

  “How long will that take?” Anna asked.

  “If things are favorable,” Govil said, “we should be in Kreipsche before the snows fall there.”

  “About four cycles of the moon,” Ganon replied.

  Chapter 9

  Dhath Gl’clot 11

  The city outside the palace was a maze of whitewashed adobe. The streets were crowded with merchants, shoppers, and others, all human and carefully watched by insect-man guards with mancatchers. As she scanned the scene, Anna noted that there were no apparent archers.

  She and Lamb waited with Ganon while Govil negotiated with a merchant for large, reptilian beasts of burden. Some had long, scythe-like claws extending from the front pair of their six legs. The others had three pairs of legs that ended in five-clawed toes.

  “While we wait here,” Anna said to Ganon, “tell me who you think I am.”

  “You are Nygof of Kreipsche,” the guard replied. “You are said to be a spy and assassin, and an expert with knives thrown and in hand.”

  “And what of my reputation?” Anna probed.

  “You are not known to use poison or kill by ambush,” Ganon continued. “It is said that you always confront victims and tell them why before you kill them.”

  “And why am I the Queen’s prisoner?”

  “You came to Brynner to assassinate the Queen for Gho-Bazh. You used your underworld contacts to sneak into the city, and Deb-Roh’s magic to enter the palace.”

  “And you captured me?”

  “No, you were already in the cells before Govil and I were assigned to guard you.”

  “So everything you know about her is hearsay?” Lamb asked. Ganon looked hesitant. “You don’t have any first-hand knowledge of who she is or what she has done.”

  “I have my instructions from the Queen,” Ganon said, snapping his mandibles, “and that is all that I need.”

  ◆

  “All the guards are blurry too,” O’Malley asked, squinting through tired eyes at the monochrome image. “Why are they concealed from Harry?”

  “The Junazhi believe that the concealed beings are of an insectoid origin. Their other senses detect such characteristics.”

  “And they are trying to buy those six-legged reptiles as transportation. This is all in Brian Teplow’s imagination?”

  “The world we are viewing is the creation of Brian Teplow’s mind.”

  ◆

  “I have acquired six shufflers; two males and four females,” Govil announced when the group came at his summons. “Ganon and I will ride the males. You two and the gear will be carried on the females.” He looked to Anna and Lamb. “Should we lose one, we can transfer the gear to your mounts.”

  The wrangler led them to the six skinny creatures. One of them approached Anna, and puffed a cloud of moist air over her face before sucking it back in again. Then the shuffler stood by her side. Anna took the reins.

  “She seems to like you,” Govil said with a scowl. “It is said that Nygof is a friend to all beasts.” He glanced at the shackles which were visible in a pouch on his harness, but then just walked past and took the reins of one of the armed mounts.

  “They’re not the best specimens,” Ganon said after glancing at the six, “but they will have to do. We’ll just need to keep the gear to a minimum.”

  Lamb selected another of the females. It screeched at him. He approached slowly and allowed the shuffler to examine him, which it did front and back with its long neck. Then it exhaled and inhaled on him, and stood its ground. Lamb took the reins, and the beast grunted.

  “Hold the reins of the other two,” Ganon said, leading the other male shuffler. He watched as Lamb and Anna each approached the remaining creatures, who inspected them before allowing them to lead them on.

  ◆

  The blazing red sun was high in a cloudless, purple sky when the expedition passed through the North Gate. They had acquired a large number of water skins. Each of the mounts carried four, and one of the pack beasts bore three large casks. They had purchased soft, flat loaves that they rolled up and stuffed in their saddle bags. They piled trade goods on the other shuffler.

  Govil led the way, followed by Lamb, then Anna, and finally Ganon. Lamb and Anna each had a pack animal tethered to their mount.

  The countryside around the city of Brynner was green and lush with large-leaved bushes and towering trees. The road was packed earth, and Anna watched as the sides of the path were cleared by slaves overseen by insect-men. She was about to ask why when she heard a scream and looked to watch the feet of a man disappear into the maw of a giant, carnivorous plant.

  “Everything here is dangerous,” Govil shouted back to Lamb. “Do not approach anything and only go where I tell you to.”

  “What do you mean by everything?”

  “The bushes bite, the trees have poisonous bark and acidic fruits and the grass can be razor sharp. The shufflers are protected by thick hides, but you should not stray from the path.”

  Lamb
gulped and nodded his understanding, though Govil was not looking at him.

  “How far will we travel today?” Anna shouted to Ganon behind her.

  “If we can reach the Narrows at low tide, we will cross and camp on the other side. If not, we will camp on this side of the Narrows and cross wait. There is a clearing there for just that purpose.”

  “Why wait?”

  “Because the inhabitants of the twin lakes pull travelers into the depths when the tide is high, and they can reach across the Narrows.”

  ◆

  “What in the name of all that is holy is that?!” O’Malley cried as the faces became more distinct.

  As he watched, the blurry outlines of their heads became insect-like, with bulbous, compound eyes, pointed beaks, and sharply pointed mandibles.

  “The Junazhi say that the illusion has faded. That is how they actually appear.”

  “I’ve never heard of anything like that,” O’Malley said. In all his studies of ancient history and mythology, he had never come across insect-beings.

  ◆

  Lamb did not realize that Govil and Ganon’s true features had been revealed until he noticed the guards at the Narrows. At the top of a small rise, they looked over the narrow strip of land that separated the twin lakes, Aeryne and Feryne, and connected the Isle of Brynn to the landmass beyond that stretched featurelessly as far as the eye could see.

  Lamb noticed a handful of guards posted at the near end and that was when he saw the mandibles, and then the compound eyes. He turned to his companions to say something, and saw that Anna was not surprised that their escorts also had insect heads.

  The sun was setting over the mountains in the distance. As they watched, the isthmus visibly narrowed with the arrival of each wave.

  “Quickly now,” Govil shouted, coaxing his mount to run, “we must cross before the tide comes in. Otherwise we have to cross in the early morning, when it will be dark.”

  Lamb kicked the shuffler’s flanks, but the beast did not respond. Anna pulled her reins back, as if to stop a horse, and her mount took off, with the pack animal running behind her. Lamb pulled back on his reins, and his shuffler quickly caught up to and passed Anna’s.

  With each length, the waters grew steadily closer. Lamb noticed movement beneath the rapidly approaching surface on both sides. Suddenly, a tentacle lashed out toward him, but fell short. More tentacles groped at them from both sides, growing steadily closer.

  Lamb saw that Govil had reached the other side of the Narrows, and the guard turned back. Then the insect man jerked the reins and the shuffler bounded back toward them.

  At the same time, a tentacle wrapped around one of the legs of Anna’s beast. The creature stumbled, but righted itself when Ganon’s mount sliced through it and then several others with its scythe-like forelimbs.

  Govil took up a position on the other side and had his mount slash at the tentacles there.

  When they reached the opposite bank, the Narrows were less than a shuffler-length wide. The tentacles groped along the surface and fought over the severed ends of their peers.

  The group stopped by squeezing their legs on the chests of their mounts and then all dismounted.

  “Inspect your beast,” Govil said with authority. “See that there are no wounds.” He then pulled an animal skin from a saddlebag and wiped the gore from his mount’s forelegs and chest. Ganon did the same with practiced ease.

  Anna looked carefully at the leg that had been seized by the tentacle. There was a rough patch where it looked like some scales had been scraped off, but there was no signed of a laceration. She checked out the rest of the creature, which stood calmly for her inspection. Then she looked over the pack lizard.

  Lamb tried to follow suit, but his mount turned her neck or body to keep him in view. The animal had not been hit by anything, and did not seem to be injured. Anna joined him a moment later after examining Lamb’s pack animal.

  “She looks to be in good condition,” she said.

  “Let’s get moving,” Govil said from his saddle. “We want to be in the foothills before dark.”

  ◆

  “That is a strange place,” O’Malley said after watching the narrow escape across the isthmus.

  “According to Sigmund Freud,” Bierce said, “the imagery of the mind is representative of repressed desires.”

  “And what do insect-men and tentacled monsters symbolize?”

  “The Junazhi hypothesize that the world we are viewing is a corrupted union of Teplow’s and Kovacs’ thoughts.”

  “I hope Anna and Harry can separate the two.”

  ◆

  The caravan had climbed up a slope from the shore and through a gap in a low stone wall. Beyond the wall, Anna saw a vast plateau rise farther on the opposite side of a wide, well-traveled path that wound in both directions around the twin lakes on either side of the Narrows. A large, flat section of the stone face across from the gap in the wall was inscribed with strange characters that Anna could somehow discern by the fading light of the setting sun. The sign indicated that Tiornen was to the left, and Len Lorche was to the right.

  “We will camp here,” Govil said as he tethered his shuffler to one of several stone rings on either side of the sign. As Anna dismounted, she was caught by Ganon, who promptly snapped the chains to her wrist and leg cuffs, expertly passed the connecting chain from her ankles through one of the rings and to Anna’s wrists.

  “We had an agreement,” Lamb cried as he attempted to pull Anna away from the guard. Ganon kicked him in the chest and the doctor fell to the ground.

  “I agreed not to try to escape,” Anna said angrily, “I agreed not to wear shoes, and I agreed to be unarmed. Why have you bound me again?”

  “Your word is yet to be proven,” Govil said scornfully. “We will not face the Queen’s wrath should you escape us.”

  “But she’ll be completely vulnerable like this,” Lamb replied. “What if some fearsome beasts attack us in the night?!”

  “We will also not fail in our mission,” Ganon said. “We will ensure that both of you survive to complete the Queen’s commands.”

  “Be content that we do not strip you,” Govil added. “Your reputation for improvisational weaponry is known to us.”

  “And who will protect her from you?” Lamb asked pointedly.

  “You are welcome to try,” Govil replied.

  Chapter 10

  Dhath Gl’clot 11

  Anna stood facing the rock wall that sloped up from the twin lakes. It was cold, dry, and dark, unlike the bright, hot, and humid afternoon, though she could tell that the moon was rising beyond the lip of the plateau before her. She was tethered in the center of the six shufflers between the two pack animals. The beasts she and Lamb had ridden were next, while the scythe-armed males were tied up on the outside.

  The ring was set just above her waist level, and she had had to stand on her toes until Lamb piled some large, flat stones to raise her up. Anna was tired too. Her legs ached and her bare feet against the cold stone gave her chills, which a light breeze along the road amplified periodically.

  Anna and Lamb had protested at length until Ganon clamped his mandibles lightly onto Lamb skull. Govil then gagged Anna with a leather bit that was only removed when Lamb had persuaded Govil to let him hand feed her from the ration packet that the guard deigned to allow her to eat. Anna could tell that the abrasive guard was just being obstinate, but they were armed, Lamb was not, and she was shackled. Their hostility toward her was evident. Ganon seemed to be better able to control his temper, but he clearly deferred to Govil.

  While Anna ate, the human pair considered their situation.

  “This is not the vision of Brian Teplow,” Anna said. “We were allied. You, me, Ganon, Govil, and Sif were on the expedition to rescue Brian together. Now, Brian, or rather Deb-Roh, and Gho-Bazh are allied, and we are Sif’s prisoners.”

  “Liv was clearly hostile toward you,” Lamb replied, smiling at the memo
ry of her costume, “but I could tell that she was still smitten with me.”

  “Liv is gone!” Anna whispered with irritation. “She was transformed by Utgarda’s touch into that slug-witch. Did you not see that trail of larvae appearing from behind her?”

  “What are you talking about?” Lamb looked confused. “She was the same as when we met her at her apartment.”

  “You are telling me that Sif looked perfectly normal to you?” Anna said in frustration.

  “Yes.”

  “That everyone in the throne room was human?”

  “Of course.”

  “And what of Ganon and Govil?” Anna said, tilting her head toward where Ganon stood watch. She noted a glimmer of understanding in Lamb’s expression. “She must have cast some kind of spell on you, and we have passed beyond its range of effect.” Lamb turned pale.

  “Now you can see Sif’s minions for what they really are. Those insect people are her offspring! Sif is a hive queen! An insect! Ganon and Govil are her soldiers. Like ants! And, like ants, they are devoted to and live only to serve their queen.”

  “I must admit,” Lamb said with a sigh, “that as absurd as that sounds, it seems to be the case. If this is a world of Brian’s imagination, anything is possible.” He paused. “But why have you been cast as an assassin?”

  “Sif said she knew who I was in the throne room. For some reason, she blames me for her transformation.”

  “We went to the Church of Cosmic Understanding to find you. She insisted on scouting ahead and ended up in that sacrificial pit.” He gave Anna a despairing look. “If we hadn’t been looking for you… if I hadn’t been so worried about you…”

  Anna peered into his eyes. They were moist with unshed tears. She unconsciously tried to raise her hands to wipe them away, but the chains stopped her.