The Other Realm

by Joab Stieglitz

  At the suggestion, Anna thought she would be afraid. But the space below was just as dark as the sections of the cave not illuminated by the lanterns at either end, so she had no feelings of vertigo or hesitation.

  “Yes, Harry,” she said with a strained, but even voice, “stay where you are. If you come to me, you will not have the rope for guidance.” Lamb sighed, but remained in place.

  Anna took a deep breath. Then she gripped the rope tightly with both hands and let her feet drop. The additional weight pulling on her arms was more than she had anticipated, and she cried out in alarm as the rope bit into her fingers.

  “I’m coming!” Lamb shouted.

  “No!” Anna commanded. “Do not risk yourself. I will manage. But put your gloves on before you head across.” Anna had not imagined dangling from the rope, so she had not put her own gloves on. She winced against the pain, and pulled herself, hand over hand, across the gap beneath her. Her bloody fingers stained the rope as she progressed. When she was near the other side, her now-blood-coated hands slipped from the rope, but the warrior grabbed her and set her down beside him.

  “IT IS NOW YOUR TURN, NAB.”

  Lamb pulled on the rope until the excess returned to his side. He tied the remainder of the rope around his waist. He silently chastised himself for not thinking of it before Anna had gone across. When he was ready, he followed Anna’s example and inched down the ledge using the rope for balance. He managed to cross without incident.

  “Well done,” Khan-Tral said, slapping Lamb on the back while the doctor freed himself. He untied the ends of the rope and handed them to the warrior.

  “Pull the rope back to us while I examine her hands,” the doctor said. The swordsman took to his task.

  Lamb kneeled next to Anna, who sat breathing heavily against the edge of the cavern. Using a cloth bandage from their supplies, and his water skin, he washed away the blood. There were numerous abrasions, but not of the wounds were deep.

  “Those are going to be raw for a while,” the doctor said, “and we don’t have any proper antiseptics. I’ll wrap them, but keep your gloves on to help the wounds stay clean.”

  “I will do my best,” Anna said with a weary smile. “For right now, I need to rest for a little while.”

  “A CAPITAL IDEA,” the swordsman said, handing the coiled rope to Lamb. “I WILL SURVEY THE WAY AHEAD WHILE YOU TWO RESTORE YOURSELVES.”

  “Perhaps we should stay together-” Anna blurted out, but Khan-Tral was already gone.

  ◆

  “How long do those burn for?” Anna asked, referring to their lantern. The one they had left on the opposite side of the chasm chamber had finally burned out.

  “I think they should last for several days,” Lamb replied, “but you need to adjust the wick every so often so it doesn’t extinguish itself. And I don’t think that one was filled completely.” He examined the lamp that sat on the ground near them. “Khan-Tral must have filled this one to the top, because barely any oil has been used.”

  “Still,” Anna continued, “Khan-Tral has been gone a long time. Perhaps we should see what has happened to him.” She looked at the stack of bundles and kegs piled nearby. “But I don’t think the two of us will be able to carry all of this.”

  “We’ll take what we can,” Lamb said in resignation. “But I want you to keep your hands free. Let those cuts and scrapes have time to heal.”

  “As you insist, doctor,” Anna replied with mock seriousness.

  They stood, and Lamb helped Anna put one of the loaded frames on her back.

  “Is that too heavy?” he asked.

  “It will get lighter as we go along,” she replied with some effort.

  Lamb sat and pulled the straps of another frame over his shoulders. But when he tried to stand, he could not get up. Anna grinned and pulled him to his feet. The doctor picked up one of the small kegs, which contained drinking water.

  “We’ll have to leave the rest here,” he said, looking back at another loaded frame and half a dozen casks of water or lamp oil. “You take the lamp.”

  Anna picked up the lantern, glanced back at Lamb, and then stepped through the opening in the cave wall into a tunnel that was slightly taller than her and just wide enough to accommodate the loaded frame. The walls were fairly regular, and made of greenish stone with brownish layers throughout.

  “It’s a tight squeeze,” Lamb said from behind her. “I can’t get through carrying the keg. I’ll have to leave it with the others.”

  Anna could not turn around in the cramped space, so she waited as she heard him put the keg down with a thud, followed by a rolling sound and the doctor’s curses.

  “One less keg to worry about,” he said. “Went right over the edge, and I nearly knocked the others over after it!” He admonished himself quietly, but Anna could still hear him. Then a faint noise ahead of them caught her attention.

  “I think that we should be quiet,” she said quietly. “I expect that sounds travel very far in this narrow space. Listen!”

  “That’s Khan-Tral,” Lamb said quietly, but with concern. Anna could discern his voice as well, though the words were muffled. They headed forward as quickly as the confined space and the light of the lantern allowed. Their gear rattled noisily against the frames and the walls.

  The tunnel seemed to continue indefinitely. The uniform closeness of the walls becoming more oppressive with each step. Anna stopped when she could no longer keep up the pace and listened.

  “What’s wrong?” Lamb asked, also breathing heavily.

  “I need to catch my breath,” Anna said, “and I wanted to know if we can make out what is being said.” She listened carefully, but did not hear anything. When her breathing had slowed, she started forward again. “Come on.”

  They continued down the narrow passage until it suddenly expanded into a cavern small enough to be almost fully illuminated by the lantern. The floor of the cave was covered with some kind of fungus, whose color was painful to look at. Lying in the center of the patch of fungus was Khan-Tral. His lantern lay on its side, and the contents of its fuel reservoir were puddled in a bare patch.

  Chapter 21

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  Anna stepped into the cavern to allow Lamb to see. The doctor was about to run to the fallen man’s side when Anna put out her arm to stop him from stepping on the fungus.

  “There are spores floating in the air,” she said. Lamb looked more carefully and noted the motes as they were illuminated by the torch. “I imagine that more were released when he stepped onto that growth.”

  “He may have been knocked out or asphyxiated by inhaling them,” Lamb considered. Carefully, he took a light step onto the fungus. A small puff of spores were released by even that gentle touch. “I don’t see a way around it.”

  Anna noted the broken torch, and the bare stone where the oil had pooled. “I think we can use the oil to kill the fungus,” she said.

  “We don’t have a lot of it,” Lamb replied, but he pulled a flask of lamp oil from Anna’s frame, popped the cork, and poured a small amount on some of the fungus. To their astonishment, the growth seemed to retreat from the oil.

  “At least we can make a path to him that way,” Anna said. Lamb thought for a moment.

  “What if we clear a space around him?” he said, and poured some more of the oil in a circle on the organism. The growth on the outside of the circle shied away from it, but what was trapped within turned brown and crumbled to dust. “That will work,” the doctor said triumphantly. “You have six more flasks. What do I have on my frame?”

  “You have six flasks as well,” Anna replied after surveying Lamb’s frame. “Let us see if we can make a perimeter around Khan-Tral using two or three.”

  “Better get two each,” Lamb said, holding a pair flasks from her backpack. “Just in case.” Anna retrieved two flasks from his frame. “Here goes.”

  The two poured the oil sparingly, creating a path to the fallen warrior. The growth retreated as ex
pected. When they reached his body, they poured the oil in a circle around him, stepping where the fungus had already retreated. When they were finished, they had used all four bottles, and also spread the pooled oil from Khan-Tral’s lantern. There was now a three-foot space around the body.

  Lamb knelt beside the warrior and checked his pulse. The warrior was lying on his face. Lamb turned Khan-Tral’s head to one side and felt for breath with his hand. The swordsman was breathing shallowly. The doctor wiped the encrusted dirt and spores from Khan-Tral’s face with a wet cloth. A moment later, the warrior shuddered and attempted to rise.

  “Hold on,” Lamb said, gently holding him down. “You need to catch your breath and get some good air into your lungs.”

  In the meantime, Anna tried to examine the fungus more closely with her torch, but the matter retreated from the light. Using the cork of one of the empty oil flasks, she lit one end and quickly tossed the burning cork into the middle of the fungal growth. In a flash, the entire colony burst into flame and, just as quickly, the fire extinguished itself and the cavern floor was littered with the brown dust.

  “Well done, Nygof” the warrior said weakly, catching his breath while extinguishing his eyebrows with his fingers. “We now know that the growth is highly flammable.”

  ◆

  While the warrior rested, Anna and Lamb took turns traversing the tunnel to retrieve the rest of their supplies.

  “It’s hard to get through the passages with a backpack while carrying a keg,” Lamb advised.

  “We will make due,” the swordsman replied. “Also, the tunnels are not uniform. Some are much bigger than others.” He looked up.

  There were two other exits from the cavern. One appeared to be a continuation of the path they had been following. The other was a wider opening, perhaps five feet in diameter, in the ceiling.

  “We need to go that way,” Khan-Tral said. “It should lead to the floor of another cavern above. Shoot a line up and I will climb and see how far the next ledge is.” As an afterthought, he added, “It might be beneficial to tie two of your ropes together.”

  Lamb considered the weight of the rope on the arrow, but in the end concluded that they did not really have a choice. While he made the preparations, Anna examined the mouth of the other tunnel.

  “Are you sure we need to go up here?” she asked. “The tunnel we were traveling through seems to continue onward.”

  “There is a maze of tunnels down here,” Khan-Tral said. “Some are empty rock, and others are inhabited by foul creatures, or worse, foul peoples.”

  “There are people living in the mountain?” Lamb asked incredulously.

  “Indeed, Nab,” the swordsman continued. “The denizens of the dark are as many and as varied as those on the surface. And the creatures have adapted to living in and among the rock.”

  “Are you saying that there are creatures that can move through the stone?” Now it was Anna’s turn for amazement.

  “Khan-Tral has seen the heads of beasts appear from within the solid rock, grab their prey, and pull it back into the stone with it leaving no sign of the breach.” He glanced at Anna and Lamb. “The terrain is the least of our fears.”

  Lamb adjusted the tension on the box and shot a metal-tipped arrow up into the opening in the ceiling of the cavern. The coiled rope unwound rapidly. They heard the clink of the arrow striking something, and the rope hung limply a few feet off the ground.

  “That is about a fifty- or sixty-foot climb,” Lamb said skeptically.

  “That is just where the arrow struck home,” the warrior replied optimistically. “If Khan-Tral recalls correctly, the cavern ceiling above is some twenty or thirty feet high, so the climb will be that much less.” He took the rope in both hands and pulled mightily, straining his muscles to test the arrow’s hold.

  “Khan-Tral will climb up and see the lay of the land.” He grabbed the end of the rope with both hands, but just as he lifted himself off the ground the rope went slack, and a moment later the arrow clattered to the stone floor.

  Lamb retrieved the arrow and examined it. The arrowhead was still sharp and pointy.

  “It must not have had a good hold,” Anna said. “Try again.”

  Lamb adjusted the tension on the mechanical bow almost to the maximum, nocked the arrow, and fired again. This time, the impact was much louder. Khan-Tral pulled on the rope using all his strength, and then test-climbed up a few feet.

  “This is much more secure, Nab,” he said with a smile. “I will be back shortly.”

  ◆

  Some time later, there was a tug on the rope. Anna and Lamb debated what it meant.

  “SEND UP MY GEAR,” a distant voice said from above. Lamb tied Khan-Tral’s frame securely to the end of the rope and tugged on it. The frame ascended. A short while later, a light appeared in the shaft above them, illuminating almost all of it. It narrowed slightly after the initial opening, but was fairly wide.

  “THERE IS A WIDE LEDGE HERE. WE CAN BRING OUR EQUIPMENT HERE AND THEN CLIMB FARTHER.”

  “That sounds wise,” Anna said in amusement. “We do not want to leave it unattended if these caverns are occupied as he suggested.”

  “I suppose,” Lamb said. He examined Anna’s hands and noted that the wrappings were blood-stained. “I’ll do it. You rest those hands. I’ll replace the bandages after we climb up there.”

  “As you wish,” Anna said. “I will keep watch.”

  Lamb tied the next frame to the rope when it reappeared and tugged again. The operation went smoothly, and everything was borne up to the swordsman in no time.

  “You go next,” Lamb said. He took hold of the end of the rope to steady it.

  “Very well.” Anna grabbed the rope with both hands and pulled herself up. The grip was painful, but she kept her discomfort to herself. She made slow progress, and once clear of the doctor, wrapped her legs around it as well.

  When she reached the entrance to the shaft, Anna put her back against one side and wedged herself in place with her feet across the gap.

  “IS ALL WELL?” Khan-Tral said from above.

  “I am fine,” she replied. “Just resting my hands.”

  “Try walking up the shaft,” Lamb suggested. “That may take the strain off your hands.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” she said.

  Carefully, Anna took hold of the rope again. She gripped it tightly, then stretched her back up the shaft until her legs were nearly extended. Then she slowly walked up the other side of the gap one foot at a time. She continued in this manner until Khan-Tral’s strong arms engulfed her from behind and lifted her onto the ledge.

  “You did well,” he said with a smile. “Khan-Tral is impressed by your ingenuity.” Anna was not sure of the muscle-bound swordsman was being supportive or condescending. She elected to believe he was being positive. She grinned as she considered whether or not he knew how to be condescending.

  ◆

  Anna considered her persona in this world. Nygof was known as a spy and assassin. She allegedly had skill with knives and axes, and was known for her stealth. Her reputation had impaired the well-being of “her family.” But she was not universally reviled. The Draunskur, who were followers of Utgarda, seemed to be friendly toward her.

  Sif was hostile, but that was because she knew who Anna really was and held her responsible for her transformation into that insect queen. Ganon and Govil followed Sif blindly, so their hostility had also been justified, though Ganon had seemed to be friendlier.

  A flash of realization appeared in Anna’s mind. A memory she had misplaced somehow. It seemed that all her allies, according to Brian Teplow, were now adversaries. Ganon had certainly been helpful in New York. Govil had been Arthur Coffin, the detective sent by Utgarda to thwart their attempts to dispel the demon. But Coffin had turned out to be the key to their success.

  Liv Lee had been infatuated with Lamb from the moment the two met, and Queen Sif, her alter ego, seemed enamored with him
initially. Anna had only met her the one time in her apartment, and the negative impression Lee had had of Anna had carried forward to Lee’s current incarnation.

  Anna thought that Khan-Tral, Peter Gulden in the real world, had been an adversary. He had set her up be killed in what would look like a gangland shooting. But now he was their biggest ally.

  What did that imply about Deb-Roh and Gho-Bazh?

  Lamb emerged from the hole a short time later. Anna that Nab had noted that this version of the doctor was quite skillful, both with the bow as well as with tracking and climbing. She imagined that this persona must be a successful hunter under normal conditions.

  Chapter 22

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  The three rested and ate some of their rations. The rope climbed even farther into the darkness above them, so they wanted to be refreshed before moving onward.

  In the continuous darkness, it was impossible to measure time. Anna had no idea how long they had been traversing the passages, but they had entered the catacombs in mid-afternoon. By her reckoning, it must be late evening by now.

  “It’s going to take time for those to heal,” Lamb said. “And all this climbing won’t help.” Lamb had changed the wrappings for clean ones, dropping the blood-stained rags down the shaft.

  Anna’s muscles ached, and her palms burned. Sitting on the ledge had only caused her back, arms, and legs to stiffen up, and she realized how tired she was.

  “Perhaps we should get some sleep,” she suggested. Lamb yawned in agreement however Khan-Tral seemed unaffected.

  “If you require rest,” he said, and again Anna could not tell if he was being supportive or condescending, “Khan-Tral will keep watch. We should be safe enough here.”

  Something in his response concerned Anna, but she was too tired to give it much thought. Lamb had unconsciously sat down and snuggled up against her, and Anna suddenly realized that his head now rested on her shoulder. They had gotten into the habit of sleeping close to each other for warmth, so she did not give it a second thought.