Blackrift Gate

by Parijat Mukherjee

  Lud suddenly opened his eyes, and thrashed violently. He tried his best to get rid of the binds, rope made of vines digging into his flesh. Fihy and I tried to calm him down, while shaman kept looking at the horizon intently. The sounds and lights have ceased.

  “We are going that way tomorrow.” He said after a pause.

  The giant sky tadpole like things were returning. Their number seemed to have thinned out.

  Lud again thrashed, looking at them, making sounds with his gagged voice.

  As we were calming him down, we heard a strange, melancholy sound coming from above. It was otherworldly, coming from those creatures. I can not fully describe what it was, but it felt melancholy and strangely calming. Lud slowly stopped thrashing in his binds, and calmed down. The giant tadpole like things passed over us, and went into the canyon, where the mist was always thicker.

  “They failed against the power of the ocean and …”Shaman’s voice trailed off.

  We could not sleep well that night, other than Lud who fell asleep soon after the creatures passed over us. It was already almost midnight, judging from the stars, so I just let elder shaman rest and kept watch. Nothing else happened that night.

  Chapter 5

  “Stay alert on the way.”Shaman said as we began the next day at dawn.

  I noticed that he had managed to trim the branch into a nice walking staff with a nice hunk at the end, very good for bonking your opponents on the head. The branch was dry, so it would not weight him down. Good for him.

  We were very much alert on our way, but it seemed mostly uneventful, even good.

  Fihy found a good yam, and as we were resting after some time by the stream, I speared a fish. Nothing seemed out of the way, and the cool breeze and very thin mist that clouded the sun made the journey rather enjoyable. We collected a lot of berries and fruits again, and since we mostly followed the stream, we had plenty of water. We took our time on this, as we had all been stressed and needed a break. The things we saw last night were pushed aside by the sunlight and the good development. Fihy’s leg was also better, and she was not limping at all.

  On our way, I noticed a good patch of mushrooms growing under a great tree . I loved these more than meat. Fihy and I started to pick them, and with a great mood, started to hum a song of the gatherers. Just then, from behind the thickets the great tree, came a sound. It was like a low whistle, but it had the unmistakable qualities that we heard last night. We jumped back, and I grabbed my spear instantly.

  Moving the leaves and branches, we found one of the great tadpole like things lying on the ground. It was still alive, but it was gravely wounded. Part of it had dissolved and the rest was slowly dissolving into a purple-dark liquid. There were gaseous bubbles forming under its skin. I could not see any eyes, except many yellowish small dots. Its tail was waving at times, undulating, as if trying to swim away.

  It was not in a position to harm us, so we gave it a wide berth. Lud was restless again, but we did not let it approach the dying creature.

  “Things have not been well for these simple beings.”Shaman said.”They are doing what they were supposed to based on instincts.”

  We remained more alert for the rest of the journey, but did not see anything else. We soon came out in the open where the river ran through a very wide field of white boulders, that were lying between two hillocks. This area looked very unfitting to the rest of the valley full of earth and grassy greens, but I already knew this area was not normal, so I did not comment, and crossed the area quickly. What made me more curious was the disturbing purple discoloration of the river stream as we went. Shaman told us not to drink from it anymore.

  It was way past mid noon when we came near the bunch of hillocks huddled together, at the base of which was the entrance to the cave. I never entered the cavern from this side. Shaman always took the tribespeople through the long road that completely avoided these parts, and went round half of the entire bordering highlands.

  “So this is the secret entrance?” I said as I looked at the gaping maw of the cave, tapering upwards in a point.

  “No. This is the regular entrance.”Shaman grinned. “You have not seen anything yet, boy.”

  “Come back here, you!”Fihy cried out as she struggled to pull Lud back, as he had turned around and started to walk back.

  We entered this cave. Slippery stones and cold water greeted our travel worn feet. There were pieces of those characteristic self luminous stones here, embedded in the rocky walls, so much so that we did not need torches, even though we made a few.

  “The creatures of yesterday seemed to have come here.”Shaman said, dragging his feet in the sticky slime like substance underneath. I could guess the reason the water was sticky here, but I did not say anything so that Fihy was not disturbed more. We saw a few carcasses of these creatures lying here and there, viscus liquid oozing from them into the water.

  “Should we go this way?”I asked, looking at a creature still slowly moving its tail in vain.”It looks dangerous.”

  “The powers would not attack us.”Shaman said, though he seemed worried.”This is the main entrance, and I have been here many times. If we can just get past these, we will be good. Stay behind me.”

  But we had to stop. As he was leading us in, shaman raised his hand and gestured us to stop in our track. We slowly approached him to see what was happening. There was some sound coming from within. Thrashing and splashing. And sounds of low whistle. Many voices.

  “Make no sounds.”He whispered.

  We slowly approached to find a gruesome scene. There was a weird web and tangled mess, that held a few of those gigantic fish-tadpole-sky things. Most of these were dead, but some were alive and still thrashing. The web seemed to have a number of yellow dots that pulsated and glew, and when the glow was highest the creatures thrashed the most.

  It was that moment we regretted ungagging Lud.

  He screamed at the top of his lungs, a horrified, sorrowful scream. We promptly gagged him.

  “Get him away from this!”Shaman cried, as we noticed the tendrils that grabbed and slowly killed the creatures all glowed bright. The creatures painfully whistled, and thrashed. Some of the tendrils raised up from the carcasses, hanging in the air like snakes, as their bulbous ends glew intensely.

  I grabbed Lud with Fihy and dragged him backwards, as Shaman slowly chanted something, that sounded like a lullaby. He also took a few steps back as he did it. The tendrils slowly dimmed and went down.

  After coming sufficiently backwards, we rested. Lud was still looking distraught, and was trying to say something, but we were not removing the gag till we reached there. It had been enough.

  “We can not pass through here.”Shaman said.”The attack last night made the powers in the ocean block this path.”

  “Then?”

  “We would take the other way.”Shaman said.”It will be better. It is strictly forbidden for me to show it to someone who is not a shaman, so I wanted to avoid it, but now there is no other way. Come. This will be faster too.”

  We returned to the riverside where the large boulders were. Shaman went near a boulder that rested on a platform, went to its side that faced the river, and activated something. What he did we could not see, but there was a clicking sound. Then with some strange power, the boulders started to move, with a peculiar gritting sound, as the rocky surface of the upper boulder was being rubbed against another rocky surface where it rested.

  It revealed a way, with characteristic rocks that were cut sharply to make many steps.

  “What peculiar rocks! It looks like a cascade.”Fihy said.

  “These are stairs.”Shaman said. “They help you get up or get down with ease.”

  Shaman told us that we should have our meal in here before we went in. We had nothing since morning, and my stomach was burning. We roasted the yam, and ate most of it, relished the mushrooms. Gave one to Lud, but he seemed most disinterested in it. He had to be forced a few ripe fruits, and we had
the rest, including berries. Still at the end of the meal, we had quite some chunks of yam and good number of fruits and berries left. The mushrooms were really good, specially with the berries. In spite of Shaman’s warning, Fihy took a handful of ripe and tangy berries, and a few small piece of the yam, so I did the same. We took a hollowed gourd with us to carry the water, and that was it. Rest we still had to carry with us into the tunnel, as we did not want to risk anyone else finding out the entrance.

  We entered the tunnel with one of the torches lit. A few steps in, we left the rest of the food, and shaman used some other hidden mechanism to close the boulders behind us. We looked around in the light of the torch.

  The tunnel was damp and dark, and the floor was slightly slippery. There were markings on the walls, but I could not see a lot in the faint light of only one torch as we passed them fast. We soon came into a place where again a stream of water was passing beside us, as the tunnel widened to become a large cave. Then, we had a pungent smell hitting our nose, which increased as we went deeper. The luminous stones also increased in the walls, and soon we did not need the torch anymore.The river beside us was full of tiny and peculiar semi luminous fish.

  “What is that smell?”

  “Something that keeps away something one may wish the most for. Walk.”Shaman said.

  Soon we came upto a part where we were coursing through a path that had the river widened into a pool on our left, and there was an raised shelf on our right side. This rocky shelf was jutting out from the wall almost at the level of our head. There were “stairs” to climb to this rocky shelf, and we could see that the shelf had some pretty interesting things. There was an elongated man length rectangular rock on the shelf, and it was made out of some dark rock, standing in sharp contrast to the pale rocks all around us. There was a bunch of glowing crystals that overhung this rock from the ceiling. Some dark liquid was dripping from it, seeping over it from some unknown source through hidden channels that must have spreaded through the rocks.

  “What is this place?”I asked.

  “Shhhh! Do not ask so many questions!”Shaman said, frowning. “Do not talk loudly in here.” He said, eyeing the rectangular rock apprehensively.

  The pungent smell was highest in here. I could guess that this liquid must be the source of the smell, which was overflowing from the rock and mixing into the river.

  “Do not touch the liquid.”Elder shaman whispered, climbing up the stairs and doing something at the wall I could not understand. There were some crystals and some diagrams in there, and he was busy arranging pieces of rocks.

  “I do not want to touch it.”I said with disgust.”Looks absolutely disgusting.”

  “But tastes good.”Fihy said, holding the rope that was tied to Lud.

  Shaman stopped what he was doing, and turned at Fihy. I did the same. Fihy was holding a small chunk of roasted Yam that she had dripped in the liquid and tried it. It was typical of her to try things that could be food, and she had tried many weird things, but this one topped all the others.

  “Are you out of your mind?” Shaman cried out.

  The rectangular rock seemed to vibrate a bit with his cry. There was something that moved in the surface, and there was splash of the dark liquid overflowing out from the chamber. Apparently, the rectangular rock was a chamber, which held a lot of this liquid, in which something was submerged. And it was not dead.

  Shaman stayed still for a while. His face seemed to be frozen, and after a while he moved again.

  “Is it poisonous, shaman?” I asked anxiously.

  “I do not know! It is the undeath elixir of the sacred land! Nobody in the history of forever dared to eat it with yam.”He was so mad, that I knew he would yell if he was outside, but apparently he was more concerned with making a noise here.

  “It is not poisonous. All the fish are playing in it in the water.”Fihy said.”And it is really good with Yam, so it is a pity nobody tried it.”

  I looked at her eyes, which were glistening with enthusiasm, which I only saw when she had discovered a new great food.

  She offered me a bite of the elixir dripped roasted yam, and I did not waste a single moment to chomp on it. I knew shaman was gesturing me to drop it, and waving his hands, and whispering, but I did not want to have any regrets. Specially when it was about food, and it was apparent that probably I would not get a second chance to try this again. It was really good. A bit tangy, except the smell. Even if I get diarrhea, it will be worth it. Shaman would be easily fixing it with rock salt water and rituals.

  Elder shaman slapped his own forehead in frustration.

  “Idiots. You both are hopeless idiot gluttons.”He gnashed his teeth, and angry whispered.”Nevermind. Drink till your glutton stomachs burst, but do not make noise, or do anything that would wake what sleeps in this chamber of undeath.” He pointed at the rectangular rock.

  He got busy with the materials in the wall again, and we stopped there for him. He tried a few times, and after a while, there was some peculiar sound. Some of the crystals in the walls lit up.

  Before us, the wall that blocked our path was quite smooth, except the hole from which a stream of water was coming out from some unknown source, which ultimately gave rise to the pool on our left and the stream that we had been following all the way, overflowing from the pool.

  Now, a part of the wall towards the left of that waterhole had opened up. It was enormous, and its margin was lower than the surface of the pool. Water of the pool rushed towards the opening, falling into the gaping darkness that this opening revealed. We could hear a deep sound, a gurgling noise as huge amount of water from the pool went through it, splashing down into some other water that lied far, far below somewhere down in that darkness. The echoing and deep reverberations made it clear that the space behind this opening was enormous.

  There was movement again in the rectangular rocky tank, inside which something seemed to raise up. We could not see it well from below, but shaman was standing near it, so I could see his horror stricken face. I was about to come up on the platform, grabbing my spear, but he raised his hand towards me, gesturing me to stop. I stopped, with one foot upon the first step of the stairs.

  Something raised its ugly, wide head, the shape of which was weirdly non human. We could not see it well, as it was grossly slathered in the viscus slimy dark liquid. I could see yellow dots looking out from it, though dim. There was a sense of vibration in the entire hall, a sort of music resonance that seemed to increase in its unseen intensity. In the next moment, I could see crystals growing everywhere around the cave, from the walls, from the roof, and here and there from the floor, as the light seemed to glow.

  Shaman again slowly and softly started to chant in that unknown language, very softly, as if he wanted this thing to fall asleep. As soon as he started, it looked at him. Shaman was scared, as scared as I had never seen him in his entire life, but he kept chanting. The crystals that had grown in the cave started to pulsate in an eerie light, but in the tone of the song. The creature bobbed its head in the tune. The lights slowly dimmed, and shaman seemed to have been relieved. He kept on chanting, but gradually it became slower and lower. The entity lowered its head again, sinking into the darkness of the chamber.

  “The water had raised too much. That is why this happened.”He whispered as he came down, sweating and trembling.”It was a great risk, but the one we had to take.”

  “What was that thing?”I whispered.

  “It is something that has been sleeping here, guarding the doorway to their last bastion.”Shaman said.”Sleeping deathlessly in the chamber that lets its soul free, but keeps the body alive. That which sleeps in the sacred chamber is the last of the Ancients, that one who refused to leave.”

  “One of those?”Fihy almost cried out, as I muffled her.

  “Now we have to go through this way.”Shaman said, and pointed at the pool. It appeared that a lot of water of the pool had drained out through the opening in the wall, and it rev
ealed a set of flat top submerged stones that were just at the level of the opening. Whenever the opening in the wall would open, these would be revealed, but in other times, it would be under the water. Clever!

  Before we began, shaman took out a very small and very nicely sewn leather bottle from his waist pouch, and collected a bit of that pungent liquid in it. I could see that it was made out of the black leather of the glow-eye-snakes of the eastern marshes, something that is prized for its durability. I did not understand at that time what he would need it for.

  We soon crossed the pool with the set of stones, and came near the opening. A steep wall came down from here to the water below, and there was a dangerous set of stairs, made out of stone steps jutting out from this wall, going down below towards our right side.

  “We need to go down? Down there?” Fihy said, her voice trembling a bit. I was not feeling that good either. The steps were not very wide.

  “Yes, we have to. Do not worry, the steps are sturdy.”Shaman started to go down on the steps.

  Sighing, we began to follow him.

  It was a really hard experience taking Lud with us. So we had to bonk him, and carry him.

  We soon went down the stairs coming out of the wall. Under our feet, we could occasionally hear the water flowing in the darkness, though most of the time it was silent. Only sound we were hearing was the tap-tap of the shaman’s stick, and the occasional groaning of Lud. It took us some time to get down. We looked around. To our left, ran a vast river, passing into a pitch black horizontal gap under the steep wall, which hosted the stairs we just climbed down. There were pillars at regular gaps that supported up the massive wall, rising up from the water, and two massive arches of robust stones raised up from the sides of the river, arching along the wall, meeting in the middle where the opening through which we came in could be seen. A faint light was coming through it. To our right, there was a rocky wall, its features smoothed out by the water over eons. This wall slowly widened away from the path, giving way to an uneven field of smooth rocks and boulders, allowing us to see what lied before us.