by C. Mahood
The issue that made me nautilus over all else, is that my wife, love and whole world has been put in jeopardy and danger by a creation of mine. I may have not written Oisin into existence but I created the perfect Petri dish for disease to spread. That’s what he was, a virus, infecting the green and beauty of this idyllic world. He must be stopped. Determination drover me. My fists clenched tighter with each step. My unkempt and bitten jagged nails, plunged into my palms.
Conversation had dried up between Abe and myself now. After speaking on the essentials such as setting camp, food, water and directions. We realised that we did not really know each other. I tried to make small talk several times but it was evident that neither of us were really interested in that. I think however it was mostly due to both of us being pre-occupied with worry of what lay ahead of us.
Hours of silence followed. Our pace quickened. Abe was like a dog sniffing its prey.
Tessa was a dog sniffing her prey.
I was just praying!
The ground had become soggy. Tiny puddles were left in our sinking footprints and we walked farther in. The indents left behind remained for a short period of time. My boots were heavy, and let’s face it, so was I. I’m a good 17stone of gut and power, so sinking in the bog is what I did. Tessa and Abe were both light footed so were able to move so much faster. The reeds were growing higher and closer together as we ventured farther into the bog. There had been a low mist most of the day, but that had turned to a fog long ago. So think is reminded me more of smoke. It covered your face like a dripping wet cloth and we trudged through. Our clothes hanging heavy with moisture. The only sound was that of our feet slapping the ground and clothes flapping like washing left on the clothes line after a heavy shower.
In the distance we could hear a faint sound of wood creaking. Then footsteps and a whip. The sound of a horse was very clearly cutting through the thick fog. The very distinctive sound of a horse and cart were now drawing near to us. Muttering and swearing too was heard as we stoped to listen closer.
Abe shushed us and we dove behind a clump of reeds with a cold, sloppy splash.
“What is…” my sentence was cut short as Abe pinched the air infront of my face. He did not move. His eyes darting in every direction to calculate where the sound was coming from.
I tried to question him again but the mumble was becoming audible and my questions became answered for me. A familiar and sweat inducing voice was heard over a series of mumbles.
“Oh, you really do thing you are so cleaver don’t you?”
“Well I only suggested we let them out for a short break to relieve themselves, you are as much to blame as I!”
“I should never have listened to your nonsense”
“I rather they got out, than we clean the kart later?”
“Well it hasn’t helped us much now has it?”
*Muffled noises*
“In the name of the Gods, he will just not shut up will he?”
“I know! Why do we even need him alive?”
“Because, She may come back for him.”
“She wont. She was our only ticket out of here.”
“I'm sure there is another?”
“No, we are going back to my plan again!”
“No, please, that is not who I am!”
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry, that’s not who we are…”
*Muffled noises*
“Oh shut up!”
“Yes, Shut up, please.”
*Muffled Noises*
The Kart was so very close to us now. I could hear every creak of the wood and the sound of bog water dripping and splatting from the wheels. Tessa was close to me and I had my arms around her. Holding her still so she would not run. Without warning, her animal instincts kicked in. Her need to protect her mother and friend. She growled deep and loud. I tapped her hard on the nose to stop her but she continued to growl and stare in the direction of the oncoming Horse and kart. Without warning, and scaring the life out of me, she barked. One loud growl that escalated into a barking crescendo.
There was a scream from the horse and the kart pulled to a stop. Abe and I looked at each other. I could see fear in his eyes, His pupils narrowed and his brow dropped into a frown, his expression snapped to anger like a flick of a switch. A shadow loomed over me. The sun had been blocked out by the fog long ago but there was a new darkness. A Deep large shadow was eating all light from around me.
That same voice came again.
“What the bloody hell are you doing lying down there?”
I turned to see the first face I had seen in Northland. Oisin.
The shock of his face almost crippled me. I jumped to my feet and lunged at him. Primal anger took over and I wanted to tear his head from his body with my teeth. My arms were outstretched as I lunged, but in the heat of the moment I hadn’t given my feet a second thought. The extra time we spent crouching, and listening to Oisin argue with himself, gave my feet plenty of time to sink in deep and get rooted firmly into the wet boggy ground.
I managed to land with my face perfectly on his foot. I remember nothing of what happened during the following scuffle. Cloudy noises and blurry vision was all I experienced. The sensation of being dragged and then dropped is all I remember.
Hours must have passed before I awoke. The feeling of moving is usually a comforting one when you awake. It reminds me of going on holiday in the car with my mum and dad when I was a boy. Waking up in France or at the holiday camp. The safe moment of sleep had just worn of and reality bit hard. I was in a cage. We were moving and bumping around. I could see that we were still ion the bog from the rips of the tarp over the wagon frame. The smell of old dirty straw mixed with the distinctive animal smell you get at Belfast zoo on a sunny day, or any country road really, filled my nostrils. I sat up with a throbbing pain in the back of my head and neck.
“You took a quare clout to the heed didn’t ye?” Came a voice I had not heard before. The accent was very much a northern Ireland, ulster Scott one. Quite young too.
“Yea,” I agreed rotating my head in a long round motion while rubbing my neck. “Sarah?” It dawned on me the moment I saw Oisin’s face in my memory. She must be here in the wagon? But no. Typical of my fortune.
No sign of her.
Again.
I cried then. Simply overwhelmed and exhausted, in pain and hurting I cried like a baby needing fed. Abe shuffled over to me and put an arm around me.
“Come on now lad, you haven’t let Garret finish.” I met Abe’s eyes. He had a smile on his face.
“GARRET?” I exclaimed,
“Yes sir, in the flesh!” He replied. Without thinking I reached for him and embraced him like a lost brother. They told me later that while I had been out cold Oisin had bundled us all into the back of the wagon. Garret and Abe had managed to catch up and discuss the next stage all in the time I was still out cold so I had a little bit of catching up to do.
“Abe and I have been looking for you for so long. Have you seen Sarah? Where is she? Tessa is wanting to see her too!”
“wow, wow slow down there specky, you will give yourself a heart attack!” Garret said with his hands on my shoulders.
“Where is my wife, we thought she was with you!” I said,
“She was” he replied “until earlier today.”
I was shocked at how calm he seemed about it all.
“What do you mean? Is she safe?” I snapped at him, hands raised like a ‘WTF meme.’
Garret sighed and began to explain. I was out on a scouting mission. My father had sent me out to look at a job, I was on my way north of the Rebels rest. A stumbled across this woman. She was dripping wet, head to toe and crying. I helped her to her feet and stole some garments from the Staff at the Inn.” He breathed in deeply again. I could tell he was making this short and to the point for me. I don’t think he could read my mind, but he must have known by looking at me that my patience would not have stretched very far. “She told me
about how she got here, I instantly thought of the old stories my father had told me, about the creator and how he brought us from his world to this one. When she told me about her husband I knew she was important. While she told me thing I was sure we were alone but Oisin must have been nearby. We were on our way to Renir so I could introduce her to my father. I assumed he would know what needed to be done. Oisin had escaped that day, he must have passed us and overheard. Why he didn’t grab us in the forest then and there I do not know.” Again Garret took a deep breath to continue the story.
“When we arrived in the city there was a commotion and screaming, I gathered to find out that two guards men, from the traders guild, were killed in a mugging and the thieves had escaped. I knew there was something wrong because we do not kill our targets. I thought that was a good time to leave and head to Sáann or the brotherhood temple. I was sure there would be a way to get her home there. That’s when we were captured, we were hungry and had stopped at the fair to try and barter food and shelter. Things went seriously wrong from there.” His face dropped “We met someone who tried to help us, but on our escape he was beaten, and we were sold to Oisin. I do not know how long he followed us but he saw his chance to get us and took it. He swore he would get his revenge but I had no idea of the extremes he would go to get it. Why he has kept me alive all this time is a mystery. I was convinced it would only be a matter of time though until mine had run out.” He nodded his head in the direction of the front of the wagon. Oisin could be seen through more rips. He was arguing with himself as usual, slapping his head in anger and again in response.
“Where is Sarah though?” I pleaded. I was grateful for everything making sense but, my attention span had reached it’s end. “You said she was with you until this morning?” I asked.
“Yes, we had stopped, Sarah had convinced Oisin’s good side to let us out to relive ourselves of the stale stagnant water we had to drink. Oisin may be a terrible human being but his personality is split. He created another persona to help him stay strong and survive in prison. His good nature is still in there too and can be flattered and manipulated rather easily with the reasoning of a beautiful woman.” He sniggered. I got it. Sarah has a way of making people do whatever she wants, better yet, them think it was their idea!
“And then what?”
“Well, its simple really. One minute she had crouched behind the reeds in the bog, the next she had gone.” He clapped his hands at the end of the sentence to signify a magical disappearance.
“Gone?” I asked “Like just disappeared?”
“Aye, just into thin air. Oisin lost it then. Screaming at himself in argument. Have you ever seem a man hit himself square between the yes? Well it’s disturbing, funny as hell, but disturbing!” He chuckled for a moment but after reading my expression he coughed nervously and carried on.
“She must have slipped into the fog. We had gone slightly off course, I heard Oisin trying to convince himself not to go through the Fog, but after Sarah disappeared we headed into the thick of it. It was only a matter of hours before we hears whispering and a growl. Then we came across you two.” He pointed at his father and myself.
“The two of us? Don’t you mean the….” I looked around nervously, “Three….of…” I trailed off my sentence into a mumble as panic set in. Tessa. How had I not noticed her not here? Where had she gone? I shuffled from corner to corner of the wagon. I whistled and called her but Garret and Abe both pulled me to the ground. I am a big, lad but the two luchorpán managed to hold me down with ease. I kicked, screamed and thrashed all around like a child throwing a tantrum. My temper, is without a doubt my biggest flaw. I can see no advantage of losing control when sober, but when my emotions spill over the cooking pot I have no control and use my fists before my brain. The Luchorpán’s held me down until I could fight no more. I just sobbed. This was the lowest I had felt and the most alone. Tessa and Sarah both gone. How could I have absolutely no control in a world created in my own imagination? I should have written about super powers and so much more! Instead I am a helpless, overweight, whelp stuck in the back of a moving caged kart.
A voice came from the front. Oisin was muttering to himself again but stopped long enough to reach back and lift the flap looking into his prisoners.
“Not long now you three, then this will all be over. We are nearly there. All will become clear soon.”
I had no idea what he meant by that but while he was holding open the flap I could see the Brotherhood alters up ahead as clear as day. Massive structures standing tall enough to literally have their heads in the clouds. When I mentally conjured them for Dertrid’s Deed I had never imagined them so large. I got Goosebumps from even the slightest glimpse of them. As we approached closer and closer I kept getting a sense of unease. Not just for the obvious reasons but the feeling you get when sitting alone in a darkened room. The feeling of being watched. The way your heart stops for a millisecond when you look in the mirror after splashing water in your face or brushing your teeth. The dread of someone being behind you but when you look you are still alone. I felt as though I was being watched. Abe and Garret were speaking in a language I did not understand to each other. It was not them. I couldn’t hear the distinctive sound of Tessa’s footsteps or collar so I knew it was not her but I most certainly felt something watching me.
By that evening we had reached the centre of the pyramids. Oisin had pulled the Sheet cover of the cage. It was made of mix and matched animal skins, sewn together to create one giant blanket. With it gone it left us exposed. The enclosure seemed larger when the tarp was overhead but suddenly I felt claustrophobic. Its’ hard to explain the feeling of being in such an open space, surrounded by three massive triangular structures and to be trapped in a small caged platform. The rain had started to fall gently and the reason for the Sheet being removed was clear. Oisin had pulled and spread it over an A-frame made from twigs and sticks. He was crouched over some kindling attempting to start a small fire. I looked at Garret and Abe who were both still speaking an unknown tongue but seemed to be pulling and working something by the corner in which they sat.
“What are you two up to?” I whispered still keeping an Eye on Oisin.
“Shhhh, we nearly have some splinters free to pick these locks.” Abe said. Garret was still trying to pull up some chipped wood from the base of the Kart. “Keep an eye out,” He whispered back at me,
“I can help, I’m probably stronger than you both so I could pull it free?” I shuffled over to the corner trying not to make any noise. I kept my stare trained on Oisin. Luckily he was turned to the side. His face hidden behind the animal skin sheets. All that could be seen was his legs sticking towards the flames and his arms holding a stick with some form of meat on the end of it. I worried slightly what the mystery meat was and hoped it wasn’t something I knew but for the first time I was relieved to smell bacon I could not eat. They seam to eat it a lot here don’t they? Well it is my fantasy land after all I suppose?
I made my way to the corner, Garret and Abe moved slightly out of the way to let me get a grip on the split plant. I managed to wrap my fingers around it and pull up. The wood split and tire like a cheese string. A long and thin strand came off in my hand. It looked like a cartoon stake in a vampire episode of Scooby doo, but much sharper than I anticipated. I cut the palm of my hand on it as I passed it to Garret. He smiled and patted me on the back.
“Good stuff son!” Abe whispered, “We will be out of here in no time!” he said as he turned to help Garret with the lock they were picking.
“Christopher, I hope you are awake” bellowed a voice from the fire.
“Of course he is, its pissing down and freezing”
“Who asked you?”
“No one but..”
“For God sake, just shut up for once,” Oisin was arguing with himself again. I tapped the Luchorpáns on the back to signal that Oisin was on his feet now. They huddled together and shuffled to the far side of the cage. Oisin made
his way around the back, and began to open the door. “Don’t try anything, you midget little spit ants!” He said as he pointed his thin dirk or dagger at them. Drawing circles over their heads with one eye still closed. Aiming at their faces.
“Come on Christopher, I think it is time we had a talk” He said to me.
I was ready for the end now. I had managed to pick another splinter of wood with my fingers. I walked on my dirt and blood stained knees to the door, leaving the splinter by the feet of Abe as I passed him. I could not see but I heard him fall forward to pick it up. He coughed to try and distract from his true intentions. I sat on the edge of the wagon and Oisin helped me down. He tied my hands behind my back and led me towards the fire. Looking over my shoulder I could see Garret and Abe both bowing their heads towards me and then turning to work the lock of the cage.
My back now to them I hoped they could escape in time to save me. I knew I would have to keep Oisin talking to me, or himself, long enough to give them time. I was led to the fire where two seats sat under what looked like a large piece cut from the same animal skin sheet. A plate of bacon cubes, ham, mashed potatoes and thick buttered bread was sitting beside each chair. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Neither could my stomach, who decided to join the conversation with murmurs and blurts loud enough to be heard over the crackling and snapping of the fire. I sat after Oisin had turned and loosened my hands. I rubbed my wrists and caught Oisin eyes.
“Sorry bout that boyo, had to make it look real!” Confused I slowly sat down. Not moving my eyes from his. I couldn’t work out what side of him I was talking to. The good side or the crazy side. I played along, hoping to stall him longer.