Into Tordon

by Z. F. Kingbolt

  Beth held on to the side of the hull as they sailed into more waves. ‘All this bobbing around is making me sick.’

  ‘It didn’t bother you in the sheikh’s yacht.’

  ‘I had no time to think of it then!’ She leaned over the side and watched the whirling foam. It only made her feel worse. ‘Can you please follow the albatross? It might lead us out of these waves.’

  ‘That doesn’t make any sense. Besides, it’s disappeared.’ ‘Oh,’ Beth moaned, ‘I’m really going to be sick.’

  Zane inhaled slowly then leaned over next to her, his face pale. ‘Actually, now you’ve said it, I think I’m going to spew.’ He held his stomach for a moment, then dropped the tiller and leant over the side of the boat, vomiting into the ocean.

  Beth winced and waved her hand for the tiller, trying to reach it. ‘Shouldn’t you be used to this?’ she motioned at the waves.

  ‘Yeah… I remember now…’ Zane panted. ‘I hated this last year too!’

  He retched again and, as the smell reached her, Beth gripped the side of the boat and emptied her stomach. Afterwards, she couldn’t look at Zane. They were as bad as each other. Instead she leant back in the boat and closed her eyes. That didn’t help either, as the boat just kept rocking. She had to sit up.

  Wiping his mouth, Zane collapsed back into the boat with deep breaths, his hand pressed to his chest. He winced. He must have rubbed off the scab when he leant over the side.

  ‘Did you spew with your dad too?’ Beth asked.

  Zane glared at her, then returned to breathing slowly and staring out to sea.

  Sighing, Beth leant back and concentrated on breathing. Up and down they went. She felt so ill.

  Finally Zane managed to drag himself upright and placed his hand back on the tiller. He steadied the boat and swerved into the wind. Then he looped a rope around the tiller and tied it off. The boat stopped wobbling so much. ‘Watch the horizon,’ he told her, ‘it helps with seasickness.’

  ‘Okay, thanks. Sorry by the way, I didn’t mean to upset you before, when I asked if you spewed with your dad too.’

  ‘Who says I’m upset?’

  Beth raised an eyebrow.

  ‘Fine, but would you want to go to survival camp with my dad every weekend, constantly get told to toughen up?’ Zane smacked his lips then looked at the sky. ‘You were right about one thing, I sure could do with some rainwater about now.’ He looked around. ‘And it’s getting dark.’

  Beth glanced up. The pale sky was darkening quickly. ‘The clouds are still so far away. Do you think we’ll be there before dark?’

  He smacked his lips again. ‘We’ll get there.’

  ‘Bet you wish we had some raw fish now.’

  Zane gagged. ‘Are you trying to make me drop last night’s dinner as well?’

  As he rubbed his stomach, Beth noticed his wristbands. ‘Hey, your circles don’t look as bright as before.’

  Zane studied a circle on one of his wristbands. ‘Maybe it gets brighter in the dark?’ Zane puffed out his cheeks as if trying not to be sick again.

  ‘No,’ Beth said, looking at her own wrist. ‘It’s not a full circle anymore. Look, only five segments are lit now.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘I don’t know. Just saying.’ She rested her head on the hull’s cool wooden rim, so brown and shiny with its knots and grains. It reminded her of when Dad used to come home from the tree-farm smelling of pine and eucalyptus. She hoped the memory would comfort her, but it didn’t. Up and down they bobbed, up and down. How did people do this for a living, sail on boats? They must be made of tougher stuff than she was.

  No, she told herself, remembering the piece of paper from the bottle. She could do this—she could be tough if it meant getting home. She could endure.

  Slowly the sky darkened into night and the five segments on each of their wristbands beamed brighter.

  ‘Amazing,’ Zane said after a while. He was gazing up, his hand steady on the tiller. ‘I used to dream of travelling to the stars, to other worlds, and now I’m doing it. Only…’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I thought it’d be more like seeing huge planets spin past from a spaceship or something. Not just, pop, and we’re there.’

  ‘You wanted to become an astronaut?’

  ‘Still do, if Ripple doesn’t work out of course. It’d be so cool, don’t you think—discovering new planets, battling a few aliens…’ He trailed off.

  Beth tried to find a more comfortable position. ‘Only the best athletes get to become space explorers.’

  ‘Nah, technicians get selected too. Besides, I am athletic!’

  She rolled her eyes. Yes, Zane was tall, but he was pretty unfit considering all that training and marching he was supposed to do every week.

  ‘One day,’ he muttered, ‘I’ll be the best of the best, you wait and see. I could be up among those stars.’

  Beth stared up. The night sky was a mass of twinkling stars. She’d never seen so many and couldn’t even begin to count them. Compared to the size of the universe, she was but a speck.

  Up and down they went.

  Zane groaned.

  Beth glanced at him. ‘Thought you said sailing this boat would be great.’

  ‘That was before I spewed.’

  The wind grew stronger and waves pummelled the boat harder. Then the night became even blacker as clouds rolled over the stars. Sea foam heaved over the side.

  ‘I’ll pull the line and tack the other way,’ Zane called to her.

  ‘What?’

  ‘It’s getting worse,’ he barked, then clutched his stomach. ‘I don’t feel well at all.’ He lurched over the side again, just as water gushed into the boat as it rolled with the swell. They rose in the air as a huge wave passed underneath, then gravity had them sliding down its other side. ‘Hold onto the mast,’ Zane shouted as the crack of thunder boomed above.

  ‘I told you not to sail into the storm!’ Beth gripped on as the boat rolled and plunged again. ‘And no surprise— there’s no land!’

  ‘We don’t know that yet!’ Zane peered into the dark. Beth didn’t bother to argue, she couldn’t even if she wanted to—her stomach twisted, her throat stung and her head swam. Seaspray smashed over her face, reviving her a little, though having wet clothes made her shiver when the wind picked up. It blew harder and harder, until it was battering the boat so it tilted dangerously.

  Zane struggled against the gale to lower their sail, then hunkered down beside her. ‘We just have to sit it out. It probably won’t get much worse.’

  Almost as soon as he said it, the clouds opened and rain poured down. There was nowhere to go and nothing to do but sit and shiver as their little boat spun and heaved in the enormous seas.

  Hours passed, the rain never easing. Occasionally Zane suggested they empty the water sloshing around in the boat, but scooping it up with their hands and chucking it overboard just made them vomit again. Soon Beth felt there wasn’t anything left in her stomach. She’d never been so miserable in her life—wet to the bone, shiver after shiver swept through her body, the taste of bile in her mouth.

  Endure! her mind screamed while her body ached.

  It was so hard to do in practice.

  Zane moaned and leaned over the side again. When he brought himself back up again, his eyes sprung wide. ‘A light!’ he shouted.

  Beth looked to where Zane was pointing, his hand lit by the circle on his wrist. ‘You sure it wasn’t your hand?’

  ‘No, I definitely saw a light. There’s another one!’ His voice was weak, but there was excitement there too.

  Beth waited, squinting hard. The rain finally eased but she couldn’t see anything. Another giant wave rolled under the boat, tipping it high before carrying them down into the trough. Surely waves as big as these were only found in deep ocean? As the boat levelled, though, Beth saw a shadow rippling in the distance, silhouetted by two fluorescent lights. They were near land after all!

  ‘Quick, Za
ne—what do we do?’

  ‘We sail toward the lights.’

  ‘It is wise to raise the sail in wind like this?’

  Zane was already unfurling the sail and tying it steady. He sat lower than before, but his hand held the tiller firmly. ‘We need to get there, fast.’

  ‘What if we smash onto rocks and drown? Look, more lights!’ She narrowed her eyes. Wait, were the lights gliding towards them? ‘Is that a boat?’

  Zane stared at the lights, then leapt up. ‘That’s no boat!’

  Whoosh.

  An enormous fish swam past, its humped back towering over them. Two fluorescent lights dangled from its antennae, two over-sized eyes stared at them and long sabre-teeth stuck up from its lower jaw. Beth screamed.

  Another swished past, its lights revealing a cavernous mouth full of jutting teeth. Its spiked fins flicked out to scrape their hull.

  ‘Duck!’ Zane cried, as two more long antennae lurched toward them.

  Beth plunged into the bottom of the boat, blinded by their brightness, only peeking out again once the brightness had faded.

  A school of the gigantic fish heaved toward them. They scratched past the boat and sent them spinning. In places, fine cracks appeared in the hull and water trickled into the boat.

  ‘Get bailing!’ Beth yelled. ‘Zane! What are they doing?’ She pointed to where some fluorescent green lights were swimming in formation, sliding down a wave straight towards them. ‘They’re going to ram us!’

  Antennae flicked out as one giant scaly body after another scraped past their hull, grinding and jarring. The tiller broke off in Zane’s hand. Then one antennae caught on the sail, ripping it off completely. How would they get anywhere now?

  ‘We should have followed the albatross!’ Beth yelled. ‘Too late!’

  More fish surged toward them, this time from all directions. Unless Beth and Zane did something soon, it was going to be a feeding frenzy. This time, their fins ripped through the boat’s hull like a knife through paper, their lights flashing and blinding so Beth couldn’t see, only feel, the quake of the boat being torn to shreds. There was a loud crack, ocean roared in her ears, then she fell into cold, drowning ocean.

  She waited for fish teeth to bite into her, as she was tossed among the waves like driftwood. A brightness swelled in one single intense flash, then the roar of the ocean fell immediately silent.

  Thud.

  Dripping and panting, she landed on solid rock. Only this rock wasn’t being pounded by ocean waves or scoured by overgrown fish. It was dry. It was dark. And there was a strange smell.

  Chapter 12

  Beth heard Zane before she saw him, coughing and spluttering somewhere nearby. She shone the light from her wrists around, until she found him sitting a few metres away. Behind him, and all around them, was solid rock. It was above them and below them. Water oozed over it and dripped somewhere. Beth sniffed. The air was musty and damp, tinged with something she couldn’t quite identify. She shivered in her wet clothes. They’d obviously slipped through another gateway, but why weren’t they dry like last time?

  ‘And we’re certainly not home yet,’ she said, frowning at the circles on her wristbands. ‘Oh, there are only four segments left. Is yours the same?’

  Zane held up a wrist.

  Four segments glowed bright, making Beth blink and shield her eyes. ‘I think they’re counting down to something. Maybe to us getting home?’

  Zane squeezed out his top. ‘Maybe.’

  ‘Look, we have to work together if we want to get home.’

  Zane sighed and stood, then brushed his hand along a rock wall, walking carefully beside it. ‘Instead of always thinking where you want to go, Beth, why not stop to look where you are?’

  Beth scrambled up. ‘Because the last time I looked there was a giant fish trying to eat me! Have you forgotten about Jumbie and DaveT?’

  ‘What about them?’

  ‘I don’t want to end up losing my mind too! Maybe you have already!’

  He paused, glared at her for a moment, then carried on exploring.

  He was right—that comment probably didn’t deserve a reply. She was just so frustrated! Maybe getting through any old gateway wasn’t enough? Maybe they had to find a particular kind of gateway? But how were they supposed to know what to look for and where? And what about the segments on their wrists counting down? She couldn’t figure it all out by herself.

  She looked around as Zane suggested and her eyes adjusted in the faint light from a tiny opening far above. They were in a large cave—deep and dark—and she didn’t like it one bit. Mr Zane-Adventure-Is-My-Middle-Name could enjoy this cave if he wanted to, but she still wanted to get home.

  ‘I don’t suppose your father ever took you caving?’ she asked, hopeful.

  ‘No, but we talked about it. Hey, are you still rocking around like you’re on a boat?’ She took a step, expecting to feel woozy. ‘No, I’m fine actually. You?’

  ‘I’m fine too. Last time, when I sailed with Dad, the ground rocked for hours afterward.’

  ‘Must be something to do with travelling through the gateway.’

  ‘I wonder how far we’ve travelled already—we’ve been in such different places and climates.’ He turned and shone his wrist lights in her eyes again.

  ‘Cut that out!’

  ‘Only trying to help,’ he said with a laugh. ‘There is that flash every time. Hey, it’s pretty cold down here, isn’t it?’ He glanced up at the light. ‘Must be a mild climate up there.’

  Beth turned away. It was awful to think how far away she might be from Dad already. And now she was underground. She gazed up at the thick network of tree roots clinging to the walls, crisscrossing as they tunnelled down. She stepped closer, squinting at the strange jutting angles of huge dangling...sacks?

  Seven sacks hung from the roots. Something about their shape made Beth shudder. They looked like large headless bats with wings wrapped around their torsos. She edged backwards and her foot brushed against something soft. She turned and screamed. A mummified body lay on the ground staring back at her. She scrabbled away.

  Zane’s laughter filled the cave. ‘That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen in years!’ Beth’s cheeks heated. ‘You would’ve panicked too if you bumped into a dead body.’

  Zane moved to examine the sacks overhead. ‘Some cultures wrap their dead and leave them in trees so animals can’t get them.’

  ‘How come you’re such an expert?’

  ‘School project in Year Five.’

  Great, now he probably thought her stupid for not knowing. She knelt by the mummy to examine it and prove she wasn’t scared, only to hear Zane groan. ‘What?’

  ‘Another piece of cryptic advice.’

  Beth looked to where he was pointing. From this angle, the shaft of light shone onto a carved panel running along one wall. She read the inscription aloud. ‘To see the sun, two steal the sun. Find the nest and work as one. ’

  ‘Steal the sun?’ Zane scoffed. ‘How are we supposed to do that?’

  Beth shook her head. ‘We can’t. It’s probably a metaphor.’

  ‘I hate metaphors, remember.’

  ‘I’d say we don’t have to actually steal a sun—it might be the name for something else.’

  Zane jumped up, trying to grab a tree root. ‘I say it’s not a metaphor. We might not be able to steal a sun in our world, but we’re not there right now. Anything could happen here.’

  ‘True.’

  ‘Let’s just get above ground and go from there.’

  ‘Or we could try searching for a nest, because that’s what the inscription says: find the nest.’

  ‘And how are we supposed to do that down here, in a cave, in the dark?’ He kicked the rubble around his feet.

  Beth shrugged, then shivered again in her sodden clothes. She glanced back at the mummy. Maybe there was a nest beneath it? Or in it? Ew!

  Using the glow from her wrists, she crouched down to study it more clo
sely, starting with the transparent wrinkled coating over its face. The wrap extended downwards, thickening into a sack, clear in some places, dense grey in others. The outline of body parts bulged where it thinned. One hand was bent back, its fingers clawing at the coating. She tried pulling some of it away but it was tough as nylon fabric.

  Then her breath caught. A band circled the mummy’s wrist and there was a name-tag on its chest. ‘Zane! Look at this.’

  He crouched beside her and peered at the lettering. ‘Silwolf. Hmm.’

  ‘Sounds familiar, right?’

  ‘Yeah, another old Tordon player. I played against him a couple of months back.’

  ‘Me too. I hoped I’d remembered wrong.’

  ‘He was one of the best—always online. Then he was just gone.’ Zane let out a long hiss between his teeth. ‘How did he get here though? Same way we did? Hey,’ he stilled for a moment, holding his breath. ‘Did you feel that rumbling?’

  ‘What, in the ground?’

  Zane nodded and Beth concentrated, unmoving. Yes,

  there was a faint vibration through her feet. Dust shook from the tree roots above them as something thundered in the distance. A train? The vibration increased until the sacks above them swayed dangerously.

  ‘Watch out!’ she cried, running to shelter in a nook nearby. No dead people were going to fall on her today.

  Zane ran past her and ducked into a wider hole—only it turned out to be an archway. From the faint glow at his wrists, Beth could make out stairs behind him, rising into blackness.

  ‘Stairs!’ she yelled, pointing.

  Zane turned to look, then waved her over.

  She quickly glanced behind her as the rumbling faded.

  Was there a way out here too? Maybe once, but it was now half-blocked by fallen rocks. They’d have to climb over and squeeze through the gap at the top. She hurried over to Zane.

  ‘Look,’ he said, grabbing an object mounted on the wall, ‘here’s a torch.’ With a whoosh, a burst of dazzling light flamed from the object, instantly outlining mummies, rubble and walls. ‘Whoa!’ Zane held the burning torch aloft. ‘Some sort of motion sensor? I bet civilisation’s this way.’ He took off up the stairs.