by Scott Toney
Within Stasis Change
Thomas’s thoughts drifted through a haze of darkness. One second he felt as if he were floating in a black expanse of clouds and the next his stomach lurched causing him to feel as if an ocean churned around his body.
A pounding pulse throbbed in his mind. He cringed in the nothingness. BOOM Boom, BOOM Boom, BOOM Boom.
Pinpoint-thin light appeared like stars in the noir above. It was so small. He squinted to see it clearer. Where was it coming from? Where was he?
BOOM Boom, BOOM Boom. The specks of light seemed to flux with the throbbing pain in his mind.
Slivers of light swept like thin birds in the darkness above. A rancid odor curled through his sense of smell.
BOOM Boom, BOOM Boom. Thomas’s stomach lurched as he stretched to try and see the flying light smears clearer.
Within a matter of seconds the luminous spots expanded to a blazing burst of nova bright sunlight, searing his eyes. “AAAAHHHHHH!” Thomas cried, clasping at his eyes to hold out the radiating sun. Red heat scalded his retinas.
“Sire!”
Juniper’s strong hand braced on his shoulder as he suddenly became aware of netting crisscrossing his body beneath him.
“You’re awake, sire!” Juniper shouted. “Pine, Cypress, come here! Thomas is waking!”
Thomas squinted in the sunlight as he felt with his hands about the hammock cradling him. Juniper’s face blurrily came into view above. The hulking man had tears streaming from his eyes.
“How long was I unconscious?” The young king strained to see clearly.
“One day and one night.” Juniper braced his king as he sat upright with the help of the guard’s strong hands. “You gave us a scare when you passed out after the attack. Your eyes rolled back in your head and you shook so violently on deck that we thought we’d lost you.”
“Pine… are you alright?” Thomas asked.
“I am fine, sire. My wound will heal.”
Thomas’s eyes focused and he saw all three of his guards and a few of his other men standing around him. The hammock he was lying on was on the vessel’s front deck. To his sides were the outstretched river with the rest of his fleet and before him, rising proudly above the trees beyond a bustling river port, was a towering spire of Cush’s castle stretching into the sky.
“When did we arrive?” The intricate beauty of the structure rising above the trees struck Thomas. It wasn’t that he was unused to the overwhelming beauty of a castle; after all, he had grown up as the prince in his own castle in Havilah. The thing that struck him was the humble beauty of it. His own castle in Havilah was laced with gold and other shimmering gems, showing off his country’s wealth. But this castle in the distance, instead of being ornate and shimmering with wealth, was serenely plain, peaceful and pure.
“We arrived late last night.” Pine still looked concerned as he talked to Thomas, checking him over to make sure his king was well. “King Abishan sent a troop of his royal guard to greet us this morning and they are awaiting us in port for whenever you feel well enough to travel.”
“We must not make them wait.” Thomas sat up straight and began moving closer to the hammock’s edge.
“You should rest, sire.” Juniper continued to brace him.
“No. I am fine. Give me your arm.” Thomas clasped Juniper’s forearm as he extended it and used the man’s strength to help himself to his feet. Gulls called above the ship’s tied-down sails. “We will not make our host wait. And how would it look to the princess if we relaxed on the river’s bank for days on end without meeting her? Surely that wouldn’t show my excitement for the occasion.”
He stood and began walking back to his cabin with Pine close to his side. “Dress in your finest garb and alert the rest of the fleet that we will go ashore in an hour,” he spoke to Juniper and Cypress.
As he walked slowly along the boat’s side he saw the young galley boy who had brought him diced salmon and wine earlier in the journey, scurrying in his direction. “Come here a second!” he called to the boy, not much younger than himself.
The boy quickly came to him and slightly bowed. “What can I do for you, my king?” the boy spoke with excitement.
Thomas grinned. An idea had come to him. “What is your name, boy?”
“Amari.”
“Amari, how would you like to come to Cush with me and my men?”
Amari smiled. “How can I assist you, sire?”
Thomas continued walking along the deck and the young boy followed him. “I don’t require your service. I only request your presence as a friend to experience this new kingdom with.”
Amari’s eyes glowed. “Thank you, sire. I would be honored.”
Thomas turned to Pine. “Fit this young man in a set of my royal clothes and meet me out on deck in an hour’s time.” He could see the confusion on his guard’s face but Pine led Amari toward a spare room on the vessel used for holding Thomas’s royal garb.
After turning the cool golden knob on his chamber door, Thomas stepped into his room and walked over to his bed, lying back on it in relaxation. His head ached. His muscles were tense. He would have loved to rest a few days before going ashore but he was also anxious about meeting Cush’s princess, the first young lady he had arranged to meet on this voyage.
Above him a diamond chandelier glimmered in the sunlight shimmering in from the cabin’s open window. The boat rocked gently beneath him.
What to wear? To go too extravagant would make him look pompous but he wanted to make it appear like he was at least her equal in wealth.
In the corner of his room several garments hung in a cherry wood closet for him to choose from. One robe was top to bottom woven gold with intricate knot designs. Another was smooth red silk with golden inlays. Yet another was laced with emeralds and had been a gift from a village of farmers after he had his men redirect part of the Pishon River so the village could have better irrigation.
He settled however on a robe woven completely down the garment with tiny blue opal stones. On his wrists he wore golden bracelets and as he placed his gem filled crown on his head and looked in the mirror he smiled. Surely this would be fitting for the occasion.
The blue also gives me a calming look, he thought. With a few steps he went to his dresser and opened the top drawer. Inside was a small carved gold box he lifted, tossed in the air, and caught before placing it in his pocket. “I’ll bring this in case you are the one,” he said before walking to the door, swinging it open and breathing in a deep breath of cool fresh air.
From there Thomas strode to the front deck where he leaned against the railing and watched a group of children by the shore splashing each other and swinging out over the water on a thick vine.
“That looks like fun!” Juniper startled him and put his hand on the king’s shoulder. “We should give that vine a swing before leaving port in a few days.”
“It sounds great, but you’d better let me go first. You might snap it right out of the trees.” Thomas gave Juniper a teasing jab to the stomach.
“You make fun but I bet I’ll swing a lot farther than you and then cover you with a splash that soaks the sun from the sky.”
They stood there together, two friends enjoying the day, until all were ready aboard ship to go ashore.
Thomas was the first to step onto the plank connecting Anemon’s deck to the boardwalk below. His guards and Amari were close behind. The board was made of strong oak and stayed completely firm as his shoes hit the wood on the way down.
Close by, men from the rest of his fleet were also exiting their vessels to accompany him into Cush’s realm. Thomas’s guards stayed alert at all times.
As Thomas walked the boardwalk he passed a stand where a bearded local man was selling fresh fish. He imagined how delicious they might taste if cooked with some of the herbs they had brought on ship for their journey. I’ll bet our fishermen will have enough caught to more than satisfy my hunger when we return, he thought.
&n
bsp; Locals dressed in ragged clothes passed him and his group, turning their heads to stare in awe.
“Where are our guides to Cush’s palace?” Thomas spoke to his guards, struck that no-one was there to greet them when they came off the ships.
“They’re waiting in the local pub, sire.” Pine pointed over to a small thatch-roofed shack. A man stumbled through its flowing grass door before swaying and plunging face first into the sand.
Thomas rolled his eyes. “I hope that’s not one of them.” As the young king approached the shack he could hear the noise of someone beating a set of hollowed out gourds and men arguing through slurred speech. He passed the scruffy man whose face was planted in the sand and out of the corner of his eye noted him bumbling and struggling to get up.
The hanging grass door brushed against Thomas’s fingertips as he entered the dimly lit room. Although the sun shone brightly outside the blinds were pulled tight and only a few sparsely placed candles lit the tables and small bar before him.
A rather large bellied bartender turned from his wall of liqueurs and thrust his hands down on the bar. “Which ale are we filling your gullet with this day, boy?” The man grinned. He slid a beer down the bar to an elderly man who still had half of another glass and appeared to barely be able to hold his head up.
“I don’t need anything, but thank you for the offer.” Thomas scanned the room in search of the guides. A few drunks were scattered around the shack randomly.
One man in a dark corner appeared to be passed out, his head propped up between the corners of the wall and drool trickling down his scruffy cheek. Others flirted with and made lewd remarks to what Thomas assumed were prostitutes.
There was no sign, however, of anyone in royal garb that could have been sent as Thomas’s escorts. He breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that Pine was wrong about where King Abishan’s men were waiting for him. Pine, Juniper and Cypress had joined him inside. “Are you sure that this is where we were to meet?” he asked.
“This is the place.” Cypress groaned before approaching the bartender. “Where are the king’s lads who were in here earlier?”
A sly grin spread across the man’s face as he pointed to a back room with another flowing grass door.
“Wait here,” Cypress instructed before heavily walking into the back room. There was a commotion, men’s slurred voices and the sound of a chair crashing against the floor. “Get up!” his voice bellowed out. He walked through the flowing grass and back into view. “Let us wait outside, sire. They’ll be right out.”
Thomas was anxious to be out of the bar and back into the sunlight once more. The man who had fallen into the sand before they had entered had since scampered away and Thomas’s troop of men waited with their king between the shack and the river bank.
“This is ridiculous, sire.” Cypress was clearly disturbed by the way his king had been greeted. “If this is what Abishan thinks of us then perhaps we should just lift anchor and head to Assyria. Surely you will be greeted with more affection there.”
Thomas held his patience in check. “Just because his men treat us discourteously does not mean the king means for them to be that way. And besides, it is Abishan’s daughter I am here to court and it would be wrong of us to judge her by the behaviors of these men.”
As if they had heard their calling, the escorts sent to Thomas to lead him through the realm of Cush stumbled from the shack with their eyes glazed over, drunk and still in full armor. “We thought you would be a few days resting!” The largest man of the three spoke loudly as he swayed and almost walked into a small child who was chasing his friends through the group. “Thank goodness you found us before we got drunk!”
The second of the men snickered at this. “Yes! Thank goodness!”
The first man swung his arm back into the second’s stomach, making him hack and spit.
“These men will be useless, sire,” Pine spoke lowly to Thomas as the three drunkards walked in their direction. “We should leave them here and head to Cush on our own. Surely it can’t be that difficult to follow the castle’s spire until we reach its walls.”
The first of the guides reached out his hand to greet Thomas as he shifted his feet to regain his balance. “I am Repaor, knight of Cush, and it is good to meet you.”
His grip was tight yet sloppy and as Thomas looked in his eyes he could see them red with strain. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Repaor.” He shook the knight’s hand for a long moment before the knight finally let it go. An awkward silence sat between the men before Thomas said more.
“It was gracious of you to come and escort us, and we appreciate your hospitality, but I have spoken with my guards and we’ve decided we would like to explore your country on our own as we make our way to the castle.” Thomas slid his hand down into a silk change pouch hanging to his side. After a few seconds he withdrew three gold coins and held them out in his palm. They shone in the sunlight. “These are for your efforts.”
Repaor held out his hand anxiously and Thomas dropped the coins from his palm into Repaor’s own. “Well... if you insist!” The drunken knight swayed as he turned to face the other two. “A round of drinks on me, boys!”
With devious grins the other two grabbed their coins from their leader and ran back into the shack.
Repaor stumbled through the grass door after them.
“This is the company King Abishan keeps?” Pine spoke to Thomas as the young king turned to him. “Surely this realm has little to offer. Should we not travel on to Assyria?”
“This is where we are meant to be. I have already told you this.” Thomas reentered the boardwalk with his rather large royal company close behind him. “Now let’s get some enjoyment exploring Cush before we reach the castle.”
They hired a guide named Drinsnel from a fisherman’s peer along the river’s edge. With a toothless grin the tattered shirted man had agreed to show them the way through Cush in exchange for meals, lodging and two crates of fresh fish when they returned to the ship once more.
Drinsnel led them through the forest along a well cleared path. He clutched a carved oak cane in his boney hand as he went. He didn’t appear to really need the cane to walk but seemed to get great enjoyment out of using it to swat at the leaves of trees as he went along. Softly, he sung a tune about the water sprites that were rumored to live along the riverbank’s edge.
“There once was but a land so pure
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
That the souls there knew no ill
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
And though they had all things
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
They wanted much more still
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm”
He had no clue what the tune was about, but Thomas found that its rhythmic melody made his legs want to move. It filled his heart with energy.
Behind him, his company walked or rode horses they had brought with them on their ships. Thomas chose to walk however. He liked feeling the land beneath him and insisted to his group that he could get more fulfillment out of their journey by taking it slow, walking and breathing-in the world.
In the woods beside him and his guards, Amari skipped to Drinsnel’s flowing melody.
“Now the souls in this blessed land
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
Ruled o’er all living things
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
And by the good Lord’s blessed will
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
They ate of the life giving tree
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm”
Thomas was skipping and gallivanting now in the woods with Amari, letting the rhythm of the tune carry his footsteps. Leaves flung up from where he danced and he smiled at the sunlight glistening through the boughs of the trees above.
Drinsnel swatted pebbles in his path with the walking stick as he sang, beginning to place an airy breath in his vocals.
Something slithered through the underbrush by
Thomas’s feet. He was oblivious to the thing and to Drinsnel’s words, and was instead lost in the song’s melody.
“Of one other fruit in this land
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
These souls were told to never touch
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
But their curiosity overcame them
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
And they were enticed by a serpent
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm”
The melody continued on, and as Thomas danced, deeper and deeper into the wood he went. The emerald green foliage was dense here and the eyes of little creatures peered at him as he moved.
In the distance he could hear the rhythm of Drinsnel’s voice and could vaguely make out his words.
He was happy he had brought Amari along. The boy’s youthful spirit had encouraged his own to let his boy-like soul enjoy itself. Why is it that I am almost the same age as him and yet I feel so much older? He knew the answer. His father had died. There had to be a king and that king needed to grow up, at least to some extent, faster than he normally would have.
Thomas ran playfully now, darting between a series of closely lined trees and leaping over their roots as he went.
Overhead a flying squirrel leapt from branch to branch as if it were moving with him.
The young king stretched his arms out like a bird and laughed as he felt the breeze curl about them. My future queen will have a young soul, whoever she is. That way she can help me to be young at heart too.
His left foot splashed into a small puddle as he ran, sending beads of water splaying through the air. A mocking bird in a nearby tree called out its tune.
He could barely hear a voice in the distance.
Was someone calling him?
Thomas stopped running and turned toward the road they had been traveling on. He had wandered far from the rest of the group.
“Thomas!” he heard Juniper’s strong voice careening through the woods. “Please come closer to us, sire!”
He turned to call back but choked on his own voice as he saw a massive ruby and orange hued snake slithering toward him. Its scales rippled, rising and falling along its body, showing its oily black skin beneath as its muscles flexed it over the forest terrain.
Thomas stumbled backwards, and mid-turn, crashed hands first to the moist soil below. “Help!!!” he screamed as the serpent clutched his legs with its writhing body, he could feel the blood squeeze from his veins as it wrapped around.
Squirming and digging his fingers in the ground, Thomas struggled to escape.
The blood the snake had pushed from his legs pressed upwards in his body, causing his brain to ache and pulse. “Sssssssssss…” the serpent sang.
Thomas’s hands went down to the snake’s oily body in an effort to pry it off but instead of loosening its grasp the snake rolled its coils over his hands, pining them to his sides. His knuckles popped and cracked as it tightened its hold.
He opened his mouth to scream but found that his voice only scratched and cracked with his attempt. Mud churned up in his mouth. He tried to cough it out but his ribcage was pulled too tight to move.
“Sire?” he heard in the distance.
His sight was leaving him now as splotches of darkness seeped into his vision. His chest burned as the serpent tightened its coils.
“Sssssssssss…” the creature sang, its slimy body caressing Thomas’s cheek as the young king thrashed his head in an attempt to see.
“Sire!” a voice bellowed out, closer this time.
His sight returned just in time to look into the eyes of the fire hued snake.
Its slitted irises burned with heat as they bored into his mind. Its scales seemed to leap with flame. A voice like that of the noise of a seashell held up to the ear, rushed from the snake’s mouth. “Oooooooooooo…” The serpent’s slim forked tongue flicked from its scaled lips and slowly licked up Thomas’s chin.
Thomas thrashed up and down, thrusting his head again and again into the mud beneath him in an attempt to free himself.
The snake swept its slick body beneath his neck, popping it as his head jutted upward, raised its head high above the boy, and careened its thick fangs down past his shoulder blades and into his spinal cord.
Thomas’s back went erect as he felt the burning snake venom surging into his spine. He would have screamed but his lungs and the rest of his body were paralyzed. His sight went blood red.
…h…e…l…p… he thought as he watched the serpent slither away before him. He felt as if his entire body was still crushed in the thing’s coils. …h…e…l…p…
It wound up a nearby tree before perching on a limb and setting its eyes once more on his own.
Moments later Thomas heard the footsteps of men racing toward him, their boots sucking at the wet ground as they ran. Soon he could see legs and feet in his red vision before him.
“Thomas!”
Juniper’s burly arms came into view as they came toward his body.
He couldn’t feel the man’s touch.
“Is he alright?”
Three more sets of boots came sputtering to a stop through his field of sight.
“What happened?”
Through his blood red vision Thomas could see the serpent in the tree, its tail swaying back and forth. Was it smiling at him? Its eyes burned like black stars.
“I don’t know but he’s stiff as a board. Help me roll him over.”
The boots moved out of his sight and his vision spun. He couldn’t move his head but in his sight he could barely make out arms touching his body and chest. The men’s faces were twisted and distorted, as if they were demonic beings from the afterlife.
“His heart’s still going! Help me lift him and bring him to the horses! We need to get him to the castle as soon as possible!”
He rose toward the sky and their twisted faces came nearer and nearer. In his mind he screamed, but his lips would not move.
The boughs of the trees above sped by, splotches of bright crimson seeping through the breaks in their leaves. Through the overhanging limbs sweeping by, beady little eyes peered out, boring into his mind.
Where was he? What had happened?
He could hear the heavy breaths of the beings carrying him, rushing through the woods. His eyes were heavy. He succumbed to darkness.
His eyes awoke once more to crimson sight. One of the beasts which had carried him was over him, strapping him to something. His body was still numb and immobile and before him was the whisking of a horse’s tail. Much more was just outside his field of vision, possibly other horses, but they were blurs in his sight.
“You will be alright, sire,” a heavy voice said behind him. “I swear it.”
Who was he? He couldn’t remember.
Moments passed.
“Go! Quickly!” he heard called and soon his vision shook up and down rapidly as horse hooves kicked in his sight in front of some sort of plank of wood. Shimmering black dust kicked up and over his vision from the horse’s hooves. The world appeared to bleed its red hue.
Noises jumbled together. What was that? A song? Forgetting who he was, and hoping the song would hold a key, he strained to make out its words.
“And so the guardians of the tree
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
Forever their land doth stand watch
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
Forbidding any mortal
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
Of tempted hand to touch
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
“And their spirits doth these lands swim
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
Amongst our river’s tides
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
In watch of those who within
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
Have deviant seeking minds
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
“So none shall touch the tree
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
Else
the spirits take their hold
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
And vanquish to death’s realm
Hmm hmm, hmm hmm, hmm hmm
Those tainted, tempted souls…
The song ended, the raspy voice singing it trailing its words off into nothingness. There was no hint of what or who he was. He tried to close his eyes to escape the burning trees and black dusk pouring through their limbs as the demon horse before him dragged him along, but it was no use. His body was stiff and beyond his control.
Below the boards he was tied to, a dark river of ooze seemed to flow, thrashing up at him, jolting his sight and body to and fro. Where was he going?
An eternity of time seemed to lapse as the darkness ate at his mind. Once, a long horn beaked bird latched onto him with its claws, thrusting at him with its cragged beak as it tried to clasp onto one of his eyes. One moment the winged beast was thrashing at him, the next moment something spliced through its neck and the writhing corpse was thrust off of him onto the ground. Ruby crimson blood spewed from its wound.
Darkness… fire… voices… demonic eyes peering at him from the trees. He was lost.
A crackling voice called from above him. “We are near the castle! Quicken your horses! We must get the king to a healer with haste!”
The dark spewing forth from the trees consumed his sight. His senses now were all gone.
And in the nothingness a pain emerged, striking sharply through his mind. At first it was just a needle of pain. But it expanded, like the strike of an axe, cracking his skull as it went. He wanted to scream. All words left his thoughts, and all that was left was agony.
Fire flowed from his skull down his spine and seared out through his veins. An inferno erupted from his chest. All he wanted was to rip free of his body to escape.
Everything left him.
It was dark.
A cool wind blew on him in the darkness.
What had just happened?
Thomas opened his eyes. There, above him, was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her soft light brown curls fell around her shoulders as she stood over him.
Her beautiful blue eyes made his heart race.
7