Her mind went back to the offer. The oracle would hide her from her mother for a year. That was worth all the heat, dust, and tired muscles. She’d looked over the token that Krynee had given her. A simple stone that fit in her hand. A fossil skull decorated one side, while the other contained three bones in a parallel row. The enchantment on the token pulsed in the manner that reminded her of a heartbeat. She returned it to the side pocket of the pack as she began her descent.
Scree crunched as each step took her towards the valley bottom and the myriad of hot springs that bubbled and burbled. The natives knew enough to avoid the area, even during the times when they had nowhere else to go. This was one of the hidden places where people vanished, never to be found except for a few bones or scraps of clothing. Dead-end canyons and lack of preparation were blamed for their loss, not the dark creatures of legends and power that lived here. They no longer heeded the call of Fae or man, if they ever did in the first place.
Megan pulled out her map and read the directions printed at the bottom. Through the pools, to the canyon of skulls, past the three pillars, along the red stone path, to the dark pool. Talk to the guardian, but accept not his hospitality. Beware of the green vapors, for they ensnare and tempt. Pass under the arch of bones to find the source. Her route was drawn in a heavy black line, easy to follow, no chance of getting lost.
Mud sucked at her boots, dragging at her steps, spattering on the legs of her pants. Her hair writhed in irritation, echoing her mood at the oppressive miasma that hung overhead. Only a mile wide and she’d spent an hour to cover less than half that. “Sisyphus’ hill has got nothing on this place.”
“You don’t like my home?”
Hera curse me. She paused to seek the source of the voice. “Who’s out there?”
A pile of mud oozed and slid out from a pool, mouth forming sloshing words. “I do not know you, but you’re familiar to my old and imperfect memories.”
“I’m just passing through to the other side.”
“A long ways to go, please feel free to stop and rest.” It raised a gooey arm in the direction of a bubbling cauldron of mud.
Tempting. “I can’t. I need to reach the canyon of skulls. Am I on the right path?”
It heaved and humped into a dripping pillar. A single eye, agate-like in color, pushed out of the mud. “My brothers guard the pass and death waits for those that enter. Turn away or your pretty skull will join the others.”
“Thanks for the warning.” Why can’t it be a canyon of puppies?
“I know the way around, but favor I ask.”
“What sort of favor?”
“My form is not like my brothers and you smell of stone and poison. Make me like them,” it said.
It wants to be stone? That’s an absurd request. “Are you sure? I can’t reverse the effect or promise that it’ll last very long.”
“Long enough is long enough.” An oozy tentacle formed and pointed to the far end of the pools. “Take the left path through the canyon. They cannot reach you there.”
Megan closed her eyes, drawing in the surrounding glamour, twisting and weaving it into a hard and unyielding force. Her hair swayed and hissed as her power built towards its climax. Her eyes opened and a baleful green light flashed, engulfing the mud thing. It caressed the creature, infusing and changing the slick and slippery substance from within and without. Layer by layer, the creature hardened to stone, freezing in place with mouth open and the agate eye encased behind solid lids. It was now a stone pillar in a sea of mud.
“Hello?”
No response.
Megan ran a hand along the statue, seeking any lingering enchantment and to see if the change was temporary. There was nothing but cold, hard, unfeeling stone. “Well, I hope you like your new form.”
An array of fossilized skulls, from the largest predator to the smallest herbivore and everything between, pushed out of the canyon walls.
She’d found the entrance to the cut as the sun reached midday, casting the shadows just so to reveal the skull of a narrow faced dinosaur. Some sort of carnivore judging by the teeth.
Megan found herself squeezed as she slipped through a narrow gap. Protruding fossils tugged at her backpack and clothing as if seeking to keep her out. The path widened and split. To the right, it headed towards the canyon edge in a smooth and even fashion. On the left, a steeper, rocky track dove deeper into the rocky maze.
“Hello, lovely lady. Which way do you go today?” asked a small Fae as he stepped out onto the ledge. A silver pickaxe rested on his shoulder while a dirty pair of overalls covered his thin frame. He stood no more than a foot high with a broad grin and twinkling eyes.
Megan smiled. “I’m looking for a well.”
“A nasty place that, all wet and full of mud. No place for a lovely young lady like yourself.” He pointed to the right-hand path. “Now that way is a nice shaded viewpoint. A good place to rest your head for a spell.”
“You’re a Tommy-knocker aren’t you?”
“Kobold.” He tapped the tool on the ground. “Our picks are silver, not stone.”
“I haven’t met your kind before.”
“We’re children of the earth. Hard as stone and durable as a mountain.” He licked his lips. “Who are you?”
“I’m Megan, daughter of Euryale.”
The little Fae jumped behind a rock, waving his pick. “Left path is for you. It leads to the well.”
“Thank you, little Kobold. Your brother told me to take that one.”
He snarled, showing a row of serrated silver teeth. His face wrinkled and twisted in fear. “Changeling knew and played game with Kobold. Not fair, not fair at all.”
“You’d have waylaid me if I took your advice. Turnabout and all that.” Megan stood and started down into the shadows of the canyon. “He’s stone now.”
“Who?”
“Your brother.”
A wailing cry of dismay sounded behind her,rising into a chorus before fading to silence.
Three pillars and a red path. Could she have been any more literal?
Megan toed at the red sand covering the track that wove between the tripod of stone spires. Each started with a wide, round base, then tapered in the middle, before ending in a similarly wide, round top. Greyish-white flecks colored them so they stood out against the path. All that’s missing is the green vapor.
Silence lay over the canyon as the wind died down. No dust stirred to choke her; there was no sound, save a faint scrabbling echoing off the walls. The formation pulsed with latent power. She knelt in the middle of the pillars and placed her hand flat on the ground. Glamour writhed beneath the surface, a sluggish and thick stream that flowed along the path to pool here before moving on deeper into the canyon.
Megan.
She started at the seductive hiss of soothing venom and enticing desire of the familiar voice. “Mother?”
My child. Come to me. Return and take your place at my side.
“Where are you?” Her words echoed . Nothing moved in response. She gazed at the top of the canyon, expecting to see one of her mother’s servants outlined against the sun.
Here in your soul, never far from my most favorite child.
“You can’t be!” A cold streak of dread and terror pierced her being, as if someone had walked on her grave.
My soul is yours for we are eternally entwined. Immortality awaits, all you need is to take it. I offer it freely to you. A pair of green eyes gazed into her mind. They carried a timeless quality, full of wisdom, knowledge, and venomous desire.
“That’s not true, you want my body, so you can live on.” She clenched her eyes shut to drive away the image. Her limbs stiffened, as the glamour seeped into her being.
You. Me. There’s no difference. In the end, we will be as one. Stop this futile running. Snakes hissed in her ears, their tongues flicking and tickling at the flesh. I know where you are.
“No! Get out of my head!” Megan jerked upright, breaking contact
. Green tendrils of smoke snapped and prodded at her . Hundreds of them writhed inside the stone triangle, forming and dissipating in turn, little more than fragile threads. Her boots dug deeply into the sand as she stumbled and tumbled away. The mist of green spread out and flowed back into the pillars, leaving nothing to show they’d ever been.
She’d fallen for a simple trap and nearly paid for it with her life. What’s more, it’d alerted her mother. “Dammit.”
The sun had begun to descend as Megan started down into the box canyon. A hot wind blew through the rock formation. Centuries of dust and grit had worn regular grooves into the stone, turning it into a vertebral-like arch.
The oracle’s been accurate every single time. That well should be just on the other side. She drained the last of the drops from her canteen to moisten her lips and tongue. I’ll refill it before I leave and maybe take a bath as well.
As predicted, the well thrust up from the stone in the middle of the canyon. Glamour infused the water, giving it an oil-slicked appearance in the last rays of the sun. She studied the patterns and flow of the rippling surface. That’s odd, there’s no aspect or focus. It should tie to one element or another. This is a pure source.
“Hello again, girl,” Ray said, pushing his way out of the stone wall. He landed heavily on the path in front of her.
“What are you doing here?”
“Following you to the well.” His face wrinkled in a maniacal grin. “I always knew that it was out here, but couldn’t find it. Then the cyclops arrived in town and I knew she was the key to finding it.”
“There’s something bad in there.” The token vibrated in her backpack.
“It’s pure glamour.” Ray shuffled his feet as he approached it. “All that potential. Mine.”
“It’s not yours.”
“It’s mine!” He vanished into a pile of dirt, reappearing at the edge of the well. “My power.”
“Wait! You don’t know what it’ll do to you.” Megan took a step forward as he scooped up a draught to his mouth, swallowing in a single gulp.
His skin faded to a grey, then fractured into dozens of small fissures.
“I can feel the earth and stone. It’s me and I’m it. We’re one. No more weak, soft flesh. I’m pure.” Ray looked at her. “I know who you are, daughter of Euryale.”
Megan stared at him, seeing the lines of glamour trace jagged marks in his skin. Becoming more of the Fae and less human. “Oh damn.”
“Your mother will reward me when I turn you over to her.” Ray cackled as the pieces of red-colored stone fused to his body. He grew taller and wider with each addition, towering over her in short order.
“She’ll destroy you,” Megan said, slipping the pack off, judging the distance to the well. She heaved and sent it tumbling through the air. It landed on the edge, one strap floating on the surface. “Damn.”
“Stone is eternal and forever.” Gravel and scree slithered to cover his face, leaving only a crude outline of eyes, nose, and mouth. Thick fingers flexed with the crush and scrape of gravel while his steps mimicked the sound of falling stone. “The cyclops was right. I’ve become one with the earth now.”
Her hair spit, spattering globs of sticky green on Ray’s new skin. It slid off without effect.
“Useless magic. A child of the Gorgon and she’s helpless before the might of the earth.” He reached to grab her, fingers closing on empty air.
“You’re too clumsy to catch me.” She glanced at her pack. The token’s still in there.
“You can’t escape from here and I will never tire.” The sun continued to drop, casting deeper and deeper shadows along the canyon.
Megan dashed and snapped up the pack, thrusting her free hand inside to grab the token. Her fingers wrapped around its smooth surface when she found herself pulled into the air.
“Not so clumsy now,” he said with a cackle.
“Die in a fire.” She twisted in his grip and threw the token into the water. Waves rippled, lapping back and forth, growing in speed and intensity. Water droplets spattered t in an ever-growing ring. The level o dropped as the pool agitated with a vigorous motion. Ribbons of green slime hit the stones with a squishy and meaty smack.
“What’s happening? What did you do?” Ray shook her, stirring the blood pooling in her head, inducing waves of dizzy nausea.
“What I was told!”
The canyon floor heaved and shifted. Ray stumbled, fingers slipping and sending her tumbling. Megan half hung over the edge of the pool, staring into the empty eyes of a huge partially-submerged skull. The snout thrust out of the muddy bottom, half open to show serrated, dagger-like teeth the length of her hand. That’s one hell of a fossil.
“Girl! I’m not done with you.” Ray rose and stomped forward.
Ancient bones. Sleeping. Krynee’s words pushed their way to the front of her mind. Megan’s eyes flashed green as she infused the last of her glamour into the skull. “Sleeping bones, wake and rise. Cease to slumber, heed my cries.”
The earth elemental, formerly known as Ray, reached down to grab her. “Come here.”
A roar echoed through the canyon. One that hadn’t been heard for millions of years, filled with rage and hunger. The skull arose from the well, attached to a skeleton of hardened, stone-grey bones. Short forearms waved in agitation as it emerged, powerful hind legs dragging a long bony tail behind it. The mouth creaked open and another roar rattled the canyon as it looked down at Megan. It crouched low and nudged her with its snout, as gentle as a mother to her child.
“How did you do that?” Ray stood a few feet away, hands at his side, and crude facial features scrunched up in surprise.
“Sic him!” She pointed .
The immense head swiveled, as its eye sockets blazed with a green light. It roared again.
“Shit!” Ray attempted to flee with slow, heavy steps. He’d not gotten far when the fossilized T-Rex head-butted him in the back, sending him toppling to the floor with a crash. A clawed foot pinned him as the tiny arms scraped at his rocky exterior. Bits of stone clattered under the treatment.
Then the T-Rex’s claws scraped only dirt, as Ray merged into the stone, sinking into the canyon floor. Megan whipped her head around. Sand and rock bulged in a snake-like fashion towards the vertebral arch at the far end. “There he is.”
The snout thrust into the ground, burrowing, then jerked back. Ray, no longer covered in stone, struggled around the dozens of teeth that pierced him. Muddy sand poured from the wounds, forming wet craters. With a triumphant snort, the T-Rex stomped back towards the well.
Its gait grew weaker and more uncertain as it reached the edge. The massive jaws opened and released Ray’s limp body. A final roar resounded as the last of the glamour and the green light in the eye sockets faded. The dinosaur bones cracked and splintered, returning to dust as the skeleton collapsed. Only the skull remained fully intact.
Megan walked unsteadily to the well. Ray’s body lay in the mud with limbs twisted in angles that bore no resemblance to anything normal. There was no more solidity to him, just an empty wrapper. The T-Rex skull had come to rest on top of the former changeling, snout pointing to the sky with mouth half open. Water trickled along its edge, slowly seeping back to refill the pool.
“Well, now what?” she asked aloud.
A boulder shifted and thudded heavily to the floor, as if in response to her question, revealing a tunnel cutting through the wall. At the far end, the artificial lights of town twinkled.
“Never look a gift horse in the mouth.” Megan said, and stumbled towards the promise of escape.
“You knew that it was Ray all along?” Megan winced as her hostess rubbed ointment on her sunburn.
Krynee sighed and slathered on more of the cooling goo. “I did. His fate is sad, but unavoidable. Left alone, he’d become too wild and unstable. In time, the town would have suffered and come to ruin. He’s returned to the earth and is happier for it.”
“How do you know? Did y
ou see that as well?”
“I’m an oracle.”
Megan nodded. “Okay, that job’s done. Now what about me?”
A tin medallion shaped like the head of a Gorgon dropped onto the bed next to her. The coils of serpent hair were crudely sheared off and the eyes punched out. “Keep it on your person. It’s good for a year and a day, use the time wisely. There’s a bus leaving tonight that will take you back to your point of origin. You’ll be safe there.”
“She knows that I’ve been here.”
“And left. Her hunters move eastward, thinking you still flee in that direction. They will not look for you otherwise.”
“Thanks,” Megan said.
“Thank you. Ray is at peace and I’m free to move on,” Krynee said.
“Where are you going?”
“To the next place where old bones sleep, where I’ll await the next hero.”
THE BODY IN THE LAKE
Pete Sutton
The body was half in, half out of the water. I wouldn’t have seen it at all if not for the bull. It had chased me you see. I was off the beaten track, for me, in the farmer’s fields. I’d got half way across before I spotted the ‘cow.’ It had started to walk towards me before I noticed it was alone in the field. I was hurrying, it was getting close, I ran, it trotted, there was a small woodland and I made for that. It’d be easier to avoid it amongst the trees, I thought. I picked up a stout stick in case I had to defend myself.
Inside the close wood, which smelt strongly of cow, there was a small ruined house, completely surrendered to nature: trees coming out of the roof, bottom floor colonised by weeds, the works. I found myself climbing over the rotten windowsill as the bull, curious or angry, came snuffling into the woods. I hid and watched its great bovine face, with deep unfathomable eyes, stare at the house. It didn’t come closer, as though the house held some foreboding. It swayed its head, with a coating of flies, once or twice as if trying to smell me out. It then started to nip at the leaves of the nearest tree, its great lewd lilac tongue lapping at the branches. I wasn’t getting out the way I came, so I climbed over the debris in the building and through a half collapsed inner wall into the back of the house.
Fossil Lake II: The Refossiling Page 17