Catheroes

by A. J. Chaudhury

  They were flowers.

  Gigantic ones, tens of metres tall. I could barely believe the sight.

  “What the heck is this?” I said.

  “I have seen some weird things in my life,” Riya said in equal awe, “but never anything of this kind.”

  “Look there!” Junaki said, her paw pointed in the direction of the very base of the hill. I frowned, trying to focus and see. There was a glow, a tiny one, and it was dimming with ever moment that passed. Was it also an insect? I wondered. Though considering the glow, it would have to be more than one insects, perhaps millions.

  The fly presently began to revolve around me and took off in the direction of the hill. It seemed like it was rather in a hurry. We followed it, trudging along, through the jungle of tall grasses. In a few minutes we reached the place where the glow had been. It had totally died out now.

  When we reached the place where the glow had disappeared, we saw that it was actually a giant hole that led directly inside the lone hill.

  “What happened to those flowers?” Junaki said. I looked up at the flowers that covered the hill. At a certain place atop the hill, many of the stems bore no blowers as though they had been cut and taken away.

  The fly zoomed inside the hole. I gulped. I had a feeling inside me that urged me to do anything but go inside the hole. I turned at Junaki and Riya. Their earlier enthusiasm seemed long gone. There were things at play about the hill that we didn’t know about.

  “Are you two sure we want to do this?” I asked both of them. The fly meanwhile flew out of the hole, realising that we were not following it inside. Junaki and Riya stared at me. They didn’t seem very eager to go inside either, their faces pale even in the darkness. The hole seemed claustrophobic. On top of that what if some stone rolled off the top of the hill and fell on the opening of the hole? We would be stuck inside forever! I doubted even a blast spell would be then able to get us out. Such spells were designed to kill things that could be killed, not to make non-living rocks move.

  Both Junaki and Riya, despite their visible fears, however nodded their heads. It almost looked like it was a matter of dignity for them now to go inside the hill. I sighed. I would not be responsible for anything that went wrong inside.

  “Let’s go in,” Riya said.

  We stepped towards the hole, and the fly eagerly flew in, leading us ahead. For a time we kept following the fly. In the absolute darkness inside the cave, the glow of the fly looked brighter. We had gone a considerable distance, even though with every step we took our fears heightened. And then the fly fell on the ground.

  Now what?

  The fly moved about the floor of the cave.

  “What’s it trying to tell us?” Junaki said.

  The fly leapt, for a moment was air born, and then it fell to the floor once more. It tried to fly again, but it fell, almost like it couldn’t fly anymore.

  “It’s not trying to tell us anything,” I said, and I thought the whisper in which I was speaking sounded eerie, “I think it can fly no more, even though it wants to.”

  The fly stopped moving entirely. Its light kept getting dimmer. Within a minute we were in absolute darkness.

  “The little bastard is dead,” I announced.

  “How do we proceed now?” Riya asked, her toothy voice sounding unusually loud in the total absence of other sounds.

  “We don’t proceed,” I said. Enough with this bullshit. Not only were we wasting valuable time, but we were also putting ourselves in potential danger. I spun on my heels. It was almost impossible to see the outline of the mouth of the cave, it was so dark. I began to stride forwards, and was somewhat pleased to hear the sounds of Junaki and Riya following me, albeit their footsteps sounded like they were dragging their feet, hesitatingly moving.

  My heart leapt, when out of the blackness in front of me, a sudden glow appeared. It took a moment for me to realise that it was a torch. The one who carried it was a dogman, and two more accompanied it.

  Darn it.

  Was this some kind of a trap?

  I considered my options. The dogmen were hurriedly coming towards the mouth of the cave. I turned to look at Junaki and Riya. The glow of the distant torch making their outlines just a tad more clear.

  I grabbed their arms and pulled them into the depths of the cave.

  As we fled deeper and deeper, suddenly the ground below us gave way. Before I realised it, we were in mid-air, falling down fast. I landed hard on my butt. Perhaps it was because we had cat eyes so we could see the faint outlines of five tunnels in front of us. We had fallen in what seemed to be some kind of a giant cavity inside the hill.

  Voices began to come from behind us. The dogmen. They didn’t sound very courageous.

  “Did you hear that?” one voice was saying with a shiver.

  “Damn it,” another voice said, “we shouldn’t have waited for Drik. His greed will get us killed now!”

  “Better be killed inside the hill than the outside,” a third voice said. It sounded like it belonged to a fat person. “The village won’t be a good place to die in case all the insects came out, would it? Say someone survived they would come to know of all the homes we stole from.”

  Wait, I thought. These were thieves? I had thought they were soldiers who had come in pursuit of us. These however didn’t sound like they had any idea we were inside the hill.

  And why would they be afraid of insects?

  There was definitely something wrong with the hill. As if to compliment my thought, I hear a strange screeching sound come from one of the tunnels in front of us.

  It sent chills down my spine.

  Following it was a rumbling sound, like the movement of many people. I gulped. I wanted to get out of the hill right now. But I was also certain that if we went back, either we would need to kill the thieves, whose footsteps were fast coming towards us, or we would need to use the invisibility spell of Junaki. But I realised that the second option wasn’t really an option because, the tunnel was too constricted. We would collide with the bodies of the dogmen as we went out.

  But wait, if we stayed where we were, we had a chance of missing the bodies of the dogmen. And then we could run out… or we could follow the dogmen. It was strange but after I had heard the screeching sound, I wanted to find out what was the exact mystery of the hill. It was a disturbing thought, considering I might die trying to uncover the mystery.

  “Quick,” I said to Junaki, “use the spell of invisibility.”

  She quickly used it. I had the queer feeling and knew the spell was on. I grabbed Junaki and Riya and then I pulled them close to the walls of the great cavity inside the hill. We waited, breathing as slow as we possibly could, so that no sound would come.

  Chapter 41

  The three dogmen reached the giant cavity-like place, their torch illuminating everything. I realised that we were actually in what was essentially a hollow sphere inside the hill. On one side there was the hole we had emerged and fallen from, on the other side there were five more holes.

  Two of the dogmen looked tensed. The third one, a flabby dogman, looked rather carefree. He stifled a yawn as his companions slid down the side of the sphere to the bottom. Some sand could no longer take my weight below my feet and shifted, creating a noise. The dogman carrying the torch immediately cast the glow over us. I held by breath, going absolutely still. The dogman approached us, alarm in his face.

  “What the hell are you doing observing soil?” demanded the fat dogman, looking bored. The dogman with the torch held out the torch towards me, still frowning. The fumes of the torch hit my nose and I wanted to cough out, but I somehow held on. Then as his companions selected the tunnel that was in the middle and went into it, the dogman with the torch receded from us and followed them.

  I waited a moment after they had gone, and then I coughed, putting my paws over my mouth to muffle the sound. Some of the fumes had gone inside my nose and my eyes stung as well.

  I marched towards the t
hird hole, the one in the middle.

  “So, you do want to complete this quest, don’t you?” Junaki asked with playfulness in her voice. Her words lightened the atmosphere significantly.

  “The fly died,” I said, and I was amused that I felt rather sympathetic, “it’s last hope to save the mother or whatever was us. It would not be ethical if we turn back now.”

  Ethics with flies, I thought. I must be going crazy. But deep down in, I knew I had taken a decision I believed in.

  The three of us entered the tunnel. This one seemed to lead up the hill. There were several places where the tunnel suddenly winded, and I could still scent the fumes of the torch of the dogmen in the air.

  “Damn, I am getting tired,” Riya said after a few minutes.

  “So easily tired?” I teased.

  “I am three hundred years old if you recall,” Riya snapped.

  “Three hundred years should be in their homes enjoying with their great great great great great grand children.”

  Riya made a sound of irritation in response. But then suddenly, my eyes fell on something. If I was right, as I squinted, I believed that the tunnel seemed to have brought us to a strange end.

  I went nearer to the end, and realised that it wasn’t an end to begin with. The tunnel simply curved almost vertically downwards.

  “Now what is this?” I said in frustration. “We can never climb down this without falling and breaking a few bones.” The tunnel was also getting rather more and more constricted. I felt short of breath, and the fumes from the torches still in the air didn’t help at all.

  “I think that’s exactly what we need to do,” Junaki said, sounding thoughtful although she didn’t make any sense.

  “To fall and break bones?” I asked.

  “To fall… or slide at least,” she said.

  I rubbed my chin. Yes, it was a possibility, but…

  “How the heck are we going to get out?” I said, “The soil is too soft to maintain footing in such a near vertical place.”

  “But the dogmen did slide down it, that’s for sure,” Riya said. “They looked confident. Maybe they know of some way out?”

  She did have a point, although none of the dogmen looked confident from any angle. Only the fat dogmen seemed relaxed, like there was no danger lurking in the depths of the hill. But then, he was also the one who had said it was better to die here than in the village.

  “Okay,” I decided, “we’ll slide down. But be careful. First me, then Junaki, then Riya, all right?”

  “Yes,” they said in unison. I gulped. Then I put my legs inside the part of the tunnel that was almost vertical. I gave a slight push, and down I went. My back seemed to burn with the friction from the soil, but despite all the friction my speed only seemed to keep increasing. At times I would dig my claws into the soil in an effort to slow. From above, I could hear the cries of thrill from Junaki and Riya. They were enjoying this, weren’t they?

  For almost ten minutes we kept sliding down. I was pretty sure that by now we were below the surface of the earth and no longer in the hill. By the time the near vertical tunnel finally became near horizontal, my energy was all spent. So was my stamina. I forgot about Junaki and Riya coming fast from above me, and sat down for a minute of rest. Junaki hit me hard first, and barely a moment later Riya hit as well. All the three of us groaned. My health fell by fifty.

  “Darn you, Kitty,” Riya said, grunting. The three of us probably looked like a crumpled mess. I pulled out my leg from under Junaki’s stomach and helped her and Riya get to their feet.

  The tunnel had become completely horizontal.

  “So do we rest or do we push on?” I asked.

  “A minute of rest would be good,” Riya said.

  So it happened that the three of us slumped down on the ground and caught our breath. I took out a single health vial and the three of us shared it. It was enough to help our health get back to full.

  At that moment, my nose caught a very putrid smell. I couldn’t really place it with any other smell that my nose had happened upon in the past. A split second later, what looked like a giant wasp, about a metre in length, appeared at the base of the near vertical tunnel. It seemed to be glowing, or at least the hairs of its body did.

  The smell was coming from the insect. My protective instinct came over me and I immediately drew out my sword. But the insect ignored us and sped off along the horizontal tunnel. One of its wings seemed to have sustained an injury which was perhaps the reason why it was not using them.

  Rested enough, we headed along the tunnel as well. After a few turns the great chamber that we reached nearly blew our minds.

  There were dogmen all about the place, and there were insects as well in it. The dogmen and the insects seemed to be in the middle of a battle, the dogmen being the ones who were winning, though the insects seemed determined and attacked the dogmen with determination.

  The chamber itself was like a great hollow pyramid. And at the very top, hanging from it actually was what looked like a great cocoon inside which there was probably an insect or something.

  Dogmen were climbing up to it, but any of them had barely made progress. They were using sharp rods to bury into the walls of the pyramid, and using them for the climb. Occasionally a dogman would fall down. Their companions would immediately rush to provide medications. The sight in front of us mystified us absolutely.

  Looking up, however, I had missed what was going on at the base of the pyramidal chamber.

  At the very centre of the chamber the dogmen were busy digging. The dogmen were obviously after something, that was for sure. In the distance, I spotted the fat dogman. He looked pretty bored even now, as his friends fought with the insects. There were also so many torches here that my eyes grew watery from the fumes. I reckoned it wouldn’t be easy for the battle to go on for long. Both dogmen and insects would suffocate.

  Chapter 42

  “Just what the hell is going on?” I asked to no one.

  “Chaos,” Riya replied, “Pandemonium. What else?”

  “You said that the quest was to save the mother, right?” Junaki asked me.

  At that moment, I suddenly realised what the mother was. Hell, had I thought about it before, it would have been crystal clear. The hill was probably some kind of a colony of the wasp-like insects, and the insects had probably built it, which explained why the hill stood alone. The mother meant the mother of the insects.

  And the mother should probably be saved from the dogman.

  Looking at the pyramid, I realised there was only one place where the mother could be—the cocoon above.

  I watched the walls of the pyramid. The dogmen’s plan to climb up to it was more or less crazy and the chance of success using their way was very low. But there was a different way to go up.

  And I was the only one who could use it.

  Except it was very dangerous, and my heart began to beat wildly even as I thought of it. I exhaled. I would need to do it.

  “You two wait here,” I said to Junaki and Riya, though my core shuddered I had made up my mind.

  I summoned Rupasur.

  The great statue of metal appeared. He seemed to get into a fit of shock immediately.

  “Where are we master?” he asked. “Underground?”

  The moment he spoke these words in his thunder like voice, all the heads that were present in the chamber looked towards him, both that of dogmen and the insects. The dogmen in particular seemed to notice us only that instant, although we had been quite in the open until then, illuminated by the torches.

  “Cat!” someone shouted. At that moment, being attacked by dogmen was the least of my concerns. Saving the mother, completing the quest and getting the hell out were my main worries.

  “Quick,” I said to Rupasur, “Grab me and throw me towards that cocoon high up.”

  “What?” Rupasur said, apparently the words not making any sense to him.

  “Do it,” I said, “throw me to the coco
on. I hope you aim well? At the same time protect Junaki and Riya from the dogmen,” I added when I saw that some of the dogmen were approaching us.

  “It’s crazy,” Rupasur, Riya and Junaki said in a chorus. I slapped my paw on my forehead. It was a moment before I was able to convince them that it was the only workable plan.

  “If I fall down immediately,” I said, though my mind swirled just thinking about it, “Rush to me with health vials.”

  I took some of the health vials from my bag and gave them to Junaki. I reckoned after such a fall, I wouldn’t have the sense to drink a health vial myself.

  “I still think you shouldn’t do this,” Junaki said. I held her hands and looked into her eyes in assurance.

  “It’ll be okay,” I smiled to her.

  “You are crazy, master,” Rupasur said as he lifted me from the ground. I felt like his hold on me was too soft, which would have been a good thing in other circumstances, but today it would be a drawback.

  “Hold me tighter,” I told him, “imagine holding a rock, not cotton.”

  Rupasur’s tightened his grip, which was mostly around my torso.

  “Will this do?” he asked me. Meanwhile a couple of the dogmen had reached us. Rupasur landed a kick on one of them such that the dogmen flew away. The other dogman was terrified, and went off to fight insects instead.

  “Tighter,” I said, “or you won’t be able to throw me on target.”

  Rupasur tightened his grip. My eyes watered, it was painful. My health dropped by five. I could barely breathe, I felt like one of the giant snakes from snake land had coiled around me.

  “Will this do, master?” Rupasur asked.

  “Ye.. yes,” I croaked, “th… throw me.”

  Rupasur first swung his arm back and then forwards. He let go of me. I sailed through the air at breakneck speed although I was slowing down with each moment that passed. The cocoon came closer and closer. I could see some of the dogmen that were climbing the walls watch me, their eyes almost about to pop out in bewilderment. Perhaps they had never seen a flying cat before.