Someone shouted, "A talking dog, I heard him."
While the crowd turned to look Zhoulin and Uncle ran the other way. Amid shouts of “they’re getting away stop them!”
After a few moments, they stopped in an alley. We can't run," Uncle said breathlessly. He motioned his hands between them for a moment while someone yelled: "they're here!"
Putting his finger to his lips, he took Zhoulin’s hand and walked out through the agitated crowd. People were looking in every direction as they passed. Zhoulin bumped against a few people who didn’t seem to see her.
"They were right here!" a man shouted "check every shop. I saw them!"
Finally, Uncle and Zhoulin wound their way to the hotel. Brother Dog was there already. Their bags were all packed and piled on a bed.
"I am not sure what to do." as they all gathered in the room Uncle sat on a bed thinking. "The note from this wizard of our friend Longstrider, it is quite specific and contains some strange information. We now have limited time, I fear."
“What?” Will said, once Brother Dog had translated. “Time limit on what?”
“There is an event about to take place of cosmological proportions. A convergence if you will. And it will occur in the next few days certainly before the week is finished... It is at least one, perhaps two days to where the legends say Sanxingdui might be.”
He hesitated for a moment. “It is beyond anything that has been seen on the earth before. This ancient jewel of power, we must get it before the enemy does. I fear we have no time. Unless Billy comes here on his own, we must leave without him.”
“And now we have the city watch looking for us,” Longstrider quipped.
“But we need him. Don't we?” Dog protested, looking around the room “Isn’t he important to this, this mission?”
“I am not sure,” Uncle hesitated. “I am not sure what our roles will be, but I tell you this if we don't get that jewel we are all dead, by all means, everyone in all the world, or worlds by what this… this Merlin wrote. We must get the jewel at all costs, we must take it to the place of the Gods convergence.
“God’s convergence?” Longstrider said. “What the devil could that mean? I have never heard of such a place.”
"I also have seen strange dreams since my battle with Lijiang. A strange tower with lightning and power. Of no construction, I am familiar with. But in my dream, a god is there and there is great power unleashed. A battle to transcend time and even space. It may start here, but it will end I know not where. A place we know not, but will be drawn to. Mark me we are all in great danger, we cannot even stay this night. Evil is afoot. Prepare yourselves I do not know where or even when this will all end. But mark me Billy or no Billy we must continue."
“So we go blindly with no reason, no plan just get this jewel? Do we even know what it looks like? This is Madness. Nor am I willing to carry on without the boy” Will said.
“Nor I,” said Longstrider.
"Nonetheless," Uncle said, "we must."
Zhoulin sighed and packed her bag. She was terribly worried about Billy, but what could they do? Her offers to stay and look were unaccepted by Uncle. For some reason, he believed she must come with the group.
The night had closed in, there were stirrings outside. They had just laid down to sleep when there was a timid knock on the door. A maid was there, all frightened and nervous. There were soldiers at the gates, looking for strangers. Luckily Uncle had seen fit to bribe the innkeeper in case this occurred.
The little gang climbed out a back way and escaped into the night.
17 Willow
M
arcy sat shivering against the cold stone wall. Her mind was numb, even after Willow released her, she felt like her brain was crawling. The foreign touch in her mind had shocked her like nothing she had ever imagined or experienced. She cried, and cried, trying to wipe the horrible images from her mind. It was like a un-escapable nightmare. Head in hands, she moaned.
“What is that horrible noise you are making?” Willow said in her head.
“Stop it!! Stop talking in my head it hurts.”
“Oh!” The thought came. “But I cannot make the horrible sound you emit. What did you just do?”
“Nothing. I didn’t do anything.”
“You did something.” the voice in her head said. There was an odd feeling like someone was rummaging in her brain.
“Stop it!” she shrieked and fell to the floor crying again.
"Oh, my,” The voice said.
Marcy sat up, something was funny, odd funny. She had a feeling for a moment Willow wasn’t there. But she was.
“You did something!” the voice said accusingly.
There was a long moment of silence. Marcy sat up trying to see in the deep darkness.
"I can't see," she shouted.
“What do you need to see?” the voice said.
“I don’t care I need to see,” Marcy shrieked. Then that strange feeling again like Willow was gone.
Light erupted in the small cave, Willows distorted face was inches away.
"DON'T DO THAT!" Willows' voice hissed in her Head.
Marcy skittered back “Ok, Ok, I won’t do it.” She wasn’t sure what exactly Willow was referring to, maybe the scream but whatever it was she was terrified of the spider creature.
“It is foolish for you to want to see,” Willow continued more calmly. “Whenever you see me, you become agitated.”
Willow climbed the wall effortlessly to a web hanging tightly in the ceiling.
“But I need to see,” Marcy repeated. She looked around and was surprised to see actual furniture and household goods, even what appeared to be a sink in the corner with water bubbling out. She was so thirsty. “You can drink,” Willow said.
Marcy took the water in her palm it tasted so good. "Oh, thank you," she said.
“No need to thank. All need water.”
Willow came back down the wall and stood over her for a moment. “You are a strange thing, why have you come here? You did not bloom here. Had you, we all would have known long ago. How did you arrive? It is strange. You were not here then you were. Like the Wolver, but you do not carry their stink. What sort of creature are you?”
“What am I? What are you?” Marcy responded belligerently. “I am a girl and… and I come from above here.”
“Above? There is no above,” Willow said.
Marcy could feel that the strange creature was somehow examining her mind as they talked although it didn’t seem as invasive as before. The conversation reminded Marcy of her home.
“What is this place?” Willow said. “It is so bright there is greenness like I have never seen. What is it, where are you from?”
It took a minute for Marcy to realize Willow was talking about her memory. That she must be sharing somehow.
“It’s my home,” she said tentatively, “where I am from.”
There was surprised sound in her head almost like a gasp. “This is not possible there is no such place! It is all darkness! How could you come from such a place? You must take me there!” The last had a hint of determination in it.
“I can’t,” Marcy said.
“You must.”
“I can’t.”
“Why ever can’t you? You must! I have never seen such a place, but I see it in your mind it is too beautiful. You will take me there.”
“Why do you need me? It is just out of the cave.”
“Cave? What do you mean cave?” Willow was silent for a moment. “Where do you think you are?” the voice came into Marcy’s head.
“Well, we are in the cave behind the falls of course,” Marcy said. Then, curiously “How can you not know a way outside?”
“Outside?” Willow said. Marcy felt the rummaging sensation again. “I think you are not where you believe yourself to be. Why did you come here?” This time the voice was less stringent as if there had been a change somehow in Willows attitude.
“My friend Billy went missing
,” she said hesitantly. “And… and it was my fault and we wanted to find him so there was this weird light and we jumped in and we were here. So if you let us go we can get back. I mean there has to be an entrance here somewhere. If you could guide us out, maybe we could help you. Find your people?”
Willow hesitated. “A light? There was a green light you came through?
“Yes.”
“Were there creatures around you?”
“Creatures?”
"Yes, wicked dirty things with long teeth and the smell of vermin. They run about on four legs with claws and kill in packs horrid things."
“Wolves? Do you mean wolves?” Marcy said.
“No, no. Oh... Wolver! That’s it, I am sure! Did you see any Wolver? I think they are not your wolves. From what I see in your mind these are evil, they are why WE are here. Wolver magic!” The last she said like a curse obviously she was disgusted by the very name. “They are evil and spread through the universe infecting everything we are from the Wolver experiments.”
"What?" Marcy said. "What do you mean you are from their experiments?"
“Have you ever seen a creature like me? Or the others? We are the cast-offs of the Wolver experiments.”
Marcy was shocked at this news. She glanced at Willows deformed body the human looking skin growing out of the insect carapace. The deformed face, claws and bone. It was hideous, but for the first time, she saw something she hadn't before, a glimpse oddly from her mind connection.
“Are you evil?” She said quietly.
A feeling of surprised shock filled her mind, then a ticklish feeling like laughter and surprisingly a sound from Willow herself, giggling?
“I am a reject!” Finally came into Marcy’s mind.
“I don’t understand,” Marcy said.
“Reject! You know what that is?”
Marcy for a moment thought, “if this is the reject then how horrible must be the successes.” She shut the thought off, as fast as she could but too late.
“Ha! Ha!” Rang in her head “Yes indeed it is a wonder; horrific as I am. Do not think I don’t remember when I was…” Willow didn’t finish the thought.
But Marcy had a wistful glimpse of something not quite clear, but something that was before the horror standing here now. It gave her a new view of the strange creature and somehow allayed her fears and for the first time that night she had a sound sleep.
The next day they were up and on a trek. She stepped through the stone wall and there were Gary and Tommy waiting anxiously, she knew they were terrified of the spider. But they were all over her as to how she was. Willow stepped closer and they stood their ground, but she could see they wanted to run.
“She says we have to go,” They looked at her. “She talks in my head.”
“It’s a she?” Gary faltered, looking at Willow out of the corner of his eye “how can you tell?”
“I call her Willow.”
“Really?” Tommy said. “Huh! Doesn’t look willow to me, I like willows.”
“Just something she put in my head.” Marcy said a little defensively “I think she might not be as bad as… as she looks.” she said awkwardly “And she can read my mind.”
“Yeah. We got that. So whatever plans we make in the future…?” Tommy left the rest unsaid.
"We go to see the great Gree At Will," Willow said in Marcy's head and there was a feeling of awe when she spoke it. She had mentioned this person before, but till now Marcy didn't know who or what it might be. She just knew that these creatures held this entity in high esteem. There was murmuring in her head coming from the many entities she knew hid in the shadows.
She could feel them in her mind not as strongly as before. She didn’t know if this was because they were being quieter or she was becoming more used to the sound in her head.
Marcy awoke with a start. She had been having some kind of waking dream, about Billy and a weird little creature. It took a moment to realize she had been in a trance. Had something disturbed the pool, she was using to see the future? The past? Or was it all happening now she wondered. The light from the pool and the picture there in was now fading. It took a moment for her to gather her thoughts. Oh, right, she was getting lessons from Willow she realized. She was so lost in the lesson and watching Billy. She wasn't sure why or to what end Willow was making her do this, but it took her mind off all the other things.
Apparently, there were small stations like this on their way to see the Great Gree. For some reason, Willow was adamant that she learn to use the pools like a TV to watch Billy or whoever you were connected to? Marcy was unsure of how it worked.
It had appeared, Billy was on some kind of trek through what had to be China or some Asian country but she wondered if it was happening now or in another time. From the glimpses, she had seen the country Billy was in seemed, very, very old.
Willow had been instructing her in different kind’s magic, but it was hard to control and harder still to believe that Magic was real.
But here she was watching Billy and some strange Asian people on a little bit of water like on a TV screen. Yet here she was in a cave in God knows what country? Land? And no visible means of power! It had to be magic or perhaps she was dead in that cave explosion and this was vague memories of a dead girl. Alice in Wonderland, but the evil queen was, in fact, a ten-foot-tall arachnid with a pasted on human body.
She shook her head to rid the strange ideas. If she lost concentration she would lose the… picture completely, and there it went. She dabbled her finger in the water for a moment.
She wondered where Tommy and Gary were. Even though they were basically captives, they still had the freedom to move about. They had all agreed there must be a way out and they needed to find it. After all, they still all believed deep down that they were somewhere behind the waterfall. But she was beginning to have doubts. There were too many anomalies and the creatures they were dealing with. She was having trouble believing that such things existed on earth.
She heard a skittering noise among the rocks outside. Willow's head entered the little cave once again, wrong side up as she came in through the top of the entrance and walked across the ceiling. It was still unnerving seeing her at all. She was hideous even though she was getting used to that as well and their talk a while ago had helped. She no longer believed Willow to be evil. Finally, Tommy and Gary came in they both looked up at the dangling Willow before entering cautiously. Marcy smiled in sympathy.
“How do you hang around… that?” Gary said still watching Willow.
“I don’t think she is dangerous to us,” Marcy said quietly, “there’s something else going on here.”
“Something else?” Tommy said.
“Did you find an entrance?”
“No,” Tommy hesitated. “Nothing that even resembles earth.”
“What?” Gary said. “What do you mean nothing like earth? What the heck does that mean?”
“Well,” Marcy began hesitantly. “I have talked to her about earth, she saw something in my head. Our farm I think.”
“Talked to her? Saw in your head? Oh my god,” Gary complained. “This just gets weirder and weirder.”
“Go on,” Tommy said. Ignoring Gary’s moaning.
“She had never seen such a thing before.”
“And?” Tommy said a bit impatiently.
“Look all these weird misshapen creatures and they don’t know about grass and trees and blue sky. She was shocked to see it and demanded I take her there.”
“Don’t you dare take her there!” Gary blurted out. “Can you imagine if these things got to earth? Oh my god it would be horrible. We have to make a pack! No-one says anything about where we’re from!”
“You mean pact?” Marcy said.
“I said make a pack,” Gary said. “You deaf?” He looked at Tommy and shrugged.
“Never mind that,” She said, a bit petulantly but not wanting to argue semantics with him “Don’t you see? You just said it.”
“We’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.” Tommy quipped.
"What has the Wizard of Oz have to do with this?" Gary said.
“Aw, come on!” Tommy said, “Can’t you use your brain just this one time? She means we are not anywhere near Canada. This isn’t just behind the little cave we jumped into. We could be anywhere.”
“Like where? Russia? China?”
“Um, maybe worse than that,” Marcy said.
"Worse?" Gary said. "Worse than China or Russia how could it be worse? They say that Mao guy is killing everybody and the USSR, they torture people, don't they? And I can't even pretend to be Russian. How could it be worse? My dad told me stories of the war man. It doesn't get worse than that! It was a world war. If we get caught, they will torture us for sure or make us slaves or…!"
“Gary, Gary!” Marcy said. Trying to get through this diatribe. “We might not be on earth.”
Gary stood there stunned for a moment. "But… that's not possible, is it? We went through the cave, the green light. I mean it only took a second."
“Yep.” Tommy said “I think he’s got it. So what do you think is going on?’
"Well, she's teaching me magic."
“Really?”
“Yeah, Sometimes I can see things in water.”
“What? Really? Like what?”
Marcy hesitated. “Like I was just watching Billy.”
“What?” Both Tommy and Gary said, at the same time. “Seriously?” Gary said.
“Yes. I think it has something to do with whatever allows me to communicate with her and the others.”
“Ok,” Tommy said. “so you saw Billy. Where was he?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it is somewhere in Asia.”
“Asia? Can you be more specific?”
“I’m not sure. Think it was maybe China.”
"Ok," Tommy said, thinking. But there was a big war just a few years ago so there would be bombed out buildings and… what was their flag?
The Jewel of Nirune (The Sword of Time Book 1) Page 23