“What is it?” asked Arany.
“Some tracks. More than one person.”
“I don’t think Oludara left with anyone,” said Gerard.
“But he might have met someone,” said Arany. “Can you tell where they’re headed?”
Cabwassu scratched his head. “It looks like they went into that brush over there, maybe?”
“That goes nowhere,” said Arany, frustrated. “What kind of tracker are you?”
“Wait,” said Gerard. “Something’s moving in there.”
Arany turned, desperate for any sign. “Oludara? Is that you?” she asked.
In response, a fox’s head peeked out from the brush. Arany gnashed her teeth in frustration.
“My husband could be in danger, and you lead us to a fox?” she shouted. “What good are the two of you?”
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” came a nearby voice, “but I need your help.”
Arany squinted at the brush, searching for the speaker, but spotted no one.
“Down here,” said the voice.
She stared down at the fox.
“By all the saints!” said Gerard, making the sign of a cross over his chest. “You can talk?”
The fox stepped out of the brush. “I don’t have a lot of time for explanations right now. I’m Gwara, and I need one of you to help me.”
“Gwara, have you seen a dark-skinned man around here?” asked Arany.
“As a matter of fact, I have, but what I need to tell you...”
Arany grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and lifted him up.
“Where is he?”
Gwara’s mouth twitched and his eyes darted around, avoiding Arany’s gaze. “It’s more of a ‘what is he’ at the moment. Conte turned him into a black piranha and Agnen took him.”
“Agnen?” The demon’s name shocked Arany.
“Conte?” asked Cabwassu. “You mean Ariconte?”
“Yes.”
Arany and Cabwassu gave each other knowing looks. She couldn’t believe her ears, but even the remote possibility that immortals like Agnen and Ariconte might be involved multiplied her fear tenfold.
“Impossible,” she said, unsure.
Cabwassu shrugged. “It’s just a fox. It probably doesn’t know what it’s talking about.”
“I’m not an ‘it’, I’m a ‘he’, thank you. And just how many talking foxes have you met who know about Agnen and Ariconte?”
“Then again,” said Cabwassu, looking at Arany. “The fox makes a good point.”
“Can anyone explain to me what you’re all talking about?” asked Gerard.
“Quiet!” said Arany. “Tell me where he is.”
“Let me go,” said Gwara, “and we can talk.”
“Not until you tell me how to find him.”
“If you don’t help me, we’ll all die anyway.”
“Listen,” said Gerard. “Gwara, is it? I’m Gerard, and this is Arany and Cabwassu. Tell her where to find Oludara, and I’ll help you.”
“Swear it?” asked the fox, struggling to turn toward him despite Arany’s ever-tightening grip.
“By my life, I swear it.”
“Very well, Agnen is taking your friend...”
“My husband,” corrected Arany.
“He’s taking him to his cave to feed...” The animal paused.
“Feed? Feed what?”
Her shout made Gwara cringe. “Uh. I don’t remember. Something about feeding.”
Arany knew the fox was lying about that part. She knew very well what lived in Agnen’s cave, and didn’t need to waste any more time making the fox say it.
“How do I find his cave?”
“Follow me through that split tree in the brush.” Gwara pointed with his snout. “On the other side, you’ll find the lake where Agnen fishes. He’s enormous, his tracks should be easy to follow. If you save your friend, return through that same tree, or you’ll never find your way back. There’s a stream that springs from the ground near here. Do you know of it?”
Arany nodded. Her people considered the place sacred.
“That’s where Conte is headed,” said Gwara. “Your friend and I will meet you there, once we’re done.”
“And what exactly are you going to do?” asked Cabwassu.
“We’re going to find Narre.”
Cabwassu shook his head in disbelief.
“Who’s Narre?” asked Gerard.
“Enough talking,” said Arany. She ran into the thicket, not waiting for a reply.
#
The group passed through the unusual tree, arrived at a lake that couldn’t possibly have been on the other side, then Arany and Cabwassu split from the other two. Agnen’s tracks were indeed easy to follow, and led them to a wide trail. Arany and Cabwassu followed the well-worn path at a run.
The trail led them to a massive cave entrance. Beyond, Arany could see a passage, dimly lit by intermittent torches. A cold sensation gripped her as she took the first step into the cave. From the dark depths beyond, voices wailed. Countless voices. She paused, too frightened to take another step. Arany had faced terrible things in her life, but she didn’t think she could face this.
Cabwassu came to a stop beside her. The warrior had never looked so pale.
“You know what this place is, don’t you?” he asked.
Arany nodded. It took her some time to respond. “Can you go?”
“Into this cursed den?” The question hung in the air, with no answer.
It was a place of souls. Not the paradise, high in the mountains, where valiant souls enjoyed pleasure and bounty. This was a place of punishment, for those who died cowards.
“Ariconte and Tamendonarre? Agnen?” Saying the names out loud only increased Arany’s disbelief. “These things are beyond us, Cabwassu. We shouldn’t be here. We can’t be here.”
“I know. It’s not right. But don’t blame me. Your husband is the one who got us into this.”
“My husband...”
“My friend. Oludara.”
Hearing Oludara’s name lessened the chill. Arany couldn’t abandon him, not even if it meant entering the worst place in the entire world.
Which is what she did. She took the hardest step of her life.
To her relief, Cabwassu did the same. Within moments, the two of them were once again running, side by side, into a place no living soul should ever set foot.
#
It wasn’t easy keeping up with Gwara, who didn’t always take Gerard’s height into account as he chose their path through the woods, causing the Dutchman to crash through countless branches and spider webs along the way.
As he chased after the little fox, Gerard asked, “Who is Conte? And what does he want with Oludara?”
Without slowing down, Gwara shouted back, “Conte used him to get something he needed. Something to create a flood.”
“A flood?”
“A flood that will wipe out the world.”
“That’s ridiculous. No man could do that.”
“Conte is no man. And he’s done it before. He and his brother.”
“And who is his brother?”
“The one we’re going to find.”
At that, they reached a thirty-foot-tall rock cliff. A stream seeped out from below it.
“Stay there,” said Gwara.
The fox ran to the other side of the stream and stood upon a flat rock. When he did, the rock wall before Gerard parted, leaving an empty space before him.
“What’s going on here?” asked Gerard, open-mouthed.
“There should be a flat rock in there, like the one I’m standing on. Go stand on it, and then don’t move until I tell you.”
Gerard did as Gwara said, and was once again amazed as the rock wall parted before the fox to reveal another open space.
“Don’t move,” said Gwara. “One false step, and we’ll both be crushed.”
The fox ran forward and stepped on another rock, causing a new space to open in front of
Gerard.
“Now it gets tricky,” said Gwara. “You need to be quick. Run forward and step upon the next stone.”
Gerard took a breath and jogged toward another flat stone, some fifteen yards before him. The rock walls behind him slammed back shut. Just as the fox had said, one moment’s hesitation and he would have been crushed. The two of them were now completely encircled by walls of stone.
“What is this place?” asked Gerard.
Gwara rushed forward to the next stone on his side, creating a new opening for Gerard.
“It is known as Itha Irapi. It is the only way to reach Narre, and it can never be traversed alone.”
As Gerard ran to the next stone, he asked, “Remind me why we’re trying to find the one who you say flooded the Earth with Conte the first time?”
“The first time was an accident, during one of their many arguments. Narre and Conte are twins, though they don’t look alike. They were born of different fathers, although both claim to have been fathered by Soomeh, the greatest hero who ever lived.”
“Twins from different fathers? Ridiculous.”
“Once you meet them, you might stop saying that. In any case, they’ve been rivals since birth. We can use that against Conte.”
Gerard and Gwara repeated the pattern with the stones several times, until Gwara stepped on one that opened into a clearing. In the middle of the clearing stood a wattle-and-daub cabin.
“Well I guess that’s that,” said Gerard, stepping forward.
“Wait!” shouted the fox.
All around Gerard, the rock walls raced in. He rushed forward and made it to the clearing just as the walls slammed shut behind him. However, the banging of the rocks was immediately followed by a miserable screech.
He turned to see Gwara with his tail caught between the rocks.
#
Not far into the cavern, Arany came upon a soul. At first, she thought it to be nothing more than a reflection upon the wall, but as she came closer, she recognized it as a translucent, human form: that of an elderly man. He stared sadly off into nothingness until they came close, then, without warning, rushed toward them. His legs moved as if walking, but the weightless form simply floated through the air. He reached out at them:
“Do you have any food?” he asked. “Feed me, please!”
The words, coupled with the desperate look on the man’s face, caused Arany to cringe in terror. Cabwassu also jumped back, but kept his composure enough to reply.
“We have no food,” he shouted at the man. “Get away from us.”
The soul, however, didn’t stop. Arany lunged away from his grasp and ran down the hall.
The farther they progressed into the cavern, the more frequently they encountered the same situation. Souls came floating toward them from all directions, begging for food ever more persistently. Not a second passed that Arany didn’t feel compelled to turn and flee. She was on the edge of panic, and only managed to carry on thanks to Cabwassu’s presence at her side. However, even he—the greatest warrior of their tribe—faltered from time to time. When Arany chanced a glance at him, she could see the terror in his eyes.
The passage opened into an enormous cavern, and the sound of hundreds of pleading voices echoed around them. A dozen flickering torches lit the damp cavern. Clay pots littered the floors and filled crude shelves upon the walls. On the far end of the cavern, Arany caught her first glimpse of the demon Agnen: caretaker of the dead.
A multitude of souls stood before the demon. Every time the crowd pushed in too close, he shooed them away with his massive arms and an angry shout of “Get back!” He reached into a clay pot beside him and pulled out a catfish, which he threw into the crowd. Ravenous souls fought over it, yanking and biting and shredding it, bit by bit. Arany felt sick at the display.
As she worked up the courage to face the demon, Agnen reached into the bucket once again, this time pulling out an unnaturally large, black piranha.
#
Gwara, his tail crushed between the rocks, squealed in pain. Gerard ran to him.
“What should I do?” asked Gerard.
“Pull me out! Pull me out!”
Gerard planted his boots firmly on the rocks and gripped the fox just behind the shoulders. He yanked with all his strength, and the fox snapped loose, collapsing on top of him as they both fell.
Gerard untangled himself from the animal and stood up. Gwara remained on the ground.
“How bad is it?” asked the fox.
“How bad is what?”
“My tail. I can’t stand to look.”
Oddly enough, the end of Gwara’s tail had turned completely white.
“It doesn’t look so bad. If it hurts, go dunk it in that stream over there.”
That seemed to animate the fox. “Good idea,” he said, jumping up and running to the stream that emptied under the rock wall from which they had come. He dunked his tail in and sighed in relief.
Gerard looked to the cabin for movement. It was a simple hut, just big enough for a single family, if that. Gwara joined him at his side.
“We don’t have time to waste,” said Gwara.
“What should we do?”
“Why don’t you try calling him?”
“All right then.” Gerard cleared his throat and shouted, “We’re looking for Narre. Narre, are you here?”
A woman peeked from the entrance, then ducked back inside. A few moments later, a native man stepped forth. He was tall, taller even than Oludara, and held himself calmly and proudly, as if the two before him presented no threat. A band of blue feathers stood up from his head like a crown, and designs in blue dye covered his body. He held a bow horizontally, with two arrows notched and ready. From what Gerard could tell, one was aimed directly at him, the other at Gwara.
#
“Stop!” was the only thing Arany could think to say, as Agnen prepared to feed her husband to the dead.
Agnen turned toward them, a look of surprise on his face.
“What are you two doing here?” he yelled. “Get out! This is no place for the living.”
Unsure whether she was more terrified of Agnen or the dead, Arany mustered her courage and stepped forward. Cabwassu followed her lead and advanced beside her.
“Agnen,” she said. “Please don’t feed them that fish. He is no fish, but a person disguised as one.”
“Well that I know. This rascal helped Conte steal my hook.”
Arany and Cabwassu advanced a few more steps as she spoke: “He is my husband. Please have mercy and return him to me.”
“I don’t think so,” said Agnen. “He deserves no better.”
With that, Cabwassu rushed forward and grabbed the demon’s arm. Cabwassu’s muscles strained to move him, but Agnen simply tossed him aside with a shrug. Cabwassu thudded to the ground.
Arany knew that force would get them nowhere, so she desperately scanned the cave for another solution. Her eyes fell upon the clay pot full of fish. In a flash of inspiration, she ran forward and kicked it over. The fish splayed to the ground and the souls rushed forward greedily.
Agnen, swinging fish-Oludara back and forth like a club, yelled, “Back! All of you back!” Arany tried to sneak up on him, but he swung the fish at her as well, making her stumble back and fall down. She could see the black piranha’s gills flapping, gasping for water.
The souls cowered back and Agnen bent over the fallen vase. He placed Oludara on the ground and grabbed the vase with both hands to right it.
Cabwassu, now recovered, vaulted onto the demon’s back. Agnen, furious, spun around and flailed with both arms, trying to knock him off. Cabwassu leapt to one side, running the moment he touched the ground, and Agnen chased after him.
The souls rushed back in toward the fish and Arany, overcoming her revulsion, grabbed Oludara a mere second before a hungry soul did. She dashed for the exit, but Oludara thrashed in her hands and she remembered he needed water. She looked at the clay pots and located one small enough for h
er to carry, which thankfully still contained a bit of water. She tossed Oludara in, grabbed it, and ran.
Agnen noticed the movement and paused his cat-and-mouse game with Cabwassu to shout, “Come back here!” He took a first step toward her, then noticed the souls thrashing about the fallen fish. After a moment’s hesitation, he ran back toward them, shouting curses as he went.
Arany and Cabwassu wasted no time in rushing back down the corridor.
#
The clearing remained in eerie silence as Gerard and Narre sized each other up. Gerard would normally laugh at a man trying to shoot two arrows at once, but if all that Gwara had told him was true, Narre was no man.
It was Gwara who broke the impasse. “Greetings, Narre.”
“Greetings, little fox,” replied Narre. “You should know better than to bring anyone here.”
“It was the only way to cross the Itha Irapi, you know that.”
“Indeed I do.”
“This man is no threat to you.”
At that, Narre lowered his bow. “Indeed, he is not.”
Gerard cleared his throat and said, “Gerard van Oost, from Brabant. Pleased to meet you.”
“Greetings, man from across the sea. I am Tamendonarre, born in this land, a thousand generations before you set foot here.”
“Narre,” said Gwara, “we need your help. Conte stole Agnen’s hook.”
“Really? His courage surprises me. The last time he did that, Agnen tore him to pieces.”
Gerard puzzled how a man could be torn to pieces and still be alive, but decided to leave that question for another time.
“He seeks to flood the world,” said Gwara, “as you did long ago.”
“Flood the world again? Why would he do that?”
“He says he has grown tired of people. He wants to destroy everyone. Start over.”
Narre pressed his lips together, thinking. Then he turned back toward the hut.
“Jassyara!” he called out.
The woman who had first peeked from the hut stepped out.
“Did you hear all that the fox said?” asked Narre.
“Yes.”
“What do you think of it?”
She shrugged. “I’m not surprised.”
“Go to the High Spot. Stay there until I come for you.”
A Torrential Complication (The Elephant and Macaw Banner - Novelette Series Book 7) Page 2