"Now, that’s being a sensible little breeze. Alright, I’ll release you, then you will lead the way. But remember, I'll be right on your slip stream, so don’t even think about trying anything funny - if you get my drift.”
“Oh, yes, Most Cold One - nothing funny - no funnies at all, you can count on that.”
“Good! Okay, I’m going to release you now. By the way, did I mention this might hurt a little? Ha, ha, ha."
The pain Keyshi was already feeling was nothing compared to what came next. The Gatekeeper shot a blast of sub-zero air which encompassed each of Keyshi’s frozen tentacles. Then it imploded the air about them to create minuscule sonic booms, snapping the extremely frozen extremities from Keyshi’s being. So great was the pain, Keyshi couldn’t even respond. Its entire body became one huge gasp.
Moments later, Keyshi was surprised to discover that each point of amputation was completely healed and free of pain. “What a neat trick!” it thought in typical summer breeze fashion, as it began to recoup its presence of being.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Come on! Pull yourself together and get on with it!” the Gatekeeper growled as it dissolved into a state of dense, frigid fog. Then, puffing a blast of freezing air into the crack ahead of itself, it eased into the breach where Keyshi was hiding.
"Hey!” Keyshi cried, as it felt a sting from the needle point prick of frozen air.
"Just a reminder of my supremacy over you,” the Gatekeeper crowed with confidence.
Upon entering the Key chamber, Keyshi quickly gathered together what was left of itself, and backed into the well shaft, leaving only its conscious self visible to the Gatekeeper, which was pouring itself out of the breach through the opening where the Key belonged.
"The Key (snappy salute), my dear, precious Key (long respectful salute toward the outline in the stone wall). You miserable, wretched creature! I should destroy you right here and now,” the Gatekeeper's voice raged with anger.
"Oh, but there will be plenty of time for that after you have your Key. Don’t you think?” Keyshi quipped.
The Gatekeeper had no doubt Keyshi was right. It looked about the chamber. How could this wimpy little surface breeze have removed its precious Key, and where was the Key now? Upon assignment each Gatekeeper is embedded with a telepathic receptors, specifically linking it to the Key for which it was responsible. So, why hadn't the Key signaled it had been intruded upon - or had it?
Frantically, the Gatekeeper turned up its sensors. Nothing. Quickly, it attempted to fine tune its frequency. At last it sensed something, but barely. Still, it could only be the Key. The Gatekeeper became quite excited. "Ha! I sense it, breeze. Now I shall find it on my own,” the Gatekeeper roared as it canvassed every nook and cranny of the chamber.
However, the Gatekeeper had neglected maintenance on its receptive faculties for so long, all it could receive now were faint, indiscriminate echos of its Key’s essence which were too faint for pinpointing its location. As the Gatekeeper struggled to re-tune its sensors, it soon became painfully aware that, wherever his Key was, it was unhappy. No! Worse than that - it was dying.
"Where is my Key?" The Gatekeeper's words spewed forth with a frost that covered and destroyed a small portion of Keyshi's center of consciousness. Painfully reminded that there would be no rules of etiquette governing actions toward a warmling, especially a prank-playing, summer breeze from Upperearth which claims to have stolen a most sacred Underearthian icon.
During the Gatekeeper’s ranting, Keyshi made a big show of shivering off the dead weight of the destroyed consciousness, while subtly maneuvering the greater portion of its cognizant essence through the small entrance to just inside the well shaft.
"Where is my Key(salute)? Tell me this instant, you miserable little prankster, or I - I'll...!"
"No. wait!” Keyshi cried. "You win! You win! I was a fool to try to trick a being as powerful and majestic as you. I'll show you where the Key is. See? It’s right up there at the end of this long, vertical shaft,” Keyshi beckoned the Gatekeeper to follow it through the opening between stone and water that exited into the well shaft.
"Where? Where is it?" the Gatekeeper demanded, trying to hide its excitement as it stuck a portion of its being through the small opening.
"There. Just up there. Come up a little further so you can see past the bend in the shaft,” Keyshi coaxed.
Cautiously, for it did not like nor trust this warmling or its uncomfortably warm shaft, the Gatekeeper stretched the exposed portion of its being up the honed stone wall, until it wove around the bend to where it could see straight up. There far above it, silhouetted against a circle of clear blue Upperearthian sky, it saw its precious Key.
"Oh, oh, horror of horrors. What have you done? What in earth have you done to my precious Key(salute)? Look! Just look. It’s turning to - to stone. Oh, oh, it’s dying!”
"Oh, stop your moaning,” Keyshi retorted in its most cocky sounding voice. "I’ve shown you your precious Key. What more do you want?"
"I want it here where it belongs. Bring it to me right now!"
"Why don't you come up and get it yourself?” Keyshi taunted as it began to slowly ascend the well.
The Gatekeeper didn't answer right away. It had heard the horrible stories about the earth’s surface. Most of the inhabitants of Underearth had once existed in that realm of painful heat. In fact its apprentice had just come from a life as an Upperearthian. Rumors were that it had once been a mighty, blowhard of a winter wind until it was tormented to death by a - a little summer breeze? No, impossible! It was just a joke, surely. Such a thing couldn’t be possible. Yet, here it was, itself, being taunted by just such a miserable, little creature.
The Gatekeeper was not the smartest of beings, but it was wise enough to know that at the top of the well, the summer breeze would have all the advantages. This fact really made it angry. So angry it raged even colder, causing the water touching its parts to instantly freeze solid.
The Gatekeeper's hesitation was just the encouragement Keyshi needed. “Are you afraid to come up and rescue your precious, dying Key? Turning the inside of this shaft to ice certainly won't help,” Keyshi jeered with its most aggravating voice.
"And what do you know about ice?” mocked the Gatekeeper.
"Actually, I know quite a lot. A mighty winter wind told me all about it once,” Keyshi boasted.
"What?" the Gatekeeper gasped. "Can this be the same summer breeze which slew my apprentice in its past life? No, what were the odds?" Still, it cautiously watched Keyshi drift slowly upward. If it got too far out of reach it would get away and that was something the Gatekeeper wasn’t about to let that happen, as it vowed to itself that even if the Key wasn’t recoverable, the pesky, little pilfering warmling would pay with its life for its despicable deed.
At that moment the apprentice stuck its conscious head out of the breach in the chamber wall. "What's going on?" it called out.
"Good! You're back with reinforcements,” the Gatekeeper bellowed with a cheer. "Hear that, you horrible pest? Reinforcements have arrived. Now I will not only recover my key, but I will put an end to your miserable prank-playing existence. And if we find you’ve had any confederates up there, We will end their miserable lives as well,” it jeered at Keyshi, then called to the apprentice. "Come along, bring the others. Follow me!"
"But - I...." The apprentice tried to explain that it had gotten lost and never did get reinforcements. However, the Gatekeeper was too angry and too primed for mayhem to listen.
"Good. Good. Get ready, now. Oh, by the way, you should savor this moment. I believe I am about to annihilate the very same summer breeze that killed you in your past life."
"What?" the apprentice couldn't believe what it was hearing.
"Oh, yes, I'm really quite sure of it. It is a most cunning little creature for its kind. Although I’m sure you’d like to kill it, given the circumstances, I’ve elected to retain that pleasure for myself. But I will save you
a piece of frozen consciousness to keep as a souvenir.”
The apprentice was confused. It hadn’t been killed in its past life. How in Underearth did the Gatekeeper get such a notion? “When I went through the debriefing. I told them plainly how I had wandered south through the desert and came across this little summer breeze named ... say, what’s the name of this summer breeze?" the apprentice called to the Gatekeeper which had just eased its way past the bend in the well shaft.
"Name? Who cares to know the name of such a puny little puff of air? Get ready, now, on the count of trit.”
Further down the well shaft Keyshi could sense the Gatekeeper revving its essence as it prepared for the attack. Keyshi, trembled as any living being might, while staring into the face of death. Its only saving grace was that the Gatekeeper would first have to squeeze the rest of itself through the small opening between the well and the chamber in its attack, then re-group itself, before charging full-blown up the well shaft.
“But then what?” Keyshi wondered. What did it mean it would end the life of any confederates? Surely, the Gatekeeper wouldn’t assume that all the inhabitants of Nuttinnew were in on the conspiracy of stealing the Key. Then again, it was probably angry enough and dumb enough to convince itself of anything, rational or not. Had Keyshi brought destruction upon the entire human community in order to save one of its members? And what was all this talk about reinforcements? "Oh, What have I done?” Keyshi groaned. "Iech!" the Gatekeeper began to count.
"Wait. Wait,” the apprentice shouted. "There's been a mistake. The summer breeze didn’t kill me. I...."
"Whatever you say, but that doesn't change a thing. It has stolen a Key (salute) - my Key (salute), and it will pay for this with its life, so other such warmlings will think more than twice about poking their puffs into the affairs of Underearth. Taud!" it continued the count.
"But, but,” the apprentice stammered.
"Trit!" the Gatekeeper roared with determination as it steadily surged forward, withdrawing the remainder of its thick, foggy essence out of the Key chamber.
"Oh, blow me!” Keyshi cursed and raced as swiftly as it could up the well shaft. Only then did it realize just how damaged it had been by the Gatekeeper’s frozen torments.
Below, the Gatekeeper saw its crippled prey hobbling its way up the cylindrical shaft. Excited to over-confidence, it didn’t wait for its entire being to enter the well shaft before charging upward.
"Eeek!” Keyshi screamed, realizing that unless it incorporated some warmth, quickly, it wouldn’t be able to stay ahead of its pursuer. Its fearful cry reverberated down the well barrel, through the Gatekeeper's being and into the chamber below.
"That voice. I know that voice. It’s true. It’s...!" cried the apprentice.
At that moment Keyshi puffed past the rim of the well and rose through the open sky toward the sun. The wall of wind and sand which had been encircling the town was collapsing inward forming an overhead dome with an opening at the top which was rapidly closing. Keyshi, having acquired a minuscule amount of warmth in the upper levels of the shaft, shot our of the well and continued straight upward, hoping to pass through the opening just before it closed. It was, as far as it could see, its only way of escaping certain death.
A split moment later the Gatekeeper arrived at the opening of well where its frigid essence halted and engulfed the key, which immediately responded to the cold by losing its outer black crust, revealing an ever-increasing, glowing pulse within. The Gatekeeper conversed with it momentarily, then engulfed it and gave it a great tug. The well’s crank assembly twisted violently downward and gave out a loud snap as one of its supports broke loose, but still the Key remained dangling from the well seat where Brindle had attached it with Loden’s cord. If the piece would have fallen back into the well shaft, the Gatekeeper may well have given up its pursuit. However, because it didn't, the Gatekeeper became all the more angry and charged skyward. Behind it came a loud cry from out of the well shaft. "KeeShee!"
Immediately, the Gatekeeper felt its trailing edge being wrapped about by a terribly strong force. It looked back and saw the apprentice holding on to its trailing end.
"What are you doing? Stop that! Let go of me!" the Gatekeeper shouted. However, the only response was a tightening of the grip on its being. Having little other choice, the Gatekeeper gave up its pursuit of Keyshi and put all its energy into warding off its clinging assistant.
"Let go! Let go!" the Gatekeeper demanded, "Or I'll thrash you as severely as I will that pesky warmling.”
"By the hurricanes that make the seas boil, you’ll not lay a blow on that gentle soul. If it’s done what you say, it wasn’t out of malicious intent. This I swear to you, or I’m not - was not - am not - the Traumatizer Of the Northern Cities."
In their struggle high over the little town they twisted and tumbled about, bouncing into and off of the sides of the dust dome. In the process the swirling sand grains mingled with their chilled beings, causing ice crystals to form about them. Before long, the air had become unbearably cold for the frightened inhabitants below.
When the apprentice first grappled with the Gatekeeper, Keyshi had just escaped through the opening in the center of the dome of wind and sand. Still, it could hear the shouts of the wrestling winds below. When it heard the words of the apprentice, it immediately spun about, dove back down through the opening, then sped after the wrestling duo. It was a dangerous deed to be sure. The combined cold of the Underearthian winds would have destroyed the little summer breeze instantly, but Keyshi managed to keep its distance, while managing to divert some of the Gatekeeper's energies away from its duel with Tonc.
"Tonc, Tonc, is that really you?” Keyshi howled with glee.
"Yes, yes, it’s me, you silly summerling. Now, get away from here. Can't you see I'm trying to save you from this over-zealous blowhard?"
By now the mighty winds were interlocked in fierce combat and being sandblasted by the swirling winds of the great dome which now completely covered Nuttinnew.
"Sorry, my wintry friend, there’s no escape for me now, but I can help you - I think,” Keyshi called, as it pulled together what little reserved warmth it had managed to acquire and shot arrows of heat directly into the Gatekeeper's conscious center.
"Ow! Hey, ow! Quit that!" the Gatekeeper screamed. Normally, the Gatekeeper would simply have given a devastating blast of cold in response to such an aggravating
class=Section5> annoyance, but it dare not turn its attention away for long from its crazy attacking assistant. Especially since it had become so infused with sand, that the cold which should have given it strength, now weighed it down, making it most vulnerable to Keyshi's meager attacks which were beginning to severely damage the Gatekeeper's central consciousness.
Beneath all this activity the Key sensed the victory of the engagement was rapidly slipping from its Gatekeeper. In response it began to glow brighter and brighter until the cords which held it began to smoke, then burst into flames, as it shot white hot bolts of lightning into the air at Keyshi.
Zap. "Ow!” Keyshi gasped as a bolt scraped across its underbelly. "What the...?" It looked down just in time to see another bolt coming straight towards it. Keyshi zigged. Then another bolt quickly followed, and Keyshi zagged across the sky as bolt after bolt flashed past, barely missing it.
One direct hit was all it would take to destroy the summer breeze, and Keyshi was sure it wouldn’t have enough energy to keeping dodging the bolts much longer, yet for some reason it was able to keep going. Then it realized that as each lighting bolt shot past Keyshi, it inadvertently being warmed and its energy rejuvenated.
In all the fracas, Keyshi was too busy trying to save Old Tonc’s life, as well as its own, to care that its scheme for saving the human male’s life below was not working out as planned. However, it wasn’t too busy to devise a deadly prank to play against the enemy above and the enemy below.
As Old Tonc continued to wrestle the Gatekeeper at the top o
f the dome, Keyshi figured it had accumulated just enough strength to strike one good crippling blow at the Gatekeeper's conscious center. Still, it wasn’t sure that even its best shot would be good enough to save Old Tonc who was quickly tiring from the struggle. It needed more power. It needed something like its own bolt of lightning - the Key.
Although, Keyshi could sense no life in the oddly shaped object hanging over the well, it was sure it had some form of emotional consciousness. Why else would it be trying so vigorously to save its Gatekeeper? Keyshi figured, if it had even rudimentary emotions, it could be harassed into irrational action, and what better agitator than a little summer breeze? This was the reason behind its daring dive directly at the key, then the swift ascent directly at the Gatekeeper overhead.
Keyshi expected to dodge a few more bolts, since it was sure the Key would figure out its purpose, however, no bolts came. As Keyshi zeroed in on the Gatekeeper, it glanced back and saw the whole of Nuttinnew bathed in the bright, stunning glow of the Key.
"Holy hurricanes!” Keyshi screeched. "Let go, Tonc. Get away from that cold creature. The sky is about to explode!"
Both Tonc and the Gatekeeper paused in their struggles momentarily as Keyshi's words drew their attention to the eerie, bright glow below. At that moment the final thread of cord holding the Key in suspension, burned through and the glowing piece drifted downward into the depths of the well. An instant later the sky was filled with a brilliant flash of light. Through its brightness a jagged bolt of white hot lightening discharged out of the belly of the well and soared skyward directly at Keyshi, who was directly between the well and the center of the Gatekeeper's consciousness. At the very last possible moment, Keyshi twirled out of its path.
"No!” screamed the Gatekeeper in disbelief as it watched its imminent doom approach.
"Tonc!” Keyshi cried.
"Keyshi!" Old Tonc roared as it released its hold on the Gatekeeper and scrambled to get away.
Pieces: Book One, The Rending Page 44