by Kim Cormack
The Lion
She began her journey down the sandy hallway into the isolation of the darkness and suddenly, there was light. The flickering torches had lit themselves. It felt like magic. The sand was warm underfoot as she strolled down the hallway with an unusual unwavering sense of calm. Surely there had to be more to this Testing, a deeper meaning. There was something that she was missing. She turned down a long corridor but felt no danger or urgency in the presence of the tranquil dancing flames. It occurred to her that she’d been walking for a little too long and that even though she felt safe, logic prodded her to open her eyes and acknowledge that she wasn’t. Shivers travelled up her spine as her instincts whispered, you’re not alone. She whipped around. There was nobody there. Goosebumps peaked on her skin as she spun around again, certain someone was there, having that creepy indefinable feeling of being watched. As she made her way towards the end of the lighted hall she saw a female figure. She cautiously took a few more steps and it was her mother, standing in the flickering light with her arms open to receive her in her maternal embrace. There was no wind, yet her mother’s hair and white gown shifted as though it were moving in a delicate summer’s breeze. Kayn could smell her mother’s perfume in the air. The heart-wrenchingly familiar scent invaded her senses, confusing her. She had to be real. Kayn whispered, “Mom… is that you?” Logic prodded her brain, this is a trap. It’s not your mother. It can’t be... Proceed with caution. “Mom? Is that you?” She whispered as she came closer. Since when had she listened to logic? Kayn stopped about ten feet away with her senses screaming, brains before brawn, you dumb ass. Kayn bent down, grabbed a handful of sand and tossed it at her mother. It was a hologram. Her mother wasn’t real. A scented hologram was evil genius. What was she being distracted from seeing? That was the question. A shiver travelled up her spine. The kind you get when someone’s standing right behind you. Kayn whispered, “What now?” She didn’t want to turn around because she knew somebody was there. She felt a blade pressed against her throat.
Kevin’s voice whispered in her ear, “I have to.”
She felt his blade slide across her neck. In shock, she staggered forward, while clutching her throat and choking on her own blood as it spurted into the sand. No! She loved him! He couldn’t! The bare feet of the Triad ran past her. She raised her teary eyes, with her hands desperately clutching her throat. Her essence strained through her fingers as Triad disappeared down the sandy corridor. He did it…She sunk to her knees in the sand as her soul shattered into millions of unsalvageable pieces. He did it…She released her throat and allowed death to take her, feeling nothing but the devastation of his betrayal.
Kayn awoke, twitching her fingers in the…wet sand? The memory of her last death flooded her being with all-encompassing fury. He’d killed her. Her best friend had slit her throat. She hadn’t been capable of killing him, when faced with the same moment. She was such a frigging fool. Enraged, she scrambled to her feet. She was going to kill every last one of them. Her chest tightened. The feeling happened twice then it moved to the pit of her stomach. She felt something twisting inside of her, demanding to be set free. Kayn teetered over and as she lost her footing, she fell against the wall. It shocked her, launching her violently through the air. Her body hit the opposite wall with bone splintering force. An incapacitating surge of energy caused her muscles to spasm. Her limbs twisted and contorted until her body became limp in the sand. One of her hands was still stinging. Unable to move she forced her eyes to look at it. It was almost touching the wall. It took everything she had to shift it an inch. She tried to grasp the sandy floor with her fingertips knowing she needed to pull her body out of range. What in the hell was that? She needed to get out of here. She was so hot. Did she have a fever? She was sweating profusely. She was so thirsty, so hungry. She was starving to death. She needed to eat something. She had to find sustenance. She had to find it right now. She struggled to her feet. While using her arms for balance, she noticed her veins. They were brilliant blue. What was happening to her? Instinct prodded her to search for her clan. Her heart constricted again with such brutal force that she dropped to her knees in the sand, shrieking in agony. When the pain finally ceased, all she could think about was the hunger in her soul. She was starving. Fighting off the urge to touch the wall again, she distracted herself by looking down at the blood-soaked sand. That was her blood. She placed her hands in the gory wet mush as her mind replayed his knife slitting her throat. Her heart clenched again. She forced herself to stand. Every cell in her body was screaming about the severity of his betrayal as she staggered away, disorientated by the sweltering heat. She was gifted with a jolt of adrenaline, so powerful that she began to sprint through the sandy maze as though it were possible to outrun emotions. The walls began to open for her as she approached. It was as though they were getting out of her way. Her senses raged with the primal savage need for vengeance. She never wanted to feel weak again. That was not who she was meant to be. She heard Tiberius’ voice whispering the words, ‘You were meant to be a lion, not a mouse.’ She stopped cold as the sand beneath her feet turned to stone. Sweat was streaming down her forehead, her hair damp with salty perspiration. She’d been attempting to hang on to the girl she’d once been. It was time to let her go. It was time to become something more. Kayn stood up straight and took another deep breath. Another intense surge of adrenaline washed over her. A blaze within her smoldered in the pit of her stomach, as her blood coursed through her clearly visible veins. She scanned the walls for grooves and ridges as she prowled down the long stone corridor, a lioness hunting for prey in a concrete jungle. She entered a circular room with a floor of sand. In the far corner towered an enormous man facing the wall. There were human bones piled at his feet and scattered throughout the room. She wasn’t afraid. The energy surging through her made her feel indestructible. Kayn strolled into the center of the room and announced, “Well, let’s do this!”
The man turned very slowly, revealing one black enormous bee-like eye in the center of his forehead. Neither one of them had a weapon. He growled and cocked his head at her, opening at least a hundred tiny eyes in the area that she’d thought there had been only one. He was obviously a hologram of some kind. He had to be. He shrieked in an ear-piercing pitch as he came at her with his bulging muscles and rock solid torso, appearing to be an impenetrable force. Kayn planted her feet in the sand and stood her ground. Something poked the arch of her foot. It was a blade. She kicked it in the direction she was headed as she dove out of the way. As Kayn hit the sand, it spewed up around her. Fate had her back as she reached for the blade, she leapt up and sprinted at the being, sticking him once before he ripped her off him and tossed her against the ceiling. She hit the roof with brutal force and then dropped to the sand, landing right at the feet of the beast with the knife still firmly gripped in her hand. She was gifted with no pain and yet another insane surge of adrenaline. She rolled out of the way as it attempted to stomp her face. She slashed its ankle and the stunned being dropped to the sand before her. She leapt on top of the abomination and stabbed him through the center of his hundred eyes. Double tap. She didn’t need this one getting back up and coming after her. Kayn yanked out the blade and knifed the creature’s chest. Blood sprayed from its wound in thick beating spurts, soaking her skin and sarong crimson red. Kayn’s hand still gripped the weapon that impaled the creature’s chest as its hundred eyes, minus the ones she’d stabbed, rolled back. A shock rippled up her arms into her chest and she was thrown across the room. Kayn lay squirming on her back, writhing in agony, shrieking as her blood boiled beneath her skin. She clawed at the sand, trying to escape herself, as her head pounded its revolt against the agonizing process of her Enlightenment. Overcome by an overwhelming hunger, she scrambled to her knees in the sand as the embodiment of the lion she was meant to become. A hunter by nature, need rippled through her being. She leapt to her feet with inhuman agility, suddenly aware of the clashing of swords and tortured screams
of agony. It was close by, it was happening on the other side of the circular wall...but who was it? Kayn hovered her hand above the stone and commanded, “Show me!” The wall opened, granting her access to Triad fighting Trinity. Kayn met Kevin’s eyes from across the room and felt no longing, no love… absolutely nothing but the overwhelming need for revenge. He looked shocked to see her. She raced head-on through the violent madness, feeling a shock or a burn, whenever anyone wounded her but she didn’t care about anything but retribution. Kayn savagely thrust her blade taking out everyone that stood between her and the boy she now despised as she ferociously battled her way across the room, tossing clan around like the warrior she was meant to be. When she reached Kevin, he didn’t attempt to stop her as she launched him against the wall. It registered that she’d been fatally wounded. If she only had time for one act before this death, it would be to have her vengeance. She gazed into his solemn accepting eyes like he was nothing as she dragged her blade across his throat. As the warmth of his blood began trickling through her fingers, her heart released a wail of anguish. For in that millisecond her soul allowed her buried emotions to surface. He hadn’t been sure she had it in her. She knew this by the look in his eyes but he hadn’t even attempted to fight back. He’d allowed her to kill him. She collapsed against him, smelling the scent of his skin as she succumbed to her own final reckoning. Her heart ached as they crumpled to the ground together.
Kayn twitched her fingers. She was no longer lying in sand. She was lying on stone. Wherever she was, she knew he was gone. She was alone. She thought of his expression as she killed him and tears began streaming down her face. She curled up in the fetal position on the cold stone, sobbing. She’d done something that would forever alter her soul. She knew this. Kayn caught sight of her veins. They were even darker than before. She knelt with her hands clasped together. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “This isn’t who I wanted to be.” She pressed her hands to her lips, then as realization hit, her eyes widened. She covered her mouth with one of her hands. What had she done?
She heard Leanne’s voice behind her, “Get out of here! Run! Triad and Trinity have temporarily joined forces, they’re looking for you!”
Leanne had done as she’d promised, she’d returned the favor. Kayn gathered her bearings as she stood up and said, “Thank you.” She sprinted away from Trinity, down the long corridor, continuing to follow it as it curved and came to a dead end. The wall shifted aside and she darted through the opening, moving through each wall as it opened. She ran as far and as fast as her exhausted limbs would carry her. She was so tired. She could barely keep her eyes open. How long had she gone without sleep? How long had she been separated from her clan? She maneuvered through the next shifting wall and dropped into a giant ball pit. This was weird? Primary colored softball sized balls filled the room. She had always loved ball pits. A see-through lid slid shut above her and she felt like a lizard in a terrarium. That can’t be good. Each time she moved she sunk further into the plethora of balls. While struggling to climb her way out she sunk further into the sea of brightly colored balls. Soon, it was all she could see. If someone was watching her, judging each decision she made, this would be seriously entertaining. Music began to play. She recognized the tune. When she was little she’d had a jewelry box with a ballerina that spun on the top as this song played. What was the name of this song? She remained completely still for a moment, needing to see if the balls shifted without her movement. She appeared to be alone. Each time she tried to climb out, the balls just shifted around her. She was so tired. This was way too much brightly colored stimulation for her mind. Brains before brawn. Did it really matter which wall she busted out of? Probably not. She forced her way through the balls, while remaining at the bottom of the pit until she hit a transparent barrier. It appeared to be plastic. She wanted to knock on it but knew from prior experiences, that you never make excessive noise before scoping out your surroundings. They used to play sharks in the ball pit. That would suck. She’d better not even think it. She needed to be thinking of puppies, kittens and fuzzy baby chicks. There was always a way out. She had choices. If she tried to break through it, the noise might add something to the situation. She needed to scope out the landscape outside of the wall in each direction. Kayn shoved her way through the bottom of the ball pit to the next wall. It appeared to be dangling off the edge of a cliff, with no floor for the last few feet of encasement. She very carefully backed up and shifted her way to the next wall. There was a fully lit corridor. She felt the wall for an exit in this direction. It seemed like the best option so far. She was hungry, exhausted and covered in feather-light brightly colored balls. It was over stimulating as hell. She was so sleepy. She made her way back to the center as the name of the song her jewelry box played popped into her mind. Why are there so many songs about rainbows? She was so sleepy. Yes…she needed to close her eyes for a second. It occurred to her as she closed her eyes that there was a disturbing lack of fresh air. She was too tired. She went to sleep.
Kayn awoke face down in an empty plastic box. She opened her eyes as she wearily raised her head. The balls were gone. They had been a brilliant distraction. Without the balls the plastic encasement reminded her of a superhero jail from the movies. There appeared to be no way out. She walked to the wall she hadn’t made it too. Yes, it was sealed air tight. She glanced at her feet. She was standing on sand. She hadn’t been before. She needed to harness her problem-solving skills. Kayn knelt as she dug through the sand in search of answers because the sand beneath her feet was the only difference in the scenario. She grimaced as her knuckles hit plastic. It was only a thin layer, maybe a foot in depth. There had to more to this…it felt like a clue. Kayn cleared away a patch of sand. She raked her hands through it and the area surrounding it. She kept repeating this action in the sand until she felt something ominous. She brushed the sand away and it was a giant red button that had the word ‘easy’ written on it. She grinned. This was an absolutely hilarious thing to do to a human being. Kayn sighed and said, “But is this a good thing or a bad thing? Do I just push the giant red button?” She was talking to herself because she was becoming tired again and that meant the box was running low on oxygen. Kayn took a deep breath and decided to embrace the humorous cliché. She pushed the button and the bottom of the pit dropped out from under her. Kayn plummeted into the darkness. She saw the shining ripple of water approaching. There were enormous translucent circles floating everywhere. Jelly fish…Oh Shit. A belly flop onto a sea of jelly fish would be an epically bad idea. She straightened her body to enter feet first. Physical pain versus emotional might be a refreshing change. She plunged into the water, past the jelly fish feeling the searing agony of their stings. Kayn came close to hitting the bottom. The jelly fish had slowed her down. She saw an underwater passage and swam for it, managing to hit the flow of the current. She shot through into another room. Kayn pulled herself up on the stone. The world hummed around her. Her vision began to flicker as she succumbed to the poison.
This time it felt as though she’d been in a sound sleep for days. She awoke feeling fully refreshed. Kayn glanced at her arms, her visible veins had vanished. She was back to normal. Whatever that was? She was dry and curious as to how many days they’d been in the Testing. She hadn’t seen Zach or Melody in long time. It had been too long. Her priorities had been all messed-up. They weren’t messed-up anymore. She had to make finding them her number one priority. Once again, she had a rock face to scale. It was easy, just as the last one had been. Foot and hand to stone, she gripped and climbed her way to the top with energy to burn this time. Kayn stared at the two caves before her. Should she go left or right? Which route should she choose? She stood up, squeezed her eyes closed and spun around, choosing her direction as a child would have. She was pointed at one of the openings and went that way. Well, bring on the next messed-up scenario.
Kayn wandered down the corridors of stone for quite a long time, with no drama and no feeling of anxi
ety. As she came closer to the last light from the flames, no walls opened and her stroll was about to lead her into the darkness. It was becoming uncomfortably hot in here. She felt nervous. That was never a good sign. Her instincts whispered, danger ahead. At this point in the game the dying part was expected but not nearly as upsetting as the idea of the intense pain that usually preceded death. Kayn heard something growling at the end of the corridor. She froze in place as shivers cascaded down her arms. How many times would she have to die before her body’s instinct for self-preservation stopped causing these shivers? Through the darkness, a pair of large red eyes began to glow. Kayn glanced back at the empty corridor behind her. Should she run away? Would it make a difference in the end? She was changing. Yes, she still had the instinct for self-preservation but she also understood that death was an unavoidable fact of life in this place. Out of the shadows jumped a scaly tiger-like creature with a hard shell-ridged tail. Kayn froze while contemplating her next move. She had salt on her and the temperature had left a slick film of perspiration on her skin. The moisture would help the salt stick, if the creature was a demon that would deter it. She pulled the bag out and untied the top while quite laughably trying to maintain dominant eye contact with the salivating jagged fanged beast. Scared shitless, she dumped some salt in her hand. The lion within her had picked an inconvenient time to vanish. This left her at a disadvantage. In that state, she would have taken on this beast without batting an eye. The glowing embers of hope were instantly extinguished as she saw the enormous stinger on its tail. This was definitely her nightmare and that meant there was no way out. She took a cautious step backwards. She’d always identified with the scorpions in pet stores. She’d stare in the glass tanks and think, why do I find you so intriguing? I could never even hold you. A scorpion’s sting was the strength of ten bee stings. She was allergic to bees and knew she was fascinated with them because they were a representation of her mortality. A scorpion was an epic icon of her mortality. She understood. There was no escape from an abomination born of her worst nightmares but perhaps she could buy herself enough time to get her shit together so she could die with some dignity. In a high tone reserved for small children and animals, she sweetly said, “Aren’t you an exquisite creature. Nice kitty, scorpion, or whatever you are.” She began backing up as it strode confidently towards her with majestic agility. She sensed playfulness in its devilishly animated eyes. Cats like to play with their prey for a long time before consuming them. This was going to be unpleasant. She continued to back away while calmly whispering, “Nice kitty. Let’s just pretend you’re just a giant kitty.” The creature smiled at her with its grill full of gnarly jagged teeth. Awe shit. It has a sense of humor. She noticed a small knife in the sand and she grabbed for it as she slowly backed away. It wasn’t long before she found herself backed up against the wall with nowhere to go. Just wonderful.