by Eli Ingle
“Fine,” spat Rona. “Do what you want.” Spinning on her heel, she stormed away towards the cart. Rigel scowled at them, unable to think up anything useful to say, and followed her.
Sitting on the cart, she looked majestically lovely and dangerous with her scowl and the wind blowing her green hair up and out. Rather than getting too close, he crawled under the cart and lay on the floor looking up at it. The cool and the silence were pleasant and he fell into a half doze until the approaching footsteps of the adults sometime later woke him up. Momentarily forgetting where he was, he sat up and banged his head on the cart. Swearing loudly, he crawled out from underneath, nursing his bruised forehead.
“Mind your language,” laughed Laurie. Rigel scowled at him and stood at the back of the cart, looking over the barren plains over which they had travelled.
“What’s the plan, then?” asked Rona as she hung over the edge of the cart. Her mood seemed to have improved at least.
“I couldn’t particularly see anything of note in any of the gorges,” reported Jhoan. “Except for the colour of the rock in each, they looked identical.”
“Could you see how long any of them were?” she asked. The bandit shook his head.
“I walked for quite a long time in all of them but didn’t get anywhere near an exit. So I don’t suppose we’d know. Hopefully, a few hours would be all it would take, but who knows? It could be days.”
“So the plan is …?”
“We’re going to split up,” said Laurie. This made Rigel turn around.
“We’re going to do what?” he asked.
“Split up,” repeated the Captain. “We’ve thought about it a lot and decided that it’s the safest option.”
Rona did not look happy. “How is that the safest option?” she asked. “Surely sticking together would be the safest option?”
“You would think so,” said Erdiz, “but we realised that if we come into any trouble then if we’ve split up at least the other group would be safe.”
“Oh I get it,” said Rigel angrily. “So if one of us gets killed,” he pointed to himself and Rona, “you’ve got the other one safe as insurance.”
“What is up with you today?” demanded Laurie, suddenly angry. “Why are you being like this?”
“I’m having a bad day and everything you’re saying is not helping to improve my mood.”
“To be fair, if you work on that logic then it would make more sense to constantly split us up and look for these weapons and then the other group would be safer from danger,” said Rona.
“Don’t give them more ideas!” cried Rigel.
“It’s a valid point, though,” she said.
“I know what you mean,” said Laurie, “but when we run into danger it’s not normally planned – knowing our luck it’s just sprung upon us – whereas in this situation we’re going into something that is clearly labelled as being dangerous. People have gone through it before and thought it was bad enough to put up a warning sign. To knowingly walk into that and not take precautions against it would be incredibly foolish and could defeat the whole objective of us being here.”
“Then why don’t we just all go through one of the other gorges? Surely they weren’t the same?”
The bandit shook his head. “When I got to each one, it had a similar sign in front of it.”
“So by that reasoning,” continued the Captain, “it would make more sense for us to split up and then if one of us runs into danger the other one might be safer.”
“What if we both run into danger, but a group of us would be safer tackling the danger together rather than being weaker by being split into half a team each?”
“That’s a risk we’re going to have to take, I’m afraid,” said Laurie.
“Don’t we get a say in this?”
“No. Sorry, but no. We’re in charge.”
“Hurray for democracy.”
“We’re older than you, you know,” Rigel said again.
“I know,” said Laurie, “but it doesn’t change the answer.”
“It’s about two o’clock now,” said Erdiz, glancing at her fob watch. “If we have something to eat we should be ready to go in an hour.”
As they prepared and ate the food, Rigel asked what the plan was in more detail.
“How are we going to split up? What about supplies? And who’s taking the cart?” he asked.
“So many questions … we’re going to flip for the cart. The other group will get enough supplies packed for them. You’ll be going with Jhoan. Rigel and I’ll be going with Rona and Erdiz.”
Rigel was not happy about this. Despite Jhoan’s recent return to more rational behaviour, he could not help but remember how it was not so long ago that he had been behaving very oddly and dangerously around them. When he thought about it, he knew he would rather it was him going with Jhoan than Rona, but he still was not happy about the arrangement.
“And who’s going through which gorge?” he asked.
“We’re flipping for that as well, but one group will be going through Bliss Gorge and the other will be going through Nightmare Gorge.”
“That doesn’t seem very fair,” commented Rona as she ate a sandwich.
“Why aren’t we going through Insomnia Gorge?” asked Rigel. “Surely that’s a better idea than Nightmare Gorge?”
“You’d think so,” agreed Erdiz. “However, I think that Insomnia is a worse option. If you don’t sleep, your body will fail to function and after several days you’ll collapse. If the journey takes several days then it would not seem to be a sensible option to walk through it. Nightmares, on the other hand, go away when you wake up. They’re not going to kill you.”
“Don’t say that – we haven’t been in yet ….”
“It still doesn’t seem very fair that one gets to go through Bliss and the other has to go through Nightmare.”
“I know, but it’s the best plan we could think of.”
“Can’t we just go around it? Or over it?” asked Rona.
“I’m sorry?”
“Well, who says we have to go through? Surely there’s a way around it? Might take a bit longer but at least you can avoid it. Or we could climb over it and bypass the problem altogether.”
“You have seen those mountains, haven’t you, Rona?” asked Laurie. “They’re huge. Probably ten times the size of any I’ve ever seen. You couldn’t for the life of you climb over them and then going round, well … what do you think, Jhoan?”
“I did have a good look when I was walking,” the bandit replied. “But for as long as I walked in either direction it looked as though they went as far as the eye could see. It could add weeks onto the journey if we tried to go around them.”
“Fine. Can we flip now? I want to know where we’re going.”
“Alright,” said Laurie, picking a coin out of his pocket. “Cart first. Heads or tails?”
“Heads,” Rigel said immediately.
The Captain nodded and balanced the coin on his thumb and forefinger before flicking it up. Their heads rose and fell as they followed its flight and descent. The Captain caught it, flipped it and put it on the back of his hand.
“Tails,” he said, looking at the coin.
“Best out of three?” tried Rigel.
“No.”
He flipped the coin again and looked.
“Tails.”
“We didn’t call that one!”
“No, but the choice was obviously Bliss Gorge or Nightmare Gorge,” he replied.
“Oh great, so not only do we not get the cart, we get to go through Nightmare Gorge as well. It’s our lucky day ….”
Rona gave a sympathetic smile but he knew that she was secretly relieved. He could not blame her really – he knew he’d feel exactly the same if he were in her position ….
“Right, well we’ll see you on the other side then,” said the Captain as he swung up onto the cart. Rona gave them a
small wave and followed Erdiz, who had also clambered aboard. Laurie shoved the lever forwards, making the cart move away and towards the next gorge, leaving them behind in a cloud of steam and dust.
Jhoan hitched up his gun belt, gave the floor a scuff with the end of his boot and looked down at Rigel.
“Ready?” he asked.
“No.”
“Come on then.”
Walking forwards, they paused for a moment at the edge before walking into the gulch.
Chapter Twelve
“Is it? Is it really you?” He bustled out of the door and moved to Frivlok, grabbing his hand and pumping it up and down in an enthusiastic handshake. Frivlok shook him off and stared at him. The man appeared horror struck. “My Lord, forgive me, I have spent too long in the realm of mortals. Where are my manners?” He bowed deeply, stood straight and covered his left eye with his hand before moving it away and lightly touching his forehead and each cheek. Again Frivlok was reminded of some long-gone ritual that escaped conscious thought, familiar, yet forgotten. He did not like it.
“How do you know me?” Frivlok commanded.
The old man appeared distressed. “My Lord? How could I forget you?”
“You speak in riddles, human, and I do not like it. Clear your tongue.”
“But, my Lord, I am no hu … perhaps my Lord would like to come inside? You must be weary from your travels and I can offer you refreshment.”
“If you know me, you would know I do not take refreshment.”
“My Lord, I beg that you do not take my words lightly. You must forgive my use of human terminology. I have spent far longer here than I would care to admit. But I would not be so ignorant as to offer you fruit tea or wine. I have something that would be far more suited to your taste.”
“Indeed?” Frivlok was curious. “Then perhaps you’d better show us inside.”
“With pleasure, my Lord.” The old man bowed and stood to the side, sweeping a hand to show them the way. Frivlok stepped inside, closely followed by the Commander and the Shapeshifter. Zeph trudged in sullenly behind them. Where his eyes used to dart nervously about, now they stared at the floor, dull and lifeless.
The old man shut and locked the door before hurrying up to the group. “Please do not think that I’m not also extremely pleased to see you walk abroad with our Lord, dear Shapeshifter and mighty Commander.” To the Shapeshifter he bowed and swept his open palms down his face and to the Commander he bowed and made a fist, which he placed on his forehead. Again, the gestures were familiar but unknown to Frivlok, like a nightmare remembered in the afternoon.
Inside the church, there were black stone slabs on the floor, marked with worn out runes. There were no pews, but an altar stood at the head, behind which was a stained glass window depicting three huge and terrible looking demons and a pile of smoking bodies below them. Five hundred white orbs lay shattered at their feet, the leaking white light turning grey. The stained glass was the only thing Zeph seemed to take notice of. He looked at it and groaned. For the first time, the old man seemed to notice the fallen Light One.
“A boy?” he asked. Frivlok glanced at him, still focusing on the details of the church.
“In time, sir,” he replied. “It seems both of us have much explaining to do.”
The old man bobbed his head. “It would certainly seem so, my Lord. If you would be so kind as to follow me?”
He led them to the back right corner of the church, where a small door opened into a set of back rooms.
The kitchen was simply adorned with a table with a few chairs. To the side was a living room with one armchair and a wall lined with books. A separate door off the kitchen was closed, leaving Frivlok to presume it was where the bedroom was.
“You must forgive the frugal furnishings,” the man said, glancing around as if seeing his room for the first time. “But it should appear that a priest is a humble man, if you catch my drift.”
“Sit down,” commanded Frivlok. The old man fell onto one of the wooden chairs by the table as if he had been forcibly slammed onto it. “Stop muttering and tell me what you know. You speak in riddles and hint at a game, a deception. Speak of it.”
“My Lord, I did not mean to offend.”
“Enough! Speak!”
“Of course. Forgive me, my Lord. I presumed you would remember all. I intend no offence, of course. A long time has passed since we last spoke. I suppose that since you have little to no memory of me, perhaps it would be more prudent to lose the mask, as it were. I presume that you gentlemen are capable of keeping a secret?”
They nodded curtly. The old man nodded back before glancing at Zeph.
“And of the boy?”
“He won’t speak,” Frivlok replied. “He never does these days.”
“Excellent. Well, if you’ll excuse me for just a moment.”
The old man sat perfectly still as if frozen. Nothing happened at first, making Frivlok stare at him harder. Then an almost inaudible ripping sound began, like flesh being pulled off a bone. A faint red line appeared on his forehead, slowly making its way down his nose, over his lips and chin, and then around and down his neck. Slowly at first, then gathering more momentum, the line began to pull apart. Emerging from underneath was a grey skinned, bony face with an imposing jawline, forehead and nose, striking and cruel. Remnants of the old face were occasionally left behind - faint scraps of skin and red blood on the new face. The old face was pulled away until there was nothing left. Slick dark grey hair was smoothed back over the skull and faint horns were visible on either side of the man’s head. His hands were cracked and split. Thick, bony hands emerged with small stubby, pointed claws on each finger.
Finally, his eyes rolled back into his head until only the whites remained. They continued turning until a new set emerged from the bottom, yellow with a tiny black dot in the middle. His teeth were now pointed and his tongue grey and scaly. He rolled his shoulders and neck around as if getting a feel for his new body. The clothes that had previously been baggy on the old man’s frame were now filled with tightly packed muscle and flesh. Frivlok blinked, for once admittedly surprised by the turn of events.
“Ah, that’s better,” the man commented.
“Oh,” said the Commander, rather flatly.
The man smiled, giving his face an evil shade.
Chapter Thirteen
“I don’t get it,” said Rigel, “shouldn’t we have been mown down by some nightmarish creature by now? Pulling our eyes out with its teeth or something?”
“I am so glad I can’t see inside your head right now,” said Jhoan, still looking around. Since they had entered the gorge, his head had been making constant one hundred and eighty degree turns, left, right, left, right. His hands rested on his guns. Although Jhoan was the responsible adult, Rigel felt like the calmest member of the group at this moment. “Let’s not question the lack of monsters. Why don’t we just accept it as good fortune?”
“What if they’re waiting in ambush for us?”
“Will you please give it a rest? Anyone would think you wanted us to be attacked.”
“It’s not that. I’m just thinking it seems strange that people would have gone so far as to put up a sign warning us away from this place when it seems perfectly harmless.”
“Say that and something really will jump out and pull out your eyeballs. You’ll tempt fate.”
“Are you scared?!” asked Rigel, his eyes gleaming.
“I’m never scared, I’m just assessing the situation …. Anyway, it’s rich coming from you!”
“Hey, I never claimed not to be scared. I admitted it.”
“Just shut up, alright? The sooner we get through here, the sooner we can leave it all behind us.”
“Alright, alright,” grumbled Rigel. In truth, the only reason he was winding Jhoan up was to cover his own feelings by distracting himself. As soon as the silence resumed, he found dark thoughts kept creeping into his mind, t
ormenting him.
The path through the gorge was generally narrow, meaning that most of the time they had to go in single file. Occasionally it would widen and they could walk side by side, but then it would close up again. The rock faces on either side consisted of jagged black rock that towered above them. Aside from the occasional dead tree, there was no decoration to alleviate the unpleasant look of the place.
Their walking was not particularly slow, but there seemed to be no marker of their progress as they moved along. Time passed, but with the gorge having such high rock walls, they were unable to measure the location of the sun in the sky and had to guess. When thoughts of food became the only ones in Rigel’s mind and started going around in loops, he decided that it was probably time for lunch. Sitting down on one of the rocks, Jhoan pulled one of the tins out of the bag.
“I think we should be careful about eating,” Rigel said, as Jhoan reached in to pull another can out. The bandit stopped and looked quizzically at him. “We really don’t know how long this thing is – it could go on for days – so despite packing what should be enough food, I was thinking that maybe we should be careful anyway ... and only have one tin now.”
Jhoan frowned as he looked at the can grasped in his hand before sighing and putting it away again. It joined the others with a dull clunk. Pulling out his knife, he began prizing the lid off.
“‘The All In One Sausage’,” read Jhoan. “‘Your favourite flavour of sausage mixed with a blend of high protein, high fibre powder and vitamins. Stay regular whilst your muscles don’t degenerate’ … Oh lovely.”
“They really need to think up a better tagline for their product,” agreed Rigel. “It’s going to be delicious cold.”
“I’d make a fire but I think we’d be better off spending the time walking.”
“I know.”
Flicking the lid off, he was about to offer the contents when they both spotted what was inside. Instead of sausages, there was a rank smelling black sludge. After a moment several eyeballs floated to the surface. In his surprise, Jhoan yelped and dropped the can. The sludge flew out in an arc. Where it landed, it hissed and burnt a hole in the surfaces.