Pandora's Box: Land of Strife: Pandora's Box Series, Book 1

by S. Y. Lee

  “No.”

  “And them too? How many others are there?” Karine nodded at the sleeping siblings.

  “Them too. And Eva. And Themba. That’s all that I know.”

  There was another long pause. Karine was still looking at him intensely, as if she was trying to figure out what was wrong with him or how he was different from other humans she had encountered.

  “Is this the way to Thelmont?” Leo asked, wanting to change the subject.

  “Yes. But it’s far and we’re on foot. That’s Servane,” Karine pointed at the mountain. She sighed as she mentioned its name. “Thelmont lies to the west, and Servane is in our way. We must try our best to avoid it.”

  “Why? It doesn’t look dangerous.”

  “Servane is home to elves who don’t live in the green, dwarves that don’t mine, and humans that don’t hunt.”

  “What does that mean?” The question came from Sarah. The conversation had roused her and David from their dreams and the siblings were listening now.

  “It means nothing is normal there. It’s a sanctuary but also a prison. Only the desperate venture there. Once you’re a part of Servane, everyone is the same regardless of race or stature. Nobody leaves.”

  “Equality sounds good, at least,” Sarah chimed in, eliciting a sarcastic laugh from Karine.

  “Equality is an illusion,” the elf remarked. “No matter how fair a community, lines are drawn, leaders emerge, people follow. It’s the natural way. I’ve only heard stories of Servane. Rumors at best if they are to be believed, if it’s true that nobody leaves. It’s not a risk one should take lightly. And one we shall avoid, if possible.”

  Leo shrugged at Sarah. If Karine was so insistent on avoiding the mountain, they could just walk around it.

  “Is there something you’re not telling us?” he asked.

  Karine got up and looked around them. “There are rumors… There’s no point speculating. We must go now. It looks close, but that mountain is at least three days away on foot and we have no water.”

  Chapter 50

  It had taken a long time for her to get over the scene at the burnt cottages, but after she recovered, Caitlin rummaged through the rest of the debris to see if she could scavenge anything for her journey. She found a brown pelt that had survived the fire even though everything else around it was burnt to a crisp. She draped it around her shoulders and tied the ends in a knot loosely around her neck, wearing it like a cape. It still smelled of smoke, but it felt soft and warm to the touch, which was what she needed. In her current situation, it was a luxury item.

  In the far corner of the last house, Caitlin also came upon a cauldron that had managed to endure the flames. She lifted the lid and inside were some tools, including a small axe, a bow, and a full quiver of arrows. She went for the axe initially, but as she picked it up, the head slipped off the handle and fell to the bottom of the cauldron with a loud clank. She tried to put it back together, but soon realized that she couldn’t repair it. So, Caitlin examined the bow and quiver. Plucking at the bowstring to test its tautness, she was pleased to see that it was in working condition.

  She then pulled out an arrow from the quiver and notched it, aiming at a tree in the distance as she pulled the string back and level with her cheek. Caitlin exhaled and at the end of her breath, let the arrow fly. It struck the tree in the middle, right where she had intended. It was only her second time using a bow and arrow, and Caitlin was pleasantly surprised that the first time hadn’t been a fluke.

  She still had no clue how she had become a skilled archer, or how she had wound up here, but it was a skill she was glad she possessed. Short of a gun, which she had never held in her hands, it was her best line of defense out there in the rural area. Slinging the quiver across her back, Caitlin headed back to the road to continue onwards in her solitary search of Keela and Edan.

  *

  She slept better last night. It was still under a tree, but by wrapping her new cape around her, it provided a soft surface beneath her body and enough warmth for the chilly night. When she resumed her trek down the road in the morning, Caitlin could feel her body’s exhaustion and lack of energy, but she soldiered on. She knew that without food and water, her journey would soon come to a sad but unavoidable end, and the only way to find sustenance was to keep going.

  Sometime around noon, Caitlin came to a convergent point where four roads, including the one she was traveling down, all met at one point and merged into a wider and poorly cobbled road. She started to see more people, though they shunned her. She thought they were all dressed oddly, like farmers in a medieval era, but she supposed she looked quite strange herself and potentially dangerous with her bow in one hand. It had taken some begging on her part, of a couple that was riding along slowly in a cart pulled by a small horse, to obtain some water. Caitlin gratefully drank out of a waterskin that the woman had reluctantly offered. When she tried to return it, she was ignored and the man whipped the horse and made it go faster, soon leaving Caitlin in their tracks.

  At that point, she wasn’t even sure if she was still on the right track. There had been no sign of Keela and Edan, or any indications that they may have been taken this way. They could be dead, if the people who had burned the cottages had them. Caitlin wasn’t sure why they would be abducted, but she kept walking. She just needed to get to a place where she could get answers about where she was and how she could get back home. She missed her sisters—her real sisters—and her mother.

  There was no turning back. Luckily, the skies were overcast this day and a light breeze made it more tolerable. It would be a few more hours before Caitlin saw it, the surest sign of civilization that she had seen in days. It was a small city and she could see many people filing in through the entrance. More entered than left, and she was tempted to make a run for it, but her body lacked the strength to. It could barely keep the pace she was setting, and now that help was in sight, she had to dig deep to get herself there.

  She kept her eyes ahead on the city as she walked, not thinking about how far away it was or how many steps it would take to get there. It looked like an ancient city, like the ones she saw in documentaries that had been abandoned for hundreds of years. But those were found in the Middle East or in the mountains of Asia or Europe. Not Australia.

  As she got closer, there was one landmark that stood out. It was a building like no other in the city. It stood alone on a hill, its exterior was dark, and it shined when the sunlight reflected off it.

  Chapter 51

  It was a lot easier to walk in the short grass than through the marsh, but it was difficult to maintain their focus. The pasture all around was uniform and monotonous. Each blade of grass was of identical length and color, as if someone had meticulously gone through the entire field with a pair of tiny scissors.

  Karine made them walk in a single file, with herself at the head. They had no food or water, and there was nowhere for the elf to forage. There were no trees or bushes in sight and when the group looked behind them, they could no longer see the swampy overgrowth they had waded through. If there was a green equivalent of snow blindness, they were currently experiencing it, although ‘grass blindness’ sounded silly.

  The trek was mentally draining and none of them spoke for hours. The only thing that indicated they were going in the right direction was the mountain in the distance, Servane. By the end of the day, the sun was setting behind the dignified landform, spraying its orange rays outwards like a peacock spreading its feathers.

  Just after it got dark, Karine abruptly stopped and sat down. David, who was walking behind her, nearly fell over. So did Sarah and Leo as they stumbled to either side.

  “Karine,” Sarah said, as she sat down next to the elf, “we can’t keep going without food or water. Perhaps we should turn back? It doesn’t look like we’ll make it out of this infinite stretch of grass anytime soon.”

  Karine said nothing as she stared ahead at the mountain. She was lost in her though
ts and Sarah couldn’t tell if her words had been heard. She looked at her brother and Leo for help, but they both shrugged. Leo knew not to press Karine for answers when she wasn’t in the mood, and the other McCallister was still getting used to the fact that they were traveling companions with an elf.

  After a long time, Karine sighed. “Get some rest. We’ll talk in the morning.” Then, she laid down and closed her eyes.

  *

  “Wake up.”

  Leo opened his eyes to see Karine standing over them. It was still mostly dark around them, though the sun was starting to rise. The siblings were also just waking up at Karine’s urging. The elf waited patiently for them to rouse themselves from their drowsy slumber. She seemed antsy, which wasn’t something that Leo liked to see. It meant that something was about to change, and likely not for the better.

  Sarah was the most tired and sore of the three and she took her time, unaware of Karine’s mood. Grunting and groaning as she stretched her limbs and arched her back, Sarah slowly pushed herself up off the ground to join the rest of the group already on their feet.

  “What is it? You look tense,” Leo said to the elf. He regretted his choice of words when Sarah glared at him, but Karine hadn’t taken it to heart. She seemed preoccupied with something else on her mind. She kept looking around them even though there was nothing to see apart from the never-ending green and the mountain on the horizon. Compared to a day ago, it was only slightly larger to them. Leo wasn’t sure they were only two days away from it.

  “I’ve never been here or to Servane before,” Karine started to say and the humans turned their attention to her, “I wouldn’t have led us this way if we weren’t running from Thermine. We should have gotten horses and headed to Thelmont through the Kallen Valley. But, if I remember correctly, on the old maps, this way is faster and more direct. Past Servane, lies the river that leads to the Shining Bridge, and the main road to Thelmont.”

  There was definitely more to this mysterious mountain that Karine had kept from them. She was building up to a reveal, while trying to justify her choices and why she had taken them this way. In truth, none of her companions blamed her for their current predicament. They likely wouldn’t have made it out of Thermine without her. Or, they would have been eaten by vicious creatures in the swamp. They owed their lives to her.

  “Karine,” Sarah held the elf’s hand. It was the first time she had touched Karine and her hand felt warm. “It’s okay. We were fleeing those bastards and you helped us to escape. Is there something else about Servane that we need to know?”

  The elf smiled at the Englishwoman. They hadn’t known each other for long, but they had developed an unspoken understanding that Karine seldom encountered outside of Ifprin. Elves usually kept to their own kind and the forests where they lived and thrived. Since her exile, she had traveled among the other races and was often shunned, either out of fear or as a natural inclination.

  “I’ve heard stories that Servane is not an ordinary mountain, that it’s alive, like the trees. They say it can control its surroundings, that’s why nobody can get to it if they’re not invited.”

  “That sounds crazy, like a fairy tale,” David remarked, which drew a slap on his arm from his sister. “What?” he exclaimed, before remembering that he was in the presence of an elf. “I didn’t mean you’re not real,” he said to Karine before turning to his sister. “I just mean, this is all so crazy. Maybe we’re dreaming, Sarah.”

  She crossed her arms and stepped closer to Leo. “We’ve never been to America. Leo, tell me something that we wouldn’t know about your country.”

  “Uh… did you know that we have three branches of government?” Leo offered. He hadn’t been expected to be put on the spot and given a pop quiz.

  “Yes, of course we know that,” Sarah snapped and rolled her eyes. “Something else.”

  Leo thought for a second, trying to reach into the recesses of his mind to pull out a fun fact about his hometown. “Oh, I’ve got it. Did you know that the city of Houston is named after General Sam Houston, who fought in the Texas Revolution and later became president of Texas?”

  All three of his companions looked blankly at him.

  “Texas was a country?” David scratched his head. He hadn’t known that.

  “See? We didn’t know that,” Sarah threw her hands up in the air. “If we were dreaming, how would Leo know something we don’t?” David shrugged and nodded, conceding the point to his sister. He was used to losing arguments to her. That streak appeared to have continued into this world as well.

  “Now that we’ve concluded that you’re not dreaming, back to Servane,” Karine said. She ignored David’s pouting and continued. “As I was saying, I’ve heard various lores about Servane. One was about horned beasts that roam the lands around the mountain, guarding those who seek refuge there and keeping intruders out. I haven’t seen any signs of that. Another says that, in order to get to Servane, we need to want to go there.”

  “But aren’t we trying to avoid it?” Leo asked.

  “It’s the only place we can see and I can’t tell how far we’ve gone in the past day. The ground we tread on is… not normal. Usually I can feel the life forces of other trees and living things around me. But after walking so far, it feels like rowing a small boat in the ocean with no bearing. It’s as if…”

  “As if Servane is sucking us in and not letting us go anywhere except the mountain? Only, we haven’t desired to go there, so we’re stuck walking in this grass for eternity until we change our minds and wish to seek refuge at the mountain?” Sarah thought aloud. It took Leo and David a while to process what she and Karine had said and caught up with their train of thought.

  “Yes. We must want to go to Servane, and hopefully it allows us to. I’m just as uncertain about this as you three are. This is strange to me too, but I have nothing to go on other than these tales passed on by word of mouth. Who knows how many tongues have spoken them before mine?”

  Leo raised his hand, feeling like a student. “But if nobody leaves Servane, how do these stories get out?”

  Nobody could answer him.

  “I guess there’s no other option, right? We’ll starve or collapse from dehydration soon if we keep walking to no end,” David stated. His stark assessment of the situation, while pessimistic, was accurate.

  “What now?” his sister asked.

  “Now, we start walking to Servane, and hope we make it there,” Karine responded.

  Chapter 52

  It was still dark when Elin had woken her that morning, but the wizard insisted they resume their journey. While she was a skilled rider, Eva struggled to keep her horse straight as she nodded off several times. She felt more tired than usual. Elin had said that new magic always took some time for the body to adapt to and was particularly draining. Eva now knew firsthand that it was true.

  They rode at a moderate pace along the river, using what remained of the moon’s reflection that glistened on the rushing water as a guide. A while later, the sound of water pouring and crashing gradually became louder and in her sleepy state, Eva had initially thought that it was because her senses were becoming more attuned as she tried to wake up, but she soon realized that the water was really getting louder. They were approaching a waterfall.

  They continued along the river until the sun started to rise on their left. Under the morning light, Eva could see a road ahead, just after the where the river took a sharp turn downwards and morphed into a waterfall. There was an old man sitting on a cart drawn by two horses on the road, facing out at the cliff. From what Eva could see, the road just stopped at the edge of the cliff. She looked across the massive chasm and saw the road continue on the other side where there was an opposing cliff. There was nothing in between.

  Eva trotted forward on her horse, riding side by side with Elin. The plunging water was so loud that she had to shout at the top of her voice.

  “Are we crossing here? How?”

  The wizard jus
t looked at her and smiled enigmatically as they continued towards the road. When they reached it, Elin pulled on her horse’s reins and turned the animal towards the cliff. The old man in the cart tipped his straw hat and she nodded back. There were no greetings or small talk.

  Eva reluctantly steered her steed to park it alongside Elin as the three of them on the road waited in a straight line. Looking directly across now, she could see that the road on the other side lined up perfectly with the one they were on. She peered down the waterfall to see how far it plummeted. All she could see was a thin blue line. It reminded her of the cartoons she had loved growing up, where the coyote chasing his prey would accidentally overshoot the length of the cliff and hang in mid-air for a few seconds, before falling to a painful thud. Of course, this was different. There was no surviving this drop.

  Eva sat astride on the horse uncomfortably. It was unclear what they were waiting for and Elin was being more perplexing than normal. The Chicagoan recalled Karine’s frustration at the wizard in the giant tree and felt that she was close to exploding in anger as well. She was getting tired of having to ask five follow-up questions in pursuit of a simple answer. At least the mist originating from the waterfall was cool and refreshing.

  It would have been more maddening to be waiting by the cliff if not for the old man by their side. He was obviously aware of whatever Elin wasn’t telling her. He just sat there with the slack reins in his hands as he chewed on a long strand of straw. If he were wearing overalls instead of the green linens he had on, Eva would have mistaken him for a farmer from Iowa or Nebraska. The lines between this world and hers were sometimes difficult to see, yet impossible to forget.

  Minutes passed and they were still waiting. Suddenly, Elin looked behind them at the sun and beckoned for Eva to keep her eyes ahead. She could feel the warmth of the sun on the back of her head as it climbed higher in the sky.

  “What’s going on?” she shouted.