As he kicked, that rounded surface began to show a rim around its center, and dials, and switches, and a familiar brass crank at its side.
At last he reached it, and felt the wood of the globe’s rim in his hands. But as he did so, he saw something move in the shadows in front of him, smooth in the shrouded darkness and slithering, as if to encircle him.
And his torch flare was almost spent, a slowly pulsing deepening red light that would soon be colorless altogether, to be enclosed by the lightless void.
Now there is something important that you should know about Barbara. When I’d written on the previous page that she had lit a torch flare within their glass bell, it was not solely so that Timothy would have a point of reference by which to find his way, as he thought. She was attempting a rescue of her own, and had swam under the rim of the bell, before Ata could stop her.
For you see, from their vantage point within the glass bell, they saw the rough shadow of the creature patiently circling Timothy. Now, they could see this because at first they were not blinded by the light of a flare, as Timothy was, which was why he’d only noticed the beast as his light began to fade.
Thus, Barbara kicked below the rim of the bell, away from Ata who was trying to reach for her, and into the icy deep with her pouch of extra flares, though not many of which were left.
The cold water stung her feet which were slowly beginning to numb. She kicked and paddled frantically, using more breath than she could afford, though she came to the globe quickly.
And reaching in the lessening flare light, she pulled at Timothy’s arm as he was finishing his knots, fastening the recovery balloon to the globe’s rim, almost ready to inflate it.
(So that you will understand the process: this recovery balloon had a small chemical vial placed inside of it, that once broken open would fill the balloon with a gas, sending both it and the globe toward the surface.)
She pulled him away, just before he could break the vial. And he was nearly about to push back at her, until they saw the creature. It had been progressively circling in contracting patterns, until it had grown accustomed to this new lighted prey. Now realizing they were not a threat, it slithered into the direct red light of Barbara’s flare.
Its muddy green scales rose and fell with each movement, like rows of hinged metal triangles. Such a ghastly creature, the entire thing being much like the body of a devilishly long dragon, yet with no limbs or wings. Its eyes, twice the size that you might suspect, and completely hollowed black with no visible pupils, as definitively black as tar and sinister looking.
It rose upward in the water, with the globe between it and them, like a serpent ready to strike, its scales catching each tiny current, and its curved razor teeth as cruel as anything that might be imagined.
Timothy’s vision and mind were already considerably hazy from his lack of oxygen, but even so, he knew he could only do one thing; And it might either save both of their lives, or kill them instantly. However, both, he thought, a better fate than to be placed at the mercy of this monster.
And as the creature’s body convulsed, lunging toward them, Timothy threw his arms around Barbara, tapping his armbands together once. A circle of energized force field expanded outward from his bands like a bubble, dispersing electric shocks through the water, and as it expanded, it pushed the water away from them, creating a new pocket of air within a ball of electrified energy.
Though this did not ward away the beast, whom had already begun to strike. The serpent’s mouth and dislocated jaws snapped over them in an instant, swallowing them whole, just like a snake would do in our world.
Now also, you might like to know how this had happened from Ata’s perspective:
Knowing he could not stop her, Ata followed closely after Barbara as she swam below their bell. And he was unseen, because he hadn’t had a flare light of his own, and also being a stronger swimmer himself, he quickly caught up with her, coming to the globe just as she pulled Timothy away by the arm.
And meaning to help, he snapped the glass vial within the recovery balloon just as the creature came into full view, striking down upon Barbara and Timothy in an instant, and he was left alone in the dark with no flare of his own, and a hungry vicious serpent eager to devour him.
The sides of the balloon began to inflate, filling with a mixture of gas, and lifting the globe from the ocean floor.
As quickly as you might blink, the creature slithered to encircle its body around Ata, only inches away from his skin. Yet, before it could finish its work, Ata struck his armbands together, and immediately he was shot upwards like a rocket, out of the serpent’s grasp.
The rush of water over his body, he was blasting toward the surface, away from the deep shadows. The thin skin of his eardrums, and the space behind his eyes felt like they could burst, but still he shot upwards, screaming as he did because of the pain, air bubbles erupting from out of his mouth and lungs, and still he flew towards the blinding lighted surface and the world of air.
The glare of the sun above the water, the outline of the ship: he broke through the waves, and caught his mechanical ball from the air, as he and Eldemir had planned for earlier as a backup in case the bell had failed them. He fell to the boat, exhausted from the pain, numb from the cold, and rolling across the ship’s deck.
His ears pounding in his head, and all sounds had a muffled unintelligible quality to them, because of the searing pain in his ears and sinuses that would not go away. The beating in his ears sounded like a constant barrage of explosions.
Though as he queasily stood upon his feet, he realized why this was. Those pounding, cannon-like sounds were indeed actual cannons, and not only in his head. The Queen’s fleet had discovered the flying city of Aden, and their tiny ship, and had come upon them by surprise. They were under attack. Explosive shots from a navy vessel landed in the water near their boat, a spray of salty boiling mist hit all of their faces. The war was not over.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The Belly of a Beast and the War
Thankfully, they were not especially cold, only the type of cold that comes from dampness. They’d been swallowed whole, and it might have been completely dark, except for the pale blue hue that glowed from their encircled force field.
Though, I should guess, they might have wished for no light at all, considering no one in their right mind would have wanted to see the inside lining of that beast’s belly. And furthermore, if it had been entirely dark, they might have imagined themselves in some other location. But with that scant amount of light there was no denying it. They were inexhaustibly trapped, though to be trapped together is much better than to be trapped on one’s own, and so they were grateful, at least, for each other.
���This is not how I thought we would die,��� Barbara said, while they sat protected within a barrier of energy.
Since they’d come into the beast’s belly, Timothy had kept his same position, exactly, with his arms held around Barbara’s shoulders, being sure not to let his armbands touch again, and he was cautious against doing anything that might disrupt the energy field. And so for that reason, and also since he felt it would be callous of him to let her go, he sat close beside her with his arms wrapped loosely around her shoulders.
���You’d imagined how we would die?��� he asked.
She gave a pale blue smirk in the faint light.
���Well, it’s not something I’ve thought of all the time,��� she answered. ���It’s just… this is so gruesome. You’d think we’d be old, and… fade away, somehow.���
It was in times like these that Timothy would show how obviously boyish he still was, and so not having a natural way with words in these instances, he explained, ���If it helps, we’ll probably be dead before we’re digested. So, it’s not as gruesome.���
And Barbara, who under certain circumstance might have been cross with him for saying such a thing, she could not help but to laugh at his woeful lack
of consolation.
���No,��� she said with a sad chuckle. ���That doesn’t help at all.���
Yet then, being somewhat curious, given they’d no other alternatives, she asked him why he thought they’d be dead before being eaten. And he answered, saying that their force field had worked so well, that not even air could get through. And so because of this, barring some miraculous intervention, they would slowly grow more and more tired, until they would not wake up at all.
Howbeit suddenly, they were jarred and shaken. The creature began to move around violently, and they were being chaotically sloshed around in its abdomen. Timothy held Barbara more tightly. And then, with one final horrible convulsion, they were again still, lifelessly still.
And yet, even so, for a long while they somehow felt as if they were still moving. Though the beast’s body did not seem to slither as it had before, instead it was as if it were being dragged or carried.
In all this, they had used up a large amount of breathable air in their struggle. So that their eyes would close at random intervals, and they felt their breaths begin to weigh heavily in their lungs.
Barbara had her head on his shoulder. ���Do you think we’ll wake up again?��� she asked, with her eyes closed and speaking in a low yawn.
Timothy’s hands had already lost their firm grip around her, and his head nodded wearily to his chest.
���I’d like that,��� he said, pulling in his own quiet yawn (which some may notice was not a direct answer to her question, but Barbara had taken it for a ���yes���.)
And in the silent stillness, their eyes drooped closed for what might be their last time, and their breaths had become so heavy by that point that they might not have been breathing at all.
And yet, as it is in most dark times, there are often the tiniest pricks of light, and such was the case for this time. It was during this moment, while they were not yet fully sleeping, that the smallest point of a knife’s blade came past the beast’s metallic scales, and drew a line, so that a visible golden light fell onto their faces, causing Timothy’s weary eyes to blink.
And what he’d thought he had seen, before he’d lost all consciousness, were a pair of giant webbed hands, much larger than a man’s, reaching inside to pull them into that world of gold.
But I would not have you mistaken, reader, Timothy and Barbara were not in heaven, at that time, for they had not died (which is the route by which most will take to get there).
She awoke. Yet her mind was dazed, for she had almost nearly fallen asleep, and was currently in the in-between state, in which you are conscious, but have not yet opened your eyes.
And in that instant Barbara knew two things: Firstly, that she was laid down upon something hard, like a stone, while at the same time she strangely felt as if she were floating. And the second thing she’d known was that the air tasted somehow salty, and undeniably wet: not moist like a strong sea breeze, or the scent of the air after a summer’s rain, but truly wet.
And when she had opened her eyes, she could not help but scream, letting out tiny air bubbles from her mouth; For the stone she was laying upon was the pavement of an open courtyard, with columns lining it in a square, and the air she’d been breathing was not air at all, but the seawater filling a massive city at the bottom of the ocean floor.
The city’s structure would have been almost like that of ancient Greece, except that it was so magnificently spindly, and in a way resembled reef coral. And dotted at the tops of columns, at all places in the city, were rounded glowing circles like street lamps, and they shone an almost blinding golden light down upon the city.
All this she beheld within seconds, and letting her eyes trail down, she saw lain out beside her on the courtyard pavement was Timothy. His chest was still and he did not appear to be breathing.
���Tim!���
She shook him violently.
���God, please,��� she said, and repeated, calling out his name. ���Tim!��� she shouted.
A frail cough, and then a more vehement cough, the city water filled into his lungs, and his eyes opened widely.
���Where am I?��� he said as an instinct.
But Barbara did not answer him, never mind that she did not know how to answer. Almost laughing, she said, ���You’re alive. I thought I’d lost you.���
���But how?��� he asked (and loudly, for in that place you’d had to speak loudly to even be heard). And he turned to the right to see the carcass of that ugly sea beast laid down upon the city pavement beside them.
And it was only then that Barbara and Timothy turned their attention to witness a crowd of males and females gathering in the courtyard to catch a glimpse of these strange creatures that had been rescued from the belly of the serpent, or the K����rme as they would say.
(You should notice that I did not, here, call them men and women, for although they were human-like in many regards, they were not human at all. But instead, creatures taller than any man, with webbed hands and feet, and rubbery skin that had on it subtle bumps like an amphibian’s skin. And lined vertically on the sides of each of their torsos were flaps of ridged skin that moved continually in waves. They had adornments of sea shells, and small conch shells and pearls. Their men-folk were regal and elegant, and their women beautiful.)
Barbara’s mouth fell open in astonishment.
���I can’t believe it,��� she said.
���And I can’t believe I’m saying this either, but…��� he said, pushing himself off the pavement floor, then reaching a hand out to help lift Barbara up. ���We should go introduce ourselves to your fish people, and thank them for saving our lives.���
���Yes, of course,��� she mumbled. Still dumbfounded, that what had haphazardly started as a silly joke on her part, had unknowingly always been the honest truth.
And as they partly swam, partly walked, to meet the gathered group of these new people, Barbara asked aloud about the most bizarre and unnatural part of this whole occurrence.
���How are we breathing?��� she said.
And not to worry, we will thoroughly address the fact that they are able to breathe underwater, at a later point, but now we should return to Ata, and the Great War of Sky and Sea, as it has since been called.
Swarms of dragonfly ships in full battle array descended from the city that morning, shortly after a band of them had come to rescue Eldemir and Destek, and their crew from the pump boat, just before it had been decimated by exploding cannonballs from the Queen’s own ship, only seconds later. But at the present moment, an army of hovering ships flew as a thick cloud from every edge of the city.
Esinti, which was the name of the man who had first led the swarm that greeted them when they’d arrived at Aden several days prior, he was also the leader at the head of this attack.
But above all, this was not to be a broad scoping, indiscriminate attack, as you would find in most wars; For the city elders had decided long ago that they would by all means avoid a bloody and horrific civil war, meaning that although it was well within their power to drop bombs upon the Queen’s navy, from high up in the air, they did not wish to murder whole masses of innocent men, and would do anything within their power to avoid such a disgrace.
So that being decided, the swarm of dragonfly ships came down from the city of the sky people, with flaming arrows, and jars of fire oil, to shoot or to heave down upon the ships’ sails, to immobilize them, giving the citizens in Aden time to readjust the city’s wind scoops, and kites, and sky sails, and rudders, so that they could fly the city away from danger.
But for now the Queen’s navy continued to move devilishly close to the base of the city, and were almost within reach of the long cannons.
However, this attack was ill fated from the beginning, for the Queen had seen such tactics before and had readied her fleet in advance. Blasting water cannons, far mor
e powerful than any fireman’s hose, to squelch their flames, and strong enough to knock the flying ships and their riders from the sky, and also firing net shot from her cannons, which would open in mid-air, dragging several dragonfly ships down below the waves at a time.
Much of what will be written here, within the following paragraphs, were not things that Timothy, or Barbara, had ever fully known at this time; Seeing as, there was only so much they could glean from scribbled ink-chalk drawings upon slate tablets, which is the way they had at last found to communicate, at least somewhat successfully, with this previously undiscovered race of fish people.
Though even in drawing, which would seem universal, there were forms of ���slang��� that had to be overcome. An example being, the way in which a human, or any land dweller for that matter, would draw a boat, would be much different from the way that Barbara’s fish people, or the Kala, would draw a boat. Understanding that the way that they have always only ever seen a boat was from below, as a shadow to block the sun, while we would draw them horizontally, with billowing sails and ropes, and with details that the Kala have never seen.
Notwithstanding, with a little effort, they were at last able to decipher much of this story:
That a hunting party had left from the golden city that morning to seek out a passing school of sea trout, when they came upon a singular light, falling from the sky, from the dry places, which was the flare that Barbara had dropped so that they could see the ocean floor.
And shortly after, this same hunting party saw a curved bubble object descending, and three odd creatures held within it. Unknowingly, however, this bubble, and the three creatures within it, were falling into the valley of the K����rme, or the valley of the Serpent, and the crack below the ocean floor where it had lived.
From a safe distance, the party had seen that these visitors from above the water were not ill witted as fish are, and could communicate, and could be brave in the face of danger. And so this same group of Kala hunters swam to their rescue, but realizing that they had come too late, they decided to avenge the dry peoples’ death, slaying the beast, and they brought the serpent’s carcass back to the city, to give Barbara and Timothy a proper burial, never imagining that whole time that they could have been still alive within the bowels of that great monster.
The Histories of Earth, Books 1-4: In the Window Room, A Prince of Earth, All the Worlds of Men, and Worlds Unending Page 37