Avernus: Book One

by Steven Webb

  “Cory do you take Ryan to be your lawfully wedded husband?” the man behind them asked.

  “I do.”

  “And Ryan do you take Cory to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

  “I do.”

  “By the powers vested in me…I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.” The crowd roared with approval. “I now present to you Mr and Mrs Feldhaver.” As the couple faced the audience Cory and Ryan’s faces melted away and Zea and Taylor stood in their place.

  Addison gave the two a big hug. “Congratulations Sweetie. What a beautiful ceremony.”

  “Is she okay?” Taylor asked trying to break from the embrace.

  “She seems to be tripping.” Zea grabbed Addison’s face swiping the flashlight back and forth.

  The cave now replaced the field and crowd of family members. “Ugh. what happened. Addison grabbed her head.”

  “Well we found that crazy plant and both started eating it to see if it was safe to eat. It tasted amazing so we took more. that’s when the weird creatures circling above us attacked. One of them scratched your arm. Within seconds you were a blubbering mess. I managed to scare off the creatures and get you back here. You’ve been mumbling about some people named Cory, Daniel, Jake, and Cindy. Oh and then you started calling me Ryan and Zea Cory.”

  Addison tried to sit up but her entire body ached. “I don’t remember any of that. I could’ve sworn I was back home. Me and Daniel were with our kids.” Grief overwhelmed her.

  Zea handed her the canteen full of water. “But you don’t have any kids. Here, drink this and don’t move. We need to keep you hydrated.”

  she attempted to stand but found her legs shaky beneath her. “What about the food? I have to go get the food. Plus my family is out there and you took them away from me. Bring them back.”

  “Addison listen to me. Your family was never here. All of this is real. Whatever you saw out there wasn’t.” A deep gravelly voice spoke from behind her.

  “No, Rocco you don’t understand, I have to find them.”

  Zea ran off. “Come back Cory….I mean Zea. I promise I’m alright.”

  Zea came back with some of the blankets they had scavenged from the ship and covered Addison in multiple layers. “You need to stay here and warm up. Rocco keep an eye on her.” Zea searched the cave. “Anyone seen Nova?”

  “Yeah I believe she went to wash off in the river.”

  “Thanks Rocco. I’ll go get her. Maybe she can snap Addison out of this.”

  Everyone was huddling around her but all Addison wanted to do was get away from them. The feelings she had been experiencing were unbelievable. Now all she felt was an unshakable sense of dread and despair. Her skin felt like tiny bugs were crawling around on it and they wouldn’t come off.

  “Okay I’m here Addison.” Nova stood there, hair still dripping. The soft water brought relief to Addison wherever it touched. “I need you to tell me where you are right now.”

  Addison burst into tears. “I don’t know. I was just at my daughter’s wedding and then suddenly she was gone. Where are they.”

  “How many kids do you have?”

  “Three.” She licked her lips. “I need water.”

  Nova handed the canteen back to Addison. “Here. Hold on to this. We’ll refill it as much as you need. Just nod your head if you understand.”

  Addison Nodded her head.

  “Now tell me what you mean by a wedding.”

  “I was so happy. I had made it back home. God get these blankets off me! All of you just back off. Quit crowding me.”

  “Okay, okay. No more blankets. Do you know my name?”

  “Of course. Your Nova, That’s Zea. Taylor, Trent, and Joseph are over there. And that’s Rocco standing behind you. But why am I back here? I was safe. I was gone for several years.”

  “I need you to listen to me. The Phoenix Crashed. We are still waiting to be rescued. You’re our Captain.”

  Addison couldn’t stay focused. Her mind kept wandering back to that wonderful place. This must be a dream. They’ll all disappear soon. Just wake up. She slapped her face. It was the only way to snap herself out of it.

  “Addison Stop! Hurting yourself isn’t the answer.”

  “Oh god what’s happening to her?” Sophie’s voice came from far away.

  “She’s detoxing from whatever got in the wound.” Zea sounded terrified.

  Addison closed her eyes trying to escape. When she opened her eyes the world was dark. Panic set in. “Help! Help!” The words wouldn’t come out no matter how hard she tried though she felt like she was screaming at the top of her lungs.

  “She’s awake,” a voice broke through. “Bring over some light.”

  A bright light drifted towards Addison. It hurt to look at. She closed her eyes. A cold wet rag graced her forehead.

  “Here drink.”

  The metallic canteen pressed against her lips. She forced her mouth open to let the water in. she was so thirsty it was all she could think about.

  “That’s enough. You need to take it easy. Here have some cheese.”

  Addison opened her eyes. The light was less harsh this time around. “Ugh what happened to me?”

  Nova stood by Addison’s side. “You were detoxing. Something on the creatures you encounter got you high when they scratched you. You’ve been in and out for three days. Come on sit by the fire. It’ll warm you up. Were going to let you rest and we’ll explain everything again once you’re feeling better.”

  The warmth of the fire felt great on her skin, though the light still hurt her head. She was willing to work through it.

  “We’re glad you’re back, Captain.” Trent said.

  “agreed” the other voices rang out.

  “I’m not your Captain any more. Just call me Addison from now on.”

  Everyone remained silent.

  Addison stayed there by the fire all night. Her strength slowly returning. The next day she managed to get up and walk around. She was still weak but she survived. Now would be the hardest challenge of her life. She longed to go back. That feeling was undeniable. She knew she would be stuck in a struggle to fight off the need to get high again. With the food stocks taken care of she had no reason to go out for now, but it would soon run out and there was no way for it to just replace itself.

  SOPHIE

  A chilly morning greeted Sophie as she awoke. The sun beams lit up the far fall of the cave. She laid there with her head on Diego’s chest, unwilling to leave his side. He was so warm and safe. The need to pee was outweighing the need to sleep. She fought it until she could no longer hold it in. If she went inside the cave they would yell at her so she decided to spare herself the fight this time and headed outside. The forest was alive with the scurrying of little critters everywhere, and sounds that were becoming more and more familiar. The croak of the paddle flyer was her favorite. It reminded her of when she would catch frogs with her cousins down by the creek.

  A new sound struck Sophie’s ears unlike anything she had heard since they arrived on the planet, a strange series of grunts mixed with rustling of foil. She couldn’t stop herself mid stream so she remained squatted hoping to go unnoticed. Her eyes caught sight of a strange new creature.

  It’s body was covered in hard scales whose color seemed to resemble the blue and brown dirt. Curved spikes grew out from the back and pointed in all directions. Two spiked tales waved through the air. The head was flattened like that of a snake with four compound eyes, two looking forward and one to look at each side. It was using a long almost beak like toothed snout to rustle through the food wrappers. A large gray appendage came out and wrapped around the foil pulling it into the snout. The appendage then reached out towards the next foil package but just couldn’t reach it. It tired again stretching it’s head forward but still fell short. As if pissed off, the creature suddenly rose into the air on four thick legs made up of multiple joints. The back legs ended in three large claws. The front
two appeared to have one claw each that resembled clam shells. It finished picking up the wrappers and wandered off.

  Terrified and unsure if the creature would come back, Sophie quickly pulled up her pants and ran into the cave. Diego was still asleep, so she decided to see what everyone else was up to.

  Trent was holding onto the knife. “We’re all set to head out. If everyone goes together we should be fine. Addison, you’ll stay here with Diego and Sophie.”

  “That’s probably for the best.”

  Sophie couldn’t believe their audacity to even think of leaving her behind. “Really, you were just going to leave me here? Seriously? Just because I’m worried about Diego doesn’t mean I can’t be useful.”

  Nova handed her the backpack. “Actually, we just thought you were sleeping and didn’t want to drag you away from Diego.”

  “Yeah, sure. I’m coming along. I’ll show you I’m not useless.” She grabbed the backpack away from Nova.

  “We never…” Trent was stopped mid sentence by Nova.

  “She needs this.” Nova whispered. “It’ll be good for her to get her mind off of Diego for a bit.”

  Trent just turned and walked away. Everyone followed behind. Sophie positioned herself directly behind Trent in an attempt to distinguish herself as the groups leader. “Let’s go everyone,” she shouted. This was the only way to show them she was still as sharp as ever.

  “Ugh,” Trent sighed, “You don’t even know where we’re going.”

  “I’m pretty sure we’re going to look for the animals that hurt Addison.”

  “She got the animals that hurt addison part right at least,” Joseph joked.

  It was Rocco’s turn to speak. “We’re going to get the food Taylor and Addison found a few days ago. But we’re prepared in case the Trippers show up again.”

  “We’ll then what are we waiting for.”

  Sophie led the charge until she realized she was heading in the wrong direction. Without a word she turned and caught up to the group. The trip out was silent except for her opining about Diego and wanting constant reassurance from Zea that he would be alright. She just couldn’t help herself. This was the first time she had ever really felt connected to someone, and it was hard watching him suffer. The field came into view ahead. Sophie walked on ahead but realized that no one else was with her.

  “Guys aren’t you coming. Or do I need to do this alone?”

  “If you had been at the planning meeting you’d know we were going to start by grabbing some roots that way if the trippers do show up again we don’t go home empty handed. But then you already knew that, right?” Trent turned away from her and started digging into the dirt with his hands.

  “Whatever,” Sophie couldn’t believe they would just dismiss her like that.

  If the boulder fruit was as good as they said shouldn’t it be the priority. All their belittling was really getting to her. She sat down on the ground in defiance while the others toiled away digging up the white roots. The group worked hard to procure two large root clusters. “Okay guys let’s go get the boulder fruit.” Sophie Stood up and started walking to the field. Behind her, she could hear the others talking.

  “Should we let her go alone?”

  “Shut up Trent.”

  “No Rocco I think I’m with Trent on this one.”

  “Joseph, Trent, We’re all doing this together.” Rocco held everyone back while he checked the field first. “Sky’s clear. Move in.”

  They were easily able to cut down two of the smaller fruits and haul them away. Nova and Zea had both of the root clusters. Each fruit took two people to carry back to camp meaning Sophie didn’t have to do any of the heavy lifting. All along the way she kept shouting encouraging things at the others trying to keep their spirits up on the trip back to the cave. Despite her efforts the encouragements were just met with moaning.

  The cave entrance was insight now. Sophie ran ahead of everyone else and headed for Diego who remained as she’d left him. “Has he been asleep this whole time?”

  “Yeah, I’ve not seen him move,” Addison said. “That infection seems to be getting the best of him.”

  “Diego come on get up.” Sophie touched Diego’s shoulder, jostling him onto his back. His skin was cold to the touch. “Zea get in here. Something’s wrong with Diego.”

  Zea dropped her roots and ran inside. Her hands felt around Diego’s neck and arms.

  “What’s going on? Is he alright?”

  “Bring me the canteen.”

  Sophie searched frantically. “I can’t find it.”

  She threw everything in the cave around. It wasn’t turning up. About to give up, she remembered she was carrying the backpack. Her hand shook violently as she unzipped it. There sat the canteen. She threw it over to Zea who placed it under Diego’s nose.

  “He’s gone.”

  “What are you talking about. You were suppose to take care of him. It was your job.”

  Sophie ran over and laid her head on Diego’s cold lifeless body.

  “You can’t take him. He’s still alive. I Love you Diego. You can’t go.”

  Her crying was overwhelming. Tears and snot ran down her face. Loud labored breaths were the only thing capable of interrupting her wailing.

  Addison pulled Sophie away from the body but Sophie pushed her back and resumed her position on top of Diego. Rocco’s arm gripped around Sophie this time and pulled her off. All Sophie could do was stand there helpless. She turned around and faced Rocco unable to stand the sight of her dead lover. What she saw next was incomprehensible. Rocco was silently sobbing to himself. She laid her head into his shoulder and wept uncontrollably, his grip remaining steadfast. By this time everyone else had returned and were just getting then news. Addison remained strong as she told the others, whispering to keep Sophie from hearing, but Sophie overheard every word only making the grief more poignant.

  Sophie cried until she could cry no more. She refused to let the others handle the body so they came to an agreement. They would carry the body from the cave with her help. Sophie cradled the head to keep it from dragging on the ground. They reached a rock in the ground beneath one of the orange bubble trees, Carl’s name etched into it, marking an undisturbed mound. Under the same tree, a shallow hole.

  Joseph grabbed a large rock and handed it to Sophie. “You do the honors.”

  She picked up a tiny stone and etched Diego’s name into the rock’s surface. She couldn’t believe he was gone. They were just cuddling that morning. Why hadn’t they done more to save him.

  The men lowered Diego into the ground and began burying him.

  Feelings overwhelmed Sophie. She couldn’t trust these people she thought were her friends. All they ever did was criticize her and let her down. Now that Diego was gone she had nothing. The rock rolled from her hand. I that moment, Sophie fled away as fast as she could. The setting sun barely left any light, producing dark shadowy figures all around. The purple sky taunted her every step. A rock found her foot, sending Sophie flying head first into the ground. The dirt stuck to her wet face. A howl pierced the air. Cracking sounds came from all around her. Sophie got up and wandered aimlessly, until she could no longer see anything but the stars above. She curled up beneath the nearest ribbon tree and stared up at the Milky Way streaking across the sky. The only thing she felt was loneliness. The universe itself had abandoned her. She wanted to leave but the darkness was so overwhelming, her only available option was to stay where she was. Sleep escaped her weary eyes.

  The longest night of Sophie’s life finally came to an end with the rising sun. The favorite sounds of the morning creatures had lost their charm. All joy seemed to have melted away with Diego’s passing. Sophie no longer felt anything was worth doing. Songs had no meaning. Her whole body felt numb. She picked up a rock hoping to distract from the pain in her Heart. The jagged edge produced a sharp pain into her arm as she pressed hard against the skin. She dragged it up her arm letting out a scream of pain.
Her sole focus was on the pain in her arm and for a time she felt less sad. This would let her be with Diego. The rock cut into to her other arm, less successfully this time. Blood poured down her limbs. She laid down praying for the sweet release of death. The pain lost its veracity after a while.

  Sophie opened her eyes to find the blood dry on her arms and small creatures lapping at the puddle around her. Any other day this would terrify her, but realizing her plan had failed and being unwilling to feel that pain again, she resigned herself to sit under the ribbon tree all day. The lack of blood had left her woozy and unable to move.

  Sitting there for a while brought along pangs of hunger. Sophie forced herself to stand on uneasy feet and venture on, unsure where she would end up. Through the mess of trees the hint of red caught Sophie’s eye. It was the field. She ran towards it. Somehow this field looked different than the one before. It had the same familiar clusters of boulder fruit, and red branching broths sitting waist high. All that mattered was getting food into her.

  The fruit tasted so magical. It was the nectar of the Gods. Sophie took a seat in the shade and filled her belly. As she digested her meal, dark clouds rolled in from the horizon. No shelter was available in the field. she crossed the open plain and entered the other side of the woods where a gigantic ribbon Tree towered above the rest. Its shell was a hazy dulled red mixed with what appeared to be white ash. A large hole was bored out of the base. Sophie climbed in just as the lighting storm hit. It’s thunderous clacks rang out. At times the air around her seemed to sizzle. Then the rain began. Light at first but in the distance a wall of water formed. It drew closer and closer, enveloping the world as it went. It’s roar was comparable to the sound of Niagara Falls. Water seeped into the hole, soaking the ground on which Sophie huddled. It was unpleasant, to say the least, but at least she wasn’t completely exposed. The rain went on for hours. The sound changed from a cacophonous roar to a melodic hum. Her tired body gave into its enticing song and she drifted off to sleep.

  The smell of fresh rain clung to the air. Water dripped off of the plants around Sophie. The sun was just rising. It seemed like only hours ago that she had tried to kill herself. She was losing track of time. Sophie emerged from the damp hole and into the cleansed world. The field should have been just ahead. When she initially reached the tree the field was easy to view. But what she looked at now made no sense.