Wow! I didn't think Cory would offer to go with Andy. Him being so hot about that other girl and all.
Cory got dressed and left the house. I fed the chickens, gathered some of the vegetables and fruit from his garden, and made mental lists of the supplies we would need. Once we got into the mountains, we would not find anything like Tamarys inn to sleep in at night, nor village markets for food. It would also be much colder. I hadnt seen any horses, mules or other animals that might carry supplies for us, either, so it would all be on our own backs. Hunting? I had no idea if it was possible. And how many days would it take to find the abandoned city? Most important, was I right that it was the only way to get home? Was there a safer way? There were too many questions with no answers. My head ached with the effort, and my first instinct was to leave immediately, to get into the mountains and find the city before anything happened to prevent me from going, including my own fears of the trip. I couldnt stay here. There was no place for me in this world. I was an outcast, a pariah in danger of execution. The little bit of harvesting I did was sweaty work, and enough to drive me to soak in the tub for a while before getting dressed in clean clothes. I was fed-up with skirts that tangled around my legs, and decided to wear the pants and boots. Then I cooked lunch enough for two, although Cory didnt get back in time to eat it hot. He showed up in the middle of the afternoon and I put a room-temperature omelet in front of him. Whats this? he said. Eggs? Im not hungry. I had lunch at Mearas place. Is everyone all right over there? When he nodded, I said, So did you tell her you were leaving? Was she upset? Well sure! She thinks its just a hunting trip, and wants to go with me. He pushed the plate away.
She cant go! You told her that, didnt you? Cory! Answer me! Stop yelling, Andy. Shes not coming. Its too dangerous, and I promised her Id be back before winter, anyway. So shell think youve died some horrible death in the mountains. You should have just told her the truth, that you were not coming back. It would have been kinder. That IS the truth. I AM coming back, with or without you, once weve located the city. Ill help you get there, but no further. I have a brother here, and a woman who loves me. Thats more than Ive ever had before and I want to stay here with them. I opened my mouth to tell him he was an idiot but took a deep breath instead. There was plenty of time to talk him out of his plans. Once we were on our way, and Meara was out of sight and out of reach, I shouldnt have any trouble convincing him that what he really wanted was to escape Chaos and return to the calm and orderly life of scouting for habitable planets. Id remind him of the money that wed get for finding one. Hed always been eager to win that bonus. For now, I only brought up the questions Id been worrying about all morning. We spent the rest of the afternoon reducing our needs for this trip to the bare minimum, putting together backpacks, and compiling a list of what Cory would buy at the Brydia market the next day. We had two visitors. The first was Cecil, who came over to talk about taking care of the farm while Cory was away. He, too, thought it was a hunting trip. I stayed out of sight in the cellar, just resting, while the two of them walked around the yard. A few minutes after Cory sent him home the next visitor showed up. I caught sight of her on the road and had time enough to retreat once more to the cellar. Cory spent more time with her then he had with Cecil, then walked her home. The sun had set at least an hour earlier and I paced anxiously until he had returned safely. We didnt hear anything from the Medruzz that night, but I could not convince myself that the creature had finally left me alone. It was out there somewhere in the moonlit fields, an awful shadow moving through the stalks of grain. It breathed, but it did not live. It was Chaos given form, but without a beating heart, and without a soul.
Cory left for the market just before dawn and returned soon with a few more supplies, including dried, salted meat, and a bow and several arrows. I asked him if he knew how to use the weapon. Not a clue, he said. Ill practice when me make camp in the evening. Its just physics, isnt it? For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Theres also gravity, the wind, and a target that will probably not be sitting still. Maybe we can set traps, find nests full of eggs, and spear fish while were at it. He picked up his backpack and started to pull it over his shoulder but stopped. All kinds of bad things could happen to us up there, Andy. Starvation is the least of our worries. You know that we dont have to go. Id rather just stay here, and help you find a place to live in Brydia. Im not safe in Brydia, or in any other village on this island. As soon as someone dies of a fever theyll start thinking Im responsible, that I gave him the evil eye. Youre confusing the history on our own planet with the lives of these people. Its not the same. Theyre different. Mearas mother didnt sound any different when she referred to my kind. Yes, I overheard that part. I pulled the backpack over my shoulders and shifted the straps until they were reasonably comfortable. The sky is overcast, I said. It looks like it might rain. Wed better get going. Hugos knife was in my backpack, at the top. I had practiced swinging the bag off my shoulder and opening the pack until I was confident I could do it quickly. I refused to think about how many nights wed have to spend out in the open. We left the house and started walking.
Sorry, no narrative. I've been a little too busy with RL. But I've also been building for Andy and Cory's trip into the mountains. So I thought I'd just give you a couple of pictures because I think their first campsite turned out better than I expected. Besides, the thread was about to drop off the page. In the first picture they see the mountains. The backpacks are colorful. Cory's even has the Sims logo. In the next four pictures, after climbing higher into the mountains all day, they make camp early and eat from the rations they've brought with them. The two of them look very small, surrounded by huge and unfriendly rocks on all sides. Andy, of course, dreads the coming darkness, and plans to keep the magic knife under her pillow. There's only one tent, but Andy's OK with that, because she doesn't want to be alone.
I have only just today found and installed a hack (from MTS2) that helps with a building problem I had. The hack allows me to get out to the edge of the neighborhood terrain to place things like rocks and trees (and even lots if I cared to use the roads at the end of the universe.) All the terrains that come with the game, you see, have mountains only at the edges, so getting a good scene with a mountain backdrop that included rocks and pine trees placed on it was very difficult. So three cheers for Gunmod's camara hack. When they get deeper into the mountains, where there's still snow on the ground...and another temple...whoa...so awesome. If only RL would stop getting in the way.
**OK, I'm going to backtrack a little. The last set of pictures was a wee bit premature. ** We followed narrow farm roads toward the mountains, passing fields of grain behind low walls of stone. Beyond the grain, and closer to an occasional farmhouse, there were orchards of small trees planted in neat rows, branches hanging low with the weight of fruit that was still green. Sometimes we heard a dog bark, or the cackle of a hen that had wandered into the fields. Grey clouds hung low over it all, and the air smelled like a coming storm. Dogs? And hens? Eggs and farms? Green fields of grain? How can Cory believe any of this is real? Amathaon has invaded our deepest memories and from those has compiled this world, muddied by his own evil, but full of the details that he could only have gotten from us. In a universe of a size too immense to comprehend, is it possible for two different planets, light-years apart, to be so much alike? No, it isnt possible. But what was Amathaons purpose? Did I need to know that? Did I really need to know why hed done this to us? Or could I just assume that his motives were too alien for me to understand? But not knowing the why made me nervous, because I had the uneasy feeling that I was being manipulated. Here I was, with Cory, headed for the mountains. The abandoned city was there. But so was the Sorceress, Hadrea, hibernating in her fortress.
Later in the afternoon of the first day we left the flat land of the valley and began climbing into the hills, then stopped for the night at an abandoned farmhouse. We had hardly spoken to each other all day, but now, within sight of the pass through the mountains, I was beginning to panic. Even the thick stone walls of the hut did not make me feel safe. Cory, listen to me. The Medruzz is real. I did not imagine what it did to Egan. I did not imagine its horrible face, or that it is following me. And there may be others, an army of them, in that pass. Then well go back to my farm. Thats the only other option. Figure it out while I go get us some water. I thought I saw a stream on the other side of this hut. I followed him out the door and grabbed his arm, I cant go back! There must be another way through the mountains. There isnt. And why would an army of beasties restrict themselves to the pass? If theyre in the pass, then they are everywhere all over those mountains. Right? Do you want to keep going? Or not? I looked up at the barren peaks of stone, How long will it take? A couple of days, maybe three, if we dont waste time. Or energy. Save your strength for the hike and stop fighting me. He left, pushing through the underbrush to get to the stream. When he returned with our water-skins refilled, I let him eat supper in peace. Then I started talking about his farm, leading him carefully toward my thoughts about the unlikely duplication of dogs, chickens, corn, and even people. Have we discovered something here? I said. Is the universe so big that the pattern of life is repeated? Perhaps many times? Youre tying yourself up in knots worrying about these things, Andy. Just accept it. Eyes for seeing, eggs for reproduction, wings for flying, predators and prey, and so on. The pattern repeats because it works. Thats all. Dont over-analyze it. I think its a lot more complicated than that. Eyes can take many shapes. What you and I see, and what a bug sees, is very different. For a moment, I thought Id caught his interest, but all he said was, Im tired and Im going to get some sleep. Something in his expression made me think of his lady-love, Meara, and I suddenly knew that I would never be able to convince him that she was only a dream.
The old house had no furniture at all, so we slept on the floor. The walls of the hut were stone but the mortar had fallen away in many places, and the door was loose in its frame, so that the cold night air whispered through every crack. While Cory snored loudly, I lay awake listening to the sounds of the forest, wondering if each faint snap of a twig was from under the foot of the Medruzz. My fingers were tight on the sack by my side, with Hugos knife within reach. Eventually, in spite of myself, I slept. And I dreamed. I did not know who the woman was. Not at first. She was all in white, even her hair. Even her boots. She was walking fast through a moonless night, over the snow that crunched loudly with each step. But she paid no attention to that. Although I only saw her from the back, I could tell that her eyes were on the buildings in front of her. One of the buildings was huge, perhaps four stories high, maybe more, and from the tilt of her head I knew that her gaze never wavered. She was intent, but she did not run. She did not run becausewhy? Because there was time enough. Somehow I knew that there was time enough. I wanted to see her face. I wanted to know who she was, but I could not catch up to her. The closer we got to the buildings, the more frightening they became, with black walls rising high out of the dirty, stained snow that surrounded them. I tried to shout at the woman, to tell her to stop, because the buildings contained something horrible, but I had no voice. So I could only follow as she walked across the courtyard and climbed the steps to the great, iron door at the top. When she reached the top of the stairs, and the door swung open on darkness so complete that it seemed no light could move through it, I saw her face at last. And she was me. Something grabbed my arms and I screamed. Andy! For Petes sake, its just a bad dream. Pull yourself together. Cory saw that I was awake and let go of my arms. All that thrashing around and yelling. Rats! Ill never get back to sleep, now. I saw it. I was shaking all over, and just barely managed to keep my teeth from chattering. Saw what? Hadreas fortress. The Temple of Makhist.
Cory sat back. "You saw a dream. It was a nightmare. Must have been a doozy, I'll grant you, but it sure wasn't real." He got up on his feet and rubbed at his shoulders. "I'm getting too old for sleeping on cold stone. Ouch! I don't suppose I could persuade you to give me a back rub. " He winced at the look on my face. "Didn't think so." "I was there," I said. "I could feel it. I could smell it. He wants me to go there. He's forcing me to go there." "Who are you talking about?" "Amathaon!" "Him again? The almighty telepath? Whatever happened to reasonable, orderly Andy? Every little box lined up neat, every piece of equipment with its assigned spot, wiped clean of every speck, not even a fingerprint. What did you do to her? Where is she? The scientist I once knew would not believe in anything she couldn't measure in a beaker. And this," he picked up a small rock from the floor and threw it at the far wall, "can be measured and counted and broken down into its molecular components." "It's chaos, Cory! It can't be real. The rock is an illusion." "You've got to be joking! Your dream is a real place, but this hut is not? Are you telling me that my back doesn't really ache like the blue blazes from sleeping on damp stone? I've had enough of this. I'm through here. I'm not going to hike those mountains with a nut in tow. I'm going back to the farm." He picked up his backpack. "No! Please, Cory, don't leave. I need your help." He shook his head and started for the door. "Don't leave me alone. That beast you heard around your farm in the middle of the night is hunting me. If I'm alone, if I fall asleep..." He paused at the door, his back to me. After a minute I could see him lift his shoulders in a sigh. "One condition, Andy." "Anything!" And I meant it. I was desperate. He turned around with half a smile, "If only you'd said that before I met Meara. But never mind. Just shut up about Amathaon. In fact, just be quiet altogether. Obviously, you've had a hard time of it, and I'm sorry about that, but it means your conversation leaves a great deal to be desired and I'd rather not chat. Know what I mean? Have we got a deal?" I nodded. Cory winked and said, "Good start."
Such a tangle! What is real? What isn't? I have to say I'm kind of on Cory's side on this one. It doesn't really matter, does it? They're stuck with what they're stuck with. They still need to eat, still may be in danger, still need a safe place to sleep at night. Andy's like Plato, arguing about shadows in caves. I took philosophy in college and while I agree it's good mental exercise it's ultimately full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Just get on with it, girl. Though I admit, if you have to murder someone, it's probably better if they don't actually exist. Oh, and P.S., by "girl" I mean Andy, not you ... You just keep on telling this story!!! It's fascinating. I'm trying to get my husband to read it.
I was hoping you had time to drop in and read it. Thank you, thank you. I realized last night that what Andy seems to be advocating is a philosophy called solipsism, the theory or view that the self is the only reality. It's a completely ridiculous outlook, and I guess she's gotten a little carried away. Yeah, I'm with you and Cory, too. None of this, BTW, was in that old story of mine. I'm just having fun with their arguments about where they are.
Cory insisted that we eat the bread and cheese for breakfast. “The oats will keep,” he said. “The bread and cheese will spoil sooner. Eat as much as you can. You’ll need it.” It was still dark when we left the hut, but grew light quickly. And there was no mistaking when we reached the pass. The fertile land gave way suddenly to hard rock, as if the bones of the world had broken through its fragile skin. “Each spring,” said Cory, “this canyon floods. A lot of the water empties into the Gyurka River and the Vencel Bay but not all of it. In fact, not most of it. I’ve talked to Meara about it, but just a little because of her fears about the mountains. She hinted at the entrance to the underworld around here somewhere, and I’m guessing it’s one of the places where the water goes into an underground river. I’m going to look for it next summer, once I’ve got my farm in order. The caverns must be awesome.” Cory was in his element here, surrounded by rock. His eyes were bright, his smile was big, he was happy. I began to suspect that the reason he had come with me had nothing to do with me at all. The threat to abandon me had all been show. But I wasn’t going to test it. I kept my fears to myself, and watched the shadows around the rocks with a nervous eye. The flat land of the pass rose slowly as the mountains enclosed us on all sides. The green valley, the farms and the fields, disappeared, lost to us behind the peaks. The grey stone rose in sheer and step-like cliffs to jagged summits wrapped in slowly churning mists. Cory stopped talking, and the only noise was the monotonous and muffled tread of our feet, the occasional rattle of stones slipping off a distant ledge, and the lonely buzz of some minute creature that measured its life by the length of one summer. Somewhere above us the insignificant sounds of life ended and the silence began, pressing down over the dead and frozen body of the mountains.
A few posts without pictures. Actually, I'm beginning to run out of room for uploading pictures. I really need to go and delete some old ones to make space. But I will post pictures. I love building the sets for them. The pictures of their campsite are already posted, anyway. * * * * We had walked for the entire day, resting now and then for only a few minutes, taking just enough time to eat and drink a little, when Cory suddenly put a hand on my shoulder and said, “Do you hear the water?” I looked at the dry landscape. “No.” He let go of my shoulder and turned slowly, his eyes shut, until he stopped and pointed at the rocks to our right, “That way.” We climbed and squeezed our way through the tumbled stone and discovered the stream, cold and clear as glass, sliding through a narrow gully. There were plants at its edge, including pine, and a large flat area with room enough to pitch the tent, a fascinating contraption of telescoping parts that Cory had managed to fit entirely into his backpack. After getting that done, we gathered rocks and wood for a fire and dragged a couple of dead tree trunks close to its friendly heat. The sun set as we boiled vegetables for supper. Cory stared at the ground while he ate, preoccupied with something, probably thoughts of Meara. I looked upwards at the stars and was reminded of Arkin, a love that had once consumed me, but was now only a faint memory of light, giving no warmth, like the stars in the twilight above the peaks. A breeze stirred, moving through the pines, and it was a cold breeze, coming down out of the mountains. Cory had stopped looking at the ground and was watching me. “That animal hasn’t been around for the past two nights. He knows about your knife, so I think he’s gone away to look for easier prey.” Then the man smiled, his big teeth gleaming in the firelight, “but I’ll sit up for awhile and keep the fire going while you get some sleep, just in case.” “Keep this with you,” I said, and pulled the knife from the sack at my feet. I squeezed my eyes shut against its brilliant glare as I handed it over. I heard him grunt in surprise. It was the first time I had shown him the knife.
