I ran the corridors and down the narrow flights of steps with only a vague idea of where I was going. Hide! Where? Anywhere! Find a corner in the shadows! Go back outside if you must. I heard their shoes on the stone floors somewhere behind me, running. They were so much stronger and healthier than I was, and they were familiar with the temple. I could never fight them, and it was only the adrenalin of fear and anger that gave me the strength to run. But I knew it wouldnt last. I was tiring already. And I was surely lost. All the corridors looked the same to me. Staggering with fatigue I leaned for one moment against a door and it moved at the weight of my shoulder. I leaned into it harder, opening it just enough to allow me to slip inside where I eased it closed again as quickly as possible. I heard them running in the corridor on the other side. They passed the door. But theyll come back, I thought. Theyll check behind this door, too. I turned away from the door and paused at sight of this unfamiliar corridor. It was not like the others. The stone of the walls was darker and stained. The stone of the floor was so very ancient that the slabs had crumbled with age, eaten away by some acid that had leached through from the earth below. The way was not lit by candles but by a green phosphor smeared on the walls.
*no pictures in these tunnels. It's just too dark and slimy down there * I realized that I had run down too many flights of steps. I was under the temple again. Maybe I’d find my way back to the pool of water if I just followed this corridor. The thought of the water reminded me of how thirsty I was and how much my throat hurt. I swallowed and it was painful, but at least I wasn’t coughing. The corridor was long and then it joined another. I picked up a bit of stone and marked the wall at a low height, beneath the eyelevel of the acolytes, should they happen to follow me here. Then I chose one of the branches and walked again. It branched twice more and I marked it each time, and then I was too tired to continue. I sank down on the broken flooring with my back against the slimy wall and closed my eyes. I don’t know how long I slept, but it was the rats crawling on me that woke me up. I jumped to my feet, screaming, throwing them off, and then I ran, barely awake yet. A fit of coughing finally stopped me and when it was over I straightened up with a new and desperate resolve, driven by the horrible image of rats gnawing on my bones. “I refuse,” I said out loud to the phosphor-smeared walls, “to die down here. I will go back to Hugo and convince him that I am as innocent as he is. After all, his skin is as grey as mine is. Maybe his blood is black, too.” When I stopped talking to myself, I heard something scraping on the stone. It was some distance away, out of sight in the shadows at the far end of the corridor. The sound was intermittent. Something heavy was being dragged, sliding nearer. My heart began to pound with a new fear and I knew I didn’t want to meet whatever it was that was down here with me. I turned and ran in the opposite direction.
She just can't catch a break! What a bunch of meanies. Don't go back to Hugo, Andy! That sounds like a bad idea to me ... I'd look for Cory if I were her.
I could not find the marks Id made at the intersections of the corridors and I ran aimlessly, too frightened to think clearly. Eventually I stopped to rest and leaned with my back against the cold wall, breathing slowly and quietly, listening. I heard nothing. Either the thing that was dragged over the stone had stopped moving, or it was now moving without a sound. Standing still, straining to hear something, or anything, I felt a very faint movement of air on my face. It was not dank or foul smelling. It was fresh. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the direction. I turned and moved down the corridor, stepping softly, holding the skirts of my dress up to prevent any noise, following the faint scent of cool air. The corridor branched and I stopped in the middle, holding my breath, turning my head until the coolness touched all of my face. To the right! I moved again, carefully, still listening. The air stopped. I stepped back and felt it again. Studying the stone walls around me, I finally saw the crack and a bit of white light. I moved closer to the wall, bent my head to peer through the narrow slit and felt the cool air streaming through. Oh no, I thought. I had wanted a door. Still hoping, I raised my hands to the rough stone, wondering if any were loose, pressing and prodding them, and refusing to give in to tears of frustration and disappointment. A block under my hand moved suddenly. I struggled with it, heard something crack, and jumped back as the entire wall shifted, moving toward me, creating an opening. The light on the other side was so bright that I couldnt see beyond it, but I moved fast, squeezing through. Standing just inside, listening to the stone wall close behind me, I let my eyes adjust. The room was small and well lit by candles. In the center was a low table with something on it. But it was the door in the opposite wall that got my attention. I had just started to move around the table, headed for the door, when it was opened by Hugo. He stared at me for a minute, then said, The Most High and Exalted Niichaad has chosen you. He was going to say something else but I charged him, knocking him to the floor and grabbing the staff from his hand as he fell.
He had not expected to find me in that room. He had none of the young men with him. I had surprise on my side, I moved fast, and it worked. I stood away from the reach of his arms and legs and held the staff high, ready to bring it down on his head if I needed to. You will listen to me this time, Hugo, I said, as you wouldnt listen before. I am not a sorceress. Never was. Never will be. I am trapped in your world against my will and the only thing I want from any of you is a good meal and a nights rest. Thats it. Then I want to find my friend, Cory, and go home. He did not try to get up. He knew, as I knew, that his heavy staff in my hands could be lethal if I were lucky enough when I hit him with it. He squinted up at my face and said, Black blood flows in the veins of only one family and that is the family of the Mountain Sorcerers. I absolutely do not care about the color of anyones blood. It has nothing do with me. Logic alone should tell you Im innocent. Its obvious that no member of that family on the mountain would come here looking for trouble. Right? I wouldnt have come myself except that someone brought me, telling me youd cure this dreadful chest cold. And if I ever see that woman again you can bet Ill beat thewell, Im not a violent person but the past couple of days have been the worst nightmare of my life and I am driven to do things Ive never done before. My hands were shaking, making it hard for me to keep a firm grip on the heavy staff. I raised it higher, ready to bring it crashing down on the head of the man who wanted me executed. Niichaad has spared you, Hugo said, and I will honor the Will of Niichaad. I am now getting up from the floor. His god had spared my life, or so his priest believed, and that was all that mattered. Like it or not, I decided I was going to have to trust this man, because I was dizzy with hunger and lack of sleep. I would never find Cory on my own. Where would I go and how could I survive the cold? And there was the wild, horned beast waiting for me out there, too. I let Hugo stand up and then handed him the staff.
He took the staff. “My supper waits for me and I will share it with you. Follow me.” It was almost too far to go. We had to climb several flights of steps to reach the cold and windy rooms high in the temple. But when he finally showed me into the room where we would eat, I saw a fireplace, and it was roaring. I stumbled forward and put my icy hands dangerously close to the flames. It felt wonderful. Hugo was so long accustomed to the obsequious behavior of his acolytes that he didn’t know quite how to talk to me. Not at first. “Sit down and eat,” he said. I glanced up at his face and smiled. He looked puzzled and a little angry. I was reluctant to move away from the fire but I was also very hungry, so I sat down where he pointed and started eating from the plate that someone had already set out for me. I didn’t raise my head or pause until most of the food was gone. I don’t know what kind of meat it was but anything would have tasted good to me then. Even the mashed vegetable matter was good. If this world knew anything about spices, the knowledge had never been shared with the temple inhabitants but that was probably a good thing for me. Plain and bland was safest. My performance was probably upsetting to any observer. When I finally sat back, I could see that Hugo had hardly touched his own food and was watching me closely. To distract him from the clumsy behavior of his guest I said, “I’d like you tell me about Niichaad.” And so he did, and I learned why my life had been spared by his god, and by the thing that lived in the phosphor-smeared tunnels.
And? And? You are the master of keeping us in suspense. Or maybe just me. But anyway ... :hissyfit::hissyfit:
The next few chapters may strain your patience a bit. As I mentioned here and there, I'm taking this from an old story of mine which has been sitting in a 3-ring binder gathering a great deal of dust. It's a wordy old thing that I typed out on an electric typewriter. Anyone remember them? Anyway, I'm posting (with no pictures :() a condensed version of this world's mythology, as told by Hugo, because it is the explanation, (or most of it) for why Andy is here. BTW, there are several new names mentioned in these myths but there's no quiz. One picture to start -- Hugo begins his tale.
This is the seventh month, he said, and it is the time of the Nomei, of which the Medruzz is one, and these are the demons that run unhindered over the frozen land, fed by the Rashida Wind. This is the time when Onora, the Mother Sun, lies in the arms of Makhist, the Soulless. For now and for eight months more, she will lie with Makhist, growing pale with death. It is this union, long ago, which gave birth to Niichaad. When we, his children, suffer most, and when Death creeps through to every cellar, and the moons align as they did at his birth, Niichaad will rise from his sleep and banish the bitter Rashida Wind to the far side of the mountains. And he will draw his mother, Onora, free from the claws of his father, Makhist, and hold her safe. She will gain strength from him and be renewed. The crops will grow and we will harvest the grain. But beneath the jealous eyes of the Immortal Penpenaro, Niichaads spirit will tire, the life around us will begin to die, and when Onora falls from the arms of her son and returns again to Makhist, the Rashida Wind will come once more over the mountains to bury Niichaad completely beneath his cold embrace. The Immortal Penpenaros desire is for a child by Makhist. And the name she will give to this one not yet born is Tolek. And the prophets have written that Tolek, if born, will destroy Niichaad. Then Penpenaro will lie forever with Makhist, and Niichaad will lie dead beneath the snow for the rest of time. Hugo stopped his narrative when a log in the fire dropped and the flames hissed brighter for a moment. My own thoughts went back to the frozen planet that Cory and I had discovered. Maybe the prophesy had come true.
I said, “Is Niichaad the land?” “Niichaad is the land and the life of the land and the spirit that causes the flower to open and your eyes to see its color.” “And Penpenaro…” “…was once a mortal woman born to a farmer. She was not content and went into the mountains to the Temple of Makhist where she lay with him and achieved immortality. Penpenaro then decided that she should be served and worshiped in a temple of her own and had one built. She brought her family there, her father, mother, brothers and sisters, and ordered them to worship her. They would not, and so they were imprisoned beneath the temple, except for one sister who agreed. As reward for her loyalty, Penpenaro gave this sister a crystal globe that draws energy from the wind. When the Rashida Wind awakens and comes over the mountain, the crystal is at its most powerful, and so is the one who holds it. “The name of Penpenaro’s sister was Domnulla. Her descendents are the mountain sorcerers. This was their temple and the family was driven from it by the followers of Niichaad. When the sorcerers escaped, they took only one thing with them and that was the crystal. They keep it now in the Temple of Makhist.” I rubbed at my eyes and looked at the window. I could not see much through the uneven glass, besides a blur of snow-covered mountain and a hint of sky. The sky, it seemed to me, was growing lighter. I needed sleep, but I also wanted to hear the rest of the history, particularly about the sorcerers. I knew I had met one. “Tell me,” I said, “about the sorcerers that live now. How many are there?” “There were three born to Sriet, and she died in giving birth to them because that is how Makhist limits the power of the family. The boy,” he hesitated, “is gone, probably dead. One sister holds the crystal. The last child, a girl, is you.”
I stood up. Stop right there! I am not part of that family! Ive never been here before and dont know any of you. Nor do I have any sisters or brothers. She has given you these dreams of other times and places to confuse you, to keep you passive until she can find a way to kill you. Kill me! My voice rose in pitch. Why does everyone want to kill me? Why would she want to kill her sister? Which is NOT me, I tell you, but whoever it is, its still a good question, and Id like to know the answer. I moved away from the table and closer to the fire. I was shivering. It is the only way to stop you from taking the crystal away from her. It is the way of your family. If there is more than one child, they will battle until all but one are dead. Sounds like a good reason never to have children. And yet they are born, and the family continues for generation after generation. She brought me here to see you, Hugo. She dropped me off at the front door with a big hug and a kiss. If she wants to kill me why didnt she just throw me out of her flying carriage, or feed me to her pet? She knew that I would order your execution. What a stupid plan! So much could go wrong, as it did. I was sitting beside her, completely helpless. When the two of you were children, very young and not yet aware of what you had been born to, you were very close and dear to each other. Someone told you of the death of the brother you had never met, and the two of you vowed that you would each protect the other from all harm, including even death itself. For ordinary people this vow would be impossible to keep, but for a sorcerer who holds the crystal it becomes an obligation that even Makhist will not forgive. She cant touch you. She must, in fact, protect you. I had to laugh, I guess there are loopholes.
Hugo pushed his plate away and stood up. He said, “I will show you to a room where you can sleep.” “Wait. You believe I’m part of that family, so why have you changed your mind about having me killed? You have, haven‘t you?” “You have been chosen by Niichaad to prevent the birth of Tolek.” I had no words. I opened and closed my mouth several times, trying to think of something to say, but my mind had gone completely blank. Finally, all I managed to say was, “How do you know that?” “Because you returned from the cellars. On occasion, despite all warnings, one of my assistants will go exploring, looking for the tombs of the Immortal Penpenaro’s family, imprisoned by her after this temple was built. A foolish tale is passed around among the acolytes, about a talisman of magic powers buried with the family. None of those silly young men have ever returned from the cellars and others claim they can hear their screams at night. I know they hear only the wind but I cannot convince them of that.” “I assume you looked for your missing boys. They just got lost. I nearly did.” “We always search for them. There is never any trace.” “Then you didn’t search far enough. I was lucky. That‘s all.” “Niichaad protected you. He held back the angry spirits of the dead and showed you the way out. You felt his breath on your cheek. I know this, because I have sometimes felt it, too. He has chosen you because you alone know the way to the Temple of Makhist, where Hadrea sleeps. He has chosen you to end her rule because she is the body of Penpenaro that will bear Tolek.” I stared at him. This was getting worse and worse. I studied the grey face staring back at me and guessed the truth about him, “You’re the brother,” I said. “That explains how you know all this stuff about the family, but not how you wound up as High Priest of Penpenaro’s nemesis.” Hugo’s eyes narrowed and he turned away, reaching for his staff that leaned against the wall. “Follow me,” he said. What an appalling family, I thought. The man would have executed his own sister.
Oh my. I love this! I love the mythology...very creative. Whenever I got the idea in my head to try creating my own fantasy book, the thought of making up an entire history, religion, etc freaked me out. Way too much work for someone with the attention span of a fly.
What I like, in addition, is all the sliding reality. Just who is telling the truth, here? Can't wait to find out more!
We're not Worthy! We're not Worthy! We're not Worthy! My goodness, Lynet, you can certainly spin a yarn! I stand in awe and rapt attention, waiting for the next installment!
The low door to the small room closed solidly behind me and I heard a big key scrape in the lock. I did not care. I was the one chosen to save the world from Tolek the Destroyer, so I could safely assume that I would be treated reasonably well. At least Id be given food and a place to sleep. And there it was at last, a bed. Even though the room was icy cold I stripped off the dress Id been wearing forhow long? It doesnt matter how long. The whole adventure was a blur of horrors, and the dress was filthy. The bed was as comfortable as anything you might find in a medieval monastery, a mattress of straw that rustled and crackled when I lay down. The material of the blanket I pulled up to my chin, however, was made from the soft wool of whatever passed for sheep around here, so I was quickly warm. And every time I turned to one side or the other, the entire bed would give off an earthy odor of farm animals. At any other time in my life I would have refused such a bed, but not tonight. Tonight it was everything I wanted. Even the smell was welcome because it was the smell of things normal and wholesome. I smiled to myself and breathed it in, then closed my eyes and slept at last. The mind cannot recover from the experiences of the day by simply withdrawing peacefully into sleep, especially the kind of day Id just lived through. There were dreams, and I sweated with them all night long. In those nightmares I struggled through drifts of snow or crawled in tunnels of stone, chased by an unseen but malevolent darkness. Sometimes I would look up and see Cory smiling at me but not hearing me when I called for him. In other dreams I tried to find Arkin in endless, dimly lit temple corridors. I was desperate to find him because I could not remember his face. I thought I had loved him. I was so sure I had loved him. How could I forget his face? I dont know how long I slept because the room had no windows and was poorly lit by one small lantern. Sometimes, waking from one dream and before sinking into another, while I lay at the edge of consciousness, I felt that someone else was in the room, watching me. But I couldnt bring myself fully awake to see who it was, the shadow in the corner beyond the candle light. Then the feverish nightmares would close in again.
A little slow to catch up on this. And I rejected a lot of pictures I'd taken already. Just didn't like them at all. Andy really does look strange with that grey skin.
I want to see what Arkin looks like...is he just your average everyday Servo, or did you use a custom skin for robots on a sim?
A Servo? Yuck. I couldn't picture Andy falling in love with a Servo. So here's Arkin (before he took himself apart to repair their spaceship .) Just for you, 123.
