The Chief was in a bind. He had to get his men out before any reinforcements arrived. However, he could ill afford to fight this young man as both their futures depended on each other! "You’ve got quite the high opinion of yourself boy. You have some skill, but I have fought far more impressive foes than you and lived to tell the tale! Just step aside and it won't be necessary to spend my time giving you a fighting lesson." Annoyed, the young warrior turned back to the whip wielders and snapped, "Stop that!" The whips stopped cracking and the warrior then said, "All right. If you can give me a 'memorable' lesson old man, you can have this pack of ragged scum with my compliments."
Svengald knew this was a bad idea. He'd not scored a single hit on the Valley Knight during any of their sparring matches. He might be able to take advantage of the younger and less experienced version, but not without killing him! Just as the Chief was about to make up his mind, the decision was made for him. His entire body felt like it bore the weight of a beached walrus! Falling to his knees hard upon the adobe brick floor, the Chief felt lightning bolts of pain shoot up his body. From behind him rose a voice with the consistency of dry tinder. "That, won't be necessary."
Try as he may, the Chief could no longer hold up the two swords let alone his own body. With both the clanking of fallen swords and the thud from slamming bodily to the floor, the Chief's struggle had ended. Looking up from the dusty floor, the Chief saw an ancient and weathered black-skinned crone dressed in elaborate red and black garments standing over him. She put forth a gnarled ebon cane and atop it sat a brightly glowing yellow stone! Though her mouth was covered by bright red cloth, her gray rimmed eyes shined with evil mirth as she said, "Welcome Keybearer. I've awaited your arrival for a very, very long time. You have something I need."
Outstretching her hand, the Witch felt the powerful vibrations grow stronger in the direction of the prone man. "Ah, there it is!" Turning her palm upwards, the witch focused the energy she felt toward the center of her hand. Suddenly, the pouch on the Chief's waist leaped up as it tried to free itself from his wide leather belt. The witch made a pulling motion and the glowing yellow stone tore itself free of the leather pouch to be caught within her bony grasp. The two stones being in such close proximity, caused them to pulse in unison.
Looking at the visibly disappointed warrior the witch said, "This one is not for you. The one you are looking for has yet to arrive. Chain the Keybearer with the others. He will take the place of the one my nephew allowed you to kill. Bring them." The Chief felt the great weight lift from his body, but he was too weak to resist. He watched through half-closed lids as the witch held up his yellow stone and her eyes lit up with the same fire he'd seen burn in the Priestess'! Her dry laughter thickened behind him as he and his men were dragged off for the gods knew what. The Chief hoped Little Fish and the Valley Knight would be able to put a good ending to all this!
****
The red light emanating from the fish scale was small comfort to Little Fish as he made his way through the sewage tunnel. The dank cloying stench seemed to have gotten into him down to the bone. The boy didn't believe the smell would ever leave him. In spite of his fear of separating from the others, Little Fish was determined to do his best and not disappoint the Chief and Valley Knight. The look the Knight gave him when he'd let his fear take control, sent shivers down his back! It was simple to the boy's mind, he did his part to help the Chief and now he must do the same for the Knight.
That which caused Little Fish the greatest of concern was the uncertainty of the task given him by the Knight. The directions into the tunnel were quite clear for all the turns and twists mentioned were right where he'd been told to expect them. Completely mystifying was what he was supposed to do when he got there! Just as he'd been told, the tunnel started to narrow. Though the fish scale's light had not diminished, to Little Fish's eyes the darkness was deeper from this point on.
Out of the blue, the thought of 'the Lion he couldn't see' came to mind. Jerking his head behind him, Little Fish caught whispers of a sound that made his hackles stand on end! Straining to make sense of the growing sound, Little Fish froze in place and held his breath. Over the sound of his pounding heart, the boy craned sharp young ears and three heartbeats later recognized it. Blind terror gripped Little Fish as his bladder emptied and fled down the tunnel! With every stumbling step, the sound grew louder and stronger as the tunnel narrowed around him. Soon Little Fish with breath ragged like the sound of men sawing wood, found himself bent over to keep from banging his head on the tunnel ceiling. An ill placed foot caused the boy to bang his head and fall to the sloshing muck.
Covered in filthy ooze, the boy cast his eyes behind him and confirmed that which pursued him. Enveloping the tunnel walls and floor was a thickening mass of 'crawly things'! The living mass of chittering, clicking and chirping insects and lowest of sea creatures surged towards him like sausage meat filling a sheep intestine! An unbidden scream leaped from the deepest part of the boy's being and he scrambled away on all fours! Farther and farther, Little Fish fled into the tunnel until he was scrabbling along on raw elbows and knees. Yet, the swarming mass of crawlies drew ever nearer!
Just when it looked like the tunnel would narrow to nothing, it ended! Frantic, Little Fish stuck his hand into the darkness not even the fish scale's light could penetrate and felt nothing! Trapped, the boy turned back toward the surging mass and screamed, "STOP!" As if obeying his command, the mass of low life forms halted with various antennae and other appendages moving about. Quite stunned, Little Fish realized his outstretched arm intended to hold the mass at bay was beginning to hurt. The instant he put it down to relax it, the mass surged forward! Reflexively, Little Fish threw it up again and once more the mass stopped cold.
Tentatively, the boy raised and lowered his arm and the swarm responded accordingly. Much to Little Fish's surprise and relief, the swarm responded directly to his basic commands. There was one problem though, he couldn't make the swarm go away! "This is not good!" exclaimed the boy. With difficulty, Little Fish scooted closer to the tunnel's edge to get a look at what lay below. Yet each time he moved, so did the swarm! "Cut that out!" His barking command did nothing to disperse the swarm. Only Little Fish's outstretched hand was obeyed. Giving an exasperated sigh, the boy kept his hand facing the swarm while taking a look over the edge.
To his dismay, all Little Fish saw just beyond the edge was abysmal darkness. The red light of the fish scale barely reached a few feet beyond. With the living mass of creatures behind him and a fall into nothingness before him, like a small child Little Fish lamented, "I wanna' go home!" Strangely before any tears could flow, Little Fish remembered the Knight's recent scolding. 'Stay and do nothing or dance with destiny....'
Staying in this dead-end tunnel trying to hold back a swarm of crawly things until he fell asleep or starved, did not appeal to Little Fish at all! However, leaping out into the abyss had far less appeal. He was going to have to make a choice bad as either was. Yet, something would not allow him to believe the Valley Knight had sent him here to die. He said that each of them had a role to play and Little Fish trusted the Knight as much as the Priestess. Looking back into the abyss, Little Fish made his choice.
To his surprise, far below a blue-white light grew in intensity. Just as sudden, the red light of the fish scale also grew stronger. Behind him, the swarm grew agitated and Little Fish knew he would not be able to hold it at bay any longer. Looking down into the now bright light, the boy thought he smelled the welcomed mingled scent of fresh and salt water. The light itself seemed to call to him as its brilliance increased. Without further thought, Little Fish leaped over the edge. Now freed from the boy's power holding it at bay, the swarm surged out after him.
****
The sound of a pounding heart competed with the heavy silence of the tunnel in the Valley Knight's ears. If he didn't know better, it would be fear goading him to lose his courage so far below the palace. As always, the Knight could not allow fear any corner of his heart or mind to fester and grow. Thirteen years ago, for days he struggled to get through these tunnels and stand under the sky again. During that trial, he passed the mouth of this tunnel many times and always his instincts screamed at him to avoid it. Ultimately, he found his way out of the labyrinth but the notion of having not gone into this tunnel always haunted him. Now, he had returned to this maze 'before' his younger self would face that difficult trial. When the time came to send his companions their separate ways, this tunnel stood as his only option.
It wasn't long before the man-made portion of the tunnel surrendered to the original ancient underground watercourse. Even with the supernatural glow from the black sword, the Knight found his grip tighten reasonably on its handle. The pale yellow glow cut through what seemed to be living darkness. There was no doubt in the Knight's mind an ancient and terrible evil lurked in these depths and he avoided this tunnel years ago because he was not ready to face it. Again it was his instincts which had him alert and ready to react with razor sharpness. A wicked grin forced its way across the Knight's white teeth for soon he would find the Skull-Faced Man's lair.
After thirteen years, the Knight still remembered the encounter with the demon. Skillful as he was back then, the Skull-Faced Man bested him with a skill only a virtuoso could attain. Every defense made by the demon was an attack and every attack, a defense. No energy or movement was wasted and fighting the demon was like trying to do battle with his reflection in a still pool! Though the Aunt called him a demon, the Knight knew otherwise. No, the Skull-Face was a man! One whose prowess had reached a point where he literally was, covered in blood and wore the face of Death.
The Knight understood what the Skull-Face wanted when he challenged him to return. The Knight spent the next thirteen years chasing a ghost as he fought in war after war, battle after battle, duel after duel. Each time he'd thought some fearsome warrior might be the Skull-Face, it wasn't. As punishment for not being who he sought, the Knight would fight the warrior and destroy them in battle! For a time he took enemy heads, then eye-teeth. But no trophy made any difference. All he wanted was to give back that which the Skull-Face had given him. The Knight paused in the tunnel and regarded the black sword.
There could be no accounting of the lives he'd ended with the sword, bow and quiver of arrows. No accounting for the river of blood flowing through his life from which the desire to settle-up with Skull-Face was its source. It was then the airflow in the old watercourse shifted and the Knight gagged reflexively from the foulest reek he ever encountered! Wiping watering eyes and retching from an all-too empty stomach the Knight recognized one component of the stench... blood. Pressing forward with one arm futilely covering his nose, the Knight came upon the grisliest of sights. Flowing from a natural sluice was a dark liquid into a great underground pool. Vermin of all manner hugged the pool's edges and swam vigorously through the viscous fluid.
Holding the sword overhead, its yellow glow brightened revealing to the Knight what truly lay before him. From the sluice flowed blood and offal from the butcher's market, runoff from tanners pools, raw sewage, dead animals and the bodies of slaves. For untold centuries, this had been the dumping ground deep beneath the ancient city. It was an unspeakable place that reeked of evil stronger than the stench of death and decay. Seeing this place suddenly made the vision Little Fish described quite clear. The Knight understood this horrifying place was where he was supposed to be. He now stood at the threshold of the Skull-Faced Man's lair!
In spite of the appalling stench, the Knight moved to reconnoiter the cave. He knew that his past self would soon encounter the Skull-Face for the first time. The Knight wanted to be prepared for the warrior’s return and fulfill his quest to defeat the only person to ever beat him. Once done, he would be free of these weapons and finally begin washing the river of blood from his hands. Taking a step forward, a loud crackling sound echoed from the cave wall causing the path to tremble! The Knight cursed himself for losing track of where he stepped with his musings. Somewhere above, the events he'd encountered thirteen years ago would soon play out once more.
It was then the rock shelf he stood upon collapsed! Even with his uncanny reflexes, the Knight was too late in finding safe purchase and tumbled headlong into the pool. Mortified and gasping, the Knight erupted through the surface as rocks from the shelf face continued to fall about him. With no other choice, the Knight swam away from the shelf face towards the center of the pool. Doing his best to keep his gagging from causing him to drown, the Knight stopped swimming and began to tread in place to get a bearing. Unable to clear the muck from his eyes, the Knight suddenly realized blindness was the least of his troubles.
It occurred to him that so ancient a pool would have to drain out somewhere. Amidst the disgusting feel of thousands of wriggling creatures about his immersed portions, the Knight could feel the strong pull of what must be a whirlpool! Struggle as he may, no head way against the drag was achieved. Still blinded, the Knight felt several objects bobbing about and bumping into him. Reaching out the Knight felt his hand dig into the slick surface of a bloated corpse. His fingers easily punctured the swollen, muck saturated skin and heard it burst open with a banshee-like wail of escaping gas!
Repulsed beyond his capacity to endure, the Knight heaved violently and lost his ability to stay afloat. As he was pulled under by the whirlpool's powerful draw, the Knight fought to keep from drowning. Feeling himself spiraling downward in the twisting flow the Knight suddenly thought, 'This is a fitting end for one who has shed so much blood and caused so much death.' He then remembered his wife did give him the option not to come on this journey. The last thought by the Knight as he gave into his fate were his words to Little Fish, 'No one can fight destiny and win....'
© 2011 H. Wolfgang Porter. All Rights Reserved.
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