A boat’s position is determined by observing the sun, stars, or moon, and comparing known locations to sighted landmarks. For fishermen it’s usually easier. They do not frequently sail that far from the land. Will never did anyway. He could feel the familiar motion of the old wooden vessel under his aching body. Something was amiss, though. He could not hear any sound. His old boat was drifting on the silent black waves. The sky was dark and inanimate, with no clouds, stars, or moon. The only glimpse of light was emanating from a white spot in the murky water next to the hull. He got closer to the wet and cloudy luminescence streaming from the deep. He took a rope with a weight tied to its end and lowered it into the sea. By taking the sounding, the sailor could say what type of anchorage was needed and what type of fish would inhabit the water. But the bottom wasn’t there. A liquid jet slowly started to emanate from the light spot, becoming larger and larger. Spheres of water of different sizes started to float all around the boat. The hovering globes had thousands of toothless mouths talking in unison. The unanimous speech resounded apathetic and bleak from the abyss. That disheartening tone resounded in perfect harmony with the ill and depressing scenery: “Sound can travel through any medium, but it cannot travel through a vacuum. There is no sound in outer space. In the same way, the inner space is the blank spot between two roaring words…”
The light shined brighter. Nothing was dark anymore.
“Will!” Belzer shouted desperately “Grab on to something!” Will shook his head. The vision was gone leaving a great weight of sorrow inside him.
The elevator’s descent was relentless. The cage was screeching against its rusty framework, shoving sparks that were visible through its walls. Will felt the spreading tentacles moving from his severed arm. He was still holding it. Belzer had extended longer and sticky tendrils all around the cage to prevent Will from falling or jolting out of the doorless elevator. The rudimental control panel and lever had snapped on the impact. There was nothing to hold on to and even if there had been, it would have made little difference. Belzer shouted over the screeching sound
“You need to reattach me to the rest of your body! We can extend ourselves more effectively that way…” Will faintly moved the lifeless arm toward his right shoulder, ludicrously trying to attach it back. He knew he had performed more foolish actions in the last few hours. One more would not hurt anyone but himself. The arm reattached instantly with the snapping sound of twitching flesh and bones. It was hurtful. He got on his feet and opened his arms. His hands morphed into tentacles and extended towards the cage walls and out of the opening in front of him. The monstrous limbs sticked to the rocky walls surrounding the collapsing lift. He felt the agonizing pain of muscles and cartilage being consumed and grated by the friction on the rough and stratified surface. But every time the tentacles were broken, new flesh and appendages were replacing them, growing from his arms. The pain was excruciating, but he could not stop. Sparks were flying all around the cage’s structure, metal whined and screeched. Were they slowing down? A heavy sound commenced. Will was keeping his arms stretched and grinding his teeth in an expression of intolerable agony. The shrieking noise became almost unbearable, pulsing into his ribcage. A regular clanging began, resounding blows from all around him resonated in the darkness of the caves around him. Rivets, metallic shreds, and screws bolted around him.
“We’re slowing down” Belzer said “just in time”
They struck bottom. The lift mechanism was smoking, filling the cave with pungent fumes. Will weakly lowered his blood-soaked arms and dropped on the twisted rusty floor, exhausted.
“Have we stopped?” Will’s arms were slowly mutating back to normal “My stomach is telling me we are still falling”
“I am surprised you did not puke again, you little wuss” Belzer felt better now that he was back in one piece.
“Well, I was too busy for that” Will painstakingly got up on his feet groaning in pain. He could not feel the joy of being alive as he instantly understood he should not be. No one could outlive such a fall or any of the injuries he had sustained in the fight with the Mayor. He gulped in fear. The memory of that encounter would hunt his nightmares forever.
Belzer was now completely absorbed by Will’s skin and could now speak directly into his head.
“We’ve gotten better at this, but hey, no surprise! We went through hell in the last few hours…”
Will groaned “I guess, it’s not going to get better from now on…”
“Well, for starters, we need to move far away from that psycho upstairs. And then, we need to do our best to stay away from that psycho upstairs. You might have noticed. He can hurt us very bad. Also, you might feel that all of this shenanigan was worthless…”
“DO I?”
“Yes, you do. But It wasn’t! We know why we were brought here…and…”
“YOU KNOW what we are doing here!” Will was furious, he had lost total control of his circumstances. He took a deep breath and tried not to lose his temper completely “I told you, I have somewhere very important to be!”
“Listen boy, I get it. You got dropped into this fishy situation and you have your thing going on. I do as well. None of my powers can alter our condition. But I know someone who does… Humour me one more time and then we go our separate ways…”
Will’s anger was gone. Now, he had a purpose.
He started walking following the rusty old trail and did not talk for a very long time.
His eyes were oddly accustomed to the complete darkness of the Smuggling Rail. Freshok could not see in the dark as Biolux do. But stranger things happened to him lately, so he could not care less. The resounding and rhythmic echo of his own steps on the cold stone floor was the only sound he could hear. It felt like Belzer decided to give him space. He was following the exact path he took on their way down. Strangely, he could remember every twist and convolution made by the intricate and austere labyrinth of mud and stone. It took him a while to find the courage to ask his question.
“So… you eat human flesh?”
“I am not gonna eat you, skinny boy. I like fish sticks more.”
Belzer’s innocent laugh was almost contagious “I’m sorry boy, I’m a mocking son of a fish. Well, did you know that the Sea Snake God consumed humans? That was his favourite food and the most zealous members of his cult promptly adhered to his doctrine… Not all my siblings inherited the taste for flesh, I believe. Also, I’m kinda vulnerable when I’m eating. You might have noticed. But I’ll be alright for a while. Don’t worry.”
Will reached a junction and walked into a larger tunnel. They were now close to the spot where the cart was turned over on their way in.
“That’s our stop” Belzer said.
“What?”
“Oh yes, we are not going back to your fishmonger. That’s the first place the Mayor’ scum is going to check.”
“We don’t know this place. We are going to walk in circles forever”.
“You’re right. WE don’t know it. But IT does.”
Will’s arm raised automatically, his finger pointing at the guts and remains of the fleshy creature scattered on the floor all around the mine cart.
“How can it tell us anything? We’ve disintegrated it. Don’t you remember?”
“You’ve seen a few of my almighty deeds by now, right?”
“Right…” Will smirked rolling his eyes.
“What is your understanding of my powers?”
Will scratched his head “Well, I’m not sure. You can become invisible and make me stronger, I guess…”
“That is just the tip of the iceberg, my friend. You know, I am called the Kind for a reason.”
Will couldn’t stop laughing “You are the opposite of kind!”
“You haven’t met my brothers and sisters!”
The laugh stopped. Belzer spoke agan in his head “You see, I am flexible. I can read situations and adapt to bring innovation, diversity, and modification. I am the God of Change and Adjustment. You know, reversal is a form of change…”
Will’s mind was blown “You mean you can reverse death?!”
“Not really. The thing we killed in these mines was hardly alive, but it had been once. It was an aggregate of flesh and magic, a cursed construct. I can rebuild some of those connections and have him roaming around for us. His master has pre-determined a path for him to follow. We need to get to the source. That is our exit. And if I’m right, we’ll also find ourselves some answers.
Comments (1)
See all