“Is this really what passes for power on the surface?” the man mocked, slowly walking past the frozen vines. He glared at Lex with eyes of condescension and ridicule. Without moving his hands so much that it was even obvious, the vines pulled Lex in opposing directions. He cried out, feeling himself being torn apart. While using one hand to pull Lex in two directions, the Vinebender used the other to summon up more vines from the ground. They wrapped themselves around Lex’s feet, tying them firmly to the ground.
“Please, Lex…” he heard Clover struggle to say, like those words were her final breaths, “Save us. It cannot end here…” As Lex heard the desperation in her voice, he could vividly see her tears, her blood. Lex shut his eyes, like his life had left him.
Then, with a frightening, chilling suddenness, they were flung open. The white-haired boy gasped and shook more wildly, unable even to move from where he stood. The old man clenched his teeth, a look of grave concern evident in his widened eyes. Lex gave out an unearthly roar, his eyes blacker than a million midnights. He pulled his arms together, ripping from the walls the vines that tied his wrists. He formed the hollowness between his palms, and a strange black aura surrounded him. His veins became dark, as a mighty power rushed through them. The vines that were now loosely wrapped about his wrists seemed to sublime into a black mist. The vines that wrapped his feet were also destroyed by this powerful aura. In an immeasurably short time, the boy summoned a shadowball, a sphere capable of cutting through any earthly thing, let alone through flesh and bone. The atmosphere became tense and hot, humid with power. The old Vinebender stepped back slowly, shaking in fear, staring at Lex’s eyes; they troubled him even more than the powerful sphere of dark energy in his hands.
The vines that constricted and nearly killed Lex’s friends lost their strength, like even they had become afraid. The three fell on the ground, panting in great pain. Mike struggled to a stand, but it seemed Kyle and Clover were paralyzed; they lay still in their blood.
Karukia made a sudden movement, reaching before the old, shaking man. “Please! No!” he begged.
The old man grabbed him and flung him against the wall. “Get behind me, boy!” he commanded.
“Lex! Please stop…” Clover’s shaky voice came from behind, as she barely managed to stand. She felt a weird sensation all over her body as her blood circulation tried to regain normality.
“Clover, stay back!” Kyle called out to her as she limply walked toward Lex. Ignoring her brother, she went before Lex, staring him in those dark, ghastly eyes.
“Look at what he did to you!” the voice of the dark one was merged with Lex’s, giving him an eerie, distorted voice.
“Relax, Lex,” Clover said calmly, and moved her shaking hand to his face, and softly touched his cheek, not even slightly afraid of him. Her gentle touch seemed to weaken his muscles and calm his nerves, and melt his tension. The fiercely vibrating sphere of deadly power disappeared from Lex’s hands, and evaporated into a quickly disappearing black mist. The darkness disappeared from his eyes, and he stood there looking at her, examining her tattered, bloody clothes and cruel wounds. Clover watched the tears appear in his eyes. Then, feeling no energy at all, he fell backwards. Kyle was just in time to catch him. The tired, bleeding boys took long, deep breaths, still bearing terrible pain. Kyle felt Lex’s heart. It was beating rapidly, almost as fast as it raced back at Smoke Hill. Mike and Clover stepped toward the Vinebenders.
“She saved us,” Clover heard Karukia whisper to the powerful man.
“Who are you people?!” the man asked, recovering from his shaking and shock.
“So that’s how you work, huh?!” Kyle raged, and put Lex down, pushing past Mike and Clover, almost like he wasn’t injured at all. “You attack, then you ask questions?!”
“Those eyes… Show me the boy!” the man demanded. Lex opened his eyes faintly. He slowly stood. His friends turned to look at him. He slowly and languidly walked past them toward the Vinebenders. “You’re just a boy! That dark power! That aura! What is it?!” the man questioned. “Could it be… that you are the one in the prophecy? But you are just a boy… Could you be the one fated to lead the attack against Trium?”
“I am,” Lex answered definitively.
“So you do know the prophecy! Now that you know who this boy is, you must let us go. It is for the good of the world, the good of your village!” Clover reasoned.
The Vinebender snickered a little. “The good of my village you say… You ignorant child…The power that the Village of Vines possesses… the power of this secret utopia… is far greater than the dark powers you possess! Far greater than all the powers on the surface united!” the man boasted, a proud and confident look on his face.
“Show us this village you speak of!” Mike jumped in. At the moment, he wanted to see this legendary civilization more than he wanted the world to be saved from the wrath of Trium.
“Hmmm….” The Vinebender considered for a moment. “I haven’t the authority to let you go. You may jeopardize our people.”
“But—”
“Listen!” the short-tempered man cut Clover, “I will take you to the Leaf Sage.”
Karukia looked up at the man with wide eyes. “It is the right thing to do, Karukia,” the man said calmly, though his uncertainty and nervousness were still visible, at least to the boy who knew him for more than the life time of the average man. “If there is ever a time we need to make an exception to the rules… it is now. This is the one in the prophecy, the one our Sage speaks of. It can be no matter accident he and his companions stumbled down here… Karukia, go seal the entrance,” the man commanded, “and hurry back! We’ll be on our way to the village.” With that, Karukia ran past the group of half-dead teens quickly.
“Come with me,” the old man invited, and turned and began to walk slowly. The curious Mike couldn’t wait to get some answers.
“So elder,” Mike began.”
“No questions!” the man snapped hastily. “Ask the Sage whatever you want to when you get there.” After just a short while of walking and painful limping, hurrying footsteps brought the little white-haired boy back to the others. He seemed very excited and nervous, and wore a kiddish grin.
The veteran Vinebender made a heavy sigh as they made the last bend the pathway had to offer. The old man quickly grabbed Mike’s arm, stopping him from running before him in excitement.
Chapter 13: The Leaf Sage
Before them was what seemed to be a dead end, but before questions of scepticism or confusion could ring out, things were made clear. Well-rehearsed hand movements from the veteran made a ladder of vines on the wall, which stretched up to the very top.
“Sweet!” Mike couldn’t wait to see what was up above.
“Lead the way, Karukia,” the Vinebender told his assistant. With that, the agile boy quickly jumped up and scaled the ladder, reaching to the top faster than even Kyle or Mike could. As he reached the top of the ladder, he pushed what looked to be a mat out of the way. They looked up at what seemed to be a board roof in confusion. Karukia sat on the floor the ladder led up to, beckoning to them to climb.
“I’m going last,” the Vinebender said sternly, a hint of distrust in his tone. Without hesitance, Mike grabbed the ladder and began his climb. The climb was quite difficult, as the vines barely jutted out from the wall to form the rungs. “Would you hurry?!” the man rushed Mike, sounding edgy. With great struggle, Mike was finally at the top. Karukia gave him a hand, helping him up as he was just about to fall all the way back down.
Mike looked around quickly. His eyes remained fixed on what he saw through the window of what he realized was a house. “Are we… on the surface?” Mike baffled. He saw outside the window an entire civilization, what seemed to be a massive, functioning society. Everyone he saw was dressed similarly to Karukia and his master. They all wore green clothes. The women and girls wore short, enticing skirts and tight, skimpy tops that covered just enough, and showed off their perfect
figures and skin. People were walking about, laughing, playing. There were roads and buildings that rivalled those in the more elaborate villages and even cities on the surface. He shook in fright as he glanced up to where the sun should have been. As far as his eyes could see, the sky was a roof of soil a few meters off the ground. Or maybe it was the ground. He was too confused to speak. Hanging down a bit from this sky or roof or ground or whatever was an endless number of the glowing flowers that had become familiar, except these ones were slightly bigger, and hung from what looked like thin vines. They shone like bright lamps, and lit the place almost as well as the sun lit the surface world. “Amazing…” he mused.
The people he saw were all flawlessly beautiful, and they all had long, silky, snow-white hair. Lex too was staring speechlessly through the window from behind Mike.
“This place is all my people know,” Karukia said. “Of all the people that are here, only three of us have seen the sun. I count myself as the luckiest one of all my people, to have been shown the sun, even being so young. You surface dwellers have no idea how lucky you are… I wish I could show them all the sun… They deserve to see it too I believe.”
By now, Kyle and Clover too were awing at the strange sight through the window.
“What the devil are you doing?!” the old man raged on reaching up. “Get your heads down!” He tried to lower his voice. They ducked below the window quickly, even Karukia. The man gave his underling a threatening, promising stare. “Are you an idiot, boy?!” he scolded, trying to stifle his volume, “How are you so dim?! What do you intend to do if someone happens to look in and see them?!”
“My apologies, Elder,” the boy said, holding his head down slightly. Then he stood up, looking at his master. “But how will we get them to the Sage without being seen by anyone?”
“Isn’t there like a thousand of you living here? How will they know we’re outsiders if you dress us up in that silly green uniform?” Kyle enquired. The man’s face flared up suddenly.
“You ignorant apple-knocker!” he snapped, “This haven is nothing like the surface world! Here, we are perfect, and are unplagued by the demon of death! We have been living here for nearly two-thousand years. We are seventy-thousand minus a few, and everybody knows everybody!”
“Not plagued by death?” Mike asked.
“You Vinebenders are immortal?!” Lex came in, sounding as any surface dweller would.
“I haven’t the ascendency to satisfy your curiosity, boy!”
“Elder Rainshine, about getting to the Sage!” Karukia reminded.
“Rainshine?!” Mike laughed.
Annoyance and discomfiture were again present on the man’s face.
“Come with me, you simple twits!” Rainshine ordered.
“So tell me, what are your names? What’s it like up there? Are stars really real?” the boy began to interrogate.
“No questions, Karukia!” Rainshine snapped, “You already know too much about the surface! As knowledge of our world is dangerous to us by those of the surface, knowledge of their world is also a danger to us. You might become contaminated—”
“Rubbish! Stars are pretty cool, kid, and—”
“That’s enough!” the man interrupted Kyle.
“Where are we going?” Karukia asked.
“You think you know all the secrets of this world, boy? Heh!”
“Huh?! More secret routes?” the boy asked in excitement. Rainshine led them to another room, one with no windows. He shifted a mat on the floor with his foot, revealing a trap door. Karukia grinned with wide eyes.
“Worry not, young Karukia!” the man said, roughly grabbing the boy’s head, a smirk on his face. “You are destined to be the next keeper of this sanctuary. Soon enough, I will teach you all the secrets!” He then opened the trap door. Clover jumped back from it and grabbed her brother, shaking her head. Rainshine laughed when he saw the looks on their faces. They looked down at what seemed to be a dark, endless pit. Karukia looked up at his elder with an expression that the others wore.
“You remember that long, downward journey it takes to get to the Sage?”
“Yeah?”
“This is it in one jump… Again, I go last…”
Kyle drew his sword.
“So this is your great plan to kill us all off, eh?! Well we won’t be ‘falling’ for such an obvious trick! I will die like a hero, not like an idiot!”
“Put that thing away!” Clover snapped.
“Watch yourself, you dim-witted moron! I could have had you all killed with one motion had it been my intention. And keep your voice down!”
“You certainly set a good example, eh?” Kyle quipped.
Rainshine clenched his teeth and folded his fists.
“Well the boy in the green dress goes first!” Kyle said, grabbing on to Karukia. He flashed Kyle off in a panic. He looked at Rainshine, who made a slight nod of agreement with Kyle. He shook his head wildly, then all of a sudden, ran off to the door and grabbed the knob. Rainshine ran after him and grabbed him before he could open it, bolting it quickly. He dragged the boy to the pit, laughing with a touch of cruel pleasure and insanity in his voice.
“No!” Clover pled for the boy.
“Do you wish to have even a slight chance of taking my place as keeper of this haven when I retire, boy? I’m tired, you know, but I won’t pass this duty on to a coward little boy! Take a leap of faith, Karukia!”
With that, Rainshine flung the squirming boy into the dark hole. Screams of terror and fright echoed and faded until they were no more. Rainshine laughed.
“What have you done?!” Clover blasted with reddened, dampened eyes.
“Relax, you stupid girl! You think I would kill one of my own for the lark of it? Have you no sense? Alright, who’s up next?”
“What will I land on… or in?” Mike asked, rising slightly.
“Can you swim?”
“Like a fish!”
“Then you have nothing to worry about!”
“I’m going in then,” Mike said, a smirk of bravery on his face.
“Give us a shout when you reach,” Kyle said.
“Don’t bother,” the Vinebender said, “we won’t hear a thing.”
“If I die here, I’m comin’ back from the dead to kick your ass and burn this place to the ground, got that?!” Mike threatened, not sounding very jokey.
With that, the brave boy stood and looked down into the infinite darkness. As his heart raced, the metallic coating came over his fist. He looked down at it. “Here goes.” He jumped in, yelling even louder than Karukia. As seconds passed, the noise faded to silence.
“Who’s next?”
Kyle stood over the pit and stared down, willing to jump just to avoid being outdone. His mind flashed back to the fateful jump he made into the mouth of the swamp monster, then he laughed to himself, wondering why he was even a little nervous. Kyle turned and looked at Clover and Lex, then, without words, descended into the hole. There was no scream. Moments passed.
“Keep it movin’, kids!” Rainshine said impatiently. Lex and Clover looked at each other with the same expressions and with pounding hearts.
“I’m going now,” Lex said. Clover shook her head nervously.
“I’m not coming with you,” she whispered, crying with great fear.
“Little girl, you will only land in water!”
“But I can’t swim!”
“Clover, I’m going now,” Lex said. Clover grabbed on to his hand tightly, seemingly without the slightest intention of letting him go. “You’ll be alright, Clover,” he promised.
“Let us go together,” she told him.
“Time is of the essence, children!” Rainshine rushed, tapping the floor loudly with his foot.
Lex grabbed on to Clover tightly. “Together, then.” With that, he hugged her and dived in with her. Surprisingly to the listening man, there were no screams. Clinging tightly to each other, they didn’t even know whether their eyes were open. They
hurled downwards for what seemed like at least half an eternity. Lex held Clover tighter as he felt her kiss his lips.
They made a sudden landing that frightened them more than the descent itself. They quickly separated themselves, realizing they were deep under water. Neither Lex nor Clover had learnt to swim, but swim they did. They breathlessly made their way up to the surface, then gasped for air, their hearts tearing out of their chests.
“Over here!” a familiar voice called out to them. They turned and saw Kyle, who was about two meters from them, standing at the edge of the body of water. They tried to swim toward him, but their breathy struggle was in vain. Kyle and Mike dived in to aid the novices. Kyle grabbed his sister and Mike grabbed Lex, and in a moment, they were all on the surface together, Lex and Clover panting and pouring out water from their mouths.
“Aaaaah!” There was a loud scream and a huge splash. The five youngsters watched as the old man skilfully swam up to the surface and made his way to the ledge, pulling himself up effortlessly, not even panting. “Good. So we’re all here.”
“All where?” Kyle asked, looking about. Trees were many about the small, deep body of water.
“Follow,” Rainshine said, and led the group. The place was dim, much less bright than above, a little brighter than a bright night on the surface. The shining flowers on the roof couldn’t be seen from where they were, but they grew on the ground and on the barks and leaves of the trees.
“Seems we’re a whole level lower now,” Mike said to himself. He looked up, peering into darkness.
“Oh, this is it!” Karukia gave out, just recognizing the place.
Rainshine led them to an area that was barred off by a gate of thick, spiky vines. These vines fenced whatever was inside, and hardly any sword could cut through them. With a gesticulation, Rainshine commanded the vines to give way, revealing a beautiful yard and a pathway lined with purple and yellow flowers, and with the glowing plants. Rainshine took a deep sigh, wondering how the next few moments would play out. The trail led to a magnificent building made of marble, heavily decorated with slender vines and glowing flowers of various colours.
The Seventh Spirit Page 21
