“That’s amazing,” whispered Ben.
“My father gave it to me,” said Evercloud.
“Well, anyway,” said Ben, snapping himself out of the weapon’s trance. “We’ll want to have our weapons on us at all times, once we enter the desert. My brother and I know the safest routes, so we should be fine. The desert can make for quite the trek though, so I suggest everyone get a good night’s sleep.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” said Whiteclaw and he rolled onto his side. The rest of the group made their sleeping arrangements and sped quickly off into a world of slumber.
• • •
Morning came with another meal of fish from the stream. After eating, they put out the fire and began drinking their fill of water.
“Drink till your bellies hurt,” called Ben.
After that, they began filling skins with water. The brothers Floyd had brought many with them, knowing every drop of water that they could carry would be precious. Evercloud strapped his claw on tightly, wondering how long it would be before he had to use it. The sun had not yet risen above the horizon and the brothers Floyd wanted to begin the journey before it had.
“Let’s move,” said Tomas. “We want to have covered a good bit of ground before the sun gets too hot.”
And so they set out. It wasn’t fifteen minutes of walking before the grass started fading away, and within a half hour of their departure they were in the Glass Desert. As Evercloud looked out along the horizon, he understood why it was called the Glass Desert. All the paintings he had seen of deserts and the stories he had heard of them suggested that desert sand was colored anywhere from yellow to orange to red. The sand in this desert was a dark color of blue that made it look like they were walking upon a frozen ocean. Evercloud bent down and scooped up a handful of the sand, letting it fall between his fingers. It looked like tiny crystals of glass.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” said Tomas. Evercloud nodded. “She’s just as deadly. Make sure the three of you follow the path that Ben and I make. We’ll walk up ahead to make sure we’re taking a safe path, but don’t fall too far behind us.”
They all agreed and that was how they made their way through the desert. For the first time in a while, Evercloud and the bears were able to speak freely to each other.
“Do you trust them, Father?” asked Riverpaw.
“I think so, but don’t become too comfortable with them. Take care with what you say and the things in which you reveal.”
“I noticed,” added Evercloud, “that they made no mention of the powers that the Ancients once bestowed to man.”
“We told you, Evercloud, that much knowledge of the Ancients has been lost to man. You saw how much they depended upon that book. Honestly, I’m surprised to find out that they know as much as they do. However, it would be wise to keep that information from them. If they thought that there might be power to gain in this quest, things might become very different. Though I must admit, they do seem to act under a higher purpose.”
“That feather was amazing,” said Riverpaw. “It must be Tenturo’s. I mean, what else could it be?”
“I can’t believe this is real,” said Evercloud. “We’re going to find one of the Ancients.”
The wind had picked up and Evercloud looked into the sky. As the wind came across the desert, it made noises that Evercloud had never heard wind make. It almost sounded as if it were chittering. There must be millions of little things like this that I’ve never experienced before, Evercloud thought. He suddenly wished that he knew what all those things were. He felt so fresh and new to the world, as if everything were happening for the first time. The sun was very hot now and Evercloud took a large gulp from one of the water skins he was carrying. The sun was blinding as he tilted his head back, so he closed his eyes. His listened to the wind chittering as the cool liquid glided down his throat. He momentarily thought that he heard something else on the wind. It sounded like yelling.
“What are they doing?” asked Riverpaw.
Evercloud opened his eyes and looked ahead. The brothers Floyd had gone ahead of them by about one hundred yards and were now turned back, waving their arms and yelling.
“Can either of you hear them?” asked Whiteclaw.
“It sounds like they are yelling back,” guessed Evercloud. “Maybe they want us to turn back.”
“No,” said Riverpaw, shaking his head. “They’re yelling crab. They must have found one of those really big crabs they said were so dangerous.”
“Oh, I hope they wait for us to get there. I was kind of hoping for an easy target to practice some battle skills on,” said Evercloud.
“They sure are making a fuss, aren’t they?” said Riverpaw. The chittering wind had seemed to get a bit louder and suddenly, the world became much cooler, as if someone had turned the sun off. Riverpaw looked up to find it and was met by a horrifying pair of giant eyestalks. “CRAAAB!!” he roared.
The other two looked up, just in time to see a giant claw swinging toward them. They all dived to the desert floor, the claw narrowly missing them. The brothers Floyd were running at them, full speed, with weapons drawn.
“Attack the legs!” they yelled. “Attack the legs!”
Whiteclaw was the first into action, charging the giant, blue crab. The crab swung its mighty claw at him, missing again. Whiteclaw darted underneath the crab and barreled into one of its back legs, breaking it at the joint. The crab swayed momentarily but regained its footing. It shot its smaller claw at Whiteclaw and grabbed one of his hind legs, preventing him from retreating. The brothers Floyd had reached the crab now, and before it could do any damage to Whiteclaw, Tomas unleashed an arrow straight at the creature, striking one of its protruding eyes. The crab released its hold on Whiteclaw as it reeled in pain.
“That thing is huge!” yelled Riverpaw.
“I told you it was really big!” Ben shouted back.
“That is much bigger than really big!” Riverpaw looked back up at the creature and saw that it was preparing to charge them.
Now it was Evercloud’s turn. He ran toward the crab and just before he reached it he slid, feet first in the sand. Then, with his claw, he reached out and sliced at the creature’s leg, severing it fully. Ben held his two swords and made to charge the crab before Riverpaw stopped him.
“Get on my back!” Riverpaw yelled at him.
Ben jumped on and Riverpaw ran for the underside of the crab while it was still stunned by Evercloud’s attack. Just as he ran underneath the crab’s body, Ben rose up and plunged both of his blades deep into the crab’s underside. The creature stumbled and swayed, swooning as its life faded away. The group retreated and made ready for another attack, but it wouldn’t be necessary. The giant, blue crab fell into the side of a large dune and never rose again. The group fell to the ground, out of breath and sick on adrenaline.
“How…did we…not see…that thing coming?” gasped Riverpaw in between deep breaths.
“They are camouflaged to the sand and impossible to see at a distance. The only way to know that they’re coming is their chittering,” responded Tomas.
Ben walked over to the dead body of the crab and retrieved his blades from the monster’s underside. As he yanked them out, he noticed that the crab had punched a hole into the side of the dune.
“Hey,” he called to the group. “Come see this.”
Chapter 20: Who Is Your Leader?
“It’s a hole,” said Riverpaw, not fully understanding why Ben found it necessary to show everyone.
“Yes. A hole,” said Ben, not fully understanding why Riverpaw couldn’t see the significance. “In a sand dune…it’s a giant pile of sand, and it’s hollow.”
Riverpaw shook his head. “Nope. Still not impressed.”
Ben threw his arms into the air and turned his head to the sky. Tomas crawled over to the hole and stuck his head inside to look around.
“I can’t see anything,” he said as he pulled his head back out of the
hole.
The hole was rather large, large enough for Whiteclaw to fit through easily. However, it seemed as though the hollow beyond the hole went down instead of across, and despite the bright, desert sun, there was not enough light to see how deep it was.
“I believe I can be of some service,” said Whiteclaw, stepping forward. “If we had something that we could burn, we could throw it into the hole to see how deep it is.”
Tomas pulled a tinderbox from his pack and lit a long strip of cloth that he tore off of his shirt.
“Let’s see if this works,” he said. Tomas threw the wadded cloth into the darkness and watched as it fell.
“That was a good idea,” said Ben.
“I saw it done somewhere,” replied Whiteclaw.
“It’s working,” came Tomas’ voice from the darkness of the hole. “It stopped about twenty feet down, and-and there’s a…leg! Yeah, a leg! Wait, I can’t see anything anymore. The fire is out. I can’t see anythAAAAHHH!!”
A rope flew out of the darkness and looped itself around Tomas’ neck. As it tightened, it ripped him from his perch on the lip of the hole, pulling him deep into the darkness.
“Tomas!!” yelled Ben and stuck his head into the hole. “TOMAS!!!” Ben could hear Tomas screaming in the darkness but his cries were getting further and further away, until they disappeared altogether. “We have to get him!” Ben yelled, turning to Evercloud and the bears. They stared blankly at Ben, in shock. “We have to save him!” he pleaded.
“Evercloud,” began Riverpaw. “I’m going to hang my body down into that hole. Then you can climb down my back and try to reach the bottom. Tomas said it was about twenty feet. We should be able to reach that.”
Evercloud nodded and Riverpaw began to lower himself into the hole. He moved slowly and dug his claws as deep into the sand as he could to have a sure hold. Once he gave the signal to Evercloud, Evercloud began to crawl down Riverpaw’s back. He put his arms around Riverpaw’s neck and then walked his feet down to Riverpaw’s hips.
“All right, Riverpaw, I’m going to drop to your legs.”
Riverpaw again dug his claws as deep into the sand as he could. “Go ahead.”
Evercloud leaned back slightly and dropped the top half of his body down to touch his feet. He held onto Riverpaw at the hipbones, where his feet had been resting, and slid his feet off. His legs now hung freely in the air below Riverpaw, dangling in the darkness.
“Can you reach the bottom?” Ben yelled into the hole.
“Not yet,” called Evercloud. “Hold on.” He then released his grip upon one of Riverpaw’s hips and dangled from just one arm. He tried to stretch out his leg, but still could feel nothing. “Nothing yet, but I must be close. I’m going to drop.”
“No, Evercloud!” came Whiteclaw’s voice, booming into the darkness. “That’s too dangerous. We don’t know what is on the floor.”
But before Evercloud had heard the end of Whiteclaw’s sentence, he had released his hold on Riverpaw and fallen to the floor, only a few feet below.
“It’s okay,” Evercloud cried. “I’m all right. It’s not that fa–”
“Don’t move a muscle,” came a gravely voice from the darkness. “I’ve already killed your friend, so don’t try any funny stuff.”
“What’s going on?” called Riverpaw. “Is it okay for me to drop?”
“No!” yelled Evercloud. “Don’t come down.”
“Tell your friends to get down here and move slowly, or I’ll kill all of you,” said the gravely voice.
“What do you want?” asked Evercloud calmly.
“I don’t want anything.”
“Then why do you want us down here?”
“So you can fix the hole you made in my roof,” said the voice in the darkness.
“If that is all that you want, then why did you kill our friend?”
The voice huffed and sighed. “I didn’t kill your friend. I just don’t want any funny business.”
“Where is he?” asked Evercloud.
“In the other room.”
“And you’ll let him go if we fix the roof?”
“Yes.”
“Can I see him?”
“After you fix the roof,” huffed the voice. Then, Evercloud felt objects being thrown in the direction of his legs and then he heard a door slam somewhere behind him.
“What’s going on down there?” yelled Ben from above.
“Come down here,” Evercloud yelled back at him. “We have to patch the hole.”
As the others were making their way down to the floor of what seemed to be some sort of cave, Evercloud began sifting through the materials that had been thrown at his feet. There seemed to be a bag of candles, along with a box of matches, a hammer and some nails. Is this it? thought Evercloud.
“What happened?” asked Ben once he had reached the floor of the cave.
“We’ve disturbed whoever lives here. He’s got your brother in another room and he’ll only let him go if we patch up the roof.”
“How are we supposed to do that?” asked Riverpaw.
“He left us a few things,” said Evercloud. “Matches, candles, nails and a hammer, but nothing else.”
“Well, first thing is first,” said Whiteclaw. “Light the candles so that we can see where we are.”
They lit the candles and looked around. There was not much in the room with the exception of a couple of torches and a large mattress upon the floor.
“This must be his bedroom,” said Evercloud.
They lit the torches that were in the room and now they could see quite well. The room was still very sparse, however the walls were painted quite extravagantly with murals. The travelers marveled at the artistry with which the murals were painted.
“I’ve seen these before,” said Ben. “But they’re different.” He grabbed a candle and moved closer to one of the scenes. “These are pictures of the Ancients being banished from the world. I’ve seen these before in churches of the Holy. These are different though. You see here.” Ben pointed at the shape of a large griffin. “This is Tenturo. In this picture he is painted white. In the church’s version, he is red. Also, in the church’s version, there are two white stallions driving Tenturo away. I don’t know what these are.” Ben pointed at two black beasts painted upon the wall. “These pictures seem to suggest what we’ve been believing all along.”
“That the Ancients were not so evil after all.” The group spun around to see a stout, little man in the doorway, wearing a gray robe and a bashful grin. “Your friend has just told me of your quest. Please, follow me.”
“What about the hole?” asked Evercloud.
“This is more important,” said the man.
The group walked into another room and found Tomas, sitting at a wooden table, stuffing his face with bread, cheese and some sort of meat.
“It’s crab,” he said cheerfully with his mouth full. “It’s delicious.”
“You hunt the crab?” Ben asked the squat, little man, in disbelief.
“More like trap. Lucky for me, the creatures have far more flavor than they have brains. Please, help yourselves.”
The group sat around the table, but not all began to eat.
“I apologize for my rudeness,” said Whiteclaw, addressing the little man. “But who are you?”
“Oh, forgive me,” said the man, wiping crabmeat from his face. “I am Padre Esteban, retired explorer, current aide to the great Tenturo.”
“You have seen Tenturo?” asked Ben.
“Yes.”
“So you know where we can find him?”
“Well, we’ll get to that. First, eat.”
“Excuse me again, Padre,” began Whiteclaw. “But how is it that you trust us so easily? What if we, in fact, meant to harm Tenturo?”
“You?” laughed the Padre. “Harm Tenturo? That’s a good one.”
“Even still,” added Ben. “How do you know that our intentions are good?”
“I don’t. But
we will get to that. Eat.”
So they did. The travelers, along with the Padre, ate until they were full, finding the crabmeat quite succulent. At one point, Riverpaw turned to Tomas.
“How were you not hurt in the fall?”
“Landed on the bed,” Tomas said with a cheese-filled grin.
The Padre poured them mugs of wine to wet their mouths as they finished eating. “Now,” he said, “I have a story I would like to tell you that I think you will find most interesting. Then, if things go accordingly, I may find it necessary to administer a test.”
“A test about the story?” asked Evercloud.
“No, I don’t think so. Though that is a good idea… anyway, here’s the story.”
And so, Padre Esteban began. “When the world was young, and quite boring I might add, four ancient beings gathered together to create creatures to inhabit Earth. Many creatures did they create, some big, some small, some intelligent,” and the Padre nodded at the bears, “and some not so,” and he nodded at the empty plate of crabmeat. “However, they had yet to create a creature with their combined forces and they very much wished to do so. So one day, they gathered together and set about the task of creating a creature together, and they would call this creature, man. They argued over how it should be done and in the end, it was decided that Tenturo and Bahknar would create the body of fire and wind and Densa and Chera would give it life with earth and water.”
“That’s not how it happened,” interrupted Riverpaw.
“Don’t interrupt,” said the Padre sternly. “Now where was I? Oh, yes. And thusly, they had created man. Yet, something was wrong. The body of man could not interact with the world around it. A body made of fire and wind was terrible to gaze upon and the other creatures of the world fled from man. And rightly so, as man’s very touch would burn and rip their flesh. Even the vegetation of earth could not withstand man’s touch. Everything man came in contact with perished before him. He was a cursed and damned creature, forced into isolation by his very nature. The Ancients had failed in their first combined attempt. Man, as they had created him, was not fit for the earth.
Everflame: The Complete Series Page 17
