“We need to go back into the tear we made in the wall, Riverpaw.” The giant starfish pulled further away from its place along the pit wall. “Get back into the wall.”
They rushed back into the darkness and watched the giant thing from the rip they had made. It wasn’t a starfish at all, and what they had seen of it were just its legs. It was the witch.
The pit walls were filled with smaller areas, “cages,” just like the one Riverpaw and Evercloud were in now. These cages within the walls were all filled with the unfortunate creatures that the bog had taken prisoner. The screams that they had been hearing were the cries of those creatures that the giant witch had chosen as her next meal.
They watched from the darkness as the witch slithered down to the center of the pit. Her giant tentacle-legs that had looked like a starfish, carried her gelatinous body down the steps. She was a terror to see. The flabby torso of her body sat atop the tentacles, covered in arms that would have been considered human, if there had only been two of them. Her face might be considered human as well, but her mouth was gaping like the snare of a Venus flytrap, or like the hem of a garment that someone forgot to sew shut. However, what stood out most upon this ghastly monster was her hair, if it could even be called that, as upon her head sat a nest of fire that lit the pit walls red. The very sight of her made both Evercloud and Riverpaw tremble. As she slithered to the bottom of the pit, she sang rhymes only the blackest souls could ever know.
The hammer cracks, the hammer breaks,
The hammer splits ’em narrow.
The bones of legs and arms and head,
For sweet and tasty marrow.
The witch reached the bottom of the pit and stood upon a bone-covered platform. With her serpentine legs, she reached underneath it and pulled out a hammer that, in comparison to her size, was tiny.
“That must be the hammer we need,” said Evercloud.
The witch stopped singing and stood still. “I hear voices and whisperses.” The witch’s voice was both low and high in pitch, discordant and petrifying to hear. She turned her massive head around, scanning the walls. Riverpaw and Evercloud tried to close the rip as much as they could, hoping she wouldn’t notice them. Holding their breath, they peered out of the crack that was left. They had apparently gone unnoticed and the witch began humming again and moving up the steps of the pit. She returned to the hole in which she came from and inserted her grotesque body back inside, again creating the appearance of a giant starfish upon the wall.
“How are we going to get the hammer?” asked Evercloud.
“We watch and wait, and hope that we’re not next,” answered Riverpaw.
In no time at all, the witch began to pull away from the wall again and Evercloud and Riverpaw tried to close the rip and hide. The witch moved back down the steps as the frightened travelers watched her every move. She reached her platform and placed the hammer back underneath it. She then laid herself down and began to fall asleep.
Riverpaw and Evercloud watched her silently, unwilling to do anything that might interrupt her slumber. After a few minutes, Riverpaw looked at Evercloud with a look that suggested he might say something, but Evercloud shook his head violently and Riverpaw understood. They were trapped and too frightened to move, so they did the only thing that they could, they waited.
Time moved so slowly that it felt like torture, and every time the witch moved an inch, their hearts jolted with shock. They had been so scared for so long that their bodies were becoming exhausted and their minds were becoming paranoid. Evercloud’s mind began to tell him that they were going to starve to death, and even if they got the chance to escape, their bodies wouldn’t have the energy they needed to be successful. As slowly as he could, he began to take off his pack and open it. Riverpaw looked at him in horror, trying to will him into silence. Smoothly and silently, Evercloud produced some cheese and bread from the pack. He broke the cheese and handed the majority of it to Riverpaw. Riverpaw took it in his mouth, chewed and swallowed it, never making a sound. Evercloud did the same with the small amount of cheese that he had kept for himself. They both looked at the bread. Evercloud reached for it. Riverpaw shook his head. No, he mouthed. But Evercloud wasn’t looking. He picked up the bread and began to tear it. The crust cracked and Riverpaw cringed. They looked out at the witch, but there was no movement. Evercloud handed the large piece to Riverpaw and he ate it whole, afraid to make noise chewing. Evercloud chewed his carefully and slowly. They had eaten without incident, and silently breathed a sigh of relief.
However, it’s always the one thing that we never take into account that ends up being the most important thing of all. Unfortunately, for Riverpaw and Evercloud, their stomachs didn’t understand the importance of silence in this situation. Their stomachs had again felt what it was to digest after long fasting, and they voiced their opinions for it to continue. The two travelers looked at each other, wide-eyed and terrified, as their stomachs began to gurgle for more food.
The witch stirred and opened her eyes. “Time for more foods.”
Riverpaw and Evercloud stared, motionless and with bated breath. The witch slithered off the platform and began to climb the steps, thankfully, away from them. She reached the wall across the pit and tore into it, directly next to where she had been before. Again, screams blasted the air.
“She didn’t take the hammer,” said Riverpaw. “This is the only chance we’ll have.”
They slid out of the tear in the wall and began to descend the stairs without caution. Across the pit, the witch writhed in the darkness. They moved as quickly as they possibly could down the giant stairs, trying to be quiet, but speed was the priority. Nothing mattered but the hammer. They reached the platform and Evercloud turned to Riverpaw.
“Get the hammer,” he whispered. “I have to find the candle and the matches in my pack. When you get back up here, we can light the candle.”
Riverpaw nodded and dove under the platform. Evercloud began to dig through his pack. It was making a lot of noise, but he couldn’t help it and he didn’t care. He felt the candle at the bottom of the pack and took it out. Now he had to find the matches. Riverpaw poked his head up above the platform with the hammer in his mouth. He climbed up to where Evercloud searched.
“Let’s go,” said Riverpaw, with the hammer still in his mouth.
“I’m trying, I’m trying,” said Evercloud. “They’re not in here. I can’t find them.”
“No. No,” said Riverpaw, grimacing as if he was in pain.
“I never had the matches,” said Evercloud, realizing why Riverpaw grimaced. He stood up from the pack, dumbstruck. “Tomas had them.”
Suddenly, the walls of the pit glowed red, their damp and oozing surface reflecting the light of a fiery nightmare. The witch had come out of the wall.
“What’s it doing on our throne?” yelled the witch, her voice shaking the platform and piercing their ears. “The foods is out of its cage.” The two travelers cowered in fear as the giant witch’s tentacles carried her toward them. “It thinks it can have our hammer!” she yelled. “We’ll bites it apart!”
The witch opened her mouth wide to reveal rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth, coming at them like stars falling out of the sky.
“Come on! We have to run!” yelled Riverpaw.
“We won’t make it!” Evercloud yelled back. “Just hold on to me! Whatever you do, don’t let go of me!”
The witch was upon them and she bent down to take them in her mouth. Evercloud could see his reflection in each of her gigantic eyes. He raised his fist into the air, holding the candle as high as he could as he felt her fire come down upon him.
Chapter 27: An Unlikely Pair
“So, anybody got any good stories?” Tomas looked at Ben but he was sitting at the table with his arms folded, deep in thought. He looked half angry and half scared, as if something important were weighing on his mind. Tomas looked over at Whiteclaw. He was sitting by the opening, looking out over the night sky. Tomas
walked over and sat down, joining him at his watch. “What are you looking for?”
Whiteclaw looked over at Tomas, just realizing that he was there. “Oh, I’m not looking for anything. Just thinking.”
“Thinking about Riverpaw and Evercloud?”
“Yes, Tomas.” Whiteclaw looked back out at the stars in the sky. “It is a difficult thing to send your son and your nephew off to complete what is sure to be a dangerous task. I swore to protect them. I made an oath to the Everflame.”
“What’s the Everflame?” asked Tomas.
“It’s the soul of our Kingdom, Tomas. It sits atop Gray Mountain and burns forever, as a sign of all that we are and all that we believe. To swear upon it is to swear upon your life. More than your life, really. Your life, and the memory of you after you pass.”
“I think I sort of know how you feel,” replied Tomas. “I’ve never sworn on anything like the Everflame, but I swore to keep my father and sister safe from harm, and I don’t even know how they’re doing. Sometimes, I let myself think about it too much, and it makes my skin crawl with worry.”
“Then you do know how I feel, Tomas.”
“I wish that we had something like the Everflame,” said Tomas.
“The Everflame is a symbol, Tomas. It has no power. It’s just a reminder of something we all have, our spirit. And it is to this spirit that we are accountable, not to an all-powerful tyrant, not even to ancient creators, simply to ourselves. By making an oath to the Everflame, I am merely making an oath to all that I am. If I break that oath, it is I who suffer the greatest loss, and nothing can change that. All these men who barter with their Holy for forgiveness should ask themselves, first, for this forgiveness. They would not find it so easy to come by. We all have the ability to judge our own hearts, and we should all have the courage to do so.”
“Then I think that I have sworn on the Everflame. I think all of us Floyds have.” Tomas turned around and looked at his brother. He knew that Ben could hear what they were saying. He wasn’t far enough away not to. But Ben still had an absence to him. He was somewhere else right now. Tomas turned back to the night sky and to Whiteclaw. “Do you regret not going with Evercloud?”
“Would I have felt better if I were the one to go? Yes. But I don’t regret it. It was the right decision. We bears have a saying, ‘a tree will not grow tall in the shadows.’ This was Evercloud and Riverpaw’s time to grow tall.” Tomas nodded, silently staring out into the distance. It seemed as though all of his questions had finally run out. “Maybe it would be better to get some rest than to stay up, wondering.” Whiteclaw stood up and walked toward the inside of the room. Tomas followed and took a seat at the table. Whiteclaw looked and Ben, now noticing the man’s conflicted visage. “Ben,” he said. “Stop worrying yourself and get some sleep.” Whiteclaw continued walking to the back of the room, where he planned on curling up in a corner.
“Whiteclaw.”
Whiteclaw turned back around to see Ben, standing from his chair and staring at him with what seemed to be shame in his eyes.
“Yes?” Whiteclaw said with a hint of concern.
“There is something that I,” and then he looked at his brother, “that we, need to tell you.” Tomas looked at his brother, wide-eyed. “It has been tearing me apart, knowing that there are things we are keeping from you, things that we have sworn to keep from you, and anyone else. But I cannot do it any longer, because I don’t believe that it is right to keep it from you. Especially now.”
“Ben,” said Tomas. “I don’t–”
“Please, Tomas. It will be easier if I do this.”
Whiteclaw looked at the two men very sternly, worried what surprises this conversation would hold. Just then, a flash of light enveloped the room. Whiteclaw, Ben and Tomas spun around to see Riverpaw and Evercloud, covered from head to toe in some sort of black goo, clinging to each other.
They looked around and realized that they had made it back. They looked down at themselves and began feeling their bodies to make sure that all of their parts were still there. Riverpaw, still holding the hammer in his mouth, dropped it to the floor and looked at Evercloud.
“We did it. We made it.”
The two cousins flung themselves at each other in exhilaration and relief, barely noticing the others in the room. But it wasn’t long before those others made their presence known. Whiteclaw barreled into the two of them, knocking them to the floor. Unable to contain his excitement at their return, he began laughing and pawing at them. They all laughed and then got back to their feet.
“We did it,” said Evercloud. “The apple and the hammer.”
Now Ben and Tomas were there to meet them with handshakes that quickly turned into embraces. No one was able to contain their elation.
“Tell us everything,” said Ben. “All of the details.”
So they all sat down at the table and Evercloud began to relate the story of their time in Oldham’s Bog while Riverpaw stuffed himself with food and drink. After a while, Riverpaw took the telling of the story over and Evercloud was free to gorge himself.
“I would have killed that vulture,” said Tomas.
“I wanted to,” replied Riverpaw.
Everyone took turns asking questions, and Evercloud and Riverpaw answered them all in full, relishing the role of heroes, now that they had returned safe.
“Who do you think it was, whispering in the fog?” asked Tomas.
“Probably the souls of the people who never found their way out,” said Evercloud.
“You must have been petrified,” said Ben.
“Of course not,” said Riverpaw. “We had a job to do, didn’t we?”
Once they had all finished asking their questions, Evercloud put the apple and the hammer on the table for everyone to see. The hammer looked rather ordinary, with the exception of the head being made of what looked like bone. From what creature it had been derived, it was impossible to tell. What really captured everyone’s attention was the apple. They all took turns holding it, mesmerized by its glow.
“One taste will kill you,” said Riverpaw.
“I’m just happy to see you two back, safe,” said Whiteclaw. “Wasn’t the same without you.”
The two cousins beamed.
“Did anything interesting happen here?” asked Evercloud.
The room became dreadfully silent and it was apparent that something had. Ben looked into his brother’s eyes.
“Let me do this, Tomas.” Ben stared Tomas down until he agreed and then Ben addressed Whiteclaw, Riverpaw and Evercloud. “I actually feel better about this, now that you two are back. I feared that Whiteclaw may kill me while you were gone.” Ben tried to smile, indicating his joke, but it quickly faded in the face of cold gazes. “Before I say what I need to say, the three of you need to understand that our intentions have always been good. Our mission, like yours, has always been to find the Ancients. It has been passed down in our family for more generations than we know. We never lied to you about that. But when this mission was passed down, a prophecy came along with it. It was a simple prophecy, really. It basically says that ‘an unlikely pair’ will free the Ancients and defeat the Great Tyrant. We think that Evercloud and Riverpaw are that unlikely pair.”
“Why don’t you tell us what this prophecy says, exactly?” said Whiteclaw. Ben thought about it, trying to recollect the exact words. When he seemed to have got them, he began:
“In the world’s most desperate hour of need,
Earthly elements shall be set free.
And evil tyrants should beware,
The coming of an unlikely pair.
“So, like I said, we believe that Riverpaw and Evercloud are the unlikely pair.”
“That seems like a very small amount of information to go upon,” said Whiteclaw.
“Well, yes,” said Ben, “I understand what you’re saying. But when you also take into consideration the fact that you were the first to answer the call, then–”
“What
call?” asked Whiteclaw.
“This is the part that was slightly underhanded on our part. I don’t really know how to say this–”
“Out with it,” growled Whiteclaw.
“It has been our family’s mission to find the Ancients. Given what the prophecy says, we saw that it was also our mission to find the unlikely pair. So we did things that would entice the pair to find us.”
“The footprint?” asked Whiteclaw.
“A lie,” said Ben.
“The feather?” asked Evercloud.
“A fake,” said Ben.
Whiteclaw stood up and roared at Ben. “I should tear you limb from limb, you stupid man.”
Ben stammered as he backed away. “B-But the mouse. T-The mouse was real. And you’ve seen it twice now. A-And the statue, and the Padre-”
“Could all be liars like you,” roared Whiteclaw.
Evercloud stepped between Ben and his uncle, and Whiteclaw stopped growling. “We saw him, Uncle. You and Riverpaw and I. We saw him in the sky. We acted to stop him. Ben and Tomas want to help us. They didn’t need to tell us what they just did, but they wanted to. They wanted to make it right. They are on our side.”
Whiteclaw backed off, seeing the truth in what Evercloud said, but as he did, he said to Ben, “Next time there is danger, it better be you risking your neck, Ben Floyd.”
“I think we should all get some rest,” said Riverpaw. “This has been a day I’d very much like to forget.”
They all found a place to lie down. Riverpaw and Evercloud fell asleep first, obviously exhausted, and Whiteclaw was not very far behind. The brothers Floyd, however, did not sleep so easily, having just narrowly missed a bear attack. They both hoped they had not irreparably damaged Whiteclaw’s trust.
Tomas leaned over to Ben and whispered, “Shouldn’t we also tell them about–”
“No,” Ben cut him off harshly. “No, we should not. Now go to sleep.”
Chapter 28: Light in the Darkness
Everflame: The Complete Series Page 23
