Divine Madness

by Harmon Cooper

  I saw a Druk man dip his hand into a tank and place a writhing creature onto a wooden board stained with fish guts. The man hammered a nail into its head, and skinned its sides while the creature still wiggled. Once he had the meat he wanted, he deposited it in a metal bucket, pulled the nail out, and swept the severed head to the side.

  “Anyone else hungry?” Roger asked.

  The tropical bird was perched on my shoulder, Tashi back in the small bottle that he occasionally stayed in.

  We didn’t want to draw much attention to ourselves, which wasn’t going to be easy considering nearly every Druk person we came across watched us, their eyes blinking vertically.

  I didn’t want to judge them, but I was already starting to feel a dislike for the Druk people, the way they stared at us as if they were poised to pounce.

  I kept my hand on the hilt of my Flaming Thunderbolt of Wisdom as we progressed through the crowd, past a man on a spinning loom, his assistant feeding in the thread.

  We waited for one of the reptilian people to cross in front of us, the man using his forehead to drag a heavy load of brick and building materials behind him.

  I heard a loud snort and looked to my right to see a pair of shaved yaks laboriously turning a large wheel while a man fed grain into a chute, the grain coming out as a powdered substance on the other side.

  “Let’s find the first travel lodge we can,” Lhandon said, “and rest for a bit. I don’t know about you, but being out in the open is making me feel a bit uneasy.”

  “Agreed. How are we going to pay for the lodge?” I asked Lhandon.

  “Jigme would never send me off without a sizable contribution to our journey. Do not worry about details such as that. I have placed a few of the promissory notes in various pockets of my robes and in my bag. There a few in your bag as well. It will cover us.”

  “There are?”

  Lhandon smiled at me, even though he kept his focus on the path ahead. “There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes, Nick.”

  “I figured as much,” I said as we stepped into the part of the village that had been built on platforms, a sandy beach visible beneath us, wet from the recent high tide. The village reminded me of a boardwalk but much grander, like something that an amusement park would use for a fictional pirate setting, the sound of seagulls in the distance.

  There were a few roadside stands selling grilled seafood on either side of us. I watched as one of the Druk people removed a squid on a skewer, looked it over, and placed it back down over the fire, licking his fingers before buttering up another one to set next to it.

  “Remind me to keep away from the street food,” Roger said with a cackle. “Hey, what about that place up there?”

  Sure enough, we saw a lodge with a vacancy sign hanging down from a wooden pole situated just above the door.

  “Let me take a look inside first,” Lhandon said, “some of these places are very nice, but others…”

  “We’ll hang here,” I told him as I stepped next to the door, my hand on the hilt of my weapon as I watched more Druk people move past me.

  A female with a kid on her shoulder stopped, looking me over for a moment.

  “Can I help you?” I asked her.

  The woman was tall and thin with pink scales around the crown of her head; there was something soft about her features even if she was reptilian, something motherly about her. She wore a loose tunic, her breasts slightly saggy yet her nipples perky.

  “Did you come from the Great Plateau?” she asked.

  “No,” I lied, “we were on the last ship that came into the port.”

  She laughed. “Is that so? Do you mean the ship that was only carrying spices? You don’t look like pirates, or spice for that matter. Were you stowaways?”

  Her kid looked at Roger and stuck his forked tongue out at the bird.

  “Um…”

  “It’s rare to see someone actually come from the Great Plateau who isn’t a thief or a herder,” the woman said.

  “That’s not where we came from,” I assured her.

  “There’s no need to lie.” She took a step closer to me, eyeing me over.

  “Do you normally approach strangers, ask them questions, and then accuse them of lying?”

  Roger snorted at this question.

  “And you have a bird from Nagchu, am I right?”

  “How did you know that?” Roger asked her.

  “My parents were big birdwatchers,” she said, proving that the reptilian people could understand birds. “Before his death, my dad was working on a book about the birds of Lhasa.”

  “Did you ever see the white birds of Dornod?” Roger asked.

  She shook her head. “Not that I can remember. I would have to look to his notes.”

  “No need, those birds have lost their damn minds. Trust me,” he said, looking to the kid again for some reason.

  The kid made another face at Roger.

  “It seems like the little guy hates me…” he said under his breath.

  “I’m guessing you won’t be here for very long,” the Druk woman said, focusing again on me.

  “Just a few days…” I told her.

  “The captains of the ships that come into Sarpang are quite strict about punctuality. If the ship says it will leave at six in the morning, it will leave at six in the morning. I tell you this because ships set out to both Island Kingdoms every morning at six. My family just so happens to run one of those ships, the one that goes to the Island Kingdom of Jonang.”

  I looked at her curiously for a moment. “Why are you telling us this?”

  The woman shrugged. “Because you are clearly outsiders, and you are clearly trying to get somewhere, evident in the fact that you’ve come from the Great Plateau with your monk friend and your big bags. Further, you came down from the caves, which is one of the more unorthodox ways into the village. I was at the market and followed you here.” Her eyes darted left and right. “I’m not the only person that has noticed your arrival. I thought I would let you know of options for a speedy departure, just in case this was something that you needed.”

  “What’s your name?” I asked her.

  “My full name is Battsegseg, but you may call me Tsegi.” Tsegi turned away from me, stopping just as she got out of arm’s reach. “If you ever need to sail away quickly, just mention my name. Someone will point you to my family’s ship, and I may even be on it. No matter the condition, we’ll make it happen. No questions asked.”

  “Why would you do that for me?” I asked her.

  “I didn’t say it wasn’t going to cost you; I just said no questions asked.”

  Tsegi disappeared into the crowd moving to the street, and as she walked away, I tried to turn my back to them, hoping that my robes and the hood over my head would conceal my face.

  Luckily, Lhandon came out of the lodge just a few moments later, letting me know that they had two rooms available, both with bathtubs.

  I entered the lodge to find a bar on the right, with the kitchen behind it, as well as plenty of seating on the left. The smell of baked bread wafted through the space, my mouth instantly watering at the thought of eating something other than jerky.

  A stairwell at the back went to the second floor, which was where Lhandon led me as he waved at the owner, the man smiling, his eyes blinking vertically as he watched us pass.

  The lodge had a New England vibe to it, with fish trophies on the wall and floatation devices used for decoration, lots of rope, and a few nets arranged in a way that made the place seem rustic, seaworthy.

  “So you’re on the left,” Lhandon told me, “and I’m on the right. They actually have running hot water here, if you can believe that, but it’s saltwater, so don’t drink any of it. I suggest we both get cleaned up and meet downstairs for fish soup. The owner said that they would prepare it now, so it should be ready in about thirty minutes.” He licked his lips. “I’ve had the fish soup of the Druk people before. You are in for quite a treat, Nick
!”

  Roger yawned. “I think I’ll take a rest in the room while you two eat. I can also keep my eye on the place. The windows open, right? If so, I wouldn’t mind a nice breeze.”

  “He wants to know if the windows open,” I translated.

  “Let’s find out,” Lhandon said, using his key to open his door. He peeked his head inside and looked at the windows, turning back out to me. “They sure do, but I don’t believe anyone will be able to reach us, if that was his concern. This place is nice, Nick, secure and safe. Let’s enjoy ourselves.”

  “Good call,” I told him as I stepped into my own room, noticing that there was a bed in the far corner with a painting over it, the ceiling high, the room reminding me of an attic apartment in the way that it mirrored the contours of the outside building.

  I took my pack off and rubbed my shoulders for a moment.

  “Glad to have that off,” I said.

  “I’ll bet,” Roger chimed in.

  I placed Tashi’s bottle on the small writing desk in front of the window, the fire spirit slowly exiting from the top. He stayed about a foot tall, a smile on his face as he took in the place. “I believe I stayed in this same room years ago,” he said.

  “No, you didn’t.” Roger hopped onto the bed and fell sideways onto a pillow, looking over at the fire spirit. “Nick, can you pop the window? I’d like a little of the fresh sea breeze. It’s so damn nice to be back at a comfortable altitude.”

  “Sure thing, Rog.”

  After opening the window, I moved to the bathroom, where I took my robes off, found the spout, and filled the tub with hot seawater.

  My eyes fell upon a small, circular mirror on the sink. I looked myself over as the water filled, noticing that my cheeks were even gaunter than they had been the last time I’d seen myself.

  It made sense.

  We had just trekked through what was essentially the desert to get here, and that was after a week of pretty intense training in Dornod.

  Once the tub was full, I got in, letting out a sigh of happiness as I settled into the water. It was a perfect temperature, a thin glaze on top of the water caused by the salt.

  I soaked for a good fifteen minutes, and then finally washed my hair.

  I wrapped the towel around my waist and went to the other room, taking my last pair of clean robes from my bag, Tashi still talking to Roger about the last time he visited the merchant village.

  “I’ll be back in a little while,” I told the two of them, Roger simply nodding, continuing his conversation.

  Once my boots were on, I stepped out of the room and headed downstairs.

  I was the only person in the room other than the owner, who was still behind the bar. He smiled at me, eventually coming over to me with a platter full of bread.

  “Your soup will be served once your companion joins you.”

  “Not a problem,” I told him as I ate a piece of bread, happy with how fresh it was.

  I took a look around again, enjoying the feel of the place, wishing we could stay here for a few days and just unwind.

  But I knew that there was an adventure ahead of us, that this was just the start of a long journey.

  And while I enjoyed being with Lhandon, Roger, and Tashi, a not so insignificant part of me wished that Saruul was here as well. I smiled, imagining her in front of me, the way she could look so prim yet so relaxed, beautiful and graceful.

  “Wish you were here,” I whispered as I went for another slice of bread.

  Lhandon joined me a few minutes later.

  He took a seat across from me, the monk’s face still red from the hot bathwater.

  “How excellent was that?” he asked with a wide grin on his face.

  “Absolutely wonderful,” I told him.

  The owner of the lodge brought two bowls of soup over to us, smiling and bowing as he placed them on the table. “It is my grandmother’s recipe,” the Druk man said cheerfully, “and I only make it this time of year because of the abundance of eels after the winter moon.”

  “I can’t wait to try it,” Lhandon said, lifting the spoon to his mouth.

  I tasted it, immediately enjoying the savory flavor of the broth. Lhandon tore into his soup, clearly excited to have warm food for once.

  And he was just about to finish his bowl when he looked up at me, his eyes going wide.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked him.

  But before he could answer, Lhandon fell to the side, cracking his head on the wooden floor.

  “Lhandon?!” I asked, trying to stand.

  My knees wobbled and I started to fall too, everything turning dark.

  It was the last thing I would remember for quite some time.

  Chapter Twenty-Six: Gomchen

  My first reaction was to struggle, to kick my feet and try to move my hands. My breath came to me, my limbs tingling.

  It was useless.

  As my blurry surroundings started to come into focus, I realized that my head was propped up against something metal, that my entire body was encased in a coffin that had been cut into the wall.

  I looked right to see Lhandon, his neck jutting out of the wall, his body also completely contained on the other side.

  He was still out, drool pooling at the corner of his mouth.

  Looking left confirmed that we were definitely in a dungeon, bars separating us from a hallway, the floors filthy and the space poorly lit.

  My mind was foggy, but it was clear to me what had happened; we had been poisoned, and we’d been taken to some kind of underground bunker where our bodies had been shoved into a… wall?

  I shook my arms and legs again, confirming that they were still there. It was a stupid thing to have to confirm, but my mind was still fuzzy, and even though I knew we were trapped I still didn’t quite understand our surroundings.

  We had been placed in what resembled human-sized drawers with holes cut in them for our heads, our wrists and ankles shackled.

  I looked up at the wall in front of me.

  I noticed that there were grooves cut into the wood, that someone could theoretically open the drawer, exposing my body, like something a cadaver would be placed in.

  I started to wiggle, trying to use my feet to press forward, to hopefully pop the drawer out.

  It didn’t work, but it did have the effect of waking Lhandon up, the monk gasping as he realized he was trapped.

  “Where…?”

  “Someone poisoned us…” I said, my instinct going to the ring that gave me my Fist of Force power. I touched my finger.

  The ring was gone.

  “We were poisoned?” he asked, a frown starting to form on his face.

  “Shit,” I whispered, finally looking over to Lhandon. “You were the first to fall, I fell right after you…”

  My senses started to come back to me.

  The dungeon we were in reeked of stone and vomit. I tried to breathe out of my mouth, only to realize that my mouth was incredibly dry, an acidic aftertaste at the back of my throat.

  My eyes moved along the brick wall, hoping that there was a window of sorts, that I could at least get oriented.

  From there I tried to look behind me, but I wasn’t able to see anything, the piece of metal holding up the back of my head not allowing me to bend back any further. I glanced to the left again, at the bars, a sense of desperation coming to me.

  “Arrgh!” I shouted, trying to break free from my bonds, conjuring as much strength as I had.

  Moving my body around made me realize that my waist was situated over a hole for what I assumed was human excrement, and that I was naked on the other side of the wall.

  “How are we going to get out of here?” I asked Lhandon, trying not to panic, my heart now fluttering in my chest.

  “Tashi and Roger will find us. I know they will.”

  “Have you ever seen something like this before?”

  “I know exactly what it is, Nick,” Lhandon said, a frightful look coming over his eyes as he st
ared up at the wall. “It’s a type of torture chamber that the Druk people use. Or, they used to use them. I didn’t know…”

  “We’re going to be tortured?”

  “This is part of the torture,” he said, nodding at the fact that we were both practically embedded in the wall. “From what I’ve read, they just leave people like this for days.”

  “So they’re going to starve us to death?”

  “It’s a possibility, or they will torture us on the other side of the wall, removing a limb, that sort of thing. It is most barbaric. We have to be strong, Nick! We have to believe that we will get out of here, that our friends will save us.”

  “Do you have a rune we could use?”

  He shook his head. “Not one for this particular scenario, and you don’t either.”

  For a moment I thought of casting Bah-Mo, only to realize that he wouldn’t be able to go very far, nor did the monkey have any effect on beings from this realm.

  “Dema,” I whispered.

  “Let’s hope someone comes,” Lhandon said.

  A door opened up at the end of the hallway, the sound of footsteps immediately echoed into our cell. “So they are awake,” a man with a low, rumbly voice said.

  He was reptilian, as were the two guards on either side of him. The guards were clad in leather armor, both of them with swords sheathed at their sides.

  The man who had spoken was in a set of dark robes, and as he came into view, I realized that I’d seen him before. He was the evil monk who attacked the monastery alongside Sona, the one who had brought Baatar down.

  “It’s you,” Lhandon gasped.

  “You may call me Gomchen,” the man told Lhandon, his red nostrils flaring as he looked us over. “I had a feeling you would come here, Nick and Lhandon, the Exalted One. You two sure have upset Sona and Evan.”

  “Evan?” I asked, suddenly growing angry.

  He nodded. “It was smart of me to suggest that I come here, to cut you off if you tried to leave the Kingdom of Lhasa through Sarpang. Sona didn’t seem to think that this was what you were going to do; she thought that you were possibly heading off to Cultivation Hills, or maybe even Bamda. But I knew better. You certainly weren’t going to head east, and you left in the direction of the Darkhan Mountains, which meant you would eventually reach the Great Plateau. And anyone that reaches the Great Plateau will likely stop here. But the question remains: where were you planning to go next?”