The Children of Calm

by Smith, J Michael

  “I’m fine, I promise,” he told them. “We’ll get this figured out.”

  At the end opposite the pool was a recess in the wall, about the size of a doorway. There the wall turned a uniform shiny black.

  “I think I may have found a door,” he said, “though I can’t find a latch or handle…”

  At that moment Tresten’s voice came suddenly from the window. “Rylek! You’re alright! Where did you get that light?”

  “Yeah I’m fine. I got it from Elder Caenar but that can wait. I may have found a door - did you find anything?”

  “No, but I decided not to venture far. I wanted to be close in case I heard the girls calling for me. I looked back just a minute ago and saw the yellow light coming out of the cave so I came rushing back. Did you just say there is a door down there?”

  “I said I may have found one, though I don’t know how to open it.”

  Tresten thought for a moment. “I am not sure of how to get you out of there. And I cannot believe we failed to bring any rope. Talk about lack of foresight.”

  “You’d think someone would have thought to remind us,” Lana said. “What are we going to do? We can’t just leave him down there.”

  “And we can’t trust that even if he gets the door open he’ll be able to find his way out,” Selenor said. “We have no idea what’s beyond the door, and where it leads.”

  Tresten nodded. “Correct. In the end we either have to all jump down with you or hope you can get the door open and find a way out.”

  “We’re all in this together,” Lana said. “I’m jumping in.”

  “Hold on a minute!” Rylek said. “There’s no point in all of us getting stuck down here.”

  “Well, we’re coming anyway,” Selenor said. “Come on, Tresten, help us carry our packs over here so we can throw them down.”

  “Selenor! Lana!” Rylek called after them as their faces left the window. “Tresten, talk some sense into them.”

  Tresten shrugged. “I’m afraid I agree with them,” he said. “Forgive me for pushing you down there. It did me good to hear you talking and to see you walking around.”

  “You pushed me down here?” Rylek asked. “Were we…?”

  “We were dueling. I lost my balance and fell into you. Do you not remember?”

  “Not really,” Rylek said, holding the back of his head again. It was still bleeding. “I must have landed on my head or something because I’m losing blood.”

  “That settles it,” Tresten said. “We’re coming down. I definitely need to get down there anyway to help you. This whole mess is my fault. And I am not about to leave the girls on the beach by themselves, so…”

  “Tresten! Come on!” Lana’s voice called out.

  “Right. I’ll return shortly with the girls and our packs. Give us just a minute,” Tresten said, turning away from the window.

  Rylek sighed and sat down with his back against the far wall, keeping an eye on the window. He felt the others were acting foolishly but understood their reasons, and wished an adult were there to make decisions.

  But then again that’s not what this trip is all about, he thought to himself. This is our Finding, not anyone else’s. We all need to prove we can take care of ourselves and not rely solely on others. But then he realized he was relying on others to take care of him just now. Was that what Caenar had meant when he told them they were all a part of each other? His thoughts were jumbled and confused, and his head ached. He decided it was in his best interest to sit and wait for his friends to come to him.

  Maybe there are times when you have to humble yourself so that others can serve you in the way they feel is necessary. After all, this is their Finding, too, he concluded.

  ***

  It was not long before they had dropped all of their gear down through the window. Rylek moved each pack and item out of the way so that damage could be minimal. Tresten did not want to throw the swords down, and they found they could just make the handoff if he were halfway through the window and Rylek stretched up on his toes. In this way everything made its way down, and Rylek had it arranged in a nice pile away from directly below the window. The ground needed to be clear for when the three jumped into the cave.

  “Land as softly as you can,” Rylek told them. “Make sure you keep your knees loose so they can absorb some of the impact. And slowly bring your feet up as you fall.”

  Lana went first and fell backwards after she landed. “Oof! That wasn’t so bad,” she said, laughing lightly. Rylek helped her up and she embraced him tightly. “I’m so glad you’re safe,” she said.

  Next came Selenor, and she surprised Rylek when she landed with such agility that she did not lose her balance at all. In fact, she tucked and rolled. “I guess you are definitely your brother’s sister,” he said.

  She smiled as she stood up, and made a move towards Rylek like she wanted to hug him also, but stopped short. “The thought of…of us all not being together was nearly too much for me,” she said as she looked into his eyes. “There’s not much time left…” but then she stopped. He could see tears welling, but before he could say something she dropped her eyes, turned away and stood next to Lana.

  Lastly Tresten jumped, and he also made it look simple. But as soon as he stood back up he had a look of pain on his face.

  “Are you okay?” Selenor asked.

  “Yes, but I thought of something mid-jump,” he said. “I probably could have found a way to use the rope ladder we used to get down to the beach. What a frass I am!”

  “Oh yeah,” Lana said.

  Selenor giggled. “Lana agrees you’re a frass,” she said.

  “Selenor!” Lana said. “You shouldn’t use that word…and no, that’s not at all what I meant. I had forgotten all about the rope ladder, too.”

  “Well, there’s no point in dwelling on it now,” Selenor said. “Let’s see about that door.”

  As the girls started towards the recess, Tresten pulled Rylek aside. “Hey, I’m really sorry,” he said. “This really is all my fault, and the thought of losing you because of my own folly…I would have never been able to forgive myself. I swear we will find a way out of here.”

  “I’m not worried,” Rylek said. “I have the people I care for most in all the world here with me. What can happen?”

  Tresten actually smiled, and Rylek thought his face looked ragged. Then much to his surprise Tresten put a hand on his shoulder.

  “I don’t think I could…” Tresten started to say, but then Rylek’s body grew limp and collapsed. “Selenor! Lana!” he shouted to the girls.

  The girls ran over, and then they remembered Rylek saying his head had been bleeding. They felt foolish as they had somehow forgotten about his wound. Quickly Lana washed and bandaged his head as best she could while Selenor held it in her lap.

  “What have I done?” Tresten asked as he watched from a distance, fear and terror spreading over his face.

  ***

  However, Rylek gained consciousness again after only a few minutes. Selenor held a flask of water up to his mouth, and after some swallows he smiled and asked, “Did I miss anything?”

  Tresten let out the breath he had been holding.

  “Yes, you’ve been missing water and food,” Lana said. “Now rest here while we feed you some dry biscuits and more water. You’ve lost quite a bit of blood and you need some strength. So I’m ordering you to rest here and eat.”

  Rylek was rather enjoying having his head cradled in Selenor’s lap and was loathe to leave it. However, he decided it would be best to pull together what strength he could. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before sitting up. “I think I can manage that,” he said. “It doesn’t look like we’re going anywhere anytime soon anyway.”

  Tresten picked up the starpod torch and examined it. “I have never seen anything like it,” he said. “How does it work?”

  “I have no idea,” Rylek said. “Elder Caenar just told me it was ancient technology utilizing starpo
d juice.”

  “For as many uses as starpods have, you would think they would be pleasantly palatable, too,” Selenor said, egging her brother on. “They just seem so perfect.”

  Tresten took the bait. “If only there were some medicinal value, too,” he mumbled as he walked around the cave, holding the torch up to the walls and examining the etchings. “Though it would be tricky sacrificing the light for the healing properties right now…”

  Rylek watched the shadows shift across Selenor’s face as she silently smiled at her brother. This is how things should be, he thought, smiling himself, while he took another bite of a biscuit.

  “I have never before seen script like this,” Tresten said. “In all my studies of linguistics and history, there has been nothing similar.”

  “Are you sure it’s actual writing on the wall?” Lana asked. “Not just some weird random scratches?”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” he said. “There are too many patterns and everything seems too organized for it to mean nothing. But I cannot discern any of it.” He walked towards the pool and, after rolling his pants up, waded into the dark water. After a few steps it was almost to his knees when he suddenly stopped. “What could this be?” he asked, stooping down and looking at something. He held the torch between his teeth and reached down into the water with both hands. “There’s some kind of round rock or something halfway buried in the ground,” he said between clenched teeth. “It’s heavy but I think I can pull it out.” He squatted down and strained for a couple of seconds before his hands came flying out of the water.

  Then several things happened at once. Rylek saw Tresten hold up with both of his hands a dark round orb about the size of his head. Bright white sparks then shot out from the core of the orb and ran up Tresten’s arms and branched out to his head and down his spine. His head was thrown back and his back arched, but he still clutched the orb between his hands. The starpod torch fell from his mouth into the water.

  Rylek and the girls quickly stood, unsure of what to do. Tresten’s hair stood on end, swaying slowly in the air as though he were underwater. Then after a couple of seconds the sparks disappeared, and Tresten dropped the orb back into the pool. As he was collapsing into the water, the others heard a great hissing and squeaking noise behind them. Rylek turned and saw the shiny black door move up into the top of the recess, exposing more pitch blackness behind it.

  He ran forward and grabbed Tresten from the pool, dragging him to the middle of the cave. He quickly looked over his shoulder and saw the door had now disappeared. The shiny black was now gone, and in its place was a dull empty black space.

  “What just happened?” Lana asked, her voice in a state of panic. “Is he alright?”

  “He’s breathing but he’s out cold,” Rylek said. “I have a feeling that door won’t stay open for long. Let’s get everything out of here while we still have the chance.”

  Selenor crouched near Tresten while Rylek began to move their gear outside the door. After a few seconds, Lana started to help him, finally willing herself to work. Just as they had gotten everything through, the door started making the same sounds again.

  “Quick, we have to get through the door!” Rylek shouted. “I’ll get Tresten if someone will get the torch out of the pond. Hurry!”

  Selenor seemed to be in a daze as she looked upon her unconscious brother. Lana ran into the pond and grabbed the starpod torch, then turned around and took Selenor by the hand. “Come on, Selenor, we’ve got to get out of here!” she said.

  Rylek stood Tresten’s dead weight up, used his left hand to place Tresten’s left arm around his neck and used his right arm to grab his side, and started to drag him towards the door. In the ever-shifting starpod light he could see the door was about a third of the way down. Nausea and lightheadedness swarmed up inside him again. Selenor and Lana were through the doorway. He closed his eyes and moved as fast as he could, using all of his strength to lift Tresten as much off the ground as possible. Just as the door was past halfway closed, he held Tresten’s body tightly and sprang forward, diving under the bottom of the door. With his last ounce of strength, he pulled Tresten’s legs all the way through the opening. Just a few short seconds later the door was shut tight, and its cracking sound echoed loudly in the new cave. But they had made it safely.

  Rylek lay on his back, breathing hard and trying to make his stomach calm down. He could faintly hear Selenor weeping, but his head was swimming too much to be able to concentrate on it. The light of the torch seemed to be slowly fading, and a great rushing noise overwhelmed his ears. Suddenly he felt very warm, and decided what he needed most was sleep. He closed his eyes and relaxed his body.

  ***

  As he was beginning to collapse into soft but heavy nothingness, something began to pull him out, layer through stubborn layer. He recognized his sister’s voice and realized she was shaking him.

  “Rylek! Wake up! You can’t go to sleep! Wake up!” she was saying.

  “What’s the big deal?” he asked. “I’m exhausted, there’s nothing else to do now, so let me sleep.”

  “You can’t sleep now! You’ve lost too much blood from your head injury. I’m scared you won’t wake up again. You have to keep yourself awake for awhile.”

  He opened his eyes and looked around their surroundings. Not much of anything could be seen within the radius of the torch’s light. They seemed to be in an ordinary cave. There was no trace of the shiny black door. In the other direction, the cave stretched on beyond the reach of the light. Selenor sat away from them next to Tresten’s unconscious body, silent and still. Lana’s eyes looked hopeless.

  “Since you’re not going to let me sleep, I’m going to sit up,” he said. “Where did the door go?”

  “It’s still there. I guess it’s not that shiny black color on this side, but just normal rock wall. It blends in so well I can’t even see where exactly it is.”

  He looked over towards Selenor and Tresten. “What’s going on over there?”

  Lana shook her head. “Selenor’s shaken up. I’ve never seen her like this,” she whispered. “She just sits there and looks at him. Doesn’t move, doesn’t say anything. She cried for a minute or so, but now she’s lost in her own world of mourning and worry.”

  “He’s not dead. I could feel his heart beating and hear his breathing as I carried him out the door.”

  “I know, but he’s totally unresponsive. His pupils are dilated. And his hands…that stone thing really messed him up.”

  “What’s wrong with his hands?”

  Lana sighed. “His palms are pretty badly burned. We have no way of treating them - no ointment or salve or anything. I tore up one of my shirts to wrap his hands with, but I don’t know what else to do. We have to get out of here and go home.”

  “How do you propose we do that?” Rylek asked. “We can’t all look for a way out together for obvious reasons, not to mention there’s only one light between us. What are we supposed to do?”

  Lana’s shoulders hunched low. “I have no idea.”

  They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then Rylek made an effort to stand.

  “What are you doing?” Lana asked.

  “I have to do something. So I’m going to eat and drink first before I do it.” He walked unsteadily over to a pack and searched through it until he found some dried fruit, a biscuit, and a water flask. “After I eat, I’m going exploring.”

  “Rylek, you’re in no condition to…”

  “Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do. I will find us a way out of here. I won’t need the light. I’m just going to walk around this room for awhile and see what I can find.”

  After he finished his light meal, he turned to walk away.

  “Please be careful,” Lana said.

  “Hey, it’s me,” he said, smiling at her.

  As he left the makeshift camp, he felt strength returning to his legs. His head cleared, and he used his eyes for as long as the light allowed him. But soon enough he
was out of reach of the torch’s light. He looked behind to keep his bearings, and saw the small figures of the others together. Then, holding his arms out in front of him and closing his eyes in order to heighten his hearing, he slowly continued ahead.

  ***

  Time dragged on as Rylek crept forward. With each step he tested the ground to confirm it was solid. Every few steps he would look behind at the light to keep his orientation. How long and how far this went on he could not say. He reached a point where the disorientation of being virtually blind gave rise to a panic, and decided he needed to give up and return to the others. But at that very moment he sensed a different air ahead and to the right. He took a few deep breaths and continued in that direction. After a few more steps his left hand touched a wall, and there was no denying the smell of smoke. A clean fire was burning somewhere near, though he could see no firelight. Keeping the wall on his left, he opened his eyes and followed his nose. Two dozen more steps brought him to a great shocking fright - with no warning his hand gave way to a space in the cave wall. He stumbled forward and found himself suddenly standing in the middle of a bright hallway.

  His eyes naturally squinted after being used to the dark. By the time they had adjusted, he saw that several lanterns were hung on either side of the cavernous corridor that stretched out on either side of him. He looked behind and saw no sign of a door in the rock wall. Confused, he stepped towards the wall anyway and watched his foot disappear into it. Intrigued, he stepped all the way through and discovered he was back in total black. Now excited, he stepped back into the hallway, took his left shoe off to mark the place on the wall, and decided to try going down the left side of the hall, calling out “Hello! Help!” all the while.