by Bolz, Stefan
While they travelled, Joshua realized that, even though this was an absolutely terrifying experience, he was relieved that at least they didn’t have to worry about where to go anymore. The spiders lead them through the cave, correcting their path here and there by coming closer to one side of them until they adjusted where they were going. Joshua tried to make out what they thought or felt, but there was absolutely nothing there. It was emptiness that surrounded them – emptiness in thought and emotion. It was as if their bodies were propelled solely by the sheer force of the vulture’s command. The souls of the spiders had left their hosts back in the cold of the Refuge. They had long since gone home to their ancestors. Whatever force drove them now, controlled their shells. Nothing more. There was no evil in them. None at all. It became clear to Joshua that, should the vulture fall, the spiders would go with her. Released from her command, they would just disintegrate and simply cease to be.
“I can see light.” The wolf’s thoughts interrupted his own. “Faint, still, and far in the distance, but there.” Joshua hadn’t known how much he dreaded this until Grey’s thoughts reached him. He had longed for the light. After two days in absolute darkness, the light should have been the most welcomed treasure for him. But it brought with it a whole litany of things that Joshua did not want to face—Wind’s fate foremost among them. But another thought slowly made its way into his conscious mind. It was one he had avoided for as long as he could. It had, by now, finally caught up with him. It was the thought of his own death. He did not see much hope in their ability to defeat the vulture. She was just too powerful. Certainly he couldn’t win against her. Krieg was no match against her talons in the air and the wolf had no chance against her even on the ground. And that was without the spiders. It seemed all but hopeless.
But there was, hidden and buried under all the others, another thought and one that demanded at least part of his attention. It was the thought of fighting her. It was the thought, as preposterous as it seemed at the moment, of fighting her with everything they had—with every ability and every ounce of strength that was still left in them. And for the smallest of moments he felt it, felt it rise within him and strengthen his resolve. For a moment he felt the presence of the lioness within him. It was faint and her full strength eluded him. But it was enough for him to straighten himself and to no longer crouch down. It was enough to tell Krieg and the wolf that they would not be defeated and that they would fight until the end and fight for each other and for the life of the Pegasus.
He could sense the others’ silent approval but he could also sense, for a brief moment, a disturbance moving through the spiders. A slight interruption in their rhythm as if whatever had welled up in Joshua had somehow affected them. Was it fear he felt from them? But that couldn’t be. They were dead. There was neither fear nor hatred or any emotion left in them. Was it possible that whatever he had felt inside had somehow been communicated through the spiders to the vulture? Was it her fear he sensed?
“Krieg, I want you to stay calm but I think I can see what’s at the end of the cave.” Grey’s thoughts reached them quietly. And with it came an image that sent a shiver down the horse’s spine. Joshua had to pull on all his strength to keep from letting out a loud crow. They saw Wind. She hung in the web illuminated by a single beam of light coming from somewhere high up in the ceiling. The cuts in her belly and side were dark red. If Joshua had any hope of her being alive before, it was taken from him at that moment. He could not hold on to it. It dissipated like a single spark in the night. What was left was hopelessness. The power the vulture had over them was too strong.
“Shield your thoughts, Joshua,” Grey thought. “She can sense your fear and will give it back to you a thousand fold. You will not be able to fight her if you are held back by fear. We need you.”
Joshua realized that he could see the wolf again. Not fully yet as the darkness was still too thick around them. But he could make out his silhouette and he saw Grey’s eyes clearly when he looked back at him.
“You must reach deep down into yourself, Joshua. You must forget everything you have learned and you must become greater, stronger, and more than you think you are right now. Whatever you have felt inside you, up in the tower of Refuge, you must command it to you and you must hold it and not let go of it. You must command it, Joshua.”
“I must command it,” Joshua answered.
“You must command it!” The wolf’s eyes wouldn’t let go of his and Joshua couldn’t turn away.
“I must command it,” Joshua answered again.
The wolf nodded slightly. Then his eyes released Joshua’s and he turned again toward the light and Wind’s lifeless body that hung in its glowing beam.
22. BATTLE
The light beam extended its glow into the cave and Joshua could now see the spiders that surrounded them. Their numbers were far greater than he originally thought. There were hundreds of them, maybe thousands—their dark bodies partially illuminated by the glowing light. And then, suddenly, they left. The sound of their feet on the ground swelled up for a few moments and then dissipated into the shadows of the cave. And within a few seconds Joshua could not see any of them. They were gone. The quiet that returned left them with nothing but the image of the Pegasus in the web three hundred yards ahead.
It was too much for Krieg. “I must go to her!” He charged forward. Joshua lost his grip and flew off his back, landing next to the wolf on the ground.
“No!” Grey howled, its echo travelling through the massive cave. “She will use everything she knows against you!”
But it was too late. Krieg was already halfway there and he was going fast. His wings were partially extended as if he was about to lift off. The wolf didn’t want to leave Joshua behind so he trotted slowly while Joshua ran and flew part of the way. Then they saw the horse reach the web. Joshua could hear Krieg’s cries as he stood under it looking up at Wind. He went up on his hind legs, but still couldn’t reach her. Joshua felt Krieg’s utter desperation but this did not prepare him for what he felt when he actually stood next to the horse and looked up.
The Pegasus hung about thirty yards above them in a web that was easily one hundred yards wide and as tall. Her wings and part of her body were wrapped in a cocoon that was woven into the web. The red infected wounds stood out in stark contrast to her ivory coat. There was no sign of life in her.
“We have to get her down!” Krieg’s thoughts were frantic with concern about her.
“We can’t, Krieg,” Joshua answered as calmly as possible.
“We have to get her down! She can’t stay up there. We have to do something.”
“There is nothing we can do for her right now,” Grey added as calmly as he could. “Neither of us can even reach the web. Joshua could fly up there but he would get tangled in it and then both of them will be caught.”
“No. I won’t accept that,” the horse answered. “There must be something we can do to help her—”
“And there is…”
The vulture swooped down silently and landed behind them. The wolf turned first. Joshua could sense the desolation he felt the moment Grey’s eyes met hers.
“The great gray wolf from the Ice Forrest. What a mighty friend the rooster has chosen for his quest. And how much greater his defeat will be once he realizes the full extent of your weakness.” The vulture’s thoughts penetrated Grey’s mind mercilessly. “I met your companion, wolf. At least what was left of her once the hunter was done with her remains. I commanded her to rise from the dead and she could not deny my request. Right now she roams the ice in search of her companion who has abandoned her for the rooster. As for you, you will die alone, wolf. And there will be no place for you to go where you will meet her again. You will have died for nothing but to feed my army, giving them life with your death. The one thing you will have accomplished is to bring the rooster to me. That will be your end. To give me eternal life in exchange for the rooster’s. And to feed the dead with your own demise
.”
The wolf snarled and whined at the same time. His wincing echoed through the cave. Joshua was convinced that he was about to charge toward her any moment. But behind the vulture and out of the shadows two hyenas now stepped into the light. They were larger than the others, almost twice the size of the wolf. Their dead eyes spoke of blood and flesh hanging from bones and of a horrifying death.
“And you, Krieg.” The vulture looked at the horse, black saliva dripping out of her half decomposed beak. “I will give you a war of such you have not yet dreamed of. A war that will be fought in your heart. For you will watch while I feed on the Pegasus’ body and you will forever know that you did nothing to prevent me from doing so. That will be your enemy; the foe you will pursue for the rest of your life. It will be a war that will be fought inside you and you will be slain upon its altar each time you think of her. You will feel her pain and her love will escape you and comfort will never reach your restless soul.”
Krieg was frozen. Unable to move, he stood facing the vulture. Every fiber of his being told him to attack her full force. But what he saw in her eyes made him want to hide somewhere instead. Krieg, possibly the greatest war horse of his time, was immobilized by fear and a terror so great he could do nothing but accept his defeat.
Joshua was privy to the wolf’s and the horse’s exchange with the vulture. While he looked at her he could feel death’s unrelenting grip upon his throat. It was suddenly hard for him to breathe. He felt Krieg’s terror and Grey’s desperation as if they were his own, but through it all there was another presence he felt. It came from somewhere deep in the shadows of the cave. It was immense, its consciousness vast and its power almost limitless. At least under normal circumstances. But he felt that whatever it was, it was captive to the vulture’s curse like Joshua and the others.
“Help me,” the dragon whispered faintly in his thoughts. “Help me!”
And for an instant, Joshua could sense the magnitude of the nightmares it endured at the vulture’s hands. They were nightmares spun of the dragon’s dreams that once were of such beauty they would have made him weep. But now all the beauty was gone and what was left was perpetual hopelessness.
There was suddenly motion when the area beyond the reach of the light beam began to move. The spiders came back and crawled up the two pillars on either side of the web closing in on Wind. Their bodies crawled all over her and at first it looked like they were strengthening the cocoon. But then Joshua saw that the spiders untied her from the web and carried her down to the ground. Joshua and the others had to move otherwise they would have been overrun by the spiders who brought Wind’s limp body to a predestined spot where they placed her on the stone. They disappeared as quickly as they came, back into the shadows of the cave.
And then it dawned on Joshua. The body of water was very close to Wind. When Joshua and Grey’s eyes met for a moment, he knew that the wolf thought the same thing. Grey’s reminder to guard his thoughts was in his eyes as well. If they could somehow get the Pegasus into the water she might come back to life. Joshua felt a spark of hope return to him—hope that they might have a chance after all. It was slim, perhaps, but a spark might be all they needed. A spark and a moment of surprise. If they were to charge at her all at once and somehow catch her before she could lift off… Joshua began to think that it was possible to defeat her.
Was it a grin he saw in her? He thought at first that his eyes played tricks on him. The vulture did not grin in the flesh. But he realized that she grinned within his mind. And her grin became laughter. It mocked them and the three companions looked at each other, not knowing what to make of it. Then it dawned on them. She knew about the water. And she knew that they knew. She had known since they had defeated the hyenas back at the village. She was playing with them, playing with their hopes, building them up only to crush them again.
“You are very perceptive, Joshua Aylong,” he felt her pestilence wreaking havoc in his mind, searching it for every little scrap of thought she could use against him. It was over. And he was suddenly transported back to the day when the farmer took the other rooster from the pen and held him down on the ground to cut off his head and he felt the rooster’s terror at that moment. He could not help feel responsible for his death and for every single soul that had perished before and after him. Joshua wanted to die at that moment. He wanted it all to end, wanted to just disappear into oblivion and nothingness and not experience the terror of this moment any longer. He looked at the wolf next to him who shook his head ever so slightly in a ‘no’.
Then Grey, without giving any indication he would do so and in one fluid motion, charged toward the vulture who was, at that moment, about ten yards away from them. The large wolf gained speed fast and just before he reached her, she lifted off, mocking him with her laughter and loud cries. At the same time the hyenas moved toward the wolf, closing in on him and meeting him at the place where the vulture had just sat. Their fangs tried to dig into the wolf’s neck but he was strong and quick and he avoided them and caught one of them by the throat. Normally the hyena would have died instantly. But she was already dead and nothing could kill her now. The wolf knew that. He pulled her toward the water. She was fighting him but lost ground quickly. Then the other hyena came at him from the side and he had to let go of the first one in order not to be bitten to death by the second.
All this happened within a few seconds. And while the wolf charged at the vulture, Krieg charged at her as well and when she lifted off, the horse unfolded his wings and lifted off into the air also. The vulture gained height fast whereas Krieg had to work for his momentum at first. But then he was up and Joshua saw him gaining on her as they flew ever higher until Joshua could barely make out who was who. And then their battle in the air began.
Joshua tried to get closer to Wind but the spiders surrounded him within seconds of the vulture’s lifting off the ground. He had very little room to move and could do nothing but stare back into their dead eyes that were watching him vigilantly. They were about his height and a single one of them could easily kill him in an instant. There was nothing for him to do but to wait. He witnessed the wolf fighting the hyenas. Grey gave them hell, but Joshua knew that his attacks were finite. At some point his strength would leave him. Then he could only jump into the water. They couldn’t follow him but there was no place to stand inside the round opening. It was a crater with a sharp edge going straight down. One could either stand next to it or swim in it. There was nowhere else to go.
Joshua could see the dark outline of the dragon on the other side of the spider’s web. His body seemed to move and his contours changed and Joshua realized that he was covered with spiders that moved on top of him. His neck feathers stood up at the thought of it.
Joshua tried to communicate with the wolf but he was so focused on surviving the fight against the hyenas, he was not listening at all. Grey looked at him once and Joshua saw the exhaustion in his eyes. At some point he would have to give up. Joshua felt helpless and once began to fly over to him but a single shot of the sticky spider’s web flew toward him immediately, missing him only by a few inches. It was a clear warning not to move. And then it happened. The wolf had just countered yet another attack from one of the hyenas and for a moment he stood, shaking, blood smears all over his coat, saliva dripping from his snout and near complete exhaustion. He had nothing left in him.
“I’m sorry, Joshua,” he thought when he lowered his head, a sign that he was defeated. The hyenas closed in on him and Joshua knew that the wolf didn’t have it in him to defend himself any longer. At that moment Krieg came crashing down, landing half on his legs and half on his side, tumbling several times, sliding on the harsh ground and ending up close to the Pegasus. He lay there completely still.
“Krieg!” Joshua tried to get closer but couldn’t. “Krieg, are you alright?” He asked. There was no answer. Not a sound, a thought, or even the slightest movement from the horse. He might as well have been dead.
; “Watch out, Joshua!” Grey’s thoughts reached him at the same time as the vulture came swooping down and grabbed him. She lifted him up, digging her powerful talons into his flesh. She looked at him while she rose into the air.
“You have lost, Joshua Aylong and now you belong to me.” With that she dropped him. He was at least fifteen yards up in the air and fell straight down. A few weak flaps from his wings slowed his fall somewhat but when he hit the ground it felt as if his body broke into a thousand pieces. He tumbled several times over and over until he came to a stop. The world spun around him. He could not focus his eyes on a single point. Sickness rose up in him and he knew that something was broken inside him. He tried to lift his head but couldn’t move. The spiders had cleared out of the immediate area and he had a straight line of sight to Grey and the horse. Despite the pain he felt everywhere in his body it was his heart that hurt the most when he looked at them. And then he felt the end of all things descending upon them when the vulture landed next to him.
There was one question left in Joshua. To make him understand. To make him grasp what had happened to him, to his friends. There was a dream once. A dream of three feathers on a blackened stone. Why he searched for them he still could not say. But he did and it had cost him everything, and not only to himself, but also to his companions. The ones that were closest to him had suffered the most. Too high a price for a dream, he thought. Better end it now. But he had to ask the question. It was his curiosity that won over his fear at that moment. So he turned his head and looked straight at the vulture. It was as if he looked into an abyss of unimaginable horror.
