by B. T. Narro
The pain in his hands quickly became almost unbearable, and suddenly he slipped. He fell fast, banging against the sides as he tried to protect his head.
“Watch out!” he yelled.
He crashed onto his brother. A horrible pain settled in, a sting across his arms and back, and a deep ache in his head. He seemed to be sitting in dirt. There was a lamp near his side that was starting to burn his hip.
“Leo, you’re sinking!” Andar called.
Leo stood up, or tried to. This wasn’t normal dirt. It stretched and clung to him, wanting to pull him back down. He tried to push up using his palms, but his hands just went into the dirt.
Andar was covered in what looked to be mud up to his chest, but at least he was on his feet. He offered Leo his hand.
“Pull gently and try not to panic,” Andar told him.
Leo took his brother’s arm with both hands and tried to pull himself up, but all he seemed to do was pull Andar deeper into the unstable ground.
In just that brief moment, Leo had sunk past his waist. He wanted to scream out in fear, to squirm with panic, but he remembered what his brother had said and forced himself to stay calm.
“I don’t know how to help you up,” Andar said with the worst worry Leo had ever seen on his courageous brother’s face.
“I will do it,” Leo said. “Just keep yourself up.”
He tried a few different movements, but he only sank deeper. It would soon be at his chest.
“Leo!” Andar yelled. “The rope!”
Of course. They had lost the excess rope in the dirt, but part of it still rose up out of the tunnel. It was behind Leo now, coming up from his back. He leaned back so he could get a good hold.
He pulled himself up, his feet dragging until they were out. With many breaths of relief, he and Andar composed themselves.
“Thank you,” Andar said and wrapped his long arms around Leo.
“We still have to get out of here,” Leo reminded him.
Andar held onto the rope to keep himself up. Leo kept one hand on it as well.
“How are we going to do that?” Leo asked, figuring his brother would know best.
“We’ll have to climb out,” Andar said. “Is the rope tied well around the stump?”
“Very, but the last one broke.”
“The last one was used. This one is new.” Andar pulled hard on the rope, even jumping up to pull down with all of his weight. “It should be fine.”
“But can it hold two of us?” Leo asked.
“It should,” Andar said. “You go first.”
“Are you sure you have enough strength to climb out?” There was no denying that Leo’s brother was exhausted. He looked as if he could barely stand.
“I do,” Andar said without conviction. “Wait,” he added as Leo looked up and readied himself to begin. “There’s a ledge in the wall higher up. You’ll have to climb with only your arms because there’s no place for your feet. Can you do that?”
“Let me try.” First, Leo unstuck his feet from the sinking ground, then positioned his hands until he felt as though he had the best grip. He pulled hard, able to lift himself into the air. But it took all of his strength. As soon as he tried to put one hand over the other to make progress up the rope, he fell and slipped, splashing onto his back. Panic took him for a moment as he flailed for something to grab onto.
He found Andar’s hand. His brother pulled him into a sitting up position while holding the rope.
Leo said, “You climb up first, then you can pull me out.”
“I don’t want to leave you here.”
Leo tugged on the rope to stay above the wet dirt. “I’m fine.”
“All right,” Andar said as he looked up with deep shadows across his face. “I’m going to try.”
Leo watched as his brother pulled using his arms and placed his feet on the side. Leo might have to do the same soon if Andar couldn’t pull him out. Andar rose smoothly. It almost looked like he was walking up the wall.
It didn’t take him long to disappear into the darkness. But Leo could still hear him grunting with each movement.
“No!” Andar shouted, then screamed as he fell. “Out of the way, Leo!”
Leo decided against trying to catch his brother and did step back. Andar hit the dirt with a thud. Leo hurried to pull him out with one hand, using his other to hold onto the swaying rope.
Andar groaned as he got to his feet. He hunched over and held his hand as he grimaced.
“I don’t have the strength. And now I’m hurt.” He started to remove his gloves. “Here, take these.”
“What are you doing?” Leo asked, refusing to accept them.
“Just leave me down here. I can’t make it out.”
“I’m not leaving you! I came here to save you.”
“Leo—”
“I know you can climb out,” Leo interrupted. “Then you will find a way to get me out. That’s how this needs to work.”
“I can’t,” Andar said, sounding as if he might weep. “It has to be you who climbs out for help.”
But Leo couldn’t lift himself with only his arms. He had no way of getting past the ledge. He doubted he could climb the whole way out even with the aid of his feet. It was too easy to make a mistake, especially given how fatigued he was.
“There were two guards at the entrance to the cavern,” Leo said. “They’ll find us eventually.” He cupped his hands around his mouth and called up for help. “We’re stuck here! Get us out!”
He and Andar shifted back and forth to continuously pull their sinking legs out, and it didn’t take long for Leo’s arms to tire. He continued to yell, but it was such a strain. He wanted to stop already.
“How long have you been down here?” Leo asked.
“I don’t know,” Andar said. “More than an hour.”
And Andar didn’t have a rope before. How he still had any stamina left, Leo had no idea. He was doubled over now, though, looking as if he might fall face first into the dirt at any moment.
“I can’t keep myself up much longer,” Andar said as he slowly lifted one leg at a time. “I wish I could sit down for just a moment and rest.”
“I have to climb,” Leo realized aloud and got himself into the same position Andar had used.
It didn’t take long for him to slip and fall. At least he hadn’t been very high. He composed himself and tried again, making it a bit farther.
But when he fell this time, he came down on top of Andar.
It was a struggle to get himself and his brother back out of the dirt at that point. Leo wasn’t sure he’d ever been this exhausted. The sprint here had drained him. Andar looked as if he might pass out any moment, his eyes closing.
Leo wished he could give his brother what little strength Leo had left. He walked over to Andar and grabbed him by his chin.
“You have to climb out,” Leo insisted. “You have the strength. You can find it as I know you have when times are rough.”
There was a visceral connection between him and his brother then. Leo had felt it that one time during their father’s test, and he felt it once more now.
It was like he had been blind and this was the first time he was seeing Andar and himself. There was something between them, a link. It was as if each of them had a spirit with great powers, and the two spirits could transfer anything Leo wanted between them.
Leo needed his brother to have strength. He searched deep within himself until he found his fortitude, then grabbed onto it. He urged Andar to have it, but Leo didn’t feel any different.
His brother looked up. His eyes showed pain and worry. But something changed as Leo held onto the link between them. He didn’t feel as if he could give his brother strength, but simply keeping the link alive would prevent Andar from weakening even more.
“Do you feel that?” he asked Andar.
“Yes. I think I can climb now.” Andar leaned back to look up. He took a few breaths, then nimbly started up the wall.
Soon he had gone too high into the dark tunnel for Leo to see him anymore. Leo focused on what he was almost sure was a link of Artistry between them. The more attention he gave it, the more he realized what it felt like.
It was an answer to so many questions and curiosities, an answer to strange emotions and connections. It was like solving a riddle that had perplexed him for weeks. And now that Leo knew what it was, that he understood it, there were so many questions as to what he could do with it.
He stopped marveling for the moment, for his brother had begun to struggle. Leo could feel it in his own arms as they shook while gripping the rope. They suddenly burned as if they’d been used past their limit.
He crossed his arms to put his hands up near his shoulders as they, too, ached with a dull pain. He doubled over, groaning, but he had to stop, for he had begun to sink again. He grabbed the rope and pulled himself out, letting out a scream from the strain.
“Leo! I made—” Andar called down, his breath giving out. “I made it!”
Leo would not ask his brother to pull him up yet, for he knew Andar didn’t have the strength and would certainly drop him halfway up. But Leo couldn’t hold on much longer, for all of his own fortitude had been sapped by this link.
“Andar,” he called back, his voice tinged with exhaustion. “I don’t know how long I can stay down here!”
“My arms…” Andar shouted. “I need a moment.”
Perhaps he hadn’t realized his strength came from Leo. It took all of Leo’s focus to continuously pull each sinking leg out. The dirt wanted to swallow him whole, hungrier now after this ordeal. His weakened arms gave him little support.
Leo gave his brother as much time as he could, sometimes sinking as low as his waist before pulling himself out. His arms never got the rest they needed.
Suddenly the light went out. The lamp had been sucked under. So it wasn’t just Leo’s imagination. The soupy dirt really was working faster.
“Andar!” Leo yelled. “How much longer?”
“I’ll try now.”
“Don’t unless you’re sure you can get me all the way up.” The last thing he wanted was for Andar to exhaust himself again, just for Leo to fall back down. He had begun to feel the scrapes and bruises from the last time.
There was a pause before Andar replied. “Then we should wait a little longer.”
The dirt started to change. Leo now sank so fast into it that it no longer felt as if the dirt pulled him anywhere. It was as if the ground beneath his feet had begun to fall.
“Andar!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. It was all he could get out as he clung to the rope.
He lost his grip. Suddenly he was falling in complete darkness, his body bouncing and scraping against the sides. Horror took hold of him as he screamed.
The rope caught him painfully by his waist.
“Leo!” Andar shouted. “What happened?”
Leo was too frightened to speak as he hung in the air. He tried desperately to grab onto something, but all he managed to do was swing back and forth. He feared the rope would break or he would slip out of its hold and fall at any moment. He didn’t know how far the ground was beneath him or if it was even ground at all that he would fall onto. He imagined something sinister below in the darkness, a giant beast with its jaws open.
“Pull me up, pull me up!” Leo yelled.
“Hold on, I’ll try.”
Leo felt himself move upward in small jerks. It seemed painfully slow. He thought he could hear Andar grunting way up above, but it might’ve been Leo’s imagination. His breathing was so sharp and loud that he couldn’t hear much else.
He wished he could do something to help, but he couldn’t see anything. Whenever he got his hand or foot on the wall and tried to gain leverage, the effort just sent him sideways. Leo wanted to check the knot around his waist to make sure it was still tight, but he was terrified of accidentally loosening it in the dark.
It seemed to take way too long. He must not have been moving as much as he thought he was.
Suddenly, he fell. Leo screamed in terror. But the rope caught him again, quickly this time.
“Sorry!” Andar called. “I lost it…for a moment.” He sounded as if he barely had enough breath to speak.
Leo figured he should make another connection to his brother. Andar needed all the strength he could get. Leo searched for some way to reestablish the link, but he was so disoriented from the darkness and terrified of falling that it became impossible to focus. Eventually, he realized he wasn’t moving. He looked up and still couldn’t see any light.
“Andar?”
There was no response. Had the guards entered the Tisary? Would they be so cruel as to force Andar to stop helping Leo?
“Help!” Leo yelled. He wasn’t sure how much more fear his heart could take as it slammed against his chest.
But then he felt himself rise with amazing speed. The guards must’ve come after all! He didn’t care in that moment about going to prison. He would agree to any punishment to get out of this hole.
Soon there was enough light for him to see again. He was pulled with enough force to scrape his body against the side, hurting him even more, but he didn’t care. He was almost out!
Leo was shocked when he came up and saw that it was not the guards who had helped Andar. Rygen was right behind Andar, who had collapsed in exhaustion. Behind her was a creature certainly not of this world.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The creature dropped the rope from its mouth, no doubt having pulled with Rygen and Andar. Of any animal, it most resembled a fox, though it still looked quite different. The strangest thing about it was the blue tint to its fur. It stood pressed against Rygen’s leg, its head leaned back to peer up at her. It had four legs and a tail. Its snout, a little short to be like a fox, was wide to allow many sharp teeth that Leo noticed as it panted. The blue of its head and face was of a paler color, closer to white. It had claws sticking out from its paws that could certainly do heavy damage to any threat. Although the creature looked as though it could easily turn aggressive, there was no mistaking the friendliness in its eyes. It seemed happy to be beside Rygen, refusing to look anywhere but at her.
Leo knelt over his brother, who was most certainly alive, his chest heaving with every breath. But Leo wasn’t sure if Andar was conscious.
“Are you all right?” Leo asked as he tried to catch his breath.
Andar didn’t reply. His eyes remained shut.
Leo had many questions, but all he could do was lie down on the dirt and let his muscles rest. He could hear his brother panting on one side, while Rygen adjusted to sit beside Leo on his other. Even she was out of breath.
None of them spoke for some time. Eventually the fire left Leo’s arms and legs, and he could finally sit up.
Andar was still breathing, so Leo gave him some more time. Leo turned and squeezed Rygen. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Andar sat up and asked, “Is everyone all right?”
“Yes,” Leo answered. “How did you get here, Rygen?”
“I ran after you, but I couldn’t catch up because you’re so fast!”
All three of them looked at the creature.
“Was it here when you arrived?” Leo asked, figuring it had come through the rift, though it was still odd that it knew to pull the rope.
“No. I…”
“She summoned it,” Andar answered and finally stood.
He was certainly even more exhausted than Leo, but Leo stood with his brother. It was too worrisome to sit where their faces were at the same level with the creature’s teeth.
Rygen told Leo, “I tried to pull you up with Andar, but it was too hard. I had this…feeling that I could bring this creature through the rift, so I took a moment to do that.”
“She ran to the rift and stuck out her hand toward it. I yelled for her to back away because I thought she would touch it. ‘Never touch the rift,’ the commander
told me. ‘It will kill you over time.’ ” Andar gave each of them a stern warning with squinted eyes.
“We won’t,” Leo said.
Andar eased up. “I’ve seen a couple summoners come here and spend many hours trying to bring their creatures through from the other side. Yet Rygen did it in no time. You’re only ten, right?” Andar asked her jokingly, as if she had been lying to them.
She nodded. She pet the creature without showing any caution. But it didn’t seem to like it, drawing back from her. It looked around the Tisary as if curious. Then it trotted over to the rope and began to bite it and jerk it around.
Rygen asked them, “Do you remember when I awoke you both during the night because I felt something?”
“Yes,” Leo said.
“It was that.” Rygen pointed at the creature. “I’ve been feeling that it was something close to me, yet I could never see or hear anything.”
“Close to your body? Or is it like how you and Leo are close?” Andar asked.
Rygen smiled bashfully as she looked down. “Both, I suppose. It felt near to me, and it felt like a…close friend.” Her gaze shot to Leo for only a moment before she finished addressing Andar. “But I felt it stronger than ever when I came to the cavern. I could tell it wanted to find me. That feeling made it easy to come here. I was drawn to the rift. I think the creature had already found the rift in its realm and was waiting for me to come close.”
“Rygen…” Leo thought of how to best express his realization. It was simple, actually. “You’re a summoner!”
“I always thought I might be one day.” She scratched her head. “But I don’t feel like I am one yet. The summoners in the stories we read knew what they were doing, and I haven’t a clue. They could summon many creatures, and this is the only one I can feel.”
“You’re only ten!” Andar exclaimed. “And yes, you are already a summoner.”
“Gods, Rygen!” Leo said. “Can you believe it?” He kept expecting her to show some excitement. Finally she did as she smiled and did a few dance steps that shocked Leo and made him laugh.
