The Night Land, a Story Retold

by James Stoddard

  Meanwhile, the main company drew close to the Road Where The Silent Ones Walk. Having learned their lesson from the giants, they traveled slowly, with great caution. This gave the people of the pyramid little comfort however, because of the approaching Influence, which the Monstruwacans believed came from the House of Silence, though without seeing anything tangible through the Great Spyglass, we had no way of knowing the form the Force of Evil might take.

  Eventually, the company marched upon the gray surface of the Silent Ones' Road, which turned slightly north. The House of Silence stood upon a low hill to the right of the Road, many miles beyond the young warriors, its twisted gables and open doorway gaping at them.

  By this time the wounded had come within fifteen miles of the Last Redoubt. The news swept through the cities and weapons were issued to the ten thousand who had undergone the Brief Preparation. I descended to the ground floor to watch them come down. No one dared to approach or to speak to them, for once made ready they were considered holy.

  The people of the redoubt thronged around the main lifts to watch the descent of the ten thousand. These lifts, the largest in the pyramid, were two hundred yards square. Dozens of them clustered along the center of the structure. The floors of the lifts, and of the surrounding area for several hundred yards, were made of a material clear as glass, but stronger than iron, allowing the population to flock around the shafts and watch the warriors descend. They came down, their faces determined, their gray metal armor dull in the lights, each man armed with his diskos. A longing to accompany those warriors shone in the eyes of the young men and women, but the older ones, understanding the peril not just to body, but to spirit, stood pale and sober.

  It may seem strange to those of our present age, that this people, with the knowledge of eternity to aid them, lacked weapons to kill at a distance. The Records showed that the pyramid once possessed terrible energy cannons capable of slaying from twenty miles away—I have even seen some of these displayed in the Museum of Antiquities—but they fell into disuse more than a hundred thousand years before because they wasted vast quantities of the Earth Current, were ineffective at close range, and served only to stir up the more distant Forces and monsters. Nor could they harm such Evil Forces as the House of Silence and the Watchers, whose vast power surrounded us constantly. Though always armed and ready, we preferred to keep quiet, to leave the Night Land undisturbed, and to live from generation to generation in relative peace and security. I have often pondered how limited resources, either in chemistry or the Earth Current, reduced the people of the pyramid to a simplicity of living not unlike that of the ancient world.

  ***

  As required by law, word soon passed through every district that The Portal would be opened. Each city sent its Master, clad in gray armor and carrying his diskos. These formed the Full Watch, which along with the Watchmen, numbered two thousand.

  At the prescribed hour, the Master of Metaphysics dimmed the lights in the Long Causeway, keeping the glare from shining through the open gate into the Night Land, so the Watcher of the Northwest and other denizens would not see humans leaving the pyramid. Despite these precautions, we could never know whether the vast, hidden Forces of Evil were aware of our actions. All who entered the night lived with this doubt, their only solace being in the Rite of Preparation, and the Capsule of Oblivion embedded in their forearms.

  The ten thousand marched quietly through The Portal into the darkness, and the Full Watch stepped back from them and silently saluted with their diskoi. Those who went returned the salute, their weapons raised, then vanished into the night.

  The Portal shut behind them with only a soft tapping sound, leaving we who remained to wait and watch and do our best to comfort the spouses and children of the departed.

  I returned on a small lift to the Tower of Observation, where I looked out into the Night Land and saw the ten thousand. They halted at The Circle, arranged themselves, and sent a few warriors across the Ether Barrier to scout their way. Without wasting time, they crossed the protective shield of The Circle and entered the land of darkness. Since The Circle was attuned to affect the brains of the denizens of the Night Land, humans could cross it without first deactivating it.

  I watched the ten thousand for a while, then turned my attention to the two hundred and fifty still traveling the Road Where The Silent Ones Walk. I could not see them at first, for the Road seemed empty, but finally I spied them clambering back onto the way. They had left the Road to avoid a Silent One, who I could still see passing along some distance south of their position.

  For three hours I split my vigil between the youths and the ten thousand slipping forward to help the wounded, who were now about nine miles from the pyramid. The two groups soon spied one another, and I sensed in my spirit the relief of the youths, an emotion mingled—despite their wounds and weakness—with the knowledge of their failure and disobedience to the ancient laws. The ten thousand soon reached them. They placed those most seriously injured on slings, turned the party more quickly than might have been thought possible, and rushed back toward the Great Pyramid. I happened to be standing close to the Instruments used to record the noises of the Night Land just then, and I heard the Night Hounds baying in the east. I then understood the rescuers haste.

  I swept the Spyglass toward the Valley Of The Hounds. The beasts, which were already less than ten miles away, approached at a shuffling gallop. They were large as horses, with thick gray coats and yellow eyes. Their heads were similar to a Great Dane's, except the pointed ears were taller, and the jaws many times more massive.

  To my astonishment, as I swept my glass back toward the rescuers I noticed the enormous belled ear of the Northeast Watcher quivering. I had no doubt that it had spied the travelers, and was signaling their location to all the dwellers of the night.

  One of the Monstruwacans rushed to the Master, his eyes glassy with shock. "The Instruments—" His voice broke, but he recovered and continued. "According to the Instruments, a new Force approaches, different from the one we detected earlier."

  Another Monstruwacan, standing beside me, turned back to the embrasures, and overcome with emotion, shouted to the travelers, "Hurry! You must hurry!"

  Others, forgetting themselves in their concern, did likewise, but their voices could not carry to the ears of the ten thousand.

  "Monstruwacans!" Cartesius's deep baritone rose above the clamor. His followers grew quiet. "Collect yourselves. You have your work. Every eye open! Every heart calm. The most minute observation may prove invaluable. Serenity through scrutiny."

  The Monstruwacans obeyed, but I knew Cartesius well enough to see he was as anxious as any.

  Using the Great Spyglass, I searched until I sighted a tremendous Mound in the shape of a black mist, coursing over the land from the direction of the Plain Of Blue Fire.

  "Master!" I called. "Over here!"

  The Master Monstruwacan looked through one of the numerous eye pieces. After a moment he called to the man who had given the report: "What do the Instruments show?"

  "The Influence is drawing closer. It travels swiftly."

  I watched in terrible fascination as the Mound passed down into the Vale Of Red Fire, which stretched all across that portion of the Night Land. It remained hidden so long I hoped it might not climb from that hideous pit, but at last it rose on the other side, and then into open country. Its speed increased so much it passed half way across that region in less than a minute.

  "What is it?" I asked the Master, though in my heart I knew.

  "A Force of Evil," Cartesius said. "I can wait no longer."

  He moved to the controls with a speed I thought impossible in such an elderly man. His hands fell upon the Home Call, and an enormous roar, the sign of imminent danger, reverberated from the base of the redoubt. This alarm, which had not been activated in hundreds of years, had originally been used as a homing beacon in ancient times when flying ships traveled the earth.

  With my Night
Hearing, I perceived by the emotions of the ten thousand that they already sensed their peril. There came the dreadful moment for which the commander had long been prepared. Though some later questioned his decision, he acted according to his orders, with both wisdom and courage. Without the Preparation, the youths lacked any protection against the assault of the Force of Evil. Even from a distance, the Mound could seize their souls. Those Prepared could resist such an assault until the Force was nearly upon them, though even they would eventually be compelled to preserve their spirits by taking their own lives with the Capsules of Oblivion. Knowing this, the commander lifted his hand and signaled his followers to kill the youths. This was done with rapid, merciful strokes. The anguish that racked the inhabitants of the pyramid was nearly more than my Night Hearing could bear, and I was driven to my knees. The pyramid actually trembled with the people's combined cry.

  When I recovered, I seized the spyglass again and looked back toward the Mound, which was almost upon the company, a hill of blackness rushing toward them like an approaching storm.

  Suddenly, a miraculous event occurred, for just when the men were about to be forced to swallow the capsules, a faint light, like a crescent moon, arose. It grew into an arc of dim, copper fire that arched above the ten thousand and the dead. The Mound quavered and halted, then retreated back into the darkness as rapidly as it had come, driven away by one of the legendary Powers of Good.

  Once it was gone, the men rushed toward the Last Redoubt, while the protecting light remained all around them. Before they had reached safety, however, the Night Hounds were upon them.

  The pack, numbering at least a hundred, loped out of the darkness, tall, powerful creatures running with heads bent low. As they approached, the warriors drew three paces apart, to leave room to swing their diskoi.

  A tremendous battle ensued beneath the glow of the crescent light, for though that radiance could protect their souls, it could not defend them against physical danger. The warriors fought with the handles of their diskoi at full length, the spinning disks shooting glistening wheels of fire.

  All around me, I sensed the emotions of the inhabitants. From thousands of embrasures, they watched, wept, and watched again. In the lower cities, the onlookers reported hearing the crash and splinter of the armor as the hounds darted back and forth, rending even metal with their massive jaws. Throughout the battle, the ten thousand stood firm until they cut the last of the hounds to pieces, but it was no easy victory; seventeen hundred warriors died at the monsters' fangs.

  At last the weary band struggled back to the pyramid. Because they were so close to sanctuary the commander had broken the law requiring the dead to be left on the field, and had ordered all the slain, including the youths, carried to the redoubt, a decision that was never questioned. They returned weeping, but the people met them with silent reverence. Throughout the pyramid, the cities mourned, for no such disaster had occurred for thousands of years.

  The travelers bore the youths to their mothers and fathers. The parents thanked those who had risked their lives to save their children s’ souls, but the slayers kept their faces shrouded and their identities concealed. For such was the law.

  ***

  The deaths of so many of the ten thousand served as a fresh reminder of the Night Land's terrors, and no one spoke any more about helping those who remained outside. It was just as well, for the company traveling the Road Where The Silent Ones Walk was far beyond our assistance.

  Though the Mound had retreated, our Instruments still detected an Evil Influence abroad in the land, which the Monstruwacans feared might now be directed toward the remaining adventurers. When the Instruments suggested that it emanated from the House of Silence, we became even more anxious. Our machinery could not completely confirm this, but I felt certain the House was the source, for I could sense the malice radiating from it.

  The travelers, who had reached a point where the road wound almost straight north, were only a short distance from the House, and the Instruments soon showed an increase in the Influence's power.

  "We should use the Home Call again," a Monstruwacan suggested. "To warn them."

  "Not yet," Cartesius said. "Not until absolutely necessary. The land is already wary. If other Forces learn of more humans traveling outside . . ." He fell silent.

  I could not help but agree, for the aura of vigilance emanating from the country nearly overwhelmed my Night Hearing, and a deep roaring echoed almost continuously across the land.

  "Could we use the Set Speech, instead?" I asked.

  Cartesius lifted one eyebrow. "Bless you, my boy. I had nearly forgotten it! Who among us is proficient in its use?"

  The Monstruwacans exchanged timid glances. At last, old Toniff cleared his throat. "I trained on it when I was young, but it's been many years."

  "You must try it," Cartesius commanded.

  Toniff rose and hobbled to the ancient Instrument used to send the Set Speech, which was a language still taught to every child in school. It used flashes of light in various order and duration to represent the letters of the alphabet. The Instrument was connected to a series of blinking emerald lights on the top of the Tower of Observation.

  As Toniff fumbled with the controls Cartesius muttered to me, "When this is over, remind me to begin training every Monstruwacan on the Instruments we seldom use. Knowledge must not be lost through my negligence. We also need to go back through the Records, to insure that we have clear copies describing the functions of every Instrument. Continuance through diligence."

  We sent the message repeatedly, urging the youths to return home, but we could not see the travelers well enough to know if they read it. Whether they did or not, they did not change their course.

  A day and night passed, while all the millions peered with speculation and dread into the Night Land. The youths traveled at a tremendous pace along the Road, eating only once and going without sleep, so that we knew they must be nearing exhaustion. Their relentless gait made us suspect them of having fallen under the dominion of a powerful Force. Our Instruments supported this, for from its first detection the Influence steadily increased in strength, until all the night pulsed with its dark malevolence.

  During the eleventh hour I saw the youths suddenly break from the Road Where The Silent Ones Walk and rush toward the House of Silence.

  "Cartesius!" I cried.

  "I see it." He did not hesitate then, but sounded the Home Call again. As its bellowing voice filled the Night Land, he also sent a message in the Set Speech, urging the youths to either resist the calling of the House, or to save their souls from falling under the dominion of the Force by taking their own lives.

  All around me I felt the fear and pity of the redoubt's millions, who knew the significance of the Home Call, and who understood that the Master Monstruwacan was pleading for the youths’ spirits. The prayers and empathy of so many millions, focused on a single objective, created a vast, spiritual noise quite plain to my Night Hearing, a powerful counter-force that filled the night. As that supplication radiated through the darkness, the warriors halted their headlong flight and stood milling in confusion, as if having recovered their senses.

  A tremendous roar issued from the pyramid, the cheers of the millions looking out from nearly six hundred thousand embrasures. The shouts rose through the metal frame like the blast of a tremendous wind, but the victory cries came too soon; the rejoicing broke the power of the counter-force, and the Influence within the House regained control of its victims' minds. They began to run again.

  The cheers ceased; the pyramid fell silent. Sorrow and horror filled the ether.

  In that moment a wonder occurred: billows of mist suddenly rose before the travelers, shining with a pure white fire that was also somehow cold, for though it burned directly before the youths, it did not illuminate them.

  "Something fights for them," Cartesius rasped. "A Power of Good."

  Everyone saw the mist, for the people of that age possessed great
spiritual sight, but I think I saw it more clearly than any, both because of the power of the Great Spyglass and the special gifts associated with my Night Hearing.

  "Master," a Monstruwacan called, "the Influence has ceased! The Force from the house has been cut off!"

  My heart filled with hope and trepidation. I sensed the same in all the millions around me.

  "Send the Home Call again!" the Master ordered, his voice heavy with passion. "At once!"

  Once more the great voice filled the countryside, accompanied by a message urging the youths, for the sake of the love of the mothers who bore them, to save their souls by hurrying back to the pyramid while the Power kept the House of Silence at bay. It was impossible to be certain at such a distance, but I thought some glanced toward the pyramid. Then, I saw their leader, Aschoff, waving his arms to call them to attention. This courageous young man then unwittingly caused his comrades destruction, for he stepped forward and leapt into the billows of the shining barrier of fire. The mist shrank and flickered out, and Aschoff of the Nine Hundredth City ran once more toward the House of Silence, his followers close behind. They soon reached the low hill and ascended to the horrid House—two hundred and fifty young men and women, with wholesome hearts and spirits, their only fault the natural rebelliousness of youth. They reached the doorway that histories say hath been open since the Beginning.

  A hush fell over the pyramid as the mothers and fathers watched their children pass beyond human ken over the threshold into the cold, steadfast light. I could hear the silence welling through the redoubt, broken only by the dull throbbing of the Earth Current and the tapping of the Instruments. Even the Night Land itself fell into a strange hush, a quiet brooding more terrible than all the roars proceeding it.