As the noise of the spinning increased, Naani pulled my face down to her's and gave me a last, enduring kiss. But whether I kissed her back, I cannot remember, for a sickness filled my heart.
May you never stand where I stood that day, without hope, your only courage flowing from the love between you and your beloved. Perhaps you see me there and love my Naani as I loved her then.
The noise increased. I felt a terrible presence unfolding before us. I raised the knife, aiming for her heart. Naani squeezed my arm one last time. I dared not wait too long; she had not undergone the Rite of Preparation and the Evil Force could seize her from a greater distance that it could me.
The sound of spinning abruptly ceased directly before us, and a pale, horrid light rose, revealing the trunk of a tremendous Tree moving toward us through the darkness, its branches whipping back and forth like a cat-of-nine-tails.
I turned Naani from the Tree, and her hands fluttered against mine. With my body between the Evil and my love, I prepared to strike before it was too late. The knife trembled so violently in my hand I could scarcely control it. A mist covered my eyes; I could hardly see. I looked down, measuring the distance between the blade and her heart, desperate to make a clean blow so she would not suffer. Naani had shut her eyes, her mouth drawn taut. I took a deep breath, willing my hand steady. A moan escaped my lips. I glanced back at the Tree.
To my surprise, it had halted its approach and was beginning to withdraw. At first I could not believe it, thinking it a trick of the eye, or worse, a delusion brought on by the Evil to give us false hope. But it receded quickly, the pale light fading until the thing vanished back into the darkness.
"It's gone!" I whispered hoarsely. Naani did not answer, but clutched me as if she had not heard, her eyes still shut. We remained so a long time, trembling and terrified. I looked in every direction to see if the Evil Force would return. Finally, I glanced up, thinking it might be above us, and gasped in wonder.
"Look," I rasped. "Look."
Naani raised her eyes. Above us hung a clear, burning Circle. We both laughed in child-like wonder.
"Thank you," she whispered to the Circle.
"Thank you," I echoed.
Then Naani fainted in my arms.
I could not blame her. I nearly fainted myself. She must have imagined the knife stroke a thousand times while she bravely waited. Only after our rescue did she allow herself the luxury of losing consciousness. But she revived almost immediately and gazed up at the light.
I cannot adequately describe my feelings as I stood beneath that mysterious Power of Good. It burned with a soft, holy glow, filling my heart and soul with an unspeakable joy. Why it chose to stand between the Forces of Evil and the human spirit I do not know, save I felt a love beyond comprehension emanating from it. My heart leapt with gratitude; all fear of the Tree slid away.
It may have been only my imagination, but I had the distinct impression that this Power was able to save us because we showed strength of spirit, as if our willingness to sacrifice our lives for the sake of our souls somehow enabled it to aid us. Whatever the case, my experience with the Circle changed my whole perspective of creation. I now believe humanity has always been protected from the Forces too powerful to be withstood by mortal flesh. I also think steps were taken measure for measure, so as the Forces of Evil took physical form in the Night Land, the Powers of Good did likewise to oppose them.
We pressed on, bathed in the soft light of the Circle. For twelve hours it burned above us, so we knew the Evil Force hovered nearby, waiting for its chance to destroy us. During the time we journeyed beneath that radiance our limbs felt light and we never grew weary; our hearts sang within our breasts and we could not keep from holding hands.
Only once did anything disturb our serenity, when we heard, far away in the shadowed vale, a dreadful screaming and the faint sound of something spinning. We paused, shaken, clasping one another again, imagining the victims’ fate. Guilt swept over me as I remembered how I had hoped for them to be taken rather than us. Though I felt unworthy of the Circle's protection, it remained faithfully overhead.
Eventually we climbed over the rim of the valley back into a country of dim light that seemed dazzling after so much darkness. Though thirty-three hours had passed since we had last slept, other than Naani having tired feet, we remained refreshed. Still, common sense told us we should rest.
I began looking for a hot pool to bathe her feet, and we soon reached a fire-pit with two flames burning at its bottom beside a bubbling spring. The spring was warm without being scalding, and we did not find any creatures lurking around the hollow. Naani lay with her head on my knee, using my palm as a pillow against my armor while putting her feet into the hot-spring. I draped my cloak over her while I made dinner.
After we had eaten, I rubbed ointment on her feet to soothe them.
"That feels good," she said.
"Do you think we could go on a bit more?"
"If we need to."
"I want to get as far from here as possible. The sooner we reach the Upward Gorge, the less chance of something finding us."
She shuddered, obviously thinking of the Tree.
As if in answer to a question we did not ask, the light from the Circle suddenly flickered and died, leaving us staring up into the darkness. Naani gave a little gasp.
"I'll miss it," she said, wistfully.
I did not reply, but its loss left me feeling naked, defenseless. Still, my gratitude did not diminish; it had saved us when nothing else could. The stamina it gave us vanished with it, however, and though I was not as weary as I would normally be after so long a trek, I felt my vitality drain away.
Nonetheless, we had vowed to continue, and after an hour's rest, we pulled ourselves up the hollow. We managed a good pace, and soon left the Red Fire-Pit of the giants behind us, though not nearly far enough for my comfort. A dark ridge rose before us, eclipsing the lights and flames. The low volcanoes stood to our left. To our right, across all that region, hung the cold, baleful glare of The Shine.
When the ground began sloping up toward the ridge, I eagerly increased my pace, for I remembered descending it at this point when I had first entered the land. I strained my eyes, searching for the mouth of the gorge. In my excitement I failed to notice Naani pausing to remove a rock from her shoe.
She screamed behind me, a cry just as quickly extinguished. Fear poured through me as I whirled around and saw my beloved struggling against a Yellow Man with four arms—two wrapped around her waist, two clutching her throat.
Without even pausing to take the diskos from my hip, I leapt forward. I became little more than an animal at that moment, for I seized the man's two upper arms with inhuman strength, pulling them backward until they broke at the shoulders with a grinding shriek.
The creature screamed in agony, then turned and tried to seize me with its lower appendages, which were huge, hairy, and much larger than its upper arms. It caught me by the thighs; its fingernails, long and sharp as talons, clicked against my armor. It was broad-shouldered and easily twice my weight, and had it intended to do so, it could have torn me apart. Instead, it caught me around the body, while I grasped it by the throat. If I caused it any harm I could not tell; I know I never cut off its air, for its neck was hairy and muscular as a bull's.
Its fetid breath raked over me as we struggled. Its fanged mouth, too small for chewing, seemed meant for drinking blood. It sought my throat, and I strained to hold it off.
We swayed back and forth in our struggle. It would have killed me at once except it seemed unable to use its lower arms for anything except holding its prey. It never released its grip on me to try to tear my hands from its throat, but wagged its ruined upper members uselessly, unable to adapt to their loss.
Suddenly, it gripped my body with greater ferocity; I felt my armor straining almost to the breaking point as I fought to keep the monster’s teeth from my throat.
It abruptly released me and leapt
away, ripping my hands from its neck. It dove back toward me, giving me no chance to reach my diskos. I used all my wrestling skills in that moment, and finally slipped beneath its arms long enough to deliver a solid blow with my armored fist. I evaded it again by stepping to the side, and struck it a savage stroke to the side of the head. I was no longer angry; a cold cruelty filled my brain. I would either kill the Yellow Man or it would kill me.
It tried to grip me from the side, and I had to use all my speed to slip away. I sprang toward it, my body straight as a spear, and struck a blow with all my strength to its jaw.
It fell backward, leaving me momentarily free. In that instant, I pulled my diskos from my hip. The Yellow Man, looking somewhat dazed, grunted and rose, screeching at me like a monkey, as if crying unknown, half-shaped words.
It attacked again, but I killed it with the diskos. When its last struggles ceased I tottered toward Naani, who lay huddled on the ground, her hands to her throat. She looked dead.
I scrambled to her as quickly as I could, and with trembling hands, removed her fingers from her throat. I gasped, seeing blood, but when I examined the wound, realized it was only a slight cut. With some effort, for my whole body trembled both from fear and the exertions of battle, I managed to remove my gloves, but I could not steady my hands enough to feel her pulse.
I sought to quiet my breathing, which still came in labored gasps, and I put my ear above Naani's heart. A sob escaped me as I heard a steady beating.
I pulled the scrip from my back and made enough water to bathe her face and throat. Her body quivered slightly in reaction. No knowing what else to do, I continued wiping her brow until her eyes gradually opened. She moaned softly.
"Don't try to move," I ordered. "Keep still."
"What . . . oh! That creature!"
"It's dead. How is your neck?"
She moved her head slightly and winced in pain. "I thought it had killed me. It hurts, but I can move it."
Gradually, I helped her rise to a sitting position. She turned her head again and massaged her neck with her hands. "That horrid face! I'll never forget it. And Andros, I—why, Andros, are you weeping?"
I drew her close to me, partially to hide the tears streaming down my face. "I thought I had lost you . . . again." My voice broke. "I never want to lose you again."
So we sat together a moment, swaying back and forth, holding one another.
"You won't lose me," she said. "I'll never go away. Not with my brave warrior beside me."
In that moment it was as if all my grief for Mirdath returned to me. I wept like a child, and she comforted me as a mother soothes a small boy.
"I'm sorry," I said at last, when my sorrow was spent. "I should be consoling you."
"Never be sorry," she whispered.
We left that place behind as quickly as we could. When Naani first tried to walk, her knees trembled terribly, the attack having taken a dreadful toll on her small frame. Ignoring her protests, I scooped her gently into my arms and carried her, her head cradled against my shoulder.
After such a terrible scare, we were both so thankful for one another's survival that we teased like carefree lovers, whispering private, sweet words together. This sudden exhilaration soon passed, though, replaced by my fear for her safety. I began studying every bush and stone, for the Yellow Man had come within a few feet of us without my seeing, and I rebuked myself for my lack of vigilance. Since the vegetation grew in huge clumps in that area, watching for danger kept me busy.
A short time later, we reached the top of the ridge. I gave a chuckle of surprise, for the lights of the Upward Gorge, which I thought still many miles away, glowed before us. I pointed it out to Naani, who gazed thoughtfully at the baleful fires, her emotions flickering across her face. To me it meant escaping this land of giants into relative safety—to her, following an unknown path, leaving her childhood home behind.
Still carrying her, I set off at a fair pace and soon reached the gorge. My weariness hung on me like a stone; we had not slept for thirty-six hours.
"Put me down here," Naani said.
When I complied she turned back toward her homeland. I kept my arm around her, to support her as she stared into the gloom.
Presently she spoke in a hushed voice. "Everything looks so different from here. Where is it? Can you tell?"
I pointed across the darkness to the north. "There, I think, but we can't see it from here."
She nodded but did not reply, and I knew she was saying goodbye to all the world she had ever known.
Finally, she said, "When the last of my people are hunted down, no one will ever see this country again."
She turned, her head down. We clung together, and eventually she lifted her eyes. "We have to go."
Still she did not move, but stayed another moment, her gaze shifting all across that weird landscape. Then she turned, and side by side, we entered the gorge. As we walked, her body began to shake in soundless sobbing, and she stumbled as she went. I lifted her once more, while she wept with her head against my armor.
For another hour, I carried her down the gorge. Eventually, her weeping ceased, and she fell asleep in my arms.
So we said farewell to that dark land, leaving it to Eternity.
XIV
DOWN THE UPWARD GORGE
I carried Naani until I started stumbling as I went. At one point, when I glanced up at the sides of the gorge, nothing looked familiar, and I could not recall any of the last hour's journey. This frightened me, for I had nearly been walking in my sleep. It was a wonder I had not fallen headlong with my beloved in my arms.
I cleared my mind by an act of will and soon sighted a ruddy fire-hole a short distance away. From my original journey I knew caves probably surrounded it, and I searched the left side of the gorge until I sighted seven such just beyond the fire.
After our experience with the Spinning Thing and the Yellow Man I made certain to pick a cave both habitable and high enough to be difficult to reach. I only wished we were several miles down the gorge, farther from the dangers of Naani's country.
I kissed Naani to rouse her, and she kissed me back, but did not wake. I held her against my harsh armor, shaking her tenderly, my whole exhausted heart filled with love for her.
At last, she opened her eyes and I set her on her feet.
"I'm sorry I slept so long."
I chuckled. "We were both asleep for a while."
She was too weary to understand my comment, and I was too exhausted to explain. While I climbed to the cave, I made her walk up and down a bit, to rouse her enough so she could scale the cliff. Since the ascent was fairly rigorous, I knew our enemies would have difficultly reaching us in the face of my diskos. Though the mouth opened in a narrow slit, the cave itself was tall enough for me to stand upright, and proved surprisingly warm, as if underground lava coursed behind its walls. By the glow of the fire-hole, which lit the entire chamber, I could tell it was uninhabited.
When I returned to help Naani climb up, I found her pacing nervously back and forth.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
"No," she said, looking up at the cave. "Is it safe?"
"Quite comfortable. The glow from the fire-hole lights the entire chamber. There’s nothing dangerous."
She continued pacing. After a moment, I said, "Are you ready?"
She stopped, glanced up the cliff again, and murmured, "Andros, I'm afraid of heights."
"You are?"
She bit her lip. "Yes."
I laughed.
"What's funny?"
"You lived at the top of the Lesser Redoubt."
"That was different. Don't laugh at me."
"It is funny, don't you think?"
Apparently she did not. She abruptly stamped her foot and turned her back to me.
"Naani, wait," I said, still chuckling. "I didn't mean—"
"It is not funny. I can't help it."
I restrained my mirth. "You're right, of course. But we need t
o reach the cave."
"I know." She kept her back to me, but turned her head slightly to the side. "I just . . . I don't like to be weak. I have never liked heights. I don't even like looking down from the lifts."
"Did it bother you when we climbed into the hollows? They were as deep as this cave is high."
"It terrified me. I just didn't want to say anything. But at least there were bushes to hold onto. This looks so sheer."
"Naani, we—"
She waved her hands before her. "I'll be fine if you'll help me. I'm just scared."
Without saying anything else, I led her by the hand to the cliff. "I'll be right beneath you, to catch you if you fall."
We climbed together, Naani feeling her way, her eyes sometimes shut. When at last we crawled over the lip, her ashen face made me regret laughing at her. Before we slept I removed the straps from my scrip and pouch, and returned to the bottom of the Gorge, where I strapped as large a boulder as I could carry onto my back. I made no slips returning to the cave, though my ascent kept Naani gravely anxious. I balanced the boulder lightly on the lip of the cave mouth, where a touch would send it rolling. Though it blocked the bottom part of the slit, it did not cover the upper portion, leaving the light from the fire-hole dancing against the walls.
"Our blind sentry," I said.
"At least he doesn't eat much." She seemed to have regained her cheerfulness. "Let's name him Vigilance."
"Or Stoneface." Later, we laughed at the things we said that night, though at the time we were both too stupefied to find humor in anything.
Since the cave was so warm, Naani spread the cloak upon the rocks as a cushion. She made our couch in such a sweet manner, especially after I had teased her about her fear of heights, that I lay down without mentioning that the cloak gave me little comfort through my armor. At her bidding, I turned on my side, and she knelt and kissed me very soberly, then lay down on the cloak beside me, where we both immediately fell asleep.
Due to our exhaustion, it was fourteen hours later before we awoke. I roused to the fizzing water and opened my eyes to find Naani preparing our breakfast.
The Night Land, a Story Retold Page 21
