by Dave Hazel
“This must be magic,” Al Capone cringed in fear, still pressed tightly against the wall. The expression on his scarred face made him look more menacing, like a crazed axe murderer in a horror movie.
“It’s not magic, trust me,” Mykal snickered. This large burly warrior who had killed many men in battle backed away from a plastic flashlight like a little girl terrified of a snake. Mykal offered the flashlight to him. “Here, try it Al.”
Al Capone quickly raised his sword as if he was going to strike Mykal or the flashlight.
“Calm the hell down, Al,” Mykal raised his voice angrily which took them both by surprise. “It’s not gonna hurt you, you dumb ass,” he snapped as he backed away from the reach of the sword. “Doninka here, you try it. Let this guy know it’s okay,” he said as he shut the light off and placed it in her hand.
“I trust you Mykal,” she said nervously and allowed his hand to guide her finger to push the button forward, turning the light back on, and then turned it off again.
“Now you try it,” he coached her.
“This is amazing,” she snickered as she turned the light on and off a couple of times.
“How much training have you had in magic?” Mykal asked sarcastically for Al Capone’s benefit.
“None. I know no magic,” she giggled at the power in her hand to produce light. With the blood around her mouth she looked like a child who had been messy with a chocolate ice cream cone.
“See Al, there’s no damn magic here. Now calm down or you can go your own way.”
“This is a strange device,” she giggled like a child again. “It produces light in my hand. Amazing!”
“I am sorry, Mykal,” Al said as he lowered his sword.
“My leg. Please remove the rocks,” Klacken begged and his moaning sounded weaker. He still lay face down on the floor.
“We took the rocks off,” Mykal lied. “We’re gonna have to get you outta here, but you’re gonna have to be quiet.”
“I will remain quiet.” Klacken winced in pain.
“I need another belt or something,” Mykal announced. “Doninka, shine the light here.”
“Take the belt for my scabbard,” Al offered while removing it. “You are Towbar’s friend, so I tell you again, I am sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. As a matter of fact I’m sorry for calling you a dumb ass. I need you to lift Klacken up. Lift him like you’re going to stand him up.”
When Al stood Klacken up Mykal took the stump of Klacken’s severed leg and bent it back to tie it to the back of his thigh to help keep the blood flow to a minimum.
Klacken’s moans increased while he struggled to get free. The injured man fought to remain quiet. “What are you doing to me? The pain is too great. Lay me down. Please put me down,” he lamented weakly.
“It’s okay Klacken.” Mykal tried to calm the injured man. “We’re gonna get you some help. Just hold still for a minute,” he said while tying the severed stump to his thigh. “This will make it easier to move him around,” he said to Al.
Klacken suddenly stopped and went limp. “Oh my, is he dead?” Doninka asked.
“No, he probably passed out from shock and loss of blood. Come on, let’s go. I’ll lead the way.”
“I will lead the way,” Al replied. He tried to use his muscles to take charge.
“No, you two carry Klacken,” Mykal argued forcefully. “I’ll lead the way. My weapons were made for killing at long distances. You’re stronger so you can carry him.” Mykal stood firm. He wasn’t about to have a big superstitious brute be in control.
“You are Towbar’s friend. I will submit to your rule.”
Mykal led the way stepping in front of Al and Doninka who carried Klacken draped between the two of them. Mykal held his .357 magnum in one hand and the flashlight in the other. He kept the rifle strapped over his shoulder.
“Where are we going?” Al whispered.
“I don’t have a clue,” he replied quietly and continued down the long dark damp passageway. It struck him that they might not get out of their predicament. The thought of dying inside this mountain, never to be found, terrified him. It was bad enough that he was lost in another world, but now that he was trapped deep inside some mountain where no one would ever think to look, frustrated him even more.
He remembered they left a soldier guarding the horses, and Kurt knew where they had come to. But how much time would it take for someone to send a search party? How long would it take them to realize the little room caved in on them before they would start to remove the rubble and come looking for them? How could things get any worse?
They travelled slowly down the long dark corridor and Mykal wondered if they’d wander around until they died of starvation. His mind fed on many tormenting thoughts, but he had to act like he had it all together. ‘I can’t crack up,’ he scolded himself. ‘I can’t fall apart.’ The walls felt to be closing in on him. He almost felt the weight of the mountain squeezing down upon him. ‘I can’t flip out,” he ordered himself. ‘Everything’s gonna be alright,’ he forcefully assured himself though his mind tried to race out of control in fear.
Mykal didn’t keep track of time, but they seemed to travel a long distance. He noticed the floor they walked on had a slight downward grade to it. The only sounds audible were an occasional drip of water hitting the floor and Klacken’s grunting moans.
“What is this?” Mykal sighed unhappily when he came to a four way intersection. There were no signs of life and nothing to suggest one way over another. “What way should we go?”
“Can we take a rest and then decide?” Doninka asked. “I am tired and I think Klacken could do with a rest.”
“Yeah, we might as well. Here, take the flashlight. If anyone comes by this way shut it off and stay quiet. I’m gonna go this way a little bit,” he pointed to the left. “I wanna see if there is anything down that way,” he whispered.
Starting down the corridor it amazed him at how clearly he saw without the flashlight. ‘What a waste if I die and can never use these gifts Towbar gave me,’ he thought. The walkway looked and felt narrower than the one they’d been traveling.
The temperature dropped dramatically. Frost covered the walls and floor. He cautiously traveled another sixty feet or so and he detected a watery scent. It reminded him of being on a beach, but much colder. He moved farther and noticed the frost thickened. To the left he saw the wall was no longer there.
He could tell he walked on a bridge that crossed over a deep gorge. He heard the sound of rushing water below. It amazed him Towbar’s people never discovered this world within their world, in their own back yard.
From the left side where the wall opened he felt an icy breeze. Observing the opening he could tell the wall had been broken down. It wasn’t built with the opening and it didn’t erode over time exposing the gorge below. Broken pieces of the wall lay scattered all over the walkway.
The breeze reminded him of the frigid North Dakota winters he had been exposed to. The icy gusts seem to cut through him like tiny razor blades. He wanted to get a good look at this area but his eyes became watery from the blowing cold. He hurried back to get the flashlight to see if that would help.
“Gimme the light,” he said with excited urgency. “Al, come with me and check this out. This is really strange what I found. Not too far from here it’s cold as ice. Right here has got to be forty, maybe fifty degrees warmer. Come on.”
“May I come as well?” Doninka requested.
“What of Klacken?” Al looked at his unconscious friend.
“Where’s he gonna go?” Mykal said playfully. “He ain’t going anywhere. He’ll be alright. We’ll be just a few minutes.”
The three of them returned to where Mykal found the broken bridge and the arctic blast of air. Mykal hoped this would lead them to an exit, clues to an exit or any kind of help. At least fifty feet of the wall had been knocked out over the bridge. The debris of broken wall seemed to litter farther than th
e area of the broken wall, suggesting a violent destruction.
Through the opening in the wall they saw the gorge but couldn’t see bottom. Mykal knew they were high up. The gorge walls appeared to be more than a hundred feet apart, but he couldn’t be sure. Mykal guessed the bridge had to be more than a hundred feet in length.
“I have never seen anything like this,” Doninka said. She wrapped her arms tightly across her chest. “This is beautiful.”
“That it is,” Al agreed. “It is very cold.”
“We can rule out going this way,” Mykal said when he shined the light down the bridge. In the distance a large portion of the floor looked to be missing. It had either collapsed or someone deliberately destroyed it in an attempt to take out the enclosed bridge. The intact area of floor looked to be covered in a thick layer of ice. When the flashlight scanned over the floor there appeared to be four little piles of snow against the secure part of the wall to their right.
The four piles caught his eyes because they looked so smooth. They were about four feet long and about two feet high. All four looked identical but Mykal thought it strange how perfectly smooth they appeared. It looked as if someone had taken the time to smoothen and round the four little piles of snow which seemed odd with the condition of the bridge. He moved to the mounds for a closer look and saw the flashlight reflected a shine to them.
“This cold air feels very odd when you breathe it in deeply,” Doninka giggled as she took several deep breaths.
“We’re definitely not gonna go this way,” Mykal repeated as he stepped closer to the mounds. “I got a bad feeling about this place. Look at the floor. Those holes in the floor look man-made like someone tried to deliberately collapse the bridge. What the hell is this though?” He mumbled while walking to the first of the four white piles.
He’d never walked on such ice before. Though slick as ice should be, the ice also had a sticky substance to it. Sticky and clingy enough to adhere to his feet and pull upward with every step. There seemed to be some sort of glue mixture in the ice.
He examined the first snow pile closely but couldn’t see anything other than the reflecting shine and the perfectly smooth shape. He touched the snow with his finger, and though it felt very cold, it also had adhesive properties like tape sticking to his skin. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“What is it Mykal?” Al asked as he cautiously made his way to Mykal over the sticky floor.
“I dunno, this is sticky like it has some kind of glue or something,” he replied warily and made his way to the second of the four snow mounds. “I don’t know how it could be ice cold and so sticky at the same time. Oh wow, what’s this?” Mykal said excitedly. He found an axe head under the second white mound.
“What have you found?”
“Look,” Mykal shined the flashlight on the axe head for Al to see. He saw a beautifully engraved metal blade with strange markings all through the shiny metal axe head. The design of the crafted piece of work differed from all the crude weapons the Sosos had been armed with. He tapped the metal to ensure the touch would not be too cold to handle. He didn’t want curiosity to cause him frostbite.
“Let us take it out,” Al said standing behind Mykal looking over his shoulder. “It looks wonderful. I desire it.”
Mykal gave the blade a tug, but it didn’t give way, and the resistance pulled him off balance. He pulled much harder, but it still wouldn’t come out as if secured with a rubbery substance. “What the hell?” He mumbled. “This is weird,” he said and turned totally focused on retrieving the axe.
Al gave a hearty laugh. “Pull harder, mighty warrior from another land,” he said. His sneer made his face more frightful.
Mykal pulled much harder the third time. The axe gave way and the sticky molding ripped apart. The axe head came attached to an equally beautiful engraved hard wood handle. Attached to the handle was a frozen hand and arm within the white mound. The grayish flesh startled him and he quickly threw it back down. Al laughed loudly at Mykal’s fearful reaction. Just as the axe hit the floor Doninka let out a spine chilling scream that startled both of them. Mykal spun, stunned into frozen fear.
A giant, white, fur covered spider pounced on Al from behind. The three foot fangs came from above and drove into Al’s chest and out through his back before he realized anything was wrong. Mykal never witnessed anything move so quick in his life. The painful crunch of the fangs breaking through bones brought reality to the unbelievable sight.
The body of the spider looked bigger than a Peacekeeper. Each of the eight legs were at least ten feet long, and there were two smaller legs in the front that helped hold Al’s body while the two long hard fangs pumped and grinded inside of his body. Al had been picked up like a lifeless doll, hung in midair while the paralyzing poison pumped into his helpless frame.
Al didn’t have any chance of responding. His face was buried into the underbelly of the huge creature. The muscular warrior’s body dangled limply in the air. Scarface Al tried to yell, but only a muffled sound could be heard escaping the massive underbelly. Al kicked and struggled but the giant arachnid swatted his legs into submission with two powerful, fur covered limbs. It continued to pump freezing, paralyzing, poison into Al Capone.
Suddenly, childhood memories flashed into Mykal’s mind. He recalled as a child catching insects and throwing them into spider webs. He witnessed this sight many times only on a much smaller scale. Every step he took, every time he tugged on the axe it gave away his position in the giant spider web.
The fear of the spider’s awesome size forced Mykal back against the wall. He couldn’t press back any harder. Mykal became one with the wall. Sheer terror prevented him from moving. He realized he stood in a giant spider web and the slightest movement would be detected by the hideous beast.
Mykal became the fly, ant or bug of his childhood years. Payback seemed to be at hand and it took his breath away. Despite the frigid temperature he began to perspire. He watched Al’s life being sucked from him.
Gasping for air, Mykal didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to reach for his weapon. From his experience as a child feeding spiders, he knew any movement could lead to his detection. His weapons looked puny compared to the huge hairy monster that was killing Al. Doninka’s screams seemed to stop or he just couldn’t hear her over his thundering heartbeat.
Mykal forced himself to calm down and slowly tried to ease himself away along the wall. He moved ever so slowly in the hopes the creature would be too busy with Al to notice him. Suddenly one of the long legs of the spider lashed out and thumped him on the head. The strike wasn’t an attack but an attempt to determine the movement and location.
Mykal froze against the wall again. The white furry monster knew something else stood in the web. Mykal’s stomach churned and he felt nauseous. He didn’t want to die the horrible way Al died. He didn’t want to end up as spider droppings under this mountain in the middle of nowhere in an uncharted world that wasn’t known to exist. ‘This can’t be happening!’
Mykal determined to stay pressed against the wall for as long as it would take for the strange freak of life to leave. The raw fear and extreme cold started a trembling in his body that he couldn’t control. The spider seemed to feel the trembling through the icy web and moved closer to poke Mykal repeatedly in the head as if investigating his presence.
Mykal knew to stand still when the leg tapped him on the head. He felt the front of his crotch become warm and wet. He couldn’t stop it. He didn’t care about the embarrassment. He wanted to cry out that this was so unfair. He didn’t ask to come to Towbar’s world. If God was real, like Ski and his grandfather always said, how could God allow this to happen? ‘What’d I do to deserve this? I’m not a bad person.’
Part of him wanted to just give up and allow the monster to get it over with. The other part grew angry that he allowed himself to become so scared that he soiled himself. The angry side of him filled with hateful rage because this thing would
keep him from ever going home to be with his wife and kids.
He needed to escape, but the Snow Spider was so monstrously large. The legs of the creature were longer than his height and thicker than his thighs. The fangs were like munching sabers. He knew he couldn’t out run this thing. His emotions of fear, anger and frustration overwhelmed him. ‘I can’t win this,’ he screamed inside his head like a defeated child. ‘It’s not fair!’
The white forelimb tapped Mykal on the head again, but harder. The whack to his head brought him back to his senses. He heard the fretful sound of Doninka crying. It struck him how terrible it would be for Doninka to be alone with an unconscious injured soldier in this dark underground maze. Amid the terror that swirled in his head, he felt bad for the frightened girl.
The spider thumped his shoulder and chest a couple more times, but he refused to respond or move. The unintelligent monster, tried to provoke him to move so it could pounce on him as it had Al Capone. When he remained motionless the spider suddenly turned and quickly disappeared over the bridge wall with Al still stuck between the fangs and under the spider’s belly. He knew Scarface Al Capone would be gone forever.
Mykal saw at least five arrows sticking from the large fur covered abdomen when it fled. He couldn’t believe how quickly his situation changed. He wanted to leap for joy, but any movement would be detected. He stood trapped in a spider’s web. The lack of the behemoth’s presence didn’t erase the danger. For its tremendous size the creature moved with incredible speed.
With an opening to escape Mykal stood terrified at the thought of making any movements. He desperately didn’t want to draw the spider’s attention back to him. The fear overwhelmed him like nothing ever before. He grew angry at himself for refusing to budge. His chest hurt. He looked down into the snow mound he ripped open and detected the victim’s flesh looked bluish gray. “A cold death,” he whispered. “I don’t wanna freeze to death,” he moaned to himself.
