“I’m going north, and you’re welcome to tag along. By the way, you still haven’t told me your name, and I don’t usually travel with somebody that I don’t know. I’m Michael.”
“You can call me L.” She looked at him, seeing somebody that was naïve and ill equipped to take on what was coming. Even though she could see that he was trying to put up a good front, it was obvious to her that he was out of his league.
Motioning for her to follow him, they began to walk, not exactly in the talkative mood with neither one of them saying much of anything.
Chapter 4
L kept her eyes riveted to the satchel, as well as the axe that Michael had retrieved from his makeshift dwelling, seeing that it had something unique that caught her eye. If she wasn’t mistaken the axe had been visited by the villager priest. “Where exactly did you get that?” She knew that it was a very rare commodity, and was something that she would love to take into her possession. Always on the lookout for anything that she could barter for a good deal, she was already envisioning grieving him and taking all of his personal belongings.
“It is a family heirloom, and don’t even think about putting your hands on it. What kind of name is L anyway?” There was no love lost between them, and he had a funny feeling that there was more to her than met the eye.
“If you must know, it’s an acronym for Lotus.” Michael stopped in mid track, scratching his rapidly growing beard, wondering why that name gave him room for pause. No matter how much he gave it some thought, he just couldn’t bring to mind where he had heard something like that before. “My mother gave me that name because when I was born, my father was there to hand her a Lotus. Now, are we through with 20 questions?” Michael could see that she was caustic, not very friendly and to be honest, looked a little dangerous for his liking.
“You don’t have to be so rude, and what exactly brings you out this way?” Michael believed that information was a way of avoiding unforeseen obstacles in the future.
“I think it’s about time that you answer that question yourself. After all, I was pretty open about my name and where it came from, so now it’s your turn.” Lotus didn’t really want to reveal her purpose here, and was more curious about what brought somebody with his inexperience out here.
“That’s fair, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to talk about it. It is private and personal and frankly you haven’t given me any reason to confide in you.” Lotus could see that it wasn’t going to be easy to make Michael open up and there was obviously something that was making him take this path fraught with dangers.
“For once, we agree on something and we aren’t friends and I would like to keep it that way. Friends have a tendency to get you killed out here and I can’t afford that to happen again.” Lotus saw the face of a man in her mind’s eye, someone that she cares for deeply, but hadn’t survived by her side. Shaking herself out of her own thoughts, she continued to stare at the satchel and wonder how she was going to take it from him. She could kill him and take it, but she had already thought of a better plan for Michael. That way there would be no more blood on her hands, and still she looks down at her hands to see the stain of red mocking her.
Michael notices the lost look in her eyes, but her personal life was none of his business. This was a marriage of sorts, but it was a marriage of convenience and nothing more. They would walk together, but only until one of them decides to break the pact and go their separate ways.
“STOP…don’t move or say anything.” Michael could hear in her tone that she was dead serious, so he did as requested.
Lotus felt it in her bones and it was out there waiting for her to turn her back. She couldn’t allow this thing to distract her, even though she had inadvertently called this thing to her.
“Mind telling me…” His words were cut off, as Lotus put her had up with the universal signal for silence. It was then that Michael felt a cold chill, almost like someone was stepping on his final resting place. It was eerie and made him look around, only to see that nothing was there.
Just as quickly as it came, it left with an express purpose and a desire to make Lotus pay for her insolence.
“Okay, I think we can move, but next time do what I tell you. I have a sixth sense about these things, and sometimes it’s not always about what you see, but also about what you don’t see.” That didn’t make any sense, but he just couldn’t shake that she was right about something being there. The cold in his bones was subsiding, but he would always remember that feeling. It wasn’t lost on Michael that Lotus had been ready to strike, with her sword drawn and slashing the air in front of her.
Lotus knew exactly what was after them and why, but this was something of her own making. “If you are such an expert, then why don’t you enlighten me on what exactly that was?” Michael was watching her, wondering if she was going to be on the level, or she was just going to make it appear that she didn’t know what was going on.
“I told you before that I have a sixth sense, and I would think that you would take that at face value. After all, I was the one that saved both of our lives from that thing, and I think a little gratitude is in order.” The only way to get him off this was to change the subject.
“There’s no sense in me asking you any questions, because I don’t think I’m going to get a straight answer anyway.” Instead of beating his head up against a brick wall, Michael picked up his dropped bag, putting it over his shoulder and continuing on his way. He was kind of hoping that Lotus would not follow, but he could see her shadow looming over him, as they made their way north.
Chapter 5
A few hours went by, and he was compassionate enough to let her use some of his water, and then the temperature began to drop exponentially. It appeared that they were getting closer to the icy tundra, and then the telltale snowflakes began to fall all around them. They would need some kind a shelter for the evening, but at least he had Lotus around to help him construct one. Having two people on this journey was going to make his job a lot easier, and he didn’t really want to depend on Lotus, but right now it was the devil he knew. Sooner or later they were both going to have to tell each other why they were here, and that should be the telling sign of if she could be trusted.
The snow began to swirl around them, leaving their footprints to be covered over in a matter of seconds. It was then that they noticed a mountain nearby, and if they were able to make it to the cover of the caves, they might be able to hunker down for the night without having to construct something themselves. As he began to move steadily forward, he could hear the heavy breathing behind him, but didn’t concern himself with the fact that maybe she didn’t have the stamina to go on.
Lotus could see that Michael was purposely pushing on, but she couldn’t really blame him, considering the fact that the caves were so close that they could almost touch them.
The biting wind had Michael bending down to stop himself from getting frostbite, leaning forward and holding the white parka over his head for protection. He had already noticed that Lotus had come prepared, wearing a similar jacket, but only black in color. Giving her credit for keeping up with him, they made it to the caves and stood at the entrance looking at each other to wonder what exactly lie within.
“I think you should do the honors.” Michael had graciously motioned for her to enter first, and instead of shying away from it; she bit the bullet and went inside. Following close behind, they looked outside to see that the makings of a blizzard had formed, leaving them to wait it out together in the cave. “Do you suppose the rumors are true about nocturnal monsters spawning in the caves?” He really wasn’t expecting an answer, as it looked like her mind was thinking about something else are the moment. “Did you hear me?”
Turning around to face him, she said with a sarcastic air “Stop being a little baby.” She was alluding to the fact that he wasn’t brave enough, and to Michael those were fighting words. “I’m sure that whatever is in here is more afraid of you, than you are of
them.” That was cold comfort, but it was the only kind of compassion or words of encouragement that he was going to get from Lotus. To take his mind off of the skittering sounds coming from further down the cave, he decided that it was time to get some answers to some questions that were on his mind.
“There isn’t anything out here, so why exactly are you here? I know that I have asked this before, but you evaded my questions. Now that you are a captive audience, there really isn’t anywhere you can run to, to avoid answering.” He had a feeling that she was going to ask him the same question, and maybe it was about time to tell her his harrowing tale when he was a child.
She didn’t want to give away the true purpose of her journey, or what she had exactly planned for Michael’s part in it. It gave her a giddy thrill to know that he wouldn’t be around for too much longer, always asking these questions and bothering her over things that were beyond their control. “I don’t think I owe you any kind of explanation, and it’s apparent that both of us have our own reasons for being here. If neither one of us are willing to open up, then I suggest that we just sit here and look aimlessly at the cave wall.
“That’s fine by me, and it’s not like I really want to talk to you.” They both had their defensive walls built up, and minor chitchat wasn’t going to be enough to break through. Michael could still hear the sound of skittering nearby, and automatically assumed that there was a contingent of spiders that he didn’t want any part of. Ever since he went into the cave when he was a child, he walked away from that with a deathly fear of those eight-legged creatures of the night.
The storm outside raged on, with both of them staying well away from the entrance, eventually starting a fire to keep warm. It was probably not the most prudent thing to do to attract what was ever in these caves, but it was necessary to stave off hypothermia. They even managed to get along, enough so that they could huddle together, using not only the fire to warm their weary bones, but also their body heat at the same time.
Michael could see that Lotus was shivering, and pulled her towards him to wrap his arms around her in a tight embrace.
A little shocked to see that Michael was being so kind, she momentarily had a change of heart about what she was planning to do. Then her basic nature took over, and she knew that the only way that she was going to get what was hers was to make Michael give the ultimate sacrifice.
Chapter 6
Lotus had taken it upon herself to keep the spiders from attacking, and had pulled out some kind of small bag, before dumping the contents in a straight line further into the cave. She knew that this would work, because she had used it several times before in the past. This was not her first journey into the biome of the winter landscape. Unfortunately, her partner in crime was no longer with her, making it necessary for her to take the rest of this trip alone. However, finding Michael was fortuitous, and he was exactly what she needed to finally get what was rightfully hers.
“I don’t know what you’re doing, but I can only assume that you are using that to keep the spiders at bay.” He didn’t want tell her that it was much appreciated, because of his deathly fear from the incident when he was a child. “We really should get some rest, because there is no telling what we’re going to have to face in the morning.” Turning towards her, he had already found her hunkered down for the night, using her parka to ward off the elements.
Michael wasn’t about to take any forward motion towards her, as she had already shown that she was not interested in any kind of friendship. If he had to be with her, she was eventually going to have to reveal what she was doing out here. He already had a feeling that she was up to no good, because who in their right mind would want to be out here, ready to die from the harsh environment. You would only come here, if you were looking for something specific or hunting down those responsible for your older brothers’ disappearance.
Going over to the other side of the fire, he stopped short and looked past the line that she had made with the substance in that small bag. Standing on the other side of the line was a black mass of spiders, and he watched, as they eventually moved backwards, showing a little bit of hesitation about crossing over the threshold. Already hearing her heavy breathing, as she fell into a deep REM sleep, he wasn’t even sure if he was going to be able to close his eyes, let alone get a wink of rest, especially with those eight-legged things just out of his reach.
There was nothing he could do about those things that were beyond his control, so he used a couple of blocks to surround him, making him feel that he had a modicum of safety between him and them. His axe was lying a few feet away from him, but for some reason that was beyond his understanding, he felt like he needed to have it in his hands at all times.
Lotus was exactly asleep, only keeping your eyes closed, enough so that he would think that she was. She saw him scramble away from where the spiders were, making her almost burst out laughing at the absurdity of him being afraid of something that she could easily step on to kill. The axe was in her peripheral vision, and she was going to wait, until he fell asleep, before she would be able to get a better look at it. If she was right, and she didn’t have any reason not to believe that she wasn’t, then she would find that the axe was indeed visited by the villager priest, and most likely had been given the silk touch. Lotus was almost certain that there was a diamond coating on the blade, which made it something that she had to have.
Unfortunately, she saw that Michael was a little lost without it, and had crawled over on his hands and knees to retrieve it. Settling back down, she finally closed her eyes and fell into a deep slumber.
Now, that Michael had the axe in hand, he curled both arms around it, before hiding within his makeshift fort, until he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer.
Chapter 7
“Damn it!” Michael bolted straight up, almost expecting to find himself surrounded by the spiders, only to see that Lotus was wide awake and was now staring at a wall of white. “We are trapped.”
Michael stepped forward, picked up the axe, wielding it with both hands, before swinging it with everything he had. It struck with such force that the wall of white didn’t even have a chance, exploding outwards and leaving a hole big enough for them to walk through.
“There, I don’t think we’re going to have any more problems with that.” He could tell that she was visibly impressed, but it just wasn’t in her to express her feelings like that.
The sky was cloudy, and the temperature had dropped considerably, making Michael wonder how it could be that it was colder today, than it was yesterday. Extinguishing the fire, they went back out, and continued the trek towards the north. The snow was pretty thick from what had fallen overnight, making their steps more labored and slower than they would’ve liked.
Even though Lotus was preoccupied with the snow in front of her, she was still on the alert for the unseen creature that was tracking their every movement yesterday. On alert, she was using all of her senses to try to keep vigil, just in case the creeper was going to attack without notice.
Looking behind him, Michael could see that she was still tense, her eyes wildly moving from side to side. It wasn’t hard to realize that she was keeping an eye out for what had caused the shiver down his spine.
“I really don’t believe you, and there’s no way that you could have known that something was there, without first having firsthand knowledge of what it was. We are not going one step further, until I hear some kind of truth coming out of your mouth.” They were standing in snow that was up to their knees, and Michael was steadfast that they wouldn’t continue, until she told him what she was hiding.
“This won’t exactly make you happy, so I figured that I would keep it from you for as long as I could. You see; this thing is trying to prevent me from finding a diamond ore. A few years ago my grandfather passed on to me his legacy of a treasure map that was given to him after winning at cards. I know that I am getting close, and the thing that protects the ore is something that is cal
led a creeper.” Lotus was telling Michael what he needed to hear and nothing more. She had purposely left out a huge component, and was hoping that Michael would finally let this be.
“I’ve heard of creepers, but I always thought that they were urban legends that our parents told us to make us eat all our vegetables. After all, I don’t think any of us could really believe that there was a creature out there that was willing to kill itself in order to take down its prey. You can’t possibly think that I would believe any of this, because I have seen that you just don’t know how to tell the truth, even if your life depends on it.” His eyes were drawn to her neck, where she tried to hide a very significant tattoo about where she came from.
“I’m trying to be honest, and I would think that you would be open to my explanation. I mean, you wanted me to tell you the truth, and then when I do, you think that I am still lying. I just can’t win with you.” Michael momentarily felt bad for his behavior, but once again that tattoo of a black rose was gnawing at his sub conscience. “You don’t have to believe me, because I really don’t care if you do or not. I just thought that you should know what that thing was. To be forewarned makes it possible for you to be ready next time.”
“Let’s say for one moment that I believe your story, but I still think that you are leaving something out. The one thing that I can pride myself on is knowing when somebody is telling me the truth or lying to my face. With you it’s different, and you seem to have the ability to lie and make it sound like the truth. This isn’t something that I should have to worry about, especially when I am looking for the Ender dragon that was responsible for my brother’s disappearance.” He didn’t mean to make that sort of outburst, but she had a way of making him see red.
“Are you out of your mind? The Ender dragon has been around for as long as I can remember, and you think that you are going to be enough to vanquish him. Not only do you have to fight him on his own territory, but finding the end world is not exactly easy by any means. You will need something that is enchanted with the silk touch to even enter, when and if you do find the portal.” This was her way of trying to find out if he knew exactly what he held in his hands, or if he was oblivious to the whole thing.
The Quest of Finding the End Page 2
