by Ted Dekker
The notion seemed to stun Tanis. “My, my. You can do that?”
“Actually, I’ve never tried. But I’m doing it the other way.” He shifted on his feet. “What I mean is, it’s occurred to me. Do you know anything about the Great Deception? The virus?”
“Not enough. Not nearly enough, but more than most. It happened before the great tribulations, I do know that. The only two around these parts who would know all the histories are the wise ones. Michal and Teeleh, though Teeleh is no longer a wise one. Michal is convinced the histories are a distraction that could lead us down the wrong path. And Teeleh . . . If I ever were so fortunate as to lay my eyes on Teeleh, I would tear him limb from limb and burn the parts!”
“Michal is right,” Thomas said. “An expedition would be pointless. I’ve been in the black forest and I can tell you, the Shataiki are wicked. They very nearly killed me.”
This last admission proved to be nearly too much for Tanis. “You’ve been in the black forest? Over the Crossing?”
He was so excited that Thomas wondered if he’d taken the wrong turn by telling him. But Michal had suggested it, hadn’t he? How could he dissuade Tanis without this admission?
“Yes. But I barely survived.”
“Tell us, man! Tell us everything! I’ve seen the black forest from a distance and seen the black bats flying overhead, but I’ve never worked up the nerve to approach the river.”
“That’s how I lost my memory. I fell in the black forest. Gabil led me out, but not before the bats had nearly chewed me to the bone.”
“That’s it? I need more detail, man. More!”
“That’s about it.”
Tanis eyed him in wonder. “I can see that you and I would make an excellent team,” he said. “I could teach you how to fight, and you could teach me the histories!”
“Rachelle is waiting,” Palus said patiently.
Although Thomas wasn’t altogether in sync with the Great Romance, it suddenly sounded far better than delving into details of the black forest or the histories with Tanis. Either way, Tanis knew less than Thomas did about the virus. He would be no help in uncovering more detail.
Unless the answers were in the black forest, and Tanis could help him get those answers from the black forest.
“Yes, the Great Romance,” Thomas said.
Tanis nodded. “Okay, but later we must talk. We must!” He spread his arms and looked up the hill. “Okay then, pretend that Palus is Rachelle. Just pretend now, it’s only a story. There she is, and here you are.” He pointed to the ground by his feet. “First, I will say that you have given her many flowers and wooed her with many words, telling her precisely how she makes your heart melt and why her hair reminds you of waterfalls and . . . well, you get the idea.” He was still standing with arms spread, slightly crouched as if to receive an attack.
“You see, this will soften her heart. Whisper in her ear and keep your voice low so that she knows you are a strong man.” He stopped and considered Thomas for a moment. “Perhaps later I can give you some of the right things to say. Would you like that? I am very good at romance.”
Thomas was too far into their game to suggest anything but wholehearted endorsement now. “Yes,” he said.
“Okay, that’s wooing. You will become very good at this activity. We woo our women every day. But back to the rescue.” He flexed his legs. “Now, as I was saying, Palus is Rachelle and you are here. Down the hill comes a flock of the black bats. The Shataiki. You can dispatch them easily enough, of course, because you’re a man of great might. The object here, though, isn’t only to dispatch the vermin, but to rescue your beauty while you do so. Are you following me?”
“Yes, I think so. Dispatch the vermin and rescue the beauty.”
“Exactly. With your legs flexed as so, you throw one arm out to Rachelle and ready the other to beat back the bats. Then you cry in a loud voice, so that she knows everyone in the valley can hear your statement of valor.” And here Tanis thundered to Palus, “Come, my love, throw yourself into my arm of iron, and I will strike the withering beasts from the air with my other, a fist of stone.”
Tanis motioned to Palus with his hand.
“What?” Palus asked.
“Show him. Run and jump into my arm. You’re Rachelle, remember? I won’t drop you.”
“Jump? How?”
“I don’t know, just run and jump. Make it look real, as a woman might jump. Perhaps feetfirst.”
“I don’t think Rachelle would run and jump. She’s quite a confident woman, you know. What do you think of sweeping me off my feet instead?” Palus asked. “You could strike a few of the bats that are diving in to eat me, then pluck me to safety while whispering wondrous words into my ear, then battle the beasts with your free arm.”
Tanis arched an eyebrow. “Very clever. How many beasts would you say I should fell before I sweep you off your feet?”
“If you were to send a hundred back to hell, she would be very impressed.”
“A hundred? Before I jump to her rescue? It seems over the top.”
“Then fifty. Fifty is plenty.”
Tanis seemed totally taken with the notion. “And what if we were to say that the big one, Teeleh himself, were leading the attack from two sides, leaving me no way for escape? I dispatch fifty easily enough, but then they are too many and all hope seems lost. At the last moment, Rachelle could direct my attack, and with a brilliant reversal I send the big one screeching for his life. The rest flee in disarray. Perfect!”
“Do you actually want to do it?” Palus asked.
In answer Tanis suddenly spun uphill. “Don’t worry, my love! I will rescue you!” he thundered, looking at Palus.
He took three steps and then leaped into the air, executed a spectacular roundhouse, landed on his hands, rolled forward, and came up with two stunning kicks Thomas wouldn’t have thought possible in succession.
Tanis ended his first attack in a back handspring that placed him at Palus’s side. He swept the man from his feet and struck out with another kick.
The momentum carried both off balance. They tumbled to the ground, rolled once, and came up laughing.
“Well, I suppose that one needs a bit of practice,” Tanis said. “But you do get the idea. I wouldn’t suggest anything so extravagant with Rachelle the first time you see her. But she will want to be surprised by your inventiveness. To what lengths would you go to choose her, to save her, to love her?”
Thomas couldn’t remotely imagine doing anything bold. Whispering lavish words of woo could prove challenging enough. Had he ever done anything like this before his amnesia? Evidently not, or he would bear the mark of union on his forehead.
“How did you do that kick?” Thomas asked.
Tanis bounded to his feet. “Which one?”
Palus held up his hand. “Forgive me, but I must take my leave. Karyl waits.” They bid him well and he headed for the village. The children were playing with several Roush on the other side of the valley, taking turns riding on a pair of the white creatures’ backs as they locked wings and swooped down the hill.
“Which kick?” Tanis asked again.
“The first one. The one-two-back?”
“Show me what you mean,” Tanis said.
“Me? I can’t kick like that.”
“Then I’ll teach you. A woman loves a strong man. It was once the way men fought, you know. In the histories, I mean. I have created a whole system of hand-to-hand combat. Try the kick. Show me.”
“Now?”
“Of course.” Tanis clapped twice. “Show me.”
“Well, it was something like . . .” Thomas stepped forward and executed a roundhouse with a second kick, somewhat similar to the one he’d seen Tanis do. Surprisingly the roundhouse felt . . . simple. He could execute it with far more ease here than in his dreams of the histories. The atmosphere?
Unfortunately the second kick came up short. He landed on his side and grunted.
“Excellent!
We’ll make a warrior of you yet. I think Rachelle will be very impressed. Would you like to be my apprentice?”
“At fighting?”
“Yes, of course! I could teach what very few have learned, even here. We could talk of the histories and discuss ways to deliver a crushing blow to the putrid bats of the black forest.”
“Well, I would like to learn from you—”
“Perfect! Come, let me show you the second kick.”
Tanis was gifted and spared no passion in explaining precisely how to move so as to maximize the number of moves in the air. When he took off, he used his arms as a counterbalance, allowing for surprising maneuvers. Within an hour, Thomas was able to execute some of the moves without landing on his head. Short of the movies, no living person could move like this in the histories, surely. There had to be a difference in the atmospheres. Or was it the water?
The hour wore Thomas weak.
“Enough! Now we talk,” Tanis finally announced, seeing Thomas struggle for breath. “We will learn more fighting tomorrow. But now I want to know more about the histories. I would like to know, for example, what kind of weapons they had. I know some, devices that made large sounds and delivered terrible blows to hundreds at once. Have you ever heard of such a thing?”
“A gun?” Alarm rose through Thomas’s chest. Tanis really was seriously considering this expedition of his into the black forest. But he couldn’t! It was far too dangerous.
“What is a gun?” Tanis asked. “I am considering an expedition, Thomas. Such weapons could be a great help. A very great help, indeed. You could go with me, since you’ve been there!”
He spoke with such enthusiasm and innocence.
“You don’t know the black forest, Tanis. Entering would be the death of anyone who tried.”
“But you! You’re alive!”
“I was lucky. And trust me, no swift kicks would have helped me any. There’s way too many of them. Millions!”
“Exactly. Which is why they must be defeated!”
“You have agreed with the others not to cross the river.”
“A precaution. There are times to leave caution in the valley and strike out for the mountain.”
“I don’t think this is that time,” Thomas said. It occurred to him that he needed some water. He was desperately thirsty. Faint, in fact. They were walking up the hill, and he stopped to catch his breath. “Are you driven by anger against them, or curiosity?”
Tanis looked at the forest in thought. “Anger, I think. Perhaps it’s not the right time. At the least, I could write a wonderful story about such a thing.” He faced Thomas. “Tell me what else you know.”
This wasn’t going as Michal intended.
Dizziness suddenly swamped him. He shook his head. “Please, Tanis, you don’t understand.”
“But I want to!”
Thomas’s world tipped and suddenly began to fade. He dropped to one knee. Felt himself falling. Reached out his hand.
Black.
15
EXCUSE ME, sir?” A hand touched Thomas’s shoulder.
He sat up, half awake. A stewardess leaned over him. “Please bring your seat up.” Kara’s seat was empty. Bathroom.
Thomas tried to clear his mind. “We’re landing?”
“We’ve begun our descent into Bangkok.” She moved on.
They were in the cattle class of a Singapore Airlines 747. The yellow-and-blue upholstery that covered the seat directly in front of him was beginning to tear. On the seat-back monitor, a red line showed the flight’s progress over the Pacific. This was the dream.
The plane smelled like home. Southeast Asia home. Soy soup, peanut sauces, noodles, herbal teas. His mind flashed back over the last eight hours. The flight to Singapore had been a long, sleepless affair during which Kara and Thomas had flipped through channels on the small embedded screens and reminisced about their years in Southeast Asia. Years of learning how to be a chameleon, switching skins between cultures.
Like switching mind-sets between his dreams now. He’d been bred for this.
“Scoot over, will you?” Kara bumped his knee, and he slid over to the center seat so she wouldn’t have to climb over him.
“Welcome back to the land of the living.” She fastened her seat belt. “Talk to me.”
“About what?”
“About why ants build nests in the desert. What do you mean, about what?” she whispered. “What did you find out?”
He stared at her, struck by how much he loved his one and only sister. She came off tough, but her walls were paper thin.
“Thomas?”
“Nothing.”
Her left brow arched. “Excuse me? You just slept for five hours. We’re flying across the ocean to Bangkok because of your dreams. Don’t tell me they stopped working.”
“I didn’t say that. In fact, I think I am learning something. I think I may know why this is happening.”
“Enlighten me.”
“I think maybe these dreams of what happened in the histories are arming me with information that could stop something terrible in the future. I think maybe Elyon is allowing me to have these dreams. Maybe to stop Tanis from his expedition.”
She just stared at him.
“Okay, so maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe I’m supposed to stop something from happening here.”
“I have $345,000 in my bank account that says it’s the latter. Which is why you were going to find out what in the world we’re supposed to do in Bangkok, remember? And you come back with nothing?”
“It’s not like that. Believe me, when I’m there, I’m not exactly concerned about my dreams of this place. Trust me. I have bigger problems. Like who I am. Like how this Great Romance thing works.”
“Great romance? Please don’t tell me you’re actually falling for this girl who healed you.” He’d filled Kara in on the details of his dream before falling asleep.
The last meeting with Rachelle flooded Thomas’s mind. The way she had looked at him, smiled at him, walked by him without a word. His face must have shown something because Kara turned away.
Kara rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. You can’t be serious.”
“Actually, she’s very interesting.”
“Uh-huh. Of course she is. And built like a goddess, no doubt. Did she find you irresistible and smother you with kisses?”
“No. She walked away. But Tanis, the leader of the tribe, and Palus, her father, are showing me how to win the beauty.”
“Okay, Thomas. Win the beauty. Everyone is entitled to a fantasy now and then. In the meantime, we have a problem here.”
The plane entered a turn and Kara looked across Thomas at Bangkok’s metropolitan skyline, not so different from New York’s. The fairly modern and very exotic city packed nearly eight million people like sardines. Midday. To the east, Cambodia. To the south lay the Gulf of Thailand, and several hundred miles across it, Malaysia.
“I’m not pretending to know how this works, but you’ve got me scared, Thomas,” she said quietly.
He nodded. “Me too.”
She faced him. “No, I mean really. I mean, this isn’t a dream here. For all I know, the other isn’t a dream either, but I can’t have you treating this reality like some dream. You hear me? You know things you shouldn’t know—terrifying things. For all I know, you may be the only one alive to stop it.”
She had a point. Not that he was treating this 747 like a dream no matter how much it felt like a dream. On the contrary, he was the one who’d convinced her they had to come in the first place. Would he have done that if it were only a dream? No.
“And no offense,” Kara said, “but you’re starting to look pretty haggard. You have bags under your eyes, and your face is drooping.”
“Drooping?”
“Tired. You haven’t had a decent sleep since this whole thing started.”
True enough. He felt like he hadn’t slept at all. “Okay,” he said. “I hear you. Any ideas?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. I think I can help you. I can keep you focused.”
“I am focused. We wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t insisted.”
“No, I mean really focused. As long as you keep tripping between these dreams and realities, you’re bound to keep second-guessing yourself, right?”
“A little. Maybe.”
“Trust me, a lot. Right now you probably still think you’re in the colored forest, sleeping somewhere, and that Bangkok is some dream based on the histories of Earth. Well, you’re both right and wrong, and I’m going to make sure you realize that.”
“You lost me.”
“I’m going to assume that both realities are real. After all, it is a possibility, isn’t it? Alternate universes, divergent realities, time distortions, whatever. The point is, from here on we assume that both realities are absolutely real. The colored forest really does exist, and there really is a woman there named . . . what’s her name?”
“Rachelle.”
“Rachelle. There really is a beautiful babe over there named Rachelle who has the hots for you.”
“I didn’t say that.”
She held up her hand. “Whatever. You get the idea. It’s all real. You have to do whatever you’re meant to do there, even if it’s nothing more than falling madly in love. I’ll help you with that. Give you ideas, advice. Maybe I can help you land this hot chick.”
“Assuming I’m interested in landing the first hot chick who winks at me. What do you take me for?”
“Okay, I won’t call her a hot chick. Does that help? You’re missing the point. It’s real. That’s the point. The colored forest really exists. Everything that happens there is as real as real can be. And I won’t let you forget that. Not one word about it being a dream anymore. We pretend it’s another country or something. The furry bats are real.”
This last sentence she said a bit loud, and a tall, dark-haired European with a gray mustache looked their way. Kara returned his stare.
“Can I help you?”
The man looked away without responding.
“You see, that’s what we’re going to get. That’s why we have to stick together on this, because you know it, Thomas, this world is real too.”
