Riapoke

by Bryan Nowak

  “Do you want to tell them High Priest, or shall I?” A deep, guttural voice echoed up from a hole in the wall.

  Donny, knelt down on one knee, still holding the amulet in front of him. “I would be honored to hear you speak my master.”

  Kyle, regaining his senses grabbed Mike by the arm and whispered, “Let’s make a run for it. We can make it.” He glanced over to his mother who nodded in agreement. But they couldn’t leave Matthew behind. They’d come back expressly to save him.

  Mike fired one more shot at Donny and picked up Matthew, while Kyle lifted the other side. The four ran forward. Even with the added weight, they quickly eclipsed the distance between where they stood and the two bodies of the men they’d shot.

  A black wall quickly materialized in front of them.

  They froze. As the wall transformed into a large demon. Its long claws and wings scraped against the side of the cavern. The horns on its head almost touched the top of the cave. Cloven feet looked vaguely human, but covered in fur and grotesque warts.

  Retreating to their previous position, they set Matthew back down with a groan. His injuries weren’t helped by the sudden burst of motion.

  A snarl formed on the disfigured demon’s face as it spoke to them. “Leaving so soon? That’s a little impolite, don’t you think?” The beast laughed. “I insist you stay and hear the story. It’s a good one.” The demon waved its hand, and the three fell to the floor, pushed down by an unseen power.

  When Immortality Ends

  “Do you have any idea what it’s like being immortal? No, of course you don’t.” The demon paced the length of the room, drool wetting the sides of his lips, his arched back covered in thick spines resembling stiff hair. “I can tell you it sounds like more fun than it actually is. I was once mortal, a human of flesh and blood. When I was born, the spirits thought it would be fun to name me Matchitehew.” The beast chuckled at the name. “You may not get the joke. It means ‘he who has an evil heart’. Funny, isn’t it?”

  “Seems fitting,” Kyle offered, with obvious disdain.

  The demon shot back, “Silence, young one. Or maybe it’ll be easier for you to keep quiet with your tongue removed.”

  Kyle nervously stepped back as Meghan cast a maternal glance, begging her son to keep his mouth shut.

  “So, where was I? Oh yes, Matchitehew. Because of something as arbitrary as a name, I had to be faster, stronger, and smarter than the others. A great hunter and trapper, I also grew into the great warrior that I am. More ruthless than the other braves, I demanded they respect me. Alas, when it came time to select seats on the tribal council, I was denied my birthright. Some said it was because I was too violent. But I knew the truth … they were jealous they didn’t have the courage to do what needed to be done.”

  “Denied what was rightfully yours, my Master,” Donny spoke up, still staring at the ground, kneeling in supplication.

  “Indeed. So, I did what any red-blooded boy would do. One night I snuck into another tribe's camp and killed them all. One by one, I held them down and slit their throats, from the oldest man to the youngest child. The blood soaked the pelts which made up the beds they slept in stood as my mark, the mark of Matchitehew. I even took a few of their women after slitting their throats to make sure I showed my enemies what would await them if they dared challenge me. I wanted to show the Powhatan what a real warrior should act like. I’m a great warrior. Far better than that feeble idiot Powhatan. I’ll grant you, he was a gifted diplomat, but never a warrior.”

  “But you were caught?” Mike said.

  The demon still paced the room, leathery wings folded behind his back and massive, muscular, arms outstretched, scraping its long nails against the rocks. “Yes, you are correct. I was caught. That idiot chief and his slut of a daughter tricked me into a tent where many warriors waited to beat me down and bind me. They treated me like a common criminal. They should’ve thanked me and made me chief. Instead, they accused me of murder and upsetting the balance of nature. I ask you, is it not nature’s balance that a brave and strong warrior should rise up and take his rightful place as chief of them all?”

  Mike, remembering the gun in his hand, pointed it at the demon. “I don’t care what your beef is, you’re going to let us go, right now.”

  The demon regarded the man for a moment. “Do you really think those weapons will harm me? Did they hurt my High Priest?”

  Kyle watched Donny, still kneeling on the floor of the cavern. Since the bizarre conversation began, the high priest hadn’t moved a muscle. The amulet, held out in front of his chest, took on a glow, like power emanated from it. Kyle recalled Matthew’s story of the necklace.

  “Of course, they won’t,” the demon continued. “The high priest has an amulet to protect him. It bestows, to its bearer, a veil of protection equal to only my own. It’s imbued with the same magic that put this spell on me. The irony of his situation is that he holds the power to keep me imprisoned in his hands and is completely unable to recognize that power. The white man values the wrong things. Always looking for a leader and being too fearful to lead themselves.

  “There is a legend, spoken at my trial, and again at my imprisonment. Two strangers arrive, and one of my own would turn. This signals the end of my confinement, and also my death. They weren’t counting on my witless idiot of a priest. The first time that fool wandered down here, I had him. His mind and will were mine to control. Even now, he’s nothing more than my puppet. When I fully ascend I’ll take his life and burn this city to the ground. This arrangement no longer suits my needs.”

  Kyle grimaced as he realized the demon loved nothing more than to talk about himself. Although terrifying, the demon was nothing more than a self-important blowhard who believed he was robbed of a birthright he’d neither deserved or earned.

  While the demon waxed poetic, Kyle took small, unobtrusive steps toward Donny. The amulet held the key to everything and offered a sort of protection. The demon indicated its power matched his own. It’d buy everyone enough time to get out of there, and away from the demon. He had to time it perfectly. It was an all or nothing attempt.

  The demon droned on, “… now I stay here, year after year, waiting for sustenance enough to return me to my true form. The first thing I shall do when I am fully human is dig up the bones of Powhatan and grind them up. That false chief robbed me of my peace, so why should he get his? My only disappointment was my little matchmaking attempt between you and Elizabeth. I figured having two people under my control might be useful. Oh well, can’t have everything I suppose.”

  The demon continued pontificating and pacing the cave. For a split-second it turned its back to Kyle.

  This was his chance. Kyle took three long strides, covering the distance between himself and Donny. Not slowing, he snatched the amulet out of Donny’s hands and slipped the chain over his head before anyone had a chance to react to his movement. Donny still hadn’t even moved until Kyle jumped over him. Kyle whipped around, pointing Matthew’s gun at Donny and squeezed the trigger, a fiery tongue jumped from the weapon and the concussive noise reverberated off the walls of the cavern. The smoke and smell of burnt gunpowder choked the air. Donny fell forward, landing with a sickening splat on the hard stones, blood and pieces of cranium painted the floor in front of the fresh corpse.

  Undeterred, Kyle jumped over the body of the slain reverend and past the dumbstruck demon, taking a position in front of Elizabeth and Matthew. “Go find your souls somewhere else. We’re not your dinner tonight.”

  The native American, turned demon smiled at the boy. “Too bad I didn’t kill you first. You’re a smart one. You took out my high priest by identifying the one weakness in my plan. I give you credit for that, boy. But, what you don’t realize is that amulet will only work in here. Once outside the immediate vicinity of the cave it’s essentially worthless.” Rising up to his full height, the demon walked over to the still exsanguinating body of Donny. For a moment he stared at the lifeless
corpse of his fallen high priest. “A good servant. Too bad it ended this way.”

  Kyle looked at his mother, Mike, and a broken, slouching Matthew.

  Positioning himself between them and the demon, the amulet provided an un-crossable barrier. For the moment, it was impossible for the creature to hurt any of them. He hoped.

  “I don’t think you understand me,” Kyle said, momentarily feeling brave. “Now that I have the amulet, we’re leaving here. You get to stay down here, rotting for another few hundred years. Who knows, maybe longer?”

  Undeterred, the demon reached down and flipped Donny over. The high priest’s face was coated in blood as the warm liquid came to a rest in a depression in the stone floor. “Once again, boy, you’ve miscalculated. In many ways, you and I suffer from the same malady. I was too smug, too sure of myself; I neglected to take out those who challenged me first. There is a piece of information you’re missing. Don’t feel bad, it’s something that you couldn’t possibly know.”

  Kyle shot another nervous glance at Mike and his mother, who just shook their heads in response. None of them knew what the demon was referring to.

  “Pity, really. You almost had me. In order to serve my time, I must live here for the total amount of the lifetimes I took. Or, trade something of value, particularly the hearts of the living. It was a little loophole built in when Powhatan and his daughter concocted this prison for me. One heart for one person I killed. No one ever thought I’d be able to pull it off. But they had to build in the loophole to maintain balance in their spell. You’d say that they had to give me a sporting chance. And I’ve done that for quite a while now. For the longest time, getting people down here was difficult. A few settlers looking for a good place to live, children wandering the woods looking for adventure, hunters looking for prey, the cave explorer looking for a new challenge. Then someone came along and founded the town of Riapoke. I assure you, an accident. Stupid white man, they didn’t know what the Algonquin word meant. No interest or patience in learning about the world around them. They just thought the name was the Indian word for this area. Little did they know Riapoke is this place’s character.

  “Then I realized the good fortune of this situation. After all, why should I work so hard to find people when I could make someone do the work for me? Mankind’s stupidity, it would seem, has grown over the years. Now, with your cell phones and computers, there is really no way to keep yourself from falling into my web, especially since I had the good reverend here providing me as many hearts as I wanted. How many lives have I sacrificed to atone for my sins?”

  Kyle did some gruesome mental math. Hundreds of years of suckering people down this cave, to their doom, gave the beast the opportunity to acquire many, many hearts. If Donny, and the townspeople helped him then his macabre quota must nearly be filled.

  The demon chuckled. “Don’t overtax your mind, young one. Here’s the secret I’m dying to tell you: Your mother is special. In her breast beats literally the last heart I needed before I can transform and leave this cave. According to prophecy, this woman is my final victim. She either spells my doom, or my salvation.”

  Mike stood up from kneeling next to Matthew. “Well, you’ve failed. We have the amulet.”

  “Again, the white man fails to see the truth before him. Her heart is ideal, but not necessarily only her heart. Any heart will do.” Plunging a clawed hand into Donny’s chest cavity with a crunch of bone and rending of sinew, it made a sickening sucking noise. After rooting around for a few moments, he withdrew his claw, in it he held Donny’s heart. “Perfect, and even still warm. High priest, your service is much appreciated.”

  Mike released Matthew and grabbed Meghan, holding her close to him. Kyle took several steps backward, shielding them. For a brief moment, everyone stood in silence.

  The demon crammed the remains of Donny’s heart into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed it with a sickening gulp. Blood coated his lips which curled into a sinister sneer.

  Two small points of light shot out from the corners of the room and swirled around the creature, slowly at first and then gaining speed as they continued their aerial dance. The light enveloped him, becoming so intense the four had to shield their eyes. More light flowed from the walls and the demon’s enormous body morphed in appearance. Horns disappeared, retracting into his head. The leathery black wings faded from view and the black flesh of his face replaced with tan skin. His enormous size diminished as well.

  One last blazing flash preceded the swirling lights suddenly disappearing. In place of the demon, stood a man, about the size of Kyle. Dressed in leather pants, held up by a belt, and mukluks. Pulling a long-handled ax out from the belt of his breech cloth and leggings, he said, “Now you see me as I truly am. No longer a hideous beast. I am, as my own people know me. I am Matchitehew, the rightful heir to the Powhatan tribe. I will rise up and take my place at its head.”

  Mike became aware of Matthew pulling on his pant leg. “Leave me,” Matthew’s raspy voice called out from the floor.

  Mike looked down at him in disbelief. “He’ll kill you.”

  Matthew struggled to sit up. Blood seeped through the remains of the uniform shirt. One of Matthew’s eyes had swollen completely shut. “I’m dead anyway. Finish this for me.”

  “He’s right, you know,” Matchitehew hissed. “The second you leave him, he’ll be dead. You can’t protect him, and I owe him a fitting death. The amulet only goes so far. Flee, little ants … flee. I like a good chase.”

  Mike held his hand up. “Why don’t you just let us go? You have your freedom. You don’t need to hurt anyone else.”

  Matchitehew walked around the perimeter of the cave, pointing the double headed ax at them. “It’s not that simple. You see, I have a lot to do, starting with tying up proverbial loose ends. I can’t just have you walking around telling people who I am. You know my little secret. It’s a hell of a story too. I mean, a member of the Powhatan tribe, sentenced to live as a demon under the earth for centuries. No, I really can’t afford that.”

  Without warning, Matchitehew lunged at the four cowering against the wall. Kyle, still holding the amulet braced for the impact of the ax as it made and arc toward him. Within two feet of the ax connecting, a ball of light flew from the amulet and hit Matchitehew in the chest, sending him flying across the room. The Indian got up from the floor and brushed himself off, shaking his head and frowning at Kyle as he did.

  “Nice try,” Kyle said, trying to hide his own surprise at surviving the initial confrontation.

  Matchitehew laughed. “The amulet still has power, but it fades quickly, now that I’ve broken the curse. Soon, it will be nothing more than a mere trinket. Do you know what I would trade for that amulet? A few leaves of tobacco. That’s all that costs back in my day. Today, probably worth a fortune as Powhatan art. Perhaps I’ll sell it as an antique after I get out of here.”

  “You have to leave me, now.” Matthew insisted. “I did what I came to do and this is your chance to escape.”

  Mike grabbed Kyle by the arm while pulling Meghan to her feet. “Let’s go.”

  “But he’ll die,” Kyle protested.

  Matthew coughed up a splotch of blood. “Go, and don’t look back.”

  Meghan gave Matthew a long hug and whispered something in his ear. Then Mike, Kyle, and Meghan moved toward the hallway. Kyle kept the amulet between them and the angry Indian.

  As they moved away from Matthew, Matchitehew moved in closer to their fallen comrade. “That’s right, run,” he mocked. “Run as fast as you can. It won’t be far enough. You’ll have to face me, and I will take great pleasure in killing you.”

  Entering the hallway, the trio looked back at Matthew as Matchitehew raised his ax high in the air. Matthew, mustered every remaining shred of his strength and shoved the metal hinge Meghan slipped to him straight into Matchitehew’s rib cage. He screamed in pain as he brought the ax down on Matthew. With a sickening thud, the ax made frighteningly short work
of Matthew’s skull.

  Matchitehew held his side as he hit him repeatedly, chopping the corpse out of pure anger. Pulling out the shiv from his side, he snarled, “Pathetic attempt. Did you really think this piece of rusted metal could kill me?”

  It did do damage. Although Matchitehew still presented a terrifying image, Matthew’s dying act had proven one thing: Their nemesis was no longer invincible. He was mortal. Vulnerable.

  Killable

  Ascension

  The trio ran down the hallway, as Matchitehew laughed and shouted something about running away like scared children. They made their way to the steel door, hoping to lock from the outside, keeping Matchitehew contained. Someone locked the deadbolt with the door still open and took the keys, there was no way to close it.

  “Upstairs, quick,” Mike pointed at the stairs. He worried the door at the top might be locked, making their escape attempt short lived. If the door stood locked, he’d be forced to fight a savage warrior with no compulsion about killing them all, a contest he’d surely lose.

  The three bounded up the stairs as quickly as possible. Behind them, the footfalls of Matchitehew echoed through the corridor. He was surprisingly quick on his feet for someone who’d spent half a millennia in a cave. Mike wondered if Matthew’s last act of defiance had done any permanent damage to their pursuer. Maybe they’d be lucky and he’d die of blood loss or an unusually aggressive case of sepsis.

  As the top of the stairs, his heart sank as the door stood defiantly closed. Kyle reached it first and tried to push it open, but the door would not budge.

  Behind them, Matchitehew stalked them, step by step. He slowed down when he realized his prey suddenly found itself cornered. “What’s the matter? Don’t have the keys?” Matchitehew smiled at them, menacingly.

  Still holding the handle, Kyle was caught off guard by the door suddenly springing open with a surprising amount of force, pulling him with it. On the other side of the door, a startled George tried to get out of Kyle’s way. Mike and Meghan jumped through the door, quickly following Kyle. Mike slammed the door closed with a metallic boom and leaned into it to keep it shut.