The Shards

by Gary Alan Wassner

  “Do the Lalas know of this?” Elion asked.

  “No,” Tomas answered. “That is the pattern of secrets, is it not? One leads to another. They have theirs and we now have ours,” he said somewhat sullenly. “Though it will be most arduous to keep this from them, hide it we must.”

  “Ineluctable?” Stephanie asked, smiling.

  “Yes, exactly,” Tomas replied and he grinned back at her.

  The ring felt hot against his chest, but it was a comforting feeling, not at all a disagreeable one. Stephanie walked over to him and squeezed his arm affectionately, and he kissed her lightly on the forehead. Preston too sidled up to him as well and patted him sharply upon the back. Esta and Elion looked on approvingly, and then they too walked up to Tomas. They had inadvertently formed a tight circle near the waning fire, five strikingly different silhouettes casting long shadows upon the wall of the cavern. They stood together in silence for a moment or two, with their heads bent and their eyes closed, and then as if on cue, they simultaneously separated. Without any further words, they all began to gather their belongings and prepare for the journey to Avalain.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Tamara placed the scroll back in the leather container that she had removed it from when capture seemed so imminent just moments ago. With a sigh of relief, she sealed the case and slipped it into her blouse once again. Muttering a few words of thanks to the First under her breath, she followed Etuah as she led them deeper and deeper into the mountain. The strange woman did not question her about the scroll and she did not offer any explanation herself.

  The rough-hewn walls became smoother and smoother as they advanced, and the surface upon which they walked also grew less hazardous to traverse. Though many more tunnels appeared which led off of the one they walked through, Etuah did not waver for an instant in the direction in which she moved. The entire passage was curiously luminescent despite the fact that they had left the pit into which they had originally plummeted far behind. That had been open to the sky and therefore lighted by the sun from above regardless of its depth. Now though, they were deep into the rock where no illumination from above could reach any longer, and yet they could see with no problem. Tamara and Angeline both found this odd, and they scanned the walls and ceilings for torches or glow lamps, but there were none to be found.

  “How is that we are able to see so clearly?” Tamara inquired while still checking all around her for the answer, and Etuah looked at her with her enormous, platter like eyes and simply smiled.

  “I wonder why she did not answer you,” Angeline whispered in Tamara’s ear. “Do you think she wishes it to remain a secret?”

  “I do not know, sister. But if you have noticed, the light seems to accompany us as we walk, as if it turns on at our approach and turns off behind us as we advance. Look back. It is dark,” she observed.

  Angeline turned to look behind her, and lo and behold, it was pitch as night.

  “Etuah carries nothing in her hands,” Angeline said.

  “No. I see that. It is curious,” Tamara replied, pondering the situation.

  They walked and walked for a long while in silence, following behind Etuah closely. It was hard to tell if they were descending or not, though the air seemed a bit more fragrant and certainly no thinner than before. The odor was musky but not unpleasant at all. In fact, it seemed to be refreshing as they breathed it in.

  “Would you care for some water?” Etuah turned abruptly and asked.

  “That would be wonderful,” Tamara replied not realizing how parched her throat was until the Drue mentioned it.

  “In a moment then, we will stop for refreshment,” Etuah said. “There is a spot just ahead.”

  They rounded a bend in the passage, and as they entered what appeared to be a chamber of sorts, they could hear the dripping sound of water echoing off of the walls. It was becoming easier and easier to see despite the fact that there still seemed to be no obvious source of illumination. The area that they had just moved into was not very large, and in its middle stood a pool of utterly still liquid. The pool itself was a perfect circle in shape, and the water came right to the top of it making it seem as if you could walk right across it without breaking stride or falling in. From the center of the ceiling hung a long, thin stalagmite that stopped about ten feet above the surface of the pool.

  As Tamara watched, a single, thick drop of water fell heavily from the pointed stone into the pool below, and it caused the surface to ripple from the center out in a perfect rhythm, until the waves reached the edges and the water became still once again. The sound that the droplet made when it hit the main body of water was so beautiful that both of the women gasped in response. It was almost musical; high pitched and resonant.

  Once they all entered this chamber it became clearer to them that the light was coming from Etuah herself, for as she walked further into the open space, they could no longer see the areas behind her as clearly, while those before and around her suddenly became visible.

  “You carry no light with you, Mistress,” Tamara said. “Yet, your presence illumines the area around you. How is it so?”

  “As guardians, we Drue are endowed with certain gifts. Our skin is unlike yours,” she replied. “We retain what light we gather when we have the opportunity. It will fade with time.”

  “So you are the source?” Angeline asked.

  “In a manner of speaking,” she said. “A vessel, perhaps, would be a better description.”

  Etuah bent her long, thin body at the waist in an incredibly graceful manner and stuck the end of one suctioned finger into the pool. Scooping the liquid into it as if it was a cup, she pursed her thin lips and sucked it in loudly.

  “Come,” she beckoned to them. “Drink of the pool.”

  Tamara and Angeline walked to the edge and crouched down. Each of the women cupped their hands and dipped them into the water. It was cool to the touch, and it refreshed them even before they brought any of it to their mouths. Tamara gazed into the perfectly clear water and saw Etuah’s reflection looming behind her. Something caused her to turn around sharply and look at her face. The Drue woman was staring at her intently with a curious expression spread over her broad, flat countenance.

  “What is it, Etuah? Is there something about me that disturbs you?” Tamara asked suddenly self-conscious.

  “No. Not at all. It is just that I sense a power within you that has been absent from the places we habituate for a long while. We are the guardians of the space left behind. Rarely are we fortunate enough to have a Chosen amongst us.”

  “A Chosen?” Tamara gasped. “Oh no! I am not a Chosen,” she stammered as she rose up and faced the slender figure before her. “You are mistaken, Etuah. I am merely one of the sisters of Parth. Never would I presume to be a Chosen!” Tamara apologized for the Drue’s error, shaking her head vigorously in denial.

  “Disclaim what you will. I sense a Chosen nonetheless,” she replied, dismissing Tamara’s protestations.

  “I would surely know if I was a Chosen, would I not?” she asked, embarrassed by their host’s words. “I am so far from being one, that it is laughable. But I am most flattered by your misconception. Would that it were true,” she replied, and she continued to look down at the ground humbly. “A Chosen,” she muttered to herself. “Me, a Chosen!” she scoffed.

  Etuah nodded her head, but said nothing more about it. In the meanwhile, Angeline was still stooped over next to the pool, gazing pensively into the still water. Tamara looked away from the Drue, anxious to change the subject which still caused her some discomfort. She walked over to her companion and crouched down next to her.

  “Something has caught your eye, sister?” she asked.

  “Have you looked into this water yet, sister?” Angeline replied.

  “Yes,” she answered. “But all that I saw was Etuah’s reflection. Why? Is there more I should have seen?”

  “The pool is so deep, yet it is clear nearly as far as I can see. Tho
ugh nothing disturbs the stillness of the surface, there is movement in the depths of it. With each new drop that falls, it changes completely,” she replied.

  Tamara stared into the water too, and this time she immediately saw what Angeline was talking about. It did not seem like water any longer as she gazed deeply into it, but more like a portal into another world. It was hard to see at first, but the images became clearer with scrutiny. But, just as she felt she was beginning to discern figures and shapes amidst a heavily wooded background, a heavy drop of water hit the surface and caused a ripple to emanate from the center to the edges. As if this was a book she had been reading and a page had been turned before she was finished with the previous one, the entire scene before her eyes shifted. Once she was able to focus again, the scene she stared at was totally different from that of just a moment before.

  “Curious, sister. Did you see that too?” she asked.

  “Yes, I did. I have been watching this for a while longer than you, sister. It has changed with each new drop of liquid that falls from above.”

  “What is it that we are witnessing?” Tamara asked Etuah, turning away from the pool and looking back at the Drue.

  “Bits and pieces,” the woman replied. “The water is infused with life. It expresses itself as it wishes.”

  “Oh!” Tamara said, as if she understood what the woman was saying. “Is this the future or the past we see before us?”

  “Is there a difference?” she asked, confused. “It is what it is.”

  “Certainly there is a difference between what was and what will be,” Tamara said.

  “For you perhaps. Not for us. We are the guardians of what is; of the void that is out of time. Here, nothing will ever change again,” she said. “There is no future and there is no past for us. Once the shards have been removed, these spaces no longer exist in the fourth dimension. Only the water renews itself and it brings to us concurrences. It matters not to us where they stand in time.”

  Tamara looked at Angeline to see if her friend understood this any better than she did herself, but it was clear from her expression that she was perplexed as well. They both sipped of the water nevertheless, and then they rose and stood beside Etuah. It was incredibly refreshing, and the two sisters smiled at one another involuntarily after swallowing some of it.

  “We must go. You cannot remain with us for long,” Etuah said, beckoning them to follow her.

  Tamara was unsure if the Drue meant that because they had other pressing matters to attend to or because it was dangerous for them to stay here, but she heeded her guest’s words without any further questions and hurried to follow. They walked down the stone path and kept as close behind their host as they could. The passage that they walked through seemed more and more like a roughly hewn tunnel as they drew further away from the point in which they entered. Those passages that extended off of the main one that they traveled were of varying widths, but most of them were certainly not wide enough for a human to traverse. They veered off in all different directions in no discernible pattern.

  “Did your people create these burrows?” Tamara asked, rushing to keep up with Etuah.

  “No. They are what remain,” she answered questioningly, as if Tamara should have already understood this.

  “I am sorry for my stupidity,” Tamara confessed. “Was there something here before that is no longer? Shards? What exactly are shards?”

  “When the great tree died, it left these spaces behind,” Etuah explained. “The wise one came and collected the shards, the essences. After that, we arrived.”

  “You said you were the guardians of the hollows. Are the hollows what we call the forbidden spaces?” Tamara asked.

  “Forbidden to all but the Drue,” she replied, bending her long neck in acknowledgment.

  “Yet we are here now?” Tamara said.

  “Yes,” she said meaningfully.

  “Is it wrong that we are here? Are we in danger?” Tamara felt compelled to ask by the ominous tone in Etuah’s voice.

  The Drue opened her eyes wide and they seemed to cover almost her entire face.

  “You are here because you must be. The Evil One has forced this confluence,” she replied. “Where is there no danger these days?” she then asked. “Here in the hollows, it is only more conspicuous.”

  A shiver ran down both of the women’s spines with that response. Neither expected an answer like that. But before they had a chance to ask anything further, the passage widened considerably and it appeared as if they were nearing its end.

  “I will protect you as best as I can,” Etuah said suddenly. “Take a deep breath, each of you, and take my hands,” she instructed them, and then she offered each her long, oddly shaped fingers to grasp. “Do not look into their eyes,” she warned.

  The two sisters glanced at each other in fear and wonder, as they hurried to follow Etuah’s directions, wondering who she could be referring to. So far, they had neither seen anyone else nor heard anything other than their own voices. Both Tamara and Angeline reached out anxiously and clasped the Drue’s hands. The suction tips adhered to their wrists immediately in response, and they each felt a rush of energy flow through them. It was as if they had just awoken from a long and restful sleep, and just in time it seemed. As they walked into this more open chamber at the end of the passage, they could hear sounds that practically caused their blood to freeze in their veins. Muffled screams and agonizing moans echoed off of the walls and assaulted their senses mercilessly. Pleas for help from both ancient voices as well as youthful ones could clearly be distinguished among the horrible sounds that flooded their ears. Shadows seemed to cross right before their eyes, causing them to flinch and jerk protectively, and they could feel rushes of damp, stale air blow across their faces.

  “We are crossing the nethers, the barren spaces where the lost souls are stranded. Stay close to me,” she warned, and she gripped them even more tightly with her fingertips. “They will not harm you whilst I am here.” Etuah lifter her head and flicked it to the left and to the right as she spoke. “Be gone! Leave us be. These humans cannot help you.” Her tone of voice harbored no hint of anger, but rather a profound sadness inundated her words. She turned first to Tamara and then to Angeline, while blinking her bulbous eyes slowly. Her lashes were unusually long and when her eye lids closed, they reached nearly to the middle of her cheek. “They will remain here forever. It is our charge to insure that is so. Careful now, do not be lured into their grief,” she warned the women.

  Tamara thought that remark strange, considering how sorrowfully she spoke to them moments ago. Etuah seemed so kind, it was odd for her to wish suffering upon any creatures.

  “Who are they? Why would you want them to abide so? They are in pain, are they not?” she asked.

  “They have given themselves to the Dark Lord. There is no way out for them save dissolution. If they should be released from this confinement it could signify only one thing!” she replied sharply. “Sympathy for them I have, as I would for anything that suffers. But, if the day comes when I find they no longer haunt my days and my nights, it will mean the end of time for us all.”

  Tamara recoiled immediately at her remarks. The thought of these spirits doomed to eternal pain and suffering caused her to wretch involuntarily. Angeline’s eyes brimmed with tears and she struggled to clear her vision and continue on.

  “Why are they here?” Angeline asked. “Are they alive?”

  “No. They are quite dead. They are here because they have no place else to go. They have committed crimes against the living that cannot be forgiven. Their souls are eternally lost and their spirits are drawn to those places where they believe the weave is weak or torn in the hope of escaping their torment. The hollows are closer to the void than anywhere else on earth. When the Lalas die, they leave only emptiness in their wakes. The lost ones are drawn to the spaces left behind. It is the closest that they will ever come to the nothingness they seek!” she explained as they walked. �
��All those who have given themselves to Colton throughout history cannot return to the earth like the rest of us. All that is organic refuses their entreaties. They have forsaken their rights to be a part of the cloth, and the fabric weaves without them. Their spirits have no place to go. They are exiles in time, and they must remain so eternally. Their freedom would mean our death; the ultimate death that would come with dissolution,” she continued as she led the women across the stone floor. “It is the job of the Drue to keep the hollows secure. Though our realm would afford them no real refuge, they seek it nonetheless. What compels others to stay away, lures the lost ones in.”

  “What will happen if they breach your defenses?” Angeline asked.

  “It would mean one of two things; either Colton has won and dissolution is imminent, or the Drue have simply failed to carry out their charge,” she said. “The hollows would be the first to collapse if the Dark Lord should be victorious, as they are the closest to the edge,” Etuah explained. “But neither will ever occur,” she said with confidence.

  The screams grew louder as they walked and the two sisters found themselves ducking their heads continuously in order to avoid things that they could not see and objects that they were not sure were even there. The ground was covered with a thick dust that scattered with their steps and clouded the air as they walked. A smoky mist clogged their noses and burned their eyes. Tamara covered her mouth and nose with her shawl and Angeline did the same. The pale light coming from Etuah’s body illuminated the immediate vicinity, but it could not penetrate the thickening fumes.

  “We are almost across now,” she said. “Heed my words! When you pass this way again, do not look them in the eyes!” Etuah warned.

  “Must we go through this awful place once more?” Angeline asked, cringing at the prospect.

  “There is no other way,” Etuah answered.

  “Other way?” Tamara questioned.

  “To Odelot!” she replied, as both Tamara and Angeline looked at each other in shock.