“You gotta show me how to do that one of these days,” Billy said. He went to the small chain bag and untied it then he went to the piece of rope and put it in the bag. He then realized he was virtually naked.
He had no idea how long he had been hanging there all of his muscles ached and he felt so tired he slowly walked over to the huge door, it was locked.
He looked at Geezer. "Well?" He said impatiently. Geezer disappeared through a vent in the door and then, there was a satisfying click and it swung open to his touch. He stepped out into the next room looking about for some means of escape. It was very quiet. They crept to the door, there was a dim light coming from outside. There was no sign of a guard, either they didn't feel they needed one or it was another trap. He didn't see the point of that, however, if they thought he and Geezer were secure, there might be no need for a guard.
Geezer scurried out the small window in the wooden door and once again there was a satisfying click and the door swung open. He was right, there was no guard, but there was sure to be one somewhere. They snuck around another corner and sure enough, a guard was there, fast asleep at his post.
Unfortunately, the man was sprawled across the narrow hall. It might be impossible to get past him without waking him or alerting the others.
The sword Billy had purchased at the market was hanging from a peg near the sleeping guard along with some of his gear. “Now that is a happy coincidence,” he thought sarcastically.
Everything seemed a trap to him now.
He wondered if there was some way he could get that sword and still be alive to use it. He was so concerned about the sword he didn't notice Geezer disappear. Then suddenly something dropped over the man’s face from out of the darkness of the rafters of the hallway. Billy jumped back into the shadows in surprise.
At first, he didn't realize what was attacking the man. It looked no more than a gray odd looking cloth, moving of its own volition?? Then he realized, it was Geezer. He was covering the man's face with his body, like a mask. The odd struggle went on for a few moments the guard thrashing about clawing at Geezer with no apparent effect and then, the man went still.
It all had happened so fast he didn't have time to do anything. Although what he could have done he had no idea. As the man slumped to the floor Billy ran forward and grabbed the sword and they crept to the door looking around for a way to escape. He shivered in a slight breeze he was half naked.
All he had for clothes was a loincloth. As he stumbled about he found himself in a dark room that smelled like a laundry. He got caught up in some wet clothing hanging from a line as his eyes adjusted he could make out clothing hanging around on strings.
He found some pants a vest and a robe and put them on. It was hard to see in the semi-dark. As he tied them on he hoped it wasn't girls' clothing. He chuckled to himself imagining himself finding himself in daylight in a fancy dress. Stepped out into the hall they crept to what he hoped was the outside door. There were voices inside. The light was coming through a small crack in the wooden door.
“My lord,” A shaky voice said. “It…it seems the boy knows nothing. We tortured him and the creature till it is nothing more than a blob, my lord it is a strange creature. The magic bag contained it my Lord, but it has turned to nothing but some strange jell. The boy is unconscious but even as we tortured them the creature healed the boy it is all very disturbing."
There was silence for a moment then shakily "My Lord we know not what to do."
“Where is the boy now?” A familiar voice said
"He is tied to a wall my lord and the creature is still in the bag. I think they will not regain consciousness soon… There is a guard Lord," the voice said hastily. Responding to some prompt unseen by Billy.
“Where is the sword then?” the familiar voice said. Billy was puzzled. The voice was familiar but he had the strange feeling he hadn’t heard it here. He tried to look in the crack but the speaker was not visible.
"Hanging on the wall Lord. With his things… is it important?"
There was a long silence. Finally. “Do you know where we are?”
“My Lord? I was blindfolded when I was brought here.”
“Do you know the name Sanxingdui?”
There was a gasp "MY Lord truly? I was told the place was a myth a… a child's story. But… the magic is here! How are we even alive? There is a spell on this place it turns men to stone."
The man went silent.
True outside all are stone. Something about this boy or his creature is protecting us.”
"That's impossible my Lord all who enter this place are stone."
“And yet you are there blabbering in fear. Did you not think it odd that the cart bearing the boy was sent through the portal first? Oh, of course, you were blindfolded. We are indeed in that fabled city." Billy saw someone stand up he could still only see legs.
“Somehow the boy and his creature…there are rumors that when this creature is in a room people who do not speak the same language can all of a sudden understand each other. We have seen how the boy is healed. The great jewel we seek is not far I think. In the morning we will use the boy to retrieve it, then we will kill him. If there is even a morning in this godforsaken place.”
“Kill the boy? But my lord what about the creature?”
“The creature…bring it to me. I will have its hide for experimentation. Be quick about it I have no wish to stay here longer. I will be in my chamber.”
Billy scrambled down the hall, he could hear the door opening for a moment then the voice calling to the torturer for some reason perhaps giving more instructions. They came to a junction. Geezer chittered indicating the opposite one Billy was going to take. He shrugged and stumbled down this hall there was very little light. He finally ran into a door almost knocking himself out. He was surprised to find the door locked from the inside with an odd wooden lever.
It took him a moment to figure it out then he slowly opened the door and was happy to find they were on a street. For some reason, he had thought they were below ground. The walls were extremely thick stone.
It was either early morning or early evening. He stood in the crack for a few minutes, thinking he might need a disguise. Finally, he stepped out and slid along the wall. There were no people about the place and it had the air of being long unused. Weeds were growing in the deserted street but when he brushed against them they crumbled.
He stepped out into a small courtyard. It was long abandoned but there were statues surrounding the yard. But these statues were in weird tormented stances as if frozen in mid-stride. Geezer sat on his shoulder, chittering. There was a huge statue of a man in robes standing on a pedestal in the center of the square he had a strange angular face with protruding eyes. In his hands was a staff of what looked like pure gold. Billy looked around. Odd. No sound, no birds, no wind, no living thing. The sky was an odd gray He looked down and there was a bird laying on the ground broken into pieces but he realized this was no statue this had been a bird in flight suddenly turned to stone.
"What the hell?" came out of his lips unconsciously. He walked to the center statue. The gray sky seemed to be emanating from the staff in the statues frozen hands. There was an eerie feeling about the place. The other statues seemed to be all different somehow. Different clothes different hairstyles there was a huge black man in what looked to be a lions skin there was what had to be a Viking his sword raised to do battle. He looked back at the center statue the golden staff had a crystalline stone of some kind embedded in the tip. He then realized it was strikingly similar staff to the one Uncle had been carrying lately. It must be the stone! The jewel so this would be Sanxingdui after all! So where was everyone where was Uncle and Brother Dog and all the rest and how had he gotten here?
There was a rustling in the shadows Geezer hissed near his ear. He stepped back. There was something odd in the air, slowly he drew his sword. It had a satisfying feeling. It was then that he realized the sword was glowing. On closer ins
pection, he realized there was a glowing pattern in hilt and blade. He stuck it back in the sheath terrified someone would see the strange glow.
The grayness coming from the end of the staff was like some kind of magic dome but to what purpose. To hold back what? He stood there listening. "What the hell?"
The view slipped for a moment. A flash green and leafy, as if he had flipped a channel back and forth. Just a glimpse. Geezer hissed very quietly. He turned slowly taking in the city. It was an ancient city dead trees everywhere, dry like there had been no rain for ions. No breeze. No light. Just this dimness. There was moss on all the stones, but it was brittle looking. The hissing again. He stepped back among the shadows of the smaller statues.
Geezer climbed to the top of his head looking all around nervously. There was a movement now out in the city something crashed. He jumped.
“Damn!” under his breath. There was a flurry of movement not far. He stepped back and tripped over something; something hissing. It was one of the people who had captured him lying in the dirt just outside the circle of statues. The hissing was coming from what was left of him. It looked like he had been ripped apart by something. Billy stepped back cautiously towards the inner statue. “What the hell!?”
More scurrying in the shadows. A voice a whisper “You are in danger.”
"Yeah, no kidding show yourself."
No reply.
“Damn it!” he whispered.
“Look closely my friend recognize,
Those are here look into their eyes
And you will have a great surprise.
You must take the staff alone,
Take it now and all are gone.
The staff will kill you.
You should know, but when it’s gone all else will go.
With its passing comes the light but it foretells the darkest night. ”
Suddenly Marcy stepped out of the shadows but she was followed by the most hideous creature he had ever seen.
"HOLY smokes!" He shouted. "Behind you!"
Then he realized her eyes seemed blank, somehow. He realized she couldn't see him.
“You must flee this Place!” she hissed
“Flee?” He said in a stage whisper “I don’t even know where I am?”
"Take the staff and it will be,
It will help you as you flee
The time is come be gone, be gone
I will see you again, anon.”
There was a strange glow and he looked up, it was the staff.
"Marcy, what the hell's wrong with you? Why you talking so funny. You sound like a freaking zombie he reached out to her but his hand passed through.
“Take the staff and run!” she said as if she was a recording. “Do not look back do not think of what chases you, or you will be lost but run, run, run, for your life! Strike the heart of the
Phoenix! Billy! Hear me! Go!"
He heard a crash as a door smashed open, men shouting he looked back and she was gone.
“What the hell?” He said turning around in the dim light he could see men scurrying about at the edge of the square, they were obviously afraid to enter the forest of frozen men.
"Shit," he said as he heard the familiar voice yelling at the men. There was a strange sensation in the air. Like anticipation.
"You watch my back." He said to Geezer. Something out of the darkness nudged him it was weird it was like a black ragged ghost had tried to knock him over.
He ran over to the statue, up onto the pedestal, and stepped onto the knee of the statue. As he grabbed for the staff something swooped down at him he had a vision of claws but they passed through him. Whatever it was, it disappeared for a moment and then appeared again, it seemed to be getting closer like it was a spirit trying to make itself real and solid. He had felt that last sweep of claws like cold air passing right through his skin.
Geezer hissed and jumped up clawing at something. There was a screech as his claws caught. A piece of nothing that floated to the ground and disappeared.
He finally managed to grab the staff and yanked. It moved a little. He climbed a little higher. The lower hand of the statue was closed around the shaft but the upper was slightly open. He would have to lift and pull. Which was going to be difficult from his precarious position!
A screeching split the air as something flew past. He tried to duck. Geezer’s claws caught something and he felt the little creature lift from his shoulder for a brief moment. Something screamed. He could hear more something’s in the air, like bats. He had heard bats many times growing up but this sounded like many, many bats.
He prepared himself then jumped shoving the staff out the statues grasp, as he yanked on it. He was suddenly falling backward as it came free. The breath was knocked out of him for a moment as he tumbled down and hit the ground with a thump and the clatter of the staff as it skittered across the pavement was loud in the silence. Then complete silence.
There was a sound like tearing cloth eerie in the gloom. Something strange began to happen. A statue near him began to move there was a strange crackling in the air. The statues around him seemed to be coming to life. They were beginning to turn toward him. Some looking hundreds of years old, all from different era's different places. Then he realized they were all here for the staff all caught in some spell as they tried to reach it. And removing the staff must release them. "Get him" a strange guttural voice shouted, "The staff to the staff!"
Billy grabbed the staff just as a clawed hand reached for it. His hand and the claws clamped on it at the same moment. He yanked hard and a strange gnarled creature came flying with it. The body slammed into him and they struggled for a moment, then Geezer was on the creature clawing and biting it. For a second it released its hold on the staff. Billy spun away and jumped to his feet, and ran for his life.
Arrows flashed past him, an ax flew by, just inches from his head, but shattered against a stone wall. Geezer was back on his shoulder chittering like a crazed monkey. He could hear voices and screaming behind him. Sounds of a battle. He tried not to look back but he fell and for an instant, he saw a strange tableau of warriors of every shape and size and seeming every culture were scrambling to chase him.
He jumped to his feet, and quickly realized he was running deeper into the strange city but it was different, changing! The gray sky had disappeared. There was light from a thousand stars.
The end of the staff was glowing as he ran, brighter and brighter. There was an answering light ahead. An arrow flashed past him and skittered across the stone path ahead of him.
“Stop or die!” Someone was yelling.
“Run! Don't look back!” came almost in his ear, startling him.
Something from out of a nightmare fluttered beside him, it was almost upon him. He had a flash of a blonde girl on the back of a strange spider creature jumping through the air a strange crystal blade in her hand stabbing at a weird, night-thing that was pursuing him.
It was Marcy. But this Marcy was feral, nothing like the one he had known back home. She was fighting and stabbing with the strange knife like a crazed animal riding a horrid monster like the ones who had attacked them in the battle with the emperor’s men. She was screaming at him to run.
There was a light ahead. It looked like one of the Chinese symbols for the Phoenix he had seen before. Just then something caught at his legs he stumbled and fell. He swung the staff around and it hit something that screamed! There was a flash the strange creature turned to stone. He got up and ran with all his might toward the now glowing symbol.
Adrenaline was pumping through his veins. He caught glimpses of battles being fought all around him by creatures he didn't recognize. Strange twisted things that seemed to be fighting driving him on. He wanted to look but the memory of the statues in the garden made him realize he too could be turned to stone.
The symbol was only steps away now he raised the staff in the air and struck the glowing symbol as something from behind him tumbled through the air. He saw the
weird battle behind him. Marcy was astride a strange spider creature with a sword of what seemed to be glowing crystal.
She was fighting with some horrible creature that was trying to crawl through a rift that was in the sky. He saw the flaming phoenix symbol hanging in the air and he remembered the strange rhyme he had heard before. He jumped with all his might and swung the staff at the center of the glowing symbol and was shocked as he realized he was being pulled by some strange force. He closed his eyes as he hurtled through the flaming Phoenix. He tried to yell at Marcy, a flash then darkness.
22 Endgame?
H
e was sitting alone, in what appeared to be a grassy field under a starlit sky. He was shaking. He looked around, no Marcy, no Gary, and no monsters. He heard bleating from not far away. He had a bad feeling.
"Well buddy," he said to geezer as he looked around the fields of grain. "I don't think we are in China anymore." But he realized, there was no sign of Geezer either. He felt odd warmth in his side, it was a strange feeling. He lifted his shirt there was a large brown scar. "Darn it," he said as he rubbed the spot. “Geezer. I need you.”
The bleating was getting closer. He stood up and walked listlessly over the hill toward the sound.
“Awe man!” He thought “Where the heck am I now?”
As expected he came upon a flock of sheep. A dog barked somewhere. There was a campfire burning at the bottom of the slope, someone called. “Who goes there? Identify yourself. Friend or Foe?”
He stood there a moment trying to think about a proper answer and an arrow thudded into the ground in front of him.
“Friend, Friend!” He shouted, all thought of diplomacy gone.
“Show yourself then,” The voice said. He stepped tentatively into the campfire light.
There was a gasp. “It is him!” someone shouted. “It is him! Praise to the gods. The Staff-bringer is here. It is foretold that he would come out of the darkness carrying the Jewel of Nirune on a staff of gold it is him.”
The Jewel of Nirune (The Sword of Time Book 1) Page 28
