“That it is,” said Anaxis. “But I’m going to do it.”
Anaxis swallowed the potion from Maleira’s bottle and immediately started to swoon and buckle at the knees.
“Quickly, to the gate!” Maleira said, taking the faltering boy by the hand.
He led Anaxis into the shadow, where he picked up a handful of dirt and tossed it forward. The dust flashed red where it passed through the invisible gate.
“There it is. Forward now,” Maleira said. “Into the unknown!”
As Anaxis’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and his tongue began to loll from his mouth, Maleira felt for a pulse on his neck. When he could not detect one, he heaved Anaxis through the gate. His body was illuminated with sparkling red energy for a brief second as he fell, and then his body hit the ground on the other side with a hard thud.
“He’s dead!” Mills cried, beside himself with grief.
“That’s the point,” said Maleira.
“So now what?” Mills asked in anguish.
“Now we wait. Three days,” Maleira answered.
“We just sit here and wait?”
“That’s right,” Maleira said, settling down into a cross-legged position.
“For three days?” Mills asked.
“Exactly,” Maleira answered. He went into his water-proof satchel and got out a candle, which he lit with a match, then removed a small book from his satchel as well.
“You’re going to read?” Mills asked.
“Yes,” Maleira answered.
“Well, do you have anything else to read?”
“I do, in fact. Here,” Maleira answered, tossing a book from his satchel to Mills.
“What is it?” Mills asked.
“Why don’t you read it and find out?”
Mills sat down hard on the thin layer of sand dusting the cave floor, muttering curses at Maleira and his situation. “He’d better get back up,” he said.
“He will,” Maleira said, not raising an eye from his reading.
“He’d better,” Mills repeated.
After a few hours, Maleira offered Mills something to eat.
“Thanks, Mills said reluctantly, taking the dry nourishment stick from Maleira and crunching into it. “It’s awful.”
“You’re welcome,” Maleira said. “There’s plenty more where that came from.”
“Great.” He looked over at Anaxis’s body and then beyond it. “So no one’s ever been in there?”
“Not in recorded time, no.”
“What do you think the mothership looks like?”
“I know it’s enormous. I know it took much effort to bury it. A lot of energy. Energy that could have been spent on more important things.”
“It’s going to get really dark down here when the sun goes down.”
“I imagine it will.”
“Will it get colder?”
“Maybe it will seem that way. But I doubt the temperature will actually change much.”
“Well,” Mills sighed. “You got any more of those sticks?”
“I thought you said it was awful?”
“I’m still hungry.”
“We could try and catch some cave worms. I bet they’d be tasty, cooked over a fire.”
“Disgusting, Maleira.”
“What sort of thing did you eat in the desert back home?”
“Not worms, that’s for sure. We have manal, and cradgraw, and looktra. Lots of things. Cannar. Well, most of the time we have cannar.”
“Huh,” Maleira said. “I thought it was much harder in the desert.”
“It wasn’t hard at all,” Mills said. “The hardest part was dealing with how little there was to do. Really, with how easy it all was. How fixed things were. How routine. But it wasn’t a struggle. Not a struggle against nature, anyways. We figured it out a long time ago.”
“I suppose that’s much like my life in Gnirean,” Maleira said. “Easy to the point of hardship.”
“And if Anaxis can start up this communicator, or whatever, would that really make things better? If the people of Alm came back?”
“Well, it would make things different. Which I suppose is the best thing that can happen to people like you and I, right? Stasis is worse than death.”
“I hope it works. Because this was a lot of work for nothing, if it doesn’t. Coming all the way here, and everything.”
“Would you rather have stayed home?”
Mills thought for a second. “No, I guess not,” he said.
“So it’s a good thing for you in any outcome. Right?”
“I guess. As long as Anaxis is okay.”
“I can say with near certainty that he will be.”
“I hope so,” Mills said, looking back at his motionless friend. “I really hope so.”
That night was eerily quiet, with only the noise of the flowing river to fill the thoughts of Maleira and Mills. The next two days were just as quiet, and once they had finished their books, they traded and then finished the others. They made up a game that had a convoluted set of rules, which they argued over for lack of anything better to do. The appearance of a family of hairy trei proved the greatest excitement as they waited for Anaxis to awake. The two chased the trei up and down the cave until they were exhausted, which felt good and was welcome, with the anxiety of waiting bearing so heavily on their minds.
When they awoke after a long sleep, it was finally the third day. The two waited with great anticipation, staring at Anaxis’s body and waiting for him to rouse from his little death.
“I think he’s moving!” said Mills, jumping up from his seat in the sand.
“Are you sure?” asked Maleira, rising up more slowly.
“Yes, see? His leg?”
“Yes! Oh, thank goodness!” Maleira said.
“You say that like you thought he might not,” said Mills.
“It was always a possibility,” said Maleira.
“Always a possibility? I thought you said it was certain to work!”
“Yes, well, you know,” Maleira said, waiving Mills away. “Anaxis!” he called through the invisible gate.
Anaxis’s legs twitched, and his arms started to move, then they went still again.
“Anaxis!” Mills shouted. “Hey, buddy, get up!”
Anaxis was still for a short while, then he started to twitch again.
“How long is this going to take?” Mills asked Maleira.
“I don’t know,” he answered. “Not long, I don’t think.”
“Hey, Anax,” Mills said. “You’re waking up! Anax!”
Anaxis rolled over slowly in the dirt and groaned.
“Come on, Anax, you can do it!” Mills called to him.
Anaxis moaned something unintelligible.
“What did he say?” Mills asked.
“Something about kaflargen, I think,” answered Maleira.
“Kaflargen isn’t a thing,” Mills said. “Anaxis! Hey! Wake up, buddy!”
Anaxis rolled over twice, onto his belly and then back onto his back.
“I feel awful,” he said.
“Great!” Mills said. “Oh, it’s great to hear your voice!”
“Why are you shouting?” Anaxis asked, staring up at the cave ceiling.
“Just trying to wake you up, Anax,” answered Mills, lowering his voice. “You doing okay?”
“I just said I feel awful,” answered Anaxis.
“But you’re alive!” Mills said. “We were so worried.”
“I wasn’t worried,” said Maleira.
“Well, you should have been,” said Mills.
Anaxis pulled himself up into a sitting position.
“How long was I out?” he asked.
“Three days, as planned,” answered Maleira. “If it had been any longer, then I would have started to worry.”
“What did the two of you do while you were waiting?” asked Anaxis, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands.
“Not much,” Mills answered. “Made up a new game. Bu
t it’s terrible.”
“Sounds fun,” Anaxis said.
“Do you think you can stand up?” Maleira asked him.
“I don’t know. Guess I can try,” Anaxis answered.
He pushed with locked arms off the ground, rose a bit, and then fell over face-first into the dirt.
“No,” he said with his face half-pressed to the ground, “I don’t think I can get up quite yet.”
“Keep working at it,” said Maleira. “You’ve got to try.”
“Okay,” Anaxis said from the ground. “I’ll try again.”
He rolled over onto his side and tried to use his momentum to stand up at the end of the roll. There wasn’t enough energy there, though, and so he rocked back the other way instead, with all four limbs in the air.
“Not quite, buddy,” said Mills.
“I am aware,” Anaxis said. “Okay. Here we go.”
He rolled to the left, then back to the right, then back to the left, each time further, until he finally rolled hard enough to plant himself onto the ground in a crawling position.
“Alright,” he said. “That’s something.”
“Now you just have to make it the rest of the way,” said Mills.
“Right,” said Anaxis. “Just have to make it the rest of the way…”
He tried to push himself hard enough off the ground to where he would be kneeling, but couldn’t get more than a little bit off the ground, despite his hardest efforts. After more or less bouncing lightly on his outstretched arms for a good while, he tried a new approach: he crawled over to the wall of the cave, and began walking up it with his hands. Eventually, he reached a point where he could pull himself up into a standing position by grabbing hold of the rock. When he reached his full height, he let go of the wall, tipped slowly over backwards, and fell.
“Didn’t quite make it, buddy,” said Mills.
“Thanks for the commentary, Mills,” Anaxis said from the ground. “Okay. This time I’ve got it.”
He rolled over to all fours again, then walked himself up the wall with his hands. When he was standing, he turned around quickly, and fell back into the rock so that he was leaning on it.
“Well,” he said, “At least I’m up. As soon as I can feel my legs, I’ll try walking.”
“Excellent,” said Maleira. “You’re doing quite well.”
“Funny, I don’t feel that way,” said Anaxis.
“It’s won’t be far from where you’re standing, or, leaning, or whatever it is, good job, until you’ve reached the mothership,” said Maleira.
“And when I get there?” Anaxis said.
“You just need implant the amulet.”
“Where?”
“That I don’t know,” said Maleira.
“You don’t. And how big is this mothership?”
“Oh, quite large. It brought dozens to our planet when it first arrived,” said Maleira. “With many, many supplies.”
“So it’s quite large but you have no idea where I’m to implant the tiny key?” asked Anaxis.
“That’s right. But I trust you’ll figure it out!” said Maleira.
“Ugh,” Anaxis sighed. “Good thing I don’t have the energy to be upset. Alright. Well. So the two of you are just going to wait here until I accomplish whatever exactly I’m expected to accomplish?”
“We don’t need to,” said Maleira. “Would you like us to?”
“Hey, wait, how am I getting back out?” asked Anaxis. “Do I have to die again?”
“Yes,” Maleira answered.
“Swell,” said Anaxis. “Well, you two don’t have to wait for me. But I’d appreciate it.”
“I’ll wait, buddy,” said Mills. “I’m sorry I didn’t come in there with you to begin with.”
“No worries,” Anaxis said. “Nothing we can do about it now. Alright. Let’s see how I can move.”
With a strange locomotion, he was able to move from the wall into the middle of the cave.
“Excellent!” Maleira said. “You’re doing so well!”
“Right,” said Anaxis. “Okay. I’m off to do the thing. See you two soon. Or, however long it takes. I guess.”
“Good luck, Anax!” Mills called. “You can do it!”
Anaxis smiled and said, “I’ll try.”
Not long after leaving Mills and Maleira waiting at the gate, Anaxis passed through a massive carving that encircled the cave tunnel, one in the shape of an open mouth that seemed to devour him as he walked through it. Vines and roots began breaking through the walls of the cave tunnel the further he went, and eventually a light started to emanate from somewhere down the way.
“Stay calm,” Anaxis told himself. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
He continued telling himself this as the light at the end of the tunnel grew brighter. Eventually, it became clear that the light was coming down from aboveground, through what proved to be larger and larger fractures in the cave ceiling. The greenery falling through the holes became more full and lush, until Anaxis had to use his hands to part the way through the thick growth drapery.
This went on for some time, until Anaxis pulled back one particularly thick vine curtain to reveal the enormous space beyond the tunnel, by far the largest subterranean chamber he had encountered in his journey thus far. Occupying the middle of the chamber, hit by shafts of glowing yellow light from above, was the mothership he had come looking for. The thing was enormous, larger than anything Anaxis had ever seen that wasn’t a mountain. It was rusted and corroded on much of its outside, but some patches of it were still the matte silver color that the whole ship had once been. It was ovular with a flat bottom, and had two huge cylinders on either side. Windows ran around the middle section of the ship, massive ones, as big as the buildings above in Gnirean. Some of the windows were broken in places, but never completely shattered, and thick trees grew out the windows on different levels of the ship. Birds were in the trees and flying about the cave, thousands of them, of myriad species. The ship was so overgrown with greenery and busy with life, it almost didn’t seem out of place in the cave, despite being like nothing else Anaxis had ever seen.
Anaxis approached the ship slowly, not out of caution but awe. The closer he got to it, the more massive it seemed. The rounded surface rose above him as he moved underneath it, searching for a way to enter the ancient machine.
A river flowed underneath the ship, tumbling down alongside Anaxis in waterfalls and rapids as he walked through the mud searching for a way in. The ship seemed so heavy where it sat, Anaxis couldn’t quite believe that it ever had flown.
A large section of the hull had rusted out where the river ran beneath it for the past thousands of years, and it was through this hole that Anaxis was able to enter the ship, hopping up over boulders that sat in the middle of the river into its lowest levels.
There were hundreds of broken crates over which Anaxis had to climb as he made his way upwards. Most of them were covered in dirt and small, scrubby plant growth. Large insects crawled over the moss and soil, scattering when the newcomer to their environment came near.
Through a tight hatch Anaxis reached the first level of the ship. It was tall and wide, though little light penetrated for Anaxis to see with. He smacked a flare on his hand to activate it, and the purple light lit up the huge room with a flickering glow. Anaxis searched around what must have once been the supply hold for where he might enter onto the second floor, but found nothing immediately, and so he proceeded into the shadows.
As he made his way through the ship, his flare illuminated faded writing on the walls. It was so strange, that the words were in the same language he had known his whole life. As if the ship was the birthplace of language, of knowledge. As if the ship was the mother of Valor, and the most ancient thing on its surface. And yet the fact that it was a spaceship, something so advanced, made it seem from the far future at the same time. Passing the ancient words from another planet in a language he already knew made Anaxis feel at once more
connected to his past, the future, and the universe itself.
It was overcrowded and barely visible, but eventually Anaxis came to a staircase. He climbed up over the refuse blocking its passage and started up, again, over metal stairs that creaked and groaned as he ascended. The stairs stopped at no other floor for many flights, and when Anaxis, much winded, finally reached another exit, he had reached the main floor of the mothership.
The huge windows at the other end of the room let in a lot of the light from the surface, and as such the space was where most of the birds who called the ship home lived. There were so many birds and they had so transformed the space to be their own that it could best be described as an aviary. The flocks made such noise together that it was almost unpleasant, especially after Anaxis had been in the silence of the caves for so many days.
“I have no idea where to begin with this place,” he said to himself. “I’m pretty sure this room is as large as all of Talx put together.”
His flare had burned out by this point, but instead of lighting another from his limited supply, he let his eyes grow accustomed to the diminished light and then started toward the windows at the front of the ship, where there seemed to be a helm of sorts.
There were moldy chairs covered in bird droppings all over the floor of the main level of the ship, around broken tables that were covered in more droppings and pieces of busted ship that had fallen through the pocked ceiling above. Occasional plant islands rose up from the floor, over shelves, or a bar here, or a library there. It was hard for Anaxis to imagine the space clear for those who had once occupied the ship, who stared out the huge windows at the cosmos as they waited for their new home planet to appear.
After waving off an angry mother bird trying to protect its nest, Anaxis came to a long information terminal, one which wrapped its way around the front of the ship in front of the windows. The terminal was heavily encrusted with droppings, but occasionally Anaxis could see through them to the words underneath, which, when pieced together, seemed to point towards the possibility that the key might be inserted nearby.
Anaxis walked alongside the waist-high information panel, scraping off waste and trying to find just where exactly his key might go. Eventually he surprised himself when he opened a small hatch to find the place where a key was supposed to fit, in the very foremost terminal of the egg-shaped ship.
Legend of Alm -The Valor Saga Pt 1 - Falling Star Page 18
