by Roy Huff
“If you harm them again, Oldrik, I’ll smack you around myself and leave you in the cage to eat the rotting flesh until we decide what to do with you.”
Oldrik grumbled and turned away from the general.
CHAPTER 13:
DEATH’S DOORSTEP
Drusilla and Owen had barely made it back to the university before Owen had gotten a call from Jack saying that Dante was in bad shape.
“Driver, sorry, but can you take us to the hospital?” Owen asked.
“You got it, sir.”
Drusilla had heard Owen speaking on the phone and knew Dante wasn’t doing so well. “Do you think he’s going to make it?” she asked.
“I don’t know, Drusilla. This happened last time, but it’s not over, not yet anyway.”
Anika and Zee were still at Professor Samil’s funeral. Anika knew about Dante, but she was riding with Zee, and all the people who wanted to give him their condolences were making it difficult for them to leave. After waiting another ten minutes and talking with a few more faculty and friends, they were able to sneak off to the car and leave for the hospital.
Anika fidgeted in her seat all the way to the hospital. The tears from the funeral weren’t even dry before she had started shedding new ones for Dante. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her throat fared even worse. She thought to herself that the university had seen enough death, and it was time for something good to happen.
Zee and Anika arrived to a crowd of friends and family, many of who they had just seen at the professor’s funeral. The doctor had just left, and by the look on Jack’s face, things did not bode well for Dante’s recovery. Jack approached Anika and Owen.
“He’s not doing so well. The doctor says she doesn’t think he’s going to last through the night. I think you guys need to prepare for the worst.”
“No! This is not going to happen. Dante’s going to make it!” exclaimed Anika.
She walked back to the seating area and quietly talked with Owen.
“You don’t think this is because of the other beetle you guys squashed do you?” she asked.
“Anika, this happened last time when the first object was destroyed, but it had to be done. It’s now up to The Keeper and the Fron in Everville to destroy the collector. If they can do it soon, I think Dante will be okay.”
“You think?” Anika asked with a mix of sadness and anger in her voice.
Owen could think of no words at the moment to reassure her, so he put his arms around her and let her cry on his shoulder.
In The Keeper’s Workshop, The Keeper knew the situation had to be grave, but all he could do was wait. He reached into the mind of Sako and urged him to hurry. Sako asked Felix to take the dagger and travel as quickly as possible with Grenmar through the Deep Woods until they reached Everville.
Grenmar was more than eager to travel faster, but after Felix was tossed to the ground and hit several tree branches, they settled at a swift but slightly slower pace.
Felix held on to both Grenmar’s furry head and the dagger in his hand as tight as he could, but the constant barrage of twigs and leaves that smacked him in his face made it difficult. Felix wanted to close his eyes, but he was afraid that if he did that, it would be even more dangerous.
They picked up speed and continued at a frantic pace. Felix needed to duck larger branches that appeared to grow increasingly frequent as they got closer and closer to their destination.
It was one branch too many. Felix ran straight into a low-hanging branch and dropped to the ground like a stone. Grenmar picked him up and placed him back on his back and continued hopping along at the same ferocious speed.
At last, the trees started to thin and the branches dwindled in number. They were nearly there and not a moment too soon.
“Nurse, bring the crash cart!” the doctor shouted.
Several nurses had rushed into Dante’s room. Dante was lying there on the bed unconscious and unresponsive. Tubes protruded from different orifices of his body. His face was clammy and the EKG had been in a persistent flatline for the last couple of minutes.
“Clear!”
Nothing.
“Again. Clear!”
Still nothing.
“Again. Clear!”
The process continued for several minutes. One of the nurses looked over to the doctor and asked, “Are you about ready to call it?”
“Clear!”
Grenmar made one last hop and Felix ran to The Keeper’s Workshop. The Keeper reached down, plucked the dagger from Felix’s hand and lifted it to the level of his head as he prepared to shatter the collector.
The collector was made of glass, but it had flaws that gave it a speckled appearance, and was cloudy, unlike the objects that held the element on The Keeper’s shelves in his workshop.
The Keeper grimaced as he thrust the dagger into the collector and cracked the case. He took the dagger and continued stabbing the larger shards of glass until they were nothing but half-inch sized pieces. He asked Felix to take what was left of the pieces and throw them into the furnace.
Felix walked outside The Keeper’s Workshop and hurried off to the furnace that was about a hundred yards off. It was a small, black cast-iron furnace with a large tube that went to the surface. Felix tossed in the remaining shards and watched as they melted into the yellow and orange flames above the hot coals.
“Clear!”
Dante’s eye’s opened. The sound of the EKG quieted as his pulse returned.
“Wait! Look. He’s awake!”
Dante stared at the medical personnel standing over him, not sure what was happening. The doctor and nurses checked his brain function and other measurements. He was completely within the normal range for every measure. They were stunned into silence.
After a few more minutes of checking Dante’s vitals, the doctor left him and approached the waiting room.
“Well, I don’t know how to explain it other than to say that Dante appears to have made a complete recovery. His brain functions are completely normal, his vitals are stable, and every measurement seems to be within the healthy range. We want to keep him overnight and run some more tests to make sure that he remains stable, but if everything checks out, I don’t see any reason why he can’t leave tomorrow.
“Now, I still want him to take it easy and not overexert himself, and he should make sure to eat a healthy diet, but it appears he has dodged whatever bullet caused him to fall into the coma in the first place.”
Jack approached the crowd that had gathered and said, “He’s awake, and it looks like he might even be able to come home as early as tomorrow.”
The room erupted into cheers and animated conversation. Anika and Owen gave each other a big hug and turned to Jack.
“Thank God,” Anika said.
“That’s fantastic news!” Owen said.
“Doctor, when can he have visitors?” Anika asked as she walked towards the doctor.
“I want to keep a careful watch over him for the next hour or so, and then if he continues to remain stable, he should be able to have visitors shortly after that.”
Everyone in the waiting room was relieved, and it showed on their faces. Drusilla and Owen’s blood pressure had risen due to their near run-in with the law at Jacob’s place, so it was even more of a relief to hear the great news.
Something else was happening. Several other families had rushed into the waiting room, and the nurses had called the doctor back to other areas of the hospital that housed long term care patients. From the looks on their faces, it was good news. It was soon apparent that Dante wasn’t the only one who had awoken from a coma. At least half a dozen other patients who had been there for decades had woken up, all completely normal. These were the people who had lost consciousness in the earlier attempt to stop Them from overtaking Everville, the same attempt that resulted in Dala’s death. It was a sight to behold, the exact opposite scene of the funeral earlier that morning.
The expression on Zee’s face t
urned from one of cheer to that of irritation. Drusilla walked over to Zee and whispered, “I’m sorry, Zee. I know you wish this could have been your father.”
It was little comfort. The irritation was compounded by the fact that the same thing was happening over and over again to complete strangers. It just didn’t seem fair.
Over the next hour, the crowd that had been waiting for Dante thinned a bit, but there were still enough people to completely fill the room once the doctor gave the go ahead to let the visitors in.
When Anika walked into Dante’s room and saw his eyes open, she couldn’t help herself. She rushed over to his bed, gave him a big squeeze, and said, “Dante, I’m so glad you’re okay. I don’t know what we would have done if you didn’t make it.”
“The same goes for me, Dante,” Owen said.
Similar discussions went on for a while with several of his friends and family, and after an hour or so, most people had left. Only Drusilla, Zee, Anika, Owen, and Dante’s family remained.
“I’m glad you came out of it, Dante. A lot’s happened since you’ve been out of it, and we have a lot to talk about,” Owen said.
“I look forward to hearing all about it.”
The nurse came in and said, “It’s getting well past visiting hours, so unless you are immediate family, please wrap it up.”
“Okay, Dante, we’ll come see you in the morning and talk some more. Hopefully you can come home then.”
“I hope so too, Anika.”
CHAPTER 14:
OLDRIK
Oldrik watched the giants from inside the bone cage high above the ground. The sight of his followers now made him want to throw up out of sheer hatred for their perceived worthlessness. General Varrick looked at Oldrik with an expression that threatened action if Oldrik made any stupid moves, but after he felt certain the former Keeper would behave, the general returned his attention to studying some of the maps that were on the table in front of him.
Oldrik reached out to Them once more and made a connection. His resolve to keep the secret in his mind continued to weaken, and Them felt that it would only be a matter of time before Oldrik allowed access to the hidden knowledge.
Oldrik asked for the assistance of the armies of Them a second time, but the destruction of the collector and the loss of Elmer, who had been forgiven for his betrayal, had both significantly weakened the breach. Them needed to wait and see the fallout from the destruction of the collector, especially since Them’s forces had been dealt a great blow twice in such a short amount of time. Oldrik would have to remain locked up in his cage for at least a little while longer.
After General Varrick returned to his study, The Keeper appeared to him once more. “Varrick, the moment that I have long feared is drawing near. With the destruction of the collector, a minor victory has been won, but I sense that Oldrik is ready to divulge the great secret. If he does, you will need to prepare your armies. Our greatest battle yet may soon await us in The City of Worms.”
“Keeper, our armies have been preparing with great diligence. We have made enormous strides even in the short time since the battle of the Fron. In spite of the losses we suffered to The Other In Between and the battle of the Fron, our armies have been fortified, our weapons have improved, and our access to the other realms is nearly complete. It may be possible that we not only win the battle, but perhaps put an end to this war once and for all.”
“General, you have indeed made great strides, and your armies will prove an invaluable asset in the battles that loom, but the Great War will never be over. So long as the darkness remains in the heart of a single living creature, the constant struggle, the eternal struggle will continue. We can only hope to stave off the return of darkness for another day. Until then, we must appreciate the bounty we have been fortunate enough to receive and revel in the camaraderie for which our people are known.”
“As always, Keeper, your wisdom is great. I will await your instructions and ready our armies.”
The Keeper then entered the mind of Oldrik.
“Oldrik, you have one last chance to turn from the darkness. With your assistance we can hold back the armies of Them for a great while longer. Will you join us or will you join with Them?” The Keeper said as Oldrik laughed.
“It has become clear to me that the great decision we made many years ago was the wrong one. The powers that threaten our realm from beyond the borderlands are greater than anything we have ever faced. If we don’t shore up our power now, we may never be able to recover. It’s better to embrace the darkness that we know than to be unprepared for that which we do not.”
“I cannot express the disappointment that I have in you right now, Oldrik. The evils we face in anytime, in anywhere, whether now and then, or time and again, will always be the same. As a Keeper, you should know that better than anyone. I still cannot fathom how you have deluded yourself into believing the great lie. You once glimpsed one of the great Pillars of Truth in the multiverse, but now you have let your arrogance be your downfall. How ironic.”
Oldrik broke off the connection that The Keeper had made and instead merged with the mind of Them. Them now had full access to Oldrik’s mind. The great decision had always been known, but the particulars were what mattered. The secret had been locked away since the beginning, even when Oldrik had first betrayed The Keeper.
Now that the collector was destroyed, the only storehouse of power that remained, at least for those with a dark heart, was that which lay hidden deep within The City of Worms. Its method and its location were what mattered, not the city itself, which was already known. It was the location of the worms which held the power, and the method by which they stored and spent that power, that was important.
In every respect, Oldrik had given himself over to the darkness. He had one more transformation. The instant Them retrieved the knowledge, Oldrik’s body dissolved and melted away. It oozed off the cage and dripped to the floor. Only Oldrik’s non-corporeal essence remained. Black smoke stood in place of where his body once had. Oldrik was now a ghost of his former self. His followers watched as the smoke blew away through the cage and up to the surface above the sinkhole and out over the brutal desert. Oldrik was now one of Them. The black smoke vanished as Oldrik’s essence was consumed by Them. He was no longer an individual being, he had become part of the mindless horde from which Them were composed.
Back at the hospital, Dante’s room had emptied and he was alone with his thoughts. Images flashed in front of him, a memory, but just a snippet of one. He tried to hold on to it, but as he tried, it vanished. He closed his eyes and attempted to retrieve it, but it couldn’t be forced. He had to let it go for the time being.
The flash of a memory interrupted his train of thought. Dante had been pondering what his Uncle Jack had told him regarding the Fron battle, Everville, Zee, and now the collector. It was a lot to take in.
In spite of all the happenings, an urge had been growing in him ever since he’d awakened. It couldn’t be stopped; it was a force that Dante had always had to deal with and was a constant source of discussion between Anika and Owen. It was Dante’s stomach.
Feeding tubes may have provided Dante with the nutrients that he needed to survive, but his body was missing flavor. Anika or Owen would have brought him some food if his situation hadn’t happened so fast. Dante, however, was not so lucky. He would have to make do with the tray the nurse had left by his bed, which had since grown cold. Still, it was better than nothing, and Dante used the fork to shovel in the corn, mashed potatoes, and scary-looking meatloaf that rested on his plate.
Meanwhile, Cleophas had been at his home searching for answers that had now been resolved, but in the process he had uncovered something else. It had to do with the souls of those who had been trapped in the state of unconsciousness resulting from the makeshift collector.
“I know it’s here somewhere,” Cleophas said to himself as he tossed aside clothes that littered the floor. His room was a train wreck. In his
search for a solution to help Dante, he had overturned every inch of his home looking for notes, clues, and objects that he was then unable to find. There was one item in particular that he was looking for, but it was nowhere to be found. He’d known where it was mere moments earlier, but he was unable to grasp the memory that was now fading.
Cleophas had notified Owen and the other members of the Echo Club that they would resume their meetings shortly after the university was back in session, but Dante’s recovery and the need to find the missing clue had convinced him to delay the meeting a while longer. He went to his computer and sent out the delay notifications to the members of the club, then sat there for a moment hoping his subconscious might find the solution while he was doing other things.
Cleophas needed to find what he was looking for, and soon, but it had been a crazy day, and his body was spent. Whatever it was he was looking for would have to wait a while longer.
CHAPTER 15:
THE NEXT DAY
Anika and Owen stood by the steps of the dorm and watched as Dante’s Uncle Jack pulled into the driveway. The instant they saw Dante in the back seat, they rushed towards the car.
“I’m so happy, Owen. I just can’t believe it. Dante’s back, and more important than that, he’s safe. I was so worried there for a while that he was never gonna to come out of it.”
“I know, and I think we’re a little bit lucky. Just think of all those people that had the same thing happen to their friends and family who are just now getting them back after a couple of decades. Not to mention the fact that Cleophas and Zee will never get that chance.”
“You’re absolutely right, Owen, and you know what else? We need to throw a party to celebrate Dante’s return from the hospital.”
“A party? What kind of party are we talking about here, and don’t you think that might be a little bit insensitive so soon after Professor Samil’s funeral?”
