As they get wrapped up in the gold deeper and deeper they have no idea that the One who is Many has them right where he wants. Stick with me through,
Chapter Five
“What, does it piss rain 24, 7 around these parts?” Jack asks come morning, Breaker nods,
“This is the rain forest.” Breaker explains,
“Well, don’t it need sun too?” He asks and they all laugh.
They go about their morning business mostly in silence, while packing their own bags and supplies getting ready for the hike back in. Kelly handles the explosives, as they are his baby, they are his responsibility. And so it is up to the rest of the others, to split up the remaining gear, and the beer. They eat breakfast, bullshitting away as usual; Breaker and Jack are at it again, arguing,
“Bull-shit!” Jack is saying, “If it wasn’t for the oil industry, we wouldn’t have the permanent fund.”
“And if the oil companies were paying us what they should, we would all be as rich as Saudi’s. All Alaskans would be millionaires, but that isn’t and the worst part. Not only are they raping the North Slope for trillions, they are destroying the water table, and the environment. And they won’t pay a single dime in reparations remember, just like you said, I will fuck you like Exxon.”
“Oh, is that where all this is coming from, just because you didn’t get any of that reparation money?”
“Nobody did asshole,”
“Bullshit I read that checks were sent out.”
“That’s true, but it was a fraction of what it should have been, but just what they’re doing is even worse.” Breaker says.
“And what’s that?” Jack bites.
“Look, it doesn’t take a Ph.D. to know, that if you let the pressure out of a bicycle tire, it deflates and sinks down, if you release the pressure off the tectonic plates of the earth, they settle, and go down as well, its estimated that there is at least one earthquake a day here in Alaska. Coincidence, I think not?”
“Oh fuck you.” Jack says, “They have been pumping pressurized sea water in the wells, for years now, and that’ll keep pressure on your precious, tectonic plates.”
“Come on,” Breaker says, “what, would you empty all the oil out of your car engine and replace it with salt water and go driving around?”
“Fuck, that isn’t even remotely similar.”
“And why not, the earth needs lubrication too.”
“Dude, it sounds like you need lubrication.” They all laugh hysterically, and Breaker shrugs and continues to eat his breakfast, unamused,
“Go ahead, laugh, were all going to die.”
“Shit skipper, we’re all going to die anyway.” Kelly says in condolence.
“Yeah,” Jace says smiling, “maybe sooner than we think.” Breaker laughs,
“Well that peps me up a bit.” Breaker must say, and they all laugh with him. After breakfast they don their rain gear and load the scow quickly, all of them lost in their own thoughts of personal glory. On the beach, they plod along through the rain in silence, using only hand and eye commands. They are getting used to their pecking order, and the rain actually lets up a bit, as they near camp. They haven’t seen or heard anything through the thick rain, but none of them give it much thought, they are getting used to the eerie silence of this place. They all shed their rain gear and climb up to the hammock upon arrival, to get under the tarp, and dry off a bit. Have a beer and smoke. Walter loads the bowl and offers it to Breaker,
“Smoke with me?” He asks. Breaker smiles and reaches out and Walter hands the pipe and lighter to him and says, “You been pretty quiet lately, what’s going on?” Everyone listens in. Breaker merely smiles and lights the pipe. He passes it to Kelly and leans back, exhaling, he coughs and takes the beer Walter hands him, and he cracks it open and drinks from it, then burps out a cloud of smoke. They all laugh in unison.
Good times. A-gain.
“Are you boys ready to get rich?” He asks them finally, and naturally they smile and nod and agree you’re fucking a, we are! “Then we play this thing real smart, we do it my way. We stick together, teams of two, at minimum; no one will ever be alone on this trip, ever, do you all got that?” They all agree in seriousness. “Good, then, let’s eat a bit, smoke, and then we go do some blasting!” He raises his beer. The others join him, and they drink and laugh as the rain continues pissing down, like it has nothing better to do.
Breaker unwraps a bundle to reveal his twin katanas, he unties them carefully and straps the sheathes to his back pack,
“Brought the pig stickers hunh?” Jace asks, Breaker nods and Jace shakes his head as if to ask why,
“I haven’t been working out much,” Breaker answers, “thought I might do a little slice and dice on some of the local scrub.”
“By that, do you mean some of the local, little men?”
“You shouldn’t speak to them in the woods.”
“Why, afraid I might chum ‘em up?” Jace slaps him on the arm, Breaker smiles and looks skyward, laughing and shrugging. Jace has the initial impulse to laugh, but suddenly he doesn’t feel like it. Now it’s his turn to glance around, his hackles sticking up the bit. Breaker says nothing and starts loading his pack,
“Okay lads, time to lock and load.” And with that simple order they begin the next phase of this trip. Get the gold out of the mountain phase. Get out safely will be next, and final phase. They finish loading their bags, and scramble down from the hammock donning their rain gear again, and take off through the rain, on the same trail that they had taken in the day before, and they take a break at the same place the Jack had crapped out the day before as well, he flops down in the same spot and you guessed it out comes his pipe. But this time he draws out his poker, to clean the pipe stem, complaining that he can’t get a proper hit. Afterwards he loads the bowl carefully, painstakingly keeping it dry in the deluge, and he lights it, smoke billowing from his mouth,
“Oh hell yeah,” He says and falls into a coughing fit. The others laugh and Jace takes the pipe from him, to smoke with the others. When his choking fit subsides, Jack draws a beer from his pack. He opens it shakily and drinks,
“Yo! You got one of those for me?” Kelly asks, and soon Jack is passing them all around, “Jesus is that all you pack?”
“Pretty much,” Walter answers and they all laughed again. What a bunch of yay-hoos we are. Breaker thinks to himself, fucked up from moment one! He vaguely wonders why that is, he used to only smoke the weed in ceremony and drink on rare occasion, well, semi-rare, I mean at least not regularly, maybe it is some type of defense mechanism . . . Now why had the thought of that? It seems pretty inappropriate. Oh well, he hits the pipe and passes it on. They talk and lounge in the semi-dryness of the huge trees they are sitting under, laughing and joking and finishing their beers, then they crush the cans and load them in a small bag and Jack puts them in his pack and they’re off once again, through the soggy forest, their boots squishing in the mud, this time they don’t stop until they are back on the site. And can you believe it? The rain actually slows down to just a misty fog, pleasant, but eerie. But isn’t that just what these boys are looking for. Yeah, that and a shed load of gold.
At the site, Breaker and Jace quickly go about rigging the line and tackle and Kelly straps on the harness, as demolition expert he’d be going over to set up some charges. They snap a safety line onto his harness and he smiles at them, and then bolts to the edge, and swings out over the chasm, and right into the crack, showing off his mountain climbing skills. The others watch and then they go to work, the others get the other harness, for the gold, ready.
Inside the cave, Kelly straps on his headlamp and starts surveying the cave walls. Moving around and surveying every inch of them, He can see that they have been scarred by previous attempts to remove the gold, with what he can only guess, is crude hand tools; he imagines pickaxes and the like. He comes to a weak spot that seems discolored; He looks closer, and discovers a human fingernail wedged in the wall. He pulls away and turns back to the cave opening to stick his head out, calling to Breaker,
“Hey,” He calls out to the others, who answer back immediately. “You know that this shit has been dug at before?” He asks,
“Yeah, I noticed that. I could literally see the claw marks on the walls.” Breaker answers.
“Me too,” He says, and then ducks back in the cave to go back to work with the explosives, Jace and Jack look at Breaker,
“There have been many accounts of people finding gold in this area, for years now. We can’t possibly be the only ones to have found this place. Remember, the strangest story ever told, they were very close to this place, they may have even seen it. And I’m sure someone must have found it”
“Yeah, but why didn’t they clean it out?” Jack asks. Jace shrugs,
“Maybe the devil men drove them out.” Jace says flatly, “That’s what they used to call them . . . devil men.”
“So where are they now, these devil men?” Jack again,
“Who gives a fuck!?” Breaker interjects, “Just as long as they aren’t here now. So get back to work, and we’ll get the fuck out of here before they find out, now.” They all agree in unison. Walter pulls Breaker aside,
“Do you really think they are gone?” He asks looking him in the eye seriously,
“Hell no,” Breaker looks around conspiratorially and so does Jack, “They’re all around is even now, watching us, patiently biding their time . . . and lurking in the trees, waiting, for the time, to strike!” He grabs Walter suddenly who jumps and cries out,
“Man, fuck you!” He yells at him, breaking away. “That is not fucking cool man.”
“I’m sorry, man, just quit thinking about them, and they’ll quit thinking about you, okay?” Breaker says in all seriousness, and Walter nods and pulls out a cigarette and lights it before it gets wet. They stand about in silence, waiting for Kelly, lost in their own thoughts, until,
“Okay!” Kelly calls from the crack. “I’m ready to come back.” They draw in the slack on his line. He pops out on to the cliff side, on the opposite side of the crack, running away from them to build some momentum for the swing back, and then he runs back towards them and jumps out over the abyss swinging back over to them professionally, to grab a hold of them as he lands at the wayside, and they pull him in, un-strapping him quickly and they look at him, He starts talking,
“I just set up a small blast this time, just to see how the cave, and the mountain will take it, we should probably step back a bit.” They all follow suit, and soon, “Remote detonator.” Kelly shows them, he arms it. “Fire in the hole,” He says flatly and then flips a switch, and,
a small explosion rocks the hillside slightly, and they watch a couple small avalanches along the face, nothing spectacular, pretty anti-climactic all in all. Kelly looks at Breaker,
“Join me this time?” He asks,
“Don’t mind if I do,” Breaker is already harnessed up, but Kelly takes the first swing out. Breaker is soon to follow and they are inside the cave. The floor is littered with debris,
“Not bad,” Kelly says, from his squatting position examining the rocks on the floor, “Not bad at all for a minor blast, let’s set up a major one.” Breaker agrees quickly and they go back to work.
It is several hours later, before they re-emerge from the cave and swing back over to ledge. This time Kelly suggests that they walk out, farther away this time, to the clearing, before detonating this blast. So they do, and the major blast, though somewhat louder than the minor, is just as uneventful as the first. This time they send Jack and Jace out to cave, to load the pack harness with gold. They can scarce deny them, so Walter and Jace take their harness’ and Breaker and Kelly get a much needed bite to eat. It isn’t long and Jace and Jack are looking through the broken rocks within the cave, and hammering out chunks of raw gold from them, giggling like schoolgirls, it’s just too much. They spend the rest of the day extracting what they have loosed from the cave walls, all working uncomplainingly. They are now rich men, for the moment.
The end of the day finds them exhausted and dragging their asses back to camp. They had stashed most of the gold on the site, and only carry with them what they can, back to camp. They will bury it here, until they’re ready to start packing it out to the boat. Then they can stake their claim, and continue working the cave for the rest of the summer. Though they are tired when they arrive, they go about their appointed tasks with newfound energy. Jace and Kelly dig a hole for the gold, Walter is purifying water and Breaker is cooking up some venison stew that he had brought with them from the boat. It smells maddeningly good. Hell, life is good.
*
One who is many will not let his anger overcome his iron resolve. The newcomers have found a way to keep their thoughts as masked as the clouded one himself. And their thoughts are constantly hidden from him now, no matter. For the others had found their own messengers, they see them, as huge gold nuggets, just, as we have all, first perceived the idols. With all of his messengers in place, One who is many knows exactly where they are, and where they will be, and exactly what they will be doing, even while they are doing it. Through prayer and fasting and drinking of the seawater, his powers are peaking, and he exercises total control over his tribe now. On the upcoming blood Moon, his powers will take a quantum leap forward. Soon he will let loose the tribe, and take the newcomers, after they have exhausted themselves digging out his treasure. And then he will simply sacrifice them to the pit. And taking the marked one’s body, he will escape this hell, and come out, into the outside world. He can feel the pit throb with earth power. He mentally orders the tribe to start digging. For One had it covered ages ago, to keep its power hidden from the outside world, as well as the tribe. But tonight will begin his great campaign, after tomorrow, he will make his presence known to the outside world, and begin, its assimilation. He extends his mental grip over the tribe. They strain against his control, like a mad dog against it’s master’s chain, their lust, to rush out and enter the minds of the newcomers and drive them mad, is working them into a lather. But they could do naught against One’s will, so strong is his control. One who is many grins, but is not aware of it.
*
Jace is already nodded out by the time the moon rises over the hills. The night has cleared up considerably, the rain is intermittent, and the moon actually breaks out through clear sky at times. He notices it and becomes fully awake for a moment. He looks out at it admiringly, the moon is nearly full, and huge, a deep yellowish orange color, being magnified by the atmosphere, along the curve of the earth, it acting as a lens. He wonders what it might look like if it were blood red. Like the Bible predicted it would look in the end of times. Would he be alive, then? Would he see it? He shrugs and rolls over on his side, and after a few moments, as if on cue, he is fast asleep.
Morning finds them all waking easily, they had slept soundly, with visions of sugar plums in their heads, golden sugarplums. They breakfast on cereal and can beer, as everything is prepped and ready for the day, which is only raining slightly. As they finish eating Jace looks at Breaker thoughtfully,
“So,” he asks, “how are we going to get this stuff out, to the boat, that is?”
“I got a few ideas on that already, don’t you worry,” he answers quickly. “Let’s just get it out of the rock first.” He smiles and so does Jace, fully confident that Breaker has everything covered. He has totally forgotten about the idol, but that is its plan, he also can’t feel the lump in his pocket. The idol had crawled out of Breaker’s pocket and into his while they slept last night, and now it waited. It waited until it would take Jace’s mind back, soon.
Just as Jace is unaware, so is Kelly and Jack unaware, that their newfound good luck charms, are also idols, gold nuggets that have kept their true forms hidden from their waking eyes. This is how the One who is many can keep perfect track of them. This is how he will strike and beguile their minds.
The boys start off to the site oblivious of the fact that their fate awaits them, with sharp, pointed teeth.
*
One who is many’s body sits in his sweat lodge, but his awareness is high above them, the tribe quietly tittering under his mental control. He looks down from his high spot on the other plane of existence, to this world, our world. He exercises his mental control over the huge orgy of Land otters that even now crawl one over each other, in the Den. In a small clearing, just up from the site, where the boys have found their gold. This, vast tribe of otters are very important to One’s plan. For they are the physical counterparts to every member of his tribe, when he finally looses them they will each enter an otter, becoming physical and then they can translate through the land, and change into whatever forms they desire. Most likely the small, cramped, hideous, cannibalistic forms they had possessed in their former lives, their residual self image. And then the battle will begin. One who is many only wishes he could take the form that he see’s himself as, in his mind’s eye. Instead of the hated form he is now stuck in.
So very soon, now, it will begin. He smiles so fiercely blood drips from his lips.
*
They find the day starts just like the previous one, rainy, uneventful and profitable. The gold seems to fall out of the cavern walls into their hands, it is far too easy. They work, smoke, work, eat, work, drink, then it starts all over again, not necessarily in that order. What a system! Remember, no money down, you can make lotsa $, yeah. As the day draws to a close, they realize that the excavation will be done sooner than expected, and they can work on the task of packing it out. Breaker explains his idea, he points down to the gorge below them,
“We’ll lower it down with the block and tackle, and then rig a couple litters and haul it out,” he explains, “Shouldn’t take more than a week or so, I figure, as long as we stay hard at it, and, if we keep it quiet enough, we can be in and out without ever even having to stake a claim.”
“Beautiful,” Jace says, and they all agree. They load up what they can carry out today and get ready to start the hike back to camp, the rain is slow and the woods seem quiet, extra quiet. Like everyday. This place is creepy as hell.
“Be happy.” Breaker tells them all as they don their packs wearily, “Soon you start your new lives as rich men.” Breaker says, motioning them forward,
“Maybe I can buy some new legs.” Jack says and they laugh again. The rain stops suddenly and they look at each other. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Jack smiles.
“Hey.” Kelly says, “Don’t jinx it now.” He snaps a finger to his lips.
“Whatever.” Jack mutters to himself.
Jace takes point this time, then Kelly, Jack, and Breaker brings up the rear. As they leave the site and cut through the clearing, the skies seemed to darken unnaturally, and the quietness becomes so thorough, it’s as though they are underwater. The tension grows so thick, it seems tangible. Breaker’s hackles stand on end, his neck and arm hairs standing straight up. He stops and turns slowly around. In the gloom he can see scores of red eyes glowering at him as the brush becomes alive with teeming, bristling life. They are everywhere. And they are looking right at him. He whirls around, and the others are staring back at him wide-eyed and gape-mouthed, at the scene, of obscenity given life.
“Run you fucks!” Breaker tries to shout, his voice scarcely a whisper. This breaks the spell, and they all turn, to hasten through the pass and down the ridge. Breaker glances back as he starts to follow them, suddenly he freezes. He does a double-take, and his jaw drops, he can’t believe his eyes. The teeming tribe seems to become nonexistent, as his eyes focus back to the far end of the clearing, to the two figures he can see at its end, bound together.
His wife and son! Marla and Nicky! My God, has this been their fate for the past year and a half? Captured and held captive by the Kushtaka? That is what they do! Kidnap people and assimilate them, into the tribe! He can feel the rush as his blood boils with rage. His pack falls to the ground, and his hands find and draw his swords as if, of their own accord. Time for battle now, and time for revenge. He shrieks his war cry and is among them like that of a berserker. They fall like wheat before the scythe.
Jace whirls and runs forward down the trail, his mind exploding, all he can hear is a myriad of shrieking, mocking, laughing, voices. And he knows these voices aren’t only in his head, now, his physical ears hear them as well. He glances behind himself and can see the others running with him. He clamps his hands over his ears and keeps going forward. He has to lead them out of here. He has to keep all of them running. He lowers his hands, they do nothing to stop the voices and he drops his useless pack. It skids off down the slope beside him, as he descends and he can care less about it, or the gold inside of it. They all cluster together at the pass to the ridge. Jace leads them through.
Kelly turns and jogs through the pass. At the narrow spot Jack bolts past, and bumps into him, and knocks him off balance, and he falls down the rockslide cursing.
Walter rushes to the narrow spot in the pass and glances back. He bumps into Kelly and throws himself off balance. He falls onto the rockslide, and he slides down it shrieking all the way.
Jace is still running and he can hear them behind him so he runs as fast as he can.
*
One who is many jerks upright in a sweat lodge back at the Village. He feels the slaughter on the ridge. Something is wrong, so he translates himself to the spot of the tribe’s battle. It is time to teach these newcomers a lesson in blood.
*
Breaker whirls through the tribe, swords flashing, dancing his deadly ballet, his blades singing their bloody song, a fatal duet. He spins and raises his blades high, and the tribe backs off, raising their pike-like spears, then, they attack him as one. Breaker spins his left hand sword to line his forearm and crouches under it in a classic sword stopping block. The tribe’s pikes clatter upon the flat of his blade, driving him further to the ground. All he can see are their legs. All lined up and ready to be cut down. He clenches his teeth and swings his free right hand with all his might, the sword slices through their legs like butter.
One who is many bursts onto the scene through the very ground he now stands upon. He immediately takes control of the minds of the tribe. As one they change.
Breakers mad slash is cut short, as the Kushtaka leg he is currently slicing through, turns to wood, and his sword sticks into it, lodging in it. He is now in the middle of a group of short, squat, deformed, misshapen little trees that resemble the creatures that they were just moments before. It all becomes clear to him. The Kushtaka had transformed themselves into scrub trees. He jerks his sword free and recoils from them, and before his very eyes, they regain their human-like forms and melt into the ground. At the end of the clearing is the squat, cloaked figure, that he had glimpsed in his sweat lodge, and it holds a knife in each hand, poised over the throats of his loved ones as they kneel on either side of him. Breaker freezes, and One who is many’s grin widens completely.
Checkmate.
The One who is many screams,” Enough!” in his mind, and therefore, in the mind’s of all the tribe members. They subside immediately, “To the others!” He commands them, “Take them down with deception, and then, bring them to the pit, and I will handle this one.” They melt into the ground leaving their fallen comrades where they have dropped. They will return for their meat later. After they have cleared the field and One who is many has his opponents undivided attention, he grins at the one he has named Strong heart, then he slashes open wide the throats, of the ones he loves. Breaker screams.
“No!”
Kelly tumbles down the rockslide, until he comes to an abrupt halt, at the bottom and uncurls himself and checks his limbs for damage. They feel intact and unbroken. He stands and looks back up the slide. Walter is making his way down towards him,
“Holy shit I thought I lost you.” Kelly calls to him, Walter merely grins nervously. Kelly beckons him to hurry and follow him.
Walter slides down the scree trying to gain control of his body, then, weightlessness. He crashes of the ground next to someone. He shakes the stars from his head to clear his vision. Kelly pulls him to his feet,
“Come on,” he says, “we gotta help the others.” And he starts running, Walter follows him unhesitatingly.
Jace glances back, and can see that his friends, and his brother, are hot at his heels,
“Run!” Breaker urges him, and he turns and runs and runs, ever faster and faster, until he runs so fast is nearing the camp and can no longer hear them behind him. He stops abruptly and whirls around, feeling like Forrest Gump. He is alone.” Oh my God,” He whispers and drops to his knees, winded and exhausted. The voices in his head howl with laughter, and his reality fades, to blackness.
Breaker screams in rage and charges forward. Big mistake, his training should have reminded him to leave emotion at the door. The cloaked one comes forward to meet him, and they circle each other, Breaker armed with the swords and his, yet undrawn and forgotten about, pistol. His opponent, apparently, barehanded, his daggers no longer in sight. Breaker lunges forward bringing his right sword down in the murderous blow. One who is many snorts derisively and reaches up casually, as if to catch Breaker’s blade with his bare hand. At the last possible instant, he turns into a small, scrub tree, and Breaker’s sword thumps into it with the jolt, which loosens his grip. One who is many reverts to his flesh form, his tiny hand wrapped around the sword’s blade. He yanks it from Breaker’s loose grasp, flinging it into the woods. Breaker jumps back and stabs at him with his left sword, quickly. One who is many lunges to the side and transforms into an otter and snaps out with its teeth to bite into Breakers wrist. Breaker yanks his hand back, and the otter bites onto the sword blade, jerking it out from his grip. It spins away changing back to the One who is many, and he faces Breaker with his own sword, in his tiny hand! Breaker draws his pistol, but One who is many is already slashing at it with the flat of the blade, he hits it along with Breaker’s fingers, knocking it from his hand. Breaker jumps back clutching his hand, and looks about uncertainly, for the first time, the first tendrils of panic, closing on his mind. His eyes survey the entire scene quickly, and then they rest on a gap in the trees, the very one he looked over, just days earlier. He remembers what is beyond them. The cliff, it is a good day to die. One who is many laughs out loud, cruelly, Breaker turns and looks at him, and incredibly, One speaks,
“Strong heart,” He calls to him, “Look to your family.” One who is many gestures towards his fallen wife and son, and he follows with his gaze. Slowly, their crumpled forms rise up from the ground, like eerie, blood-soaked, marionettes, being slowly drawn up by their strings. Their eyes open suddenly, and turn towards them and they grin at him hideously their arms reaching out beckoningly. Breaker stares at them enrapt. Then they slowly transform back to Kushtaka. Of course! They have the power to appear as loved ones, drawn directly from the memories of your minds eye! Breaker shudders . . . and then he turns, and he runs, and he dives right off the cliff, and he is gone!
One who is many deflates noticeably, he did not expect that. Curse their clouded minds. He translates to the spot where Strong Heart had jumped and he looks down.
Kelly runs along the mountainside leading Walter to the trail that leads back up the ridge, it takes a moment to recognize it, with the sun setting, it does looks a lot different. He glances up the other ridge, nothing. He looks back toward the camp,
“Come on,” he orders, “They must’ve gone by us already.” He states and runs down the trail that leads to camp.
“Wait!’ Walter shouts at him, Kelly turns to look at him, exasperated. Walter’s eyes burn into him for a moment, “Kelly,” Jack says slowly, deliberately. “Look.” He points and turns his gaze towards the back side of the hill. Kelly follows his line of sight and he can see someone in the distance, it looks like, Walter and himself? He blinks his eyes, and looks again, wait, it’s Breaker and Jace, and they’re running directly away from them with a horde of Devil men right on their heels! Kelly flinches from the site and Jack reiterates,
“We’ve got to help them.” Kelly snarls an oath in concurrence and runs after them. Walter watches him for a moment, smiling slowly, evilly, knowingly. Then he begins to follow Kelly.
After running a while with Kelly in the lead, Walter finally stops and cries out. “Kelly!” Who stops and turns irritated,
“What?” He asks,
“Isn’t this the wrong way?” Kelly merely smiles and points behind them,
“Anyway, away from them, is the right way.” Walter looks behind them, his eyes widen as he spots a horde of Kushtaka swarming towards them, each one clawing one over another if only to be the first to get at them.
“Heeg!” Walter starts and is sprinting after Kelly. He passes him and is on the way down the blind trail to the village, Kelly grins and follows.
One who is many stands at the Cliff’s edge and looks down. Strong heart has landed in a treetop, and is sliding down its branches, to the ground. Even now, the One can see him staggering to his feet on the steep Cliffside. He can also see from here, that the newcomer is weakened and shaken, and unarmed. He directs the tribe after him, and dives off the cliff into the form of a Raven. It is time to end this.
Jace lay on his back writhing as though in a seizure, his eyes white. His hands claw at his face and tear at his hair. He feels a sudden heat in his pocket burning him and he digs in it frantically, tearing it out and spilling forth its contents. The idol! It suddenly comes to life and he tries to get rid of it, but it hangs on to him, and begins scrambling up his arm like a golden spider. He shrieks and tears it off his arm and tries to throw it into the fire pit. It bites down on his palm, hanging on for dear life, Jace screams out in pain. He draws his pistol with a crazed look in his eyes, and shoves the barrel right up to the god dam thing clinging to his palm, flattening out his hand, and he pulls the trigger! The idol and two of his fingers, pinky and ring, blast free and tumble to the ground. Jace shrieks in pain, in tandem with the howling in his head, dropping the pistol, and he stumbles to the lake, clutching his half hand, and he takes a breath and dives into it headfirst.
Kelly is running and drawing his pistol, when he hears Walter fall, and cry out behind him. He spins around and runs back quickly to help with his fallen friend,
“What the fuck’s the matter with you?” He asks as he approaches and Walter just lies there face down, immobile. “Dude, get the fuck up!” He says and reaches down to yank Walter up by his jacket. Walter transforms into an otter jumping up quickly dodging his grasp, and sinking its razor-sharp teeth into Kelly’s hand. Kelly screams and levels his pistol at it, but before he can, it melts into the ground as though it never existed. The scene is momentarily still, until, from the earth springs obscene life, suddenly they are all around him, everywhere and nowhere, Kelly unloads the pistol around him, blasting great chunks of the earth free, but not hitting a single creature. As his pistol goes quiet, out of ammunition he ejects the clip attempting to reload it with another quickly, but they fall upon him in their powerful Kushtaka form biting and clubbing him unconscious.
Walter can hear gunfire ringing out all about them. It is difficult, for him to tell which direction, the shots originate from. He is exhausted, but Kelly just keeps plodding along ahead of him tirelessly, Walter glances back. Nothing, the Kushtaka are now gone.
“Kelly,” he cries out, “They’re gone, hold up a second, and let me catch my breath.” He sits down suddenly, and Kelly jogs back to him reluctantly. Walter speaks on, “I think, we should, head back, to . . .” he trails off as he looks at Kelly’s impassive face. He looks away from him and back at the ground, suddenly he straightens up and pulls his pipe out of his pocket, “I gotta smoke, man.” He says and extends the pipe and lighter towards Kelly, “Here, you light it.”
Kelly recoils in horror, reverting back to his Kushtaka form.
“I fuckin’ knew it!” Walter exclaims drawing and firing his pistol at the tiny horror, but the Kelly-thing has already melted into the ground, gone. And he is entirely alone, for just a moment. But before he can begin to worry, they spring up all around them, knocking his pistol free, and biting and clawing and clubbing him. He screams out loud and long. Then, silence reigns over the forest once more.
Breaker crashes down through the trees and hits the ground knocking the wind out of him, but retaining consciousness. He struggles to his feet aiming himself downhill and tries to run, staggering drunkenly. He trips and tumbles down the steep hill and slams into a tree trunk. He claws his way to his feet, as a spear and then another, sinks into the tree, just above his head. Before he can think, he is climbing them, using them to attain the lower branches, and scrabbling up the tree, and into the semi-cover of its foliage. He runs up the tree like it’s a ladder, having done this many times before, as he hears other missiles, ripping through the branches around him. He looks down, the Kushtaka are climbing over each other into the tree after him. He looks around; the steep bank is thick with trees below them. On impulse, he runs down a huge branch on the downhill side, and jumps out, to the trees below him, spreading his arms and legs wide, to catch as many branches as possible. It works, and he slides right through the first layer of limbs, and to the next layer, until he slows to a stop, and then scrambles through the branches to the trunk. He turns and looks out, and sets up for another dive, picking his tree and point of contact, and he is off, just like a regular ape men. Tarzan of the Kushtaka, he thinks to himself as he slams in to the next tree, hugging it fiercely. He glances back up the hill. The Kushtaka are sliding and tumbling after him, changing back and forth from otter to their deformed human-like form, apparently, enjoying the chase. He laughs with them, and climbs, ignoring the tiny scratches and abrasions that litter his arms, and hands, and face, he actually cries out a mock Tarzan like yell, as he runs the next branch, and jumps out, to a huge, old growth, spruce tree, just below him, on the steep bank. He is laughing as he clings to the huge fanlike branches, that he lands on, until he hears a loud snap, and he experiences a weightless feeling, as he plummets to the ground on his back, looking skyward, the lights flare up brilliant white, then they go out.
One who is many watches the downfall of Strong heart, from his lofty perch, with the sharp eyes, of the Raven. Good, it is done. The tribe will carry his captives to the Pit, for tonight’s orgy of sacrifice and feasting. The Blood Moon has come at long last. They will also recover the bodies of their fallen comrades, the many that Strong heart had slain, and gather the gold they have unearthed. As for the marked one, he laughs aloud, he will come home, all on his own. The One who is many takes wing, and flies back to his village, surveying the tribe’s progress along the way. Soon the blood Moon will rise, as well as his ascension to power. One who is many caws as he flies.
*
Lyselle and Terza sit on the back deck, of the high speed jet-boat, that Lyselle had chartered, unable to talk over the loud whine of the engine. The captain of the charter boat had been reluctant to leave town so late in the day when they spoke on the phone, but Lyselle had unbuttoned her shirt before they went into his office, then she had leaned across the counter, and just like that, they were on the way to the Legendary Bay of Death. Or Thomas Bay, as we call it now. Back on the dock before they left, Lyselle had to talk Terza into the trip as well, because she had gotten Breaker’s message that all was fine.
“Of course they will think that,” Lyselle had said, ”They don’t know they’re in danger.”
“Are they? Are they in danger?” Terza had asked.
“That’s the only thing I’m sure of.” Lyselle answered and convinced Terza with her eyes. At the boat, the Ladies allowed the injured Old Man, the shotgun seat, much to the disappointment of the Charter Skipper, until Lyselle had sat opposite him, behind the Old Man, to make sure he had a full eyeball.
And now they are apparently approaching Thomas bay, which has a very narrow mouth, so one has to be very careful, when passing through it, and you really need to time the tide if there is any weather at all. But tonight is calm, and the tide barely touches the high speed jet boat, but it is ripping, so the charter skipper cuts in towards the south point to avoid the tide eddy. But he doesn’t straighten out, and they continue plowing straight on towards the rocks.
Lyselle’s stomach jumps to her throat, as she looks back at the boat captain. He turns, to grin at her toothily, as he tears the steering wheel loose from the dash, and transforms into a Land otter, right before her eyes! Terza screams before she can, and the otter jumps over the side, as the jet boat is mere moments from piling up on the rocks.
“UP!” Old Brea’quaithe screams, and he mirrors Lyselle’s bug eyed look, as she looks at him bolting to her feet. But he’s already got her and Terza by the neck and he’s shoving them over the side with far more strength that she can ever give him credit for.
She feels weightless a moment before impact, then the world is torn apart and everything goes white.
The explosion is seen miles away.
Jace crawls out of the lake and stumbles to the camp as though in a trance, clutching his ruined hand to his chest. Back at camp, he finds a bandanna and ties it around his wounded left hand. Afterwards he begins to gather all the weaponry he can find. He will offer this to his new master, in hopes, it will appease him. Perhaps then he will let him live. He smiles vaguely strapping on Kelly’s backpack with the explosives, then, donning every rifle he can by the strap he starts down the trail towards the village, his new home. It is becoming increasingly darker, but he can see just fine, with the newfound night vision, of his glowing, red eyes. Part of his mind begins to vaguely wonder how all of this began and the answer is immediate. That fucking gold idol. But he can’t remember how he came in to possession of it, or more importantly, how it possessed him.
order now, if it pleases you.
