Chapter 30

A matam called in the cold night air as Bracken approached Golden Flight’s trans.   Stepping into the stairwell of the vehicle, he was careful to miss the one loose floor panel that tended to squeak. Soundlessly, he slipped down the passageway, stopping in front of Ley’s cubicle.  Silently, he pulled back the door and slipped into his room.  Ley had carried the map with him ever since he had left Accad.   Bracken knew it was stuffed away in his pouch.

The matam screeched only once before Bracken was back outside the max, map in hand.  Gathering together his own things and securing the map in his pouch, he walked softly toward the road.  Hiking at night had always held its perils, but as Bracken reached the lonely spot on the highway where it intersected with the road, he was in luck.  A high-speed power-drive trans pulled over and picked him up.  The driver of the trans was on his way south, and would pass within a day’s walk of Mount Shidow.  Encouraged by his good fortune, Bracken fell asleep as the trans sped through the night.

On the second morning of his journey, Bracken found himself deposited near the narrow road that led off toward Mount Shidow.  With many thanks, he said goodbye to the man who had given him the ride.

Hiking all day through the forest and green brush was invigorating.  That night, Bracken slept beside the pool of Tibtem.  Its dear surface mirrored the sky above, giving him a sense of being adrift in space.

When morning came, Bracken took nourishment from some morsels of food he had packed.  As he ate, he perused the map that Ley had guarded so desperately.  The route to the mine was clearly marked.  The sun broke over the western mountains, awakening the forest with songs.  Wildlife crept and sprinted in the undergrowth as he munched his food.   Finishing his breakfast, he started off toward the mine’s entrance.  The map was exact, guiding him first over a high outcropping of rock, and then along a streambed, to a singularly tall evergreen.  From there, he sighted across two more rocky pillars to another streambed which led him directly to the mine’s entrance.

Sweating profusely from his climb, Bracken shrugged off his pack.  Laying it against a large rock, he removed the lamp he had taken from Ley’s satchel.  Pushing aside a few loose boulders, he entered the mine.

The lamp’s beam played over the chiseled interior of the shaft.  Bracken followed its twisting contour deeper into the earth.  The cool air in the tunnel was a marked contrast to the heat outside.  Eventually he halted at the safety partition, which sealed off the Gem chamber.  It had been constructed of a metallic alloy, which the stone’s effect could not penetrate.  Shining his light around the walls, he examined the protective clothing, which the Sci-tecs had developed to filter the Mingus rays.  Ignoring them, he walked up to the hatchway.  Opening the lock console, he punched out the code that Ley had jotted at the bottom of the map.

With a loud click, the oval door swung open.  Pausing momentarily, Bracken gazed into the interior of the room and then stepped over the threshold into the chamber.   Immediately his body began to tingle with the most intense Mingus sensation he had ever experienced.  He turned back to seal the passage behind him, but before he had time to touch the console on the interior wall, the effect catapulted him from the room into another dimension.

In a spiraling swirl of cadmium brilliance, he felt his body rise like a feather caught in a rushing up draft.  Waves of oscillating fluorescence formed an inverted funnel reaching above him seemingly into infinity.  Liquid streams of crystal bathed his body in a velvet vestment of ecstasy as they carried him aloft. Suddenly, in a moment of metamorphosis, his soul spread forth like a gossamer sail.  Billowing under the force of an astral wind, his whole being accelerated, until his surroundings blurred into one. Time stretched like a silken thread until it snapped.  As it did, all but his most vivid memories washed away, falling into the abyss below him.

His pulsating journey continued, until finally his body passed through the mouth of the funnel and curved in a gentle arc, coming to rest on a glossy plateau.   Glowing orbs danced and bobbed, ascending and descending in a rhythmic cadence between the shimmering plain on which he stood and the prismatic city suspended in the atmosphere over his head.   The bubbles of light disturbed by his sudden appearance floated up to him momentarily and then moved away, emitting fluttering purrs of sound, like the hum of static electricity.  One of the larger ovals moved through the others until it stopped in front of him.

"I’ve been expecting to see you," announced the being of light, quavering in a short vertical curtsy. "But only on the lower levels.  What brings you here and where are those you were to bring with you?"

Bracken recognized the elegant resonance of the creature he had met, during his last time in the Mingus realm.  He gathered his thoughts.  "I still have some questions.   I don’t intend to lead others here until they are resolved."  The sphere of brightness moved slightly to Bracken’s right, to make room for another orb that was approaching, apparently to observe their conversation.

"With time and care I’m sure you will soon realize the answer."  The response seemed to have a ring of insincerity.

"You may think I’m being a bit suspicious, but I feel as if you are hiding something from me."

"What leads you to believe that?"

Bracken stared into the heart of the light seeking to penetrate its effulgence.   "Because even though you appear to have the right words, words that at times even bring soothing, you have yet to give me more than platitudes and pleasing phrases."  Bracken’s voice had taken on a slight beseeching tone. His hands reached out toward the creature in a pleading gesture.  "Silas is dead, killed somehow in this realm.  Even though you exercise such great power and wisdom, you were either unable or unwilling to protect him.  And if you were truly unable to protect him, why didn’t you at least warn him?"  The two scintilla turned to one another and communicated in low hums punctuated with an occasional fluttering buzz.   Above them, the ethereal ballet continued apparently undisturbed.  Shortly, they ceased and turned back to him.

"We were aware of your friend’s destiny, but to interfere is simply not our way.

"Not your way!" objected Bracken, his voice rising with impatience.  "I would expect more compassion from beings who have reached a state of permanent transcendence."  Bracken’s tone was mocking.

The other continued seemingly unperturbed.  "Compassion is a relevant term.  What your limited perception and human feelings tell you concerning this matter is only one viewpoint.  If you could see it from our position you would find it easier to accept."

The light creature continued in the same vein, his dialogue growing more and more convincing as Bracken listened.  But out of a strange compulsion Bracken found himself resisting again.  Suddenly in one violent shake, he brushed aside the web-like verbiage that was enfolding his mind.  He stepped closer and shouted in despair at the glowing being.  "Who are you?  Stop giving me your philosophies and just be honest with me."  The orb was in the middle of recycling the previous response when Bracken’s curiosity and impatience united in a desperate act.

Plunging for the creature, he pushed his way into the cloud of light that surrounded the glowing being. A slight crackle shivered in his body as he penetrated the sheen.  At that same moment the truth pierced his mind like a white-hot sword.  Staring at him in horrific majesty was the familiar, but malevolent face of Semie.  Bracken froze in terror.   He shook himself.  In a reckless frenzy, he turned and ran from the now darkened specter.  Laughter rang in his ears.  Behind him the shimmering bubbles of light popped simultaneously, revealing a sinister army of bat-like creatures.   Turning in formation, their wings screaming through the air in a loud whine, they fell toward Bracken like eagles toward their prey.  Others who had been near the plain, hovered toward him as he ran toward the mouth of the funnel.  His legs felt heavy.  His feet seemed to stumble.  His heart was ripped apart. The flutter of wings grew closer. Each step became agony.  He wondered if he could move another step. Dragging himself, he pressed on.

Reaching the edge just before his pursuers, he hurled himself into the abyss without hesitation.   He plunged headlong into the now dimly lit chasm.  For a few brief moments, he held hopes of escape.  But such prospects melted away as he saw the regiment of pursuing wraiths swooping down upon him.

In a dissonant symphony of screeching and screams, they formed a spiraling orbit around him as he continued to descend into the blackness below.  Then, in alternate pairs, they broke away from their group flying to him.  He couldn’t believe what was happening to him.  He struggled to awaken from a nightmare.  His surroundings remained the same.  He wasn’t dreaming.  The first group of wraiths came upon him through the darkness.  He thrashed back at them in defense.  This had little effect. Soon their long claw-like hands tore at his flesh.  Momentarily satisfied with their tortuous pleasure, the pair withdrew to allow two others to take their place.  Again and again this pattern repeated itself, as Bracken screamed and struggled with the hideous creatures who were screeching in apparent delight at his anguish.  Downward in a seemingly endless dive of agony, Bracken fell, the previous brave wing of his soul now flapping in a tattered throb within him.

After what seemed like endless hours, Bracken realized that he was no longer falling.  The wraiths were gone.  Instead, he found himself crawling through a slithering coil of snakes.  Multiple fangs sank into his flesh, injecting venom that rushed to his brain, driving him mad.  On and on he crawled, twisting and pushing his way through the writhing serpentine bodies.  This struggle continued without release until all withdrew, save one monstrous snake which wrapped itself about him and began to crush his body with the strength of an evil god.  At that moment, he knew he could bear no more.  He began to surrender to the squeezing brawn of the serpent.  Then mysteriously, it uncoiled itself and vanished.

For several hours he lay in a state of semi-consciousness.  Periodically he awoke to see distant lights shimmering in the darkness, and then slipped back into his previous state.   Gradually his surroundings became lighter.  He could see that he was lying at the entrance to the mine.  The remote morning sun smudged the sky with a dull orange.   Bracken tried to move his body.  Bolts of pain discharged in every strand of his nervous system.  Turning his head, he looked down at his battered form.  His garments were torn open, revealing bruised and cut flesh, glaring red here and there, over his entire body.  In shock, he fell into unconsciousness.

Later, two things awoke him from his stupor.  One was the excruciating heat of the sun now directly above him, and the other, the bitter voice of Ley Os who stood over him cursing.

"You fool," spat the outraged Os.  "Robbing me after all I’ve done for you."  The Mingus seller’s face was a bulge of livid indignation.   "Where’s the map?"  Ley accented his question by kicking Bracken’s injured side.

Bracken doubled up from the sharp blow.  "I don’t know."

Recovering, he struggled up onto one elbow.  "I lost my pouch in the mine.  The map was in it."

Ley cursed and kicked Bracken again.  Muttering, he turned and walked into the shaft.   Bracken slipped off again, awakening just as Os reappeared in the darkened opening, clutching his sacred parchment.  "Fortunate for you I’ve found it.  If I hadn’t, I would have buried you here alive in these tons of stone."  Ley folded the map and stuffed it away.  "As it is, it’s doubtful you’ll ever leave here alive.  But I’ll give you a chance.  It all depends on how fast you can crawl."  Os smirked down at Bracken and then walked back to the tunnel’s entrance.

Climbing around the side of the opening and across the top, Bracken could see Ley remove an energy egg from his gear.  Setting the trigger mechanism, he buried the oval slightly beneath the rock and then scurried back to where Bracken was.  "I’ve set the charge for the maximum time activation. With luck, you should be out of range by the time it explodes."  Bracken stared up at his former benefactor in horror.

Bracken squinted as perspiration trickled into his eyes.  "You mean you’re going to leave me here?"  Os responded only with a tormenting smile.  Whirling about, he paced away down the streambed.

Bracken stared in disbelief.  In a few moments the charge would explode.  Struggling in anguish, he crawled, clawing his way down the pathway.  Just in time, he pulled himself out of range behind a large rock.  The ground rumbled as the charge exploded. Overwhelmed by his effort to escape, Bracken passed out again.