The Lake of Shadow

           

 

 

The earth quaked violently as the knight’s massive sword struck it repeatedly. It launched its strikes directly at Avra, but she danced away from them every time, never lowering her guard. I managed to push myself over to the edge of the darkness in order to avoid getting hit by the crashing knight, but staying out of the way was about all I could do.

The knight roared louder as he swung his sword with more strength. He was growing frustrated, but I couldn’t tell if that was good or bad. Jalis didn’t seem to be getting tired at all. In fact he seemed to be getting stronger with every swing. Avra, on the other hand, was beginning to breathe hard, and her movements were starting to get slower and more laborious.

In the dark room beneath the labyrinth, the battle continued as the fifteen minute time limit slowly dwindled down. I had no idea how much time was left, but I knew it couldn’t be much.

“GRAWWG!” It yelled in a fit of rage. “STAND STILL YOU INSECT!” It waved its colossal sword above its head and brought it crashing down onto the floor. The impact jarred my teeth and caused Avra to lose her balance for a moment. Jalis then dragged his sword in a great sweeping motion across the cracked stone floor at Avra, who was able to block the attack at the last second, but was thrown far back into the darkness.

This wasn’t good, if it kept up like this, Avra wouldn’t last another minute. Then I remembered Fin throwing his shield at the minotaur with enough force to knock even that behemoth down. Maybe it could work again.

“Avra!” I yelled, “throw the shield!”

            She glanced back at me like I was crazy, “Why the hell would I do that!?” she asked.

            “Like a Frisbee! Just throw it!” I called.

            “A Frisbee? Why the . . ?  Oh . . .” she said, finally understanding my meaning. The gargantuan knight lifted its sword off the ground once again and raised it over its head, its silver armor still shimmering, ready, poised to deal the finishing blow.

            Avra gripped the edge of the heavy shield tightly and let it rest for a moment on the dark stone floor, saving her energy. Jalis gave a muffled grunt as it prepared to bring the heavy weapon crashing down, but in the split second as the sword reached the top of its arc, Avra sent her shield flying faster than even the minotaur had thrown it, directly at the knight.

            Jalis screamed as the shield passed directly through the space between its helm and body. It fell to its knees, sword clattering to the ground with a giant crack. It stayed in that position for a moment, thick smoke swirling off its body. As I stared at it wide eyed, I noticed that inside the slits of the helm, a single pupil glowed white like a tiny silver moon. Avra walked up to the knight, and with a short grunt of effort, shoved my sword through its neck.

            The knight emitted a high pitched squealing sound, then in a great flash of white light and a strong burst of wind that whipped my hair back, the pieces of Jalis’s brilliant armor became dull and fell apart, clattering loudly to the floor. There was no body inside the thick armor, all that was left of it was the knight’s hollow shell, now in hundreds of silver fragments upon the black floor.

            Avra bent down and picked up the helm that had rolled to her feet. She looked at it, admiring the horns as they glinted pitch black in the dim light, then turned on her heel and tossed it to me. It hit the floor with a loud clunk, a foot from my arm.

            “What do you want me to do with this?” I asked her.

            “Put it on.” Avra replied casually.

I eyed her suspiciously, “It’s not going to do anything weird to me right? I’m not going to be spewing smoke out of my eyeballs in ten minutes?”

She laughed, “No, trust me. My brother did this same challenge when he played.”

I wanted to ask her more about this mysterious brother of hers, but just as the words jumped into my mouth, Chiron’s icy voice came over the entire labyrinth and flowed into the room.

“This is the ten second mark, well thanks for playing kiddies.”

“Quick! Put the damn thing on!” she screamed. I didn’t need to hear it twice. I picked the helm off the stone floor in a panic and threw it over my head. It was heavy, cold, and way too big. Then, as it fell over my eyes and my vision narrowed, there was an instant, nasty squishing sound that came from my leg as the bone was sucked back into the skin, and then a crack as the leg repaired itself.

It didn’t hurt, but it might have been the most horribly gruesome moment of my life.

“Well, well, well.” Chiron’s said as his voice returned to echo through the massive twisting walls of the cathedral above. “It appears we have a winner.” His voice didn’t sound overly pleased. “The first one in fifty thousand years folks, yessir, take a good look at the victorious challenger.” He said, a slight hint of annoyance in his voice.

The black space around us twisted and swirled, becoming solid walls. The hole in the ceiling above us stretched up until it seemed miles away. Then the helm disappeared off my head, and I clutched at my face as the heavy piece of black metal vanished into smoke.

The room now resembled one of the spaces up in the cathedral.  Looking around, I realized that we weren’t alone. I was glad for a moment, then my heart fell.

Standing around us, were the freckle faced kid, still clutching at his shield like a lifeline, and Kale, who sat in the corner of the room, curled into a ball, his sword laying a few feet away, coated in black blood. Then I realized someone was missing.

Fin was nowhere to be found.

 I stood up and moved over to Kale who was sobbing quietly and gripping his knees tightly.

“Kale . . . Kale, what happened? Where’s Fin?” I asked him quietly, though I think I already knew the answer.

Kale looked up at me through glistening red eyes and whispered through a cracking voice, “He’s dead.”

I stumbled back as Kale sunk his head back between his arms. Fin was dead. He and Kale had been not only brothers, but a vicious tag team. I recalled the way the two of them had hurried off to fight the hulking minotaur in order to buy me more time, without a second thought, charging forward when I could barely lift a sword.

My reminiscing was cut short as Chiron, still wearing the black suit and white comb-over, entered the room through a black doorway that appeared on the wall next to the freckle faced child. The boy jumped slightly as the freakish man walked in swiftly. Chiron stopped for a moment to look at the boy skeptically, then continued into the center of the room.

“Well, I see all of you made it, good job.” He said coldly.

“What do you mean all of us?” I scoffed, thinking about Fin.

“Oh, yes . . . the other eh, twin. It’s a shame of course, but well, the show must go on.”

I fought back the urge to punch him in his smug white face, and settled with looking away in disgust.

“Right! Well,” he said, clapping his hands together, “The four of you will be placed in the semi-final suite. Same deal as before, eat some food, get some rest, blah, blah, blah. Anyways, great effort today, the crowd loved it.” He said with finality, then turned and left out the black door that disappeared behind him.

I think that if I had attacked him, I wouldn’t have been alone.

The ghostly demons once again dropped swiftly and silently into the room and wiped their hands over our eyes, blinding us for what felt like the hundredth time. I heard the freckle faced boy squeal as his vision went dark. I rolled my eyes, but I found myself more concerned for Kale, who hadn’t moved or uttered a word, even when the demons swarmed on him. 

He was in shock. I guess having your brother murdered in a game that seems to worship brutality will do that to a person.

 

-

 

The four of us left the room and found ourselves back on the docks, and then on the boat. It was a quiet ride as we moved slowly through the water, even more so than when I had been alone. There was something in the air that seemed to ooze mourning.

The freckle faced kid was shivering at the aft. I sat next to Avra who didn’t speak a word to me, not that I would’ve been obliged to say anything anyway. I was pretty sure that Kale was still in the fetal position somewhere up front.

The silence continued like that for a while. Even after we hit land and were ushered onto the thicketed path. I hardly felt the bushes poking at my feet, and the mushy, soggy ground that I had found slightly revolting before, didn’t even faze me as I stepped upon it.

When I heard the familiar sound of my feet on marble, I knew that we had finally reached the hotel. The doors slammed shut behind us loudly. The blindness wore off, and I had to cover my eyes as the bright light from the chandelier above caught my sore eyes.

When they finally adjusted, I saw Chiron exit a room towards the far wall that I didn’t remember being there before. As he closed the door carefully behind him, the black door vanished, just as the others had done. He looked flustered, and his usually neat hair hung slightly in front of his pale red eyes.

He looked at the four of us as we walked in, freckle faced kid still whimpering, and Kale looking as if it pained him to move. Chiron quickly wiped his hand over white forehead, grunting softly as he pushed his hair back into place and regained his composure.

“Right then,” he said, a barely noticeable shiver in his usually unfeeling voice, “up the stairs and into bed children, tomorrow decides the semi-final entrants. The best of luck to you all.” With that, Chiron nodded swiftly, than hurried off to the familiar room that I knew contained the book, the River Styx.

Starting up the stairs to the room, I looked back and made sure everyone was there. Avra was the only one who looked back at me, but her face was solemn. I gave her a weak smile, then turned and trudged slowly up the flight of wooden stairs.

This time, the hallways led left in a great winding staircase, our footsteps echoing loudly, the only sound in the huge space.

At the top, a grand doorway stood at the far end of a rather brightly lit corridor. A few windows placed along the left wall allowed golden light to flood through, but like the windows that I had seen the first night, light was all that could be seen from them.

            However, something of a sea breeze could be smelled from them, and I got the distinct image of a beach, and for a second, this horrid place seemed almost soothing. The image didn’t last very long, but I enjoyed it.

            I entered the room cautiously, then my eyes opened wide as I looked at it all  in amazement.

            The circular room was immensely beautiful, like something that you would see in some fancy tropical resort brochure. The walls were made of white marble that rose to a ceiling made of rich colored wooden beams. Circling the room, eight large pillars, the same material as the walls, rose up to the ceiling. In between the pillars, four-poster beds resided, their sea green drapes fluttered in the breeze that came from a large balcony near the far wall. The golden rays that filled the room bounced off the marble, making it sparkle and reflect pearly colors on the walls.

            Then, in the center of the room, a large oak table stood low to the ground, full of food and drinks. There were fruits like apples and grapes of every color and size, pastries covered in chocolate and no doubt filled with custard covered an entire platter, and next to that, an assortment of meats and cheeses also came fully stocked, behind that, another tray was devoted entirely to the thick, delicious, milkshake-like drink that we had tasted the night prior. Best of all was the massive chocolate cake in the center of it all, a large golden trophy drawn into the center of it with frosting that seemed to shimmer as if it really was made of gold.

            My stomach growled long and deep at the sight of it all. Even Kale looked up eagerly. The four of us walked over to the table carefully, almost afraid that the table would get scared and run away or something stupid.

            We sprang on it like wild animals and began to eat everything in sight. I reached and grabbed a handful of pastries; sticking them all into my mouth ravenously. It was the first time I had eaten solid food since the moldy piece of bread so long ago.

            Avra dug into the meat, and even Kale and freckle face indulged in some of the chocolate cake.

            As we ate, I realized that I couldn’t feel myself getting fuller. I thought that my stomach would have imploded by now, but I felt hardly any fuller than when we first started, albeit I wasn’t exactly hungry anymore.

            As the food dwindled down, I remembered how the last time we had eaten, the food had disappeared the next morning. With this in mind, I quickly snatched a piece of bread off the nearest platter and hid it under my shirt. Around the table, Kale and Avra did the same thing, but the freckle faced boy seemed not to notice anything, and continued eating.

            I stood up and walked over to the balcony, scratching my stomach and wishing for the comfort of having a belly full of food.

The sunlight fell upon my face, and as I looked out, a beach and an ocean sprawled out down below. I sighed as I took the sight in, gazing at it drunkenly. I reached out, hoping get a feel of the breeze as it blew around my outstretched hand. However, I stretched too far and touched the edge of some invisible border. The image before me twisted and blurred for a moment, the blue sea and the sandy beach swirling into a demented mess of colors. I withdrew my hand in fright, and watched as the colors settled back into their original, beautiful forms, though the beauty was marred by the fact that it was fake.

            I sighed, and wondered what was truly outside this hotel, besides the cruel realms where the challenges were staged. Maybe it was beautiful like this, and that thought only made me want immortality even more; a free license to roam this world and go wherever I wanted.

            I returned inside and wandered over to one of the beds. I was becoming sleepy again, and I knew that it was the food that must have been drugged again. I laid down and curled up in the soft sheets, rolling around in them and drifting off to sleep. The others were already in their beds, fast asleep.

            I found myself wishing that the light wasn’t so oppressive, and just as the thought popped into my head, the golden light from outside dimmed to a cool midnight blue. The quiet light set me over the edge, and I finally drifted off to sleep.

 

 

-

 

            A golden retriever ran around my front yard as I sat on the porch, the sunlight reflecting off its copper fur. A smile adorned my face as I watched him roll playfully around in the mud.

            I was all alone on this summer day. Well, except for Jack. Then again, I think Jack was in his own little world that evening.

            Suddenly, Jack’s dog ears perked up and his body went rigid. I watched him, still smiling stupidly, then Jack ran out into the middle of the street, and I followed him.

            The golden retriever headed across the street and over my neighbor’s lawn, chasing a tabby cat that shrieked at the sight of the big dog rampaging toward him and darted off towards the backyard.

            I made it into the street and heard a sound that seemed so familiar to me, yet it didn’t connect in my mind. I turned just in time to see the grill of a semi-truck as it blew its horn loudly and its brakes squealing on the pavement, headed towards me.

           

I sat up in the bed back at the hotel sweating profusely. The sun had risen once again, or at least the illusion of it had. I noticed that I was alone again, the other beds were unoccupied.

            I pulled back the covers and found that my clothes had changed once again. This time I was wearing a soft white tunic with gold trim around the sleeves and collar. The shorts came down to just above my knees and fit snuggly over my bare skin. These shorts had pockets, much to my pleasure. I wiped my forehead clear of sweat, then reached under the soft pillow and found the small piece of bread I had hidden under it last night. I knew my clothes would probably change, so I made sure that the bread was safe, after all, I didn’t know when it would come in handy.

            I tossed the squished bread into my pocket and patted it as flat as I could. Then I realized I had to go to the bathroom.

            Instantly, a door appeared to my right. I moved past the pillars and opened it cautiously.

            Inside, a marble sink and bathtub sat in the corner, a mirror sat behind the sink and a bar of soap rested upon the edge of the tub. Another illusionary image let in light near the far wall over a towel rack.

 

                        -

 

            After I showered, brushed my teeth, went to the bathroom and whipped my hair around a few times, I replaced my clothes and exited to find . . .

            Chiron.

            “I’m guessing it’s time to go?” I asked him sarcastically.

            “Yes, as a matter of fact it is. I just came to check that you weren’t still sound asleep pr lazing around, but I can see your ready, so it would appear I am not necessary.” He replied, smirking violently, showing a range of pointed black teeth.

            “No . . . let’s go.” I replied.

            Chiron’s smirk grew wider, “well then, you’d best be off.” He said.

            Chiron waved his arm lazily and another black doorway appeared next to the bathroom.

            “Good luck!” he said, in an overly cheerful tone.

 I turned and flipped him off in a way that he wouldn’t see it, then walked out.

            The hallway outside the door was the same one that I had entered through, with windows letting in light, and the winding stairway at the end. The door slammed shut behind me and disappeared, becoming a blank wall once again.

            There was only one place to go, so that’s where I went. Down the hall, then down the stairway, into the lobby, where I was brought back to the darker room, and I knew what was coming next.

            Sure enough, the black shrouded demons ascended from the ceiling and landed beside me.          

            A few minutes later, I was out at the boat once again, feeling the slight lurch as it left land. I was headed somewhere, somewhere where I would be fighting for my life, and possibly watching others die around me. My mind wandered to what terrible creatures I would be facing this time around. I pictured gigantic rows of needle sharp teeth and hulking masses capable of crushing skulls between their fingers.   

            I shivered a bit at the thought.

            The quiet waves echoed throughout the huge space around me. For some reason, this path along the river seemed different every time I ventured through it. It seemed like it was getting longer and longer.

            Soon enough, however, the boat hit a dock.

            But this dock felt different. The others had been made of soggy, rotting wood, while this one felt like stone. I also noticed the air get thick and wet, making it harder to breathe.

            I stepped onto the dock, feeling the sturdiness of the stones beneath my feet. It felt mossy. As if it had been drenched constantly for years in the river next to it.

            The blindness wore off here, which was unusual, considering I had always been ushered through a doorway of some kind before I was able to see again.

            I blinked my eyes a few times as they adjusted once again to the eerie light that swirled around me in the form of a dense white mist. I looked around, but I could hardly see anything. The pearly fogged massed on and enclosed me, the boat had disappeared, and the only thing I had to go on was the slight darkening of the dock as it headed off deeper into the mist.

            I was in the darkness again, and I was starting to miss the hotel room that had seemed so beautiful not an hour ago. Now I was here, thrown back into the pits like a piece of meat.

            I sighed nervously, then headed off deeper into the mist.

            The rocks were wet and slippery, more than once I almost fell into the dark water, and something told me that would be a very bad thing.

            Soon, I came to point along the dock where I could look up and see the faint outline of a great spire, then more spires, all jutting out of the river and ending fifty feet off the murky surface.

            Then there was a structure. A tower of some kind became visible to me, at first, as no more than a dark silhouette, then I grew close enough to make out details. The tower was old and broken down, with statues of great gargoyles in adorning the top of it. Some of the gargoyles were missing, as well as many sections of all shapes and sizes that looked like they had just fallen off over time.

            When I got to the base of the tower, an archway granted me passage further into the thick mist. Under it, I took a moment to collect myself. My heart was beginning to thud with anxiety, and my stomach felt queasy, making me want to throw up.

            I looked towards the end of the tunnel, listening to the echoing drops of water as they rang, emptily through the archway. I took a deep breath, thought of immortality, then ventured out into the mist once again.

            Immediately, as my foot past over the first stone outside the archway, Chiron’s voice came over the area, ringing off the mist like a perpetual megaphone.

            “It has finally come to this! The semi-finals! This will be a battle of epic proportions, one whose legend will be remembered greater than that of Thermopylae! More catastrophic than the war between the gods and the Titans! More heroic than David against Goliath! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the battle between our four finalists, who braved the terrifying Vasselic pit! Who bested the incomparable labyrinth! And today, for the honor of becoming finalists, they fight . . .” Chiron paused in his excitement to add suspense, “THE COLOSSUS!”

            Far off, there was cheering. A thousand voices crying shouting, and chanting the name, “colossus”.

            I had never heard the cheering before, and it was impossibly nerve racking. I looked around, half expecting to be in a stadium of some kind, but it was no good, I couldn’t see a thing through the thick swirling mist. I looked over the edge of the black stone pathway I was on, expecting to see shallow water a few feet below.

            However, as I looked down, I got the sudden sense of vertigo as I realized that this was not a path, but a bridge. I could hardly see it, but the drop from the base of the bridge to the water down below must have been at least a hundred feet.

            Now I really wanted to throw up.

            “The challengers may utilize anything, and I mean anything during this challenge,” Chiron continued, “Of course they will be granted bows, as well as a quiver of arrows in order to assist them in combat . . . Now, the colossus lies in the center of the lake of shadows, the challenger’s method of reaching the colossus is up to them. . . The winner of this challenge is decided by whoever kills the other. If all four challengers fall, then the challenge is over, likewise if colossus is brought down. . .” Chiron paused again, “Now . . . ready . . . set . . . BEGIN!” He yelled as the invisible crowd began screaming with excitement.

            I took off running, fueled by the sudden rush of adrenaline that shot through my body. My feet slapped at the wet ground as I flew down the bridge, squinting my eyes through the cold mist as it became wind against my face.

            Then, I stopped short by a strange squawking noise from somewhere to my left. I paused and looked over as a tiny black shape came into view through the thick whiteness. I watched it curiously as it moved up and down, side to side, all the while closing in on the bridge. I moved closer to the wall, leaning over it to get a better look.

            Suddenly, with only a moment to react, the thing flew into me. I was knocked to the other side of the bridge, the creature flapped wildly, its large feathery wings slapping the ground and the walls blindly.

            It didn’t appear to be much of a threat, after all, it hadn’t really hurt me, and it definitely was not the colossus.

            I looked around, checking the sky for more silhouettes, wondering if I would have to watch out for a swarm of these things, but there was nothing but solid, immaculate white all around.

            The thing squealed childishly as I approached it, backing away and cowering against the wall.

            “Hey little guy,” I said cautiously, sticking my hand out to it as if it were a dog. Then I noticed what it was carrying.

            The bird/gargoyle thing had four thin legs that ended in equally thin talons. In its front left talon, a shiny black bow, five feet long with an elegant curve was clutched desperately. In the right, a black leather quiver full of arrows with silver fletchings rested, the leather, moist from the mist.

            I thought about grabbing it swiftly from the creature, but then a better thought occurred in my head.  

            “Hey there,” I said to it, “you want this?”

            I pulled out the piece of bread I had been keeping in my pocket. It was soggy and nasty feeling, and I wouldn’t have eaten it myself, so I held it up in the palm of my hand.

            The bird/gargoyle nipped cautiously at it, its black beak clicking as it open and closed, its tiny black eyes staring at me.  

            Finally, the creature successfully grabbed the bread from my hand and gobbled it down in one bite.

            “There,” I said, “how’s that?” I took a chance and stroked the creature’s feathers. It didn’t bite back, but instead it began to rub against my hand playfully. I looked at it, then something clicked in my head.

            “Hey,” I whispered to it, “how about if I call you Jack, huh?

            It just came out like that. The thing began to click its beak and bob its bird-head up and down as if agreeing to the name.

            I continued to stroke its feathers as it continued to rub them against my hand, and for a moment, I was caught up in a familiar memory that I couldn’t quite recall.

            Then, there came a noise that shattered that memory to pieces. It was a deep bellow, like from a whale . . . or rather a thousand whales simultaneously. I covered my ears as the noise vibrated my body, chattered my teeth, and shook stones loose all around me. Jack squealed angrily, puffing up its black feathers and raising its chin.

            I almost laughed at the sight. Jack then hopped over to me, dropping the bow and the quiver of arrows at my feet. I looked at him, then picked up the weapons. The bow was strong, and I could feel the tension as I pulled on the silver drawstring.  It felt . . . almost natural, at least, more so than a sword.

            The quiver buckled around my waste so that the arrows hung to my left hip. I was settled, ready to go. I took a deep breath and stepped forward. Suddenly, Jack leapt onto my back, wrapped its talons like straps around my arms, shoulders, legs, and midsection. I yelled at him to get off, but Jack clung onto me, his talons growing longer and wrapping around my body tighter and in more places.

            I spun around and twisted, trying to get him off of me . . . and then I was falling.

            I hardly realized it was happening until I was plummeting down towards a black water grave.

            I shut my eyes tight, expecting at any moment to crash to my death on a rock. I thought about all the people who hadn’t made it this far, about Fin, about Kale . . . about Avra. I wondered if she had saved my life for nothing.

            Then I realized that by any law of physics, I should have hit the ground by now. I still felt the wind rushing past my face, only now, I was more horizontal.

            I finally plucked up the courage to look and saw that I was flying. The dark water sped by under me, a foot away from my noise. I craned my neck up and saw Jack, wings unfurled all the way to a great length, carrying me using the talons wrapped around my body.

            Jack hadn’t been randomly attacking me, he was giving me a ride.

            The bow was miraculously still in my hand, and the quiver was still attached to my waist; full of arrows. I laughed as the sense of initial queasiness left me, and I became lost in the exhilarating experience of flying.

            Jack flapped his great wings and carried me upwards towards the thickening mist. I looked ahead, as Jack did, determinedly and ready.

            After all, we had a battle to win.

 

Author's Note

ignore the grammar mistakes please.

Reviews

[TL Boehm]

another great installment - consistently surreal throughout - first peaceful and then terrifying - you move quickly through it - well penned

[Miss Coral]

Another great installment- I had to read it in two parts, as I didn't have the time to sit down and read it all at once, but really enjoyed it. You have a great pace going here.
Great job! :)

[Jooolie]

Good chapter :) I'm really glad we got a bit of his backstory and the characters are starting to develop nicely. You also had really good buildup and continued to use the little details (like how he got the bread halfway through the chapter and then used it on Jack). Kudos :)

[Abhinav]

just awesome:)
keep it up

[Drifter]

I liked how this chapter flowed. The build-up is quite good and it has me going to the next chapter instead of working on the things I should be doing. Well done.

[aaaa]

I read it earlier and decided not to review, but now I think I should review just to tell you how awesome it was.

[Bette]

i love it!

[Star Wolf]

Another awesome chapter. I'm rather pulled into this story now.

[James Watts]

A nice job of keeping us intrigued. I enjoyed that. A good story will keep you wanting to know more. We become hungry for the outcome. Nice flow and imagery. The dialogue was well constructed and the pace was just right. A little polish and this will ready. My big advice is do not worry about editing at this stage, wait until you have a complete story. Editing before it is finished is generally a bad idea.

[WriterSki7]

You're doing better with this chapter. At least we have in idea of how the kid got there now. I'm looking forward seeing how far this story goes. Of course, you can't dissappoint me now.

I'd be a shame if you did. ;)