The Inventor of Wings

the escape

 

 

                “Child . . . are you alright?”

            The voice seemed very far off, but at least I could hear it. I mumbled an answer to the voice, slowly trying to sit up in the process. My head ached and my stomach felt like Jell-O. Cracking open my eyes, I was able to see around the room. It was dimly lit, but this time, it was lit with a window instead of the medieval green torches.

            “That’s it, just ease it up,” said the voice of a scruffy old man as he rested a hand on the small of my back and guided me into a sitting position. The man had a short white beard and a few scraggly tufts of white hair that grew unevenly from the top of his wrinkly head. His skin was deeply tanned and his hazel eyes twinkled kindly.

            “Who are you?” I asked the man, rubbing a sore spot on my head. The window near the bed I was laying on let in fresh sunlight that illuminated a mass of metal gears and contraptions that cluttered the room. I thought I recognized a miniature catapult made of shimmering steel in a corner, half concealed by a scarlet tarp.

            The man opened his mouth to respond, but a boy walked into the room from somewhere behind an enormous hourglass. “Father, where did you want the exoskeleton?” The boy was tall with sandy brown hair that fell in curls to his shoulders and his skin was somewhat lighter than that of his father. He carried a large bundle of something wrapped in brown leather.

            “Oh, uh, by the brass figurines on the table there, Icarus. Yes, thank you.” The old man said. He then turned to me and spoke in a soothing voice, “I am Daedalus, child. Inventor of-- Icarus, be careful with those figurines,” he said, turning to Icarus who had dropped one of the brass figurines that fell the marble floor. “Anyways, child, you have nothing to fear for the time being.”

            Well that’s not very comforting, I thought. It just meant I would have something to fear later. I got up from the bed and walked shakily to the window, where bright sunlight cascaded down onto a sandy beach. It was nearly the same image that had been in my room at the hotel. I reached for it hopefully, only to falter as the image rippled and distorted.

            “Alas, even I cannot create a world full of beauty, such as the image you see,” Daedalus recited. “At least not with the tools I am granted in this prison.”

            “Wait, this is a prison?” I asked, turning away from the window to look at Daedalus.

            “Yes child, my son and I are prisoners here. Chiron forces us to create fields for the games. I believe you came across my cathedral; One of my best pieces in a long time.”

            “What are you crazy?” I asked him, bewildered. “Do you even understand what happens in those challenges?”

            “No, I don’t,” began Daedalus. “I have no part nor say in the games. I am merely commissioned to build them . . . It’s about all I’m good for.” Daedalus looked away grudgingly for a moment.

            “Don’t even bother with father when he’s like this,” Icarus said. “He’s been in a slump for a decade now--”

            “Silence Icarus, I am not in a slump.” Daedalus mumbled irritably. Icarus rolled his eyes and began to fiddle around with a device that looked something like a bear trap. “I just haven’t had the sort of inspiration that I usually have.”  

            I looked at him sadly. “Icarus, could you put some music on? My mind is tired of this silence.” Daedalus groaned.

            “Yes father,” Icarus said, walking over to an old-style record player with an enormous white funnel twisting out the top of it and pressing a knob on the wood. Immediately a crystal clear song began to echo of all of the instruments and inventions in the room. The voice that sang was female and accompanied by a single harp.

            Daedalus sighed in relief. “Chiron had drugged you and had most likely intended for you to remain asleep until the time came for you to be judged. But, fortunately, I’m very good with antidotes as well as useless contraptions.”

            “Judged?” I asked. “What happens with that?”

            “I can’t pretend to know. But I can promise you you’ll be found guilty.”

            “Guilty of what?”

            “Well, anything and everything. The underworld has become so corrupt under Chiron’s rule that it is literally shocking that they didn’t send you straight to Tartarus.”

            This was not helping my conscience at all.

            “So . . . what the hell am I supposed to do?”  I asked. However, at that moment, a knocking came from somewhere in the room. A black door revealed itself against the far wall.

            “Does the boy wake?” spoke a demonic voice from beyond.

            Daedalus began to race about the room hurriedly, picking up random objects, then setting them down, shaking his head. “No! Not yet, give it a few minutes!” Daedalus called. Icarus began searching through the mess as well.

            “No, the judges request his presence, now!” spoke the voice.

            Daedalus paused for a moment and began to pull nervously at the tufts of hair on his head. He grabbed the leather bundle that Icarus had placed on the table earlier. He started to rush around, gathering pieces of metal, ripping parts off existing inventions. He started a fire faster than any I had ever seen. In a moment, he was hovering over the red metal, heating it, beating it with a hammer with precise rhythm. Icarus brought over a pail of water for his father, then assisted him; running pieces of metal to him and holding the pieces still as Daedalus beat them like a drum. More knocking came from the door, followed by more angry orders.

Finally, Daedalus hulled a large frame out of the water and held it up to the light. He grabbed some strips of leather nearby and began strapping them to the contraption.

“Come here, child, and remove your shirt for a moment.” Daedalus whispered urgently. I followed his orders and moved over to him, then watched in confusion as the dark skinned man began strapping the harness to my bare back.

“What is this thing?” I asked him.

“No time to explain, just pull this line when you need to escape,” Daedalus instructed, raising one of the strips of leather so I could see it clearly. I pulled my shirt back over my head and realized how light the object was. It also laid nearly flat on my back so my shirt fit smoothly over it.

Just then, the door blasted open and three hideous creatures entered the room. They were cloaked with diseased hands and dog-like snouts that protruded from the dark depths of their hoods. The creatures grabbed me as their deformed wings extended from their backs. I was blinded in the same manner as, what seemed like hundreds of times. Then, I was yanked out the door and into the hallway beyond.

 

---

 

When my vision cleared, I was bound in chains to a black chair. The room I was in was not as big as I thought it would be, but it was intimidating nonetheless. I sat in a part of the floor that was lowered. Above me, up a small series of steps, a silhouette of an enormous man sat behind a desk. His identity was shrouded in darkness as a massive fireplace behind him cast the man in shadow with its green flames.

“You know why you’re here, don’t you?” The man spoke in a deep and menacing tone.

“I do,” I said to the figure. Truth was, I did know. It was ridiculously stupid, but I knew I had no chance against the law here.

“Well then,” said the figure. “An easy trial. You are sentenced to life in Tartarus. Have a nice day.” The figure slammed a mallet down onto the desk, then stood up.

“What the hell is this?” I yelled. “That’s it? You’re done? I don’t get a jury or something?”

“No.” said the figure simply, then he walked off into the darkness.

I screamed and shouted in anger, but nobody could hear me. The hideous creatures approached me from behind, clasped their gruesome hands around my face and body, the chains fell away, and I was dragged to someplace of punishment.

Down hallways and through rooms, I allowed the creatures my body, but I refused to move my legs in any way, so they trailed lifelessly behind me. I thought I was done for, that I would end up in Tartarus along with the foulest of creatures throughout the centuries.

However, one of the hands that were clasped around my right arm released itself. Then the rest of the hands fell away and I was left standing in the middle of some hallway. Grunts and shrieks of an unseen fight happened all around me. Swords clanged against claws and claws against shields.

What was going on?

Someone grabbed my hand and led me down the hallway. Whether it was friend or foe, I couldn’t tell. Whoever it was shoved me down against a wall.

“Grayson!” Avra called in front of me. A little bit of the scuffle died down as another pair of footsteps came over to me.

“Hold on,” Grayson said as he clasped his dirty hands over my eyes. I opened my eyes to see blurred outlines of two people in front of me, the one on the left was Avra and the one on the right was Grayson. The hallway we were in had rows of windows letting in sunlight.

“How’s that?” Grayson asked.

“Terrible, I can barely see at all.” I told him.

“Well . . . It’ll have to do for now.” He shrugged. “Come on, we have to go.”

Avra helped me up, then guided me the rest of the way down the hallway where Grayson had opened up a doorway. A few other pairs of footsteps followed us and together we made a small stampede for the exit. Blood curling shrieks of anger rose, most likely, from the dog-faced creatures that had brought me here.

We were about to plow through the door when suddenly, I was grabbed from behind. The sudden stop released my grip on Avra’s hand. I was yanked backwards by one of the other creatures as the rest flapped their wings menacingly and shot off towards the group.

I watched as Avra turned to come back for me, but Grayson grabbed her shoulders and dragged her back into the room, then the door shut and faded away.

I yelled in fury as the creatures tried to hull me away. Then, Daedalus’ words came back into my head. I managed to reach under my shirt and give the leather strip a quick tug. Immediately my shirt was torn open as a set of metal wings expanded outward and the creatures were knocked backwards.

            “What the . . ?” I asked, out loud as the tiny bits of interlocking metal unfolded from the frame and filled the hallway with tiny clicks as the pieces fused together to form feathers. Soon, the wings were fully spread out and I did the first thing that came to mind. Jump.

            I dove out the nearest window, seeing the image of the beach for a fraction of a second before it faded away, and then I was falling downward into the black sea.

Author's Note

sorry, I was experiencing a sudden bout of stomach flu.

Reviews

[Star Wolf]

You're really doing an awesome job on this story/book!

[Dutch Jr.]

So vivid description, it's as though I'm watching a book instead of reading it... you're very talented, and an awesome story teller.

[HorrorMaster]

Awesome chapter. this should be turn into a movie.

[James Watts]

Very nice. Every time I read one of these I am reminded of all those episodes of Hercules I used to watch or Xena. Nice work.

[The Analog Kid]

Thumbs up...

[WriterSki7]

Hahaha; nice. You certianly are a fan of mythology.