Cloudfyre Falling - a dark fairy tale (73 page)

The being made no
response.

‘
Water,’ Gargaron said. ‘That be
all it is. I offer you some.’

Again, no response.

Gargaron placed the gourd upon the
flat white salt beneath his feet. And took himself back from
it.

‘
Drink,’ he told the being. ‘I
mean you no harm. If you be thirsty then, please,
drink.’

Still, the being made no move, no
reply, as if it did not understand.

3

Gargaron looked
around.
So what now?
he thought. The suns were full, the light off the salt flats
bright and glaring. Once more he caught sight of Grimah’s hoof
prints leading away from him. He scanned again the horizon for any
sight of some landmark he may have missed, turning fully about as
he had already done.

As before, there were no visible
feature to be seen.

What to do? What
be my purpose?
‘Do
you
know why I am here?’ he asked
the wee one. It failed to speak. ‘Do you have others like yourself
here somewhere?’ There might have been a tribe of them watching
him, all half invisible. Unless they moved he would probably not
spy them. Perhaps Grimah had gone on, trailing a scent of fresh
water.

‘
Are there others like you?’ he
asked. ‘Would you take me to them? I mean you and your kind no
harm. Honestly.’

Again the thing simply stood there
eyeing him before looking around again, as if worried about its
surroundings, as if it had never seen such a land before. Its
expressions intrigued Gargaron. The creature seemed as lost and
unsure about this place as he did.

Eventually it were pure necessity
that gave Gargaron purpose. The salt pans were growing hotter the
longer the day advanced. The gourd would not hold water forever.
Sooner or later Gargaron’s thirst would see to that. He pointed for
the benefit of the being. ‘I need to trail my steed. You may come
with me if you want.’

Again, no reply.

Gargaron nodded. ‘Right then,
please yourself, but if I stay here I shall perish.’

No hint of understanding from the
being.

Gargaron sighed. With that he
started off.

4

The creature did not follow. Gargaron were
gone twenty feet when he looked around and saw the thing still
standing on the spot. When he had gone fifty feet the little being
were almost swallowed up by the white and blue and the perfect
mirrored reflections.

Gargaron knew it were wasted
energy worrying himself about it.

He concentrated on Grimah’s hoof
prints, following their meandering trail northways. They seemed
never ending. He began to wonder how long ago Grimah had passed
this way. It may have been days. Or, for all he knew, weeks had
passed.

Hours trickled by as he trudged
this mysterious land. Exhausted, hot, sweating. He halted his march
and allowed himself some small sips, trying his best to ignore his
raging thirst. He felt his lips were blistered from the suns. He
took some moments looking about, hoping perhaps the distance he had
covered might have delivered him closer to some new landmark
previously lost beyond the horizon. But there were none. He longed
for his spyglass. He reattached his gourd and were about to set off
again when he got the fright of his life. The small being stood
there, watching him.

It stood closer
than it had earlier, as if it now viewed Gargaron as a remote
threat rather than an imminent one. As it eyed him, he heard words
in his mind.
I do not know what I am. Do I
belong to you?

Gargaron frowned, eyeing it
carefully. ‘Be this you I can hear?’ No reply. ‘I have not seen
your like before.’

The creature watched him.

The ground beneath them both shook
right about then. Gargaron looked down with some consternation.
Then searched the sky for a yellow discolouration. He feared a
shockwave. But minutes passed, none came.

‘
If you hear me and understand
me,’ Gargaron said, ‘then listen. I have a steed. I need find him.’
He pointed to the hoof tracks as though this were sufficient
explanation. ‘He will carry us from his place. If I do not find him
then I shall perish here, for I will soon be out of water.’ He
shook his gourd; it felt as though it held mere drips now. ‘If you
hear me, if you wish to come with me, then come, I shall offer you
my protection. If you choose to stay here then I am sorry but I
cannot stay.’

He regarded the little being for
some moments. It did not move. No further voice came from it. It
simply watched him with those big transparent eyes.

‘
So be it,’ Gargaron said
sorrowfully and with that he set off again.

5

The creature trailed him this
time. Keeping back some two dozen feet. Gargaron glanced at it once
or twice over his shoulder, happy for the company, silent though it
were.

Another hour passed. Gargaron’s
thirst grew. He wanted so much to throw away his gourd so that he
might not be further tempted to drink the last of its contents.
Though if he did, he would be without any means of hydration. The
irony were not lost on him. It caused him to laugh. As he did he
looked around at the little being, hoping to share the moment. But
the creature simply gazed up at him, expressionless.

Gargaron quieted himself and took
up his gourd and again offered it to the being. ‘I give this to
you. Please accept it before it sends me insane.’

The little being looked perplexed.
And when Gargaron stepped toward it, offering up the gourd, the
little one took a step backwards.

‘
I mean you no harm, honestly. And
even if I did, I have not the strength. So, please, accept this
water before I put my hospitality aside and drink it
myself.’

The being would not come forward
to receive the gourd. It irritated Gargaron. He placed it atop the
salt crust and ambled slowly backwards. ‘Please. Have
it.’

Again the being seemed confused,
as if it did not recognise such an object. It occurred to Gargaron
that this creature stood before him without water nor provisions
and yet looked quite unperturbed, quite unstressed.

She be a ghost
then
, Gargaron convinced himself.
She be that and nothing more
.

He stepped forward and bent down
to fetch the gourd, his hand on his hip to assist him in his
effort. He felt like a giant three times his age. He straightened
slowly, unstoppered the gourd, lifted it, arched his back and neck,
upended it into his mouth, and this time left not a
drop…

He regarded the gourd when he were
done. Upending it again to his lips to suck out any last drips. He
sighed when he were done. Knowing now he were doomed to die
here.

With great effort
he clipped it back to his belt.
There may
be fresh water ahead
, he thought. And if
there were none, well, he would trail the hoof prints until his
body and mind succumbed to exhaustion and delirium. Then he would
likely fall to his knees, slump forward onto his belly and face,
and let sweet death carry him away.

He turned and resumed his trudge
across the plain.

6

It were not long after that he
spotted some far off object.

He stopped and stood, his head
craned forward, mouth ajar, eyes narrowed. Were it something
tangible he were seeing or something thrown out from his mind? It
were impossible to tell. But it did not leave his sight, even when
he blinked, it remained there, in the general heading of the
meandering hoof prints.

‘
Do you see that?’ Gargaron asked
the little one eagerly. ‘Tell me. Do you see it?’

The little one
were looking with keen, perhaps cautious, interest. It did not
reply directly except a voice arose in Gargaron’s mind,
What be it?

‘
Come,’ Gargaron croaked. ‘I wager
it be Grimah my steed. We must not let him out of our sight. Come
now!’

Gargaron set off with renewed
purpose, with a new sense of optimism and feeling of strength. He
did not take his eye from the object lest it move and vanish from
view.

But vanish it did not. And as they progressed
toward it, it remained where it were. And slowly it grew in
detail.

Gargaron saw first its legs, and
its bulky torso, and saw two heads. He almost cried with relief.
Tears filled his eye. ‘Grimah,’ he panted desperately. ‘Oh, Grimah,
sweet horse. You await me.’

Yet, as he and the being advanced
further, what Gargaron had taken for two heads and a bulky horse
torso and long legs, turned out to be something else altogether.
Confused, Gargaron shaded his brow with his hand and slowed his
pace.

Soon, perplexed, he stopped
altogether. No horse were standing there, although hoof prints
appeared to trail toward it and culminate there at its
feet.

It were a Dark One, tall and black
with a feminine posture, with searing white eyes glaring back at
both Gargaron and the new being. Beside it there were a ceramic
sink with a white faucet and flowing water. Beside that a marble
dais with berries and fruit and bread and succulent sliced
meat.

Gargaron were not certain if what
he saw before him were real or if it were a phantom thrown out by
his mind. As he watched, the Dark One, tall, almost graceful in her
movements, stood back, as if beckoning him and his new companion,
allowing him access to food and water without her
hindrance.

Gargaron were naturally cautious.
Yet, strangely, he felt no threat from her. He could not fathom
why. He had seen her kind kill and destroy and yet… none had ever
seen it their business to harm him. He felt that trend were not
about to change here. Still, what did it matter if it did? He would
die out here soon enough. If she struck him down it might be a
blessing.

He glanced around at the small
being behind him. It had stopped, and seemed to be using Gargaron
as a shield between him and the Dark One. Gargaron eyed the food
and water. He suspected a trap, but he were almost beyond
caring.

He strode tiredly toward the
faucet, eyeing it, waiting for it to swirl away like smoke on the
wind. It remained there however and when he reached it and stuck
his hand out to touch it he found it solid and real. There came to
his nostrils the scent of pristine water as it gushed from the tap.
He put his fingers beneath its flow and cool water gushed over
them.

He did not remember cupping his
hands beneath the flow and guzzling feverishly. All he knew were he
had his eye shut and his mouth deep in water and he were filling
his belly. It were an almost instant relief, the feelings of
strength and vitality surging through his bones and muscles,
bringing on a renewed lucidity to his mind.

Yet soon he were doubled over,
vomiting great gushes of water into the salt crust; not because it
were poisoned but because his belly were not ready for such
inundation.

He caught his breath, coughed spit
from his mouth, wiped his chin. Then he were bent over the faucet
again, drinking and hoisting handfuls of water over his face and
head, drenching and cooling himself.

7

He breathed in deep, stood
straight, sucking in huge gasps of air, his eye remained shut, his
head turned to the heavens, a soft breeze cooling his damp skin; he
felt like he’d just awoken from Afterworld’s torturous limbo. Now
he got a scent of the food. With his thirst abated he were suddenly
overrun by surging, raging hunger.

As he stepped toward the dais laid
out with foodstuff, he glanced around at the tall Dark One. She
stood there, calmly watching. The transparent small being stood
aside, watching Gargaron with bewilderment and
confusion.

Gargaron grabbed handfuls of meat,
berries, fruit, stuffing them into his gob with a ravenous ferocity
he had never known. He ate until not much were left, until there
were but scattered scraps and morsels and then he fell to his knees
and vomited, heaving up mighty lumps of half masticated meat and
bread, followed by more water and bile and spit.

Then he turned over and slumped to
his rump and sat there, arms loose at his side, his head hanging,
drool spilling from his lips. He endured a time of reflection as he
sat there. He remembered an old dream. Of he and Veleyal, his
daughter. A famine had struck and she had wasted away to almost
nothing. Her skin had become transparent. There were no food to
give her. No water. All he had left were his life. He had prayed to
the gods to take it from him and give it to his daughter. And they
had granted him his wish. All he had to do were touch her, make
some physical bond, to pass on his life force.

He emerged from his reverie…
puzzled. He were not certain it had ever been a dream he’d
experienced. It felt more like a thought that had occurred to him
only now. For it were not Veleyal he imagined needed saving, but
the small being.

More images came to him then. Of
beings great and small, thousands of them, in the eons of time that
had come before this moment, conducting similar selfless acts,
giving over their life to some transparent ghostlike
being.