Musings From A Demented Mind (18 page)

                           Chapter Six

“Arris, it is this way,” the man in the black uniform said as he led him down the corridor leading to the large hangar outside the secret government base in Nevada.

As they entered the corridor, Arris stood in amazement at the sight before him.  Inside a large electrified steel cage was a twenty foot white cat with dark green eyes.  It stared at him as he approached the cage.

“Hello, my feline friend.”

“This is the father.  We found the bodies of the mother and the four kittens in Canada.”

“Will you provide me with the mother’s skeleton as promised?”  Arris asked.

“Do you have what we requested?”

“It took a lot of effort to secure them.  As I promised you over the phone, here’s the blueprints for Mecha Cat.”  Arris answered and handed him a thumb drive with the plans.

“You need to keep this a secret.”

“Trust me; as long as I get the skeleton, you get my silence.”

“I will have the skeleton transported to wherever you want.”

“Thanks.” 

Arris stared at the cat.  It hissed at him and rammed into the cage violently and jumped backward as it was shocked by the electric cage.  It sat down, stared at him for a few seconds, then closed its eyes and went to sleep.

                           Chapter Seven

Lucille climbed out of bed.  She was burning up and she knew if she didn’t get to the bathroom soon, she would be throwing up all over the floor.  She rushed into the bathroom and began to throw up.  She held onto the sink to avoid losing balance since she felt dizzy.

As her body temperature cooled down, she began to feel like her whole body was itchy.  She looked down and her whole body was covered in black fur.  She tried to scream as she looked in the mirror, but no sound would come out.  Standing before her was not the beautiful tanned brunette woman that she knew, but a feline humanoid with black fur and glowing yellow eyes.  She looked at her hands and her fingernails were eight inches long.

She hissed at her reflection and ran out of the bathroom toward the bedroom.  She rushed over to her bed to wake Benton up.  She slowly walked backward in horror.  In the middle of the bed lay Benton covered in blood.  His body was ripped apart and in the middle of his chest lay three kittens asleep.  She felt something rubbing against her legs and looked down to see a calico cat.  She picked it up and it purred as she held it in her arms.

               
Rastus, A Warrior’s Quest

Rastus stared at the skeletons littering the forest floor.  Beside each bleached-bone body lay their swords; all damaged from exposure to the elements. These were the fallen men of his tribe, Klytrinx of the Forest. They had failed to succeed in their spiritual passage from adolescence to manhood.  Rastus, himself on the brink of manhood, blinked back his tears when he recognized the sword next to one of the skeletons.  It belonged to Dashiell, his best friend, and the last tribesman to leave the village and go on the great spiritual journey.  Only half of the tribesman who ventured out ever returned.  Those who came home, never spoke of the journey.  It was a rite of passage for the men of the woods.  He had watched the boys leave every year, and knew the ‘ritual to manhood’ was a death sentence only the strongest could survive.  This was why he constantly trained in the physical arts.  His large muscular physique was the result.

He picked up Dashiell’s sword and compared it to his own.  It was a fine sword: the hilt had symbols etched into it and the blade was still sharp.  The sword of Rastus was adorned with three shiny, red rubies he’d found some time ago.  He respectfully replaced Dashiell’s sword next to his skeleton.  The bones along his friend’s rib cage, around his heart, were crushed. Something large had penetrated Dashiell’s chest. Rastus would have to be very cautious.  Whatever evil had happened; it had taken the lives of his tribesmen.

The forest emitted no sound, as if the animals and insects suspected danger.  Rastus surveyed the area around him, but didn’t see anything of immediate threat.  As he checked the ground, he recalled his last meeting with his grandfather, Kotori.

They were sitting by the fire admiring the moonlight from the clear night sky.  Kotori was preparing him for the spiritual journey. 

“You must become one with nature.  You must not fear nature, but rather, embrace it with all its good and bad.”

“What should I expect?”

“Rastus, the spirits will test your worthiness.  If they deem you unworthy for this world, you will not survive the journey.  I cannot tell you any more.”

Rastus had long contemplated why his people had to prove their merit to the spirits. So many of his tribesmen tried and failed.   He didn’t want to be the next one who couldn’t succeed.  He valued life, not only his own but all around him. 

He froze, craning his neck toward the sudden sound that sent a chill down his spine.  At first, the sound was faint but as it drew closer, he could hear loud pounding.  The ground shook as the sound drew near.  Whatever it was, it was huge.  A tree in front of him fell, snapping at its base.  An enormous grey creature with long tusks stood before him.  His grandfather had once described such a creature.  A mammoth.

He gripped his sword tightly, anticipating an attack.  The giant stared at him; anger in its body language.

The bushes shook as a large black bear walked through.  It stood next to the mammoth, staring straight at Rastus.  Despite all his physical training, Rastus knew he was no match against the animals. 

He heard a roar, and seconds later a huge saber-toothed tiger appeared.  The three beasts stepped forward, threateningly.

It was obvious that any move against these creatures would be a death sentence.  All he could do was drop his sword.  He raised his hands in surrender.

“My name is Rastus and I mean you no harm.”

The mammoth lowered its head.

The other two beasts vanished. 

The mammoth glowed a fire bright orange and transformed into a tall, beautiful woman in a vibrant yellow garb with flowing auburn hair. Rastus had never seen anyone so beautiful before.  She was not part of his tribe; nor did she look like anyone from any neighboring tribes.

“My name is Alzina.  I welcome you to my forest.  As you can tell from the ground around you, most men choose to attack.  You chose to drop your sword.”

“There is no sense in fighting a losing battle.”

“Wise.” 

She walked over to him and ran her hand across his muscular physique and stopped over his heart.  Her hand felt cold against his chest.  She smiled as she slowly walked away.  “Follow.” 

He stared at her as she disappeared into the deep forest.

“Follow.”

He heard her voice echo. He walked forward through the thick trees.  She was nowhere in sight, but he could hear the sound of her voice echoing in the forest, urging him forward.  He came upon a clearing that opened onto a large waterfall.  Alzina sat atop a large moss covered stone. She played a silver harp.  She motioned for him to sit on the ground in front of the stone.  A fox jumped onto the stone and stretched out next to her.

“This place is peaceful,” Rastus said as a rainbow colored butterfly landed on his shoulder.

“This is a place of magic.” 

She placed the harp on her lap and snapped her fingers.  The waterfall disappeared, exposing a large cave. 

“You have two choices.  You can turn back, return to your village and claim your spiritual journey complete; or you can venture into the cave to prove your worthiness.”

“Worthiness for what?”

“To be the protector of life.  To be the protector of this sacred forest.”

“Protector from what?”

“The biggest threat to my animals and to my forest.”

“Which is?”

“Mankind,” she said sadly.

“Mankind respects nature.”

“Unfortunately not for long.  One day mankind will want to venture further into the world.  Progress they will call it. First the forests will disappear, then the animals, and then mankind.  I need someone; a gentle soul and a warrior all in one; who can protect what I’ve worked so hard for my whole existence to protect.”

“Am I the first to be worthy?”

“There have been a few others, but they chose to return to your tribe instead of staying on as protector.  Only one chose to be my champion.”

“What happened to him?” 

“He died many years ago.  He was my champion for a long time.”

“How long?”

“Longer than you could possibly imagine.”

“If I take the offer, what do I get in return?”

“You will be blessed by the gods and have fortunes beyond your wildest imagination in the afterlife.”

He stared at her for a few seconds and then at the cave.  Alzina began to play her harp as she waited for his decision.  A lion ambled over to him and sat down at his feet.   He had never been close to one before and was amazed the lion wasn’t a threat.

“Animals are friends to my kind and they will be to you if you accept my offer,” she said as she played on.

He cautiously put his left hand on the lion and began to pet it.  The lion slowly looked up at him and yawned.  Rastus laughed in disbelief.  He looked over at Alzina and smiled.

“Enter the cave and become my champion.”

He walked into the cave.  There were glowing blue diamonds along the walls brightening up the passageway. Carved into the wall were depictions of a muscular man wielding a sword, surrounded by wild animals.  He stopped for a few minutes to admire the carvings before venturing further into the cave.  At the end of the passageway was a large boulder that was flat on top with an outline of a sword etched into it.   Taking out his sword, Rastus placed it on the outline.  It began to glow bright red and then vanished, reappearing a few seconds later.  What once was a silver sword was now gold.  He picked up the weapon admiring its new beauty.

“You alone are the wielder of this magic sword, as long as you follow an honest path.  Follow a dark path and it will turn on you,” Alzina warned.

“What do I do now?”

“Venture forward into the world.  What lies ahead is nothing compared to what you’ve encountered so far.  There is a different world beyond the forest.  Listen to the animals.  They will be your guides.  Until we meet again.”

Alzina vanished.

He re-placed his sword in the familiar leather-bound scabbard, suspended from the strap across his right shoulder. He followed the passageway out of the cave.  The forest looked very different.  The leaves on the trees were colored red and orange and the ground was littered with the fallen leaves.  When he entered the cave it had been spring and now it seemed to be fall. 

How long had he been in the cave?

Next to the cave entrance there were markings carved in a large stone.  These were ancient symbols his grandfather taught him to read. Cave of Time. It didn’t have a meaning to him for now.   He changed direction to his village.  He reached the end of the forest where he had learned to swim in.  A canoe he’d left tied to a rock was nowhere in sight.  He jumped into the water and swam across.  On the other side, he sat down and rested.  He had a couple of hours of daylight left, so he grabbed some sticks and a couple of rocks and built a fire.  The sun disappeared and he watched the stars before falling asleep.

The sound of something splashing in the water awoke him.  He opened his eyes to find a saber-toothed tiger asleep at his feet.  A large, multi-colored fish repeatedly jumped in the river.  On the other side of the river were four beautiful white horses, each with a golden horn on the top of its head.  He had never seen anything like them before.

The tiger raised its head and stared at him.  As Rastus stood up, so did the tiger.

“What’s wrong?” 

The tiger ran for the forest, stopped and stared at him.

“You want me to follow?”

Rastus pulled his sword out of the scabbard and followed the tiger into the forest.  He could hear the sound of a large animal struggling up ahead.  As he drew closer, he heard somebody ordering to attack.  He saw a mammoth in the distance.  Three men in brown leather armor had a rope tied around one of its tusks.

“Subdue the beast!  His tusks will make great weapons!”  their leader yelled out.

Two men wrapped a rope on the same tusk and pulled, trying to force the mammoth to the ground.  Rastus jumped forward and sliced one of the ropes with his sword.  He violently pushed three of the men backward with his left hand.

“Kill him!” their leader commanded.

Rastus cut the other rope.  The men carried carved wooden clubs, long and heavy. One young man swung at him. Rastus deflected the blow with his leather armor on his left forearm and swung his sword with his right, slicing the club in half. Another man rushed at him while the third unsuccessfully tried to stop the mammoth from escaping.

Their leader watched the fight in awe.  His men’s clubs were no match for the strength of Rastus’s sword. 

“I want his weapon!  Take it from him!”

Rastus fought the group of three until each of them lay on the ground unconscious.  Their leader began to run away, then stopped, and turned around and stared at him.  He knew he didn’t stand a chance against a warrior like Rastus. 

“Who are you?” 

“Rastus, protector of the animals.”

“Another time, Rastus.” He nodded his head in respect and walked away.

Rastus lowered his sword and looked at the tiger who was standing over the men ready to attack if they regained consciousness.

“We better go before they wake up.  My village is not far from here.” 

The tiger followed him.  They reached the end of the forest and entered a clearing.  Rastus stared in disbelief.  His village was in ruins.  All that remained was the large well that used to be the center of the village.

“Your people have been gone for a long time,” Alzina said from behind him.

“What happened?”

“This village was one of many destroyed by the Zentlox.”

“Where are these Zentlox?”

“Like your people; they were conquered.  You’ve been away from this land for hundreds of years.”

“Why am I in the future?”

“Because this is the time when my forest and the animals need you most.  This will be your first test, your first journey.  Return the balance between nature and mankind.”

“If I fail?”

Alzina’s eyes turned a dark red. “Do not fail!”  Her eyes returned to their natural shade of blue.  “If you fail, my animals will disappear from this world one by one.”

Rastus looked over at the tiger licking its left paw and then back at Alzina. 

“I won’t fail.  This I promise you.”

“Your quest begins north,” Alzina said and disappeared.

He could see a large mountain off to the north.  He walked past the well and into the forest on the other side with the tiger following behind him.  He looked back at what was once his village with sadness.   He thought about his parents, his grandfather and the other people of his tribe.  He had outlived them all.  He said a prayer and continued to walk forward.

Alzina watched him from a distance.

“He has a strong heart which sickens me, but even strong hearts can be broken,” a large, muscular, red-skinned creature with a head similar to a lion said as he appeared next to her.  He was a demon from the underworld who despised nature and wanted mankind to destroy it. 

“Tyles, I have faith in him.  He will succeed.”