Seasons of Heaven (7 page)

Ani nodded at the lion and the other animals slowly began to come forth and show him gratitude. Some of the squirrels brought him nuts and others a plant. Even to Ani it was a surreal sight to see this clan of different species so emotionally and spiritually connected, that their bond could never be broken.

The grand elephant began to stand up slowly. The whole area rumbled as he got to his feet.

He gave Ani one last long look before turning and disappearing into the forest without as much as a sound. The white lion stayed behind and asked Ani to follow him; he seemed as if he had something to show him.

Ani and the lion walked until they were in the center of the forest where there was an area filled with trees that were as white as the lion. Ani had never seen anything like it. The ground was pink like a summer night and the leaves that fell from the trees looked as if they were floating to earth in slow motion. Ani heard the soft sounds of water tinkling over rock and looked towards it. There, amongst the plants and trees ran a beautiful, turquoise river. Near the river Ani could see a tombstone. The sign on it was strange with three triangles aligned on top. There was writing on them…Japanese kanji’s. To a human it may have spelled out a name, but to Ani and the lion the words were only symbols. Ani was surprised to see the lady on her knees next to it, bowing her head and crying. The animals gave Ani the message that they called her ‘the sadness’. She came every night here near the tomb and the lion thought it was important for Ani to see it.

Who was she? Ani wondered. She looked like a ghost with her pale, white skin. She was translucent yet real at the same time. He stood there with the lion for a long time and just watched her until the first ray of the sun began to break through the thick canopy of trees.

She turned her head and looked slowly at Ani just as she began to fade. Her eyes were strange, yet familiar to him. He couldn’t remember if he knew her or not. Once she was gone, the lion escorted Ani back to the edge of the forest. The lion turned and went back into the trees and left Ani alone with his friend. Yann was still sleeping by the fire and Ani went over and lay down next to his leg. He closed his own weary eyes and faded into sleep.

CHAPTER FIVE

“THE JOURNEY”

The boy and his best friend the dog took off on the same path they’d been following, but after a short while, they ran into a small cliff. It was just over Yann’s head. He reached up and jumped slightly off the ground. He was able to grab the edge and he knew he would be able to pull himself up onto it but the problem was Ani. He couldn’t climb it with Ani in his arms.

He looked at the dog and they both knew what had to be done. To Ani’s credit, he didn’t look nervous at all. Yann took hold of Ani around his belly with both hands. One hand rested across the front and the other along the back of his friend. He had to turn Ani one hundred and eighty degrees while leaning against his chest as he pushed him up in a single gesture onto the edge of the cliff. Yann was out of breath when he finished, but happy to look up and see Ani looking down at him, safe.

Yann negotiated the cliff next by grabbing on with both hands and using his feet to scale the steep side. He finally did one grand move like a pull-up and landed on his belly on top of the cliff. Ani came up to him and licked his face. Yann giggled before pushing himself up off the ground and taking a look around.

The forest was darker here, with no visible beams of light. It seemed much denser and the vegetation wasn’t parting easily to allow them passage, as it had been so gracious to do in the light.

What Yann and Ani didn’t see was the dark shape that slunk quietly behind them and followed them into the forest.

What they did see was that there was a light dusting of shadowy gray fog in the distance and the intense gloom of it all almost completely occluded Yann’s vision. Ani led the way and as they advanced Yann couldn’t help but think about how almost disturbingly inviting and cozy the forest had been in the daylight as compared to now in twilight when it was shrouded by an almost repellant bleakness. The poplars and oaks and ferns were covered in moss that during the day had caused the glorious green/gold reflection to bounce off of their trunks, but now it only served as further camouflage in the almost suffocating darkness.

They passed huge trees just strewn about on the ground. In many places, they had to climb over the trunk because the tree was too large to go around. Ani seemed to be interested in one of them and Yann had to get right next to him to see what it was he was looking at. This tree trunk was hollow, and it looked like it had been hollowed from the inside out. There was an opening that looked like an entrance and without discussing it with Yann; Ani wormed his way into it. Yann decided to bypass it and as he went around it he could see that the trees around them looked as if they had been ripped from the ground. Their roots like tentacle sea creatures reached desperately this way and that starving for the soil they’d been planted in since long before Yann had taken his first breath. There was an entire patch not far behind them that was completely void of trees.

“I don’t know what snatched those trees, Ani, but whatever it was, it was huge…”

Suddenly stillness dropped over them and Yann realized that the wind had completely stopped. The leaves on the trees no longer moved and the atmosphere around them suddenly felt colder, bleaker…

“Ani,” Yann said in a whisper, “Do you feel like we’re being watched?” It was a strange sensation, like a dark presence had suddenly descended over them. It was the first time since they’d begun this journey that Yann felt a true sense of fear and something even akin to loathing.

Ani sniffed the air and looked around. Then he stood completely still and appeared to be in a trance like state with his ears extended up. Yann knew he smelled the air for the scent of someone following them and listening for even the faintest of sounds. Yann stepped close to Ani. The dog let Yann know through their telepathy that he did indeed think they were being watched. He too could feel the presence of an entity with malicious intentions. They looked around together then with a mounting sense of alarm. Their eyes both fell on what had been watching them at once. It was an enormous dark creature standing frozen between the trees and the forest. The sight of him served to fuel the fear and anxiety that already dwelled in their hearts. It was as black as night and it stood motionless, staring at them with a pair of glowing red eyes. Yann felt terror grip him. It was like a heavy weight had suddenly been placed on his chest and he yelled at Ani to run.

They both began to run, through the brush that reached out and scratched Yann’s arms and face and tangled itself up in his clothing. They vaulted over the massive trunks of the trees that had been ripped out of the ground and left to rot. They ducked underneath low-hanging branches and dodged the grasp of a sudden barrage of long, black arms that seemed to be reaching out for them in every direction. Yann could hear Ani’s ragged breathing…or was that his own? The blood was pounding in his ears, so he wasn’t sure. His heart knocked insistently against the wall of his chest as if begging to be let out.

They ran even when they were suddenly and almost completely covered in a thick black swirl of smoke that had begun to envelope them from above. It seemed to be trying to swallow and digest them but they were moving too fast. It followed along, seemingly waiting for an opportunity. Yann was afraid that one may have presented itself as they approached a precipice. Still running he looked at Ani who confirmed what they needed to do….Jump.

The first clue that they had missed their mark came as both Yann and Ani’s small bodies were flung against the side wall of the cliff. The second clue came as they felt themselves falling, once again striking the wall, limp as ragdolls before finally coming to a blunt force stop against the floor of a cave.

Stunned and still charged with adrenaline, the two friends looked at each other to make sure there were no serious injuries. Neither of them seemed more than terrified and exhausted. Ani got to his small feet first and watched as Yann pushed back up to his own. The two of them surveyed their new environment to discover they were inside of a cave. Ivy grew up along the sides of both walls and across the top, vying for space amongst the dried up plants. The limestone walls of the cave were wet as water seeped through the roof and ran down through the ivy that clung to the stone quenching its dark green leaves. The sound of the running water echoed off both the walls and the huge columns that also surrounded them.

“Look Ani, there’s a torch.” Hanging from the wall was a burning torch. Yann was so happy to have a bit of light that he didn’t even stop to consider who may have lit it.

Happy to be out of the dark, Yann held up the torch and they took a better look around. He could hear the whoosh, whoosh of the wings of bats as they circled overhead, seeking out the light. As Yann twirled slowly around, he and Ani could see that the colors of the stonewalls changed subtly and mysteriously every few seconds. One moment they would be a warm azure color and the next they would fade to brown. On their second time circling around, the stonewalls changed to a fiery orange like the color of a summer sunset.

The light of the torch formed strong contrasts across the walls; some of the stalagmites were very close and exposed pleasant esthetic details. It seemed peaceful and Yann and Ani had the feeling they were safe…for the moment at least. That was just before a piercing shriek reverberated throughout the cave and the entire enclosure began to shake. Small rocks were falling but what worried Yann even more was the amount of dirt falling in on top of them. Yann was old enough to know that neither human nor dog could survive being buried alive.

“Run Ani, run!” The huge creature must be lumbering around above them, trying to find its way inside the cave. Its enormous bulk was causing the cave to fall in upon itself.

They raced ahead for their lives for the second time that evening eventually coming to the front of an uphill slope. A bright light like the one Yann had awakened to that morning was shining from it. They looked up towards the light and saw the exit. The light at the end of the tunnel…. Yann and Ani looked at each other and began strategizing their ascent to the top.

Yann held Ani up first, helping him climb onto a small flat area that jutted out from the rock. Then Yann grabbed ahold of one of the ruts in the stone that was as high as he could reach and pulled himself up. He was a few inches above Ani. He reached up again and grabbed another rut in the stone. As he struggled to force his arms to pull him up, he felt his friend, pushing his bottom from behind. That extra push allowed him to clear the few inches he needed to in order to place his feet in another safe position. He reached down then and with a guiding hand on Ani’s back he helped the dog struggle up further until they were almost eye to eye. Yann took his turn next and with strength and will that neither of them knew they possessed they continued on until they were within reach of the top. Coming from thin air and startling them both a large white hand reached out to help.

Yann stared at the hand and then looked at Ani wondering what they should do. He couldn’t see up beyond the hand, the light was too bright. Perhaps it was a trick? Did the dark creature possess some kind of magic that made him capable of transforming himself? Yann had been through so much this day that he no longer knew what to believe. What was real and what wasn’t?

“Take my hand Yann; I’m here to help you.” It was a woman’s voice, warm and engaging. It was a choice between trusting her and being buried underneath a mountain of dirt, he decided she had to be the safer choice. Yann scooped Ani up into one of his arms and took hold of the hand. They were pulled up to the top and out into the light. A ghostly white figure in the distinct shape of a woman stood before them.

“I hope you are ok!” she said, “I'm sure you have a lot of questions, you probably wonder why you are here, you wonder about that black thing you saw, and about the statue. I know that you have lost your parents. If you want to see them again, you will have to help me free that black thing. It has been pacing up and down here for a while now… It is prisoner of this place.”

Confused, Yann looked again at his companion and then back at the apparition in front of him, “But how do you want us to do that?” he asked her. “It’s so huge...”

“Rest assured Yann,” she told him, “You are here for a reason, but I cannot explain everything to you now. That thing holds a set of two keys that you must recover in order to activate the two towers. Once the towers are activated, a passage way will open for you.”

Yann didn’t say anything else but he looked skeptical. The white figure sensed his angst and she said,

“You can do this, Yann. I’m sure of that. Oh! There’s one more thing…take this, it’s a pendant that once belonged to that thing, a long time ago.” She held the pendant out and not knowing what else to do, Yann took it. As soon as he did, the ghostly white figure began to dissipate.

“Hey...wait, don’t go!” Yann yelled after her... He turned back and looked at his friend. Ani was giving him a look that was almost accusing. “Ani, don’t look at me like that, I had nothing to do with this,” Yann told him. Then as Ani communicated with him via their telepathy Yann said, “What? You want to smell it? Here you go...” He put the pendant down where Ani could smell it. Ani took a good whiff; they would have to follow the mysterious, hideous, awful creature using this piece of jewelry.