World's End (27 page)

D
EEP UNDERGROUND IN THE
H
UB,
Alfonso suddenly awoke with his heart beating loudly in his ears. It took a second to realize that a struggle was taking place in the dimly lit room. Muffled curses and loud, gasping noises filled the air. Alfonso jumped to his feet and peered around, trying to determine what was happening. A few seconds later, the gasping noises stopped. By that time, Alfonso had taken a candle from his backpack and lit it.

Kyn lay pinned to the floor. Hill's elbow was at Kyn's throat, and his full weight pressed down upon him. Dark blood pooled at the zwodszay's neck and coated his lips. Kõrgu had one of the zwodszay's thin, knobby arms between his fangs.

"Spit it out," Hill commanded.

Resuza stood next to them, her face pale and sweaty. She stammered a translation of Hill's words to Kyn. He tried to respond, but could not because of Hill's elbow.

"Let him speak," said Resuza.

"What could he possibly have to say?" snarled Hill. "This—this beast was licking the sergeant's blood. Look at that blood covering his mouth. Even now he's smacking his lips, trying to taste it." He shook his head but then relaxed his grip on Kyn.

Kyn lay motionless. They could all see blood flowing from the veins of his upper body to his throat. He tried to say something, but only faint rasps came out. Finally, he managed to sputter a few words.

"He says the soldier was already dead," said Resuza. "It's not their custom to waste food."

Kyn looked up at Hill with wide, round eyes and said a few more words that sounded like a kitten purring. Hill's shoulders relaxed. He stood up and shook his head in deep disgust. "Tell him that we do not eat our dead," he told Resuza. "Tell him to promise that he will leave the sergeant's body alone."

Kyn nodded eagerly. Hill ignored him and walked to a corner of the room, where the sergeant lay. Hill and Alfonso wrapped his body in a blanket. Once this task was finished, Hill banished Kyn to the circular room and told him not to return. When he was gone, they sat together silently. The only person who suffered an injury during the melee was Bilblox, whose leg had been cut slightly. Resuza washed the cut carefully and then wrapped a piece of raw cotton around it. As they sat there, the presence of the dead soldier weighed heavily upon them.

"When did the sergeant die?" Alfonso asked.

Hill shrugged his shoulders. After several minutes of silence, he finally spoke. "We have to leave now. The Hub is filled with danger—I feel it. I don't trust Kyn, but I think he's telling the truth about there being no way to the surface. That leaves only one option."

"The Jasber Gate," said Resuza.

Hill nodded.

"We should probably go then," said Resuza. "I don't know why we haven't been attacked yet—and I don't see any reason to stick around here."

From the other room, Kyn began making noise.

"What's the matter now?" asked Bilblox.

Kõrgu bared her fangs and began a low growl.

"She senses danger," replied Bilblox. "Time to move."

Commotion broke out in the room, as everyone gathered their belongings and made sure their weapons were at the ready. They joined Kyn in the circular room.

"
Sjurs!
" exclaimed Kyn. "
SJURS!
"

"He just keeps saying 'thousands,'" explained Resuza. She seemed exasperated. Kyn unbolted the door and ran into the hallway. He gestured for them to follow him downstairs.

"Why should we go downstairs into the big room?" Alfonso asked. "It's too open. We just left there to come up here to hide."

"The noise is coming from above us," Bilblox quickly replied.

"What about the sergeant?" asked Alfonso.

"I wish we could give him a proper burial, but we can't," said Hill quietly. "We need to go."

The group ran down the staircase and entered the eerily silent hall. Alfonso felt very exposed standing in this vast, wide-open space. He glanced up at one of the sturdy, treelike pillars and followed its trunk up into the darkness of the ceiling. Along the walls of the room, the countless stone gargoyles stood on their perches.

"Now where?" asked Resuza.

Kyn shrank against one of the stone pillars. "KYK MORT!!" he screeched.

"What's he goin' on about?" demanded Bilblox.

"I don't know," snapped Resuza. "He's saying something different from before. Something about two humans, but I don't know—"

"Well, I reckon the feller is talkin' 'bout us," said a creaky old voice that came out of the darkness. "Was a foolhardy idea comin' all this far. Most others woulda given ya up fer dead. But I know ya got strong stock in those youngsters, and I said if I was still breathin', I'd help ya."

A moment later, two figures emerged from the shadows. One was Misty. The other was an extremely thin man, so thin that his bones seemed to stick out of his skin like tent poles. He had a wildly unkempt head of bushy hair. Both were covered with thick layers of skelter sap.

"MISTY!" shouted Resuza. "You made it! I knew you'd survive that cave-in!"

Misty gave a gap-toothed smile. "That's right, little lady." Her smile quickly disappeared and she became all business. "I knew ya'd go t'the Hub and try to fin' Josephus. Luckily, ol' Misty knows the mines better'n anyone, 'n' I followed ya in as soon as I could. Took me the better part of a day to round up some miners and clear out that landslide that separated us. But here I am."

"And you told the Grand Vizier what happened?" Hill interjected. "What did she say?"

Misty shook her head dismissively. "Pshaw. I never asked anyone's permission fer anything, and I ain't startin' now. I don't trust those high 'n' mighty fools, but I figured ya might be intent on goin' to Jasber—and passin' through that locked gate—'n' so I brung this 'ere feller. He's Clink, m'second cousin on me mum's side and the best picklock in the city. He's also the only other person I trust in Somnos, after Resuza. I don't much care fer 'im, but he's family all the same."

"Did you say
Clink?
" asked Bilblox.

"That's right, Leafy," bowed the thin man with the prodigious head of bushy hair. Bilblox recognized his old friend right away. On his first visit to Somnos, Bilblox had been branded as a "leaf burner" and he was briefly imprisoned. During his time behind bars, Bilblox's cellmate had been a picklock named Clink. The two of them had become friends and, eventually, they escaped the prison together.

"It's your old cellmate, the one and only Clink," explained Clink. "Once again, I've come to save the day. My only interest is aiding you, of course, and perhaps liberating a bit of treasure along the way. Just think, Leafy old boy, I'm on my way out of Somnos—finally!"

"Any signs a Josephus 'n' Kiril?" Misty asked.

Hill frowned. "We came across a badly wounded soldier from the Somnos Expeditionary Force. Before he died, he said Josephus, Kiril, Colonel Treeknot, and a hundred soldiers came through his area but were attacked by zwodszay. They may have all been killed."

Clink's jovial face turned somber. "Colonel Treeknot and her soldiers were with Josephus and Kiril? So they're all a bunch of traitors?"

"We have no idea," Hill quickly replied.

"Sjurs!" Kyn interrupted. "SJURS!!" He entered the light and they could see the grayish-purple muscles of his heart pounding in his chest. His tapered fingers wavered nervously.

"Hmm," said Misty as she eyed Kyn suspiciously. "Ya think it's a good idea t'be pallin' around with a stray zwodszay?"

"Let's find the gate and then we'll talk about it," said Hill. Sweat poured down his face.

"I'd have to say the gate is this way," said Clink confidently as he pointed to a large, darkened stone archway. Directly above the archway there were three images carved into the stone: a silver pen with an enlarged barrel, a vine containing many clusters of berries, and a bolt of lightning striking a tree. "I believe those are the symbols of Jasber, aren't they?"

"They were on the cover of the rosewood box," said Alfonso.

"Then follow me," said Clink. "We'll be through the gate in a flash."

"Before we go..." said Hill. "Misty, did you bring any more skelter sap with you? We're all out."

"A-course I did," said Misty, as she set down her pack and pulled out a small wooden barrel filled with sap. "Why doncha lather yerselves up?"

Misty was about to uncork her barrel when something darted through the darkness and snatched it away from her. It was Kyn. He had moved so quickly that his steps had barely been visible. Kyn was now clutching the barrel with both arms and holding it protectively as if it were a great treasure.

"Hey, ya varmint!" hollered Misty. "Give that back."

"Quiet!" yelled Resuza. "Look up."

Everyone in the party glanced up to the shadowy ceiling of the eleven-sided room. The upper walls of the room were crawling with movement. Alfonso was the first to realize what was going on. The hundreds of ledges and the perches where the stone gargoyles had once been were all now empty.

"The stone gargoyles are gone," gasped Alfonso.

"That's because they ain't gargoyles," said Misty. "They were all zwodszay!"

"It's a trap," exclaimed Alfonso. "Kyn has led us into a trap."

"RUN!" yelled Hill. "Run for the Jasber Gate!"

A
N EXHAUSTED
L
EIF
P
ERPLEXON
violently kicked his leg, but he couldn't loosen the grip of the hand that clutched his ankle. "Let go!" hissed Leif. But it was no use, and as Leif continued to flail about, he lost his footing and hit the ground with a heavy thud. The hand tightened around Leif's ankle and pulled his entire body under the razor hedge. Leif felt himself sliding down into darkness. He suddenly felt very warm and moist, as if vapors from a hot bath were dampening his face. Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the darkness and Leif was able to get a decent look at his surroundings. He was lying in a spacious foxhole that had been dug out beneath the razor hedge. The air was filled with steam, which appeared to be coming up from the ground. Lying in the foxhole, just several feet away, was the person who had clutched Leif's leg. He was a gaunt man with a nose that had obviously been broken several times, droopy eyes, and filthy long black hair. He wore a heavy piece of cloth that he had wrapped around himself like a toga, and a grimy brown turban was parked securely on his head. The only splash of color on the man came from his eyes, which were a sparkling red-brown.

"You speak English?" asked the man, in a heavy accent that soundly vaguely Arabic.

Leif nodded dumbly, uncertain of what to say.

"You're no sweeper," said the man. "Who are you?"

"Leif Perplexon, from World's End, Minnesota."

"Minnie-sota? Strange name. Did you come to this labyrinth bearing a plant?" asked the man.

Leif nodded.

"And they took it from you?"

Again Leif nodded.

"So you succeeded," said the man with a smile, which revealed a partial set of yellowing teeth. "That is more than I can say." The man reached behind himself and took out the brown withered remains of a plant. It looked as if it had been dead for months, perhaps years. "This was my bloom," said the man with a sheepish shrug. "I came very close to delivering it, but I was starving, and I had to take refuge under the hedges. I was stuck here for some time—days, weeks, months—how is one to know? Ayyy! Anyway, when I came to my senses, the plant was dead. Luckily, the roots of these hedges warm the earth and my den, so I did not freeze to death. As you can see, my friend, I am still very much alive." He said this as if he didn't quite believe it himself.

Leif nodded, despite the fact that the man's story sounded far-fetched.

"My name is Zinedine Hanifa," said the man as he reached out his hand. Leif shook it. "I walked here from Algeria," he continued. "I am a Berber. I come from the Atlas Mountains, perhaps you have heard of them? I am a schoolteacher, and I am pleased to speak English and French. I have a wife and three children there. The children are..." Zinedine paused abruptly and scratched his head as if he were profoundly confused. "What year is it now? Do you know, my friend?"

Leif told him what year it was.

"My God!" gasped Zinedine. "Could it be? I left home ten years ago. It's impossible! But maybe not. How could I really know how many moons have passed? The berries have taken away all sense of time. Ten years. That means my daughters may be married. Oh my goodness, I must get out of here..." With great effort he raised himself to rest on his elbow, but after a few seconds he groaned and returned to lying flat on the ground.

"I know the feeling," interjected Leif. He stretched out his legs to enjoy the warmth of the foxhole, and for the first time in days he began to relax. "That's exactly what I am trying to do. I have a wife and son back home that I would like to see as well. I was trying to escape, but I am just about out of food. Which reminds me—how have you survived all these years? Didn't you say something about berries?"

"Ah yes, the lotus berries," replied Zinedine with a smile. He reached into his toga and pulled out a leather satchel filled with bright red berries. "That is what I call them. They grow in the hedges. If you know where to look for them they are easy to find. I can show you how to pick them. They have kept me alive, although most unfortunately, they have also kept me
here.
"

"What do you mean?" asked Leif.

"The berries are delicious," explained Zinedine. "So delicious in fact that I am incapable of stopping myself from eating them. The problem is ... how to put it ... well, whenever you eat the berries you are sent somewhere else. Somewhere very pleasant, oh yes, my friend, very pleasant indeed. Often I am sent back to a beautiful little lake in the Atlas Mountains, a place I knew from my youth. It is where I met my wife, when we were both sixteen. We spend hours talking and laughing and ... holding hands. And every time I kiss her it is like the first time. Oh, it is wonderful! But then when I wake up, I am in this miserable hole in the earth, covered in snow and dirt. The berries are so delicious. You will see..."