Chpt 8

my arms felt stiff my body felt cold my mind was slow, but I was breathing. My nostrils breathed in air that burned like fire yet chilled like ice. How I came here was lost to me, but I still wanted to know 'why I was in this place or this coma but to know why I was here I must start with where here is' I thought to myself. Where was I, was I dead was this a hell for something I had done I thought to myself. What had I done. What actions could I have enacted to lead me to a place like this. Time stood still yet breath came and went. A place where action was moved yet nothing felt. Maybe I was dead but as I felt the warmth return to my hands I felt the pain of nerves re firing throughout my body and I knew I had to be alive to feel pain as well as awake. As my brain started to speed up more thoughts came back to me if I was awake and alive then I must be in a place a place of cold but how. Thoughts of a table and a cryogenic lab came flying back to me. I remembered being imprisoned by a computer but why why was I imprisoned. The thought of a massive black furred beast lunging at me re triggered some memory simultaneously triggering fear from within me.

My eyes bolted open and I was face to face with a man for a second before he jumped away, but that's all it took to analyze him. He was a tanned man. With a broad face and wide shoulder's his jaw was low and his nose high. His eyebrows were strained on his face obviously raised as if he were intently studying something they were thick and bushy. He had his nose bent in several directions with large flared nostrils. Above the nose to either side of him he had two large brown eyes that were wide open as if he were looking at the strangest thing he had ever seen. As he jumped back I attempted to move as well but looking down I found that I was stuck to the table a I had been frozen on. Held in place by restraints. Looking back up at the man I realized he was about 6'3 and he wore little more than a pair of leather chaps stitched in the sides to hold them together, and a white fur vest with what looked like stone carved buttons holding either side together. He also wore what looked like the string of a bow across his fur vest connected by two pieces of wood poking out of either side of his back at a diagonal angle. Flanking on either side of him were two other people that looked like they had similar origins as the center one. But they had slight differences the one to the right had smaller eyebrows and stood a good 1 foot taller and half a foot wider than the first one. And every feature besides his eyebrows stood out broader and more defined. His muscles rippled like a statue and seemed as if they had been carved with the precision of a thousand year old artist. To the left stood a man that was only half a foot taller at most than the center man and also had broader features except for the eyebrows which were thin just like the one to the right. We were all what looked like a small tunnel at the end of which my platform lay while they stood a few feet back in the cave next to another tube like the one I was in containing a figure frozen in ice.

As I examined them they examined me and spoke with each other. They were to far away to make out what they were saying but the sounds I could make out didn't sound like any language I had ever known. Looking down at the straps that were restraining me I wondered how and why they were put on me. I remembered being frozen but right before it I remember seeing a huge room with thousands of other people being forced into small silver tubes but after that I don't remember a thing. Realizing that I had no memory of the past events that had led me to here I blinked but instead of panicking I just shrugged. Feeling as if something in the back of my head was telling me that it wasn't strange and was to be expected. Shrugging as best I could in my restraints I just accepted it besides I thought as I continued to stare at these iron clad restraints I have bigger problems to deal with.

Looking up at the men I saw them shoot me suspicious glances as well as frowns before they went back to discussing whatever it was they were talking about. Quickly growing annoyed I said "so is this how you treat all people you find." they all looked over at me and glowered. Sighing I attempted to start a conversation again "so you just gonna sit and stare at my bonds or help me get-"

the one in the middle spoke sharply cutting me off in a heavily accented tone "quiet you disrespect other 'phasmones' 'phasmon' of pristun" he directed the last three words to at me.

stunned I wasn't sure if I should be more surprised by the fact that he spoke English or refereed to me in that ghastly term. Ignoring the term for now I spoke to the one in the middle. "You speak English?"

his face contorted in confusion to such a degree it was almost comical. He paused looking to the individual on his left then the one on his right they both shrugged in turn. Turning back to me he began to speak "I know not of this English which you speak of I know only of the language of pristun taught to me by our 'kus sicud'" I sighed and was about to ask him what in the hell kus sicud meant before he cut me off saying. "why have you woke phasmon why now"

that stopped me cold because that question confounded even me. If I had been in cryo sleep why was I awake now. Looking down at my restraints as an idea came into my head. Looking back up to him I spoke. "I will tell you if you remove my restraints"

the central one scoffed looking back to his two companions and saying something in there own language it wasn't long before both of them broke out into a chorus of laughter. I felt my cheeks start to glow red with anger, after a few seconds their laughter died down and the one in the central looked back over at me with a smirk and said "why would we free you from your bonds phasmon, so you can attempt to corrupt our minds with your powers. Nice try malum phasmon" hearing the word malum in it's context I got the feeling it didn't exactly mean saint.

My eyes softened up and I decided to play at their thinking and said "judge not the man whos actions have not been seen. Basically what I mean to say is how can you know I am malum or not if I have yet to do anything"

the smirk suddenly faded from his lips as he began to speak to his partners again in his language. They started to nod and shake their heads at different things he said then started to argue as he said something else but he quickly quieted them with a sharp statement followed by a quick bout of a few more words. They grudgingly nodded and he turned back to me. "your words are wise and we have agreed to take you to our kus sicud. you will follow us in bonds" he pointed to the guy on the left who withdrew a short piece of rope from his pants. "but should you do any actions we deem harmful to us or others we will not hesitate to put you down" he pointed to the guy on the right who grunted.

Speaking in his language he spoke a short string of words to his two companions. They walked over to me and with startling strength reached down and broke all three of the binding metal straps that had held me to the table. As soon as the restraints were removed they roughly forced me to me knees just in front of the flat table. Putting my hands behind my back they quickly tied them off and then forced me to my feet looking to where the smaller one had stood I realized he had already started back down the tunnel. Looking over to a pod similar to mine I stared at the thing still frozen within it. Its cold unmoving eyes stared back at me for a second as I passed it. I saw my reflection slightly off the glinting glass as I moved by before my stare was cut off by a strong shove forward around a bend in the tunnel and the pod as well as mine were gone from sight.