The Gryphons Tale
The golden disk eyed creature looked at him from across thier campfire. It stood
and slowly glided to the boy, Jake. Jake bent down and petted the animal. Looking down at the
animal, he thought of what kind of animal it would have been in thier world. Them being
Susannah, Eddie and himself. He was absolutely sure that the great minds of thier world would
not have named it a Billy Bumbler. The animal looked like a mix between a raccoon, a badger,
and a dog. It also had a limited ability to speak. When Jake had first met the animal, he had said
"Come here boy". The animal did and imitated Jake by saying "Oy!". So that's what Jake named
him. Jake looked up to see Roland going through his purse looking for something to eat.
"Could you pass me something Roland?" Jake asked.
"Yes, in a second. I can not find any, what did you call it? Pissa?" Roland replied.
Eddie turned at the sound of the word pizza, or of what Roland could pronounce of the word.
"Issa!" Oy grumbled from his crouch at Jakes' knees.
"How 'bout we all have some? It's in my bag." He reached into his bag and took out a large pizza.
"You know," Susannah said, "It's been a long time since I had something good to eat. When was
it? This afternoon?"
"Ernoon!" Oy cried. It broke everyone up into a howl of laughter. All but Roland Eddie thought.
Go figure! But while Eddie was thinking that, Roland was thinking about how much he loved them all.
Roland was tall and had a large, muscular upper body. He had been by himself, all
alone, for a long time, until he had met Jake at the Way Station. Then he had betrayed the boys
trust by letting him die in the mountains. He had let him die for his ultimate goal: The Dark
Tower. It was where he was made to go, his destiny, his Ka. When he had met Jake, he was
chasing after the Man in Black. Later, only after Jake had died, Roland had caught him. The Man
had turned out to be Walter, a magician that was allied with Mearlyn, a very powerful magician
that is one of Rolands old nemesis. Most of his others had either died of old age by now, or
Roland had killed them himself. Walter had told of Rolands future and brought three cards to his
attention. He was to draw three people from Jakes world. The first was the Prisoner, who turned
out to be Eddie Dean of New York. The second, the Lady of Shadows, turned out to be a
schizophrenic named Detta Walker and Odetta Holmes. The third was Death ("But not for you
gunslinger!" Walter had told him.), who turned out to be a man named Jack Mort, who,
surprisingly, had killed Jake in New York. Jack had died before he could be drawn, crushed
under a train. He is in search of the Dark Tower for one reason: the Tower is being corrupted by
something, and it is tearing everything in every world apart. What is the Tower? Roland does not
know, but one day, he will find it and stop what's happening there.
Susannah had once been two people: Odetta and Detta. She was a fairly normal size.
She was a Black-American. Odetta was very nice, but lacked the one thing that she needed
most: courage. Detta was a nasty, creative b%tch that was determined to kill Roland and Eddie
while they tried to save her. She had the courage, but was always in a blind fury, wanting to kill
anything that got near her. Eddie had grown to love Odetta, and with Rolands help, Odetta and
Detta merged to form Susannah. Susannah was wheelchair bound because of an accident that
occurred in the New York subways. Jack Mort had pushed her in front of an oncoming train and
she lost the lower part of her legs. Jack Mort was also responsible for Susannah's schizophrenia.
When she was little, Jack had dropped a brick on her head. Susannah was from the year 1964,
when Roland drew her.
Eddie was from the year 1987. In his world, he was a heroin addict, and a druggie, as he
so called it. He was from New York. When Roland had drawn him, Eddie had seen his brothers
head cut off, and he had fought like a true gunslinger. Both Eddie and Susannah had considered
themselves prisoner's in Rolands world, but in time, they both shared desire for one another, and
a desire for the Tower.
Jake, like Eddie, was originally from New York. He was only ten when Roland had first
met him. One day, on his way to school, he was pushed by a man into the street and run over by
a Cadillac. This accident had sent him into Rolands world. The man who had pushed him was
Jack Mort. Jake then died in Rolands world, but was drawn back with help of his love for Roland.
He was the third to be drawn, and so Roland had drawn all three. Jake was from the year 1977,
when Roland drew him.
Oy was from Midworld, a place somewhere between Rolands home of Gilead and the
tower. Jake had found him and befriended the bumbler. Jake had saved Oy from falling off a
bridge, and Oy had returned the favor by saving Jake when he was kidnaped by a pirate named
the Tick-Tock man.
Just recently, Roland had told them about a time when Roland was fourteen, and the
sacrifices that he had to make. Shortly after, the five were confronted by Mearlyn, now going by
the name of Randall Flagg. Flagg had let them live, though he claimed he would never do it again.
Flagg had filled their baggage with food, something for which they were all grateful for,
although they would never trust Flagg. This had happened two months ago. Now they were down
to only a few food items.
"You know, Roland, that Falgg guy isn't all that bad. He did give us all that wonderful food. And it
was wonderful!" Eddie said the next morning while he was looking for some breakfast in Jake's
backpack. Roland yawned a deep, almost bellowing yawn for a reply. Susannah was just waking
up, so Eddie went over and kissed her. "What do you think, Suze?"
"Well, first I think I'm hungry, but your comment on Flagg was interesting. I don't understand why
he did what he did, you know, letting us live then giving us food. Could you fill me in Roland?"
Susannah asked.
"He let us live in hope of us resigning our quest for the Tower. Now he knows we will not. The
food was given to us so that we may survive and one day see him in Thundrclap, though I don't
know where that is. He will no doubt plan to kill us now. That is truly all that need's to be said
about his motives. As Eddie would say, 'he couldn't give a rat's ass' if we died right now."
Roland explained to her. Jake, who had sleeping was now awake. Oy ran over to him and licked
his face.
"Hey Oy. Everybody." Jake said, leaving his sleep behind.
"Oy! Ody!" Oy Exclaimed, imitating Jakes voice almost exactly.
"Good mornin' sugah! Did you have a good sleep?" Susannah asked. She was sitting in her
wheelchair that they had taken from Flagg's Kansas, eating some hot cakes.
"Well, for the past two month's, I've had to sleep on the ground with bug's crawling over me, the
ground is always uncomfortable, and I both smell and fell like shit! Otherwise, yes, I had a nice
sleep thanks." Jake grinned at her, a very genuine smile, and she grinned back, her face very
beautiful in the morning light.
"Shit! Yes! Tanks!" Oy Exclaimed and Eddie laughed like an idiot.
"Oy is getting a lot better, you know. Just last two month's ago, all he could say is whatever you
said. Now he can say whatever you say. Real smart!" Eddie said when he finally stopped
laughing.
"Eddie, shut up!" Roland, Jake and Susannah said at the same.
"Dee! Sut! Up!" Oy barked at him.
"O.K., don't all attack me at once because you people don't have a sense of humor!"
They walked along the path of the beam, a force that leads directly to the Dark Tower.
There are six beams leading to the Tower, and twelve doorways to other worlds between the
beams. Everything had to obey the beam. The tree's and plants bent along the path of it. Clouds
would always head into the direction of the Tower along the beam. It was their only sure bet to
get to the tower. That night, they started supper to realize that there would be only enough for
the five of them.
"Well Eddie, what do you think of our friend Flagg now?" Roland asked him, looking at
thier last meal, ham and potatoes. Eddie scowled at the empty backpack.
"I think he could have at least left us with a supply of never-ending food. I mean, he is the most
powerful fucking demon on the face of any Earth. In fact..." Eddie was about to go on and on
with his new point. Roland knew this, so he stopped him.
"Just what I thought. Now eat before I get Susannah to slit your throat. Or worse. She won't make
love to you tonight."
Eddie looked to Susannah, but she just looked away, hiding a smile. So Eddie did shut up, and
they ate. Not one bit of food was left from thier last meal. Susannah belched. It was so loud that
it echoed into the forest.
"'Scuze me!" She pardoned herself. "You know, Roland, we may be full 'o' food now, but by
tomorrow night, we gonna hafta kill some locals." She said, meaning the local animals.
"Yum! Roadkill! Just'a wut ah goht mah pa tuh git foah suppah e'ry niaght as ah boye!" Eddie
exclaimed in his best redneck impression.
"Ugh! Gross!" Jake said, disgusted.
"Ugh! Ross!" Oy cried, with equal sounding disgust.
"I don't know what roadkill is, Eddie, but I have an idea. Anyway, Jake, we will cook whatever we
kill before we eat it." Roland assured him.
"I don't know about any of you, but my food tasted a little funny. Nothing much to worry about,
really, but like it had some weird kind of salt and pepper." Eddie told them.
"It was probably nothin' sugah. Let's just go to bed." Eddie lifted Susannah out of her chair. He
took her over to a grassy area and they laid down together there.
"I'm out too." Jake said, lying down, Oy lying next to him. Oy made a little bark of approval.
"All right. When everyone wakes up in the morning, we will begin walking. We have to close as
much distance between us and the Tower." Roland sat down, and soon, they were all asleep.
Eddie looked around himself. There was nothing but forest and a distant campfire smell.
"Hello?" He asked, but all that answered was his echo call back. Then all of a sudden, a voice
called to him from behind him.
"Hello, Eddie!" it said.
He looked behind him to see a grand head of an eagle. It was magnificent. It was beautiful. It had
the body of a lion? Eddie looked at it in amazement as the eagle-lion closed the distance
between the two of them. It eyed him with it's predator like eyes. Eddie tried to look away and
run, but couldn't, and found himself transfixed on the creatures eyes, and it's tail whipping back
and forth.
"I can give you what you want, Eddie!" the creature told him.
"You don't know what I want." Eddie replied, his voice not his own.
"I can give you a way home. Do you know what year it is now? It is the year two thousand. You
want to go home now!" It explained.
"I cannot go home. I will not go home. I do not want to go home. The Tower is my home." Eddie
said in his dreamy voice. The creature began to growl, then stopped, not wanting to show it's
impatience. It opened it's beak to speak again.
"I can give you power. All you have to do is kill your friends. You want power."
"I do not want power. I want to see the Tower." Eddie said, then added, "And the roses." His
voice was more his own now.
"But you need power. I can give it to you."
"I do not need power. I need to see the Tower. And the roses."
"You deserve power. I can give it to you. Pledge your life to me!" The creature was screeching at
him now.
"I don't deserve power." Eddie said, his voice almost wholly his own. "I deserve to see the
fucking Tower! And the roses, get it?" Eddie stared at the creature with pure hatred.
"Do not defy me Eddie Dean!" The creature screamed. "I have power. I could destroy you and all
of your friends!"
"Maybe, but you will never see the Tower."
The creature lunged at Eddie, it's claws extended, beak wide open. Somewhere, deep inside
Eddie's mind, he gave into the power. It swallowed him like a blue whale taking in water.
The next morning, everyone seemed normal. No one would have noticed that Eddie had
had a nightmare. So they walked. And walked. And walked. That night, while deciding on who
should go out hunting for food, Eddie volunteered.
"Oh! I'll go!" Roland stared at him for a moment.
"Why are you so eager to go? Wouldn't you rather stay here with Susannah and Jake?" Roland
asked.
"Yeah! You don't love me anymore? Is that it?" Susannah began to fake cry, but had to laugh in
spite of herself.
"No, it's nothing like that. I need to be alone for a little while, and I really feel like I could use
some target practice. Could I please have one of your guns?" Eddie asked, and got just that.
"Don't take too long, Eddie. Me and Oy are hungry here." Jake said.
"I don't think I'll be too long." And with that, Eddie took off into the forest.
"Do you think something is wrong with Eddie?" Jake asked.
"Rong! Dee!" Oy Added. Roland looked at Susannah. Of course! She thought.
"Of course not!" Roland lied.
Eddie saw what he wanted. It looked like a chicken that was about two times bigger than
a normal chicken. He lifted the gun and cocked it. He pointed it at the bird. In the second after he
pulled the trigger, the birds head blew backwards in a spray of blood and brains. The chicken's
body began to run in circles. Eddie ran to it and kicked at it's side. It's ribs caved in, stopping it's
after-death running fit. He grabbed it's feet and began to walk. Then, a light in the distance to his
right caught his attention. He walked towards it. After about ten minutes of walking, he came to a
stone building. The light was coming from an entrance in the stone. On the top of the building,
stood a magnificent creature, a Gryphon. Just like the one in Eddie's dream.
"Roland! Susannah! Jake! Oy! Come here!" Eddie called to his friends. For fifteen minutes,
Eddie stood there, looking at the gryphon, until his friends got there.
"What's wrong Ed..?" Susannah said, entering the sight of the gryphon on her wheelchair.
"Let's go inside." Eddie suggested. His heart was racing. The rest came into the clearing.
"Wow!" Jake said. "Can we Roland? Go inside?"
"I do not see any reason why not. But we will have to be careful."
Jake sprinted to the stone entrance, Oy right behind him, and Eddie behind Oy.
"Boys." Susannah said, simply. "Roland, sugah, would you like to give a gal a ride?"
"Sure." He grabbed her wheelchair by the handles and lifted her into the entrance.
Inside, Jake found a table full of food. He went to go eat some, but Roland stopped him
by grabbing the back of his shirt.
"Don't do it!" He warned him. Jake didn't question him. Eddie, on the other hand, grabbed a
handful of food and began to eat.
"Eddie! Did you not hear what I said?" Roland yelled at him.
"Yes, mister Eddie. This is not your food. You should not be here eating it. I find that rather
rude."
No one had noticed that someone else was in the room with them. It was a man in a brown cloak,
that looked like he had been inside for at least thirty years.
"We are sorry, sai, but my friend here is very rude at times. I will take the responsibility for him
and punish him myself." Roland told the old man. Eddie stared at him for a moment.
"I am very sorry, really! I don't know what came over me. I didn't realize how hungry I was until
now. Bullshit, Roland thought, but never said anything about his doubts.
"Sai, I would like to ask for your hospitality for the night. We are on a long journey, to the Dark
Tower. Please?" Roland requested of the old man.
"Well, you did eat my food, but I can spare the room. There is no one else here but me, and it
has been that way for some years now. Your request is accepted. Please, now that you are
guests, you can help yourself to my food. I was not all that hungry."
"Thankee sai!" Eddie thanked the old man. He picked up the food and began eating again. So
did the rest of the party.
"It looks to me like you are all gunslingers. Well, except him any ways." The old man
pointed to Eddie. The old man's name turned out to be Gordon Gryphon. That was why he had a
gryphon on top of his building. He had built this temple for himself and his family and friends, but
they had all died because of a sickness that he had been immune to.
"Sia, you are right. We are all gunslingers. Even the billy bumbler is, to some extent, a
gunslinger." Roland said, trying to keep the conversation interesting for his companions. Roland
sat at the end of the table across from Gordon. Susannah, Eddie and Jake sat in the middle.
"Well, it's been a long time since I had anything close to a visitor in my home. I would like to
entertain you. Do you like riddles?"
Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and even Oy stared at the man. They all, including Oy, gave a
very harsh 'NO' to Gordon's question. In a way, Gordon seemed offended.
"It is not that we don't think the quality of your riddles are bad! It's just, we've had some very
trying experiences with them!" Susannah told him.
"That and insane trains that try to kill you." Jake added. Before Roland had told them his story of
a long time ago love, they had all been kidnaped by a train named Blain that threatened to kill
them all unless they could stump him with a riddle. Eddie had come through for them with a
riddle of 'why did the dead baby cross the road?' Blain couldn't answer, so he killed himself. The
answer had been 'because it was stapled to the chicken.'
"I guess that's out of the question, then. Well, how about some music? I have a player
somewhere in here." Everyone agreed on that. The food had been great, the music a wonder to
all six of them, and by the time dessert, ice cream with something that looked like blackberries,
was over, they were all tired. Gordon showed them to their rooms, then went about his nightly chores.
Once Eddie was sure that Susannah was asleep, something he could do very well
because of months sleeping by her side, he crept out into the hall. He headed toward the
kitchen.
The boy, stood at the heart of a circle surrounded by seven pillars. In front of him was a
giant tarot card with a gryphon design on it. He was looking at the back of the card, and now he
was terrified to find out what was on the other side. He noticed on his left, Roland was staring at
the card also. He looked around for Oy, Eddie and Susannah, with no luck. He looked back at
the card to see it turning. Written on the top of the card was 'Le Traître'. It showed a picture of
a man sticking a knife in another man's back. It took Jake a second, but Roland realized who the
person with the knife was at once: It was Eddie. Everything went dark, and in the void, Jake
could see a gryphon, hear it laughing, feel it's chilling voice in the base of his spine. He forced
himself to wake up, but he couldn't. The gryphon laughed harder.
When Roland left the tarot card, he found himself in the woods. In the distance, he could
hear laughter, and the faint sound of a boy desperately crying for help.
Eddie peered into the kitchen, hands behind his back. Gordon was still washing some
dishes in pail.
"Hello Master Eddie. And why would you be coming into my kitchen this late at night?" he asked
without having to turn around.
"I can't sleep. Sometimes that happens, and I get hungry, so I sought out your kitchen in hopes
of some more of that wonderful dessert." Eddie looked around on the counters like he expected
to find some there.
"I do have some left, so you are in some luck." Gordon bent down to take some ice cream out of
a small cooler on the floor. Eddie took this chance and kicked Gordon square in the ass,
breaking the bottom part of his spine. Gordon fell onto the floor on his back. Eddie lifted his gun
to Gordon's neck. He cocked the gun.
"Now you listen to me. When you get to Hell, tell them that the demon sent you." Eddie pulled the
trigger, turning everything in front of him a bright red. Eddie smiled.
Roland could hear two people quarreling just in front of him, so he listened to all they
had to say.
"That's stupid, 'Bert. If you weren't already dead, I would have killed you for it." One of them said.
Roland recognized the voice, one of his old companions.
"But Alain.." The other protested, but the one would not have it.
"Shut your bloody mouth, Cuthbert, our visitor has arrived."
The tree's cleared and exposed Roland to his two old friends, Cuthbert and Alain.
"'Bert? Alain?" was all Roland could say.
"Us in the dead skin you left us in, Roland." The one called Cuthbert said.
"But how? Why?" he managed. He hadn't seen them since the day they died.
"That's what we are here to tell you. We are ghosts, Roland. We have a message for you. You
planned on killing Eddie because a dream, not so different from this one, told you he is about to
betray you." Alain said. He was always the one who made the most sense Roland thought.
"Yeah. We're here to tell you there is other complications. There is outside interference. You will
see. Also, if you kill Eddie, your chances of reaching the Tower will be jeopardized. You don't
want that. We don't want that. The Powers That Be won't allow it. Ka will not let you make that
mistake more than twice. Good luck, Roland old friend." The sound of a gunshot woke Roland
out of his deep state. He took his gun and headed out of his room.
Jake heard someone call for him and Susannah. He came out of his dream. He woke Oy
and they headed out into the hall.
"What's going on Roland?" Jake asked, although he had a really good idea.
"It's Eddie. He has,,," Roland went to go on but Eddie and Susannah came out of their room.
"I put what in the what now?" Eddie asked, wiping sleep out of his eyes.
"Never mind. There was a gunshot though. It came from somewhere inside the temple. Do you
have my gun, Eddie? I would like it back."
"No, actually. I left it on my table but it's not there anymore."
"Any ways," Susannah said, "Eddie's been with me all night. I should know, I was awake!"
"Let's go take a look any way"
It took them until the morning, but they finally found the kitchen where Gordon had been
shot. Roland went in and found his gun on the counter.
"There is someone else here, so we should get out now. Get your stuff and meet me out in front
of the temple." Roland told them. Before he left, he looked around the room. In the blood, there
was a sign that was in the shape of a rainbow.
They met out front ten minutes later (it didn't take them as long to find their rooms than it
did to find the kitchen).
"We are still on the path of the beam. But if you look behind the temple, you will see our next
problem." Roland told him. They all looked. Behind the temple, there was practically no land. The
were small pieces of land between a whole lot of nothingness.
"Holy shit! We have to go through that?" Eddie asked, his mouth dropped. Susannah comforted
him with a hand to his face.
"Don't worry, sugah. We been through worse."
"There are two bad things about our situation that are very bad." Roland said.
"What do you mean?" Jake asked, looking at Roland. Oy looked toward Roland and asked "Meen?".
"Watch." Roland picked up a rock and threw it at one of the smaller land spot's. The land fell
apart. It was Jakes and Susannah's turn to be awestruck.
"Holy shit!" they said in unison.
"My point exactly. This means that we cannot take Susannah's wheel chair with us."
"Great! A couple month's in a wheel chair that was very comfortable, and now I hafta throw it
away. I guess I should prepare for the straddle on your back, hey Roland? My crotch is going to
hurt after this, that's for sure!"
"It is the only other way. Jake, I need to talk to you for a second." He pulled him out of Eddie and
Susannah's hearing range.
"Do you know what I'm going to tell you?" Roland asked.
"If it's about Eddie killing th..?"
"No. It's not. You have to understand that to be a true gunslinger, sacrifices half to be made."
"Eddie?"
"No."
"Then what?" Jake did not understand.
"Oy. He will not be able to cross with us. It is too dangerous. And if you are there worrying about
him, then I will have more to worry about. It puts us all in danger."
"It's for the Tower." Jake simply said. It made Roland wince.
"Yes, as much as I don't want to admit it, it's for the Tower. Though I wouldn't have asked if I
didn't love you the way I did. The way I love all of you, Oy included." Jake began to cry. Under
his breath, Roland heard Jake say it's not fair. Roland held him like a father would, trying to give
him comfort. It didn't help.
"No, Ka is not fair."
Susannah could feel the pain from the straddle, and it did hurt. She didn't complain,
though. Nothing could be done about it. So she took the pain. They were prepared to start
jumping from land to land in the chasm behind the Temple of Gryphon. All except Jake. He was
sitting down talking with Oy, trying to explain why Oy couldn't go with them.
"Are you sure we can't take him? I could possibly carry him." Eddie suggested.
Roland answered with a quick "No".
"I'm sorry Oy! It's for the best. It's for the Tower." Jake began to cry again. Oy licked at his face,
as if trying to lick his tears away. "It's for that fucking Tower!" He cried harder.
"Tower!" Oy barked.
"I have to go, boy. To the Dark Tower. You cannot come with us." Jake left it at that.
"It's time to go now, Jake, are you ready?" Roland said, almost with no feeling. He was trying not
to cry himself. Jake wiped his face.
"Yeah." his voice a little shaky still. "I'm ready."
"It's okay, little one." Susannah's comforting helped Jake a little more. "If Ka allows it, we will be
all together again."
"Thanks." Roland bent down so Jake could hug Susannah.
"Let's be on our way then." Eddie said.
With Susannah on his back, and Jake in his arms, Roland, with Eddie right beside him,
ran and jumped across the hole to the unstable land. Jake looked back to see Oy staring at him.
They jumped to the next land. Then Oy began to bark, finally realizing what was going on.
"Go! Oy! Dark! Tower! Oy! Come! Ake!"
Jake realized that Roland had made a mistake.
"Roland, we can't leave Oy! We still need him! You made a mistake! Go back!"
"It's...too...late..Jake!." Eddie panted, running out of breath.
They kept on jumping for about an hour, and Jake could still hear Oy saying the same
phrase. "Dark! Tower! Dark! Tower!" It would haunt him until the day he died. He swore to never
leave a friend behind again.
An hour later, they found the end of the unstable land. It was only the morning, but they
all slept as soon as they reached the land. It was getting dark when they woke up, but they
agreed to walk for a while anyway. Roland checked to make sure he had both of his guns. He
did. He looked at Eddie.
"What? Do I have something on me or something?" he asked.
"No." Roland answered. They began to walk, with Eddie in the lead and Susannah on Roland's
back bringing up the rear. They walked through woods, mostly, and open plains that might have
once been used for farming, before the world had moved on. Now it was mostly wasted land,
good for nothing. Then, in the distance, Roland could see a mountain. The next afternoon, they
reached it, to find a tunnel leading into it right in the path of the beam.
"Looks like we go in." Eddie observed, stating the obvious. "I'll bet this tunnel wasn't here six
hours ago."
"If someone told me it wasn't, then I would be prone to believe them, Eddie." Roland said,
walking up into the tunnel.
"Which way do we go, Roland?" Susannah asked from behind him. "when we get inside?"
"Guess."
"Oh! I know!" Jake cried in realization. "We go forward, along the path of the beam!"
"Exactly!"
They walked up and down, and side to side, but they never stopped going in the same
general direction: forward. Jake had temporarily forgotten about Oy, and was now in the lead.
Eddie now brought up the rear. They finally came to a small clearing in the rock where a little bit
of sunlight shone through.
"Let's rest for a while here. Maybe we can even hold a palaver about what happened these past
few days." Roland suggested. Roland looked at Eddie. "Is there anything specific you would like
to tell your friends, Eddie?"
"What are you talking about Roland? What the hell are you getting at?"
"Well, sugah, you have been actin' pretty strange these last few days" Susannah said. Eddie
didn't say anything.
"We won't make you tell us anything you don't want to, Eddie, but we are your friends. We love
you." Roland told him. Eddie didn't feel like talking to him. Susannah slept close by Roland by
herself that night. Eddie and Roland never went to sleep.
"Why are you still tormenting me?" Eddie asked, standing. "Haven't you done enough?"
"What do you mean?" Roland asked, doing the same. Just then, Eddie lifted his hand. In his
hands he was holding a gun, pointing it at Roland.
"Where did you get that gun, Eddie? You couldn't have taken it from me, I would have noticed.
Tell me." Roland demanded.
"That's not the important thing. I will be the only one to live to see the Tower. That's all that's
important. To me any ways."
"What about Susannah? And Jake? The people that love you?"
"They are irrelevant. I am all that's important. I will kill you first." He cocked the gun and pulled
the trigger. The bullet roared past Rolands head, missing him by millimeters.
"Damn it, Eddie, give me the gun now! Break away from whatever has hold of you! Do it now!"
"No!" Eddie screamed. He lifted the gun to his head and cocked it.
A battle was going on in Eddies head that would have made World War one and two
look like the Teletubbies on vacation. It was ripping his mind apart, yanking at his threads of
sanity. He was going to kill them all; he wasn't going to kill anyone; he was going to see the
Tower all alone; he would see the Tower with those he loved or never see it at all. Deep in his
mind, the gryphon laughed at his misery. Eddie pulled the trigger.
Susannah and Jake stared at Eddie in horror as he pulled the trigger. Click!
"No!" Susannah screamed and closed her eyes. Jake turned around and covered his head.
Roland just glared at him. He was still in one piece, but he had fainted. Eddie had once told
Roland that there was one reason he would never shoot himself with one of Rolands guns. Some
of Rolands bullets got wet and he still can't figure out which ones will not work. Well, Eddie had
told him that, if he shot himself with a flat bullet, he would never be able to wear the same pair of
pants again. Ever. Roland went over to Eddie and dragged him closer to them. He noticed that
Eddie would be wearing his only pair of pants for a while longer.
"He's fine. It was one of the wet bullets. He will be fine for a while." Jake and Susannah slowly
looked toward Eddie. Susannah walked out of her wheelchair on her hands and took Eddie in her
arms. A breeze of air passed over them all, and then a clapping came from the shadows. The
three conscience people tried to see who it was. When he spoke, Roland recognized who he was.
"Bravo, Roland. Bravo! That's french for very good. Just like my last name is french for death."
Jack Mort came out of the shadows. There was a design on the crest of his jacket. A gryphon.
"You!" Roland accused.
"Yes, me. Who better to help kill you than the person you killed."
"But how? You were crushed under that train. I felt your pain before I left you."
"That's not the issue. I am here to kill you. That's all that's important."
"But how?" Roland demanded.
"Ka" Mort told him. "It's the simplest answer to the most complex question. Any other stupid
questions you would like to ask? You know, before I kill all of you gutless?" The three of them
stared at him. "I guess not." He lifted up his hand and one of Rolands guns was in his hand. He
made to pull the trigger, when someone shouted from down the tunnel.
"Ake! Dee! Nah! Olan!" Mort turned in it's direction and shot at it while it ran towards him. It
lunged at Mort, a blur of teeth and fur. It grabbed the gun out of Mort's hand, ripping parts of his
hand to small shreds of tissue. Mort screamed. The small dog like creature kept running forward,
not stopping. Roland looked toward where Mort had been, and realized he wasn't there anymore.
"Susannah, come with me. Jake, you're going to have to protect Eddie. We are going after Mort."
Roland gave Jake his gun, then got Susannah to get up on his shoulders.
"But, what if he comes after me? And you two won't have a gun! What will you do if he goes after
you?" Jake stammered. Roland went over to him and smacked him in the face.
"Do you want to be a gunslinger? You were destined to be one. Just like Susannah, Eddie, and
me. I know what to do. The only way you will know what to do is if you are placed in a situation.
This is one of those times. Now don't question me! Do you hear?" Roland demanded of him.
"Yes, sir." Jake said. When Roland left, Jake began to cry again, wishing he had never chosen to
come back to Roland. His face stopped hurting, so he stopped crying. It wasn't helping any way.
"Don't you think you were a little hard on the boy, Roland?" Susannah asked.
"No. I suspect Mort will go after him before he goes after us. I wanted him to be ready.
Meanwhile, I want to find my gun."
"But why did you need me?"
"Because, Jake has to do it by himself, for the most part." Hmm, Susannah thought. For the
most part.
Jake looked into the darkness, and saw two golden disks looking back at him.
"Oy!" He cried in relief.
"Oy!" It called back. Jake went towards it.
"Roland, we've been gone too long! Let's go back." Susannah said.
"Not just yet. Look up ahead!" Susannah looked in amazement. Oy was sitting there. But he
didn't have Rolands gun.
"Oy!" It cried again, in a more human voice. Then a face came out of the shadows. Jack
Mort. He gave Jake an evil grin.
"Oy!" He said again. Jake grabbed Rolands gun and pointed at Mort. It was almost too heavy for
him.
"Do you actually think you can kill me by yourself, you little shit? It'll take more than you, I can
tell you that!"
"Then tell them that we both sent you when you get to hell, again, fuckface" Eddie was standing
behind Jake, holding another one of Rolands guns. With perfect unison, Jake and Eddie shot
Mort five times, in ten different places. There wasn't much left of him except blood and guts.
Eddie fell down, exhausted.
Roland came into the clearing in the mountains with Susannah in her straddle. He saw
the dead Mort, and asked, "I'll take it you killed him. See, Susannah, I was right. The boy
deserves a present."
Roland turned around, revealing Susannah with something in her arms.
"Oy!" Jake cried. He held his arms out. Oy ran to him, jumped into his arms, and licked his face
like there was no tomorrow.
"Ake! Oy! Bak!" Oy cried enthusiastically. Eddie was awake again.
"Eddie! How are you feeling? Are you all right?" Eddie heard someone ask.
"Yes, I'm fine!" After a small rest, they were all prepared to leave.
They walked along the path of the beam and after a few hours, they finally made it out of
the mountain. They walked for about ten minutes, then Susannah realized something.
"Hey, Roland?"
"Hum?"
"Didn't we just come out of a mountain?"
"Yes."
"Well, look behind you!" He turned around, and Susannah couldn't see that way anymore.
"What the hell? There is no more mountain!" Eddie exclaimed.
"How observant, you are, Mr. Dean!" A nearby tree to their left began to spiral and twist into
itself. A familiar figure was sitting near the spot where all the branches went their own ways, on a
wooden throne.
"Flagg!" They all said, with absolutely no feeling.
"My, we are all observant today! And I thought Eddie was actually getting somewhere!" He
began to laugh at his joke. They five did not find it funny. Oy growled at Flagg. Flagg pointed at
him. Oy stopped making noise.
"Now, now. You don't want to be rude, now, do you?" Flagg laughed when the bumbler tried to
bark again.
"What do you want, Flagg? We will not stop our quest." Roland demanded.
"I was hoping to see and kill you in Thunderclap, Roland, but I found Eddies instability a better
way to get to you. It obviously didn't work. For a minute there, I thought you were all going to die!
And the thing with Mort, now that was great. I didn't think Jake and Eddie were going to kill him! I
thought for sure Roland was going to stop you two. Now what could I possibly do to you now that
I have you where I want you?" Eddie answered him.
"You could go and stick your finger up your as..." Flagg had his hands around Eddies neck
before he could finish.
"Don't you ever say a thing like that to the all-powerful Flagg!" He said in a hypnotic voice.
Roland, Susannah, Jake and Oy tried to get to Eddie, but they were thrown back by Flagg's power.
"Do not listen to him, Eddie! Whatever he wants you to do, whatever he promises you, it's not
worth it." Roland tried, but it did no good.
"Eddie, sugah, we love you don't do it! Don't do it for him! Don't let him make you!" Susannah did
no better. Jake could see Oy trying to say 'Dee!'.
"How about you pit us against each other in a winner takes all match?" Eddie said, in a daze.
"That's much better. Maybe I should have gone into your dream as a wizard instead of a
gryphon. You might have actually fell for that." He pointed at them all, and in a second, each of
them had two guns, pointing them to the next one beside them, at their heads. Roland, Eddie,
Susannah, and Jake each had a gun pointed to them on either side of their heads.
They stayed this way for a long time, with Oy in between them, sweating and waiting to
see who would be the first to pull a trigger. Glances between Eddie, Jake, and Sussanah were
made, but no words were spoken. Roland had a faint idea of what was going on.
"Well?" Flagg said, adding tension to the hands he was controlling. "Come on! You people are
wasting my time. And yours. So just kill one another and get it over with!"
"Now!" Susannah screamed. A look of surprise pulled itself onto Flagg's face as the four turned
around to face him.
"How?" was all he could manage as they shot at him until there were no bullets left. When Flagg
disappeared, screaming, so did the guns.
"We only beat him this time because of our mind link, our khef. Had we not had it, we
would have blown out our brains." Roland told them the next day while they were walking
towards the Tower.
"Yes, Roland, we realize that." Eddie told him. They could send and receive (although Roland
could only receive) messages to each other. An aftereffect of Ka, their fate.
"Thanks for helping me Roland. I would have killed myself if you hadn't filled you gun with bullets
that you thought were dead!" Roland had not done that, but he did not tell Eddie that.
"I am hardly to be thanked for anything. Susannah suggested that we link our minds and fight off
Flagg's magic. You should thank her." Roland told him.
"Well, I'd like to thank you, and Jake to any ways. And don't worry, Susannah, you will be
thanked, I can promise you that!" Eddie and Susannah smiled at each other.
"I'm glad that you brought Oy back. You knew he would follow, didn't you, Roland?" Jake thought
about all the things Roland had said to him.
"Yes, I did know he would follow. And I am also glad that he is back with us. We might not have
made it to the Dark Tower without him!"
"Dark! Tower!" Oy yelped, then made a little growl.
"I love you Roland!" Jake told him.
"We all love yah, sugah!" Susannah, in her straddle, reached behind her and hugged Rolands head.
"We do!" Eddie said. Roland realized that no matter what just happened, he still loved them.
"Love! Olan!" Oy said, looking toward Roland for an answer.
"I love the four of you, too. We are Ka-tet, one from many."
"One from many!" They replied, all satisfied.
They walked.
[This happens right after 'Wizard and Glass', and before 'Wolves of the Calla'. This story has not been
approved by Steven King, Author of 'The Dark Tower'. It is completely my own fanfiction, and I take
credit for the story itself, not the characters, or past events.]
The golden disk eyed creature looked at him from across thier campfire. It stood
and slowly glided to the boy, Jake. Jake bent down and petted the animal. Looking down at the
animal, he thought of what kind of animal it would have been in thier world. Them being
Susannah, Eddie and himself. He was absolutely sure that the great minds of thier world would
not have named it a Billy Bumbler. The animal looked like a mix between a raccoon, a badger,
and a dog. It also had a limited ability to speak. When Jake had first met the animal, he had said
"Come here boy". The animal did and imitated Jake by saying "Oy!". So that's what Jake named
him. Jake looked up to see Roland going through his purse looking for something to eat.
"Could you pass me something Roland?" Jake asked.
"Yes, in a second. I can not find any, what did you call it? Pissa?" Roland replied.
Eddie turned at the sound of the word pizza, or of what Roland could pronounce of the word.
"Issa!" Oy grumbled from his crouch at Jakes' knees.
"How 'bout we all have some? It's in my bag." He reached into his bag and took out a large pizza.
"You know," Susannah said, "It's been a long time since I had something good to eat. When was
it? This afternoon?"
"Ernoon!" Oy cried. It broke everyone up into a howl of laughter. All but Roland Eddie thought.
Go figure! But while Eddie was thinking that, Roland was thinking about how much he loved them all.
Roland was tall and had a large, muscular upper body. He had been by himself, all
alone, for a long time, until he had met Jake at the Way Station. Then he had betrayed the boys
trust by letting him die in the mountains. He had let him die for his ultimate goal: The Dark
Tower. It was where he was made to go, his destiny, his Ka. When he had met Jake, he was
chasing after the Man in Black. Later, only after Jake had died, Roland had caught him. The Man
had turned out to be Walter, a magician that was allied with Mearlyn, a very powerful magician
that is one of Rolands old nemesis. Most of his others had either died of old age by now, or
Roland had killed them himself. Walter had told of Rolands future and brought three cards to his
attention. He was to draw three people from Jakes world. The first was the Prisoner, who turned
out to be Eddie Dean of New York. The second, the Lady of Shadows, turned out to be a
schizophrenic named Detta Walker and Odetta Holmes. The third was Death ("But not for you
gunslinger!" Walter had told him.), who turned out to be a man named Jack Mort, who,
surprisingly, had killed Jake in New York. Jack had died before he could be drawn, crushed
under a train. He is in search of the Dark Tower for one reason: the Tower is being corrupted by
something, and it is tearing everything in every world apart. What is the Tower? Roland does not
know, but one day, he will find it and stop what's happening there.
Susannah had once been two people: Odetta and Detta. She was a fairly normal size.
She was a Black-American. Odetta was very nice, but lacked the one thing that she needed
most: courage. Detta was a nasty, creative b%tch that was determined to kill Roland and Eddie
while they tried to save her. She had the courage, but was always in a blind fury, wanting to kill
anything that got near her. Eddie had grown to love Odetta, and with Rolands help, Odetta and
Detta merged to form Susannah. Susannah was wheelchair bound because of an accident that
occurred in the New York subways. Jack Mort had pushed her in front of an oncoming train and
she lost the lower part of her legs. Jack Mort was also responsible for Susannah's schizophrenia.
When she was little, Jack had dropped a brick on her head. Susannah was from the year 1964,
when Roland drew her.
Eddie was from the year 1987. In his world, he was a heroin addict, and a druggie, as he
so called it. He was from New York. When Roland had drawn him, Eddie had seen his brothers
head cut off, and he had fought like a true gunslinger. Both Eddie and Susannah had considered
themselves prisoner's in Rolands world, but in time, they both shared desire for one another, and
a desire for the Tower.
Jake, like Eddie, was originally from New York. He was only ten when Roland had first
met him. One day, on his way to school, he was pushed by a man into the street and run over by
a Cadillac. This accident had sent him into Rolands world. The man who had pushed him was
Jack Mort. Jake then died in Rolands world, but was drawn back with help of his love for Roland.
He was the third to be drawn, and so Roland had drawn all three. Jake was from the year 1977,
when Roland drew him.
Oy was from Midworld, a place somewhere between Rolands home of Gilead and the
tower. Jake had found him and befriended the bumbler. Jake had saved Oy from falling off a
bridge, and Oy had returned the favor by saving Jake when he was kidnaped by a pirate named
the Tick-Tock man.
Just recently, Roland had told them about a time when Roland was fourteen, and the
sacrifices that he had to make. Shortly after, the five were confronted by Mearlyn, now going by
the name of Randall Flagg. Flagg had let them live, though he claimed he would never do it again.
Flagg had filled their baggage with food, something for which they were all grateful for,
although they would never trust Flagg. This had happened two months ago. Now they were down
to only a few food items.
"You know, Roland, that Falgg guy isn't all that bad. He did give us all that wonderful food. And it
was wonderful!" Eddie said the next morning while he was looking for some breakfast in Jake's
backpack. Roland yawned a deep, almost bellowing yawn for a reply. Susannah was just waking
up, so Eddie went over and kissed her. "What do you think, Suze?"
"Well, first I think I'm hungry, but your comment on Flagg was interesting. I don't understand why
he did what he did, you know, letting us live then giving us food. Could you fill me in Roland?"
Susannah asked.
"He let us live in hope of us resigning our quest for the Tower. Now he knows we will not. The
food was given to us so that we may survive and one day see him in Thundrclap, though I don't
know where that is. He will no doubt plan to kill us now. That is truly all that need's to be said
about his motives. As Eddie would say, 'he couldn't give a rat's ass' if we died right now."
Roland explained to her. Jake, who had sleeping was now awake. Oy ran over to him and licked
his face.
"Hey Oy. Everybody." Jake said, leaving his sleep behind.
"Oy! Ody!" Oy Exclaimed, imitating Jakes voice almost exactly.
"Good mornin' sugah! Did you have a good sleep?" Susannah asked. She was sitting in her
wheelchair that they had taken from Flagg's Kansas, eating some hot cakes.
"Well, for the past two month's, I've had to sleep on the ground with bug's crawling over me, the
ground is always uncomfortable, and I both smell and fell like shit! Otherwise, yes, I had a nice
sleep thanks." Jake grinned at her, a very genuine smile, and she grinned back, her face very
beautiful in the morning light.
"Shit! Yes! Tanks!" Oy Exclaimed and Eddie laughed like an idiot.
"Oy is getting a lot better, you know. Just last two month's ago, all he could say is whatever you
said. Now he can say whatever you say. Real smart!" Eddie said when he finally stopped
laughing.
"Eddie, shut up!" Roland, Jake and Susannah said at the same.
"Dee! Sut! Up!" Oy barked at him.
"O.K., don't all attack me at once because you people don't have a sense of humor!"
They walked along the path of the beam, a force that leads directly to the Dark Tower.
There are six beams leading to the Tower, and twelve doorways to other worlds between the
beams. Everything had to obey the beam. The tree's and plants bent along the path of it. Clouds
would always head into the direction of the Tower along the beam. It was their only sure bet to
get to the tower. That night, they started supper to realize that there would be only enough for
the five of them.
"Well Eddie, what do you think of our friend Flagg now?" Roland asked him, looking at
thier last meal, ham and potatoes. Eddie scowled at the empty backpack.
"I think he could have at least left us with a supply of never-ending food. I mean, he is the most
powerful fucking demon on the face of any Earth. In fact..." Eddie was about to go on and on
with his new point. Roland knew this, so he stopped him.
"Just what I thought. Now eat before I get Susannah to slit your throat. Or worse. She won't make
love to you tonight."
Eddie looked to Susannah, but she just looked away, hiding a smile. So Eddie did shut up, and
they ate. Not one bit of food was left from thier last meal. Susannah belched. It was so loud that
it echoed into the forest.
"'Scuze me!" She pardoned herself. "You know, Roland, we may be full 'o' food now, but by
tomorrow night, we gonna hafta kill some locals." She said, meaning the local animals.
"Yum! Roadkill! Just'a wut ah goht mah pa tuh git foah suppah e'ry niaght as ah boye!" Eddie
exclaimed in his best redneck impression.
"Ugh! Gross!" Jake said, disgusted.
"Ugh! Ross!" Oy cried, with equal sounding disgust.
"I don't know what roadkill is, Eddie, but I have an idea. Anyway, Jake, we will cook whatever we
kill before we eat it." Roland assured him.
"I don't know about any of you, but my food tasted a little funny. Nothing much to worry about,
really, but like it had some weird kind of salt and pepper." Eddie told them.
"It was probably nothin' sugah. Let's just go to bed." Eddie lifted Susannah out of her chair. He
took her over to a grassy area and they laid down together there.
"I'm out too." Jake said, lying down, Oy lying next to him. Oy made a little bark of approval.
"All right. When everyone wakes up in the morning, we will begin walking. We have to close as
much distance between us and the Tower." Roland sat down, and soon, they were all asleep.
Eddie looked around himself. There was nothing but forest and a distant campfire smell.
"Hello?" He asked, but all that answered was his echo call back. Then all of a sudden, a voice
called to him from behind him.
"Hello, Eddie!" it said.
He looked behind him to see a grand head of an eagle. It was magnificent. It was beautiful. It had
the body of a lion? Eddie looked at it in amazement as the eagle-lion closed the distance
between the two of them. It eyed him with it's predator like eyes. Eddie tried to look away and
run, but couldn't, and found himself transfixed on the creatures eyes, and it's tail whipping back
and forth.
"I can give you what you want, Eddie!" the creature told him.
"You don't know what I want." Eddie replied, his voice not his own.
"I can give you a way home. Do you know what year it is now? It is the year two thousand. You
want to go home now!" It explained.
"I cannot go home. I will not go home. I do not want to go home. The Tower is my home." Eddie
said in his dreamy voice. The creature began to growl, then stopped, not wanting to show it's
impatience. It opened it's beak to speak again.
"I can give you power. All you have to do is kill your friends. You want power."
"I do not want power. I want to see the Tower." Eddie said, then added, "And the roses." His
voice was more his own now.
"But you need power. I can give it to you."
"I do not need power. I need to see the Tower. And the roses."
"You deserve power. I can give it to you. Pledge your life to me!" The creature was screeching at
him now.
"I don't deserve power." Eddie said, his voice almost wholly his own. "I deserve to see the
fucking Tower! And the roses, get it?" Eddie stared at the creature with pure hatred.
"Do not defy me Eddie Dean!" The creature screamed. "I have power. I could destroy you and all
of your friends!"
"Maybe, but you will never see the Tower."
The creature lunged at Eddie, it's claws extended, beak wide open. Somewhere, deep inside
Eddie's mind, he gave into the power. It swallowed him like a blue whale taking in water.
The next morning, everyone seemed normal. No one would have noticed that Eddie had
had a nightmare. So they walked. And walked. And walked. That night, while deciding on who
should go out hunting for food, Eddie volunteered.
"Oh! I'll go!" Roland stared at him for a moment.
"Why are you so eager to go? Wouldn't you rather stay here with Susannah and Jake?" Roland
asked.
"Yeah! You don't love me anymore? Is that it?" Susannah began to fake cry, but had to laugh in
spite of herself.
"No, it's nothing like that. I need to be alone for a little while, and I really feel like I could use
some target practice. Could I please have one of your guns?" Eddie asked, and got just that.
"Don't take too long, Eddie. Me and Oy are hungry here." Jake said.
"I don't think I'll be too long." And with that, Eddie took off into the forest.
"Do you think something is wrong with Eddie?" Jake asked.
"Rong! Dee!" Oy Added. Roland looked at Susannah. Of course! She thought.
"Of course not!" Roland lied.
Eddie saw what he wanted. It looked like a chicken that was about two times bigger than
a normal chicken. He lifted the gun and cocked it. He pointed it at the bird. In the second after he
pulled the trigger, the birds head blew backwards in a spray of blood and brains. The chicken's
body began to run in circles. Eddie ran to it and kicked at it's side. It's ribs caved in, stopping it's
after-death running fit. He grabbed it's feet and began to walk. Then, a light in the distance to his
right caught his attention. He walked towards it. After about ten minutes of walking, he came to a
stone building. The light was coming from an entrance in the stone. On the top of the building,
stood a magnificent creature, a Gryphon. Just like the one in Eddie's dream.
"Roland! Susannah! Jake! Oy! Come here!" Eddie called to his friends. For fifteen minutes,
Eddie stood there, looking at the gryphon, until his friends got there.
"What's wrong Ed..?" Susannah said, entering the sight of the gryphon on her wheelchair.
"Let's go inside." Eddie suggested. His heart was racing. The rest came into the clearing.
"Wow!" Jake said. "Can we Roland? Go inside?"
"I do not see any reason why not. But we will have to be careful."
Jake sprinted to the stone entrance, Oy right behind him, and Eddie behind Oy.
"Boys." Susannah said, simply. "Roland, sugah, would you like to give a gal a ride?"
"Sure." He grabbed her wheelchair by the handles and lifted her into the entrance.
Inside, Jake found a table full of food. He went to go eat some, but Roland stopped him
by grabbing the back of his shirt.
"Don't do it!" He warned him. Jake didn't question him. Eddie, on the other hand, grabbed a
handful of food and began to eat.
"Eddie! Did you not hear what I said?" Roland yelled at him.
"Yes, mister Eddie. This is not your food. You should not be here eating it. I find that rather
rude."
No one had noticed that someone else was in the room with them. It was a man in a brown cloak,
that looked like he had been inside for at least thirty years.
"We are sorry, sai, but my friend here is very rude at times. I will take the responsibility for him
and punish him myself." Roland told the old man. Eddie stared at him for a moment.
"I am very sorry, really! I don't know what came over me. I didn't realize how hungry I was until
now. Bullshit, Roland thought, but never said anything about his doubts.
"Sai, I would like to ask for your hospitality for the night. We are on a long journey, to the Dark
Tower. Please?" Roland requested of the old man.
"Well, you did eat my food, but I can spare the room. There is no one else here but me, and it
has been that way for some years now. Your request is accepted. Please, now that you are
guests, you can help yourself to my food. I was not all that hungry."
"Thankee sai!" Eddie thanked the old man. He picked up the food and began eating again. So
did the rest of the party.
"It looks to me like you are all gunslingers. Well, except him any ways." The old man
pointed to Eddie. The old man's name turned out to be Gordon Gryphon. That was why he had a
gryphon on top of his building. He had built this temple for himself and his family and friends, but
they had all died because of a sickness that he had been immune to.
"Sia, you are right. We are all gunslingers. Even the billy bumbler is, to some extent, a
gunslinger." Roland said, trying to keep the conversation interesting for his companions. Roland
sat at the end of the table across from Gordon. Susannah, Eddie and Jake sat in the middle.
"Well, it's been a long time since I had anything close to a visitor in my home. I would like to
entertain you. Do you like riddles?"
Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and even Oy stared at the man. They all, including Oy, gave a
very harsh 'NO' to Gordon's question. In a way, Gordon seemed offended.
"It is not that we don't think the quality of your riddles are bad! It's just, we've had some very
trying experiences with them!" Susannah told him.
"That and insane trains that try to kill you." Jake added. Before Roland had told them his story of
a long time ago love, they had all been kidnaped by a train named Blain that threatened to kill
them all unless they could stump him with a riddle. Eddie had come through for them with a
riddle of 'why did the dead baby cross the road?' Blain couldn't answer, so he killed himself. The
answer had been 'because it was stapled to the chicken.'
"I guess that's out of the question, then. Well, how about some music? I have a player
somewhere in here." Everyone agreed on that. The food had been great, the music a wonder to
all six of them, and by the time dessert, ice cream with something that looked like blackberries,
was over, they were all tired. Gordon showed them to their rooms, then went about his nightly chores.
Once Eddie was sure that Susannah was asleep, something he could do very well
because of months sleeping by her side, he crept out into the hall. He headed toward the
kitchen.
The boy, stood at the heart of a circle surrounded by seven pillars. In front of him was a
giant tarot card with a gryphon design on it. He was looking at the back of the card, and now he
was terrified to find out what was on the other side. He noticed on his left, Roland was staring at
the card also. He looked around for Oy, Eddie and Susannah, with no luck. He looked back at
the card to see it turning. Written on the top of the card was 'Le Traître'. It showed a picture of
a man sticking a knife in another man's back. It took Jake a second, but Roland realized who the
person with the knife was at once: It was Eddie. Everything went dark, and in the void, Jake
could see a gryphon, hear it laughing, feel it's chilling voice in the base of his spine. He forced
himself to wake up, but he couldn't. The gryphon laughed harder.
When Roland left the tarot card, he found himself in the woods. In the distance, he could
hear laughter, and the faint sound of a boy desperately crying for help.
Eddie peered into the kitchen, hands behind his back. Gordon was still washing some
dishes in pail.
"Hello Master Eddie. And why would you be coming into my kitchen this late at night?" he asked
without having to turn around.
"I can't sleep. Sometimes that happens, and I get hungry, so I sought out your kitchen in hopes
of some more of that wonderful dessert." Eddie looked around on the counters like he expected
to find some there.
"I do have some left, so you are in some luck." Gordon bent down to take some ice cream out of
a small cooler on the floor. Eddie took this chance and kicked Gordon square in the ass,
breaking the bottom part of his spine. Gordon fell onto the floor on his back. Eddie lifted his gun
to Gordon's neck. He cocked the gun.
"Now you listen to me. When you get to Hell, tell them that the demon sent you." Eddie pulled the
trigger, turning everything in front of him a bright red. Eddie smiled.
Roland could hear two people quarreling just in front of him, so he listened to all they
had to say.
"That's stupid, 'Bert. If you weren't already dead, I would have killed you for it." One of them said.
Roland recognized the voice, one of his old companions.
"But Alain.." The other protested, but the one would not have it.
"Shut your bloody mouth, Cuthbert, our visitor has arrived."
The tree's cleared and exposed Roland to his two old friends, Cuthbert and Alain.
"'Bert? Alain?" was all Roland could say.
"Us in the dead skin you left us in, Roland." The one called Cuthbert said.
"But how? Why?" he managed. He hadn't seen them since the day they died.
"That's what we are here to tell you. We are ghosts, Roland. We have a message for you. You
planned on killing Eddie because a dream, not so different from this one, told you he is about to
betray you." Alain said. He was always the one who made the most sense Roland thought.
"Yeah. We're here to tell you there is other complications. There is outside interference. You will
see. Also, if you kill Eddie, your chances of reaching the Tower will be jeopardized. You don't
want that. We don't want that. The Powers That Be won't allow it. Ka will not let you make that
mistake more than twice. Good luck, Roland old friend." The sound of a gunshot woke Roland
out of his deep state. He took his gun and headed out of his room.
Jake heard someone call for him and Susannah. He came out of his dream. He woke Oy
and they headed out into the hall.
"What's going on Roland?" Jake asked, although he had a really good idea.
"It's Eddie. He has,,," Roland went to go on but Eddie and Susannah came out of their room.
"I put what in the what now?" Eddie asked, wiping sleep out of his eyes.
"Never mind. There was a gunshot though. It came from somewhere inside the temple. Do you
have my gun, Eddie? I would like it back."
"No, actually. I left it on my table but it's not there anymore."
"Any ways," Susannah said, "Eddie's been with me all night. I should know, I was awake!"
"Let's go take a look any way"
It took them until the morning, but they finally found the kitchen where Gordon had been
shot. Roland went in and found his gun on the counter.
"There is someone else here, so we should get out now. Get your stuff and meet me out in front
of the temple." Roland told them. Before he left, he looked around the room. In the blood, there
was a sign that was in the shape of a rainbow.
They met out front ten minutes later (it didn't take them as long to find their rooms than it
did to find the kitchen).
"We are still on the path of the beam. But if you look behind the temple, you will see our next
problem." Roland told him. They all looked. Behind the temple, there was practically no land. The
were small pieces of land between a whole lot of nothingness.
"Holy shit! We have to go through that?" Eddie asked, his mouth dropped. Susannah comforted
him with a hand to his face.
"Don't worry, sugah. We been through worse."
"There are two bad things about our situation that are very bad." Roland said.
"What do you mean?" Jake asked, looking at Roland. Oy looked toward Roland and asked "Meen?".
"Watch." Roland picked up a rock and threw it at one of the smaller land spot's. The land fell
apart. It was Jakes and Susannah's turn to be awestruck.
"Holy shit!" they said in unison.
"My point exactly. This means that we cannot take Susannah's wheel chair with us."
"Great! A couple month's in a wheel chair that was very comfortable, and now I hafta throw it
away. I guess I should prepare for the straddle on your back, hey Roland? My crotch is going to
hurt after this, that's for sure!"
"It is the only other way. Jake, I need to talk to you for a second." He pulled him out of Eddie and
Susannah's hearing range.
"Do you know what I'm going to tell you?" Roland asked.
"If it's about Eddie killing th..?"
"No. It's not. You have to understand that to be a true gunslinger, sacrifices half to be made."
"Eddie?"
"No."
"Then what?" Jake did not understand.
"Oy. He will not be able to cross with us. It is too dangerous. And if you are there worrying about
him, then I will have more to worry about. It puts us all in danger."
"It's for the Tower." Jake simply said. It made Roland wince.
"Yes, as much as I don't want to admit it, it's for the Tower. Though I wouldn't have asked if I
didn't love you the way I did. The way I love all of you, Oy included." Jake began to cry. Under
his breath, Roland heard Jake say it's not fair. Roland held him like a father would, trying to give
him comfort. It didn't help.
"No, Ka is not fair."
Susannah could feel the pain from the straddle, and it did hurt. She didn't complain,
though. Nothing could be done about it. So she took the pain. They were prepared to start
jumping from land to land in the chasm behind the Temple of Gryphon. All except Jake. He was
sitting down talking with Oy, trying to explain why Oy couldn't go with them.
"Are you sure we can't take him? I could possibly carry him." Eddie suggested.
Roland answered with a quick "No".
"I'm sorry Oy! It's for the best. It's for the Tower." Jake began to cry again. Oy licked at his face,
as if trying to lick his tears away. "It's for that fucking Tower!" He cried harder.
"Tower!" Oy barked.
"I have to go, boy. To the Dark Tower. You cannot come with us." Jake left it at that.
"It's time to go now, Jake, are you ready?" Roland said, almost with no feeling. He was trying not
to cry himself. Jake wiped his face.
"Yeah." his voice a little shaky still. "I'm ready."
"It's okay, little one." Susannah's comforting helped Jake a little more. "If Ka allows it, we will be
all together again."
"Thanks." Roland bent down so Jake could hug Susannah.
"Let's be on our way then." Eddie said.
With Susannah on his back, and Jake in his arms, Roland, with Eddie right beside him,
ran and jumped across the hole to the unstable land. Jake looked back to see Oy staring at him.
They jumped to the next land. Then Oy began to bark, finally realizing what was going on.
"Go! Oy! Dark! Tower! Oy! Come! Ake!"
Jake realized that Roland had made a mistake.
"Roland, we can't leave Oy! We still need him! You made a mistake! Go back!"
"It's...too...late..Jake!." Eddie panted, running out of breath.
They kept on jumping for about an hour, and Jake could still hear Oy saying the same
phrase. "Dark! Tower! Dark! Tower!" It would haunt him until the day he died. He swore to never
leave a friend behind again.
An hour later, they found the end of the unstable land. It was only the morning, but they
all slept as soon as they reached the land. It was getting dark when they woke up, but they
agreed to walk for a while anyway. Roland checked to make sure he had both of his guns. He
did. He looked at Eddie.
"What? Do I have something on me or something?" he asked.
"No." Roland answered. They began to walk, with Eddie in the lead and Susannah on Roland's
back bringing up the rear. They walked through woods, mostly, and open plains that might have
once been used for farming, before the world had moved on. Now it was mostly wasted land,
good for nothing. Then, in the distance, Roland could see a mountain. The next afternoon, they
reached it, to find a tunnel leading into it right in the path of the beam.
"Looks like we go in." Eddie observed, stating the obvious. "I'll bet this tunnel wasn't here six
hours ago."
"If someone told me it wasn't, then I would be prone to believe them, Eddie." Roland said,
walking up into the tunnel.
"Which way do we go, Roland?" Susannah asked from behind him. "when we get inside?"
"Guess."
"Oh! I know!" Jake cried in realization. "We go forward, along the path of the beam!"
"Exactly!"
They walked up and down, and side to side, but they never stopped going in the same
general direction: forward. Jake had temporarily forgotten about Oy, and was now in the lead.
Eddie now brought up the rear. They finally came to a small clearing in the rock where a little bit
of sunlight shone through.
"Let's rest for a while here. Maybe we can even hold a palaver about what happened these past
few days." Roland suggested. Roland looked at Eddie. "Is there anything specific you would like
to tell your friends, Eddie?"
"What are you talking about Roland? What the hell are you getting at?"
"Well, sugah, you have been actin' pretty strange these last few days" Susannah said. Eddie
didn't say anything.
"We won't make you tell us anything you don't want to, Eddie, but we are your friends. We love
you." Roland told him. Eddie didn't feel like talking to him. Susannah slept close by Roland by
herself that night. Eddie and Roland never went to sleep.
"Why are you still tormenting me?" Eddie asked, standing. "Haven't you done enough?"
"What do you mean?" Roland asked, doing the same. Just then, Eddie lifted his hand. In his
hands he was holding a gun, pointing it at Roland.
"Where did you get that gun, Eddie? You couldn't have taken it from me, I would have noticed.
Tell me." Roland demanded.
"That's not the important thing. I will be the only one to live to see the Tower. That's all that's
important. To me any ways."
"What about Susannah? And Jake? The people that love you?"
"They are irrelevant. I am all that's important. I will kill you first." He cocked the gun and pulled
the trigger. The bullet roared past Rolands head, missing him by millimeters.
"Damn it, Eddie, give me the gun now! Break away from whatever has hold of you! Do it now!"
"No!" Eddie screamed. He lifted the gun to his head and cocked it.
A battle was going on in Eddies head that would have made World War one and two
look like the Teletubbies on vacation. It was ripping his mind apart, yanking at his threads of
sanity. He was going to kill them all; he wasn't going to kill anyone; he was going to see the
Tower all alone; he would see the Tower with those he loved or never see it at all. Deep in his
mind, the gryphon laughed at his misery. Eddie pulled the trigger.
Susannah and Jake stared at Eddie in horror as he pulled the trigger. Click!
"No!" Susannah screamed and closed her eyes. Jake turned around and covered his head.
Roland just glared at him. He was still in one piece, but he had fainted. Eddie had once told
Roland that there was one reason he would never shoot himself with one of Rolands guns. Some
of Rolands bullets got wet and he still can't figure out which ones will not work. Well, Eddie had
told him that, if he shot himself with a flat bullet, he would never be able to wear the same pair of
pants again. Ever. Roland went over to Eddie and dragged him closer to them. He noticed that
Eddie would be wearing his only pair of pants for a while longer.
"He's fine. It was one of the wet bullets. He will be fine for a while." Jake and Susannah slowly
looked toward Eddie. Susannah walked out of her wheelchair on her hands and took Eddie in her
arms. A breeze of air passed over them all, and then a clapping came from the shadows. The
three conscience people tried to see who it was. When he spoke, Roland recognized who he was.
"Bravo, Roland. Bravo! That's french for very good. Just like my last name is french for death."
Jack Mort came out of the shadows. There was a design on the crest of his jacket. A gryphon.
"You!" Roland accused.
"Yes, me. Who better to help kill you than the person you killed."
"But how? You were crushed under that train. I felt your pain before I left you."
"That's not the issue. I am here to kill you. That's all that's important."
"But how?" Roland demanded.
"Ka" Mort told him. "It's the simplest answer to the most complex question. Any other stupid
questions you would like to ask? You know, before I kill all of you gutless?" The three of them
stared at him. "I guess not." He lifted up his hand and one of Rolands guns was in his hand. He
made to pull the trigger, when someone shouted from down the tunnel.
"Ake! Dee! Nah! Olan!" Mort turned in it's direction and shot at it while it ran towards him. It
lunged at Mort, a blur of teeth and fur. It grabbed the gun out of Mort's hand, ripping parts of his
hand to small shreds of tissue. Mort screamed. The small dog like creature kept running forward,
not stopping. Roland looked toward where Mort had been, and realized he wasn't there anymore.
"Susannah, come with me. Jake, you're going to have to protect Eddie. We are going after Mort."
Roland gave Jake his gun, then got Susannah to get up on his shoulders.
"But, what if he comes after me? And you two won't have a gun! What will you do if he goes after
you?" Jake stammered. Roland went over to him and smacked him in the face.
"Do you want to be a gunslinger? You were destined to be one. Just like Susannah, Eddie, and
me. I know what to do. The only way you will know what to do is if you are placed in a situation.
This is one of those times. Now don't question me! Do you hear?" Roland demanded of him.
"Yes, sir." Jake said. When Roland left, Jake began to cry again, wishing he had never chosen to
come back to Roland. His face stopped hurting, so he stopped crying. It wasn't helping any way.
"Don't you think you were a little hard on the boy, Roland?" Susannah asked.
"No. I suspect Mort will go after him before he goes after us. I wanted him to be ready.
Meanwhile, I want to find my gun."
"But why did you need me?"
"Because, Jake has to do it by himself, for the most part." Hmm, Susannah thought. For the
most part.
Jake looked into the darkness, and saw two golden disks looking back at him.
"Oy!" He cried in relief.
"Oy!" It called back. Jake went towards it.
"Roland, we've been gone too long! Let's go back." Susannah said.
"Not just yet. Look up ahead!" Susannah looked in amazement. Oy was sitting there. But he
didn't have Rolands gun.
"Oy!" It cried again, in a more human voice. Then a face came out of the shadows. Jack
Mort. He gave Jake an evil grin.
"Oy!" He said again. Jake grabbed Rolands gun and pointed at Mort. It was almost too heavy for
him.
"Do you actually think you can kill me by yourself, you little shit? It'll take more than you, I can
tell you that!"
"Then tell them that we both sent you when you get to hell, again, fuckface" Eddie was standing
behind Jake, holding another one of Rolands guns. With perfect unison, Jake and Eddie shot
Mort five times, in ten different places. There wasn't much left of him except blood and guts.
Eddie fell down, exhausted.
Roland came into the clearing in the mountains with Susannah in her straddle. He saw
the dead Mort, and asked, "I'll take it you killed him. See, Susannah, I was right. The boy
deserves a present."
Roland turned around, revealing Susannah with something in her arms.
"Oy!" Jake cried. He held his arms out. Oy ran to him, jumped into his arms, and licked his face
like there was no tomorrow.
"Ake! Oy! Bak!" Oy cried enthusiastically. Eddie was awake again.
"Eddie! How are you feeling? Are you all right?" Eddie heard someone ask.
"Yes, I'm fine!" After a small rest, they were all prepared to leave.
They walked along the path of the beam and after a few hours, they finally made it out of
the mountain. They walked for about ten minutes, then Susannah realized something.
"Hey, Roland?"
"Hum?"
"Didn't we just come out of a mountain?"
"Yes."
"Well, look behind you!" He turned around, and Susannah couldn't see that way anymore.
"What the hell? There is no more mountain!" Eddie exclaimed.
"How observant, you are, Mr. Dean!" A nearby tree to their left began to spiral and twist into
itself. A familiar figure was sitting near the spot where all the branches went their own ways, on a
wooden throne.
"Flagg!" They all said, with absolutely no feeling.
"My, we are all observant today! And I thought Eddie was actually getting somewhere!" He
began to laugh at his joke. They five did not find it funny. Oy growled at Flagg. Flagg pointed at
him. Oy stopped making noise.
"Now, now. You don't want to be rude, now, do you?" Flagg laughed when the bumbler tried to
bark again.
"What do you want, Flagg? We will not stop our quest." Roland demanded.
"I was hoping to see and kill you in Thunderclap, Roland, but I found Eddies instability a better
way to get to you. It obviously didn't work. For a minute there, I thought you were all going to die!
And the thing with Mort, now that was great. I didn't think Jake and Eddie were going to kill him! I
thought for sure Roland was going to stop you two. Now what could I possibly do to you now that
I have you where I want you?" Eddie answered him.
"You could go and stick your finger up your as..." Flagg had his hands around Eddies neck
before he could finish.
"Don't you ever say a thing like that to the all-powerful Flagg!" He said in a hypnotic voice.
Roland, Susannah, Jake and Oy tried to get to Eddie, but they were thrown back by Flagg's power.
"Do not listen to him, Eddie! Whatever he wants you to do, whatever he promises you, it's not
worth it." Roland tried, but it did no good.
"Eddie, sugah, we love you don't do it! Don't do it for him! Don't let him make you!" Susannah did
no better. Jake could see Oy trying to say 'Dee!'.
"How about you pit us against each other in a winner takes all match?" Eddie said, in a daze.
"That's much better. Maybe I should have gone into your dream as a wizard instead of a
gryphon. You might have actually fell for that." He pointed at them all, and in a second, each of
them had two guns, pointing them to the next one beside them, at their heads. Roland, Eddie,
Susannah, and Jake each had a gun pointed to them on either side of their heads.
They stayed this way for a long time, with Oy in between them, sweating and waiting to
see who would be the first to pull a trigger. Glances between Eddie, Jake, and Sussanah were
made, but no words were spoken. Roland had a faint idea of what was going on.
"Well?" Flagg said, adding tension to the hands he was controlling. "Come on! You people are
wasting my time. And yours. So just kill one another and get it over with!"
"Now!" Susannah screamed. A look of surprise pulled itself onto Flagg's face as the four turned
around to face him.
"How?" was all he could manage as they shot at him until there were no bullets left. When Flagg
disappeared, screaming, so did the guns.
"We only beat him this time because of our mind link, our khef. Had we not had it, we
would have blown out our brains." Roland told them the next day while they were walking
towards the Tower.
"Yes, Roland, we realize that." Eddie told him. They could send and receive (although Roland
could only receive) messages to each other. An aftereffect of Ka, their fate.
"Thanks for helping me Roland. I would have killed myself if you hadn't filled you gun with bullets
that you thought were dead!" Roland had not done that, but he did not tell Eddie that.
"I am hardly to be thanked for anything. Susannah suggested that we link our minds and fight off
Flagg's magic. You should thank her." Roland told him.
"Well, I'd like to thank you, and Jake to any ways. And don't worry, Susannah, you will be
thanked, I can promise you that!" Eddie and Susannah smiled at each other.
"I'm glad that you brought Oy back. You knew he would follow, didn't you, Roland?" Jake thought
about all the things Roland had said to him.
"Yes, I did know he would follow. And I am also glad that he is back with us. We might not have
made it to the Dark Tower without him!"
"Dark! Tower!" Oy yelped, then made a little growl.
"I love you Roland!" Jake told him.
"We all love yah, sugah!" Susannah, in her straddle, reached behind her and hugged Rolands head.
"We do!" Eddie said. Roland realized that no matter what just happened, he still loved them.
"Love! Olan!" Oy said, looking toward Roland for an answer.
"I love the four of you, too. We are Ka-tet, one from many."
"One from many!" They replied, all satisfied.
They walked.
[This happens right after 'Wizard and Glass', and before 'Wolves of the Calla'. This story has not been
approved by Steven King, Author of 'The Dark Tower'. It is completely my own fanfiction, and I take
credit for the story itself, not the characters, or past events.]