Chapter 10

The Wanderer

"Steve and Alex huh?" Aiden asked, he cracked and egg and dropped it into the sizzling pan.

Lukas leaned against the counter, steaming mug in hand. It fought away the bitter chill in his fingers courteous of the Hallway. He inspected an odd relic - a pot - on the dining table, "That's what they called themselves anyway..." He pointed at the jewel covered centerpiece. "That's new, I don't remember that one."

Aiden glanced over his shoulder, eyeing the glittering object, "You were sick," he replied. "Jesse brought it back the same time you lost half your body in blood. He said he got it from the same jungle world-" Aiden laughed at Lukas's expression,"Don't worry it is sterilized, no Coughing Plague on that bad boy. I just got all the gunk and grim cleaned off of it. There had to be at least two to three inches thick of the stuff."

"I see...Don't tell Jesse it's made of gems, he might want it back."

Aiden laughed and added another egg.

"Speaking of that week, how is Bites doing?"

Bites was Aiden's unintentional new pet. The pet term was used loosely, seeing as Bites was over fifty feet long and was formally the man eating punishment of an ancient jungle tribe. Aiden had saved him from a nasty tangle, and in the snake just wound up outside of his house one morning...Aiden would deny it, but he had a soft spot for the giant reptile now.

Aiden looked out the window. Fog covered the trees and lake in a eerie blanket, symbolizing the dropping in the temperature. "It's too cold for him here now. He crossed the river about a week ago and is hibernating in that small patch of jungle on the other side. I'm betting he won't show up until spring at latest."

"I'm gonna miss him," Lukas hummed, "But I'm sure you're glad you don't have to worry about feeding him for awhile."

Aiden snorted and continued cooking, "Anyway, sounds like you guys had quite a start."

Lukas let out a disgusted noise, "Not my ideal start I assure you."

"Jesse and Petra doing better?"

"Petra should be walking in a day or two, and Alex says Jesse will be able to move in a week as long as he doesn't push himself.

Aiden looked at Lukas's shoulder, "What about you?"

Lukas didn't notice his worried glance, "I'm fine," he looked at Aiden, "Why?"

Aiden looked back to his pan, "You got shot dummy. Plus a giant spider tried to eat you."

"Oh yeah, I'm fine."

"If you say so," Aiden pulled some plates out of the cabinet, "So when is Steve showing up?"

"Oh," Lukas hesitated, "He isn't."

"He left you here?"

"Well, he had things that are important to do," Lukas explained, "He's one of the only hunters in his village and winter is coming soon..."

At least that was one of the things Steve had told him,

"So this is the door?" Steve asked.

Lukas did a double take, "Yep, Ground Town."

"Catchy," Steve said as he marked it with a sign.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving a sign, so I know where it is."

"You're leaving?!"

Steve flinched, "Are you okay staying here a day or two?"

Lukas was baffled, "What? I thought you were coming with me to meet Ivor and Aiden."

"I was, but remember when I had to get that cat out of the tree. Well there has been a change in plan, you see, one of the village elders was there. He was hoping to catch me before we left. It seems one of our scouts was keeping an eye on the watering hole and - spiders."

"Spiders?"

"Yeah, from the nest, - you know the one - Anyway, they're all worked up and moving down river, at this rate they'll move into the village. I got to go back to the ravine and kill a few of the big ones."

"Why the big ones? Why not the small spiders."

"Believe me, I would if I could," Steve laughed to himself, "But the big ones are lazy, they stay in the nest. They eat whatever food rarely comes in, or they eat the food from the smaller spider's kills, or if really hungry, they'll eat the smaller spiders. If I kill the little ones, the big ones will leave the nest."

"This isn't because Petra and I crashed through there is it?" Lukas asked.

"No, you're not the first off worlders to walk somewhere you shouldn't. I don't know why they are aggravated," Steve sighed, "Could be anything. But with the spiders moving about they're stirring up other spawns that are already down for winter. My village has there one last big hunt tomorrow. I wasn't going to go, but with the monsters...Well they need my help Lukas."

"So you're killing spiders and helping them hunt?"

"Yep. Look, I know it sounds like I'm doing a lot of heavy lifting for them. But this has been a hard year for my people. We lost a lot of good folks to a mudslide earlier this year, and food has been scarce. It's not our best run. I'm one of the few people who can still help Lukas."

Lukas nodded, "No, it makes sense, friends over strangers yeah? I don't want to hold anyone up."

"You guys aren't holding up anyone," Steve elbowed him, "I consider us friends anyway. It will only be a day or two I swear. Either Alex or I will meet you here at the door. Then we'll get searching for your home."

"They sound like they have it harder than we do," Aiden mused, pulling Lukas from his thoughts.

"Yeah..."

Aiden slid the food onto three plates, "Ivor!" he shouted, "Get your nose out of your dusty old book and get out here! The food is ready!"

Lukas gave him a look, "Aiden! He's in a wheelchair with a broken leg give him a break!"

Aiden returned the look, "Don't, be fooled..."

Ivor rolled out of the former guest bedroom, now Aiden's study. In one hand he held a dusty old book, well used and well read by the worn edges. The other hand pushed his wheelchair with relative ease. Ivor had it down so well in fact, that the book could switch hands as he adjusted direction. Not once did he look up, or even break his stride.

Aiden looked at Lukas, "See?"

Lukas slid into an empty chair, "Hey Ivor, whatcha reading?"

"This is my journal,"

Lukas sighed and rolled his eyes, "Kay, that doesn't answer my question."

"You're story interests me," Ivor replied, "Especially the bit about the First World. If I recall correctly, my journal has notes about it somewhere in here."

"You managed to hang onto your book this whole time?"

"Yes. It never leaves my person." Ivor explained, "I've been looking for my notes on it since you got here."

"Why?"

"If you and the others have truly found this 'First World' it would be an amazing discovery."

Aiden took a bite of his food, "So? If you never left your dimesion, your home would be considered the 'First' to you. They probably don't even know any better."

Lukas shrugged, chewing his own meal, "Maybe not. Their portal door was different from all the others in the Hallway."

"So, they decided to one up the other doors."

"I don't know," Lukas replied, "Everyone there seemed pretty familiar with the portal gate. Steve even said he traveled the Hallway for a few years."

"Just think," Ivor said eagerly, "Notch's first creation -the source of all the other worlds!"

"Notch?" Aiden rolled his eyes, "Now you sound like those religious fanatics back home."

"They were not fanatics," Ivor argued, "You're just a skeptic."

"I am," Aiden replied, "Because they are bedtime stories Ivor. Every kid grew up with tales of Notch and the Wanderer. They're just stories to inspire awe and wonder."

Lukas paused from his eating, "What did you say?"

"I said they're bedtime stories."

"No, no, the part after," Lukas said, "Awe and wonder."

"Yeah what about it?" Aiden stared at him, "Come on man, how could you forget?" he explained, "Our parents dragged us to the temple like once a week. All the priest would tell the tales of the Wanderer or the First or whatever. Tell all the stories about what he did, and how he brought the 'awe' and 'wonder' into life."

Lukas remembered; remember just fine, but the statement..."I heard Steve say something like that," Lukas answered, he looked at Ivor, "He said, 'May you find as much awe and wonder at the First' or something like that."

"The First and the Wanderer are the same person, just different names," Ivor stopped on a certain page, "The first human ever created, the Immortal."

Aiden scoffed.

"Here are my notes," Ivor continued, "I have a copy of the passage: Notch looked around and saw no one to enjoy his world. So he created the first human, immortal and full of wonder; that way he would never tire of the world before him. See? Perhaps the people there have adopted this philosophy."

"It's a story, Ivor." Aiden frowned.

"Doesn't matter," Lukas said, "This Immortal is real to the people there. He supposedly had temples all over their world. They were made alongside the Old Builder, and they might have information on them. More importantly they might have information on getting us home. Jesse, Petra and I are gonna look around there a little longer and see what we can find."

"If that's all it's for," Aiden sighed, "Guess it couldn't hurt. Next you're gonna say the Healer is real."

Lukas laughed.

"Interesting fact," Ivor piped up, "The Healer might not be the second immortal created. Some loose manuscripts I have found in my travels suggest otherwise. Some passages say there was another that came between the two."

"Really?" Lukas asked, genuinely interested.

Aiden sighed again, because he was genuinely uninterested.

"Yes, some passages lead up to another male, perhaps a brother. Some scripts say that the 'Healer' came to fix a world undone by Notch's mistakes. Of course there is no reference as to what that mistake really was. But some have described a battle of 'Gods'..." Ivor happily flipped through more pages, "It's quite fascinating really."

"Sounds like it," Lukas agreed.

"Just be careful," Aiden warned, "This world sounds...dangerous."

"What world isn't Aiden," Lukas replied, "But we'll be careful I promise. I'm glad you care though."

His friend stuck out his tongue, "Naw, just don't want to be stuck with Ivor till eh dies."

Ivor kicked him under the table with his good foot.

"OW!"

Lukas laughed.

"Traitor!"

"Coward!"

"Murderer!

"Notch save us please!"

"I burn! Make it stop!"

Jesse's eyes shot open, staring with watering eyes at the soldering world before him.

Where was he? What was going on?

People rushed past him, grimy, hurt, and frightened. "Protect us!" some of them screamed, "Stop him!"

Stop who? What happened? Where were Lukas and Petra-

A shadow leapt out of the smoke and Jesse lifted his sword, barely blocking the frighteningly strong strike.

"You turn your back on me, for them?!" The shadow screamed.

"You are the one who has turned your back on the people!" Jesse shouted back.

He was confused, this wasn't his voice. He could see his arms, bare, streaked with dirt and littered in scars. Who was this, this wasn't him!

"They are gnats under out feet, dust in our finger nails!" his attacker yelled.

"They must be protected; they must be shown the way!" Jesse spoke again.

"They must die!"

Jesse dodged a sword made of black obsidian, no, not obsidian. Diamond, the blackest diamond Jesse had ever seen. So dark that even the harsh glows of the fires and the bright white of the moon were swallowed into the depths of the weapon.

Who was this?

Jesse leapt back, twenty feet away. People screamed in terror and scrambled to safety, to the forest, down the mountain, anywhere to get away.

The ground cracked beneath his feet, and Jesse watched as he tore a thousand pounds worth of rock and iron and hurled it down the hill.

His enemy smashed through the rock, and sent his sword pointing skyward. He brought it back down with a cry- Fire followed the blade down, raining down in a straight well aimed line from the heavens.

What was this?!

Water swirled up from the ground, pulling free from the last green blades of the earth, and Jesse swirled it around him, effectively blocking the fire.

The other dashed through the steam and the smoke, sword swinging so fast and hard, it cut through the air with barely a whistle. Jesse blocked, his own diamond blade vibrating on impact. His entire arm shuddered from the mere force of his enemy.

"You are weak!" the other spat.

"It is you who is weak!"

"We are gods! You chose them over me!" The shadow almost sounded devastated, broken, "How could you do this to me?!"

"I don't even know you anymore!" Jesse cried back.

The other screamed, and swung his blade down again, "Then die with them!"

Jesse blocked, and watched as his the diamond cracked-

"Jesse?"

Jesse sat up, blinking away sunlight, "Waaa?"

Alex was on a recliner, "Don't move to quickly, no point in tearing your stitches again dear.

Jesse star"ed at her, stunned.

Alex returned the gaze, "Don't worry you've only been out for a few hours. Steve just stopped by here, he said Lukas made it to Ground Town and will be staying there a day or so."

"He didn't stay with him?"

"There was a problem with the spider's nest, I'm afraid. I would have gone to help, but, I'm here watching you."

"I'm sorry,"

She smiled, "I don't mean it that way. I don't like spiders anyhow." She went back to her knitting, 'It sounded like you were dreaming."

"Yeah..." Jesse mumbled. "I was in some weird sword fight."

"Oh? Did you win?"

Jesse stared at the wall behind Alex, where two diamond swords were mounted. One of them had a long jagged crack in the blade.

"Jesse?"

"I don't know." Jesse finally answered, "I woke up... Hey Alex?"

"Hmmm?"

"Whatever happened to the village?"

"Which one?"

"The one with the portal, the one at the top of the mountain. Why does no one live there anymore?"

"They abandoned it," she said quietly.

"What happened there?"

She looked up at him, "There was a battle Jesse,"

"A battle? Like to armies or..." Jesse pressed.

"No." she answered, "Just two men. Is that what happened in your dream? Were you at the village."

Jesse looked out the window, staring at the mountains in the distance. He could see the portal glow in the distance. "I don't know. It kinda reminded me of it. But how could two men cause a village to evacuate." he looked back to the older female. "Do you know who won?"

He saw her eyes shift towards the swords, and she continued knitting.

"Alex?"

"No one won."

Author's Section

*Dies* This took way too long for such a short chapter. I'm sorry guys!

Thank you for being patient, I'll update as soon as I can!