Hello. I feel really evil for posting with the war going on and everything, but life must continue, and I don't know when my next update will be. (My half-sister's here, and my brother hogs the room I type in. Grr) Yes, I know this took forever! I'm sorry! I had my horrible writer's block that wouldn't go away. And okay, I won't say this chapter sucks, because it doesn't, I'm actually proud of how the end came out, no matter how silly it may be. But there is plenty of it I am very disappointed in, mainly because I was forcing it out simply to write, which is almost painful. I gave Chibi Raist a week off at one point, and he hasn't come back. I think that was a month ago, and it was awfully stupid of me. So there I was, feeling no thrill in writing and hating everything I wrote.when one day I was putting something away and guess who was in my closet? Raistlin, my true muse had returned! I grabbed his hand and dragged him down the stairs to show him what I had, and told him my plans. He said: "You have too much, you're daunting yourself. Cut some stuff out and just get to the point!" I was so happy, because he was right! So I wrote, and wrote! Yaaay! Love the muse! Sorry, to answer questions:
Yes, Rheas was raped. We'll go into that later (my friend called me in the morning to yell "your disgusting!" at me) and no, it's not gross. Um, don't worry about me abandoning the story anytime soon it just takes me a while. This is my most popular story! I'm not giving it up!
No, Imare' is not based after Seanteo (that's who you meant, right?), but they do know eachother. Actually, most fantasy characters probably know Imare' one way or another. Haha!
at Raistland they have referred to Crysania as "Creampuff" and I guess Rheas picked it up. If, for some odd reason I wanted to try to publish this (which I won't) I would change a lot, as some of it is based after dialogue from my friends or family. And of course, the star wars references would have to go.
RaistlinofMetallica! Update! (presses face to screen) Please? SJ, I'm sorry! I'll send e-mail soon, yes?
Friggin long note, but that's because there won't be any at the end. Yeah, Rheas' goth comment is kinda an inside joke, back when his name was Chase because I couldn't find an R name I liked, he was a basic goth with a drug problem. He altered a lot into his own form, (in frustration, I was going to name him Remy. Aren't you glad I found Reese?) and everything went downhill from there. Next chapter will be a lot of italics. Be warned.
Songs used: Red Reflection by Divinity Destroyed and Lord of the Rings by Blind Guardian.
"Let's see now, I think I'll have a Double Decker Taco Supreme, a MexiPizza, um, a Chalupa Supreme with steak……"
"Can I see the vegetarian menu please?"
"I want one of those…yeah, that one! With lots and lots of sour cream!"
"…and a chili cheese burrito, and don't forget the nachos…"
"Cameron, that's enough! We're gonna be stuck in the van with you, remember?"
"Oh, right…"
"Er, just give me a taco, thanks."
"How about a gordita, Goldie?"
"Whatever you want."
"What do you want, Rheas?"
"I can order myself! Just some Mexican rice and a small drink."
"Will someone go get us some seats! We can't all fit here!"
"I will, just let me order something first Thom, jeez…"
"Cameron! Here, take this tray and get us the drinks, all right?"
"Sure Thom."
"You call this a vegetarian menu?"
"All's I want is one, good, thick, Taco Supreme with beef, you got that?"
"Hey! You kids, get off our van!"
"Wheeeeeeeeee!"
"Toby, stop spinning in the chair!"
"What do you think everyone wants to drink Rheas?"
"Just give them your famous Tar Mix with a slight lemon twist. I always liked that."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Thomas, you're hyperventilating…"
"Hey, check this out! I'm Pickle Man!"
"Eat your food Toby!"
"Cam, what the hell is this? Why's it black?"
"It's Tar Mix…Try it Sam, you'll like it."
"Damnit everyone! It's not cuisine so just eat it already! We're in a hurry!"
The companions had left the Halcord's to the open road in the dark hours before dawn, hoping to get a head start. It had been rather pleasurable at first. Everyone in the back, awoken much too early for their liking, had fallen asleep again, snoring on each other's shoulders. All except Rheas, who had not been able to sleep all night and even now sat wide awake, studying his spellbook relentlessly, albeit fruitlessly. Gary, yawning every three minutes, sat hunched over the wheel, unhappy that he had pulled the shortest straw this time, while Goldie dozed beside him.
However, one by one the others woke, and with that, they realized how cramp and sore they were. The whining began again.
After so long of receiving the brunt of comments on how he couldn't drive (as well as various jokes that he had to remember to drive on the right side of the road) Gary finally pulled over and switched seats with Goldie in a huff. An hour or so later, the companions began to ponder the option of lunch, and Cameron's stomach confirmed them with a low growl.
"So here we are…in a Taco Bell of all places…" Thomas muttered to himself as he stuffed the remainder of his burrito into his mouth.
"Hey, they got those little stuffed talking chihuahua things! Let's get some!"
"If you think I'm going to listen to you playing with a talking dog for the rest of this trip Toby, then you must have quite a death wish." Frank snapped. Rheas unfolded his road map and spread it over the table. Tracing his finger along their chosen path, he paused on a small dot.
"Alright," he began softly, his voice so quiet that River, sitting at the other end of the table, could barely hear him. "We're in Shelton. One way or another we need to get to Hoqiuam by Grays Harbor. From there we just go straight north on 101 until we get to the Hoh River." He shook his head, as though frustrated, "It'll be the time that gets us."
"We're in no hurry." Tina stated, shrugging.
"We do want to pick up the pace," Thomas added flatly, "or else it will be dark when we get there."
"Who's driving this time?" Sam inquired, finishing the last of his mixed soda.
Goldie held out her hand, various straws held upright. The remaining friends who had yet to take their turn each reached forward and drew one of the straws. Heads leaned in, trying to see who now held their fate, and then fell back in horror. Those who had gods began to pray for their lives.
Rheas held the short straw.
The three siblings sat on the couch before the television, eating a variety of potato chips, ice cream, jerky, cookies, and other junk foods. When Katie was in charge, dinner always consisted of whatever could be scrounged up; avoiding their mother's designated dish in the fridge, of course. Katie draped lazily on the cushions finishing the last of the chips and bean dip while Cameron scrounged about the junk covered table for more popcorn. Rheas hung halfway off the couch arm on his back, groaning slightly, an empty pint of ice cream rolling off his belly (he had quite a weakness for chocolate-truffle).
Katie was flipping through the limited channels in boredom when Rheas seemed to snap back to full consciousness and looked out the window. Rolling, the nine-year-old stood and started for the front door.
"Where're you going?" Cameron questioned, propping himself up.
"It's dark out," Rheas replied, struggling to pull open the heavy door, "Have to get Durin's Bane inside before the coyotes eat him."
"The cat can take care of itself." Katie said, rolling her eyes. She had no love for the cat, and it had no love for her. Durin's Bane -as Rheas had named it after it ate the rat that had been terrorizing the kitchen named Durin- supposedly belonged to the three siblings together. But in reality, it was Rheas' cat. It ran from Kate, hissed and scratched at Cameron whenever he came near, and avoided their parents altogether until they had forgotten they even had a cat. But not Rheas. The grey tabby could often be found curled up on his lap, content and purring, as Rheas read, his hand absently stroking its fur. It would always come when he called.
Rheas ignored Kate and stepped into the dark, shutting the door behind him. The two elder siblings could hear him calling out as he wandered off, "Durin's Bane! Durin! Come to me! Where are you?"
"A cat's no excuse for a proper companionship…" Katie muttered to herself.
"He has plenty," Cameron interrupted, "there's you 'n me, and Thom and Frank and Sam and River, and that new guy from London…"
"Gary?"
"Yeah. We're all his friends, he doesn't need Durin's Barn."
The fifteen-year old stared at her younger brother a moment, then started to laugh, shaking her head. Cameron didn't understand what she was laughing about. He didn't understand that she knew that his friends were no more Rheas' friends than the bullies down the road.
A loud screech and a honk outside the house cut off her laughter.
She sighed irritably at the disturbance and then called out, "Rheas! Stop playing in the road before I come out there and paste you to the cement myself!" Settling back down in the cushions, the two began to flip through the channels again, hoping to find something of interest.
The door opened a few minutes later and Rheas stepped in, shutting it behind him with his shoulders. His face was pale and expressionless, his shoulders stooped, and his arms bloody. In his hands he held the mangled body of Durin's Bane.
"A truck," he stated quietly as his brother and sister stared at him, wide eyed. "He was coming to me…across the road and a truck…he got caught in the wheels and…" his voice died as Kate stood and walked over to him.
"Hey, I'm sorry kid," she said sincerely, reaching out to pat him on the head in pity. He ducked away from her touch and hurried past her. "It was bound to happen," she continued, "everything's gotta die sometime…"
"Why!?" he demanded over his shoulder, his face a stoic mask.
Raising an eyebrow, Kate suddenly shrugged. "Because, they do. If it means that much to you, I'll get you another cat…"
Rheas ignored her and marched out of the room. They heard the sliding door to the back slam shut. Neither knew where he buried Durin's Bane, though Kate suspected somewhere under the back porch through the small hole only he could fit in.
The rest of Cameron's night was ruined. His concern was not on the cat, but his little brother. Even when Kate managed to find his favorite late-night program, Cameron could only look off toward the kitchen where Rheas had disappeared. Kate finally gave up.
"Fine, I guess our little party's over," she muttered in disgust, "help me clean up, Cam."
He had been picking the larger pieces of garbage off the floor as Kate was pulling the vacuum cleaner out of the hall closet when he bumped the table, spilling a root beer float all over the cream-colored carpet.
"Oops."
"Cam! Quick, put some napkins on it before…! We didn't bring out napkins, did we?"
"We never do."
"Then get your ass to the kitchen and get some paper towels! Hurry!"
The twelve-year-old jumped to his feet and ran to the kitchen, fearing his sister's wrath. He stared at the roll above the counter in disbelief; there were no paper towels! He was about to go and report this when he remembered there was extra rolls in the laundry room downstairs.
Bounding down the stairs, Cameron nearly ran right into the laundry room door, shut tight. The light shone through from under the door. Not thinking about it, he pushed the door open harshly and skid on the linoleum over to the roll of paper towels above the washing machine. Yanking the whole roll off the shelf, he turned to leave when a soft snuffling sound stopped him.
He looked around the small, well-lit room carefully, searching for the source of the quiet sobs, now trying to muffle themselves. Then he knew. Crouching down on the floor, he peered into the space between the washer and the dryer where only one person he knew could squeeze.
"Rheas?"
The small boy sat against the wall miserably, his knees pulled up to his chest and head buried in his arms. The baleful golden eyes lifted up and narrowed at the sight of Cameron in hate.
"Go 'way!" Rheas snapped, trying to turn away in his tight hideout.
The paper towels fell to the floor, forgotten, as Cameron reached out and, taking a firm hold of his brother's arm, pulled him out from between the two machine sentinels.
"It's okay," he whispered, engulfing his little brother in his strong arms comfortingly. Rheas struggled at first, but finally, exhausted and soothed by Cameron's warmth and gentle hand stroking his short-cropped hair, he quietly sobbed on his brother's shoulder.
"It's okay, I'm here…"
"How can you possibly be asleep!?" demanded Tina, shaking Cameron out of his dream. The big man shook his head, bewildered, and looked about him.
"Why'd we stop?" he grumbled, rubbing his eyes and sitting forward.
"Needed gas. Restroom break, if you need it. Not a moment too soon, might I add. One more minute of your brother's driving and I thought I'd go crazy!"
Cameron stood, hitting his head on the shaggy roof of the van. "Ow…He's not that bad."
"You weren't up front. Poor Frank looked like he was about to die from a heart attack. Practically dove right out of his seat when we stopped."
"Yeah, well," Cameron sighed, rubbing his head as he jumped out the back of the van. He turned and unnecessarily helped Tina down. "What do you expect from the runt…" Offering her his arm, the two strode towards the small convenience store by the gas station. As they walked away, they thought they heard voices arguing by the side of the van.
"I think your turn's over Rheas," Thomas sighed, leaning against the van wearily, "and I can't believe the price of gas here…"
"Oh come now," Rheas retorted, "I got us here in record timing!"
"You were speeding the whole way!"
"What's your point, half-elf?"
"And why the hell are you calling me that!?"
"I don't know!"
"Oh for the love of…just gas the thing, 'kay? I need to go bash my head against the sink a few times…"
"I wouldn't use the gas station sinks if I were you Thom," Toby called after the elder man as he hurried off, "those things are covered with diseases!" Shrugging, he stretched and took Thom's place against the van. "Adults are so weird."
"I just now realized what we've gotten ourselves into."
"What's that?" Laura inquired, turning to face Tina who was standing behind her.
"Well for one," the redhead continued flatly, "not only are we waiting at the end of a line of guys to use a gas station bathroom…"
"Not at the end, Sam let us go ahead of him."
"How chivalrous. Okay, not only do we get to use a gas station bathroom after four guys have rotated through it, you realize we're going camping with eight sloppy high school guys." She laughed, "They outnumber the three of us!"
Laura shrugged. "For one thing, seven sloppy high school guys, Frank's graduated. Second, I don't see a problem with this." She smiled, her eyes swiftly shifting over to Thomas, leaning against the bathroom door, and then back. The sophomore tossed her shimmering honey-colored hair over her shoulder and smiled at Goldie, listening to the two younger girls.
"That's nothing to worry about, the male race is easy to sway." Goldie grinned, making her seem even more beautiful. Tina unconsciously looked down, tugging at her flare khakis; she felt so frumpy and unattractive around the two blonde girls. She knew guys liked her, but this fact was always forgotten when Tina would see people stop their activities to watch either Laura or Goldie pass. Which was probably why the one boy she wanted hardly noticed her beyond the friendship circle.
With an odd flushing sound the bathroom door swung open and Gary stepped out. "Next," he sighed, and Thomas stepped in, slamming the door behind him.
"At this rate, we'll be outta here in an hour or so." Laura snorted, tying up her hair in a ponytail similar to Toby's. "Hey Gary," she called out to her brother, "could you grab me a bag of Raisinettes?" Her brother nodded and wandered off toward the convenience store. She turned to discover Cameron, waiting in front of her, chuckling to himself.
"Raisin…" he sniggered, a far-off look in his eyes.
"What?" the sophomore demanded, not having a clue what was so funny.
"Huh? Oh, I dunno…it sounds familiar and it was suddenly funny. Red raisins, black raisins…"
"Okaaay…" Laura mouthed, deciding the two other girls were far better choices to converse with. She really didn't mind the arrangements, she rather preferred them. She had always wanted to travel alone with Thomas, even if that meant having the whole troupe along as well. It was better this way, she had realized, he was more relaxed with the guys around…sometimes. In situations like this, he was more inclined to become frustrated, as he was now, and she had found it was best to leave him to stew for a while until he calmed himself, which really never took too long. He was so cute when he was brooding.
Refreshed and stocked with snacks, the nine friends returned to the van, only to discover that Rheas and Toby had been left alone for too long. The windows were rolled down and music poured out and polluted the air with noise. Rheas, finished with his task, was oblivious to the world and strumming on his staff to the melody. His sweatshirt was gone giving all a plain view of a black t-shirt with the word "ubergeek" printed in bold white across his chest. The faded black sweatshirt was in Toby's hands. One sleeve was tied to the rack on top of the van while he swung from the other, continuously hitting the side of the vehicle and making quite a spectacle. Both ignored the stares they were attracting.
"Toby!" Thomas shouted over the music, his face flushed. Rheas stopped his imaginary play and leaned in the window to turn off the music. Toby stopped swinging and smiled at the older boy innocently.
"It's my van," he retorted.
"All gassed up. I assume you paid?" Rheas inquired, fishing around for the keys he had tossed somewhere.
"We split it. Ready to go?"
"Hey, look at me!" Toby cried as he wriggled into Rheas' sweatshirt, "I'm Rheas Madison!" He flipped back the hood and smiled, looking utterly ridiculous. The sweatshirt was already too large for Rheas and on Toby it was barely less than huge, almost hanging down to his knees.
Clearing his throat, he let his smile fall into a look of boredom and slumped, stoop-shouldered, leaning on his hoopak. He sighed as he looked each of the companions over, one eyebrow raised, and then shook his head. "World domination shouldn't be too difficult," he hissed over-dramatically, "humans are just sheep afterall."
Letting his façade fall, he beamed at his friends and bowed. They all clapped except for Rheas who rolled his eyes.
"May I have that back now." Rheas stated as they began to pile back into the van.
"Huh? Oh sure, I was just hanging onto it, for later, you know?" Toby explained, pulling the ratty garb off and passing it to Rheas.
The golden-eyed freshman merely sighed heavily and pulled his sweatshirt back over his head, Toby smiling at him wickedly.
"No Rheas!" he shouted suddenly, falling to his knees, "Don't go to the Dark side!"
Staring at Toby a split second, Rheas shrugged and pulled up his hood, saying firmly, "'You don't know the power of the Dark Side.'"
"'But I feel the good in you, let go of your hate!'"
"'It is too late for me, son.'"
"No!" Toby shrieked, and, lifting his hoopak, made to attack Rheas, who blocked it with his staff. The two proceeded to move in slow motion, clacking their staves together and making kazoo sounds as they moved them through the air. Finally Toby let out a cry and stumbled backwards, despite the fact that Rheas had yet to hit him.
"'I will not fight you!'" he whispered, holding out the hoopak defensively.
"'Your thoughts betray you, you have a twin sister. If you will not fight, then perhaps she will!'" Rheas snapped, poking Toby with his staff.
"Aaaugh!" and the two leapt back into their mock battle. Rheas blocked a blow from Toby, pushing the hoopak away, and then groaned, falling back onto the cement.
"'Luke, take this mask off me,'" he whispered, feebly lifting his head.
"'But you'll die.'" Toby sniffled, "…And that would be so sad, despite the fact I've only known you as an actual father for about five minutes."
"'Nothing can stop that now and…' oh hell." Rheas gurgled something as his eyes rolled back in his head, and lay still.
"You're so good at that." Toby commented, squatting beside the prone Rheas.
"Oscar worthy?" Rheas smirked, opening one eye.
"Definitely."
"Nice."
"Toby, Rheas!" Thomas snapped, poking his head out one of the few windows of the van, "Quit with the Star Wars rip-offs and get in the van!"
Both sighed and Toby pulled Rheas to his feet.
"Killjoy." Toby muttered as he hopped into the back, only to worm his way through the others up to the front again.
"Of all the brothers in the world," Cameron commented as Rheas slid into the drivers' seat, "I had to get the gamer."
"Would you prefer a gothic drug-addict instead?" Rheas replied curtly, firing up the engine.
The elder looked his brother up and down a second, then shrugged. "Could I tell the difference?"
"One could only hope, my brother."
"Where does this road lead?"
"Impossible to tell; dead end for all I know. This map shows too broad an area, we'd have to find one that focuses on the Olympic Peninsula alone before I could even guess…"
"Try anyway. You've got more brains than all of us put together."
"Even if I'm warped?"
"Rheas."
"Very well, Thom. Considering we were about here," he laid a slender finger down on one of the lines representing the highway on the worn map, "I can only assume we are on one of these three forest roads, though I am pretty confident we are on the eastern one. If we travel northwest a little we'll be within the Hoh boundaries."
"Does it matter? We're in the National Forest now."
"Who knows. Ask Toby, he's the one who originally found the thing. Or could I say it found him?"
"Can you stop the melodramatics for once in your life?"
"No. What would I have then?"
"Dignity."
"Ouch."
After hours of being on the road, the group had finally arrived in the southern part of the national forest, and pulled up onto a dirt forest road. Not a moment too soon, Thomas had thought, one more minute of Toby and his ceaseless "Are we there yet?" and the poor freshman would no longer have vocal cords to speak with. But now of course, they were lost, though Toby denied it.
"All we have to do is go back and try again. So we are not lost!" he had proclaimed before Frank finally stifled him.
The van vibrated horribly as it pulled up a hill, the rainfall causing the dirt to form an almost washboard-like texture. Even when the road leveled out again, the deep puddles and ruts tossed everyone in the back about ruthlessly. Cameron, sitting up front with his brother, shot Rheas a glare when he decided to let the large vehicle roll down the descent freely, throwing the others into chaos in the back.
"Why are you pulling over?" River demanded as the van pulled to a stop.
"Because we get out here. If we're on the road I think we are on, the road only goes east from here. That's not where we want to go." Rheas explained, yanking the key out of the ignition and tossing it to Toby. "I'm traveling west from here, on foot. You can all stay here and camp in the mud for all I care."
Reaching behind the drivers' seat, Rheas pulled free his pack and staff and jumped out of the van, Toby tumbling after.
"We're coming Rheas, don't make a fuss." Cameron said, going to help the others unpack. Rheas only pulled his headphones out of his pack and slipped them on in response. Grabbing his pack, Toby immediately bounded over and began pestering Rheas on what he was listening to.
"There aren't any tents," Gary stated as he hefted a pack of dried food down to Sam.
"Wasn't room. We're sleeping under the stars tonight."
"Or clouds, as the case may be," the blond added wryly, "what if it rains?"
"I packed a tarp," said Frank, tossing the large blue tarp to Tina, "but the reports said that the skies would be clear tonight."
Laura smiled and grabbed her hiking pack. "That's a relief."
"But those tele-reports are never right," Toby corrected, skipping back over to help with the food bag, which Sam was hesitant to give up.
"Well, pray they are tonight!" Frank snapped.
Thomas shook his head, smiling, and swung his bag onto his back. As the others finished clearing out the van, he walked over to Rheas who was busy looking around singing to himself.
"Every night I see your face
In the stars gazing down,
In the field standing all alone,
Looking up, all alone.
Your voice was a melody
Now just a memory…"
"Rheas!" Thomas nearly shouted in his ear. Irritably, Rheas pulled off his headphones and gazed at Thomas expectantly. "Why don't you head down the road a ways and look for a trail heading west?"
"Certainly," Rheas sneered. With a mock bow to Thomas he marched away, his voice echoing against the wet trees.
"Rising out of the black abyss
I see the moon's red reflection…"
Toby darted after him and, linking arms, the two skipped off, singing off-tune in falsetto.
"All in one night
Love at first sight
All in one night,
Only one night!"
Shaking his head once more, Thomas turned back to the others to have Frank shove a bag of pots, plates and silverware into his arms.
"Don't think you're gonna get off carrying this crap light, lad."
Within moments, Toby came running back, his feet kicking up mud. Rheas had found a trail heading north up the road a little and was waiting there for them. "What's taking you so long?" Toby finished, ignoring the fact he and Rheas had only been gone five minutes.
The remaining companions pushed past the short freshman without a word, knowing to argue with Toby Bender was pointless. Puzzled, but undaunted, Toby bounded after them. As he had said, Rheas stood at the mouth of a marked trail, reading a wooden plaque carved with the trail's path.
"The trail heads north," he explained when they arrived, "mostly to avoid this river here, and then turns south slightly, but still heads generally west. I'm thinking to save time we should cut straight across the river at this point."
"If the trail avoids the river, we probably should too." snapped Frank, crossing his arms stubbornly.
"We'll be closer to the mountains then, it should be rather small. Cold, but small."
"There's a reason they have trails here, Rheas," Thomas sighed, "I understand you're in a hurry, but that's no reason to go stomping through the brush and causing damage needlessly."
"Of course, you are right." Rheas said quietly, "We'll see when we get there. Well, is someone going to lead on this path or must we draw straws for that as well?"
The sun's rays filtered to the forest floor through the canopy, lighting the dew on the thick carpet of moss that covered everything. Shimmering like an emerald, the old forest hummed with life. Rich scents of earth and foliage filled the traveler's nostrils as they hiked up the steep hills, roots and rain-worn earth forming natural stairs. Even as Death and Life chased eachother by the tails here, one after the other, there was green everywhere one looked. Trees that stood dead were covered by moss that hung off the branches like crude curtains. Berry bushes sprung from crumbling stumps, all that remained of trees long ago fallen or blasted away in a passing thunder storm. Glimmers of color sparkled here and there, from dewdrops to small periwinkles to spider webs, which Cameron avoided warily. The companions, traveling single-file, often had to stop as Toby would skid to a stop to watch various slugs, squirrels, centipedes, and birds that happened to catch his fancy.
"Look at this!" he cried out in delight, nearly tripping Sam who was walking behind him. He squat down to watch a slug as it slowly made its way across their path. Rheas, standing behind Sam, pushed forward to see what Toby found so fascinating.
"It's a great grey slug." he stated.
"Great grey? But it's yellow, like a banana slug, only it has spots! It should be called like, a leopard slug or something."
"No, it's a great grey. Don't ask me why. But he better run before that brown one catches him."
"Why's that?"
"The brown ones eat the other ones."
"Eew, I don't think I'd like to be a brown slug, that's for sure. Why would they do that?"
"The common slugs aren't native here. I think they were brought from Europe when…"
"The history lesson can wait, Madison. You're the one who's always telling us to hurry." Sam interrupted, Toby's constant discoveries getting on his nerves. Rheas held his own tongue in check, deciding not to waste his breath on the junior and settled with one of his death glares as he pushed Toby along.
The trail dipped down suddenly into a small valley, still wet from last rainfall. In one instant the greenery seemed to brighten into a flourish of shades of emerald. The trees' trunks thinned slightly as they focussed their energy on growing up to the sun instead of out. Laura gasped unconsciously as the sun peeked out from behind a cloud and the forest sparkled to life in its rays, rejoicing in the strengthening spring. Gary and River stopped to refill their water bottles in a small creeks crystal waterfall.
From there the small trail connected with a larger, well-used one. Cameron, leading the way, stopped and pondered either direction that the main trail offered.
"Which way?" Frank, standing behind the big man, huffed as he sat on a moss-covered stone. He jumped up again as the dew soaked right through his cargo pants.
"Does it matter? Downhill looks best to me…"
"Of course it does, my brother, to your simple mind. Step aside!"
Cameron let Rheas squeeze by, slapping the younger upside the head as he did so. "Talk nicely!"
Rubbing his head, Rheas glared at Cameron, and then turned and ignored him. The companions crowded forward, watching him as he stood there, glancing left to right. Leaning his staff against a growing tree, he slung his pack onto one shoulder and drew the marked wood chunk from the front pocket. The pack slid off his shoulder to the ground, unnoticed, his headphones yanked down with it.
"Um, Rheas?" Cameron piped.
"Shut up, Cameron." Rheas snarled as he pulled the pewter claw necklace off. He held his hands out, the wood in the left, the claw in the right, and moved the necklace over the wood rhythmically.
Sam snorted in disgust and turned away, Frank sighed, and Tina stifled a giggle. Rheas ignored them all. A sudden intake of breath on Thomas' part lurched Sam's attention back and silenced Tina.
The marble gripped in the tiny pewter claw's hold was glowing a bright blue, the symbols carved on the wood piece shone with the same light. Rheas lowered the wood piece, and its light faded, but the marble only seemed to shine brighter.
"I told you!" Toby whispered loudly, beaming.
Rheas let the claw drop, holding it by its chain as the marble swung like a pendulum, the blue light turning his eyes an eerie green. His concentration on the shining necklace, Rheas did not notice the slight changed in the trees and brush.
"Look!" Goldie gasped.
Directly across the trail from Rheas, the ferns, the flowers, the moss, even the trees shifted and moved aside, revealing, creating a path for them. The entire party was struck dumb. Finally, after an eternity of several seconds of silence, Toby leapt up and whooped so loudly that it shattered the silence violently.
Rheas, his eyes focussed on something standing before him that none of the others could see, screamed in surprise and dropped the pewter claw. Its light went out as it hit the earth.
"Rheas!" Cameron stepped forward, grabbing hold of his brother's shoulders as he seemed to sway on his feet.
"I'm fine!" Rheas hissed, breaking away. He stooped and lifted the necklace on the ground, his face grim. "That was utterly pointless, I don't know why I……where did that come from?"
"You didn't see?" asked Tina in disbelief.
"I was…occupied."
The others simply stared at him as he slung his pack onto his shoulders -wood piece safely tucked away- and re-attached the necklace around his neck. Leaning upon the Staff of Magius, he stared right back. "Shall we?" he inquired without emotion.
"I am not going in there," Frank snapped, planting his feet firmly on the ground, "and no runt with a trick necklace is going to make me!"
"It wouldn't be any weirder than the other crap that's happened lately…" muttered Laura, a little louder than she planned as Gary, River, and Sam glared at her.
Apparently, it all comes down to me, Thomas thought bitterly as he noticed everyone looking at him expectantly. He bit his lower lip nervously. "Well," he choked, unsure of which he feared more: strange trails appearing out if nowhere or the wrath of his fellows. Damnit, why couldn't they just make the final decisions themselves?
Rheas was staring it him, golden eyes boring into his soul. He realized with a sudden sick feeling that he was favoring Rheas. Rheas, of all people!
Pity, perhaps, because no one would listen to the boy otherwise.
This conclusion must have shown in his eyes, as Rheas' own narrowed suddenly He turned and marched down the new trail alone. Toby dashed after him, panting happily. Other than that, even Cameron hesitated. In the end, however, his concern for the well being of his brother outweighed his caution and he marched down the trail. The remaining companions watched them go, suddenly feeling they were the lonely ones.
Thomas cursed and followed. "Come on," he called back as the others fell in line behind him, "what's it gonna do, close behind us? It's just the woods…"
Rheas led the way down the new trail, his heavy boots sinking into the mud. Those very words had raced through his own mind at one point, but were quickly chased away by the vision he had glimpsed in blue light not a few minutes before. Two brothers on horseback entering a dark wood that parted before them.
He knew, without seeing, that when they had re-emerged, both had been marginally changed. And probably none for the better.
"Puma!" Toby shouted, pointing at the shadows dramatically and giggling when everyone unenthusiastically turned their heads to look.
The companions had noted the immediate change in the forest when they stepped off the original trail. As predicted, the trail closed up behind them, the trees shifting back like towering sentinels, following their prisoners to the execution. A cloud had momentarily covered the sun, but a heavy darkness seemed to remain even as it shone again. The air was cold and clammy, and had a bitter, icy taste. The birds that had been singing before were silent.
"I don't like this." Cameron whispered up to his brother, fearing that if he spoke above a whisper, the trees would lunge down upon him.
"Then go back!" Rheas hissed, glancing over his shoulder.
Toby was oblivious. In fact, he was enjoying himself immensely. Skipping along, the short freshman led the way down the dark path, the others figuring that if something were going to leap out of the evergreens to attack them, he'd be first. Rheas stated this fact with a humorless mien; making Thomas wonder just what the their friendship really meant to the thin boy.
"Bear!" Toby shouted once more, pointing into shadows. Everyone ignored him.
"I'm not kidding this time…" he muttered, hurt. With collective sighs, the remaining companions glanced over to where he was pointing only to have their breaths cut off. A black bear, snuffling about the tree roots and moss, was ambling toward them.
"Don't run," Thomas hissed pointlessly as he felt the group freeze behind him.
"Then what do we do?" Tina whispered, her voice quivering.
"I don't know, just don't run!"
"It's not that big…"
"Do you want to chase it off then, Cameron?"
"Even so Frank, we do outnumber it…"
"And you're just the skilled warrior to do it, aren't you?"
"Hush! It's looking right at us…" Thomas snapped quietly, silencing the two men.
The bear continued ambling about, its nose shifting over the ground and under fallen leaves. Apparently, the bear would inspect them when it got around to it. To his horror, Thomas realized the half of the party walking before him was not going to wait that long as he watched them tiptoe off slowly. The bear didn't seem to notice so Thomas and the others risked it and followed suit. When they rounded some trees and the bear vanished from sight, the eleven companions ran over the next hill as fast as their legs would carry them.
"I can't run anymore…" Rheas wheezed, slumping down on the trail where he stood. He sat back against his pack with a groan, his inhaler clenched in his teeth. Toby plopped down beside him, fanning himself with their useless map.
"We'll rest a minute…" Thomas panted, settling down onto the trail himself. "Does anyone have an idea where that bear came from?"
"It lives here, Thom. It's got more of a right to be here than we do." Laura sighed as she stretched, trying to ease the cramps out of her legs. Running was one thing, but to sprint up a steep hill like that was another entirely!
"I know that! It just that…don't you notice that the birds just up and vanished? The squirrels too."
"You're right, it's dead silent here." Gary muttered, brushing back his hair.
"Not entirely," Rheas said, sitting up slightly, "this forest is more alive than you know."
"It has eyes that's for sure," River muttered as he drew Goldie nearer to him, "we're being watched."
"Aye lad, more than that. We're being judged."
Tina glanced about worriedly at Frank's words, unconsciously stepping closer to Cameron who stood before her.
Sam murmured something to himself and then whispered, just loud enough for his friends to hear, "Judged for what?"
Looking around and seeing nothing, Toby couldn't understand what was bothering his friends so much. Rolling his eyes at their boorishness, he glanced down at Rheas, a smile stretching across his young face. "Doesn't this remind you of something? You know, old forest, a party of nine (give or take a few, of course) traveling out to save the world?"
"Clichés?"
"No, no…something more than that. I dunno, magic piece of jewelry, guiding us to our destiny and…Holy trick dice Batman! We've been sucked into a Tolkien book!"
Rheas laughed then, his high, ear-splitting laugh that made the companions look up in terror as he stood. "Glorious. I can die happy." The two shrugged and began to skip down the trail in a carefree fashion.
"'Til I
Slow down and I sail on the river
Slow down and I walk to the hills…"
Toby sang out as he led the way, Rheas following and repeating loudly in time:
"I'll keep the Ring…!"
Shaking their heads in what could only be described as shame, the rest of the companions followed the two doggedly. However, they did not fail to notice that the heavy darkness seemed to lift as the two continued to sing, though the birds did not return.
After a time, the forest seemed to settle back into itself. The eerie felling lifted entirely and Gary reported having seen a squirrel up in a hemlock. Soon the bird songs returned and the sun's warmth finally broke through the canopy. Conversation picked up again as they tried to ignore the fact that the trail was parting for them not too far ahead and always closing behind them.
"…So then of course," Toby prattled on to Cameron, who was, oddly enough, actually listening, "this is very exciting afterall. A lot more practical than our original plan."
The big man smirked, resembling his younger brother for a fleeting moment. "What original plan is this, Rheas?"
Sighing heavily, Rheas shook his head and muttered something unintelligible.
"What was that?" Cameron inquired Toby who giggled at Rheas' embarrassment.
"We were going to run away and form our own band!"
"Really?" Cameron guffawed, slugging his brother in the shoulder and nearly sending him reeling. "What made you change your mind, little bro?"
"Other than the fact that we are unattractive teenage boys with the musical experience of Toby's harmonica? It sounded stupid." Rheas snapped, dusting some mud off his knee from when he nearly fell.
"Well, it was a fun idea, and we were gonna use our voices to get by. I can talk like Ringo, and Rheas sings like Shannon Hoon!"
At the mention of the name, the three young men placed their hands over their hearts and hung their heads in a few seconds of silence.
"No I don't!" Rheas retorted in almost disbelief when Toby's words had sunk in.
"You do when you try."
"When do I…?"
"But the plan did sound pretty silly," Toby interrupted, brushing off Rheas' retort like rainwater, "and we both had our own ideas. My goal for life is not to sing, but to explore the city of Atlantis!"
"Um, Toby? Even if you did manage to find the city, it'd be underwater you know." Cameron explained to the freshman patiently.
"Scuba diving. Even more fun!"
"Sigh."
Farther back in the line, Thomas was pulled from his own thoughts when Laura placed her hand on his shoulder to draw his attention.
"Do you hear rushing water?" she asked, her brows furrowed slightly in confusion.
"Now that you mention it…I do." Moving passed those in front of him, Thomas caught up with Rheas who had slipped ahead of the others. "Where's the water coming from?"
"It seems, Thom," Rheas answered softly as the parting trees revealed open sky, "we have come across a river."
Looking across the chaotic mix of white and black waters of calm depths and churning foam, Thomas peered through the trees to something he thought looked familiar.
"That's the original trail over there! See?"
Rheas leaned upon his staff next to him, his eyes narrowed in the bright light. "Your eyesight must be better than mine. I see nothing but the woods. But if you're right, that should be the trail we were on, we have just saved time by cutting across to the river instead of going around."
"Oh yay."
"You should be thrilled, else we'd be hiking until nightfall."
"So we're crossing the river then? Great. All right, do you see anywhere that is shallow or calm?"
"There," Rheas gestured a little ways northward with the staff, "those boulders form an appropriate bridge, if only halfway across the water. But it seems the current shouldn't be too strong up there."
"I'll go check it out, you wait for the others."
"Of course, fearless leader."
Thomas ignored him and walked along the thin bank of the river to the stone bridge. Upon closer inspection, however, he found that the large rocks were not only spaced apart, but were rather slick looking. And while the waters at the end of this peculiar bridge did appear pretty calm, the water foamed about the stones in an unfriendly way. Still, overall it appeared pretty safe, and though the water around the stones moved fast, it was shallow, maybe only a couple feet deep at most. Turning, he nodded to the party as they made their way to him along the pebbly bank.
"We'll cross here," he called over the roar of the water, "We can hop across these rocks, but I'm not sure how deep that water over there is. We may have to swim."
Toby, Rheas, and Frank, as the shortest members of the party, glanced at eachother in mutual uneasiness.
"I'll go first," River, moving forward up the line, suggested, "I'm tallest."
"This is snow runoff guys, it's gonna be cold." Laura cautioned.
Stepping aside, Thomas let River take his place on the first stone and watched as he stepped to the next. "Careful, they're slippery!" he called.
As in response to his words, River's foot slipped and plunged into the water. He withdrew it and glared back at Thomas, humor glinting in his dark eyes despite his stern face. "Nice forewarning."
Goldie followed after River, stumbling over the rocks and soaking her jeans. But even when River moved back to help, she waved him away. Next went Tina who, despite her best efforts, became drenched up to her waist from when she slipped right off a rock tilted at an odd angle. Sam was pulled with her when he tried to help, and became more soaked than she was.
Gary volunteered to go next. Standing on the first stone, he shrugged and began to jump from rock to rock with little difficulty, never slipping once. Though he did nearly get his foot wet when he had whirled around angrily at Toby's call of "Fairy!"
By the time Rheas stepped onto the first stone, River had reached the end of the rock bridge. The companions stopped their hopping to watch as he slipped into the icy black water that only went up to his knees.
"Shit, this is cold! Um…it gets deeper from here, but I can't tell how deep." Removing his pack and sleeping bag, he passed them to Goldie to hold while he waded into the water, the occasional shout of "Cold!" reaching back to the others as the water rose to his waist. He was nearly to the center of the calm waters when he called back; "I think this is it! Not too deep!" Taking a step forward, River Windmere plunged into the icy water as the ground fell away from his foot and he disappeared from view.
"Oh!" Goldie cried out, nearly dropping the packs she held. But when the water settled River stood there still, only his head visible as the water had risen up to his chin.
"S-still not too d-deep." he grinned, teeth chattering.
"For you maybe," Thomas called from shore, "Hurry and get out of that freezing water before you catch hypothermia!"
Nodding, River reached out and caught his packs that Goldie had tossed to him and carried them above his head as he nearly swam the rest of the way. He finally climbed out the other side. "Yes, I see the trail now!" he waved to Thomas, who waved back. Shivering, he pulled off his sopping tee shirt and began to dry off with another from his pack. Though he did pause a moment to receive Goldie's packs as she tossed them to him, up to her waist in the water, just before she entered the deep, freezing water completely.
On the other side of the river, Toby smiled up at Rheas impishly. "I guess this means we're swimming, then."
Rheas nodded once, then shrugged. "I used to be a pretty good swimmer…"
"That's 'cause you're so skinny you kinda just slide on through."
"Oh shut up," Rheas snapped before he jumped to the next rock, placing his staff into the churning water and vaulting himself across. Cameron clambered after his brother with Toby directly behind, skipping across the rocks as easily as a child playing hopscotch. Frank, muttering curses at all the tall, long-legged people he had to know, followed doggedly after.
Thomas watched them go and then extended his hand to Laura. "You're next Laura, I'll bring up the rear."
"No no, you go ahead," she said, her voice quivering slightly, something Thomas did not miss.
"You sure? What if you slip…"
"If Gary can do it, so can I! Go on, I don't wanna hold you up."
Shrugging, Thomas stepped to the next rock and began to jump the rocks without too much difficulty. His foot only slipped once and he quickly regained himself before getting wet. Cameron and Frank on the other hand, were completely different matters.
Frank had given up trying to get from rock to rock, "prancing like springtime pansy" as he put it, and just plowed through the shallow water by the rocks, complaining about frozen kneecaps the whole way. Cameron stayed on the rocks, but continued slipping so badly that he would have remained dryer if he had just followed Frank's example.
Rheas probably would have found a good snigger or two out of his brother's poor performance, had not at that moment his staff slipped on a stone as he vaulted across, sending him sprawling right into the water. He sat up sputtering, his pride running away with the current. Whipping back his hair, heavy and black with water, he saw Cameron splash through the water to reach him.
"You all right Rheas!?" he called as the frail teen pulled himself to his feet, shivering. The water swirled about his knees, threatening to knock him back over.
"Of course I'm all right! I just slipped is all."
"But now you're soaked!"
"And I am going to have to swim anyway, you moron!"
"Oh, right…"
Frank sloshed past the brothers until he reached the edge of the bridge. Gazing into its depths, he shook his head angrily. Truth be told, Frank hated being wet, and swimming was certainly not his favorite pastime, nor something he could do too well. Berating himself for his own foolish hesitation, he readied himself to step forward. He didn't budge. It wasn't until Toby skipped over and asked slyly if he was afraid that the older man, with an angry snort, plunged into the water.
He was halfway across before Sam had to go and pull him in as the current began to drag him away. He gave no argument and only sat on the bank, shivering.
Standing waist deep in the water, Rheas threw his own pack to River and dunked into the black depths. His swim would have been a graceful one had he not been holding the Staff of Magius out of the water as he went. Cameron plashed in after him with Toby, having nearly been swept away in the current, much to his pleasure, clinging to his neck. Halfway across he turned and let Thomas pass his guitar case to him, which he in turn passed to Rheas, halfway out of the water.
With a crack of his knuckles, Thomas practically dove in; he enjoyed swimming immensely. Coming up for air, he glanced behind him and noticed Laura still standing on the last boulder.
"Come on," he called, "it's freezing, but if you just dunk and go you'll be out before you know it!"
"I'm not worried about the cold!" she almost whimpered, her hand tangling in her hair nervously
Gary's voice suddenly flew across the water to Thomas' ears; "She can't swim!"
"Shut up, Gareth!" she shouted back, flushed in shame.
Thomas swam back and stood up out of the water, dripping and one eyebrow raised. "You can't swim?"
Her hands twisting about nervously, Laura licked her lips and looked around. "No." she whispered. She was surprised when Thomas took her arm and began to lead her into the water gently.
"All right, I'll swim with you," he said, smiling slightly in encouragement.
"No, no, I can't swim at all! I'll sink, I'll drown, I'll get carried away, something…"
"No you won't. Come on, I won't let go of you, okay?"
She hesitated as the water came up to her waist.
"I promise."
Together, they took a step forward and the water rushed up around them. She bit her lip, trying not to scream. It's not that deep, she thought, her eyes shut tight, it's not that wide, it's just a dunk, stop being a child. Their heads rose to the surface and she followed Thomas' example as he proceeded to kick, propelling them forward. Looking back, she always thought herself so stupid for making a big fuss over a trip that wasn't long at all.
"That wasn't so bad," Thomas said as they stepped onto the opposite bank.
"I'm sorry," she said, looking at the ground, "I was being silly."
He shrugged. "You did fine."
"What are we supposed to do?" Tina inquired the others as the men began to strip off their shirts, some down to their boxers. Rheas stood bent over and shook his head like a dog, receiving glares from those he sprayed.
"Go behind a bush, if you're that worried about it." Frank retorted, pulling on a dry black shirt.
"Doesn't really matter now, though!" Toby grinned wickedly, referring to Goldie's white shirt, completely soaked through. This comment earned him an immediate slap upside the head bestowed upon him by River. Grabbing their packs, the three women disappeared behind a few trees.
Once dressed in dry clothing, the companions rejoined the original trail with much relief. Gary led the way this time, showing off his woodslore to Tina behind him who listened intently. Rheas brought up the rear. At one point, Thomas let the others pass and waited for Rheas to catch up.
"What is it?" the young teen inquired as Thomas walked along beside him, his pace purposely slowed.
"We're taking the long way next time," he said simply.
"Indeed? If that is your wish. It really doesn't matter anymore now that we are here. Toby said he recognized this path."
"Yeah, still. We're stopping at the first possible camp site we find."
"That is good."
Realizing that Rheas was too far off in his own thoughts to make good conversation, Thomas gave up and caught up with the others. After a time of wandering down the trail, most of the companions had managed to convince themselves that there had never been any strange path. The trail had not opened up before them, Rheas had just managed to find it. The birds had been frightened off by their own noise, and the darkness had been caused by clouds concealing the sun. Nothing more.
The party ended their march when Gary had located a cleared patch beside the trail and began to unpack.
"What's out dinner options?"
"Well let's see Sam, we have ramen, more ramen, even more ramen, and now wouldn't you guess, ramen!"
"We have a pack of jerky over there," Toby snuffed in mock hurt, "and my 'secret stash' in my pack."
"And what's your secret stash?" Thomas pondered aloud against his better judgement.
"Some graham crackers, a bag of marshmallows and some chocolate bars."
"Smores!" Frank cried, disbelief in written across his features, "What do you think we are, boy scouts?"
"Oh you like 'em and you know it!" Toby shouted back.
"Calm, comrade Bender," Rheas sighed, pulling the ever energetic teen back to his seat, "we have things to do, yes?"
"Like what?"
"Nevermind, I'll go alone."
"Wait, no! I know, I'm coming!" Toby cried leaping to his feet and grabbing his hoopak.
"Where're you two going?" Goldie asked as they began to walk away from the light of the feeble fire Cameron had managed to coax from a supply of wet wood that had been left by the campsite.
"To look around a little, see what we can find." Rheas answered softly.
"Don't go too far, it's getting dark." Cameron stated, eyeing his brother.
"There's still over an hour of light left, Cameron. We'll be back long before then."
"All right, be careful."
"So glad to have your permission," Rheas sneered as he walked away, Toby bounding after.
Frank shook his head, but once the freshman was out of site he crept over and began to dig through Toby's pack. He quickly noticed Thomas watching him with a smug grin.
"Oh, shut up." he muttered, stuffing a marshmallow into his mouth.
"Are we getting close?" Toby called up to Rheas, walking ahead of him.
"According to this, we are." Holding up the pewter claw necklace, the blue light seemed to intensify as he continued to climb upward. Placing his staff firmly into the mud, he pulled himself up the steep hill a few more feet. The others may have come for camping, but he had come for answers, and somehow the wooden structure Toby had described seemed the place to do it. Holding out the necklace again, the light increased and the trees and brush ahead of them parted. Looking back, Toby noticed that the trail did not close up behind them as it had before. Shrugging it off, he climbed after Rheas.
"This isn't a normal hill. It's almost…cone-shaped, you know? A perfect cone covered with trees and plants." Toby began, not really caring at that moment if Rheas was listening or not. He blinked and wondered why.
But apparently, Rheas had been listening as he replied, never taking his eyes off the forming path ahead of him. "Then we are almost there. Does this area look familiar to you?"
"Now that you mention it, it does! Except, last time I was here it was…a lot flatter, come to think of it. But I think there's another river over there," at this he gestured over the hill, "and this trail was always here…"
"Apparently not," Resting on one knee and leaning on his staff, Rheas took a breather from his inhaler when his breaths came short. "Here," he wheezed, passing the piece of wood back to Toby, "hold onto this." Toby nodded and stuffed it into one of his many pouches. Pulling himself back to his feet, Rheas placed the necklace back around his neck and plodded on. "How friggin' big is this hill?!"
"You sure you're warm enough? Your sweatshirt was soaked and everything, but it's getting cooler and is that tee shirt…Stop glaring at me! Every time I try to make sure you're fine you just sit there and glare at everybody! I don't get pissy when you ask me how I'm feeling."
"Because I never ask."
"Oh…right." Thoughtful a moment, Toby let a few more serious thoughts streak through his mind, then shrugged them off and smiled, jumping up the few feet Rheas managed to cover at a time.
Rheas sighed heavily. "If I'm going to slow, you can move ahead, you know."
Toby accepted this as a good enough apology and climbed past him without difficulty. He hadn't gone too far ahead when he disappeared from view. He had reached the top.
"Rheas! Come look at this! We found it!" Toby whooped in joy.
Excitement boiling through his blood, Rheas hefted himself up the last stretch of the trail and let Toby pull him up over the top. Standing his full height, he stood next to Toby and looked around.
"Glory…" he whispered. They stood atop the cone shaped hill, the ground leveled out as though some giant had come and knocked off the top. Trees, ferns and moss grew abundantly, curving around the leveled top like a living fence, leaving an open clearing the size of a large room. The carpet of moss stretched out, trying to reach to the center of the clearing, but its fingers barely made it. In the center directly was what the two could only assume to be their wooden structure.
It was a long pole stretching upwards almost six feet, perfectly rounded and smoothed, but the top looked like it had broken off. A second pole looked as though it had been placed beside the other, but, through nature's coaxing, had managed to curl around the first in perfect precision, creating its own cone shape that thinned out near the top, not reaching as high as the first. The wood was smooth and polished as though to keep away the elements.
"You sure this is no hoax?" Rheas whispered, nudging Toby.
"Who could do that? And I remember it being a lot smaller."
"I don't know…"
"There's only one way to find out," Toby grinned, pulling out the wood piece, "This goes on the top, I'll wager. Who knows what will happen!"
"As you just said, we don't know. Be careful."
"Uh huh," Toby skipped over to the odd structure. He crouched down, gazing at the spiraling wood in wonder. "This is pro, man. Come look at this, and here," he reached out to touch the smooth wood, finger extended, "it also has writing on it…!"
There was a muffled explosion and dirt sprayed in his face. Incredible pain so strong he cried out shot through his wrist. He tried to pull away, but a hand protruding from the earth, skeletal and pale as death, held his arm firm, its clawed fingers digging into his flesh. He screamed again as the scent of burning flesh hit his nostrils. It was inhuman, only having three fingers and a triple jointed thumb, and the very touch of it was burning through his wrist. Blood oozed out from between the thing's fingers. His blood, he realized with sick horror. He pulled against it and screamed when he felt the fingers burn through the final layer of skin.
"Toby!"
Rheas was beside him, one arm wrapped around the smaller boy's torso and pulling as hard as he could. Steel flashed and, with his free hand, the right, he plunged his dagger into the arm of the thing that held him. Sickeningly grey blood spewed from the wound emitting an acrid odor that nearly made the boys retch, but the hand did not release its prey. Pulling out the dagger for another blow, Rheas watched in horror as the blade melted away, useless. Together, he and Toby tried to pull back, but were held fast. If anything, it began to recede back into the earth, intent on pulling Toby down with it.
"Don't let me go Rheas!" Toby pleaded, tears streaming down his cheeks from the pain.
Rheas swore. Reaching out, he took hold of the white arm but drew back with a gasp as his hand was burned. Wrapping both his arms about Toby's shoulders, he leaned back and began to push against the ground with his legs. A flash of blue light caught his eye.
The marble in the pewter claw's grip was glowing, burning brighter than it had ever been. Small shocks of electricity seemed to dance across its tiny surface. Ignoring the pain in his right hand, he yanked the necklace off and plunged it into the soft, disrupted soil beside the thing's arm.
It vibrated in his hand and there was a blast of blue light. Toby and Rheas were thrown back by the explosion, throwing dirt into the air and echoing with a high, inhuman scream. When the rain of pebbles had ceased and all was quiet, Rheas lifted his head, panting, and looked around. There was a tiny crater where he had placed the necklace, the earth ruptured and torn. The wooden structure stood unharmed as though nothing had happened. He and Toby had been thrown back to the edge of the clearing. Opening his blistering palm, Rheas stared at the marble, dark and unsuspecting. Though he swore he saw a blue light pulsing in its depths. He rolled to his feet with a groan and hurried over to Toby who lay not too far away.
"Toby?" He knelt beside the smaller boy who was rocking unconsciously, gripping his bloody wrist and sobbing in pain. Reaching out, Rheas pried Toby's hand away from his wrist and shook his head. The skin had been burned away in the shape of three fingers and a twisted thumb. Yanking his bandana off, Rheas wrapped it around Toby's wrist and knotted it tightly, watching as it was soaked almost immediately. "Shit, man…"
"Toby," he slapped his friend across the face, bringing Toby's attention to him. "Come on, keep pressure on it and I'll help you down the hill. Goldie will know what to do." Rheas began to lift Toby as best he could when Toby's eyes, focussed behind Rheas, suddenly widened.
"Rheas…!" he gasped, pointing.
The taller boy heard it; the sound of earth being tossed aside and an odd shuffling. Turning slowly, he lay Toby down and stared as the owner of the hand crawled out of the small crater. He took a step back, breathing heavily.
"Rheas?" Toby whimpered, taking hold of Rheas' khakis.
The abomination was the size of a large man, but crawled on all fours. It's pale, wrinkled skin hung down in sickening folds around its torso, but fit over its limbs perfectly, showing its rippling muscles in its shoulders. It was shaped awkwardly, its bulk was in its shoulders, making it hulking and heavy, its spine, ridged and reptilian, arching up in a peculiar slope that fell down to its hind legs that were much too small for its bulk. While its arms were thin and human like, the hind legs were animalistic; it walked on its toes. A bony, rat-like tail drooped on the ground, whipping back and forth in anticipation. The thing didn't have much of a neck, its head just seemed wedged into its shoulders low to the ground.
The head was the most obscene of all. Mashed and wrinkled in ridiculous folds like clay, its head was wide but wedge shaped, a long, flat snout snapping with crooked teeth that curled up over the upper lip, if it had lips. It wheezed and gasped, its nostrils almost swallowed up in the folds of its white skin, and its eyes were small and black, placed apart on the top of the head, peering out from decaying flesh. For as alien and animalistic as it seemed, it was strangely homo sapien. In that horrible fact lay Rheas' fear.
He took another step back, his voice quivering, "Atta, unsar thu in Himinam weihnai namo…"
"Rheas!"
Rheas swallowed. "Toby," he said, reaching out to where his staff lay, "run."
"What?"
"Run!"
The monster, its dark eyes flickering over them, opened its wide mouth in an inhuman shriek and charged at them. Rheas held out his staff and rolled to the side, letting it charge passed him.
"Damnit Toby! It's a fucking demon!" he yelled, swinging his staff in an arc, "Go!"
Toby scoot back, his eyes wide as the demon charged after Rheas. His heart was beating so fast, and he couldn't figure out if it was from fear or excitement. A real live demon! A sliver of rationality shot through his brain; "He said run, fool! Go!"
Sitting up, he was about to leap to his feet when something stopped him, holding him back. Pain, unbearable, nauseating pain shot through his arms. He screamed as the two skeletal hands burned through his arms and began to pull him under.
"Rheas!"
Rheas looked up at the sound of his name. He was squatting before the demon, gasping, holding it at bay only by the shining light of the necklace that he held out. But the second he broke eye contact, it lunged. Rheas was smashed to the ground, the demon's claw's pinning by the shoulders, burning through his thin tee shirt and into his flesh. The pain was excruciating, and he screamed. Arms spread apart, he held the Staff of Magius out and shoved into the thing's jaws as it tried to take his head. He strained against it, the demon's rancid breath and the intense pain making him dizzy. Frustrated, it screamed, lurching forward and clawing at his abdomen with its hind feet. Saliva dripped from its jaws, landing on his face and neck and burning his skin.
Shrieking on anger, Rheas let the demon come forward, lurching its body high enough over him that he brought up his knees, placing his feet against its belly and pushed. Though thin, his legs were still the strongest part of him and, with effort, he heaved the thing over him and onto its back. Its thin sloped back was not able to lie flat and the demon rolled to its side, legs flailing.
Heaving, gasping for air that wouldn't fill his burning lungs, Rheas pulled himself to his shaking feet with his staff. The demon howled on the ground in fury a moment longer then flipped to its feet. The moment had been too long, however, and with a cry, Rheas brought the staff down on its head. The faceted crystal collided with the demon's flat head, but seemed to do little with Rheas' strength. The demon shrieked, ready to lung when the staff was brought down again.
Raging fire burned in Rheas' eyes. Fire of hate and loathing. The Staff of Magius gripped in both hands, he smashed it down upon the clay-like head of the demon repeatedly. At first, it seemed to do little damage, though the demon hissed and spat at him. But, through his fiery hate, the wood of the staff seemed to warm and pulse. Continuously smashing it down upon his opponent's head, each blow seemed to bring more and more damage until grey blood spewed over the thing's face and eyes. It howled in pain and seemed ready to collapse, its thin skull crushed.
Gasping, Rheas raised the staff high for the final blow that would smash the demon's brains out.
Looking up at Rheas with equal hate, the demon's eyes seemed to flash an eerie yellow. Parting its slender jaws, a faint light seemed to swirl over its tongue like mist, and then intensified to a brilliant white. With a cry, the demon spat.
Light, bright and fire hot, struck Rheas in the chest. He didn't get a chance to scream as his lungs seemed to burn away and fire coursed through his body. There was no ground beneath his feet or under his back. The blast had thrown him. His hand twitched as though trying to locate the staff, but it was gone.
He hit ground. Landing awkwardly on his shoulder, he found himself rolling downhill, unable to stop. Head over heels in wet ferns and mud, he kept rolling until he wasn't even sure which way was up. Finally he smashed into something solid, striking his head against bark and falling fast into darkness.
Toby watched in horror as the demon spat some eerie white fire at Rheas, throwing him back out of the clearing where he hit the sloping ground and vanished from view. Toby kicked and screamed, crying out for help as the burning hands continued to drag him under.
The first demon, rage in its beady eyes, whirled upon him, licking its jagged and torn lips. As it ambled toward him, Toby moaned.
"It's the end of me, it seems. Poor Rheas, at least I won't be lonely…" he whimpered to himself. Still, he would have liked to see the world first, but if he had to die, what more unique way than getting eaten by a demon?
Almost chortling to itself, the demon approached him, saliva dripping from its teeth. Toby, the image of Rheas crumpling over the hill, kicked it square in the jaw angrily. It roared, washing him with its terrible smell, and he sobbed. He'd miss everyone. Thomas, Frank, River and Goldie, Cameron…
Poor Cameron, what would he do without Rheas to do his homework for him?
The demon leaned upon his legs, burning through his jeans and flesh. He almost felt relieved, at least in death the pain would go. Opening its mouth, the demon moved forward, ready to snap off his head in its large mouth. Toby shut his eyes, wondering what death was like.
And opened one eye, unwilling to miss the last exciting moment of life as the teeth clamped down.