Tash's Nightmare Chapter 8
Azaroth, Charlie, and Susan had been sailing for a matter of hours, but with nothing around, it felt like days. Azaroth sat delicately at the front of the boat, looking over the deformed skull. The River Servant's dark figure towered above and behind her, like a tall shadow cast upon a wall, as it gently, serenely guided the riverboat.
Charlie sat slumped over the port side, letting the rocking of the riverboat lull him to a dull mind. "Just sand," he complained. "Sand, and this damned river of blood." On multiple occasions, he could see his own reflection, but his image was always surrounded by the specter of ghouls and ghosts feasting and laughing, filling their cups and goblets in merriment. Charlie shivered.
Susan sat at the starboard end of the boat inspecting her rifle. There were no seats except for the front and very back of the boat, so she sat on the flat floor of the boat, leaning against the wall. "I do wish I had a bow and a quiver full of arrows," she said. "Rifles are so loud, and rather messy for my liking." As she said this, she held up her finger to show the gunpowder that residue had stained her fingertips, as if she needed to prove it.
"This world had gunpowder when Tash took over," said Azaroth from her perch on the boat's mast. The other two looked at her confused.
"I thought this was Tash's realm," said Susan. "You mean to tell us it wasn't always?"
"Tash cannot create or destroy," she explained as she joined the other two. Charlie pulled himself from over the side and sat down as well, and Azaroth continued:
"When Tash, Zardeenah, and I were cast down from Aslan's Court, we took over a dying world plagued with sin and ruled it over as our own. They had already discovered gunpowder and were using firearms and swords in war. Their advancement was akin to London, in your own world, during the reign of your King George, or perhaps Queen Victoria. Anyway, such detail hardly matters.
When my siblings and I arrived, the realm was already in ruins. The people were at war, having delved into magic they didn't understand. Soon after our arrival, they turned into beasts, losing their sanity. Their monuments, their cities, and their legacy had been left behind in the dust, and Tash began to collect the souls of the damned from other worlds, those Aslan deemed wicked and barred entry to His country. These new souls suffered the same fate as the natives: they turned into beasts, slaughtering each other and returning to their natural forms in an endless cycle of bloodshed and violence, as sanity ebbed and flowed between them. It was amusing, a source of entertainment while we sat imprisoned (for we knew Aslan would destroy us if we dared to venture outside the realm).
I eventually grew bored and wished to go back to Aslan's Court, but Tash refused to make amends. And so, I took matters into my own hands. At great risk, I contacted Aslan and told Him I wished to return. He refused, naturally, but He did see my loyalty to Tash had already faded, so He offered a wise solution: I was to spy on Tash as he collected the souls of the damned, and report to Aslan anything of importance. And though I was never to enter His Country again, I was granted permission to travel between the other worlds to do Aslan's bidding.
Thus the Nightmare of Tash had been born, and I re-born as a loyal servant to Aslan."
By the time Azaroth finished her story, the river had widened into a lake. Up ahead, there was an island. The River Servant steered towards it, and Charlie said, "wait, why are we stopping?"
Azaroth sniffed around the River Servant, looked up, and growled violently. "Tash," she hissed angrily. "He directed the River Servant to this island, and if I know my brother, he has set up a duel with one of his titans, something neither of you are likely to survive." The boat reached the sands of the island. Azaroth immediately flew to the back of the boat as Charlie and Susan clambered out.
"What's wrong?" asked Susan, concerned.
Azaroth growled again. "A spell has been set here. I cannot set foot on this island. Go, take your weapons and face whatever monstrosity Tash has set. If you survive, expect my brother to place several more such obstacles in our way—each one more dangerous and perilous than the last."
"Plenty to look forward to, I gather," Charlie quipped glumly. Susan grabbed her rifle from the boat.
A hideous wail pierced the air, no doubt coming from the tropical depths of the island. It sounded huge, and in pain. The waves and ripples of the red lake stopped, becoming dead and unmoving, as if mourning in response to the hideous, torturous cry. "A giant?" guessed Susan.
"Let's find out," said Charlie.
"Deep breaths, Love," said Susan as she took his hand.
Together, they walked forward into the forest.
December 9th, 1954
They were walking down the road, dodging the bustling London crowd, eager to get to their lunch breaks or do their shopping or whatever. Susan had only finished her last lecture for the day, and Charlie had a day off. They were on their way back to Susan's flat when Susan suddenly became uneasy.
"Oh, goodness," she said as she hid her face behind her hand. Her eyes darted around for an escape, and she spotted an alley. "Quick, in here."
Charlie grabbed her arm gently, stopping her. "Why? What's wrong?" Susan motioned with a quick jerk of her head to a group of students also clearly from King's College, loudly coming towards them and looking more like playground thugs than scholars. Charlie understood. "These the guys you've been telling me about?" he asked gently. Susan nodded. Charlie thought for a moment, and tried to soothe her fears. "Look, hon, I'm sure they won't give you any trouble, okay? Just stick close to me."
Susan took a few deep breaths. "Okay," she agreed, though she would truly have preferred to dodge into the alley and avoid them all together. But, taking Charlie's hand and gripping it tightly, they walked forward.
The crossed paths, and the boys recognized Susan, despite her attempts to remain incognito. "Well, if it ain't little lovely Susan," said one of them, a tall muscular chap who towered over the couple. "An' who's this little lad? Don' break my heart, tell me it's a lover, missy…"
"Bugger off, Chudley," said Susan.
Another one of the boys piped up, "Hoo! Chuds, the little lass has a mouth on 'er! Best teach her man to put a muzzle on it!"
Charlie stood forward. "Alright, fellas, just leave her alone. Nobody wants a scene in broad daylight, right?"
Chudley stepped forward, looking cross. "Was that a threat, little boy?" he asked.
"Might've been," said Charlie in a drawl voice. "And if you're trying to look tough, you're failing miserably. My own commanding officer, who's half your size and twice your weight, looks tougher than you, and he's a total pushover…"
Chudley lost his temper then as his fist flew towards Charlie's face; Charlie swatted it out of the way and returned with his own punch, hitting the large man square in the face. Chudley staggered backwards, but Charlie didn't let up, following up his attack with a flurry of punches, kicks, joint locks, and every possible way he knew to hurt a man.
By the time he was finished, Chudley was on the ground and unconscious. Charlie looked up to the boy's cronies. Their faces were bone white, terrified, and hoping, praying, that the American decided not to come after them. Patrolmen were coming towards the group, screaming and demanding an explanation. It took some doing, but within a few minutes, Charlie and Susan were let go, and Chudley was taken to a hospital.
They walked on. Susan was horrified; she thought Charlie's "lesson" would consist of a quick scuffle, not a complete loss of control. "That was unnecessary," she said after a few minutes of walking in silence.
Charlie was still seething. "No, it wasn't."
"He'll come after you."
"No, he won't. And he won't bother you no more, either."
They argued about it the rest of the day. It was their first major quarrel, filled with yelling and screaming. Susan made it clear that she would have been happy with a few short hits to teach Chudley a lesson, but the ruthlessness Charlie displayed went beyond protecting her. In the end, she made Charlie promise that he would never lose control again.
"But I did it for your safety!" Charlie protested angrily.
"Oh come off it, none of them had ever gone beyond stupid taunts and catcalls!" Susan retaliated with venom. "And if you can't keep a level head at the lewd jeers of a few green boys, then you'd better grow up and get a thicker skin!"
And that was that.
A/N: I know the last few chapters have been a bit slow, but I promise it'll pick up next chapter. I just couldn't fit all the action here without it being ridiculously long, so instead, I expanded on Charlie's relationship with Susan, and a little on Susan's background. Remember, this story takes place in the 50's, and at the time women rarely went to college to pursue a career. So, it makes sense that Susan would face profound sexism at the hands of her male colleagues.