Going Feet First Ch. 04

Author's note: this story continues my tale, 'Going feet First', and follows Galen, a soldier once in Vietnam, now on a journey into a medieval fantasy world filled with Elves, Magic, and all kinds of fantastical creatures.

Welcome to Raska.

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Going Feet first

Chapter 4: Crossing the line

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The sun had begun to set over the waving yellow fields that covered the vast plains of the province commonly known as the Rock Lands. Stones of all sizes littered the region, from pebbles smaller than mice to boulders larger than elephants. They appeared everywhere, in every direction, but were more concentrated around the half-mile wide trench that cracked open the surface of the world and stretched with the flowing fields into the west, far beyond what the eye could see.

There was little variety in vegetation or color aside from the sea of golden grass, which reached out in both the west and northern directions. To the south lay a line of mountains running east-to-west, with rolling foothills before them that formed the southern border of the Rock lands. On the eastern border lay a thick, lush forest that went from the edge of the foothills to somewhere beyond the horizon in the north.

At the edge of the forest, a single blue butterfly laid hiding in the shadow of a fair-sized boulder. Its broad wings twitched back and forth, lacking the strength to properly beat as its antennae drooped down to its feet. Its body, normally blinding in its radiant blue glow, now only flickered as though it were a candle surviving on its final drops of wax. For this winged insect, time was running short.

On the opposite side of its rock, the sun was sinking low into the western sky, the pale blue moon peeking out from in between the mountains in the south to take its place. Just as the natural satellite cast its light upon the butterfly, the bug's antennae sprang up as new life breathed into its body.

All over its exoskeleton a fierce aqua light flared. Its insect wings retracted into its back while its two fore legs expanded several times over in both thickness and in size before taking on a broader, flat shape. These new wings emerged from the light as the rest of the body fattened and feathered over, settling into the form of a vertebrate creature.

Where an insect had once lain, there was now a sparrow with a wingspan as wide as one's hand was long, with pale blue feathers matching the color of the moon above. Two long, solitary feathers replaced the antennae jutting out from its forehead, only now they curled back like two small horns above its light-blue eyes and dark, black beak.

With a degree of caution, the blue sparrow peered around the rock it hid behind to look into the western sky. The sun was nearly set, with its last quarter barely above the horizon, but the shape shifting creature could not wait any longer.

In a flurry of feathers, it leapt out from behind the boulder, its body cast wholly into both sunlight and moonlight at once. From the second the last lights of the dying day touched its feathers, the creature felt as though its strength and power was being sapped from its core, its very life-force draining from its veins into that sinking, red star. Only the direct gaze of the moon at its back kept the bird in flight, feeding it energy as fast as it was drained away.

Despite this constant power-shift in its body, the sparrow soared high above the land, reaching magnificent speeds unobtainable by any natural beast. Then the very winds across the region shifted, changing their direction to keep at the bird's back before swiftly picking up in its wake. In the distance was its destination, and with another beat of its wings it flew off toward the mighty crack in Raska's crust.

All who knew of this open gap in the world called it by one name: the Sundered Trench.

Those with vision of a magical nature could see the arcane power bleeding out of the depths of the divide into the world above. Hunters and gatherers could grow fat from the bounty of resources offered by the forest growing on its floor. Masons could go wild with the endless supply of granite that made up the walls. To any who held control over it, the Trench was a resource fit to build a nation, even an empire, a fact that turned two certain groups to bloodshed.

Flying a great distance above the ground, the bird cast its eyes upon a certain spot in this worldly divide that was still more than a league away. With a power as supernatural as its other abilities the sparrow's vision zoomed in on a place where the natural demeanor of the Trench came to an end.

A stone wall, too thick for any normal weapon to break down, spanned the breadth of the divide. Artillery pieces of ballistae and catapults stood primed and ready on the battlements with archers scanning the area for any sign of movement. There were only two ways past this wall. The first was using the road along a cliff's edge, and the second was through the large tunnel at the base, made for the river to pass through. Unfortunately for would-be intruders, there was an iron grate built specifically to stop anything larger than a fish from passing through.

Atop the cliff, where the Trench met the plains above, the ruined stone base that once supported a scout tower was still burning with residual fire magic. The rest the building and its soldiers had collapsed into the divide and smashed into the jagged cliffs, becoming nothing more than a pile of rubble and bodies.

In the immediate area around the tower's remains, a hundred men in metal armor were swarming about in a frenzy, most of them moving along the cliff road. Some of these Knights carried bodies or helped to clear the tower's rubble while others barked orders. The rest remained on guard, weapons held as though a battle were imminent.

Closing its eyes for a moment, the sparrow retreated into its mind, paralyzing its muscles to keep itself in a glide over the plains. Then its consciousness severed connections to the body and fell free of its physical host before shooting out ahead in the form of a white wisp.

A new, sentient mind was sought out by this spiritual being, one free of will or lacking the reluctance to surrender control of its body to another. Within seconds one was possessed by the bird. The former host spirit was pushed aside to make room for the invading wisp in a second as it rushed to claim the creature's vision. When it did, it was greeted by the sight of an armored men titan before it.

Paying little mind to the size of the human it observed, the bird's consciousness looked to the faces of both the knight and them man he held a conversation with. Lacking any hearing organs the bird began to read their lips as they spoke, utilizing the compound eyes of its new body to read both their lips at once.

Soon it became clear the men were discussing demons and Dark Elves and a revenge that must be reaped. They openly wondered if the attack was done by an enemy scouting group, taking out a guard tower so their main army could move undetected or was simply done in the name of harassing them. Little did these men notice the small ant at their feet whose eyes had begun to glow blue while it crawled onto their leader's sabaton and up his leg plates.

Not a moment later, a man in leather armor came riding in upon a horse. At once the ant turned to see he was shouting his report of Dark Elves nearing a cavern entrance that was not too far away, and that they had a human captive with them. At that second, the blue glow died away from the ant's eyes and the tiny insect mindlessly returning to its food-gathering task with little wonder as to what had just occurred.

Back in the distance, the blue sparrow's eyes flared as they opened and pulsed in reaction to its consciousness rejoining its body. It banked hard right toward a specific location in the Sundered Trench and began to dive. There was only one place where the Dark Elves would be taking their prisoner and if the bird's guess was correct, it already knew who that prisoner was.

A trail of blue light arced across the sky behind the bird as it sailed toward the ground. Any other creature would break apart at this speed, yet this mystical being remained whole and undeterred. Though it was still half a league away, sparrow could use its impossible vision to see the large group moving through the forest of the trench. Not fifty paces ahead of them was the cave to which they were headed; a dark tunnel barely high enough for a horse and rider to enter.

You will not take him down there! the bird screamed mentally, its body erupting into blue flames as its shot like lighting toward the Elves.

...

A tarantula sat on the ceiling of a tunnel entrance, its many eyes watching in every direction at once as the day turned to twilight. The trees of the Trench Forest swayed gently in the passing breeze, small bats coming out to feed on insects as bees moved away from the flowers blooming among the tall blades of grass.

A sudden rustling brought the upside-down spider's attention to its left, the arachnid crawling further out its cave to determine its source. As it reached the threshold of the tunnel it stopped, watching as a large group of cloaked humanoids came running toward it with two equine beasts, one carrying an unconscious rider, in tow.

"What is that blue fire?! A catapult?!" one voice asked in a worried manner.

"I don't know, but do not stop! Dreek will not show mercy if we lose her new pet!"

Pet, you say? the spider thought, glancing to the man on the horse as the group drew closer.

He was human, there was no doubting that, but he emitted a strange aura of magical energy from his body, a type which the arachnid had never seen. In his sleep he began to shiver slightly, which made sense with his distinct lack of warm clothes. All he had upon him was an odd pot upon his head and a thin shirt and pants, all green in color, with strange belts and pouches strapped across his torso.

Though the tarantula could not explain it, it sensed a certain... spiritual aura about the human, giving off sensation it could not properly describe. Interest, perhaps? There were many interesting things about the human but that was not it. There was something else... there was a calming effect to his presence, and a warming feeling. A safe feeling. But there was still something more to it.

Whatever it was exactly, it was definitely something new to the spider. It was so foreign and it toyed with the arachnid's emotions in ways it never experienced, becoming something it couldn't decide on whether to enjoy or hate.

The blue flame arching in from the sky, however, was not so foreign and did not require any deliberation on a course of action.

The body of the spider exploded into black smoke that retreated back into the depths of the cave. There, more dark wisps emerged from the shadows and walls, twisting about one another, reshaping and contorting until they had taken a recognizable form.

A shadowy ghost, humanoid in appearance, stepped forth from the shadows back toward the mouth of the cave. The Dark Elf group was closing fast, the bird shrouded in blue flame a few moments away from coming upon them.

The Shade raised its hand, the air rippling around the mouth of the cave as though it were the surface of water. The Elves failed to notice this trick of the light as they crossed the threshold, the human and horses with them passing through unaffected as well.

But just as the last of the Elves' numbers entered the cave, the bird slammed into the barrier set by the ghost, pancaking out on its transparent surface before falling to the ground, extinguished of its flame.

For a moment the Elves stopped and looked back at the sparrow, puzzled by what they saw.

"Spirit bird?" one asked.

"Forget it, it's not our mission."

The group pressed on into the tunnel, the ghost remaining unnoticed as it waltzed toward the blue, glowing sparrow.

When the Elves were out of sight, the fleshless form of the ghost began to solidify. The wisps came together to form a skeleton, with skin rolling over the bones like an empty sack until flesh formed underneath. Hair black as coal rolled off the newly formed scalp until it reached the pelvic bones of the creature. Blazing, red eyes formed in the sockets as fair-sized breasts took shape on its chest. When the lungs finally took shape, she drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as the smoke melted off her newly-formed body.

To the mortal eye she appeared to be a Drow, smiling broadly in the nude as she approached the bird lying at the entrance of her cavern. Her hips hypnotically swayed with each step of her sashay, the smoke shifting about her legs reforming into a dark fabric that wound about her form.

Cloth rolled over her calves, then glided up her thighs and over her torso. Broad sleeves stretched down and out over her arms until they surpassed the length of the limbs, hanging loose as she joined her hands behind her back. Just as the final shape of her robe came to be, the mystical Drow arrived at the sparrow lying on the ground at the entrance to her tunnel.

"Necela, it has been too long," she smiled.

With a clear sign of pain and fatigue, the bird began to pick itself off up off the ground, stumbling about on its feet before shaking out its feathers. With renewed vigor and balance, the avian creature lit up into a blinding light and morphed once again.

The sparrow's wings became arms while the scrawny legs stretched out and thickened to a more humanoid shape. Both the protruding feathers on its forehead became antennae as the beak retracted into a mouth and nose. Feathers turned to skin, hair descended half-way down the being's back where two glassy wings had sprouted.

When the primary transformation had finished, the size of the creature increased ten-fold, until it matched the height of the average human. Then the light died off to reveal Necela standing with fists clenched at her sides, glaring at the Drow before her. Subtle blue flames were burning over her skin as her eyes glowed like the red dawn.

"I have not time nor patience for you, Viekirra. Where is your mistress?" the goddess of life growled.

The Drow crossed her arms over her chest, still laughing mentally at the image of the bird splatting against her barrier.

"The mistress is in her web where not even I may contact her. You will have to come again in a moon cycle," Viekirra said with a taunting tone to her voice that set Necela's eyes ablaze.

"You will let this puppet into your underworld at once!"

"No," the dark deity answered. "The whole of the underground is my dwelling when the mistress is away, and you are not welcome. Leave."

Watching Necela's body turn violet with her rage nearly made Viekirra giggle. She found it amusing how her antennae twitched and jaw clenched so tightly she could crush her own teeth. This only served to escalate Necela's anger further than she would normally dare allow it.

"If I myself must come down to this wretched scar on my world, then I shall summon my sister to join me. And you know that she would not give you quarter for wasting her time."

That demonic smile melted off of Viekirra's face, her jaw going slack as her eyelids lifted. Realizing her tell, she reset her calm composure and reasserted her strength in her stance, but the goddess before her could still sense the traces of fear hidden within the Drow's expression. That, and the increase of energy being invested into the barrier was no subtle act either.

"I cannot allow you past, Necela," Viekirra began, her voice stern. "You would be an unwanted influence on my mistress's followers and she cannot be contacted no matter what effort is given."

She was careful to mask what fear dwelled within her, but the thoughts of the goddess of life's other half would send even Driders into hiding.

"I have no interest in her followers, only what they have taken from the surface. In any case, your mistress still owes me a favor. Unfortunately, seeing how she is absent, I cannot use it. Thus I must handle my situation myself. So you will step aside or I will come down here myself!"

Viekirra held the other goddess's gaze a moment before the Drow's glowing red eyes pulled away. "I will step aside only if I accompany you through the tunnels. If my mistress's will is not safeguarded in her absence, you and your sister would be the lesser fate to choose."

After several moments of deliberation, the flames settled over Necela's body, her eyes returning to the impression of the starry-night sky. Her once threatening scowl settled as she once again took a calming, friendly posture. "We are agreed. Take down this shield and assume your spectral form, I have no time to waste."

With a nod, Viekirra released the magical barrier and exploded into a cloud of black wisps. Showering herself in silver dust, the spiritual form of Necela stepped forth from her body as the flesh of her physical being turned to ash and collapsed.

"Do not test my patience with such things again if you wish to be on my good side, 'goddess,'" Necela warned as she followed Viekirra into the darkness. "Next time I will not send one of my puppets, and for the inconvenience, you will suffer."

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"Wake up!" Pretayus snapped as he gave Celia a violent shake.

The Tree Elf thrust back into consciousness, her head turning every direction as her eyes darted all around. It took a moment for everything to fully register in her senses, the horse's saddle grinding against her thighs as it trotted along, the slaver's mithril armor pressed against her back as he kept a grip on the back of her breastplate. Behind her she heard the trotting of the others in their posse, and all around she saw the moonlit fields and took in the lush smells of the nighttime oasis world on the Trench's floor as it passed her by. Soon it all quickly fell into place inside her head and her memory reminded her of where she was.

The horse suddenly jerked to the left, and she nearly fell from the saddle before Pretayus grabbed the back of her breastplate and yanked her back into his lap.

"Slip again and I shall strike you. Now, eyes forward and stay on the horse," Pretayus ordered.

Celia shrunk forward a bit into the horse's mane, only for him to pull her back against his chest. Turning her eyes forward, she saw the trench stole right again a fair distance down the road. It was when they rounded that corner that Celia remembered how the divide looked from afar, how it split the earth as lightning would the sky. A zig-zag pattern that stretched on forever.

To think, she had witnessed that view the previous night in total freedom, arms locked with her love while they undertook a quest she thought would be over by the morn. But when her Galen had set out to slay Pretayus, something had run afoul, the slaver survived, and now she was his product. A slave.

But what cut her deepest was not the life in chains that she faced, but the forceful removal from her homeland and all that followed. The torture Pretayus induced at both the psychological and physical levels, Petra's sudden disappearance, the fact that she didn't know where her Galen was at the moment. Her only comfort was knowing that he was alive. She knew that, but where he was or who he was with, she had no clue.

The last sight she had of him was his body crushed under the corpse of a horse, and all she knew of the future were the partial visions given to her by Tanza. But clouds distorting her memory and fear plaguing her thoughts made it impossible to recall detail from those.