EA#04:
The Mountain in the Clouds, Part Six
“
There I was. And there was the heart of the maze. Which was actually the old man. And there was the square pool.
And there was this large cockatrice cleaning its arms by the pool, licking the feathers on the back of its wrist over and over.
A puff of feathers came off on the beast’s tongue. It noticed me looking at it right then, turned and paused, mouth open, tongue drooping out, feathers still clinging to it.
Ok, this was a pivotal moment, I felt. This was the clue I was given. Find the square pool, then locate the secret passage there that leads all the way to the center of the maze.
Then again, I was standing next to the heart of the maze.
It puzzled me once again, despite the knowing I received that this old man was the energetic heart of the maze. If he were the heart, then what was the center? And what’s there at the center that I would need? Does this man have something I need?
“It strikes me,” I began to say.
“You found the tunnel?” he asked nonchalantly,
I was taken aback. “Yes, how did you know?”
“Saw you staring at it a moment ago.” He snorted and seemed to be eating something again.
There was also now a small fire burning under an iron pot. He was stirring something inside the pot with a ladle and occasionally poured a spoonful into a bowl he held in his other hand.
“It’s not a magic potion, it’s just soup,” the old man said.
“Is it good?”
“No, it’s bitter worm soup. Does that sound good to you? No. Well I only have it for my health. Keeps these old bones from falling apart at my age. Got a nasty aftertaste. But the syrup I add makes the first taste kind of sweet.”
“Sounds, useful, I guess.”
“So are you thinking of going into that tunnel?”
Before I could even answer he blurted: “DON’T!”
“I was told that…”
“Yea, someone told you there’s a secret path. Ok, fine, believe them over me. Never asked you to trust me anyway.”
“Well, it’s just that, he said it would be here and I didn’t know what to expect. But now that I’m here, and I see the tunnel with my own eyes, well it strikes me that there may be some truth to it. I mean, it’s too coincidental.”
The man shifted his robes and peered at me over his bent nose. “Son, do you know how many times?” He trailed off. “No. Look. There’s always people trying to solve the puzzle of this place. I’ve seen them, met a few, talked to them even. All the same. ‘Someone told me something and here it is,’ they say. Well, do you have any proof that what is on the other side of the tunnel is what you want? Do you have any way of knowing that you will be safe in this passage? No, you don’t!”
I paused for a minute, pondering his words. He went back to his bowl of soup, slurping small sip by small sip, making the most wretched face each time in response to the taste of it.
“Well, I suppose I have one way of knowing. I have you here to tell me. Is this passage safe?”
“No!” was all he said.
“Then what am I to do next? Sit here and have soup with you?”
“Would you like to? I’ve got another bowl, here. I do warn you, this stuff’s got a kick.”
He produced another small bowl from his brown sleeves and began filling it with the bitter worm soup. The name alone made me want to gag.
“No, really, that’s alright,” I replied. “Maybe next time. The face you make when you drink it tells me enough.”
“Suit yourself. Your young bones are probably doing fine anyways. Unless you go in that tunnel. Shame to risk your life for it.”
“So are you telling me this tunnel might kill me?”
The man smiled but it was a hardened smile.
“Look, you will believe what you want to believe,” he said. “You don’t have to take my word for it. Hell, I might just be some crazy old man living here in the labyrinth. What do I know about anything?”
He began to cackle madly then, at which point I might think to take him up on his own description as a crazy old man.
Yet, I had a nagging feeling inside that told me he was trustworthy.
At the same time, I still didn’t know what to do. It seemed the longer I sat with this old man and his snacks and soups, the more time I wasted in actually finding the center of this place and completing my first trial.
“I’m going in,” I said with some resolve.
“I know,” he intoned knowingly. “I seriously do not advise it. But I know you must. I knew it when you first came in.”
“Is there anything you can tell me that can help get me through safely?” I asked him. “Any warnings or suggestions?”
“I’ve already told you. Just don’t go in. That’s my only suggestion. But we’ve already established that you’re not taking my advice. So what does it matter what else I say?”
“Sure, I understand. Alright, it’s for me to find out. I can do this.”
“Good pep talk. I’d say good luck in there, but think I should take your measurement instead.”
“Why’s that?” I said, puzzled.
“For your casket.”
On that uplifting note, I pulled myself together and walked towards the pool.
Well, first, I walked towards the cockatrice. It seemed that the bird creature of lore was my first potential danger on this path. I imagined those talons could rend me to pieces in seconds.
“He doesn’t bite,” the old man reassured me. “He’s more like a cat. He prefers to play with his victims first.”
Good one, I thought to myself, shrugging off the man’s wry wit.
I bowed my head towards the beast and paused. My sole intention was to remain calm and respectful in its presence. To let it know I meant no harm.
“I am trying to reach the pool, if you please. I do not wish to bother you, but if you could make some room for me to pass…”
It felt funny to speak to the huge bird plunked there on the ground before me, staring at me like I were the oddity here.
But it worked. The creature slowly picked itself up and shifted to sit a few feet to the side.
“Thank you,” I said and walked to the side of the pool.
From there I could clearly see how the water got deeper in the middle, then went down towards the back end. There the view dropped off into a dark opening that clearly led beyond the hedge wall at the far end of the pool.
Ok, here goes. Big, deep breath.
I dove into the water. It wasn’t as cold as I had expected and as I opened my eyes I could see fairly well. I swam straight towards the dark hole and entered a wide tube. I continued to swim through the tube for some time, but began to worry. How much longer could I hold my breath?
I swam on, and felt my muscles ache with less and less oxygen to fuel them. It was still so dark, and there was no sign of light or any other dictation of coming through to the other side of the tube.
But I kept pushing forward, striving to get through, to find the way out.
My arms began to flail and my hands groped the sides of the tube. My lungs began to feel so empty and I wanted to gasp for breath. The thought of swallowing water became overwhelming as the real threat of drowning loomed in on me.
Maybe the old man was right. This was a foolish idea. Could I go back? Could I make it back the other way?
It seemed too far. I had only to press on and hope.
Then it was too much. I started to reel and writhe in the water. I couldn’t hold on, I let go, I let my body float in that water…
Then my body rose above the surface. Instinctively I threw my head out of the water to take a tremendous gasp of fresh air into my lungs.
The air was not fresh, really. But it was air, and I breathed in it like it was life itself. Never before had it felt so good to breathe.
Was that all, old man?
Ok, it’s easy to joke after the near death experience.
I paused there, treading water, until my breathing returned to normal. I couldn’t make out anything in there. It was pitch black. It didn’t feel like a large space. In fact, as I reached out my arms overhead and around me, I found that it was a very small space indeed. I was surrounded by stone. It felt to me like a block was cut out here on purpose, simply for the air pocket.
Thank the gods I swam long enough to reach it. I wonder if there are more…
Well, it looks like it’s back into the depths. Another deep breath in. And hold it.
I swam more confidently this time, believing now that I could reach the other side. Knowing that I had come this far, and that there was a purpose to it. I kicked my feet like I had flippers, and flung my arms in front of me deftly.
At last I saw a light ahead. I swam furiously towards it, getting low on air again.
I rose to the surface, coming out of the water onto my feet. I found myself on a sloped floor rising out of the tube into a new tunnel. It was lit well by a sconce on the wall. The stone wall.
Stone? It looked more like the inside of a castle than a hedge maze. Certainly not what I was expecting.
I could see that this new stone tunnel curved ahead of me in such a way that I could only see a short distance in front of me.
And just at the end of my visibility I could make out another light. Perhaps another sconce on the wall.
A short walk further on verified this. And there was another light equally far ahead of the second one.
Now when I looked in either direction I had the sensation that I was in an endless stone tunnel full of sconces. And the curve just made me feel a little askew, like the world was stretched out and warped around me.
I almost felt dizzy in that moment. I shook it off and continued to walk, passing sconce after sconce with torches lit and burning. From bright light to half dark to more light and then more dark. It was a repeating pattern and seemed to be getting me nowhere.
And then there I was. I was nowhere. I was at the end of the tunnel. No more path, no more sconces. A stone wall stood before me. There was nowhere else to go.
Gods, give me a break here.
“
Thank you for reading.
Please share and leave comments if you can guess what happens next.
Blessings to you,
Matthew