Scene 6-08
June 6, 2009I faced a small window. Moonlight struggled through the pane’s fine cracks; patterning my face with silver threads. Darkness was everywhere else.
‘Please tell me I’m not dying again,’ I complained.
‘Ifs only that easy. Ish make sure.’
I peered into the darkness and watched the moonlight thread together an image of a black snake. Its beady red eyes met my stare.
‘Ish didn’t think to meet yousee soon. Here weese are.’
‘Who – what are you?’
‘What ams Ish?’ The snake snorted, threw back its head and blew flames from its nostrils briefly revealing the truth of its world and the other snakes sleeping behind it. Rows and rows of other snakes.
‘This is your den?’
The snake shot its head before my face so its scaly nose was inches from mine.
‘Den – you cruel wretchsee.’
‘Why?’
The snake reared its head with laughter that shook the core of my body and sent my ears clanging. I tapped my ears and pressed against them until the noise faded to silence and I felt calm.
‘What’s dis pathetic act? Huh!’
‘Why you hate me so? What’d I do to you!’
‘EVERYTHING!’ It roared and spat out fire so I was able to see its dwelling clearly. We appeared to be in a cavern that stretched beyond my line of sight, yet the walls smoked and buzzed with ethereal light and the floor was so dark it gave an impression of not existing. On either side of the walls were the rows of winged snakes, curled up asleep.
‘See dis place? Its prison. Only Ish awake. Only Ish see – feel – think… only.’ It blew out the flames. For a moment, I glimpsed a sadness in its eyes.
‘I’m stuck here with you aren’t I?’
The snake chuckled and cocked its head to one side. The sadness was replaced with small satisfaction. ‘Itsee seems the cleverish Waybearer stumbles into own trap.’
‘Why you call me waybearer?’
It hissed and bared its fangs with annoyance. ‘Why yousee ask these stupid questions! Yousee are waybearer – Ish lazareth. Stop with dis games – now.’
‘Games? Hmm, I don’t think I can do that,’ I said levelly.
‘Aah – so yousee play huh? Not surprised.’ It stared me in the eye for a long while before it moved away and turned toward the darkness. Before I had time to figure out what it was about to do, it faced me again and blew orange flames into my face. Heat and a fowl stink of sulphar overwhelmed my senses. I writhed and fell to the ground, feeling the raw pain across my body. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to move. If only there was such a thing as death.
‘No feeling – no wanting.’ The lazareth finished off the thought for me. It blew out the flames and covered my body with coldness.
‘You read my thoughts?’ I breathed out.
‘Weese connected waybearer. Weese live and die together.’ It faced me again. ‘Ish your darkness.’
‘Or a thorn in my side – lazareth.’
‘Yesee thorrns. Nasty – painful – stubborn wesee are. I prick yousee waybearer – I prick yousee…’
I closed my eyes and thought of Kalia and the time she named me Neven. My mind reeled back to the day I woke up in the old man’s cabin. Was it so long ago I found myself here? Chatter and the sound of water breaking entered my mind. The cold seeped further into my skin so it became numb. My mind switched to the moment of the river. I was struggling to live but yet I felt nothing of it, and someone called me daughter of Marsilien…
Waybearer no! the lazareth cried out. Its voice was swept away on a great tide, along with the image of its prison.
