Martyn Vaughan - The Cave of Shadows

Something uniquely terrible was happening; some great overthrow of a peaceful society by forces that lusted for death and rejoiced in cruelty.

Then she heard a great voice that thundered from horizon to horizon and echoed and re-echoed around her.

‘Now behold the fate of the Degenerates!’

Then there was a great light, a terrible flash so bright it was beyond description, a light so bright that had she been flesh it would have reduced her to whirling black flakes of carbon to be swept aside by a great wind. A horrible cloud of flame-shot blackness climbed implacably into the sky.

She screamed in a voice that came from the innermost depths of her being.

And then unconsciousness took her.

She awoke to find Jon staring down at her with lines of worry etched deeply into his face.

She was on the bed covered in sweat even though it was not particularly hot. Somewhere inside her skull something was bringing a hammer down, again and again.

Her mouth was dry but eventually she was able to ask: ‘Have I been here long?’

Jon nodded. ‘I was beginning to worry that you’d never wake up. You screamed and I pulled the thing off but you just lay there, unmoving.’

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and forced herself upright. ‘Water. I must have water.’

As she sipped she began to feel better but the memory of what she had seen was like an invisible menacing presence in the room.

She related her visions even though it was quite clear that he wasn’t understanding (or maybe not believing?) all she was saying.

‘It’s a different world, Jon. They are scenes from some other form of existence.’

Jon shrugged. ‘What does that mean? How is it even possible? The world is the world. Where would this other one be?’

She began to pace up and down. ‘We both agree that what we experience here doesn’t make sense; as if it’s not properly formed. Maybe what I’m seeing is a world that is properly formed!’

He was silent. She carried on, feeling almost desperate in her need to convince him.

‘Look, this – this visualiser is important. Jarz said you were not ready for it which means it has some great significance in this village, some kind of truth that only people of a certain level are allowed to grasp. You upset this place’s rulers and so it has been denied you.’

‘Why didn’t they take it away like they took our swords?’

‘Because it seems that without the training it doesn’t show you very much.’

‘And you – who don’t have any training – you can see all these things? Things that don’t make any sense.’

She didn’t say anything for a moment and then: ‘It must be that I am some kind of person who is by chance attuned to it – some kind of natural user.’

She caught Jon raising an eyebrow.

‘What – you think it’s all make-believe? That I’m being fooled by some silly toy?’

He spread his hands in overt confusion. ‘Is that less likely than what you’ve described. White mountains in the sky? Flashes of light that somehow can kill thousands of people?’

She sat still, suddenly assailed by doubt. Jon’s objections had hit home– nothing she had described seemed at all likely, or even possible. And yet … and yet…

Then she made up her mind. ‘No, it means something. Something very important. Something that if we can only understand it will make sense of all this nonsense.

‘And I’m going to keep going in until I find it.’

Despite what she had said Shana could not face another immersion in the visualiser so soon after her previous experience. She had to get out, to see her green cloudless sky, to escape the narrow confines of a building that was becoming more and more like a prison.

Reluctantly Jon agreed, seeing how profoundly she had been shaken by the things she had seen. But he insisted that they must take their recently returned swords with them every time they ventured out into the village for it was obvious that the hostility towards them was increasing steadily.

So it was that they went outside, expecting to be faced with the usual blank stares and indifference. But no! the village was in turmoil again and everyone they met appeared to be rushing in the same direction as if some great event was about to unfold.

Jon managed to stop one of the men as he hurtled by and despite the latter’s clear reluctance to speak to him managed to get some information.

‘The Council Building,’ the man spluttered, ‘got to get to the Council Building! Got to see it!’

Jon glanced at Shana and she nodded in silent agreement.

They arrived at the building to find a great throng already assembled and were not surprised to find them in great excitement, having heard their babble from some distance away. Everyone assembled seemed anxious to avoid physical contact with them and so it was easy for them to find their way to the front of the crowd, as it parted instantly to allow them through. But when they reached the front they were shocked to see what was revealed.

It was Jon11 and he was tied to a tall pole directly in front of the steps. Despite his condition his head was held high and he stared defiantly at his audience who by now were jeering and mocking him.

‘You fools!’ he yelled, ‘don’t you see you’re next? You’re next!’

Then the Chairman appeared from inside the building, descended the steps and stood in front of Jon11 and, after holding up a hand to quell their shouting, began to address the crowd.

‘Men of the village!’ he said in a solemn voice that was clearly audible now that an expectant silence had fallen, ‘we have assembled here today for a great occasion. One that although regrettable is I’m afraid necessary and unavoidable. This ingrate,’ and he turned briefly to glance at Jon11, ‘has been spreading lies about our great Lord Korok. Lord Korok is just, merciful and patient. But there are some sins which cannot go unpunished. Jon11 has gone beyond the bounds of civilised life and must pay the penalty. Normally the punishment would be that he would be forbidden to enter the Gate of Light but for his crimes that will not be enough.’

A frisson of excitement rippled through the crowd. It was evident that they knew what that punishment would be. Shana looked helplessly at Jon but he shook his head. He did not know.

The Chairman turned to stare directly at Jon11.

‘Well,’ he said in a flat, disinterested tone, ‘do you have anything to say? It may not be too late to cry out to Lord Korok for mercy.’

Jon11 tried to look past the Chairman’s bulk to the hushed crowd beyond.

‘Listen to me people! You have been lied to! Maybe I haven’t got all the answers, maybe I’ve got some things wrong but my message is still the same! The Council is not your friend; you are being used for some purpose which is not clear but cannot possibly be for your wellbeing. Korok? Maybe there is a man called Korok hiding somewhere but he is not on your side – I tell you again. Look past all these tricks. Something is wrong! You are being used!’

Suddenly Jarz and another man broke from the first row of onlookers and bound Jon11’s mouth. His pleas became first muffled and then completely inaudible. The other man and Jarz then returned into the crowd; somewhat hurriedly Jon thought.

The Chairman also increased his distance between himself and the captive. Then he looked up into the sky, raised both hands and cried: ‘Now!’

And then it happened. A great column of blue-white heat descended with Jon11 at its exact centre. He writhed madly for a few desperate moments and then slumped as his skin was blackened and torn away. A great breaker of blistering heat crashed over Jon and Shana as in horrified fascination they watched the execution unfold before them. After the skin the musculature was dissolved revealing the inner organs, then just the bones, which when relieved of connective tissue fell in a calcined pile to the ground.