The Last Portal (12 page)

‘They were
created along with the underworld,’ Duss said, ‘and dwell in the
deepesst, darkesst parts, preying on any creature that sstrayss
into their domain.’

‘They are
called the Idesss,’ Cass said. ‘And they live in complete
darknesss, away from any glow-wormss.’

‘They don’t
like glow-wormss,’ Duss said.

‘No they don’t
like glow-wormss,’ Cass continued solemnly.

‘And no Nethral
go down there,’ Duss said.

‘There are many
sstoriess,’ Cass said, ‘about what happened when Nethral go too
deep into the underworld.’

‘Bad
sstoriess,’ Duss said, ‘terrible sstoriess, whole communitiess have
dissappeared when there hass been a quake. And the glow-wormss have
gone out.’

‘It iss not
wisse to go too deep,’ Duss said.

‘No, not wisse
at all,’ Cass confirmed.

Chris picked up
visions in Duss’s mind of hairless creatures with large heads,
dark-green eyes and long spindly limbs. He didn’t know whether they
were real images or a product of Duss’s overactive imagination, but
the images were hideous and brought back just how far away from
Earth he really was.

Cass and Duss
told many more stories about the Nethral and the underworld as the
night wore on until Chris couldn’t keep his eyes open. His last
sleep in the underworld was deep, and full of the images he had
seen in the minds of Duss and Cass.

The next day they
emerged at sunrise from a tunnel at the back of a small cave. The
first thing that struck Chris was how cold it was. There was ice on
the ground, and when he looked around, there was a light dusting of
snow. But the sun was out and there was a gentle breeze. Chris took
a deep breath, realising how much he had missed the sun, the
breeze, and the smell of the surface, even if this surface smelt
markedly different from Earth’s.

They had
emerged into a valley with a large forest that stretched in every
direction. Either side were mountains that rose steeply into the
cloud cover above. Cass and Duss quickly shouldered their packs and
led him down into the bottom of the valley. Chris noticed their
levels of apprehension rise sharply once they had entered the
forest.

‘Thiss iss the
route to Mount Caporel that your friendss have taken,’ Duss said,
as he pointed along a rocky path that followed the course of the
river. ‘They sshould be coming along here ssometime today, if they
are travelling fasst.’

Despite
encouragement from Chris, Cass and Duss would not go any further.
Instead, they found a vantage point where they could safely watch
the path and sat down to wait.

They hadn’t
waited long when they noticed signs of activity over the next
valley. High-flying birds and distant sounds indicated that a large
company was approaching, stirring up the valley creatures as it
advanced. Chris could feel the agitation growing in his companions.
Soon the first soldiers appeared, heavily armed with weapons drawn;
they systematically searched all the surrounding trees and shrubs
along the riverbank. Once an area had been searched, a second group
of soldiers would station themselves there while the first group
continued further up the riverbank. A huge beast that looked like a
cross between a rhinoceros and a horse emerged from the valley. On
its back sat Altac, riding up and down a column of soldiers as he
directed their search.

Cass tapped
Chris on his shoulder, then pointed to the distant ridge. Over the
rise a large company of soldiers was emerging, flanked by Taal. In
the middle, Chris could see the bushy locks of Susie’s hair, and
alongside her, with his head lowered, was Joe. Batarr was behind,
on another great beast, also directing the soldiers. Chris started
to climb to his feet, but was immediately stopped by Duss. He could
feel the fear pouring from Duss’s mind.

‘We musstn’t be
disscovered by thesse ssurface people,’ Duss hissed.

‘No we
musstn’t,’ Cass agreed, as she gathered up her pack.

‘But before we
leave, I would like you to have thiss.’ Cass pushed a crystal into
Chris’s hand. ‘It will change to bright green when you are near one
of our entrancess. Pleasse keep it ssafe.’

‘Yesss, yess,
guard it well,’ Duss said. ‘It will help you find the underworld if
you ever need our help.’

With a rising
sense of loss, he turned to thank them. But they had already fled
into the undergrowth in the direction of the cave.

When they were
out of sight, Chris waited a few minutes, then started walking
toward the approaching company. He hadn’t walked far when two Taal,
brandishing their weapons, stopped him. One of them had been on his
fishing boat and clearly recognised him. Even in the normally
expressionless features of the Taal, Chris could read confusion. He
seemed unsure whether he should shoot him, or welcome him back with
open arms.

Chris smiled
slightly at his confusion. ‘Can you please take me back to Batarr
and the other Mytar?’ he said flatly.

A Road Less Travelled

Altac saw Chris first.
He rode up and in one smooth movement swept him up, like a piece of
baggage.

‘I’m very happy
to see you,’ he remarked in his usual formal manner, as he rode
hard toward the main company. ‘And I do apologise for my lack of
manners, but you’re too exposed. You need to be out of danger
before all else.’

Batarr looked
positively shell-shocked to see him. Chris could sense his total
confusion. Initially, Susie and Joe just stared, not willing to
trust their eyes, but as he got closer and became more real, they
leapt in the air and came racing over, throwing themselves at him
so they all ended up in a ungainly pile on the ground. Susie only
stopped squealing when one of the soldiers asked her if she had
hurt herself.

Chris was
totally unprepared for this welcome, and soon realised they thought
he was dead. Batarr demanded to know every detail of what had
happened to him, and was only satisfied when Chris showed him the
key and it was still red.

Apparently, a
lot had happened to the company since his unfortunate departure. In
all, including the soldiers that were saved by the Wassin,
fifty-two of the original eighty-four soldiers survived the storm.
Batarr had planned to recruit more men at several coastal villages
near where they had landed, but when they arrived only smoking
ruins and scattered villagers were left. These people told stories
of horrible monsters and huge flying creatures that attacked in the
middle of the night. Although these stories were obviously
exaggerated, it was clear the attack had been swift and deadly. The
surviving villagers really had no idea what had happened. Some of
these folk readily joined the ranks of the soldiers, fearing a
return of the creatures that had attacked them. These new recruits,
however, had done little to boost morale. Instead, their hysterical
stories fuelled rumours of some unforeseen force that attacked
without warning or mercy. Despite repeated questioning by Susie,
Batarr refused to be drawn on this subject, but it was obvious he
knew more than he was saying.

The
relationship between Joe and Batarr was also very strained. When
Joe found out that Chris had fallen overboard, he ordered Batarr to
jump in after him. When Batarr refused, he ordered him to stop the
boat. When this demand was also ignored, Joe broke into a stream of
obscenities lasting some minutes.

Although Batarr
did not understand all the words, he got the general gist. The
relationship had been somewhat icy ever since. The long trek of the
past few days had done little to mend the rift. Joe had lost a lot
of weight. His usual full face had shrunk back to his cheekbones
and his skin had become pale and blotchy. Not a good sight, Chris
thought. And Joe’s growing exhaustion had done little to ease his
temper, which he liberally vented on Batarr and usually within
earshot of Batarr’s soldiers.

Susie explained
to Chris that she had tried to reason with Joe, but it always ended
up in screaming matches, usually by the campfire, and again in
front of an astonished company of soldiers. Chris read a growing
sense of confusion and disrespect amongst the soldiers towards
Susie and Joe. This had also added to the general low morale
amongst the company. Only the Taal, their minds impenetrable as
ever, appeared impervious to the events around them.

The rest of the
day was spent battling their way through dense undergrowth and
climbing up and down steep slopes of mountains. In places the path
became so steep that Batarr and Altac had to dismount their rides
and climb on foot. Susie took these opportunities to become very
friendly with their mounts. Altac called them Jarwat. They were
truly fearsome beasts. With massive heads and shoulders covered in
thick hide they rose nearly three metres off the ground. A single
horn protruded up to a metre from their heads. Apparently many a
soldier had been impaled on this horn whilst trying to train them.
Under Susie's guidance however they became as tame as lambs, meekly
following her anywhere without the need for halter or leash to
restrain them. Chris read sheer amazement and disbelief in the
minds of the soldiers who witnessed this. In fact this single act
did much to repair the damage Joe had caused by his constant
insults and bickering.

As the sun was
setting, the company pitched camp by the river in a small clearing.
The weather had closed in and the wind had picked up. Like the rest
of the company, Chris felt cold and exhausted, but the long hours
of trekking had given him time to think.

He had assumed
that Kaloc was the Guardian Batarr had lost contact with just
before they had started their journey. The news of his continued
existence should have sparked some type of reaction from him, yet
there was nothing - even though Altac got quite excited. Then there
was the matter of the second key. Chris had decided to raise both
these issues as soon as he could catch Batarr alone. This, however,
proved difficult, as he rode amongst his troops until late,
ordering a final sweep of the forest. Chris finally managed to
catch him later that evening, when most of the company had already
turned in for the night.

He found Batarr
pacing slowly in front of the fire, a hot drink warming his hands.
Chris could feel he was struggling with some problem, and hesitated
before interrupting. But Batarr saw Chris and beckoned him to sit
down. In the firelight, Batarr cut a dishevelled figure. Unshaven
and gaunt, with rings of exhaustion circling his eyes, he appeared
to have aged enormously in only the few weeks Chris had known him.
Although Chris could not read his thoughts, he could feel the
anxiety radiating from him.

‘I’m very
relieved to see you again.’ He turned toward Chris and smiled
briefly when Chris made eye contact. ‘An amazing turn of events.
The Nethral are very reclusive. You should feel very privileged at
being given the opportunity to see their world.’

‘I do.’ Chris
nodded. ‘They were cool.’

Batarr smiled
at Chris for a moment, then his expression became very serious. ‘In
a few days we will reach Mount Caporel. Your key should start
feeling warm as we near the portal.’

‘Yeah, maybe,’
Chris shrugged, watching Batarr pace slowly in front of him. ‘I
heard you have a second key?’

Batarr paused
directly in front of the fire and took a sip of his drink. ‘That’s
right. It belonged to another Guardian, who was killed by
Zelnoff.’

With the fire
behind Batarr, Chris could only see his silhouette, but he got the
impression the mention of the key was an unwelcome topic. ‘How’d
you get it?’ he asked.

‘The Guardian
who had this key felt he had been discovered and gave it to me for
safekeeping. His fears unfortunately proved correct. Within a few
days, Zelnoff’s forces overran him.’

‘Are you sure
they killed him?’

‘He was
killed,’ Batarr said flatly, leaving no room for further
questioning.

‘Then who’s
Kaloc?’

There was a
pause while Batarr took another sip of his drink. Chris tried hard
to absorb some impression or emotion, something that would reveal
his state of mind, but there was nothing. It was as though an
impenetrable mental wall had been thrown up.

‘Kaloc was one
of the first Guardians to fall under Zelnoff’s spell,’ Batarr
replied, after another sip. ‘He now commands many of Zelnoff’s
forces.’

‘But the
Nethral...’

‘The Nethral
are ill-informed,’ Batarr cut him off irritably. ‘They don’t really
know what’s happening on the surface.’

‘So Kaloc could
be behind these night attacks on the villagers?’

‘Yes, it’s very
likely.’

‘Umm… so do you
think this Kaloc, or Zelnoff, knows we’re coming?’

‘It’s
possible,’ he said, after a few seconds pause. ‘Either way, we
don’t have much time. We need to locate the portal and find Zelnoff
quickly. Otherwise, what little advantage we have, will be
lost.’

‘But don’t we
need more men?’

‘To locate the
portal we only require a small force. Any more will attract too
much attention.’

‘But what
happens if we’re discovered?’

‘If we are
discovered,’ Batarr said, ‘we won’t have a chance anyway. Only a
very large army will have any chance of attacking Zelnoff, and they
would be detected long before they got anywhere near his base.
We’re not dealing with a local military commander here. We’re
dealing with a creature who has already crossed dimensions and
conquered many planets. He won’t be approached easily and, once
detected, escape would probably be impossible anyway. No… as small
a party as possible is needed to find his exact position. There is
a much larger force, not far from here, waiting for me to relay the
exact location of Zelnoff’s base.’