his tiny skull woke me from that psychosis quickly.
Blood spilled down Tsaeb’s face and eyes, now black like shiny marbles. He hissed and growled behind fanged yellow teeth and reptile-like skin. I drew back, pushing my way through many obstructions, falling over and against an old broken lantern. I was too terrified to notice the little shard of glass prick me on the elbow.
Gorg peered inside with wide eyes. The horses whinnied and kicked, causing the carriage to jolt and stop abruptly. Many of Gorg’s rusty belongings tumbled from the carriage and into the field.
“Whoa, boys! Calm down thur!”
Tsaeb cracked his neck to both sides, approaching me.
“I can’t kill you,” he began with a low, guttural growl, “but the Devil never said I couldn’t hurt you.”
I put out my hands. “I’m sorry... what the fuc ....”
Suddenly, the door swung open, smashing into the side of the carriage. Gorg stood there disapprovingly, hands on his hips.
“Yer scarin’ my damn horses, y’shit!” He grabbed Tsaeb by the back of his shirt and dragged him off the carriage and into the field. “Either you’s tame yerself, or walk!”
Tsaeb grunted and mumbled something inaudible under his breath.
“So, wut’s it gonna be?” Gorg demanded, one foot tapping the ground.
“You’re the driver,” Tsaeb forcefully replied.
Gorg nodded and went to his horses, patting them on their thick, muscled necks to soothe them. Tsaeb shifted back into his child form before stepping back inside with me. I was in that body cast again, forgetting how to move anything but my eyes.
Tsaeb kneeled in front of me and I could feel his hot, rancid breath on my face.
“My mother tried to strangle me with my own cord when I was born.” I listened with great interest hidden behind a petrified expression. “Punch me, kick me in the nuts, stab me even, but never touch my throat.”
He glared forebodingly at me and then moved to his bag of stolen riches. I sat in the same spot until the sixth day arrived and signs of life beckoned in the distance. We never did face field bandits, and the Field of Yesterday did not take my mind. But in that six days at the center of the dead world, I came to realize that this was no game. This task I had been sent on was a serious matter.
I just needed to know what the hell it was.
The towers of Fiedel City grew upward on the horizon. A strangely wicked-looking place from afar, with scaling gray towers shaped more like stalagmites than buildings, and hundreds of carved-out windows and doors. Tiny torch fires and lanterns dotted the streets and moved in scattered formations throughout the city and the great black mountain from which the city had been carved. Plumes of smoke rose high above many cottages and storehouses, taverns and whorehouses. The moon was enormous in the background behind the mountain as though the Earth was only a few thousand miles away. It was dark like coal and lacked the familiar craters shown in science books. This moon was oddly porous, looming and fraught with frightening memories.
The air was sticky with humidity and smelled of a coming rain and the funk of an odor that reminded me of what a landfill smelled like. The stench, lingering on the breeze, left me lightheaded. Queasy chills ran rampant under my clammy skin. I pressed my hand over my nose, but it was useless. I was just going to have to get used to it.
The carriage left the Field of Yesterday behind as it slipped into a thick of trees on the outskirts of the city. The road was long and winding, twisting with difficulty upward through the black mountain. The trees on either side gave way to a wall of slate rock, soft like chalk but strong like stone, until many twists and turns later, the trees returned and the carriage stopped in an opening. Fiedel City up close looked no less wicked than from afar, only bigger and busier with people bustling around in old, dirty hooded robes.
Tsaeb and I got out of the carriage.
I
Blood spilled down Tsaeb’s face and eyes, now black like shiny marbles. He hissed and growled behind fanged yellow teeth and reptile-like skin. I drew back, pushing my way through many obstructions, falling over and against an old broken lantern. I was too terrified to notice the little shard of glass prick me on the elbow.
Gorg peered inside with wide eyes. The horses whinnied and kicked, causing the carriage to jolt and stop abruptly. Many of Gorg’s rusty belongings tumbled from the carriage and into the field.
“Whoa, boys! Calm down thur!”
Tsaeb cracked his neck to both sides, approaching me.
“I can’t kill you,” he began with a low, guttural growl, “but the Devil never said I couldn’t hurt you.”
I put out my hands. “I’m sorry... what the fuc ....”
Suddenly, the door swung open, smashing into the side of the carriage. Gorg stood there disapprovingly, hands on his hips.
“Yer scarin’ my damn horses, y’shit!” He grabbed Tsaeb by the back of his shirt and dragged him off the carriage and into the field. “Either you’s tame yerself, or walk!”
Tsaeb grunted and mumbled something inaudible under his breath.
“So, wut’s it gonna be?” Gorg demanded, one foot tapping the ground.
“You’re the driver,” Tsaeb forcefully replied.
Gorg nodded and went to his horses, patting them on their thick, muscled necks to soothe them. Tsaeb shifted back into his child form before stepping back inside with me. I was in that body cast again, forgetting how to move anything but my eyes.
Tsaeb kneeled in front of me and I could feel his hot, rancid breath on my face.
“My mother tried to strangle me with my own cord when I was born.” I listened with great interest hidden behind a petrified expression. “Punch me, kick me in the nuts, stab me even, but never touch my throat.”
He glared forebodingly at me and then moved to his bag of stolen riches. I sat in the same spot until the sixth day arrived and signs of life beckoned in the distance. We never did face field bandits, and the Field of Yesterday did not take my mind. But in that six days at the center of the dead world, I came to realize that this was no game. This task I had been sent on was a serious matter.
I just needed to know what the hell it was.
The towers of Fiedel City grew upward on the horizon. A strangely wicked-looking place from afar, with scaling gray towers shaped more like stalagmites than buildings, and hundreds of carved-out windows and doors. Tiny torch fires and lanterns dotted the streets and moved in scattered formations throughout the city and the great black mountain from which the city had been carved. Plumes of smoke rose high above many cottages and storehouses, taverns and whorehouses. The moon was enormous in the background behind the mountain as though the Earth was only a few thousand miles away. It was dark like coal and lacked the familiar craters shown in science books. This moon was oddly porous, looming and fraught with frightening memories.
The air was sticky with humidity and smelled of a coming rain and the funk of an odor that reminded me of what a landfill smelled like. The stench, lingering on the breeze, left me lightheaded. Queasy chills ran rampant under my clammy skin. I pressed my hand over my nose, but it was useless. I was just going to have to get used to it.
The carriage left the Field of Yesterday behind as it slipped into a thick of trees on the outskirts of the city. The road was long and winding, twisting with difficulty upward through the black mountain. The trees on either side gave way to a wall of slate rock, soft like chalk but strong like stone, until many twists and turns later, the trees returned and the carriage stopped in an opening. Fiedel City up close looked no less wicked than from afar, only bigger and busier with people bustling around in old, dirty hooded robes.
Tsaeb and I got out of the carriage.
I
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