Great Vine

By Dylan Parker

Part Three: Deep Dive

Chapter Fifteen – Horrors

Within an hour, Alistair, Robert, Flem, and Michelle had left the small nook in the seemingly endless ravine that created a path for the Red River and were headed still farther away from the place where they had landed, back when Eternity’s End was stolen. About every hundred yards or so was another body. Whatever this place was, Robert was beginning to notice something.

No one was White. He also noticed that none of them had blond hair either, or blue eyes. Robert couldn’t quite place why he remembered this when he saw something that reminded him.

“What the hell is that?” Flem asked, pointing down the ravine at a flat wall that had come into view about ten minutes previous. Robert could see what it was clearly, he was sure that he was not the only one, but he didn’t want to be the one to say it.

He saw that Flem and the others were all watching it, wondering how it was created, and why. Only god would know, or maybe the person who made it, or maybe Alistair.

“That is a Swastika,” Alistair said without emotion, as if he didn’t remember it, “You will recall a certain man named Adolf Hitler. That is his sign.”

“I figured as much,” Flem retorted, “I was wondering about why it is here.”

Alistair was right, of course. The Swastika was the world-wide known sign of Adolf Hitler, commonly known as Hitler, or the starter of World War II. He had gone around all across Europe and slaughtered all the Jews and anyone who didn’t have blonde hair and blue eyes. American became involved after Pearl Harbor when Japan attacked a US Naval base on Hawaii. Nowadays, a Swastika would scare or intimidate most people. This was one example of a Swastika that would sadden, sicken, intimidate, and scare most people.

“Oh my god…” was all Michelle could get out. Robert attempted to say something but was lost in his thoughts and couldn’t get out more than a grunt.

This Swastika was something that was just wrong, something that shouldn’t exist. It was about twenty feet in width and about the same in height. The wall that it was on was a very dark blue, but below the Swastika it was dyed a permanent light red. That might have been created from it being there for years, and from what the Swastika was made out of.

It was made from humans. Human bodies had been placed up against the wall and nailed up there into the shape of a Swastika. The very lowest layer of bodies was all skeletons, but the highest layer, the most visible, was fresh. And it was still bleeding. Michelle turned to the side and turned over her lunch next to the Red River.

“You needn’t worry, there is no ethnic cleansing going on here. It is merely something to scare foreigners.”

“If we are foreigners, then there are people down here?” Flem asked. Robert watched Alistair as he thought about it before answering: “Of course. This will be the last of the horrors you will see before you enter Hell.”

Robert was a bit surprised by that last statement, entering Hell, but was more curious about the Swastika being the last “horror”.

“The last horror? What is that supposed to mean?” Robert asked. It seemed that Flem and Michelle were more worried about entering Hell, but Robert was far too curious.

“It means that once we pass this, we will enter Civilization and leave Horrors behind.” Alistair said flatly, not looking back.

“Okay, that was vague.” Michelle said, quite possibly trying to be a bitch in the way she said it.

“What is Civilization, and Horrors?” Flem asked, stopping Alistair in his tracks.

“I assumed you knew,” Alistair said, “And you were coming here to see Civilization, as you had heard of it.” When he saw the others confused faces he added, “Well that explains why you are so freaked out, and why you don’t have any sapphires.”

“What?” Robert asked, he was so confused he couldn’t think straight. Why would he have jumped down a hole in the ground to visit a place called Civilization or Horrors, even though he had never heard of them? Also, what was Alistair talking about when he said that explained them having no sapphires?

“Civilization, you’ll see it soon enough. Before we go there, though, you should take some money. And some sapphires.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small string tied bag. He undid the tie and took out four thumb-sized clear-blue stones and handed one to each person, keeping one for him. It seemed that those four stones could not have fit in that bag, he felt there was no possible way.

“Alright, these gems will allow you to see Civilization when we reach it,” Alistair began, “I will tell you when we are about to reach it and you must only look through the gem once in that direction. After that, your eyes will adjust to the light and energy of Civilization and you will see it as long as we are down here. As for what Civilization is, that is hard to explain. You will just have to see for yourself.”

Robert looked at his gem and thought it was a beautiful thing. He wondered how it would possibly help him see things, he thought it might have to do with the blue color of the thing, but it was only a theory.

“Now,” Alistair continued, “in order to obtain anything in Civilization, you will need money. The money in Civilization is called ‘Peris’. I will give you all some money, use it wisely.”

He reached his hand back into his bag and took out some “Peris”, and gave a small handful to each person. The Peris was a small silver coin with runes around the outside and had three tiny triangles pointing out away from each other cut out of the center.

Robert looked to his partners. Michelle had been holding Ravager’s Wraith in its sheath up until now but when the conversation began, she had set it down on the ground behind her. Flem held nothing but had kept his fists clenched and stayed near Alistair just in case, he still didn’t trust him.

After Robert told Alistair that he was a Johnson, Alistair had told them to follow and simply said, “I am going to take you to a place that you will love. It is the lat of society you will see for a while.” Apparently he had been talking about Civilization. Before they left, Robert grabbed the blade that Alistair had, Infinity’s Birth, and now had it belted on him in it’s sheathe.

“Something cool about silver is that it is affected by magic, unlike most other materials. This means that when we are here, you see Peris, when we are in Hell, you will see ‘Hellian’, the same as Peris but different looking and only good in Hell. On earth, you will see a simple round coin. Some others that are affected by magic are titanium, steel, and most gems. Mist, sound waves, electricity, and water are affected as well, there are more, but I can’t remember. Oh wait; fire, though it hasn’t been utilized in over two-thousand years.

The last person to meld fire, a term used to say magic, was a certain Archimedes. He was destroyed by a rival inventor long ago, though. I believe melding silver is the first thing a magician is taught, then water, and then maybe titanium, I can’t really say.” Alistair continued, starting to walk forward and the other three following him:

“You see, your coming did more than what you can comprehend. If you didn’t notice, when Michelle touched that blade, Ravager’s Wraith,”-He pointed at the sword lying on the ground-“Flames sprouted up all around Horrors for a few moments.”

Robert didn’t remember that, but that may have been because he was in witch Michelle.

“I haven’t been to Civilization for a good twenty years. You will be lucky to see it before your inevitable demise. Twenty years ago, when I saw Civilization for the first time, was the last time a living human has gone there. You will be the first in a long time.”

Robert considered that. If Civilization, whatever it was, hadn’t seen a human in twenty years, or fire in over two-thousand, then maybe their coming would be very interesting.

“Furthermore, a member of the Johnson family hasn’t seen Civilization since…” He thought about it for a long time, “I believe since Pleng, Pleng Johnson.”

What? How could no Johnson have seen Civilization since then? Robert knew that Rene, Kael, Jacob, and Keira Johnson had all died before this moment in time. Had they all gone to Hell?

“But, my Brother, Sister, Mother, and Father died. Where are they?” Robert begged. Alistair just kept walking and, without looking back, said: “I do not know. I believe that the Gatekeeper will know, though.”

He looked back slowly and, noticing their confused faces, added: “There are many jobs in Civilization. I chose to be Swordwatcher; I know that there is a man named Keymaster, a woman named Gatekeeper, a man and a woman named Civilized Queen and Civilized King, and a man named Warmonger, and a creature called Slaughterbeast. There are more, but I have only met those.

“In order for Civilization to keep running, they have established nine positions of power, Swordwatcher, Keymaster, Gatekeeper, Warmonger, Slaughterbeast, Warden, Civilized King, Civilized Queen, Guidewalker, and Mageking. Each role is integral to the survival of this beautiful place!”

Robert looked around and noticed nothing as Alistair spread his arms wide as if to take in everything before him. Then he remembered what Alistair had said:

“I will tell you when we are about to reach it and you must only look through the gem once in that direction. After that, your eyes will adjust to the light and energy of Civilization and you will see it as long as we are down here”.

Robert took out the sapphire and looked through it in the direction that Alistair was facing. What he saw was purely breathtaking.

When he saw Civilization, New York was the first thing to come to mind, only bigger. Civilization had the huge, amazing skyscrapers, like New York, but almost all of them were connected. Long skyways, roads, went between the towers. Robert could see some kind of floating vehicles going along them. Civilization stretched farther than the eye can see, even though it was below the.

From where he was, he could clearly point out the business district, because of the many shops, the Suburbs, because of the sheer number of houses, and the center of the city, where a grand, ancient castle dwelled. He assumed the King and Queen lived there. The Civilized King and Queen, Alistair had called them.

Most of the buildings were of a grayish stone that was far different from the glass and metal and steel of New York and Great Vine. He could see horses down there, an extreme oddity. He thought that if he saw some people from up where he was, and noticed that they appeared to have swords belted on their hips, but he may have been hallucinating. He hadn’t eaten in who knows how long. His last meal was before Michelle, Leah, and he had attacked the high school auditorium.

Robert noticed something about this place that troubled him. Since he had fallen into the hole after Eternity’s End, he hadn’t seen any of the beast and monsters he had dealt with everywhere else. If none were in this place, then were they all on Earth, namely Great Vine and New York, or were they hidden here, or in Hell? He had no way of knowing as of yet, but planned to find out. If he had a chance to speak with the Civilized King and Queen, he would ask them.

“Wow,” Was all Robert could get out at first, but was able to add after a few moments, “The crystal, the Sapphires!”

Flem and Michelle did the same he did and stood in awe for a few moments before turning to Alistair, they had questions.

“I’m sure a million questions have just come to mind, but first, we must go to the palace and inform the Civilized King and Queen of your arrival, I’m sure they will be pleased.” He gestured at the huge castle, “We will probably be allowed to stay the night there, and all the citizens of Civilization will be ecstatic for your arrival and very willing to let you stay with them. That is the best of the many places that may be offered to us, it will be the first we try.”

Alistair began his long descent down the hill, and the other three followed. Within the next hour, they had reached the gates of Civilization. It was like an ancient gate into cities, Lord of the Rings and other fantasy novels he had read came to mind. The towers and turrets were armed with men at the top. Men with bows. And arrows. Robert had never seen a bow like that one, an ancient one like all those old movies, but they frightened him a bit.

Between every other pair of archers, was a brazier. Robert didn’t know the name of them at that point, but would later learn that they were called braziers. A brazier was something that looked like a fire pit; it had long metal legs and a bowl of firewood that was ablaze. Four smaller tubes were stationed around the sides of the brazier, filled with oil. A few arrows were in each. In total, they were all maybe four feet tall.

The braziers appeared to be used to light arrows aflame and fire them at the enemy. That was a bit of a nasty touch for Robert and the others to see, knowing that the men could fire flaming shafts of wood at them, tipped with metal points that could pierce through flesh. That would not be fun.

There were also a few men with spears standing in pairs by each tower, inside and outside the city of Civilization. All the men wore the same clothes. The spearmen all wore thick black iron helmets, trimmed along the outside with light green, like grass. The archers wore helmets that looked the same, except for the fact that they were only leather. The men wore armor that were black and trimmed with light green, again, the archer’s were leather, and the spearmen’s were steel and iron.

“Halt!” called the first spearman, standing beside the left gate tower, “State your name, occupation or business, and reason for being here.”

Alistair leaned into a huddle with the others and said: “Alright, Flem and Robert, just say your real names, you being an Anderson and a Johnson is your business, and your reason for being here is to meet the Civilized King and Queen.” He looked over to Michelle.

“You are Leah Smith, you own a shop called ‘The New World’, and your reason is to check on your business, you have been gone for some time, visiting Earth.” When hearing that, Robert wondering if it could actually be true. He knew very little about Leah but that seemed way too farfetched. He knew that the others were thinking of just the same thing.

Alistair turned first and faced the man, “Fen, you know me!” he said to the man who had addressed them.

“Rules are rules.” Fen replied.

“Fine. Alistair Anderson, Swordwatcher, missed the city.” Alistair said dully. Fen laughed for a moment before saying: “Yeah, you’re free to go. Who’s next!?” The gate was opened by the four spearmen on the other side and Alistair walked in, the gate being shut behind him.

Robert walked forward, “My name is Robert Johnson.” He heard a gasp from almost all the men, atop the walls and on the ground, “My business lies in my name, and I have come to see the Civilized King and Queen, along with seeing the city of Civilization for the first time.”

The men stood in awe with their jaws barely able to hold up to their faces when Fen said, “Go in.” The gate opened up and Robert did the same as Alistair had, turning to watch the goings-ons behind the gate.

Flem was the next to go. Fen asked him to state his name, occupation or business, and his reason for entering the city.

“My name is Rylee Anderson, though I go by Flem. I believe you know my business, and I have come for the same reason as my companion, Robert.” This brought nearly as many gasps as when Robert walked in. Apparently seeing a Johnson was stranger than seeing an Anderson, though Andersons were rare as well.

The man let Flem pass and Michelle took her turn. She stepped forward and did something no one expected.

“My name is Michelle-” She was about to say Doomhart when Alistair interrupted her by coughing horribly. Robert didn’t know if it was on purpose or accident. He took the opportunity and stared at Michelle.

Everyone was watching Alistair while Robert mouthed, “No!” and shook his head. When Alistair stopped coughing and the others looked back at Michelle, she improvised.

“My name is Micha Smith, I don’t own a business here, but I work for my sister. Her name is Leah Smith, she owns that shop, The New World, you may have seen it?”

“I can’t say I have, go ahead then.”

“Umm, okay. I have come to see my sister. I left in order to visit Earth for a time.” The man walked over to the wall of the tower gate and press in a brick. A large section of wall turned around itself and a computer with a full keyboard was revealed. And not an old computer like expected, but a brand-new, Dell ThinkPad computer with wireless optical mouse. It seemed so out of place like the strange flying cars that Robert almost screamed out.

He appeared to type in Michelle’s, or Micha’s name, but Robert had a bad vantage point and could not be one-hundred percent sure of anything, especially here. Fen saw what came up then looked up at Michelle, frustrated.

“It appears your name is not in the system.” Fen said. Alistair moved over to him and whispered something in Fen’s ear; Robert had the sneaking suspicion that he dropped a few Peris on the keyboard in front of Fen before he moved away.

“Oh wait, here it is!” Fen said, closing the window that he had opened, “Go ahead in.” He waved towards the other spearmen and the gate opened for the fourth time, permitting Michelle, also known as Micha, entrance.

“That was close,” she whispered as they headed into Civilization, “Really sorry about that.”

Alistair just kept walking, a fire of hate sparking ever brighter in his heart.