The Equinox Saga, II: Examination

[T@rget]

Chapter One
So here it is. I have finally found the lighthouse with that cliff in the background. I never thought it would take me three years to find it. Not at least after I found it in the registry of old lighthouses. Someone should tell them that their database is wrong. Then again if anything that the last three years has taught me is that “The Black Strings” has their hands in EVERYTHING!

Over the last three years since that fateful day that he screwed up those hags plans, he has learned a lot. He has learned that the group from which he took the scepter is just a small group of a much larger cabal. The Shriners, the Masons, the Illuminati, just about any covert and secret organization any one is a part of has members in “The Black Strings”: luckily for Keiku he as been able to stay ahead of their hounds.

Over the years he also has learned a great deal about the scepter. First it is not from what Keiku knows as the ‘real’ world. Second it has done some amazing things, it is alive, which has saved his bacon on many occasions; though he is never been very clear as to how it did those amazing things, it all seemed like luck to him. Third he can not talk to it but it has sometimes been able to make what it wanted known, mostly by shoving improbable situations on him.

During the intervening years he has found several object of power that could be joined to his crucifix. As it turns out the bejeweled cross is some type of an energy source or it can tap into energy; Keiku did not care which it was.

One of those objects, or artifacts, was a rope with a handle. When the crucifix was joined to the handle the rope came alive and obeyed the wielder’s command. It could grow or shrink if needed. He used it to escape from the roof a building, one of many on a compound but hooking on to another building and swing to the next.

On a rare occasion he joined the scepter and the crucifix. That was the time when he was in the most trouble. It was then strange thing happened, strange even for a nomad. Things would fall that were securely fastened; always on top of the head of the person that was chasing him. Brakes suddenly locking up just before a bus run a red light; the car chasing did not stop and thus got smashed by the bus. And other things like that.

The fist time he tried to find the place he was lead astray. He later checked back, thinking some thing wrong, and puzzled out that it might be some where different. With the new information in his had he tracked that down two weeks later. And again he was disappointed. So failing a second time he made a list of all possible sites for his mysterious lighthouse, 381 in all.

Three years later, 204 in to the list he found the exact lighthouse. When he started he found it strange that the first and most definite of all turned out to be a dud. Now he looks back on those years and sees the hands pulling the strings, the black strings, to keep him away.

With a laugh he starts out to first investigate the Lighthouse, since it is meant to be the most prominent thing in the picture: though to his mind it is the women that he thinks as The Queen which dominates the picture.

He takes out the picture. By now it is old, with many seams or folds. He has made other picture form the original. One a blow up or the cliff face with the railing: one of the lighthouse: then one if the woman, well many of the woman. But he has all ways kept the original. Just something about the it held him

Maybe I can find out about why I need to find this place. And finally find her. Who knows I might find that elf?

This post has been edited by T@rget on Sep 8 2006, 05:00 PM

[T@rget]

Chapter Two
Well now I get to see if it is the lighthouse that has compelled me. It feels that way. But it may just be the place, this particular angle. I know I have to find her. Some how she is in danger. If I can just find her, maybe I can help. I hope I can.

Before he sets out to climb the cliff he sits on the stump, which The Queen is sitting on in the picture, to enjoy a beer. Right away he can feel his connection to her increase in strength. She was here. But then that is not it, she was here or she will be here. It is all to confusing so he just enjoys the beer. After he is finished he walks over to a waterfall that does not show up in the picture so that he can place the five pack. The water will keep it cold until he returns.

There are stairs carved in to the cliff face. He takes the set that leads to the lighthouse on top of the cliff. The other set lead to a cave, this has the railing pictured. It is a long, steep climb. It takes some hours because of all the algae. Each step has a coagulate mass, making the going treacherous.

When he gets there he is disappointed, though he can’t really think why. In truth he was not sure of what he was going to find. Now that his is sanding in front of what took three years to find he is disappointed.

It is in a state of utter disrepair. The feeling of age presses on Keiku. Age and many years of unuse. The door does stand barring the way inside but all it takes is a boot and the worm eaten door splinters. He thinks to himself that he should be extra careful. If the wood floors are as bad as the wood door, then he will find himself punching a hole in the floor, falling and breaking several bones.

He decides to search the top first, then the bottom and last of all the ground floor. He finds nothing at the top of a rickety staircase. He heads down in to basement: this turns up what, he is sure, he needs to find. Quickly he leaves.

Out side he examines what he found. It is a cross that is made out of the same dark metal of the dagger he took form the hags, the one he kept. It has five places to join his crucifix to. One dead center, a line extends out from the center. On the edge of the cross are small square holes.

“Later.” Keiku puts in to his warded cloak.

He climbs down to the base of the cliff. He checks the boat is still tied to the rocky outcropping. He does not want to have to swim back to the main land. The water around the island is very cold not to mention rough; if he didnt freeze first then he would be dashed on the jagged rock in mere moments.

The only thing left to do is climb the other set of stairs to the cave. First he gets another beer. A chilly autumn wind picks up. It makes him glad that he has his cloak. One thing that he whishes, is that he would have learned to drink beer warm. Cold drinks on a chilly day does not help staying warm.

He climbs to the cave.

He has no warning. As soon as he sets foot into the cave he feels some thing shift. It is almost like when the hags joined the glass dish to his crucifix. Almost. There is not nausea now just a shifting. For some reason he cannot control his feet. He walks on, deeper into the cave. He pulls the scepter out of his warded cloak, then snaps the leather strip that is holding the crucifix around his neck.

It is a trap and I walked right in to it. Wow, how stupid am I? The only thing I can hope now is if can join them together. Hope the scepter will save itself an me in the process. I really should find you how it works.

This post has been edited by T@rget on Nov 4 2006, 02:57 AM

[T@rget]

Chapter Three
Come on. Fit. Come together. Work, you piece of junk; I know that you’re alive. I’ve seen you do things. Do something. Okay, that’s not working. I have to get out of this trap, somehow. Will you stupid legs stop walking?

Keiku did stop. There is some thing wrong with his body. He can tell that his brain is working as fast as ever but there seems to be a lag from feeling/controlling his body. He tests this. Right hand move to grab the dagger: move, come one move! The right hand does nothing. Then it starts to twitch. As the elbow bends he hand twitches. Just before his hand gets to the hilt it closes, as if it takes hold. It pulls away pointing the dagger, which is still in the scabbard, away from his body.

For a second his hand convinces his brain that it is holding the weight of that dark metal dagger. His eyes tell him different. This time he set his hand to move, pulling the dagger, and waits. Three seconds later his right hand is successful. In his right is the dark metal dagger; in his left is the scepter. Not knowing what to do next he waits, hoping the scepter will start doing it thing.

Nothing happens. The shifting effect does not go away.

Then a sound comes to his ears. It starts out as a low hum. Seconds later it increase in volume and pitch. All around him he sees streaks of either yellow or black. The sound is coming from these streaks. They are all coming from deeper in the cave; heading out. Panic grips Keiku’s mind, he can’t tell what those thing are but they are small and moving fast, to fast to deal with.

He tries to turn and run. Nothing. Again he turns to run. He tries again and again. Still nothing. Then his whole body convulses, every muscle twitches: he falls. For some reason he can count the seconds before he hits the ground. Still his body is wracked by convulsions. The only thing he can do is wait.

One of the streaks lands on his hand. He can now see that it is a bee. The other yellow or black blurs must be a swarm. The bee rears up and plunges it stinger into the back of his hand. Seconds pass and then he feels the sting. He can see it fall to the ground, when it is the merest fraction away from his hand it goes back to being a blur. That is until it hits the floor. Once it does he can clearly make it out.

With the swarm moving so much faster then him Keiku decides to leave. He turns to leave. He waits. Seconds later he does. Then runs into some thing solid, which does not look as if it is there. He is stopped, he feels the pain of his nose getting crushed but this time it takes longer for him to feel it.

The scepter is on the other side of the barrier.

Whenever he moves the time in between his brain sending the impulse and his muscles actually move is increasing. This is a efficient trap. But he still can’t give up. Then he sees some one else moving. This other person is a blur. He reaches out with his hand. Some how he still has the dagger in his right hand.

The other person does not know that he is there, so when his left hand closes on the shoulder of the other Keiku finds himself facing a very startled woman. She lashes out with a knife. The knife cause Keiku to releases her. Immediately she blurs again. But seconds later she falls.

Finally when she comes to a halt Keiku notices that what fell was not alive. In fact the body is in an advanced state of decay. Even the clothes she wore are rotted.

How do I get out of this trap? Was this just for me? Did they know that I would be coming here? Well I won't let them kill me, not yet.

This post has been edited by T@rget on Jan 18 2007, 12:18 AM

[T@rget]

Chapter Four
Think, man, think. How do I get out of this? If only you worked; stupid scepter why do you have to choose when to work and when not to. I have to get out of this myself. Well since the barrier won’t let me go back I guess I have to move forward. I just hope that what ever controls this trap are on this side of the barrier.

Keiku wills his legs to move forward. The he waits. The longer it takes, the more he wants to move his legs again but he doesn't want to go down in a twitching mass again so he waits. Deeper in the cave he goes looking for any thing out of the ordinary.

Behind him there is a load booming crash. Well to his ears, it is more a booming whining crash. It sounds like the ricochet of many bullets. Keiku throws himself forward. It is a full five minutes before he hits the ground. As he does the light cuts out behind him.

“Just great!”

The scepter and his crucifix are buried under tons of rock. He is in some type of time trap, stuck like a fly in honey. There is not much worse that he can be in. Then he feels it. A stabbing pain in his left shoulder.

He moves his head to look. He waits for his body to comply. It is his crucifix, it is impaled a ¼ inch in to his shoulder. Slowly he pulls it out. Very slowly indeed considering the time dilatation. The jewels make extracting it harder then it would be. Though not barbs, them make pulling it out a torturous affair.

Right as he gets it out of his shoulder, it is as if a bubble pops all around him. His stomachs twist. It’s almost as if he is at the top of the largest roller coaster’s hill and the car crested the hill then dropped with out any warning. The feeling passing swiftly.

“Now to get out of this place.”

Cut off from all light he has to rummage in his cloak. Quickly he finds what he is looking for. His mini-flashlight. With a twist he turns it on. Using the light he finds the flask he wants. Liquid fire. All around the cave is littered bones. He selects one of the longest. From the skeleton of the woman he pulls the remainder of the rotted cloth.

Firmly he wraps the cloth at the end of the bone and douses the tip of his torch. Instantly it burst into flames. The liquid fire has several unusual properties, the first and the most useful is that it slowly consumes what ever it is doused with minimal oxygen. This way he can save his flashlight for emergencies. The second is that it is not extinguished easily. You have to totally submerge it in water for the fire to go out, even then when you take it out of the water the fire will start up.

He sets the torch down so that he can cork the flask. This he puts back in its place. That done he grabs the torch to examine the rockslide. The rock looks old; there are not rough edges like he first thought there should be. After all when a rock breaks, it has sharp-edges. These are smooth.

He grabs a far size rock and drops it off to the side laughing to himself saying, ‘one rock.’ He grabs another, ‘two rocks’. Periodically he stops to rest.

So now that the time trap has stopped, the only thing that is keeping you from getting that Double-Double is these rocks. That’s all. If I ever find that scepter again I will buy it a nice caring case. Something leather. Something with a padded in compartment. It will be fitted of coarse. Satin lining I think. That is if the rocks didn't grind it to powder.

This post has been edited by T@rget on Jan 17 2007, 11:40 PM

[T@rget]

Chapter Five
What chanteys do I know? Well there is that one that that old salty taught. I just wish I had work gloves. There is no way I am going to use my warded lambskin gloves on this stuff. Whoa! What? Water and its salty. How could that get in here? How can it be coming from behind me?

Cold water is slowly rising. Keiku could tell that that it is raising, heading away from the entrance. This is puzzling because he knows that the ocean is on the other side of the rubble wall; what is more confusing it that entrance is at least 70 feet above the highest tide. Sure the cave slopes down but he could not gone more then 16 feet at most.

The rising water stops when it gets to be three feet. Through the near freezing water he works. Soon enough he has a nice pile of rocks to stand on so that he does not have to work while standing the cold water. But that does help him now. He is soaked with salt water. He is splattered with mud. Even so he just can’t give up.

He uses the bones occasionally for prying. Bones being as strong as they are, can’t be used to move the really heavy boulders. These he under cuts by shifting the smaller ones underneath. The hours wend on. The air does not go stale, this he takes as a good sign; at least he won’t suffocate, small comfort that.

The tide recedes. Thirst pushes Keiku after the salt water. He can’t drink much of it but he needs water. Along the way he finds many blind crabs. This above all is disturbing.

“Just how long does it take crabs to evolve away eyes?”

The crabs are an easy catch. Even if the were cooked Keiku thinks that they would not be tasty. The tide retreats five more feet. The down slope of the cave is gentle. It takes 20 or so feet to reach the final low tide mark. There are many other tunnels to this cave system.

“Finally some GOOD news!”

This is good news but this presents its own set of problems. The first branching is at least six feet under the high tide mark. Yes the tide comes in and goes out slowly but it is so easy to get lost here he could find him self cut off from the cave in.

If there is no way to get out, that is other then the way now blocked by the cave-in, then getting lost and then being cut off by ice cold salt water at a depth of six feet and God only knows how long of a run is not something Keiku wishes to face. So he sets back to the slide. All the way back his mind works on the problem.

The thoughts are sluggish in coming. He has been working for some thing like 13 hours. He can’t be sure. His watch has stopped working. Besides his hands are a mass of bruises, welts, blisters, and all around pain: even so he can’t stop now. He has to make a bed higher then the high tide line. He selects the ‘softest’ stones. After that he packs the mound with mud.

It is wet. It is cold. It is hard. He falls asleep instantly.

The next day, HA!, he wakes up the sorest he has ever been in his life. It does nothing for his mood. He shreds his damp shirt so he can make wrapping for his poor, tortured hands; in one of these he takes out of its sheath the dark metal dagger, he sets off. That hardly matters.

Water! I have to find fresh. If I don’t… Well there certainly are enough crabs around. I am so glad I have survival knife. Does it have a fishing line? A hook? Ha ha. I know it has matches. I would trade all the things I have socked away, hell every thing I own for a glass of water. No strike that; two bath tubs of FRESH, HOT water. One to soak in! And one to DRINK!

This post has been edited by T@rget on Apr 15 2007, 11:38 PM

[T@rget]

Chapter Six
I need to mark the passages I use. Well I guess I can scrap of some of the barnacle in an arrow pointing back to the slide. It’s a good thing that this Darkmetal dagger does not go dull. Well hand you have some more work to do. Ha. It’s a good thing you can rebel against me.

He stares at his trembling hands. Images com unbidden to his mind; the hand holding the Darkmetal blade lopping off the other: while vital blood gushes out of the cleanly severed wrist the dismembered hand grabs the dagger. This time instead of one quick slicing motion, the hand has to use sawing motions. It does not have the leverage the right hand had, being attached to the arm.

Keiku shook his head, violently, to clear that image.

“No cracking up old bean!”

He has no idea when he picked up that piece of speech. Well now that he is considering it, it probably came from when he spent that time in England, tracking the lighthouse: this line of thought lead to thoughts of Ellouria, that exotic beauty with a very heavy Welsh accent, traveling with him for two years. Two years of near bliss and 24 hour of gut wrenching heart ache.

Keiku the nomad: Keiku the wander, never having a home. Keiku and Ellouria, where ever they went it seem like home to Keiku. When she left, Keiku set again to wander.

“No! That part of my life is dead, gone. It’s no more. She’s…” but he did not want to finish that thought so he set to carve a crude arrow.

He moves on.

For many hours he explores the first passage. This leads to many other dead ends. At the entrance to each dead end he scratches of the arrow. The trip is not with out profit. Captured in these ends are bits of drift wood and curiously a long strip of leather. With the doused rag wrapped around the bone burning up the longest chunks of driftwood he uses as a replacement torch.

For hours all he heard was the scuttling of crabs and his own shuffling feet, but then he hears something else…

“Oooohhhh you beautiful sound where are you coming form?”

It is the unmistakable plop of a water drop hitting a pool of water. It’s reasonable to conclude that the water drop is from a fresh water source, well to Keiku’s befuddle brain any way. It has to be dripping from the ceiling; the water recedes to slow to leave enough for a drop to form, so therefore it must be from a fresh water source

Well old son I think you have just heard your salvation. Now I just have to find it. Wait there it goes again. It is a slow drip. Well slow drip is no drip. I just have to wait to hear it again so that I can find it better. The echo in here does not help.

[T@rget]

Chapter Seven
Crap I have all ready been this way. Well the water is not that way. I’ll just have to pay more attention the where I hear it from. Have to sort out which one is a echo and which is not. There is it. That way. Come on water let me know where you are.

The echo is madding, One minute it sounds as if it is coming from the passage to the left, the next it sounds as if it is coming from straight ahead. To make it worse the tide is coming in. He is already cut off from the rockslide. But the promise of non-salty water is enough to keep him moving.

“Finally,” Keiku croaks.

Water is dripping from a stalactite. It is six foot long, hanging from the ceiling but it still does not reach the bottom of the floor; though it’s close only a mere foot from reaching it. Beneath it is a shallow pool of water. It is brackish but not completely undrinkable. When he drinks up the pool he licks the stalactite. It has a strong mineral taste but wet is wet.

Hours pass and Keiku has slaked is thirst. He has to leave, though begrudgingly, because the tide is up to his ankles. He marks the passages so the he can find it again. After a windy six feet the passage begins to rise sharply. He finds hope that this passage is might just open up to the outside world. But the hopes are dashed when he comes to a dead end.

“At least there’s wood here.”

Along the way he picked up many pieces of wood or other random bits of stuff. He had to take off his cloak so that he could haul he picked up. When he got to place where the water could not reach he dropped the pile of wood then he arranged a small pile for the fire. Even though he has a sizable pile of burnable stuff he decides keep it small.

The survival knife’s head will not unscrew. It is caked with salt. He has to strain to open it. He finally gets it open only to discover that the matches are useless. Not because of water getting to the space with the matches but because the tips disintegrated.

“Have to try some thing else.”

He strikes the stone floor with the Darkmetal dagger. It sparks but it does not catch. Again he tries but still the wood sits there not burning. Then he piles the dust that was the tips of he matches close to where he is going to strike. He places tinder close at hand. He strikes, the sparks land in the pile of sulfur, it flares, dropping the knife he grabs the tinder and at last it catches. He places the smoldering tinder in the larger pile he intends for the fire.

He lets out a large sigh. With a large grin he says, “I like fire!”

He has to fight the urge to pile on more fuel. He does not know how long it will be before he is able to get out. Having fuel for fire is more important than comfort at this time. It has been a long day he curls up next to the fire and drops off.

When he wakes up the fire is down to coals. These banks in to a pile. Carefully he ads more fuel. It is slow to catch because of the salt that is soaked into it. He finds stones to make a ring around the fire. He should have done this before but he was to tired. The stones will soak up the heat then reradiate it back later when the fire is low.

Now I can cook those crabs. That might help the taste. Maybe not. Well at least we can make it back to the water. Since I am up I might as well gather more fuel. And I can give my poor hands a brake. When the water recedes I’ll check on the slide.

This post has been edited by T@rget on Jun 6 2007, 03:42 PM

[T@rget]

Chapter Eight
Now for some ‘mineral water’, ha ha. I need to get out of here. There is just barely enough fresh water to keep me alive. The crabs though not very tasty give me enough food. But I need to get out of this cave. Maybe I can move some more of the slide, now that I have rested and have water.

He gets up to grab some crabs. Since they don’t know any predators it is an easy grab. He skewers on with his survival knife. Cooking makes them more edible, and just as he thought not that more tasty. Food is food. He checks his hands; many of the blisters have popped. Ever so carefully he rewraps them.

With a full belly he sets off to find the dripping stalactite. The pool under it is full with harsh salty seawater. He pushes it out so that the dripping water will fill the pool. Meanwhile he licks the wet surface.

With his thirst taken care of for now Keiku’s curiosity get the better of him. He set of to explore the branching tunnels, mostly because the water has not receded enough to make it back to the slide area. The area is littered with random piece of stuff that made it in to the cave, most of it burnable. He makes piles at forks in the path to grab when he heads back. After hours of searching he heads back to where he left his fire, with an enormous load of fuel.

The fire is down to coals. These he banks so that he can set fresh fuel to burn. With the tide coming in he curls up by the fire. More crab before bed, just to keep his strength up. The next two days he follows this pattern; wander the forking tunnels, collect fuel, explore and make a mental map of the cave structure. He did this to give his hands time to heal. Besides the rockslide might not be the only way out, well other then finding the vent in the rock that lets the tide come in. He has no intention of using that exit except as a last resort.

On the third day he woke up, not expecting anything more then mapping the cave system. One of the last forks he explored he came across a machine. It is not powered by any of the standard forms of energy. Keiku has enough experience to see that it is powered by an artifact, much like his crucifix. Though he can’t tell what that artifact is. He can tell that the machine is broken. A large chunk of rock has dropped into a set of gears.

“Okay so this is the machine that trapped me here.” He took out his crucifix and said, “Thank you for your help. I would have never found this in time.”

Piled in a corner is a random assortment of artifact-powered devices. None of these seem have a place to fit his artifact. Some fit what looks like a wand, or some type of stick, or they have a place for a circular disk. He goes back to check out the machine. Amongst the many gears, levers and rotating disks he sees the wand artifact. It takes some doing but he finally pries it out.

The wand is 7 inches long and just round enough to fit in a female’s hand comfortably. It looks like it is made out of wood. All along the wand are runes that are carved into the surface.

“Well I guess I need to test which of these would be helpful. Lets go back to camp my new friends.”

He takes a small amount of the devices back to camp to work out which one could help him out. He first tries a sphere but all it does is float chest high and emit light. Next he tries small statue, it uses the wand as a walking staff; his made his head ache. The last one he tired was a walking stick. There is nothing about this one that gave Keiku any warning. When he slotted the wand in the walking staff he looked it over. He found a small knot in the wood. He pressed it.

Suddenly a gout of blinding light leapt out of the end. This was accompanied by a loud roaring. Reflexively he dropped the walking stick. It is a good thing that he had it pointed the way he did. In the rock of the cave ceiling is a perfectly round hole, about the size of a saucer. Molten rock drops into the water. Ribbons of steam rise.

He smiles.

Well I think I can use this to get out. Now I just have to wait for the tide to pull back. So by this time tomorrow I will be breathing the fresh air of the coast.

This post has been edited by T@rget on Jun 8 2007, 07:32 PM