Pillar's Shadow, Page 3

4 Little does she dream

  The question dominated his mind for hours. It was a simple answer, he thought. He’d walked across the desert; he remembered riding the horse, remembered it dying and walking for hours through the hot sand. But he knew he had only walked a little over a day. How could that be? If Pillar’s shadow was so close to Bly and Canyon Land, why didn’t other people who ventured out into the desert end up there? Onyx said it had been years since an outsider had showed up, but Rhine knew that people frequently took day trips into the sand dunes, though it wasn’t advised.

  “Come on,” Onyx said, pushing Rhine’s much larger body from behind. It was then that Rhine truly realized how small Onyx was, a short and stick of a boy, though it also made him realize how strong the boy was. He would make a good bandit, Rhine thought. He laughed at how automated his thoughts were, how useless such thoughts had become. “It’s gonna start soon and we don’t want to miss the beginning. That’s the best part.”

  They weren’t the only one’s out, it seemed like the whole town was there, gathered on the largest sand dune that surrounded Pillar’s Shadow. They climbed up the dune and sat in the sand. Onyx kept his eyes drawn up to the sky in anticipation. He licked his lips, excitedly. Rhine leaned back, his hands crossed behind his head, lounging. He thought that either everyone there was crazy, or he was.

  Onyx turned around, watched as the sun shrunk down over the distant dunes. Darkness quickly came over the land. And then the stars came out. Distant blinks into light above a shadowed world within shadows. The formations were familiar to Rhine. Orion’s belt had always been his favorite, always been the easiest to find. And it made for a perfect map, mirroring the canyon that led to the hideout he’d lived in with the bandits. They often wondered how he was able to know how to get back, even in that special darkness that fills canyons in the dead of night.

  Onyx nudged his shoulder with an elbow. The boy looked excited, but a little scared. A few of the other people around also looked uneasy, shifting in the sand, keeping their eyes forward as if they were stuck that way. And then something happened that caused Rhine to wipe at his eyes. It can’t be, he thought, but it was. Around him, everyone’s eyes lit up, everyone gasped. Onyx smiled and said “I told you. Amazing. I told you this place is different.”

  Rhine stared at the blinding lights that broke from the infinite darkness above, as if the sun had returned and was heading straight for them. There were three of them, so bright you couldn’t look at them, and then the sounds came. Low and loud rumblings that shook the earth, and then the winds blew opposite their usual westward gusts, blowing sand straight into their faces.

  The lights grew brighter and brighter. Brilliant white and yellow light. Rhine saw that whatever it was, it wasn’t heading for them, it was heading for the top of the Pillar. The rays were blocked off by the top of the Pillar, leaving only a glow above them. It stayed there for nearly a minute, and then rose up again.

  The crowd seated around Rhine was silent and in a moment Rhine knew why they climbed the Pillar, they didn’t know what was happening and they wanted to. The lights shot up and disappeared into the night sky in an instant.

  “Onyx, how did you know that would happen? How could you have known?”

  Onyx shrugged. “It happens every night. Just like that.”

  Happens every night. Rhine suddenly knew exactly what the lights were. He had watched them almost every night since he was young, though never from that close. They were the mysterious lights in the distance, the one’s people travelled for miles to see, but no one understood. It appeared not even in Pillar’s Shadow, right at the base of the lights, were they understood.

  Slowly the crowd dispersed, shifting their feet down the dune, and disappearing into their homes. It was a tradition. He wondered if they watched them every night just like that, wondered how long those people had lived there and looked up with curiosity filling their minds.

  Rhine couldn’t sleep that night. He was tired, but the day had been too much. Too many unanswered questions, too much mystery, too much filling his mind to sleep. He rolled out from the bed and wandered out into the cool night air. Pillar’s Shadow was ghostly at night, with its empty streets and the glow from the moon radiating down on it.

  It was quiet except for the dunes. Wind blew sand over itself in gusts loud enough for Rhine to hear, and there was something else coming from the deep and distant desert, an occasional howl. Coyotes, Rhine thought, or possibly Wolves. He remembered going to Bly when he was young, remembered hearing stories about the dangers of the dunes, how few went in and came back out alive. He wondered again how he’d managed to make it across in one piece. Barely even a scratch.

  The desert was a magical sight at night and it occupied his mind with questions, but there was something else that ate at him with even more curiosity then how he’d manage to get there.

  He turned around, looked up at the massive rock, hoping to catch a faint glimpse of the top, but he couldn’t. The clouds were still there. It seemed odd, impossibly odd, but Rhine shrugged it off, knowing little about clouds and their behavior.

  He walked towards the Pillar, moving through the houses as quietly as he could. The last thing he wanted was for someone to see him. He felt on trial, even though it wasn’t as formal as all that, but he felt so anyway. Felt that all of his actions were being weighed to, in Onyx’s words, “find out if you’re crazy or not.” Rhine wondered if he was crazy, it was certainly possible. Many things had happened to him, many ideas had jumped into his mind since he’d been there, a good number of them seemed crazy.

  Rhine reached out and touched the rock face that was still warm from a day under the desert sun. He was surprised yet again by how steep it was, almost as if the rock had been measured and cut perfectly flat all the way up to the top of the Pillar. He decided to walk a ways along the Pillar, going right this time as opposed to the way he’d gone with Onyx earlier.

  He thought about Onyx, thought about the life those people had made for themselves in the middle of the desert. It was extraordinary beyond belief. The food, the water, everything. Onyx and Peleos were both right, Pillar’s Shadow was different somehow, much different than any place he’d ever been.

  When he rounded the Pillar and lost sight of the ghost town he dropped with his back against the rock, looked up at the shining stars. He needed a place to be alone with his thoughts, and he closed his eyes. The dark world had turned cold. Always the extreme; either too hot or too cold in the desert. There was only a short period of time between the two that was perfect.

  To keep warm, Rhine had covered his face and ears with his loose shirt; consequently, he didn’t hear the sound of something approaching him in the darkness from above.

  It started faint, then grew gradually louder. Shuffling against the rock as if some creature were moving towards him, waiting for the right moment to strike. Rhine heard nothing. As the sound went away, he thought he saw movement just down the rock. He jumped to his feet, took a few steps towards it.

  “Hello?” Rhine asked into the dark shadows of the Pillar. “Is someone there?”

  Rhine walked closer and closer until… he saw someone. A woman. She was bent over, with her back to Rhine, and working her hands inside a bag. All Rhine could see was her hair that was solid black.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” the woman said as she brought the bag up and over her shoulders. “They don’t want me talking to you.”

  Rhine looked at her confused, even more so by the fact that he felt like he knew her. Her voice was familiar. Why couldn’t they talk? Who wanted them to stay away from each other?

  “Because they think you’re trouble,” she replied, seeming to read his mind. She turned around and looked Rhine in the eyes. Instantly, he knew who she was. The woman who’d saved him, the one he’d been looking for all day. Her eyes glowed silvery brown in the moonlight. “Nobody from the outside world has come in a long time, longer than most can remember,” she co
ntinued. “You scare them. Some of them wanted me to put you back where I’d found you.”

  “Put me back? And leave me to die? Why would they want that?”

  “Because, what I did, it’s not something I’m supposed to do.”

  “You’re not supposed to help someone when they’re dying here?”

  “No. It’s not that.” She leaned over to him and quieted her voice. “You’re not supposed to wander outside Pillar’s Shadow. You’re not supposed to travel far into the sand dunes.”

  “You mean, you didn’t find me close by?”

  She smiled. “Pillar’s Shadow is surrounded by the dunes for a hundred miles. No, I didn’t find you close by. My guess was you had been forced to travel the dunes somehow. Or, that you were crazy. And now I’m fairly certain I know which one it is.”

  Rhine looked at her, worried. She broke into a soft laugh. Rhine couldn’t help but smile when he saw and heard her laugh. Her smile reminded him of a blooming Rose, a flower he’d rarely found in Canyon Land. Even in the dark he made out her figure. She was built like most everyone in Pillar’s Shadow, with a lean muscular body. Her skin looked dark, but lighter than Onyx’s, more the product of a lifetime of sun than a family trait. But it was hard to see her with just the light of the moon.

  He was finally getting answers. She had found him far from Pillar’s Shadow and brought him there. That was why he felt so uncomfortable in the town, and that was why they stared at him.

  “So, when I returned with you, most people didn’t know where I’d been. They assumed I’d found you nearby and I encouraged that story, but Peleos knew the truth right away. He knew there was no way you made it across the dunes in the condition you were in and without provisions.” She looked around them both as if looking for something. “I’m saying too much.” She started to walk along the Pillar, towards the town.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  “We’re not supposed to talk. He doesn’t want us to. I’ve got to go.”

  Rhine ran towards her. Just before reaching her she turned around abruptly.

  “We can’t-“

  “I know,” Rhine cut her off. “I heard you. I just have one more thing.”

  She sighed and looked around once again.

  “Thank you,” Rhine said with a smile.

  She nodded and disappeared back into the darkness.

  5 harbinger of light alike to mortals and immortals

  The next day Rhine met with Peleos again, and as before Peleos asked most of the questions. “Do you remember anything today?” “What do you think of Pillar’s Shadow?” “Can’t you tell me anything about your life before you came here?”

  Rhine got the feeling the old, gray-haired man didn’t believe his story. He thought he was trying to trick him into revealing something he’d rather not. He studied Rhine as if he were a creature from another World, a creature he couldn’t understand but wanted to. Finally, Rhine was able to ask questions of his own.

  “Who else wasn’t born here? Onyx told me I wasn’t the only one.”

  The old man leaned back comfortably in his chair. “And he also told you it’s been a long time since anyone came here, I assume?”

  Rhine nodded.

  “That’s true. It’s been many years. But you should know, those who have come from the outside world don’t wish to think of it. It’s a… distinction they don’t wish, a mark of difference. When new people come they always feel like outcasts, some even wish to leave, but I always try to convince them to stay, letting them know that things will change. And they stay, and things change. They have been here so long, they are one of us now, you understand?”

  Rhine nodded again. “Why can’t anyone leave?”

  “That’s nature’s law, not the Shadow’s. You can’t leave because it’s too far. You’d die before you even made it halfway across those endless dunes.”

  Rhine realized that Peleos had a smooth way of steering around a question. He knew that the old man was hiding something, that there were things he didn’t want Rhine to know. He thought that, if you planned it well, a group could trek across the dunes well enough. But, he assumed nobody ever wanted to leave because it was so much better there than anywhere he’d ever been before. He thought of the woman the previous night, wished he’d asked her name, thought about how she ventured out into the dunes even though she said it wasn’t allowed.

  “I made it across,” Rhine replied.

  The old man ran his wrinkly fingers through his beard. “Yes. You did. Amazing you made it so far. Truly amazing.”

  Rhine decided not to ask about the girl again. It was a topic he knew Peleos didn’t want to discuss. It seemed like every topic Rhine wanted to discuss the old man didn’t, like he was walking over a sea of hot coals each time they spoke.

  When Peleos lifted his hand and told Rhine to meet him there tomorrow, Rhine walked out through the black curtain. Each and every time he passed through the curtain he remembered what happened the first time he’d touched the dark fabric. He’d seen something he still couldn’t explain. Something frightening. It was the first clue he’d received that Pillar’s Shadow was no ordinary place, and it caused him to pause for an instant before he grabbed it every time he passed to and from the old man’s house.

  Onyx stood waiting for him as he came out.

  “Rhine!” he said enthusiastically, “come on. I’m taking you to see Brutus today. Did you eat yet? You look tired.”

  Rhine barely heard the words the young boy spoke. But he was hungry, so he walked over with Onyx to the food house and grabbed water and corn. There was also something else cooking, a smell that lit up Rhine’s taste buds and caused his mouth to water.

  “What’s that?” Rhine asked, looking around for the source of the smell. “That almost smells like…”

  He spotted it. A large slab of meet being cooked over an open fire. Rhine walked over to it with Onyx.

  “You didn’t tell me you had cattle here,” Rhine said, staring at the savory meat.

  Onyx shrugged. “We don’t have many. Just a few fenced in around the Pillar, over there.” He pointed towards the left side of the Pillar, beyond the rows of green corn stalks. “They’re mainly for the climbers anyway. They’re the ones that need the meat most. Especially today. Brutus told me there was going to be a trial tomorrow morning so the climbers need as much energy as they can. But we get some too from time to time.”

  Onyx asked the man rotating the meat on a stick over the fire if they could have a few pieces.

  The man shrugged. “Not my call. You can try coming back after its done cooking. Maybe then.”

  As they walked off towards the Pillar, Rhine asked Onyx what he meant when he said there would be a trial the following morning. Rhine suspected someone must have broken one of their laws or hurt someone else. He wondered what kind of crimes were committed in Pillar’s Shadow and how they were dealt with. His thoughts had jumped to the possibility that he might be the one on trial. Maybe he’d done something wrong going out at night and talking to the woman, or maybe Peleos had discovered who he was. What about the woman? She wasn’t allowed to go in the desert, but she did anyways. Maybe the Shadow was finally going to punish her. But it turned out that none of his guesses were right.

  “Brutus could tell you better than anyone,” Onyx replied. “He’s the head climber and the man I’m taking you to see now. He should be excited to see you. Maybe you could help them out, give them pointers from the outside World. That is, if you remember anything. Either way you look strong, they could use a guy like you.”

  Onyx led Rhine to the Pillar and they walked along it to the left, passing by the corn stalks and the mysterious water that flowed out of the rock, and later passing a wooden fence that created a square with one end of the pillar. Inside were the cattle and Onyx was right, there weren’t many. Rhine wondered how they acquired wood or bulls for that matter, but decided to hold off on the questions until after meeting the climbers,
whoever they were.

  Onyx led Rhine all the way to the other side of the Pillar, a place where the open desert swept right up to the base, and a place with nobody around. Nobody, that is, except the climbers. They were a band of probably ten men, ages ranging from nearly Onyx’s age to much older than Rhine. They were all lean and muscular and darkened by the desert sun. They climbed the walls quickly, climbed sideways, up and down. They were a loud bunch, with orders being barked constantly for them to “Climb faster!” “Keep your body closer to the wall!” and “Get a grip!”

  As they came closer, Rhine saw that most of the orders were coming from one of the men on the ground. He was taller than the rest of them, with veins sticking out of his arms and legs, and muscles that bulged out of his fingers and shoulders. Like most everyone in Pillar’s Shadow, he had jet black hair that curled and stubble across his face. He was aggressive and loud in a group of aggressive and loud men. As they approached, Rhine had no doubt as to who the man was.

  “Brutus!” Onyx yelled out as they walked into the group of men. “This is Rhine,” he pointed at Rhine and smiled. “He’s the one who came from across the desert.”

  Brutus ignored the boy, keeping his eyes on the two men climbing overhead, barking out orders. Onyx weaved in through the crowd and tugged at Brutus’s shirt. Brutus quickly turned around, ready for a fight.

  “It’s Rhine,” Onyx muttered. “Over there. He’s the one that came from the desert.”

  Brutus spit into the sand. He glanced over at Rhine who was standing just outside the group. “Someone came from the outside? Why should we care? We’re busy here boy, get lost.”

  He turned around, but Onyx persisted.

  “Maybe he can help you,” Onyx said. “Maybe he knows something about climbing.”

  Brutus didn’t turn around. He shook his head and yelled again for Onyx to get lost. He had important things to do and couldn’t waste any time.

  Frustrated, Onyx walked back through the group towards Rhine.

  “Don’t know what’s gotten into him,” he said as they walked off. “He’s usually nice to me. Says I’ll be a climber one day.”

  Rhine was about to ask him how Brutus had become the head climber, when a voice stopped them.

  “You! Outlander, come over here,” Brutus shouted with hostility at Rhine.

  Rhine turned and walked slowly towards the group. “My name is Rhine,” he shouted back, his voice more powerful than Brutus’.

  The climbers moved to make a path for Rhine to walk through. He moved with confident steps right up into the Brutus’ face. They were the same height, their eyes level with each other. Sweat glistened on Brutus’ forehead.

  “What is it you did in the outside World?” Brutus asked him.

  “I don’t remember.”

  Brutus laughed. “No one ever does, so I hear. Well, the boy here says you can help us. He says we should learn something from you.” He lifted his eyes. “Well? Teach us something then we don’t have all day.”

  “Onyx is mistaken. I can’t help you. I don’t know about climbing.” It was partially true. He knew the basics, of course. He’d climbed many times in Canyon Land, though never anything close to as high as the Pillar.

  Brutus laughed rudely. “Well, I figured as much. Maybe after a few years here you’ll be strong enough to join us. Do something useful with those arms.”

  Rhine turned to leave, but stopped as something struck his back. He felt sharp pain, turned around, and saw a jagged rock tumbling on the ground. He looked up at Brutus, saw him smiling smugly at him. Rhine walked back up to him.

  Brutus smiled. “I’m sorry Outlander,” he said. He reached to pat Rhine on the shoulder, but as he did Rhine grabbed his wrist and squeezed it tight. But I do know fighting, Rhine thought.

  Rhine forced Brutus’s arm down, bending it at the elbow, and pushing it into his back. He shoved Brutus into the base of the Pillar and held him against the hot rock, causing him to wail as he pulled his arm farther and farther back.

  Three other men came at Rhine from behind. He turned his head and threatened to break Brutus’ arm if they came any closer, but as he turned Brutus elbowed him in the face and broke free. Two men grabbed Rhine from behind and tried to hold him down as he kicked at their shins and elbowed their guts.

  With Rhine held down, Brutus had a free shot. He sent a hard right hook into Rhine’s chest followed by another. They brought Rhine to the ground and held him there as Brutus jumped on top of him. Grabbing Rhine’s shirt collar, Brutus brought Rhine’s head up close to his. He made a fist and brought it back, ready to slam it into Rhine’s face when a voice yelled out and caused him to freeze.

  “Stop!” The sound was loud and… it was a woman’s voice.

  Heads turned to get a look. Brutus stared down at Rhine’s bloody face, growling and gritting his teeth. He turned over to look as a woman walked into the crowd. Rhine didn’t get a good look of her until she hovered over them. It was her. It was the woman who’d saved him, the one he’d seen the other night. She wasn’t looking at Rhine, but Brutus instead. She bent down and laid her hand on his shoulder.

  “I think he’s had enough,” she said. “And I think you’d better get back to training. After all, there’s a trial tomorrow.”

  Brutus snorted. “Why did you save this worthless dog? He’s no good. I knew it the first time I saw him. We should kill him.”

  “That’s not your call,” she interrupted him.

  Rhine studied both their faces. Brutus looked down at him, wanting to kill him, while the woman tried to calm him down. He knew he could get free. He could knock Brutus off him and slam a nearby rock into his skull. He’d done it before, hundreds of times, back when he was a bandit.

  Brutus leaned in close to him. “If you come near me again,” he said, staring down at him. “I’ll kill you.”

  He brought his head up and thrust his fist hard down into Rhine’s head. The last thing Rhine saw was Brutus’ knuckles just before they collided into him, knocking him out cold.