Claustrum Chap. 1 (3) John keara and Straffor where already walking up a dark area of the bank. When they heard the man splash in the water, they sat quietly and waited. “Call the other man and bring some torches” the guard in the water cried out as he looked around the banks for the fugitives. By this time the guard had realized that the first man was only a decoy so that John and his friends could escape. “I am not going to get blamed for this” he muttered in a low voice. “We must move slowly move up the bank” Keara whispered to John and Straffor as she began to move. John followed and then straffor. A few minutes later they were on top of the bank laying completely flat on the ground, which in tern hid them fairly well. “If we make it to the edge of that forest we are safe” Keara whispered. They began to crawl on their bellies towards the edge of the forest. John looked back towards the man on the bridge, there was about twenty of them by now, and most held torches. “Check the top of the banks” one of the guardsmen cried out, a few man ran towards the bank and began to walk slowly as they searched the low bushes and grass. When the two guardsmen reached the area where The three had come out of, they noticed the flattened, wet grass, “Over here” One of the guards cried out as the other began to run towards where John, Keara and Straffor laid. The man did not realize how close he was to where they laid and almost walked up on them, and in a flash, Keara had a foot up in the air straight in front of the guards face. The man fell back, totally unconscious. The second guard came up, but seeing what had happened to his partner, he was more causcious. He walked to one side of the area of where the three laid, as if to cut them off. Then the three quickly jumped and rushed the guard. He quickly realized his mistake and froze in place, not knowing what to do. John rushed the man this time, he rushed low and tackled the guard to the ground. They rolled and John’s knee came up straight under the mans jaw, totally knocking him out. Keara and Straffor were already entering the forest when John stood and began running towards it. Keara leaned out from the back of a tree and launched an arrow in the direction of the approaching guards. One of the guards cried out in pain, the arrow hit the guard on the side of his thigh, the rest of the guards quickly stopped and froze as if an invisible wall was placed between them and the fugitives. Then they ran back looking for shelter. After a while, two guards came forth with large shields that covered most of their body. They walked slowly and carefully, expecting a shower of arrows, but no arrows flew at them, the fugitives were gone. Not Real John walked slowly behind keara and behind him walked Straffor. He was getting used to the darkness, and could find his way around a little easier. It had been more than an hour since they had left Fort Claustrum, and the forest turned out to be larger than he could have imagined. Giant trees all over the place, and to his amazement they looked almost identical. “Is it me or all all those trees almost identical?” John asked. “They are replicas” Straffor spoke out quickly. “They take time making one then just copy the same tree over and over, of course they place other trees to give it a break down, and change the color too, but most are identical, I bet that in the entire world of claustrum there are less than a hundred species of trees.” Even the shrubs seemed to look alike, in most cases they were. “well there is something that is definitively differently than our world” John exclaimed. “That just goes to show you that we will never be Gods” Keara muttered in a low voice, loud enough for John to hear. “Yea, it goes to show that you can’t create a world in seven days” replied John. Keara glanced back threateningly then returned her eyes towards the way they were heading. With this neither one said anything more. A few more hours passed by, and Straffor was showing signs of tiredness. “I think we need to rest for a little while” John said. Keara agreed, “We rest three hours then continue, we each take turns watching for an hour, I’ll take the first shift” keara went off a bit and sat down against a tree. John and Straffor looked at one another “What is wrong with her?” John asked. “Dont take it personal Winnslow, religion is something that she takes real personal, and when one that she likes does not agree with her, it angers her” He explained. “Well thats one way to show that you like someone” “So how is it that you and her are friends when you do not believe the same as she does?” John asked. “To tell you the truth, I believe that if there was a God there would not be so much suffering” Straffor explained. “I mean, look at the world we live in, and not only this one, but the real world too, look at all the evil that goes around, how can a God allow so much?” John pondered for a minute, “well lets suppose that God did something about it, then what, would you believe then?” “I believe I would, and be very faithful at that” he replied. John laid back and looked towards the sky and said “I know what you mean” Soon after both man were asleep. John was wakened by Keara “Winnslow, wake up” She spoke in a low voice not wanting to wake up Straffor. John sat up and looked around, then he looked at Keara “How long has it been?” He asked. “A little over an hour since you fell asleep, I thought to let you sleep a bit more since you are not used to this world completely” She responded. “Thank you” He said as he sat up. “Anything in particular I should be looking for?” he asked. “look for sudden movements, and if you think you saw something, more than likely you did, wake me up for whatever reason” She explained. John nodded and leaned up against a tree, Keara graved some nearby ferns that she had collected while they slept and bundled them up making a nice little pillow for her self. “Well why didn’t I think of that” John muttered to him self. After a few minutes keara was asleep, and John lost in thought, he looked over at Keara as she slept, and marveled at her beauty, he recalled the time in the garden with Lady Lizbeth and how he also marveled at her beaty, how could he be impressed with both woman, he could not understand, all he knew was that they both attracted him. One for her elegance and innocence, the other for her passion and independence. He also remembered that he was to met her in two months in Retne. The thought exited him, and at the same time it made him a little uncomfortable, he liked both woman and knew that they both liked him, it was as if he would have to choose between the two of them. Then it occurred to him, how was he going to see her if Keara was present, for sure both woman would not tolerate the encounter, if they knew that they were both after the same man. John felt as if he was being watched, he broke all thought and looked about him, looking for any movement at all. As he covered the area all around him, he saw out of the corner of his eye, what he thought was movement, he turned his face in that direction and focused his eyes. Once again he saw something move, he jumped to one knee and then crouched. He slowly made his way to where he thought he saw the movement. Yes there was movement there, by this time he had confirmed it, he slowly crouched his was closer and closer, he paused for a second, remembering what Keara had said about waking her, but he quickly shook it off his head, he was tired of depending on someone else and specially someone who had humbled him. After a few seconds he decided that rushing who ever was there would give him the advantage and that this would be the best tactic. He leaped into a dive without making noise, towards the sound, then he realized that the noise was an injured wild pig, he tried to roll to one side, but it was to late, his whole body tumbled into the pig then rolled over it making him land on his back. He looked back at the pig, it was dead, blood gushed from its throat, at the time he had herd the animal, it was dying. He jumped to knee and looked closer at the animal, it had been slain by someone, that ment that someone was near by, he looked around the hole place but could not see a soul, he turned to walk back in the direction where Keara and Straffor were asleep, then remembered that all trees were alike, he knew that were not far and was going to cry out for them to wake, but he felt something bite him on the neck, he put his hand and pulled a needle like item, as he looked at it, it caused a shock all over his body, as he looked around his eyes getting blurry, he saw the shadow of a man come out of the dark shadows of a near by tree, he fell to the ground and the last thing he saw were a pair of boots near his face. John wakened, remembering everything he touched his neck where the dart had pierced, then glanced about the room, it was a small wooden structure, with a small table, chair and a single bed, where he laid. His hands were untied, he stood and walked over towards the wooden door, To his surprise the door was not locked, he slowly opened it and stepped out. Near the entrance of the wooden structure was an old man leaning over a small pot that hung over an open fire. John walked over towards the old man and herd him say “Humph, its about time you wakened” John walked next to the old man and said “How long have I been asleep?” “Well, I found you near the cabin a little over a day” The old man said. “A day? Did you find anyone else with me?” The old man looked up at John “Should I have found someone else?” “Humm” John thought it strange to have been drugged then placed near this old mans cabin, as far as he was concerned the old man could have something to do with it. “Why did you drug me?” John asked trying to trick the old man. “I didn’t say I drugged you, I said I found you near here” Then he stood and said “Now before you go on blaming me for stuff I am not at fault, remember I found you” “I am sorry but the last thing I saw was pair of boots near my face” as he said this he looked down at the old mans feet and discovered that he was barefooted. “It just doesn't make sense to me, I am sorry old man” “The name is Alan” The old man said. John looked towards the old man and was about to say John then remembered about his new name “I am Winnslow” He said. “Well Winnslow, know that we know each other, tell me your story” John began talking to the old man, telling him everything that had happened from the time he had entered Claustrum until the most recent events, he kept out a few little secrets, such as the quarrel he had between the love of two woman, he felt this was not important for the man to know. “You say keara was your guide?” Alan asked. “Yes, her and Straffor were guiding me to Albanova” “She is a wonderfull woman and a great fighter to you know” Alan winked his eye as he spoke. “Yea, I saw her fight in the arena in Fort Claustrum a few days ago” “And she’s a good guide too. Why are you going to Albanova again?” Alan asked. John scrached his forehead where the mark was “I am looking for a disciple named Murak, he can help me remove this mark from my forehead” To John it was apparent that the old man had seen the mark, since it was not covered at all, so he did not bothered to hide the truth from the man. “It’s Moriak” The old man muttered in a low voice. “And what mark are you speaking of?” John looked puzzled at the man “You can’t see the mark on my forehead?” he asked. “I can see your forehead, but I cannot see any mark up on it” John rubbed his forehead, he could not believe that it was gone, but he needed to be sure. “Do you have a mirror or something that I can look into?” John asked. “No, no mirror, there is a pond up ahead that you can see your reflection on” Alan pointed in the direction with a nod and stretching his lips. John walked in the direction that he was pointed to and seeing the small pond he leaned over to look at his forehead. To his astonishment, not only the mark was gone but his entire face had changed, not only in form, but in color too. His ears were longer and ending in a point, his hair was a light blue, almost white and long and messy and tied in a not on the back. His skin was a blueish-gray color, his face even seemed to be a little thinner, and his nose a little smaller. He sat back, who ever had drugged him, had taken the mark of and changed his appearance, this was obvious. He walked back to where the man sat and sat him self directly in front of the man, as he did Alan handed him a small bowl of food, he grabbed it, looked into the bowl, what seemed to be there was mainly water and a couple of herbs floating within it. “It will do you more good than anything else you have eaten in this world” the old man said. John put the bowl to his mouth and began swallowing the contents of the bowl, the flavor was disgusting, as he began breathing he felt as if he was going to loose it. “Hold your breath and count to three” The old man said. John did so, as he began feeling better he cried out “What did you give me?” “You see in this world, they give great flavor to the stuff that the prison wants you to eat, that doesn't mean that the food is good for you, it will keep you alive and it will also keep you weak, not only in body but in mind also” John laughed “Why is everything here so complicated?” he asked. “It really is not if you know how to use it in your advantage” Alan explained. “I am going to tell you something that very few people know about Claustrum Winnslow, and this is something you should keep to your self” John shook his head as he smiled and said “Well I am sure that whatever you tell me can help me in the future” “Humph” The old man nodded “Not only help you but change it for you” He paused a minute to pick up a piece of stick, then gave it to John “Chew on that” he told John. John took the stick and looked at the man curiously “I don't understand” he said. “In this world you can eat and drink anything. That doesn’t mean that everything is good for you, if your real body is weak your body here will tire out quickly, the healthier your body is the stronger you are here” John began to understand what Alan was saying, of course he would not know if his real body was weak or not, but it made sense that he would tired out quicker here. “The food you eat affects not only what you do physically but also mentally, such us strength, speed and coordination, and you can even control pain” John raised his head in shock “But how?” “This world is a make belief world, there fore is not real, you have to be weak to be controlled by this world” Then he stuck his hand into the campfire and pulled out a red hot piece of burned wood “This fire is not real, therefore it cannot burn me. If I know that it cannot burn me, the suit on my real body will not simulate the heat given by this fire” “That’s interesting” John leaned forwards placing his hand over the fire, he felt intense heat and quickly pulled away, as he looked back up at Alan. Alan smiled “Your real body is weak, therefore you cant control what you feel, but in a few days you will have control over it, and even master it” “What about the classes, professions and stuff that you have to learn?” John Asked. “Can you pull that leaf from that tree and bring it to me?” Alan asked. John looked at him astonished, but he knew that he was using it as an example, so he walked and pulled the leaf of the small tree and began to walk back towards Alan, after a few paces the leaf banished into thin air. “At the fort they would have give you a test, based on the answers you would provide they would tell you, what class suits you best, and once you have chosen the class they would teach you how to use the so called magic to aid you” “You don’t believe in this magic?” John asked. He shook his head “No, I do not, I do not need it, everything I need is here” He responded. “But what about animals or someone trying to hurt you” “As far as animals go, they cannot hurt me, they are not real, and people trying to attack me? Care to try?” Alan responded. John thought about it then said “I may be real but I am far from you, therefore I can’t hurt you, I am sure thats what you are going to say”
Copyright © 2009 Mathew Hamm |