Nail - A Short Story (3 page)

Ralic shakes his head. “That thing that
has kept you down here is no man. No man lives that
long.”

The young man steps forward- his name
is Bas’Tun. “You don’t know that for sure,” Bas says, instantly
winning the ears of the people around him— as the elder approves of
him as the next hero of the town.

Ralic smiles warmly.
“And
you
don’t know
if he’s telling
you
the truth or not. Just because he’s given you materials to
make things with, I don’t think the solution for the sickness, or
anything that will save those people in that sick house, will be
found down here. Up above we have a great light— much, much greater
than this bulb contraption. Come with me, and let’s go up above
ground.”

Bas scoffs. “You can’t even make light,
and now you’re claiming that there’s some magical giant one up
above?”

“
Yes!”

As the able-bodied men and women of the
town discuss and sound their opinions to each other, an imposing
shadow blots out the doorway to the forging cavern.

Bas looks about, seeing that many of
the adults are actually voicing favor to Ralic. “C-come on,
everyone! He’s a spirit! I bet he doesn’t even bleed red! Cut him,
and only dust and light will come out!” He cries out, certain that
he’s cornered Ralic with cowardice. Ralic, however, isn’t the 15th
hero for nothing. He is wise, unlike Ralic the 12th, but like him,
he is brave.

“
Alright. Give me a blade,”
Ralic says.

There’s an uproar within the crowd as
Bas takes out a steel culinary knife and presents it to Ralic. Just
as Ralic reaches for the knife, a deep, booming voice rings
out.

“
What have you done, you
fools!”

Everyone turns to behold a great
cloaked figure. Stern white eyes and a sharp frown curl under the
hood. “E-elder!” Bas is instantly on his knees. “We captured this
spirit and he’s spreading lies about The Spirit Realm!”

The Elder floats slowly and silently up
to Ralic. He looks down and spots the page with writing. In a quick
second of realization, The Elder makes eye contact with Ralic— both
know the other, and both understand what the other is here for.
Certainly, they also know that at the end of the day, one of them
will be dead. The Elder looks back to the page. “Ahh, now behold
here. What is this spiritry?” He prods the page with a dark
appendage, more like a tentacle than anything, treating the page
with priceless knowledge as some kind of awkward, undesirable
toy.

“
He calls it ‘writing’,
sir,” Zell says.

The Elder looks to Zell with
an expression of stern disappointment. “And
why
exactly are you humoring this
spirit’s ideas?”

Zell looks to Ralic, and he looks back.
“Because what he has to say is useful.”

“
He?
”

Zell nods. “I believe a mistake has
been made. He seems to be a human, like us, but from…” Zell takes a
deep breath as everyone awaits his final words— ones that everyone
knows are coming. “…like us, but from outside.”

The Elder’s frown lengthens.
“
Really
? Does he
have anything by which to
prove
that he is from the outside?”

Bas shakes his head. “No.”

“
Then how do we know that
he’s not just from another part of the true world?” The Elder asks
with a squinting, glowing eye.

Zell clears his throat. “Sir, I
personally apprehended him next to the ladder.”

“
But of course you wouldn’t
have known he came from The Spirit Realm unless you actually
saw
him come from The
Spirit Realm, yes?” The Elder asks with a slowly curving smirk.
“Surely you couldn’t know for sure. He’s probably some insane
dweller from the darkness who’s been tricked by spirits. He must be
a human, but he is insane and tricked by spirits. Why do you think
otherwise?”

Everyone looks to Zell, the hero of the
village.

“
That’s because…” Zell takes
a deep breath. “That’s because I know all these tunnels- inside and
out. There’s
no way
he didn’t come from the surface.”

The Elder shakes his head. “Oh, dear
Zell’Ahn, so wise— but you have such dreams; perhaps it’s time you
began truly grooming Bas’Tun as the next hero. He seems a bit more
level-headed.”

Zell exhales, not in a calm
way either. It’s the breath of a man who realizes, just now, that
he’s been profoundly cheated. “It’s
you
that isn’t level-headed,
Elder!”

Gasps sound out as the villagers become
scared, not only for the strange spirit man, but for their hero,
Zell.

The Elder looms over Zell,
only about half The Elder’s height. “
What
did you say, Zell’Ahn?
”

Zell inhales through his
teeth. “Elder, you’ve been
lying to
us!
You are
not
on our side!”

Chapter 4

The crowd looses a collective gasp as
the elder draws back with a distant, superior look of disgust on
his dark features. “Do you mean to call me a liar, then— some form
of deceptive tormentor bent on your agony?”

Zell clenches his aged fist and
sharpens his gaze. “Yes, elder,” he declares; an older woman bursts
into tears.

The elder recomposes himself to a full
stature. “What wrong have I done you? Are you not happy and
industrious here in the true world?”

“
No. We’re dying out and
working for you day and night! Wood—” He looks over to the giant
mountain of long wooden beams that the elder provides for them.
“…
lumber
! I’ve
never once seen it occur naturally here. I want to see where wood
comes from, and I
know
it’s not here. You’re keeping us from figuring out the big
picture!”

Amidst the commotion of the surrounding
people, Bas’Tun stands tall next to the elder. “The lightless
sickness has finally gotten to him! We should throw him in with the
sick and kill the spirit man!”

The elder draws back, as if
shocked like the others— but this is precisely what he wanted.
“Yes, Zell is no longer fit and the next hero must now display his
wisdom for the next generation. I would prefer we spared the
spirit-tricked man— but of course he could always return from our
banishment and spread lies again. We must achieve a
permanent
solution…
Bas’Tun?
”

Bas’Tun bows again. “Elder!”

“
Lead the people against
this madman. Have him killed.”

Zell pushes his back against
Ralic as if to shield him. “
No!
Everyone listen to m-”

“
And as for Zell’Ahn, he is
not in his own mind. Put him in with the other sick.”

The crowd hesitates as Zell grabs hold
of Ralic’s hand.

The elder leans forward and addresses
the crowd with his expectant, superior gaze. “Well?”

The men and women of the
grand work shop slowly build ranks to surround the two just as Zell
pulls Ralic forward and into the town cavern. “
Run!
” Zell shouts as they dash out
through the forge-lights into the dim lamps of the town.

“
If they escape they’ll doom
us all.
Get them!
”
The tall elder points forward a gloved hand, and his voice has the
powerful direct tone to put the crowd into action.

With a bolt, Ralic and Zell are around
the corner and dashing for the escape. The town comes alive with
shouts and souls emerging from all the unlikeliest corners to watch
or chase.

“
This way, Ralic!” Zell
shouts as he snaps up a sizable pot lid from the ground.

“
But where are we
going?”

“
To the real world. The
surface!”

The two dodge incoming pursuers as
Ralic hears thin, sharp sounds of objects moving past them. He
doesn’t ask until he hears Zell’s pot lid clang with a violent
impact.

“
What is it?”

“
Bolts from crossbows,” Zell
says as they duck down into another tunnel, lamplight pursuing
seconds behind.

“
That thing you were holding
when we met?” Ralic says, glancing at the 'crossbow' slung over
Zell’s shoulder.

“
Yes, a bow with incredible
power and speed— now hush!”

“
Hu-” Ralic is interrupted
as they swing around into another tunnel, and this time, Zell ousts
the lantern’s light.

Ralic wavers senselessly before Zell
takes up the boy’s hand again. “Wh- how will we see?”

Zell starts them forward at a quick
pace. “Like I said. I know these tunnels like the back of my hand.
Let’s get to the ladder, and then you’ll show me that great light
of yours.”

Thirty seconds later, the pursuing
group stops at a crossroad of five tunnels.

“
They’ve doused their light,
and the tracks are slim,” a tunnel guard reports to the elder, who
just nods.

“
I know well what they
intend to do; we need someone who knows these tunnels as well as
Zell… Bas'Tun!”

The fit, sharp Bas'Tun is already at
the elder’s side. “Yes, sir?”

“
There is no time; they are
going to the ladder. You, in your youth, loved the dark
tunnels.”

“
I know them like the back
of my hand.”

The elder looms over Bas’Tun
grimly. “Then take
these
.”

Bas is given a small, black device
that’s cool to the touch, and a thick box that seems to have green
lenses within. “What is-”

“
The small one is a crossbow
above all crossbows; use the trigger like you would any other.
Point it like
this,
and it has six bolts instead of one.”

Bas is wide-eyed in disbelief. “I…
what?”

“
The lenses go around your
head— wear them, like glasses.”

After a second of working it on, the
elder depresses a button on the black box around Bas'Tun’s eyes and
he releases a gasp.

“
I…I can see
everything!”

“
These goggles will allow
you to see in the dark. Now go to the ladder,
run there— get Zell, and kill the intruder! Finish the job no
matter what!
” The elder finalizes his
instructions sternly.

Bas'Tun stares up at the elder in both
confusion and awe, and he bows.

“
Yes, sir. I’ll save the
world!” The warrior boy exclaims as he turns about with the pistol
and NVG to the pitch black tunnels of the elder’s realm.

“
Excellent, boy. Go and be
the
true
hero of
our land!”

At the cheers of the men behind him,
Bas’tun skips the tracks and goes straight to where he remembers
the ladder to be. The tunnels are as well lit as the forges with
the magic goggles of the elder; he knows that this small, compact
crossbow device will be just as vital in felling the insane
intruder— and, if need be, pacifying his hero Zell.

Stumbling forward, Zell and Ralic reach
the ladder in the stagnant, tomb-like dark.

“
Alright, now climb!” Zell
says in a hushed tone.

Ralic starts up the great ladder, into
the long, strenuous climb to freedom; to the surface. About a third
of the way however, they can hear the calling of a boy below them;
it’s Bas’tun.

“
Zell! You two!” He calls
out to them, but neither answer; they just keep climbing. “You
two,
really!
Get
down here or I’ll shoot!”

“
I’d rather die on the
surface than go back to being ignorant, Bas’!” Zell shouts
back.

“
I
will shoot you!
" Bas simply repeats;
"Don’t you guys know what that
means
?”

“
I do, kid. Shut up and
shoot if that’s what you’re gonna do,” Zell challenges. “You could
always come up with us, find out just how much of a liar the elder
is.”

With a piercing bang that none of the
trio have ever heard until now, Bas obliges. He fires a round
upward, missing the pot-lid and hitting Zell perfectly in the
leg.

“
Zell!” Ralic bends down and
holds him steady.

“
I’m okay," Zell says with a
tone of agony. "Let's go!"

“
Ohh," Bas interjects, "but
that was just a warning this time! I
will
kill you both, if I have to!
”

“
Like I said— feel free, ya
dumb kid!” Zell retorts.

Bas’tun takes a deep,
calming breath, and aims again. The shot is too far up now though;
it’d be difficult. He remembers the elder’s words:
finish the job no matter what
—and he starts climbing too. “Fine!" he finally laments. "I’ll
shoot you
both
and
drag you out of the spirit realm, if I have to!”