The Gauntlet ( A Fantasy Novella) (7 page)

“You are a good man, but I can never love you. I can never love anyone. Don’t get in my way, I beg you. I’m here for me, I always was.”

Janna walked away, leaving Ash in a range of competing emotions: rage, compassion, sadness, confusion. Ash stared at the rising sun and calmed his brain. There was only one thing to think about: reaching the tower. Everything else that came after that he’d deal with one by one.

It only took Ash and Janna a morning’s walk to finally arrive at their destination. But to their initial disappointment they discovered there was no city lying at its base, not even a water pool. Just one single, enormous tower of spiralling white crystal, which rose up from the sands like a tree trunk from the soil.

The abrasive winds and punishing sun had left Ash and Janna’ skin feeling raw and their bodies weak, but the extra water courtesy of Ugg had been a life saver for them. Yet they were exhausted and both sorely missed the company of Ugg. Ash, in particular, was finding Janna to be too intense to be around alone.

“I don’t see an entrance,” said Ash, despondently.

“It might be around the other side, let’s check it out,” replied Janna.

Ash took a quick glance behind him and scanned the horizon, but he could not see the pursuers. There had been no sight or sound of them. Ash pressed the palm of his right hand up against the smooth tower and he was surprised to find the building was cool to the touch.

“It is reflecting the heat. Remarkable,” he said. “If we can get inside we should be well protected from the sun.”

The two of them began the walk around the wide base of the tower. It wasn’t long until they found what they wanted: a very thin slit in the base of the tower just wide enough for them to squeeze through.

“It’s quite a discrete entrance. Whoever built this has skill that far eclipses anything our craftsman can do back in Harwell. Well, this is it. You first?” smiled Ash.

Janna entered first, followed by Ash. The floor of the tower was also made of white crystal but there was no water and no food that they could see, only steps. Thousands of steps as far as their eyes could see ran upwards around the inside of the hollow tower. Tiny holes in the tower’s wall let rays of light seep in, illuminating the inside enough for them to see the steps.

The knights stood looking up, completely aghast at the challenge facing them.

“This is going to be tough. At least it is cool in here, but still, my legs are already exhausted,” said Ash.

“We should make a start, get some elevation between us and our pursuers. We have to assume they are still behind us. Their greater numbers will count for nothing on these steps, they can only proceed single file or two abreast.”

“Unless they throw their spears at us.”

“They won’t do that. They wouldn’t risk missing and wasting their weapon.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I wouldn’t do that and risk missing or, even worse, providing my enemy with a weapon to throw back. Let’s take it steady, but let’s not stop until the light fails.”

“Perhaps they are better at throwing spears than us? Either way we should keep the gap large. After you, as always.”

They began their ascent up the countless steps. There was an end, they knew there was, but it was obscured by the great height and the column, gradually thinning, hid its climax. After a couple of hundred steps both knights were sweating heavily and fairly exhausted. Progress was slow and they had no choice but to take frequent breaks to sit on the steps and let their tired legs recover.

“I feel a bit dizzy,” said Ash.

“Me too. My head is spinning.”

Janna peeked down over the steps but quickly pulled her head back, “That doesn’t help at all. I don’t feel too well.”

Janna suddenly vomited over the edge of the steps.

“Are you alright?” said a concerned Ash.

This was the first time he had seen any weakness or infallibility from Janna.

“I feel better now. This is so silly, I don’t know why it’s affecting me so much it’s just steps.”

“It’s the lack of food and water, combined with the elevation and the motion of going round and round. It would be odd if we didn’t feel light-headed and sick. We can rest a while longer if you’d like?”

Janna stood up and Ash immediately understood her answer, he reluctantly followed her up and they battled onwards and upwards.

It wasn’t long until they stopped again, not through exhaustion but because of a blockage on the stairs: a skeleton.

Ash and Janna were stupefied by the body, it was a human skeleton!

“This…is…unbelievable,” exclaimed Janna. “It’s a knight from Harwell, it has to be.”

“It looks like it. This person, whoever it was, came so close. We weren’t the first to make it this far after all.”

“No. Clearly not. I have no idea what is waiting at the top. What if we are just the latest in a long line of knights to make it? What if a great deal of them actually survived? I was too cautious to wait so long back in the valley.”

Ash could sense panic in Janna’s voice.

“I’m not so sure, I passed a lot of bodies in the pits. I think that’s where the majority died. But perhaps we have been too arrogant of our abilities? If we have got this far then why couldn’t more knights have done it also? If they died in the dunes the sand would have buried their bodies and removed every trace of them. For all we know, we were walking over a mass graveyard?”

“Let’s continue. I want answers. I need a resolution,” said Janna, who was still feeling nauseous and worse for wear.

They respectfully stepped around the skeleton and continued. The sun was setting and the light inside the tower gradually dimmed to a dull grey and then to black. The knights stopped to rest and because they couldn’t safely see ahead. But another source of light soon revealed itself to them: the golden peak shimmering in the moonlight shone its aurora down through the tower. It bathed the knights in a gentle and dim golden light and renewed their spirits. Ash and Janna rewarded themselves with a smile, but then Ash glanced downwards and his mood quickly changed.

“Look! Down there, the others have caught us up. There are five of them,” whispered Ash to Janna.

“Damn it, we have lingered for too long. We must go – now!”

Janna raced ahead of Ash, almost sprinting up the steps and taking them two at a time. Ash glanced back periodically and could see the others were struggling with the steps just like them, stopping and starting and the fifth member of the party was lagging quite far behind. Unbeknown to Ash, the sixth of their group had perished in the sands not long after Ugg had greeted them.

Ash continued up the stairs, adrenaline surging through his body. It was a competition and he didn’t want to be the loser.

Ash managed to catch up with Janna, who was feeling dizzy again and had stopped to catch her breath.

“You go on ahead, I need to get my head clear,” said Janna.

“I’m not leaving you, especially if you feel sick. I think I see the end, it’s not far.”

Janna looked up to see the exit but that made her feel worse and suddenly she hurled vomit over the steps once again and down through the centre of the tower.

“Uh,” she groaned. “Where is it coming from? I haven’t eaten for days.”

But the vomit had other consequences also. Ash and Janna heard the strange grunting voices of the others, alerted to the presence of the knights.

“Oops. What have I done?” asked Janna. “Come on, let’s reach that end.”

Through sheer will and determination Janna carried on, followed closely by Ash who kept a careful watch over her in case she collapsed backwards or drifted off the steps. The knights could hear the others shouting and their voices grew louder and louder – they were closing the gap and quickly.

But the end was in sight! A bright golden space shone out above the last step and seeing it, Ash and Janna simultaneously smiled with relief. Ash looked back, he could see the others not more than a hundred steps away and, to his horror, noticed that one of them was preparing to throw its spear!

“Get down, Janna!” he cried.

The spear came sailing through the air and struck Janna in her right thigh and she cried out in anguish. She could go no further with the wound and lay on the steps.

“Just go! One of us, one of our kind, must get their first.”

Janna pulled the spear out of her thigh, blood gushed out and sprayed against the wall.

“I will fight them. You go, please, we must succeed! Do not fail our quest so close to the end!” pleaded Janna.

But Ash couldn’t leave her. Not so close to the end. He grabbed Janna underneath her armpits and dragged her up the steps. Another spear came at them but narrowly missed Ash and clattered against the wall. Ash managed to grab it and hurled it back down at the others, striking one of them in the chest and causing it to fall off the stairs and plummet to the ground. Its friends cried out in sorrow and Ash momentarily felt bad for their loss, but it was kill or be killed. With one last almighty pull, Ash entered through the exit space dragging Janna through behind him. A door suddenly slammed shut and closed them off from the stairs.

After a short period of time the others banged on the door but there was no way through for them. Then there was screaming, which faded away and, finally, silence. Ash and Janna had won. The others had perished as the steps they were standing on had vanished into thin air.

“Clean her up, she’s bleeding everywhere,” said a voice behind Ash.

Ash was startled by the deep, commanding voice. The entire room was suddenly bathed in an ambience of soft golden light and it was difficult for Ash to decipher where the voice had come from or distinguish any features in the room. But then a single ray of intense light hit Janna’s wound and Ash watched in astonishment as the skin miraculously healed over and life poured back into his companion’s body. Janna opened her eyes, which were as sharp and healthy as the day they met.

Ash smiled, “Welcome back. We did it! We completed The Gauntlet. We won.”

Janna stood up and together with Ash they walked further into the mysterious golden room.

“I can vaguely see them, but they are not like us. Not like the others either. They are like a vertical pulse of shimmering light,” whispered Janna.

“No need to whisper, Janna. We know everything you have ever said or thought of since the day you were born,” said another voice.

“Reveal yourselves. We deserve to know who we are talking to after getting this far,” declared Ash.

The golden haze of the room dimmed. Ash and Janna immediately noticed the floor – it was a map of The Gauntlet!

“There is Harwell, to the south. And the waterfalls and the maze. Everything is on here!” exclaimed Ash.

There were two more cities, one to the west and one to the east, and three identical passageways all leading to the common ground of the maze. Three beams of light enclosed Ash and Janna; one was silver, one blue and one green. Ash and Janna instinctively moved closer to one another, yet both knew they were powerless against the unknown forces.

“I am Yari, One of Three. We are the gods of this universe and you have successfully completed our little test. Congratulations. It was close at the end, but I am proud of you, and happy, because you are my creation and you won. That’s now put me ahead by one in our epic tournament.”

“You won, Yari, but it was only just. I can’t believe after all this time I lost by a whisper. Still, it was gripping to watch. Welcome Ash and Janna, I am Khith, Two of Three. The green folk, as you called them, were my creation and they did me proud. But alas, coming second counts for nothing in this colossal game of ours.”

“Well, mine never even got close. Useless fools were too lazy. I don’t think I made them with enough adventurous spirit, hardly any entered the mountains. They mostly opted for the beach life! I am Liya, Three of Three.”

The three gods remained in their spirit form and were bright for Ash and Janna to look at.

Yari, the silver light, suddenly burst out laughing. “I’m still thinking about when the three of you ate one of Khith’s creations. I enjoyed watching that and gloating about it to my brother. Shame about Ugg, I was rooting for him. But without his sacrifice you’d never have made it. I made you well.”

“So as we suspected, we
were
just part of a game all along. All this death and suffering just to see who would make it through first? You three disgust me,” said Janna.

Yari laughed: “Child. You are mortal and you are destined to die, so do not be angry. You have no big place in this universe, no afterlife and no new beginning. But you can take pride in the fact you have earned the respect of your gods and we will not forget your names in a hurry.”

“I don’t believe it. We were just pawns in your game? What about the men being tortured in the cave for eternity?” said an incredulous and disheartened Ash.

“You had your suspicions all along about The Gauntlet and you are indeed correct: this was a game, a bet between gods. You see us gods are quite confident in our own abilities and one way to settle the argument was for us to create a tournament, consisting of various challenges spanning every part of the universe. This was one of the more fun games, whereby we challenged each other to create life and see which of our creations could successfully navigate a series of demanding mental and physical challenges. For thousands of cycles of the sun and moon we have watched on, while simultaneously competing in a variety of other games. Although, I must say, this game was so much fun. We must to do it again but with a clean slate. New creations and a new map. The witch and the torturing was an illusion, nothing more, we are not that cruel. Although to step into the cave meant, indeed, to fail the test and to die instantly. Yet the death of mortals is not something we are concerned with. The witch made sure the weakest were filtered out quickly,” said Yari.

“The willow tree was actually the first test. We could always tell who would make it far depending on if they etched their names onto the bark. It is not a good trait to needlessly deface nature like that. Neither of you marked your names, nor Ugg,” said Liya.

“I like the map, we should keep it consistent. Let us redesign our creations though, I think I can do better next time,” commented Khith.

“I agree we should keep the map. I will do better this time when creating life. This was never a proper three-way challenge as only your creations took part,” said Liya.

Ash and Janna couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Their lives and emotions meant nothing to the three gods, the makers and takers of life. Although Ash was relieved to hear what he had witnessed in the cave was just an illusion, if they were speaking the truth of course.

“But the traps? They were filled with snakes and other beasts,” cried Ash. “Your creations suffered tremendously and you didn’t care at all.”

“You forget yourself, Ash. We watched when you were just a boy and liked to pour hot water on little ants, oh how those poor little things suffered. You were their master and we are yours. It is as simple as that,” replied Khith.

Ash was taken aback by the analogy.

“That’s…not the same,” he stuttered. “They were just ants and I was only young.”

“Just ants. See, you answered your own question. You are our ants, although I admit you are a lot more complex and, in most cases, smarter,” replied Yari.

“You are murderers, evil and deluded in your morals. You watch on and do nothing as children are abused in the city by priests and hundreds die from your twisted game,” screamed Janna.

Khith uttered a command and a replicated version of Janna appeared in front of her, before it disintegrated into dust. Janna was stunned by the power she had just witnessed.

“Yari sure made his people feisty. Do not threaten us; that is not a wise move. We cannot interfere with the lives of our creations, not once we have set them forth from the Clouded Mountains. It is in the rules of our game and to break the rules is an instant forfeit. We are too competitive to lose over matters as cheap as interfering with mortal lives. I assure you we did not sow the seeds of evil within your people, but life evolves for better or worse, and in the case of your people, for worse. That is the natural order of things,” said Liya.

“You are evil. You are not gods but demons,” said Ash.

“I’m tiring of your whining. So let’s wrap this up shall we? Now, you deserve a reward but remember you are mortal and we cannot change that. Yet we can give you power, if you desire it,” said Yari.

“I want power. Send me back to Harwell so I can strike down the priests and establish a new order, one of good,” said Janna.

“So you will spill blood first and then rule? That doesn’t sound a nice way to start your reign to me. Who is the demon now?”

“Give us both the power, shared between Janna and myself, so we can go back and change Harwell for the better. We will dispense justice. Please, I beg you. Give me more time to spend with my son. Let me raise him in a peaceful and safe world. Give me the time I have earned,” pleaded Ash.

“But you will die in time and Harwell will fall back to how it is now. It is the way of your people. It all seems so futile. Maybe we should start again, keep the map but reset the species?”

“No! We have earned it, you owe us. Time may be futile to you but to us it is everything. Let us go back and shape Harwell into our image, then after we die, you can erase this world to dust and start your game again. You have watched on for thousands of years, what is another few to you? Let us make the most of the time we have left, before we return to the nothing that you made us from,” shouted Janna.

Yari grumbled.

“Fine. Time means nothing to us, you can have your days and enjoy them. It will be mildly entertaining to watch you go back and change your city.”

“Perhaps we could even make a little bet out of it?” queried Khith.

“Yes, I like where this is going…” said Liya. “We can discuss the terms of the bet after we have sent them back. Let’s do this, if you two are ready?”

Ash and Janna looked at each other and nodded. They looked down at the map and noticed the three entrances into the Clouded Mountains had closed up.

“Wait. What about Ugg? Did he die?” asked Ash.

“Yes. But you knew he would. For what it’s worth, I liked him the best of all of your kind,” said Yari.

The three gods entered the bodies of Ash and Janna, coursing through each of their veins and transferring a fraction of their power into them. Ash and Janna screamed in pain and every muscle in their body was shaking. After a few seconds the ordeal was over.

“You are not immortal, so be wary still. But you will no longer need to wield swords or shoot arrows, your hands and the force unleashed from them will do everything you wish,” said Yari.

Ash clicked his fingers and a bright red flame rose out of his palm. Janna extended her hands out and pointed them palm down to the floor, before beginning to levitate.

“We will send you back, if you are ready?” asked Yari.

“Wait. I have one more demand,” said Ash. “I want every bone of every knight who entered The Gauntlet returned with us and Ugg’s body. I made a promise and I will keep it.”

“Very well. You’ll be spending the first days of your reign organizing funerals. Sounds a very boring way to spend your limited life to me, but it shall be done.”

“It is time. You have another knight just outside the old entrance to The Gauntlet. They know something peculiar has happened. This will be fun to watch. Farewell,” said Khith.

Ash and Janna were suddenly blinded by a dazzling white light and the next thing they knew they were standing opposite a knight of Harwell back at the entrance to The Gauntlet. Hundreds of bones were piled up behind them along with Ugg’s body.

The knight drew his sword, but Janna turned it to dust.

“Who…are…you?” said the terrified knight.

Ash and Janna looked at each other. Janna burst out laughing and Ash marvelled at her beautiful smile at last. She was finally happy and together they both replied:

“We are the champions of The Gauntlet.”