Chapter Six
Gabrysia and Fallon were back in their dungeon.
They had spent an incredible night and there was no reason for them to be in good humour this morning. In fact, both were depressed and they say quietly reflecting on what had transpired since descending the long ladder in the huge cavern as the previous day had come to a close. They had been surprised, shocked and humbled by what they had seen and heard.
As they stood at the bottom of the ladder with the light from the ceiling rapidly disappearing Gabrysia and Fallon had begun to contemplate their next move. But they soon realized they did not have one. They were at the mercy of the Drong leader who was obviously relishing his role as captor.
“Ah now,” he said, rubbing his hand across his chin and looking at them mockingly. “What will I show you first?”
He turned to his soldiers who also smirked. “What do you think guys? Shall I give them a fright or should we lead up to that?” His soldiers just laughed and the Leader spun back to face Gabrysia and Fallon. “I think we’ll take it gradually. No sense in scaring you half to death just yet. That would ruin some of the surprises.”
As the last strip of light faded the cavern was plunged into darkness. Within seconds it began to brighten and before a minute had passed they were again standing in what could easily have been a well lit chamber back in one of the forest trees.
“Oh yes,” the Drong leader said. “We too have our busy little light servants. Thousands and thousands of them. But you won’t actually see them. You see, once you get close and touch where you think they are, they go out and then you can’t see where they are or where they’ve gone.”
Demonstrating this he moved to the wall nearest the ladder and reached out to a protruding rock formation from which the light was radiating. As soon as his hand touched it the light vanished as if a switch had been snapped off and that section of the wall was plunged into darkness. It stayed that way as long as he kept his hand there. Immediately he raised it the light returned, faint at first then more brilliant.
“Cute eh?” he said proudly. And he ran around slapping the wall with his hands, switching off large portions of the cavern wall. Then he stopped and giggled as the light slowly reappeared.
“What are they?” asked Gabrysia. “Some sort of firefly?”
“How on earth should I know,” said the Leader. “They were here when we moved in. And as you can see you can never catch one of the lighters to examine him. They’re just there.”
They were apparently throughout much of the underground base. Gabrysia tried to recall if they were in the cell during her first night of captivity but she couldn’t. Probably she was too shaken to notice or to pay any attention.. Apparently the Drongs used to spend hours trying to catch illuminations for days. Finally they gave up and while they still marveled at them they now accepted them as part of their lives below ground. There was one drawback though. The Drongs had not had a night of complete darkness since they moved in.
“So much for surprise number one,” said the Leader. “We’ve got a few more for you yet.” He then pointed to a tunnel which was obviously not a natural formation. It had a round entrance and was low to the ground so that anyone who went into it would have to do so on his hands and knees.
“You. Leafy.” The Leader pointed to Fallon. “In you go. Have a look at what we have in there. Don’t worry. Just have a look. You’ll be alright.”
Fallon hesitated. But when one of the soldiers prodded him with his stick he decided there was nothing for it but to do as he was told. He warily got down onto his knees and with a glance at Gabrysia and then at the Drong leader he slowly crawled in. As Fallon’s shoulders and then legs disappeared the Leader turned to Gabrysia. “As I said Queen Gabrysia there’s really no need to worry. Your friend will come back. He’ll be a little while though because that tunnel is fairly long.” He then went on: “You know, I don’t understand you Leafies. Why do you stay in the forest and never do anything exciting? There’s a lot of it and there are things you would not believe. You’ll see some later.”
Gabrysia looked at him carefully and again noted how grubby and uncaring he and the other Drongs were. She was convinced none of them bathed or washed their clothes. Their living quarters might not be the cleanest, she thought, but that in itself was even more reason for closer attention to be paid to their personal hygiene.
“Kerry” she asked, “wy don’t you and your group look after yourselves better? You all look so untidy and dirty.”
The Leader’s expressed hardened. “Listen little Queen Goody Goody. Don’t start your lectures here. You’re in no position to criticize how we look after ourselves. We’re fine and we don’t need any advice from you. You’ve got enough on your hands looking after yourself. Remember where you are.” He then turned away briskly and drew his soldiers to one side where they had a discussion which Gabrysia could not hear.
While they were talking there was a blood curdling roar which made everyone in the cavern start. The roar was repeated and then a series of bellows followed in quick succession continuing for a time before stopping abruptly.
The Drong leader called to Gabrysia: “I think your friend will be back any minute now.” He slapped one of his soldiers on the back and said over his shoulder again: “You’d better stand back from the entrance. He’ll probably be coming back a lot more quickly than he went in.”
He had hardly completed his sentence when Fallon came flying out of the tunnel, propelling himself forward easily five meters beyond the entrance. He slid forward onto his chin, peeling a strip of skin off, and then jumped to his feet. His eyes were so wide they looked like they might actually pop out of his head and his mouth was gaping with saliva dropping from the corners. He was shaking and seemed on the verge of tears,
“Are you alright Fallon?” asked Gabrysia rushing to his side and placing an arm around his shoulders.
“It’s…awful….huge black….god you won’t……must be….how did you….” Fallon was plainly terrified. He was breathing quickly and deeply, but finally he stared at the Drong. “What on earth is it,” he stammered.
The Drong leader was smiling. “I think Leafy here ran into our little pet,” he said to his soldiers. They too were smiling though not with grins quite as broad and Gabrysia noticed they glanced at the tunnel opening from time to time.
The Drong leader added: “Did you see him? Was he friendly? He sounded pleased to see you. Weren’t you surprised to run into him?”
Fallon’s gasping breath had calmed and he again had control of himself. “Surprised?” he shouted. “You’re crazy. I could have been killed in there.” He then faced Gabrysia. “In there,” he said, “these people have a giant beast. It’s huge. Must be two meters high. As black as night. It was on me before I knew it.”
Fallon had been crawling through the low tunnel now knowing what to expect but fearful that whatever lay in front of him would not be pleasant. He knew the Drong leader had sent him on because of their earlier confrontation. It was his way of demonstrating who was in charge.
Illuminations provided the tunnel with light, though not as much as in the cavern. It was round like a pipe all the way and wound in a slight semi-circle. After about three minutes of edging along on his hands and knees he came to another cave. Much smaller that the one he had just left, Fallon also noticed there were even fewer illuminations which meant it was quite dim. He could not make out any specific features. There was a very pungent odor too. He was about to get to his feet when there was a mighty roar and something huge came charging at him.
Fallon’s heart almost stopped and he nearly bit his tongue in half as the creature leapt at him. By instinct he ducked back into the tunnel, tucking his head down as far as he could onto his chest. A few minutes earlier he would have thought it impossible to turn in the narrow space, but somehow he did and without any attempt to look behind him he crawled as fast as he could back the way he had come. He kept his head down, not watching where he was going and simply kept putting one hand in front of the other and scratching his way out. He did not see the end of the tunnel. He was going too fast for that, with his head down and his chin on his chest. And all the time the horrifying bellows filled his ears.
When he lunged out of the tunnel into the cave he did not realize it until his hand slipped and he careened forward causing a painful abrasion on one side of his face and across his jaw.
“I’m lucky to be alive you idiot,” said Fallon. “The only reason I am is probably that think is too big to get into the tunnel What the heck is it?”
The Drong leader said: “”You’re the fool. Do you really think we would let a wild creature like that roam around down here, and then calmly climb down to join him? He’s chained up. He can’t follow you out because he can’t even reach the entrance to the tunnel in his den. The chain stops him about a meter short.” He went on: “Of course I forgot to tell you that.”
“Like hell you forgot,” Fallon snapped back. “You sent me kin there knowing exactly what you were doing. You knew I would walk straight into that animal. You did it intentionally.”
“Yes, I suppose I did.”
“Why?” Gabrysia asked. “Why did you do it? Fallon could have been killed.”
The Drong leader stuck his thumbs into his tatty breeches. “He needed a lesson. He’s too smart for his own good. It’s about time he, and you for that matter, realized that down here we are in charge. You do what we say. And that means no trying anything stupid like before.”
Gabrysia was about to argue the fruitlessness of such petty exhibitions of power but changed her mind. She concluded it would be a waste of effort. The time was not right either. It would be appropriate later. Hopefully.
Gabrysia and Fallon were led by the Drong to the far end of the cavern where the Leader reached out and appeared to pull a small outcropping of the wall downwards. There was a scraping sound and a hidden doorway opened before them. It was a secret passageway, revealed by the rock face rumbling sideways as a sliding door would.
“Incredible,” said Fallon.
“How on earth did you do that?” Gabrysia asked.
“We didn’t,” answered the Leader. “It was here also when we got here. As I said, you would be amazed at the things we found.” He went on quickly: “Of course they means nothing to us. We just take them for granted.”
The two captives were amazed indeed at what they had seen so far. The cavern itself was stunning. Not to mention the illuminations, the network of tunnels that had obviously been made, and in Fallon’s case the mysterious giant beast. Now a hand revealing a secret passage. It was the sort of experience that one expected to find only in fantasy adventure stories. There was sense of unreality to them. That they inhabited only the minds of those who could travel to distant levels of imagination. Everyone had the ability no doubt but only a select few were capable of actually doing it successfully.
Tales had been told and retold down through the centuries of unique civilizations or just individuals who had created wonderful worlds. But they were only figments of imaginations. At least Gabrysia and Fallon always had believed they were. They were no longer sure. Here they were in a very tangible world where such mysteries really existed. They were part of them. Or were they dreaming? They felt like reaching out and touching the cold stone face of the cavern to reassure themselves they were awake. Pinching themselves would not be sufficient.
But there was no need or time to do that. They were being taken into the passageway which was wide and high and stretched into the distance as far as they could see in a perfectly straight line.
As they progressed there was not the slightest sound apart from their footfalls. The Drong leader made no conversation and neither Gabrysia not Fallon felt inclined to begin one. The line of children merely marched down the tunnel in silence.
After they had walked for about five minutes they again emerged into yet another cave. It was the most intriguing of all. It was filled with what seemed to be sculptures of identifiable shapes as well as images that appeared to resemble nothing familiar. Some were small and scattered over the floor of the cave while others towered almost to the ceiling. There were huge men and women dressed in strange garb, animals that crouched in corners or behind rocks, vessels such as urns and baskets, miniature buildings even, and representations of gardens complete with trees, ferns and flowers.
There were also odd shapes that Gabrysia and Fallon could not recognize as anything they had ever seen before. They were hard to describe. They were pointed, and blunt, square, and round. A few appeared to be similar to boxes with legs sticking out of them awkwardly at the sides. Others were large balls with heads protruding from them. Also there were just large feet and hands lying about.
Gabrysia could not contain her disbelief at what she was seeing. “Good heavens. What on earth is this?”
“I’m not sure we are on earth any more,” Fallon said. He looked about him at the strange objects littering the cave. They were scattered haphazardly as if a giant hand had cast them down caring little for where they landed. He bent to touch one of the unusual boxes that seemed to enclose numerous artificial limbs. Instantly he recoiled with a strangled ugh! “My god,” he said. “It feels real. It can’t be.” Again he approached the object and touched it. “It is. This leg is real.”
Gabrysia joined him and felt another of the limbs. “It can’t be,” she said. Then she touched an arm jutting out at another angle. “Surely, they can’t be real.”
The Drong leader had been standing quietly to one side. “They can’t be. They can’t be. Make up your mind. Are they real? Or aren’t they?”
Gabrysia moved to another sculpture which had human heads around it. She studied it closely and once more lightly stroked it. “Even though it feels real I don’t believe it is. What are they Kerry?”
“We still have not been able to find out. They look real and they certainly feel real. But we’ve been here for quite a while and they have not changed. They are exactly the same as when we found them.”
“But were they like this all the time? Tossed around like this? It looks like an earthquake hit this place.”
“No, it can’t have been an earthquake. Nothing else is damaged. The cave is alright and we haven’t found any other place where things have been toppled over. Just here.”
“It’s very strange,” remarked Fallon. “Not only the fact that the heads and things look so real, but they are so weird. I don’t understand why anyone would want to create such things. Who would want to leave horrible things like these lying about? They’re dreadful.”
The Drong leader furtively glanced at his soldiers. “There is another mystery about them,” he said almost apologetically. “They’re not always the same.”
“What do you mean?” Gabrysia asked.
Another glance and the Leader said: “We found them pretty soon after we came. And like you we thought they were real. But they never trot or anything. So we figured they were imitations. Eventually we got used to them and didn’t really pay them any attention. Though sometimes we would come and have a look at them.”
He coughed lightly. “Each time we have come back they have changed. They have been moved. Today they have moved again.”
Fallon laughed. “They can’t move by themselves. Someone in your group must have a sense of humour. Unlikely as that seems. They probably sneak in here and change them around. And then sit back and have a good laugh at your expense.”
“No way,” said the Leader. “I thought of that. No-one has done that I can assure you. We’ve even stayed together I n the main hall and then all gone to check. And they had moved.”
Gabrysia frowned. “Have you set up watches to see if you can catch them actually moving?”
“Sure. We had teams which kept guard for two whole days. Nothing. But then the day after when we went back to look again they were in different places.”
Gabrysia and Fallon once more fingered the objects and looked closely at them. They were either the real thing or the most incredible copies they had ever seen. The texture was just like human flesh. It was impossible to tell the difference.
“Well, I don’t care what you say,” said Fallon. “These things cannot move by themselves. Even if they are real there is no way they can move about in here by themselves. It is not possible.”
Gabrysia added: “Fallon is right Kerry. Obviously someone or something has to be responsible.”
“There is nobody down here apart from us.”
“Are you certain of that?”
“Of course,” the Leader snapped. “Don’t you think we would know if there was someone else living down here? We’ve been here long enough and there are quite a few of us moving around all the time. If there was somebody else here we would know it.”
Gabrysia was not to be put off easily. “Listen Kerry,” she said slowly. “Let’s go over what we have here and see if we can come up with some sort of explanation.”
“We have done that at least a hundred times. We have thought of every possibility and there is simply no logical answer. No answer at all, logical or otherwise.”
“But what if there was someone else…”
Gabrysia did not finish before the Leader again snapped: “Impossible. That is not possible. No way.”
Gabrysia persisted. “But, for the sake of argument let’s assume you are not the only people down here. If there was somebody else where would they live? How big is it down here anyway?”
He paused and then finally said: “There is a network of tunnels down here that stretches for hundreds of meters. Probably twenty different tunnels. Major tunnels that is. There are quite a few small ones too but they are only short and all end in a dead end. The big ones seem to branch out in eight different directions basically and end up in another large cave. Then there are four tunnels leading from the smaller caves, and at least one ot two of these smaller tunnels link the smaller caves together.”
He squatted down on his haunches and took the stick from one of his soldiers. Golding it in his two hands he began to scratch out a diagram on the ground. The earth was packed fairly solidly and the Leader had to lean heavily to make the outline. The result was a large circle in the centre with lines radiating outwards in eight directions. At the end of each long line there was a smaller circle giving eight smaller circles in all. Each was linked to the ones of either side by smaller lines representing tunnels. The smaller circles also each had a shorter line poking out of it which led nowhere.
“I take it,” said Fallon, “the large circle in the middle there is the cavern where we were taken from the dungeon.”
“Right,” said the Leader.
“And these?” asked Fallon, pointing to the smaller circles surrounding the main cave.
“They are smaller caves just like this one. They are all linked together and they each have four entrances. One of them obviously joins it to the main cavern and the two at the sides join up with the smaller caves.”
“What about the ones sticking out here at the top?” asked Gabrysia. Pointing to the lines extending beyond the smaller caves but not linked to anything, she continued. “Do these connect with anything?”
The Leader seemed uncertain. He shuffled his feet and again looked at his soldiers. “Um. Well we think they probably go nowhere. They are all very short. Like the one Leafy went into when he met the beast.”
“So you are not sure?”
“Well there are no illuminations so they just end most likely.”
“But they could lead to other caves?”
“Maybe. But we reckon they just go a few meters and then stop. As I said there is no light. They couldn’t lead…..”
Fallon interrupted him. “Show us one.”
“Just a minute,” Gabrysia said. “The figures do not add up. Kerry you said earlier that you thought there could be as many as twenty main tunnels with many more smaller ones. Here you’ve only shown eight major tunnels and another eight smaller ones which are in fact connecting passageways. Apart from the eight which you have not investigated. Where are the other bigger tunnels?”
One of the soldiers spoke: “There are two more caverns like the….”
The Leader quickly spun around and shouted: “Shut up fool!” He shoved the other Drong who almost fell over. “I do the talking. You do the muscling. What you never do is try to think.”
Fallon and Gabrysia exchanged looks. It was Gabrysia who again spoke: “SO, there are large caverns like your main hall. Where are they Kerry? What are they used for?”
The Leader had regained his composure. Facing Gabrysia he said: “Some of the people around me are thicker than these walls. He does not know what he is talking about.”
“Anyway,” he went on, “even if there are some more caves there is no reason why I should tell you about them Remember, you do what I tell you. I don’t do what you want.”
“There’s someone down here already,” said Fallon in a level tone, “who does not do whatever you say. These ghastly shapes in front of your own eyes show that. If you’re not moving them about, and if they can’t do it on their own, there is something else in your hideaway doing it.”
The Drong leader said nothing and Fallon added: “And worst of all is the fact that he, or they, know you are here. But you don’t know where they are.”
The Leader’s eyes widened. “What makes you think they know about us?”
“It’s obvious,” said Fallon. “You gave the answer yourself. You haven’t seen them. You have kept watch around the clock and as soon as you turned your back the weird events continued. Surely that indicates that while you were watching these things you were being watched.” He went on: “The interesting thing is they have not bothered to show themselves. And they have not bothered you either. Why?”
Nobody said anything. Fallon and Gabrysia faced the Leader waiting for some response. He simply opened and closed his mouth a number of times and licked his lips. The soldiers looked around anxiously.
Finally it was Gabrysia who broke the tense atmosphere. “Show us one of these passageways you say are dead tunnels.” She looked around the cave. “I can’t see anything like one in this place.”
The soldier who had been roughly chastised by the Leader before walked to a part of the save where a sculptured windmill stood propped against the wall. He put his hand on the rock face and there was a rumbling sound.
“Here,” he said. “It’s here.”
Fallon joined him and could see an opening behind the windmill. It was at ground level and was no more than a meter and a half across.
“It’s impossible to get in there without moving this windmill,” he called over his shoulder. “We’ll have to shift it.”
“You will not. Not unless I say.” The Drong leader stood his grou8nd and scowled from the centre of the cave. “I told you before these passages go nowhere. You can see for yourself there is no light. And anyway they are too narrow.”
“How do you know until you try,” said Fallon. “It’s no worse than the one you sent me into. Apart from the absence of illuminations. But that was made up for by the surprise you had for me at the end of it.”
“No,” the Leader repeated.
“Why?” asked Gabrysia. She could not understand the Leader’s reluctance. She was unable to fathom why the Drong would not want to find out where the unexplored passage went.
“Kerry,” she said. “I don’t understand. You know there is someone else down in this underground world of yours. Surely you realize that now. As Fallon has pointed out if you are not moving these objects about someone else must be. So why don’t you want to discover who it is? Are you afraid for some reason?”
The Leader almost took a step backwards. It was as though he had been assaulted, or more appropriately insulted.
“I am scared of no-one,” he hissed. “I’ll take on anyone. I’ll fight the whole lot of you Leafies. And beat you all.” His face was reddening. “I’ve never been frightened of anyone in my life. I’ve done battle with bigger and better than any of you. I’ve licked two and three at once. How do you think I got to be the leader down here? I fought my way to the top.”
“I’m not talking about….”
“I said no. And when I say no, that’s it.” He marched over to the windmill and putting his hand on the wall closed the entrance to the passage. As he did so he glared at the soldier beside him. “I’ll teach you later not to cross me.”
He then turned around and strode back to the entrance of the main tunnel. “We’ll go back,” he said. “Now.” He waited by the opening as Fallon and Gabrysia followed by the soldiers passed him and entered the tunnel.
Back in the huge cavern he stopped and said to Gabrysia: “I’ve got one more surprise for you. This one I demand you see.”
At the corner of the cavern stood a large rock and when he reached it he called: “Come over here. Both of you.”
Behind the boulder, obscured by its size, was another passageway. Large enough to walk in to if slightly stooped it was also well lit.
“You can both go in this time. And don’t worry Leafy. There is no big black beast waiting for you this time. Go ahead. Have a look.”
The Leaf Children did as they were told. They stepped in led by Gabrysia. There was nothing unusual or special about it. In fact it was very similar to the others. Hard packed earth underfoot, plain cold walls but with no trophies adorning them. And illuminations lighting the way. It meandered for some distance in a long slow curve, always the same width, always the same height, and always silent. There was not a sound.
Neither Gabrysia nor Fallon spoke as they passed through at a steady wary pace. They mutely agreed the Drong leader was being truthful when he advised that no nasty surprise was awaiting them. They knew something would be there at the end, something he wanted them to see, but not necessarily something they would be looking forward to. They did not fear harm. Rather they were apprehensive and curious at the same time.
They followed the passageway in its circular route until finally they came to what appeared to be a dead end. The illuminations clearly showed they could proceed no further. In front of them was a blank rock face.
“What do we do now?” Fallon asked, looking around at the enclosing stone walls. “Maybe he just wanted to show us that these passageways do lead nowhere. This one certainly doesn’t go any further.”
Gabrysia was not so sure. “I don’t believe that was his intention,” she said. “He wanted us to come in here because there was something he wanted to show us.” She surveyed the wall directly in front of them. “He seemed pretty sure of himself back there, especially after the business in the other cave. Too sure of himself. He was almost gloating.”
“No,” she said, “there has to be something. Have a look and see if you can see anything unusual about these walls. I’ll check this one in front of us.”
They began examining the rock. There was nothing immediately obvious and the bright illuminations in the confined area actually made a close scrutiny more difficult.
“Fallon, black out some of the light for a minute please. We might see more if we have a bit of contrasting shadow.”
However the darkness caused by Fallon touching the wall on both sides with outstretched arms did not help.
“Run your hand along one side,” said Gabrysia.
Fallon did so and then exclaimed: “Hold it. I think I might have found something.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know. But there was something smooth there. Smoother than the rest of the wall.” He moved back and again passed his hand along the rock. “Here,” he said. “I’ve got it.”
Together they looked closely. There appeared to be a tiny, shiny button slightly recessed in the rock. The illuminations almost hid it, but when a small section of them were blacked out the light a little further away mad the object shine.
“Looks like a button,” said Fallon.
“Yes,” Gabrysia agreed. “Either that or just a damp piece of stone.” She felt it lightly. “It’s doesn’t feel wet. I think it is a button of some sort.”
“Push it,” suggested Fallon. “See what happens. But be careful.”
Gabrysia placed her index finger over the hole and pressed. Nothing happened.
“Press it harder,” Fallon said.
This time Gabrysia leant heavily against the button with her thumb. There was a click and the rock which was the dead end of the passageway suddenly went black.
“Look out,” called Fallon. “Get back.” He reached out and pulled Gabrysia by the shoulder as he retreated a few meters. Then they stood side by side as a thin strip of light appeared at ground level, slowly deepening. The rock wall that had barred their progress was gradually rising in front of them, accompanied by a dull sound like an exhalation of breath.
The wall continued to rise until Gabrysia and Fallon could make out that there was another cave on the other side. Sl