Part 29

I resist the urge to head in the same direction the ferryman had gone.  “Come on, this way.”  I say, indicating the opposite direction.  

“But don’t you think-“  Mary says but I cut her off.

“Look, if that was Death, the means either Rush is alive and can take care of himself, or he isn’t, and whoever he was fighting with is coming for us now.  If it wasn’t, someone just got reinforcements.”

“They could be here to help us.”  Benny says.

I take a deep breath, steeling myself as I rise, ready to respond, but my brother does it for me.

“Or they could be here to hurt us.  I’m with Charles.  We keep going.”

I nod and check my wound.  There does not appear to be any new blood flow and I count myself lucky.  I set off at the best pace I can make, Jason beside me, steadying my every other step.  I want to shoo 

him away but am grateful he is beside me.

“So,”  He says, the pause tense.

“I’ve said I’m sorry-“

“Enough!  If I’m going to help, and it looks like I have little choice in that matter now, I guess I could lay down and let myself be over run by whoever is after us, I need to know what is going on.”

As we walk, Mary and Benny overtake us, and we walk in silence, alone with our thoughts.  Mine are the Black Bazaar, and what to tell my brother, before finally they move out ahead of us, Benny’s sphere leading the way.

“Okay,”  I finally say, “Let me start from, well, the beginning as I see it.”  I tell him of how I became an Underground Prince and my run in with the Troll King, leaving the fight with Rush out of it.  I fast forward a number of years, where I am established, a known Prince, and tell him of when I had seen Cyrus attack Mary in the subway station.  Hell, that felt like years ago.  I follow with the next encounter between Mary and myself.  I include all of the details, from the tarot card and our visit with the Snake Woman, Catherine to Cyrus’ and my meeting with Old Jenny.

“So, she wants to become one of these Princes?  A princess I guess?  And do you really think this is the best way to go about it.”

“Well,”  I pause as I think.  “Yes, I did”  I respond.

“I hear a ‘but’ that you are not telling me.”

“Yeah, but now I’m not so certain.  With all of the challenges we’ve faced…  You okay Benny?”  I call out and pick up my pace.

Benny is lying on the ground, holding his already damaged arm.  “I just landed on it wrong is all.”

Jason helps him to his feet while I kneel down.  “What did you trip on?”  I ask.

“I don’t know, something sticking out of the glass I guess,”

“Here,”  I say, brushing the pulverized glass off of what appears to be a large slab made from the same material.  “Clever.  Had you not tripped on it, we would have walked right past it.”  I sweep more of the glass from the slab before finding a seem.  “There’s more.”

Jason joins me in digging what soon becomes apparent is a walkway that leads straight into the rolling waves.

“Well, the path across the ocean.”  I say.  

“Hang on.”  Benny says, rushing away from the water, fishing in his pocket for something.

I can barely make him out, so far are we from the wall, but I can tell what he is doing.  It is not long before he is running a little farther away, and holding his sphere aloft, is back at the point next to the wall.

“What the-“  Jason says, his jaw slightly open.

“Remember how we got out of the VA?”  I remind him, and he nods.  I continue, “That’s how we did it.”

His mouth forms an oh, but no sound comes out.  Shortly, Benny rejoins us. “So who goes first?”

“I didn’t bring my swim trunks,”  Mary says, adding “But I’ll go.”

“No, I’ll go first.  You help Charles,”  Jason says, and to prevent any further argument, he leaps upon the uncovered path and walks toward the water.  “How is this supposed to work?”  He asks over his shoulder.  

“I don’t know.  Just keep walking,”  I tell him, and to his credit, he does.

The water slowly begins to swirl about his brown boots, but even as he steps further into the surf, it does not rise above his ankles.  

Mary grabs ahold of me.  “Your next, that way if you fall, I can catch you.”  I oblige and limp slowly out along the path.  The water is cold as it seeps through what little fabric remains on my tennis shoes.  Mary follows me and I can hear Benny’s heavy breathing, even over my own labored breaths, behind her.  

The pathway is no more than two or three feet wide at any point, and continues to be made of the same material, big stone-like slabs of the ground glass.  It is not long before we can no longer see the shore behind us and we count our blessings as the water remains no higher than out feet around us.  

We walk for well over an hour, afraid to rest lest the water, or something else, carry us off.  Shapes pass in the murky water to either side of us, and looking to my left I swear I see the shell of a turtle the size of a small car, but it is gone before I can point it out to anyone.  “Did you see that?”

But no one responds.  They are all looking ahead at the lights that are taking shape out of the darkness before us.  Hundreds of them.  Blinking and winking white lights like Christmas decorations, strung in both directions.  And the sounds.  I hear zydeco and something classical, maybe a flute.  Voices.  Voices too, someone is selling fish.  Someone has fresh mushrooms.

“Lady and gentlemen,”  I say, “It looks like we’ve found the Black Bazaar.”

Part 28

The Russian stands panting before Jason until his eyes finally regain their focus and see the blade in my brother’s hand.  “Jason, it’s me,”  He says and I watch as my brother squints.  “Look past beard, add fifteen, no, twenty pounds.”  Rush says.  

“Viktor?”  My brother asks and a smile eclipses the Russians face.

“You do remember,”  Rush says.

I glance at Jason, who shakes his head.  

“Yeah, I remember you,” My brother says before punching Viktor in the jaw.

Viktor falls to one knee, laughing.  “Yes, yes you do, but do you remember her?”

“Her name was Veronica, and she was wearing a blue strapless dress,”  Jason says.

“Haha, yes!”  Viktor continues to laugh as he rises.

“Ok enough, so what are you doing here?”  Benny asks, and both my brother and Viktor turn toward him.

Viktor wipes a trickle of blood from his mouth before responding, “Cat, the Snake Lady, came looking for you.”

“Yeah, she found us in the hospital.  That you sent us too,”  Benny says, cutting his eyes at the Russian.

“What are you saying?”  Viktor asks, rising to his full height and puffing out his chest.  

Mary steps in between the two men and immediately Benny’s demeanor changes although the Russian refuses to back down.  “Charles, we’ve found the glass shore, what’s next?”  She asks.

Rush glares at me but I ignore his look, “We’re looking for the path into the water,” I say, trying to remember if there were any other details.

Mary brushes past Rush who turns his glare upon her.  Suddenly, Mary turns around and cuts her eyes at him.  “Was there something else you needed?”

“She does have spirit, I see why you like her,” Rush says.

Mary almost hides her blush before she is storming off.

“How do you know it’s that direction?”  Benny calls after her.

“I don’t,” She calls over her shoulder.  

Benny rushes to catch up, and I look at Rush and shrug, “You coming?”  My brother falls into step beside me as I hobble my way behind her, holding my sphere aloft.

“Do you know what we’re looking for?”  Jason asks me quietly.  

I look over my shoulder to where Rush still stands before I answer.  “Not the slightest,” I admit.  “I can send you home if you want you know.”

“Ok, so how will we know when we find it?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

We finally catch up with Mary and Freak Beans, who have paused and are looking out over the gentle waves.  

“Do you trust him?”  Mary asks me as I glance back to where the Russian still stands in the distance, a silhouette outlined by the last rays of red light from the Devil’s Rib Cage.

“Sometimes,” I answer honestly.

”Hey, are you coming?”  She calls to him.

He turns, whether toward us or away from us I can not tell, the distance is too great and the light is behind him, but his reply reaches us.  “Run!”

He moves back toward the opening he came from and draws what appears to be a cane or a slender blade out of nowhere and swings it, meeting the advance of someone coming from the tunnel.  “Go!”  He shouts again, followed by the ringing of steel against steel.

I stand transfixed, watching the two forms dual, the clanging of metal on metal echoing off the stone wall to my right and the rolling tide to my left.

“Who is he fighting?”  Benny asks, stepping up beside me. 

“I don’t know,”  I have lost track of who is who, the bodies dancing, but one of them cries out in pain and staggers backwards, before lunging forward, re-doubling their efforts.

“He said run,”  Jason says, placing a hand upon my shoulder, “I think we should trust him on this one.  Besides, with you hurt, we need to build up as much of a lead as possible,”

“Yeah,”  I agree, turning, and dragging Benny with me, head off, leaving the sound of the battle behind me.

We run, well more like shuffle, for nearly half an hour, all of us looking over our shoulders, but no sign of pursuit comes.  Finally I can move no more and panting , I fall to my knees, clutching at wound, feeling the warm blood that has soaked my shirt.  “I… can’t… go… on.”  My breaths come in short, fiery bursts.

Finally I manage to catch my breath and a motion for my brother to come closer.  I lift my shirt, “How bad is it.”

“Not bad,”  He says, but he is unable to hide look of worry that crosses his face.

I reach down and my hand comes away sticky.  I crawl my way to the water’s edge and rinse my hand before reaching into my pack and pulling out a spare shirt, which I dip into the water and use to wipe the blood from my wound.  One of the stitches is broken, and blood continues to trickle out, but it does not appear to be gushing.  

“What’s that?”  Benny asks pointing out over the water.

I squint, but can’t see what he is pointing at.

“Is it a light?”  Mary asks.

I continue to stare, and sure enough, there does appear to be a light off in the distance on the water and it appears to be coming toward us.

Benny tucks his sphere back in his pack, and I place mine back in my jacket, leaving us in complete darkness.  

“None of you move,”  Jason says, putting his hand on my shoulder again.  Silently, afraid to breath, we watch as the light comes closer to shore before passing by, completely ignoring us, heading in the direction which we came.

“Was that Death?”  Benny asks once the light is finally out of sight, and I restrain myself from calling him an idiot.  I had seen the black-robed figure too, paddling the raft along the underground waterway.

Part 27

I am hunched over a pool of blood.  My blood to be exact.  The walls are red, the wood supports rotting and almost black, and the steam is oppressive.  

“What the?”  Jason asks but I am unable to respond.  I touch my stomach, my hand comes away bloodless, the stitches catching on my dry skin.  Finally I roll over, scoot myself so that my back is against the wall.

“-Able to jump to any of those we have made.”  I hear Benny offering an explanation to my brother, who I can now see is hunched over, leaning against the opposite wall.

“Are you okay?” Mary asks as she kneels down beside me.

I manage a smirk, “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

“Didn’t think so.”

“Why’d you take me to the VA?”

“Rush told us you’d been there before.”

“You saw the Russian?”

“He’s watching your things.”

“Shi-,”  A fit of coughing cuts the rest of the word off.

“Is he okay?”  Jason asks, standing over us.

“Yeah,” I say, holding out my hand.  He takes it and I gingerly stand up.  “What happened?”

“Cyrus stabbed you,”  Mary says, “And we ended up back with the Russian near your-“  She pauses, 

“Room?”  She says in a questioning tone.  “He said you had served and the best bet would be to go to the VA.  Luckily, Benny has a sigil near the hospital.”

“Ok, thanks, next time, just let me bleed.”  I say.

“And you’d probably be dead,”  Jason argues.

“And you would not be here in the Devil’s Rib Cage with us.”  I take three steps away from the wall, testing myself. 

“The Devil’s Rib Cage?”  He asks.  “Can any of you tell me what is going on?”  Jason looks to each of us in turn.  

I shake my head.  “What happened back at the hospital?”  I ask, staring at Benny.

“The witch showed up,”  Freak Beans shudders, “That snake was crawling on her shoulders.”  He shudders again.

“What did she want this time?”  Mary asks.

“Um,”  Benny says.

“She didn’t say or you didn’t ask?”  Mary again.

“Uh, both.”

“Can we get my stuff?”  I take a deep breath and walk over to Benny without faltering.  “Now.”  I grab hold of his injured arm stiffly, locking his eyes with mine, and hope that he did not notice my legs begin to buckle when I stopped moving.

“I told you, your stuff is safe with the Russian.”  Mary says in protest.

“I know, that’s why we need to get it.”  I tell her.

“But-“ Jason protests.

“Mary, fill him in if you want.  Benny’s taking me to get my things.  Aren’t you?”  I grip his arm tighter.

He winces and nods.  A few seconds later and we are standing before the Russian, who sits behind a small fire contained within a coffee can.  He reaches a gloved hand into the can and pulls out an open container of beans as we approach.  “Thanks,  I hope you don’t mind,” he says, nodding to the food.  

I glare at Benny, who smiles sheepishly, then turn my attention to the corner where my pack is.  I hobble over to it, the quick shifts having done nothing to help my equilibrium.  I sink to the floor, crossing my legs, indian-style, and dig through the bag.  My Sphere is on top, and I shove it into my coat pocket, my hand brushing the Wheel of Time.  “Change my ass,”  I say under my breath.

“What?”  Rush asks.

“Everything’s here, kind of,”  I say glaring at the can of food Rush is eating.  Using a stack of boxes, I rise to my feet, bend over and grab the pack, slinging it over my shoulder.  “Come on Benny, time to get back to my brother.”

“Jason is involved now?”  Rush asks as he rises.

I nod.  “Yeah, and we’ve left him in the Devil’s Rib Cage.  We need to get back.” 

“Yes, I see.  Luck be with you my friend.”

“Thanks,” I say as I grab ahold of Benny again, “Shall we?”

And Jason is seated against the wall, Mary beside him, and they are laughing about something.

“What’s so funny?”  I manage.

“You don’t look so hot,”  Jason says as he stands and comes over to me.

“I’ll be fine.  Here,”  I reach in to my pocket and pull out the tarot card.  Hand it to him, watch as he inspects it before pulling out the rest of the deck.  He slides the card in, shuffles the deck and cuts it.  Shows me the top card.  “The moon.”

“Really?”  He asks, looking at the card himself.  “Of all the cards…”

“What’s it mean?”  Mary asks.

“Have you ever done drugs?”  Jason replies.

“You mean like pot?  Once.”

“No.  Acid.  We’re in for a bad trip.”  

“Like melt your face bad or the sofa cushions are chasing me through the house bad?”  Benny chimes in, looking a little worried.

“Like there is something coming bad,”  I say as I catch a shape in the distant steam cloud.   Jason and Mary are on either side of me, and I have to push them off.  “Let go of me,”  I snap.

Benny takes the lead, with Mary close behind him and me third.  Jason is close behind me, close enough that I can feel his breath on my neck.  

Deeper into the tunnels we go, the glowing red walls shifting to crimson then to brown and finally to green.  With each shift in color, the wooden beams seem to become even more rotten until finally, with the green lit walls, the buttresses are gone.  At some point the ground has changed as well and with each running step I take, something crunches underfoot, but I am still to busy looking over my shoulder to investigate.

“Uh guys?”  Benny says as I stumble into the back of Mary who has stopped short.  I recover and step to her side.  An expanse of water is before us, small waves lapping at Benny’s feat.  He looks down and steps back, out of the water.

I reach into my coat and pull out my sphere, lighting the room around me with a soft white light.  We are in a large chamber, the only wall I can see being the one behind us, the only opening in it the tunnel Jason is still staring down.

I kneel down, trying to figure out what we have been running over, and it isn’t until I remember the Lampman’s riddle that it occurs to me.  I hold the small pebbles up to my sphere and watch as the light shines through the small glass pebbles.  “We’ve made it to the Shores of Glass.”

“Yeah,”  Jason says, pulling his knife from inside his jacket, “But so has whatever was chasing us.  Be ready,”  He says as a large flailing shape bursts from the opening, foaming at the mouth.