Dormia (32 page)

Alfonso walked around the side of the statue to get a better glimpse of the cyclops's ear. He moved very carefully so that he never once allowed himself to look backwards. To his surprise, Alfonso noticed that the ear of the statue was badly damaged, as if someone had repeatedly hit it with a hammer or a pick. Then Alfonso glanced down at his feet and saw that the ground was littered with wooden arrows, almost all of which were broken. It was as if someone—and perhaps many people—had been shooting at the statue's ear with a bow and arrow. Where were they shooting from? Alfonso glanced momentarily off into the woods—directly to his right—and then he saw it: about fifty feet away, deep in the forest, stood a second statue. It was an archer holding a giant bow.

Alfonso was paralyzed with indecision. He knew deep in his gut that he shouldn't waste anymore time. But the discovery of the second statue had him burning with curiosity. He had to look.

Alfonso scurried through the woods to the spot where the second statue was standing. He sidestepped the whole way—again making certain not to look backwards. The statue was of a large man, dressed in light chain-mail armor, holding a bow that was pointed directly at the cyclops. The bow, like the statue itself, was made of stone; but the bow itself had hinges, so that it could swivel, and the cord on the bow was made of real string.
Clearly, the bow could be used, and it appeared that several people had done so, in an attempt to hit the cyclops in the ear and perhaps dislodge the sphere. The shot looked nearly impossible. The arrow had to travel fifty feet through dense forest and hit the statue's ear—a target that was roughly the size of a large coin.

Alfonso felt certain he could do it if he entered hypnogogia. He looked around the base of the archer statue until he found an arrow that looked intact. He climbed on top of the statue and balanced precariously on one of the archer's arms. Alfonso placed one hand on the bow and immediately it bent backwards toward him. All he had to do was aim it properly. Alfonso loaded the arrow into the archer's bow and pulled the string taut. There was only one last thing to do. He closed his eyes halfway and imagined a large hourglass with thousands of grains of sand falling swiftly down. He allowed himself to picture a single grain as it shifted in the upper chamber of the hourglass and then slowly made its way down to the narrow part where it broke through and fell into the lower chamber. The familiar rush flooded his mind. He was firmly in hypnogogia and aware of everything around him: the wind, the movement of the trees, the tautness of the string, the slight imperfections of the arrowhead, and the impossible trajectory that the arrow itself would have to make. Then he let go.
Twang!
The arrow flew through the air at an incredible speed and struck the statue squarely in the ear.
Ping!
A moment later he heard the gentle thud of something falling to the forest floor.

Alfonso scrambled down and sidestepped back to the cyclops statue. There on the ground, beneath the statue, lay the dark blue sphere. With his heart thudding in excitement, Alfonso
picked it up and examined it. It was roughly the size of a grapefruit, and despite the fact that it appeared to be made of solid glass or crystal, it weighed no more than a Ping-Pong ball. "Why is it so light?" he asked himself.

Alfonso gently tossed the sphere to test how it moved through the air. To his astonishment, the sphere exploded up with the force of a cannonball, tearing through massive tree branches as it went. The ball flew a hundred or maybe even two hundred feet—it was impossible to tell because it moved so quickly—and then it shot down with the same incredible speed and hurtled back into Alfonso's hand. Alfonso flinched, but the sphere didn't hurt him at all. It landed in his hand quite softly, as if it had traveled only a few inches. A moment later, giant tree branches that had been struck by the sphere began to crash down to the ground all around him. Alfonso ran for cover and cowered at the base of the statue. Suddenly he recalled Spack's words: "Every Great Sleeper always finds a unique weapon."

"I think I've just found mine," Alfonso said to himself.

He placed the sphere securely into the pocket of his coat. Although unsure of what exactly he had found, Alfonso was certain of three things. First, he was definitely holding on to this sphere. Second, he would tell absolutely no one about it—after all, Hill would be furious if he knew that Alfonso had dilly-dallied in the forest. Third, he had to get going right away. He had wasted almost a half-hour at the statue and he had no time to spare. He set off down the trail at a sprint and he ran steadily for the next forty-five minutes. Eventually, he reduced his speed to a fast walk and held that pace for the remainder of the day.

Around twilight, Alfonso saw the opening in the woods that
marked the end of the trail. And there, standing in the receding afternoon light, was Bilblox. Alfonso ran the last leg of the trail as quickly as he could. It didn't take long for him to realize that something was wrong. Bilblox looked wretched—tired, muddy, and disheveled.

"Alfonso," said Bilblox wearily, "is that ya?"

"Yeah," said Alfonso. "What happened to you? You look awful."

"I-I've been lookin' everywhere outside the forest," said Bilblox in a strange stammer. "Sh-sh-she's gone." His round red cheeks glistened with tears. "I don't know how to say this, b-but I d-don't think R-Resuza made it. She's
gone.
"

T
HE NEXT
day, Hill made it through the forest with great speed. He arrived in the early evening, with a walking stick in hand, whistling a melody to himself as if he were out for a leisurely stroll. In his hand, Hill held Resuza's red cloak.

Hill strode up to the spot where Alfonso and Bilblox were waiting for him. "Nasty animals, those Straszydlo. They harassed me nonstop this time, but the secret is to keep walking at a good clip. Eventually they get tired of following you if they know you're aware of the rules ... Still, I'm glad to be finished with that place." He looked at Bilblox. "Well, you got through fine, didn't you? In fact, you look positively healthy. You're a fast healer!"

Bilblox couldn't stop a hot flash of shame from coloring his
cheeks. "Everythin's fine for me," he muttered. "It's Resuza we're worried about."

"Yes indeed, she left her coat on the trail," replied Hill as he showed them the red cloak. "Where is she?"

"We don't know," said Alfonso grimly.

"What do you mean?" demanded Hill.

"We think she didn't make it," said Bilblox.

Hill turned white. He looked at the red cloak in his hands. "It's not possible," he said. "Could it be just a mistake? Maybe she's off hiding, to see if anyone is following us."

"Maybe," replied Alfonso. He didn't know what to say and turned away to look back at the forest. He thought back to Resuza telling him about Rosalina and Masha and the death card. It didn't make sense. He could imagine himself or Bilblox or even Hill falling prey to the Straszydlo, but Resuza? It seemed impossible. She was so hardy—so tough.

That night, the three of them crowded into the cave that Hill had first discovered during his initial crossing. It was no bigger than a one-car garage, but it was clean, dry, and rather cozy. During the day, Alfonso had collected several dozen mushrooms from nearby fields and that evening Hill made a large pot of mushroom soup. They ate in silence. Everyone's mind was on Resuza. The only logical conclusion was that the Straszydlo had in fact gotten her. This hunch, this increasingly undeniable reality, hung over the group like the darkest of clouds.

"Maybe she'll show up," said Bilblox hopefully. "You never know."

No one replied to this.

"For the time being, we must think of Spack," said Hill
gravely. "I suspect it will be a terrible journey for her. The Straszydlo can sense weakness."

***

Almost from the moment she dragged herself into the forest, Spack could sense that she was being followed. She could hear the footsteps—
thump, thump, thump
—just a little ways behind her. Clearly something large was following her. Spack knew this not only by the loudness of its footsteps, but because it was taking just one step to her five. The stride of this particular Straszydlo had to be almost fifteen feet long, which meant that its legs had to be enormous. The footsteps terrified Spack. To calm herself, she tried to remain focused on the task at hand. "I just have to keep going forward," she whispered. "If I just keep walking, I'll make it." But this, she knew, was not entirely true. It wasn't enough simply to keep walking—she had to keep walking at a certain speed—and if she failed to do this, she wouldn't reach the other end of the forest by sundown.

As if all of this weren't unnerving enough, the Straszydlo behind her was mimicking the voice of a young man, who had quite clearly been frightened to death when he uttered his last words.
I love you, Mother,
came the hysterical, sobbing voice.
I love you, Mother. I love you, Mother.

"Shut up!" yelled Spack.

But it was no use. The Straszydlo continued with its massive footsteps—
thump, thump, thump
—and its incessant banter of
I love you, Mother.
It was as if this particular Straszydlo
knew that Spack was not going to live and it was staking its claim to her from the outset.

"The Straszydlo know when a person
isn't
going to make it," Rosalina had explained the night before. "They can sense when someone is weak. They're like vultures—when they spot someone who is straggling or not following the rules, they just keep circling and circling, until finally, they decide to attack."

By the time Spack reached the frozen stream in the middle of the forest, she sensed that there were at least three or four Straszydlo following her. She scurried across the stream as quickly as she could and, almost directly behind her, she could hear the ice cracking under the massive weight of the Straszydlo's legs. She could hear the voices that each of them were mimicking in rapid succession.

I see a black light,
moaned a quavering old man's voice.

Night is coming, oh heavens, night is coming,
screeched a woman's voice.

I would have liked to see my wife one last time,
gasped a young man's voice.

I can't go any faster, Father,
whined a boy's voice.
I can't go any faster!

These voices persisted through much of the afternoon until they were eventually replaced by much deeper growling noises. The growling grew louder and louder as the afternoon progressed and, at one point, Spack could hear two of the Straszydlo gnashing their teeth and fighting with each other. It was a horrible sound. "What are you beasts fighting over?" Spack whispered hoarsely to herself. And then, rather grimly, she realized that they were fighting over her. She would be a tasty
meal and none of them were in the mood to share. Panic swept through her body and she had to fight to control her breathing.

Spack stumbled along in the deep forest. Her legs felt like weights and her muscles screamed with pain. Every time Spack took a step, a shot of burning agony tore through her calves and up into her thighs. The sun began to set through the trees, making the forest even gloomier than before. As sundown drew near, Spack knew she still had a ways to go. She had been slowing down gradually over the last few hours and the Straszydlo were getting closer. She could now feel their hot, steamy breath on the back of her neck. She willed herself to go faster, but it didn't work. She had walked farther in the last day than in the previous ten years.

At that very moment, on the far side of the forest, Alfonso, Bilblox, and Hill gathered at the end of the path to wait for Spack. They waited, and waited, and waited. The sun slowly sank into the woods. The sky turned dark blue, then violet, then purple. The moon began to rise and the first stars appeared. The sun disappeared. Sunset. Alfonso's heart sank. Would Spack share Resuza's terrible end?

"Wait a minute!" Alfonso yelled. "I think I see something."

They strained their eyes to see through the darkness.

"It's some kind of light," said Hill. "And it's coming toward us."

The light drew nearer.

"That's definitely Spack's lantern," said Hill.

"Come on, Spack!" yelled Alfonso at the top of his voice. "You're almost there. Hurry up! HURRY UP!"

Now Spack was only about a hundred feet away. They could see her clearly, carrying a small lantern. She was limping heavily and they could hear her grunting as she walked. She sounded exhausted and in terrible pain.

"There's something behind her," said Alfonso. "Do you see it?"

"Yes," said Hill. "It's hiding in the shadows directly behind her. I can't really make it out."

"It has to be a Straszydlo," said Bilblox.

Spack was now less then fifty feet away.

"I think I see two Straszydlo," said Hill. "One on her left and one on her right. It's hard to tell."

"Spack, run for it!" yelled Bilblox. "They're right behind you!"

Spack dropped her lantern and broke into a strange but surprisingly fast run. Her legs kicked out into a wild spastic motion—as if someone had prodded her with a hot poker. She ran just past the edge of the forest and then crumpled to the ground.

"They followed me the whole way," gasped Spack. "But I kept going. I always kept going."

Hill grabbed her tenderly and helped her stand up. "You made it," he said. "You did great. We're very, very proud of you."

"Thank you," murmured Spack. "Thank you."

***

The group woke at sunrise the next morning and got their first up-close look at the High Peaks of the Ural Mountains. Now that they had crossed the forest, they had a perfectly clear view. The mountains looked like massive walls of snow and ice and it
seemed unimaginable that they would attempt to cross these behemoths without dogs or sleds. Spack eyed the mountains wearily.

"We ought to get going," said Spack. "We don't have that much food and we'll have to make our supplies last."