False Horizon (8 page)

With the sword held aloft in front of her, Annja could see several shapes now in the cave itself. That was the good news. The bad news was they were large. Very large. In fact, to Annja’s perception, they could have barely fit inside the cave at all, let alone come through the narrow opening. This puzzled her. If they hadn’t entered that way, then where had they come from?

She and Tuk had been working at the only part of the cave that might conceal something. But now it looked like they had missed entirely another possibility up near the cave’s entrance.

Something had been, in effect, hidden in plain sight.

Annja flexed her muscles as the energy from the sword ran throughout her body. It felt good to have it back in her hands again. It warmed her and energized her at the same time.

She could sense Tuk behind her and he didn’t seem overly panicked. She marveled at the little man and what he’d been able to accomplish. If he hadn’t been afraid then, she doubted he would fear much now.

But the question still remained. Who or what were these things in the cave with them? And where did that floral smell come from?

She drew closer to the shapes in front of her. They appeared to be large shambling figures that vaguely resembled human beings. But large humans. A thought poked into her mind and Annja frowned.

They were, after all, in the land of the yeti. Could there be a pair of abominable snowmen in the cave with them right now?

If that was the case, would they be friendly or hostile? Annja didn’t relish the idea of having to cut them down in order to protect herself and Tuk. But if she had to, she would. She still had to find Mike. His injury needed some serious help if he wasn’t already dead by now.

She moved ever closer to the cave’s entrance. The smell of the perfume, wherever it was coming from, was intoxicating. It seemed heavier toward the front of the cave.

Annja pressed on. It was now possible to see a lot better as she approached the cave entrance where the snow made everything brighter.

There was no mistaking the appearance of the two creatures. They were large and covered from head to foot in a coarse brown fur that hung long and matted about their bodies.

Yeti.

Annja racked her brain trying to remember everything she could about these things, but the one thing that stood out were reports by witnesses usually complaining of an awful smell in the presence of them.

Yet, Annja and Tuk were now extremely close to the yeti and Annja couldn’t smell anything horrible at all. In fact, the heavy scent of perfumed flowers had exactly the opposite effect. She found herself almost smiling as warm thoughts of open fields and childhood joys of a type she’d never experienced in her own life ran through her mind.

“Is that what I think it is?”

Tuk’s voice from behind her snapped her back to the moment. “I believe so,” she said.

“I’ve lived in Nepal my entire life and the one thing I never expected to see was what now stands before us.” Tuk’s voice became a whisper. “They haven’t moved. Do you think they mean us harm?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, Tuk,” Annja said. But she didn’t sense that they were waiting to attack. They could have already done that by sneaking up on them in the back of the cave.

They seemed to be watching Annja and Tuk.

Almost as if they were waiting for something.

Tuk sneezed.

Annja inhaled another breath of the perfume and found her concentration wavering. Her grip on the sword seemed to be ebbing.

The perfume—

“Tuk, try not to breathe,” she said.

“Excuse me?”

“The perfume we smell is a gas. They’re waiting for us to be knocked out by it before they do anything.”

Tuk had no response. Annja kept her eyes on the yeti in front of her. “Tuk?”

She glanced back and saw that Tuk had simply slipped down to the ground and he appeared to be having a pleasant dream on the stone floor of the cave. Annja whipped her head back around.

The yeti were closer.

When had they moved? Annja brandished the sword. “Stay back!” But even as she did so, she felt her head start to swim again. Breathing was difficult now as she tried to force back the effects of the perfumed gas.

It was virtually impossible to do so. The sword, which had energized her before, now seemed to be waning in power itself. Annja’s limbs felt heavy and droopy. The sword was growing heavier by the second. She wanted to drop the blade or at least return it to the otherwhere.

And Tuk looked so comfortable sleeping there on the floor. Why couldn’t she take a few minutes to do the same?

Annja felt powerless. She looked at the yeti.

They’d advanced again without making a sound.

How was that possible?

Annja’s vision swam and the walls of the cave seemed to turn into liquid. Tears ran from her eyes and then she had the distinct sensation of slipping and falling over a tall cliff toward a pillowy soft ground somewhere far below.

She heard a distant noise, like metal clanging on a rock. Her hands felt light. She drifted, floating, falling, spinning toward the darkness.

And she welcomed it.

A
NNJA DRIFTED THROUGH
a maze of dreams. Faces she hadn’t seen in years swept past her. Some of these she spoke to and had strange conversations with. Then they, too, would pass on and Annja would see another face.

She flew over lands she’d visited before on other adventures. From the vast expanses of deserts to the freezing landscapes of both the far north and Antarctica, it seemed almost that Annja was playing out her entire life in one big flashback.

Throughout the entire experience, she could still smell that perfume. But it didn’t annoy her any longer. Now she just accepted it, and when she did, she felt no more pain in her body. Her ribs didn’t ache. Her head seemed clear. She slept.

T
HE FIRST THING
Annja noticed was the lack of the perfume smell. It had somehow vanished and she’d been far too exhausted to notice. But as her body returned from whatever dreamworld she’d lived in for several hours, it was now her main focus.

Her consciousness hauled her back up to a waking state, despite Annja’s wish to remain asleep.

Reluctantly, Annja opened her eyes.

She was not in the cave.

A pair of eyes stared at her.

She rolled over, coming awake very fast. “Tuk?”

He smiled at her. “Good morning.” He frowned. “Well, perhaps not. I’m not sure what time it is. I can only estimate that it might be morning. But who knows?”

Annja wiped the sleep from her eyes. “You seem to be in a good mood.” Annja sat up and looked around. They were on large pillows embroidered with strange designs.

“Where are we?”

Tuk shook his head. “Of that, I have no idea. I only know that we are no longer where we were when we saw the yeti.”

“The cave.”

“Yes.”

Annja felt the pillows. The fabric they were covered in felt smooth and silky to the touch. She looked around the room and saw that the same type of material covered the walls.

Light came from somewhere, but it was subdued and reflected inward from an outside source. The room seemed designed to transition people from wherever they’d been into this place. Waking up to a harsh lightbulb probably wasn’t the best way to do that, so the lighting was dim, but Annja could still see everything.

“How long have you been awake?” she asked.

“A few minutes, no more,” Tuk said. He smiled. “I’m afraid that when you told me to stop breathing, I did exactly the opposite and took a huge breath, which no doubt hastened my own demise, as it were.”

Annja grinned. “You can’t be faulted for that.”

Tuk leaned closer. “You know, that is the second time I have seen that sword of yours. How is it possible for that to somehow conceal itself on your body and not be noticeable?”

Annja laughed. “If I tried to explain it to you, Tuk, you’d only have more questions. And they’d probably be questions I couldn’t answer. Not because I don’t want to. But because I don’t know the answers myself.”

Tuk leaned back. “I see. But you have it here still?”

Annja closed her eyes and saw the sword in its usual position. She looked at Tuk. “It’s here.”

“That’s a relief,” he said. “We don’t yet know where we are. And while this room is lovely, we have no idea what may lie beyond its peaceful borders.”

Annja nodded. “Something tells me that if they’d wanted to harm us, they would have done so by now.”

“Perhaps,” Tuk said. “But sometimes it is difficult to divine the intentions of others. I would prefer to not assume anything at this moment.”

“Agreed,” Annja said. “Have you seen or heard anything since you woke up?”

“Nothing. As I said, it has only been a few moments.” Tuk glanced around the room. “Wherever we are, it is almost certainly not within the confines of the mountain, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Unless the walls are rock and covered with that fabric.” She leaned over to the closest wall and tried to see what was behind it. It felt solid enough, but didn’t seem like a cave wall.

“I don’t know. It could be anything. Metal, concrete, stonework. It’s smooth, though.”

Tuk looked around. Annja could see that he was mentally trying to process everything that had happened. She wondered if this was the first time he’d had his life thrown upside down. Annja smirked. Hang out with me, she thought, and it won’t be your last.

She wondered if Mike had come through this same experience. That would certainly explain his disappearance. And hopefully, if he had, then whoever had brought them here—the yeti, she supposed—would help Mike with his injuries.

She had the sudden urge to get out of the room and see if Mike was indeed here. But how? There was no door anywhere in the room. She and Tuk seemed to be in yet another space that had no exit. And, this time, it had no entrance, either.

At least the cave had had a way to get in and get out, small though it was, she thought. This place seems like a perfectly solid box.

Tuk pointed at the walls. “Where is the door?”

Annja nodded. “I was just noticing that myself.”

He looked at her. “How is a thing like this even possible, Annja? I’ve seen a few strange things in my time, and this defies explanation.”

Annja smiled. “I’ve seen plenty of strange things in my day, Tuk. And this still defies explanation.” She fell silent and then heard something. A sound seemed to be coming from somewhere outside the box they were in.

“Do you hear that?”

Tuk glanced around and Annja saw him close his eyes to listen. He nodded. “Yes, what is it?”

“It almost sounds like music,” Annja said.

“That is what I thought also,” Tuk replied. “And it sounds as if it is coming closer to us.”

“Maybe this means we’re about to find out where we are,” Annja said. “And, if so, maybe we can find Mike.”

Tuk listened as the music grew louder. It sounded unlike anything he’d ever heard before. What is this place? he wondered. And how does it exist?

The music stopped. There was a series of sounds that reminded Tuk of a bunch of locks being undone and then he heard something that reminded him of the hydraulic hisses he’d heard in Katmandu.

The walls of the room slowly pulled away.

Brilliant sunlight spilled into the room from all sides, blinding Tuk. He turned to Annja but she had her eyes firmly clamped shut, trying to ward off the intensity of the sun.

Warm air hit them, a lush tropical balminess that wrapped them in its embrace. Tuk heard Annja sigh contentedly as the last vestiges of the cold they’d borne with them seemed to evaporate in the sunshine.

Tuk allowed his eyes to open again and what he saw shocked him.

A long line of people stood looking at him. They wore a brilliant array of clothing woven with golden thread and bright colors. It had all the appearance of a parade that seemed to stretch as far as Tuk could see.

He knew it had to end somewhere, but the length of the parade wasn’t what shocked him the most. It was the people themselves. Each of them was exactly the same size as him.

He scooted off of the pillows and came down the set of steps that appeared before him. Tuk stood in front of the first person in the parade, a man of his height and width whose eyes crinkled as a big wide smile broke out on his face.

“Welcome.”

Tuk’s heart raced. What was this magical place? And how was it that everyone here was the same height as him? He shook his head. “I am still dreaming.”

The man’s smile never wavered. “No. You are not dreaming.”

“Then where am I?”

“Don’t you know? You’re home.”

Tuk looked at the other members of the parade. All along the line, the faces shone with bright smiles of happiness. The music began again, but softly. From the depth of his soul, Tuk remembered the tune. He began humming along with it and tears welled up in his eyes, streaming down his face.

Annja came down the steps and stood next to him. “What’s the matter? Are you all right?”

Tuk nodded through blurry vision. “I think I am now. Yes, I think so.”

The man turned to Annja. “We welcome you to our kingdom, Annja Creed.”

Tuk fought back a grin as he saw Annja’s eyes widen. “How do you know my name?” she asked.

“We were told your name by your friend, who is here with us, as well,” the man said. “Would you like to see him?”

“Mike is here?” Annja asked.

“Indeed. And it is a good thing he is,” the man said. “Otherwise, we fear he would have expired a few hours ago. That would have caused you a great deal of distress, would it not?”

“Definitely,” Annja said.

Tuk looked around the land they were in. A flight of birds soared aloft under a blazing sun and brilliant blue sky. Fruit trees of every type swayed in the balmy breeze. And he saw a stone path leading toward a series of structures farther away from where they stood. “This is Shangri-La?” he asked.

The man at the head of the parade smiled. “This is your home. You may call it whatever you wish. Names as such do not concern us as much as making sure all who enter our kingdom are treated with dignity and respect.”

“Thank you,” Tuk said. “But I have many questions.”

“Which will all be answered in time,” the man said. “But for now, you must accompany me to the royal court. There are others who would like to see you…again.”

“Again?”

“Please,” the man said. “It is better if you come with me. I assure you that all of your questions will soon be answered.” The man gestured to Annja. “And she is anxious to be reunited with her friend, the one who calls himself Mike.”

“You can take me to him now?” Annja asked.

“Indeed.”

“Thank you!”

Tuk watched as the man made a simple gesture with his hand and the entire parade abruptly turned in the opposite direction. Tuk held up his hand. “Wait, what do I call you?”

The man smiled again. “My name is Prava. And I am honored to meet you at last, Tuk.”

“You know my name, too?”

Prava nodded. “Come, let us proceed to the court where all will be revealed to you and your friends.”

Tuk gestured for Annja to follow the parade and the two of them walked behind Prava and the others.

Tuk glanced at Annja, but she seemed just as mystified as he was. And what was it that Prava had said? “Home?” Did he mean that Tuk had once lived here? The tune they had played brought back a cloudy thought in Tuk’s mind, but he couldn’t clarify it. It seemed so utterly alien to him.

And yet…familiar.

“Do you know this place, Tuk?” Annja’s eyes bore into him. “I heard what Prava said to you back there. About this being home. Well, is it?”

Tuk shook his head. “I do not know. I don’t remember it, and yet the music they played…it was strangely known to me.”

“You said you were an orphan.”

“I am,” Tuk said. “I mean, I thought my family was killed or they’d abandoned me, but I guess I don’t really know.”

Annja smiled. “If you’re from this incredible place, then that’s not the worst news you could have gotten, huh?”

Tuk laughed. “No, I guess not. And Mike is here. That’s more good news.”

“Sounds like they’ve saved his life,” Annja said. “We’ll be indebted to them for that.”

“I don’t think they would view it like that. I get the distinct impression they are motivated to help simply because it’s the right thing to do.”

Annja nodded. “I kind of got that impression, too.”

Tuk turned back to the path they walked along. On either side of them, gleaming golden statues rose out of the lush grass. Strange faces and animals contorted and twisted together in a variety of poses and postures that reminded Tuk of some of the Tibetan Buddhist paintings he’d seen displayed in Katmandu.

The sunlight reflected off of the statues and dazzled his eyes. The music that swept them along sounded like a celebration tune and swept Tuk’s soul into its joyful refrain.

He heard squeals from somewhere farther ahead and then saw a series of fountains spraying jets of crystal-clear water high in the air. Under the arcs of water, children splashed and played as the parade marched by. They waved to Tuk and he smiled in spite of himself, waving back.

“Seems like you’re a popular guy here,” Annja said.

Tuk shrugged. “I have no idea what’s happening to me, but I am struck by an almost overpowering sensation that I have been here before.”

“Is it possible this is your home?”

Tuk looked at her. “I suppose it is, but the question then becomes, when did it stop being my home? And for what reason?”

Annja shrugged. “Prava said we would find out when we got to the court. I take it there is someone we’re having an audience with.”

“I gathered the same,” Tuk said. “To say I am beyond anxious would be a terrible understatement.”

Annja nodded. “I know how you feel.”

“Do you?”

“I’m an orphan, too, Tuk.”

Tuk smiled. There was much about Annja he didn’t understand. But what he did understand, he liked. She seemed to be a complicated woman with a fierce and passionate heart. And he respected her loyalty toward her friend Mike. That was to be admired, especially when the rest of modern society seemed to care little for helping others unless they gained something from it.

“If this is indeed my home,” Tuk said, “then you are forever welcome to call it your home, as well.”

Annja smiled. “Thank you, Tuk. That’s a very kind thing to say.”

Tuk watched as they approached the structure ahead of them. He might have called it a temple or a castle, but it looked more like a combination of both. He could see a grand entrance capping off an approach of hundreds of steps that led skyward. Behind the structure, it looked like a mountain went clear up to the heavens.

Was that the mountain they’d been inside earlier?

Was the building they were entering a part of the mountain or was it the mountain itself?

Prava’s voice was low. “Tuk, we must hurry now. The king awaits.”

“King?”

Prava smiled. “Yes. I believe he’s very anxious to meet with you and hear of your travels.”

“My travels…” Tuk’s voice trailed off. “This is all quite a marvel to me. I’m sorry if it seems like I’m a bit slow.”

Prava shook his head. “You are responding exactly as we knew you would when you returned.”

“I’ve been here before?”

Prava pointed. “Your answers are in the royal court. They are not for me to reveal to you. I do not have that right.”

The parade drew to a halt in front of the grand staircase and parted into two columns. Prava nodded at Tuk and Annja to proceed. “You must ascend the stairs and take your place in the royal court now.”

Tuk glanced at Annja. “I guess we go on without them.”

Annja nodded. “Seems that way. You nervous?”

“I don’t know what I am, honestly. I seem to be caught in the sway of a number of emotions right now. I suppose the best way to resolve this is to proceed and see where the answers lie.”

“I agree,” Annja said. “And maybe Mike is up there waiting for us, too.”

Tuk started up the steps and found them perfectly suited for his small size. He chuckled.

“What is it?” Annja asked.

Tuk pointed at the stairs. “My entire life I have been forced to deal with stairs that are made for larger people than myself. I’ve had to adjust my stride accordingly. And yet here…”

“They are made for people of your size,” Annja said. She seemed to be having trouble walking up them. “I can see that.”

“It is another indication, I suppose, that this may be my home.”

Annja took the steps two at a time. “I’m understanding the trouble you might have had back in the world I’m used to.”

Tuk shook his head. “It wasn’t trouble. Just one of those things. When you don’t feel normal, it seems the rest of the world doesn’t quite fit you all that well.”

“And here, everything seems to fit.”

“Perfectly,” Tuk said. He paused and looked back at the parade of people who remained motionless as they watched him.

He couldn’t see a single face that did not bear a wide smile. “They seem so happy,” he said.

Annja nodded. “I think they are happy because you have come back.”

Tuk frowned. “Really?”

Annja nodded and continued up the steps. “We’ve got a few more steps to climb. Let’s get moving.”

At the top of the staircase, Tuk again paused and looked back. Prava nodded his head slowly, still smiling.

Tuk turned back and saw the brilliant red tapestries swaying in the breeze. And beyond them, he could see an open pavilion. In the middle of the pavilion sat three stone thrones.

Two people sat on either side of an empty one.

And Tuk stepped forward to receive his answers.