The Cyber Chronicles Book III - The Core (13 page)

Purr too
seemed uneasy, judging by the line of bristling hair that stood up
along his spine. One by one, it affected all of them. Tassin was
the next to start looking around apprehensively, then Dena
gravitated to the cart, her face pale. Even the donkeys became
jittery, their long ears swivelling like antennae. They plodded on,
the tension rising. Dena held Tassin's hand and gripped the laser
tucked into her belt. A soft thud nearby made them jump, and Sabre
caught a glimpse of something small and bright yellow vanishing
into a burrow. Nerves twanging, they walked on. Another yellow
flash flitted high in a tree, but whatever the creatures were, they
were extremely furtive.

The terrain
was easily traversed, and for the next few hours they made good
progress in spite of the oppressive, nerve-jangling atmosphere. A
rumble of thunder made Tassin gasp and Dena squeak, then relax with
nervous giggles. The sky was a bilious green now, dark and
threatening.

Purr's whisper
grated on raw nerves. "Something terrible stalks this land."

"Let's hope we
don't encounter it," Sabre husked back.

"I wish it
would Change," Tassin murmured.

A silent,
flitting yellow flash made them look around, but it vanished into
the earth before anyone could get a good look at it.

"I think
talking is unwise," Purr whispered.

Sabre nodded,
hoping the donkeys would not have a sudden urge to bray.

They continued
in silence, ears and eyes straining for signs of danger, but the
world remained quiet and still. As they passed a tranquil blue
grass meadow on their right, their heads jerked around at a distant
sound, a soft shuffling as something moved through the fallen
leaves on the far side of the meadow. Sabre looked at Purr as
everyone froze, even the donkeys.

The mosscat
resembled a pompom, his fur on end, his tail a bottlebrush. His
large ears swivelled and his nose sampled the air while his eyes
scanned the surroundings. Sabre followed Purr's gaze as it became
intent, and found the source of the noise. A horse-sized, dark grey
monster ventured into the meadow, its thick legs armed with long
spurs at the ankles, a single horn growing from the centre of its
misshapen, four-eyed head. It huffed as it moved with an awkward,
swinging gait to avoid the long spurs on its forelegs. It seemed
unaware of them, crossing the open ground at an angle to pass in
front of them.

"Real-reality?" Sabre whispered to Purr.

The mosscat
nodded, his yellow eyes wide, then flung himself flat on the
ground. "Down!" he whispered. "Get down! Everyone!"

Tassin
dropped, pulling Dena with her. Sabre turned to the donkeys,
reached under the closest beast and gripped the startled animal’s
far foreleg, dragging it down. It thrashed as he climbed onto its
neck to repeat the procedure with the other donkey, then he lay
across their necks, pinning them. After an initial struggle they
quieted, and Sabre looked around for the danger. Only the soft
scuffling of the monster, now heading across their path into the
trees, broke the forest's silence. Sabre glanced at Purr, who
looked like a thick rug, hugging the ground as if it was his long
lost mother.

Sabre longed
to ask him where the danger was, but heeded the mosscat's advice.
He shivered, and goose bumps rose on his skin. The temperature
seemed to have plunged ten degrees. Something was close by, but
still he could see nothing. Tassin gave a sharp hiss and Dena a
muffled whimper, then the chill ebbed, and Sabre gathered that it
was moving away, whatever it was. The monster, which still shuffled
across their path, stopped and looked around, its ears
twitching.

Something that
looked like a heat shimmer, about a metre above the ground, moved
towards the beast. The monster sensed it and backed away,
snuffling, then turned and ran. The shimmer descended on it in a
flash, and the beast reeled with a scream of agony. Its grey fur
turned white as if covered with frost, and the monster collapsed,
thrashing. Sabre watched with growing horror as the creature was
consumed. Its hair vanished, revealing pink hide, then that seemed
to fade, turning red as the meat beneath was exposed.

Tassin and
Dena gaped at it, and he whispered, "Don't look."

They ignored
him, perhaps not hearing, and his bile rose as the monster melted
away. It thrashed and screamed in a thin, wailing cry as the flesh
was stripped from its skull and its eyes were eaten from their
sockets. White bone gleamed in those places where the flesh was
thin; the skull, backbone and ribs were exposed, shoulder blades
and hips starting to appear.

Unable to
stomach it, Sabre whispered to Purr, "Is it safe to leave while
that... thing is busy?"

The mosscat
shivered, tearing his eyes from the carnage, then nodded and
crawled away. Sabre let the donkeys scramble up and led them away.
Tassin stumbled after them, her pale face tinged with green. They
all threw nervous glances over their shoulders while they retreated
in silent haste. The shimmer around the now dead monster had taken
on a pink tinge, giving it a cloud-like form.

They hurried
away, not caring that they were heading in the wrong direction. The
mosscat led, his fur still on end, and they only paused to allow
Tassin to retch behind a tree. They circled, creeping through the
forest in a cold sweat of apprehension, and Sabre did not object
when he realised that Purr was leading them at right angles to
their previous path. They all wanted to get out of this
Flux-reality as fast as possible, and there were sighs of relief
when the green and brown flickers appeared.

The new
Flux-reality was reassuring in its normality; a green landscape of
short soft grass dotted with twisted, black-barked trees. Thin,
pale green leaves hung from their knotty branches, and some bore
bright blue fruit. Yellow flowers spotted the grass, and a pink sky
arched overhead. What caught everyone's attention, however, was the
party that was going on a few metres away.

A bevy of
small, delicate people dressed in gossamer clothes danced to a
playful flute. Yellow flowers twined their long golden tresses, and
rosy lips parted to laugh and pant, revealing pearly teeth. A lacy
blanket was spread with a feast of fruit, vegetables and nuts on
silver plates, accompanied by pitchers and cups of wine. More
people ate and drank, watching the dancers skip and twirl. Sabre
regarded the peaceful scene warily, hoping it was as innocuous as
it appeared.

"Looks like a
picnic."

The flute
player stopped, and everyone turned to stare. Stunned silence fell,
then several people laughed and capered towards them, smiling.

"Welcome!
Welcome!"

The dancers
surrounded them, skipping and bouncing, their bright hair flying
and eyes sparkling with excitement. None of them was over a metre
and a half tall, and they were slender and youthful, but not
child-like. The men were broad shouldered and well-muscled, the
women curvaceous and lovely. All had varying shades of golden hair
and blue eyes. They tugged at Sabre and Tassin, urging them towards
the picnic. Dena shrieked with joy when two ladies took her hands
and twirled her in a mad dance. They patted the donkeys and even
tried to stroke the mosscat, who perched atop the cart,
grumbling.

Sabre allowed
several young women to urge him towards the party, pretty sure they
were harmless. They made him sit beside the picnic cloth and
pressed food into his hands, offering him a cup of wine. Dena fell
to with a will, relishing the sweet fruit. Sabre found the fare
exquisite, and Tassin sat close to him, a bevy of admiring males,
who seemed fascinated by her black hair, surrounding her. They
plied her with food and drink just as the girls did Sabre, and
other members of the crowd made a fuss of the donkeys and Purr,
although he was the only one who did not seem to appreciate it.
When the excited chatter died down somewhat, a man seated on the
other side of the picnic blanket addressed them.

"You must be
travellers, strangers to our land," he said. The gold circlet he
wore in his bright hair enhanced his air of authority.

Sabre nodded,
introducing himself and his companions.

The man
inclined his head in polite acknowledgement. "I am Prince Larric of
Mernon, and you are welcome here. Where do you fare to?"

"We're just
passing through, roaming."

"Ah." The
Prince smiled, and although he looked like a nineteen-year-old, his
manner was mature. The woman beside him, who looked to be in her
twenties, leant over and spoke in the Prince's ear.

Sabre muttered
to Tassin, "Pity he's not real, hey?"

She snorted.
"He's too short, anyway."

"He's a
prince. I didn't know he had to be tall, too."

"Stop it,
Sabre. It's not funny."

The women
examined Sabre’s brow band and asked questions, distracting him.
They seemed to have a short attention span, however, and the
novelty of the newcomers soon wore off. The Prince clapped his
hands, and the piper started to play again. The dancing resumed,
and Dena joined them, trying to match their fluid grace, but
failed, her limp obvious. The Prince watched her, a faint frown
furrowing his smooth brow, then rose and approached her. He spoke
to the child, and Dena nodded. The Prince removed his golden
circlet and touched it to the girl's brow.

Dena's spine
and crooked leg straightened, and her patchy brown hair turned to
shining gold locks. Tassin gasped and looked at Sabre, whose mouth
twisted with regret. Dena beamed at the Prince, her eyes brimming
with joyful tears. Larric bowed, smiling, and took her hands to
lead her in a graceful dance. The others clapped and cheered, and
Dena laughed with happiness. Sabre groaned and rubbed his face,
shaking his head. Tassin rose and joined the dance, leaving him to
watch Dena twirl and leap with grace she had never known.

The merry
folk, as he came to think of them, caroused for hours, yet the food
was not depleted and the piper never tired. Dena was a princess in
her ragged dress, the Prince her golden companion. Tassin tried to
persuade Sabre to dance, as did several other ladies, but he
remained unmoved, shaking his head. Tassin rested on occasion,
flushed and smiling, but Dena danced untiring under the Prince's
spell. Sabre stood up and called a warning when the green and brown
flickers shot through the land, and the world Changed.

The high skirl
of pipes hung in the air like an echo, and the dancers' ghostly
laughter faded into a memory as a dark, gloomy forest appeared
around them. Dena, caught in mid-twirl, tripped and fell. She sat
stunned, then let out a heart-rending wail. Tassin went to kneel
beside her and hug her, but the child would not be consoled, and
sobbed harder, her deformities once again a reality. Sabre waited
for her to calm, but instead her wails rose to screams, and she
flung a full-fledged tantrum, flailing at Tassin with her
fists.

Sabre strode
over to her and gripped her thin shoulders, giving her a shake.
"Stop it! You knew it wouldn't last, Dena. It was just like a
dream, that's all, a cruel dream. You woke up, now stop it."

Dena glared at
him, her tear-streaked face twisted with bitter self-loathing, but
she choked back her sobs and knuckled her eyes. He went to the
cart, where Purr waited. The mosscat yawned and stretched.

"Well, now we
can be on our way, at last." He jumped down and headed off through
the gloom.

The dense
coniferous forest allowed no glimpse of the sky, and its
needle-strewn floor was lifeless. Sabre tugged the donkeys forward,
his belly growling, bereft of the food he had eaten. Tassin,
looking tired and pale, led a still sniffling Dena after the cart,
her limp more pronounced than ever.

They trudged
through the gloomy forest in silence, each sunk in private
unhappiness that the depressing landscape aggravated. There seemed
no end to the monotony of shaggy trunks and flat, needle-thick
ground. Their footfalls were silent, and only the faint sighing of
a breeze in the trees' upper branches broke the quiet. There was no
oppressive atmosphere here, however, only cool, damp gloom. The
mosscat stopped beside a Real-reality pool, the first they had come
across for a while, and Sabre filled the water skins. They chewed
on the tough dried meat to fill the aching void in their stomachs
that the loss of the succulent fruit they had eaten at the picnic
had left.

The control
unit's clock informed Sabre that they had been walking for only
four hours when the next Change came, so the Changes were speeding
up, which meant they were nearing the Core. They clustered around
the cart when the flashes appeared, and a world of grey mud
replaced the gloomy forest. A roiling sky of purple clouds glowered
down on flat mire pock-marked with small, weeping craters, and
Sabre found the footing firm but slippery. A hiss made him spin
around as a geyser of steam erupted from one of the craters, vented
for a moment, and subsided. Warily placing his feet, he moved off,
tugging the slipping donkeys. Everyone moved cautiously to keep
their footing except Purr, who sprouted long claws for traction and
trotted ahead. The air stank of sulphur and mud, an ugly mixture
whose pungency abused their noses.

The journey
through the mud world was uneventful until a nearby geyser's
venting startled Tassin, making her slip and sit down with a yelp
in the mud. Sabre stared at her, the endless tedium of the mud
world dulling his mind, and then Dena giggled. Tassin grinned,
picked up a handful of mud and hurled it at the girl. It landed
with a splat on her chest, and Dena shrieked and retaliated, her
much larger dollop hitting Tassin on the side of the neck and
sliding into her dress.

Discarding all
dignity, the Queen flung a moist mud pie that hit Dena on the rear
as she bent to scoop up more muck. Dena jumped with a shriek,
slipped and sat down with a squelch. Soon a storm of mud patties
flew between them, and they resembled mud monsters. Purr came back
to stand beside the grinning cyber, shaking his head in
amazement.