Chapter 14 - Ghosts In The Machine

‘Well crap!’ thought Gabriel as he neared the entrance of the pass, ‘I forgot to have Mariah show me what the number ‘one’ looks like in writing.’

Oh well, if he couldn’t figure it out once he got there, then he would simply fly back and ask. He even wondered why he was doing this in the first place. Why not just turn north and head to the city? It’s all just a dream anyway... why bother repaying the old woman’s kindness?

‘Because you’re a sucker.’ he thought to himself, ‘Something big, nasty, and scary will be in the temple... probably zombies. Probably big, nasty, scary, telepathic zombie spiders. That’s the kind of crap that hangs around deserted temples. Where’s Lara Croft when you need her?’

The pass itself was one of the few he had seen which didn’t have a waterfall flowing from it. It also had something that none of the other high valleys or passes had: vegetation. Even at this distance, he could see why nobody ever came here. About two miles up the valley, a large portion of the mountain on the left had broken loose and filled the entire valley in rubble. ‘I hope the temple wasn’t under that.’ he thought to himself.

Passing through the valley entrance, he headed up the wide flat canyon at a good clip until he spotted a circular clearing about a hundred yards wide. Around the parameter of the clearing was a stone wall which he guessed to be only about four feet in height. However, the majority of his attention was focused on the hundreds of centaurs milling about the clearing.

Landing a short distance away, Gabriel found the remains of a path and walked towards the clearing. At one point he caught sight of another giant spider, only to have it flee when it spotted him. He also noticed that the valley had a dead calm about it. There was absolutely no wind at all even though the cloud layer was only a few hundred feet above. Even insect sounds were noticeably absent.

The path made a gentle curve towards the clearing and Gabriel could make out several of the closest male and female centaurs. By the time he had made it to the outer edge of the wall he was noticing two additional strange things. First, none of the centaurs had noticed his arrival, and second, all the grass in the clearing was dead.

{Excuse me,} he said, standing at the outer rim of the wall, {Could one of you be kind enough to help me find a temple?}

Nothing. The group simply ignored him.

Gabriel checked to make sure he was still wearing the amulet. {Hello? Do any of you understand me?}

None of them gave him so much as a glance.

The little voice in the back of his mind was telling him not to go into the clearing, and Gabriel was in total agreement. Something was very wrong with this.

Finding a small stone near his foot, he lobbed it in the general direction of the nearest male. The centaur turned and looked where it had landed.

{Over here!} Gabriel shouted, waving his arms. The man looked about for several seconds, then resumed his slow walk.

Grabbing several more pebbles, Gabriel tossed another. Again, the man looked around. This time Gabriel tossed a second, then a third. Each time tossing them nearer and nearer. The idea worked; the man followed the trail of stones up to the wall and stopped only three feet from Gabriel.

It was obvious by now that the man did not see or hear him. In fact, there was absolutely no sound except for his voice. The male centaur was an older looking gentleman with whitish-blond hair and matching coat. He wore a simple brown serape much like the one Mariah wore.

He needed something he could reach across with. ‘Actually what I need is a pencil, a notepad, and an English-Zeffrafin dictionary. Hey...’

Gabriel took the amulet from around his neck and looked at the back where the chains connected. He had hoped there would be some kind of clasp, but found the chains looped through two holes. Meanwhile, then centaur had picked up a stone and tried to toss it over the wall. However, the stone seemed to bounce off of an invisible barrier. Confused, Gabriel picked two stones and tossed them back at the centaur’s hooves.

The centaur responded by picking up three stones and tossing them against the unseen barrier. Gabriel responded with four. The centaur then tossed five stones; one at a time. Gabriel tossed six; also one at a time. The old man nodded. Gabriel had made contact.

‘But how do I talk to him? Maybe...’

Gabriel held the amulet by the end of the chain and swung the amulet itself over the wall. That definitely got the centaurs attention. Gabriel then began to pull it back towards himself. When it was about half way across the wall, he stopped. The centaur reached down to pick it up.

‘If he takes it, you’re sunk.’ thought Gabriel to himself, ‘But it doesn’t work when you don't wear it either.’

The centaur’s hand was just about to touch the amulet with Gabriel reached out and pinned it to the wall with his index finger, and a bone numbing chill want up his arm. The moment the centaur touched the amulet, Gabriel said, {Can you hear me?}

The centaur jerked his hand back in reflex. He also said something, but there was no sound. Slowly the man put his hand back on the amulet.

“Who said that?” the centaur said.

‘Eureka!’

{My name is Gabriel and I am a stranger to your world. I am looking for the temple of the Blessed Goddess.}

The centaur pulled his hand off the amulet and rubbed it with the other. Evidently he was receiving the same chill that Gabriel was experiencing. A few moments later he put his fingers back on the amulet.

“My name is Jek, and I am standing in the temple of the Blessed Goddess. We have been awaiting her arrival for many seasons and fear she had forgotten us.”

Both Gabriel and Jek pulled their hands away from the amulet as they warmed their fingers.

{I do not know where your goddess is,} said Gabriel once their hands had warmed up, {I will ask the elder woman I met in the valley below about this when I return.}

“You mean Mariah?” asked Jek.

{You know her?}

“Her first mate Lorden is here,” said Jek, “Would you like me to bring him here for you?”

{Yes,} said Gabriel feeling a chill run down his spine that was not from touching the amulet.

The centaur galloped away, threading his way though the other centaurs on the field. Gabriel took the time to warm his now-numb hand.

In time the centaur returned with another male. This one too was very elderly, with the same gray hair and coat as Mariah. The two exchanged a few silent words then the second male touched the amulet.

“Hello?” he said tentatively.

{Hello,} replied Gabriel, {My name is Gabriel and Mariah has sent me here to retrieve an amulet which the two of you placed here a long time ago.}

“Did she tell you what it looked like?” he replied.

{She said it looked something like the one we’re using to communicate with except that the number ‘one’ was engraved on it.}

Lorden pulled back and rubbed his hands together. Exchanging more unheard words with Jek, he put his hand pack on the amulet. “Why hasn’t Mariah come for the amulet herself?”

{Because the pass has been blocked by a landslide.}

“Then how did you get here?” he asked.

{I came up here from the front of the mountains.}

Lorden looked puzzled. “Are you a mage?”

{No,} replied Gabriel, {I am not a centaur. I only have two legs and have the ability to scale heights easily. That is why Mariah sent me here.}

“Why can’t I see you?”

{I don’t know. I can see you, and your standing only two steps away from me.}

Again, both Gabriel and Lorden pulled their hands back to warm them up and then resumed the conversation.

{Should I tell Mariah what I have seen here, and come back later?}

“Yes!” said Lorden, showing excitement, “Tell her I love her dearly, and I will have the amulet ready when you return.”

{Then I shall return shortly.}

With that, Gabriel withdrew the amulet. Noticing that frost had formed around the edges, he decided to wait before donning it again.

It was a short flight back to Mariah’s home, and he found the trio behind the house laying out blankets across the grass. Putting the still-cold amulet back on, he landed and was met by all three.

“Back so soon?” asked Mariah, “Did you get lost?”

{No. I believe I found the temple... or what remains of it.}

“Did you find the amulets?” she asked, her eyes widening.

{Mariah... I found something there...um... Jason, Elena, I don’t mean to be impolite, but can I talk to Mariah for a while?}

The kids, looking dejected, looked towards Mariah.

“I fear it is bad news. Maybe you two should go play for a little bit.”

They both strolled off, not very pleased by the rejection. Mariah turned her attention back towards Gabriel. “What happened?”

{Mariah, what does the temple look like?}

Mariah described the circular area and the wall, along with an archway he had not seen.

{Then I did find the temple,} he said, {But when I got there I found about a hundred centaurs in the circular clearing. And-}

“A hundred!” she exclaimed, so loudly that Elena and Jason turned towards their conversation, “They must have been stranded up there for centuries!”

{Mariah... I...}

Seeing that he was lost for words, Mariah put her hands on his arms, “Gabriel, my people are very straightforward, even if it’s bad news. Just tell me what you saw.”

{Mariah, was you first mate's name Lorden?}

Mariah gasped, “How do you know that?”

{Because he was one of the centaurs up there I spoke to.}

Mariah’s look of surprise turned to skepticism, “Oh Gabriel, the name Lorden is very popular. It couldn’t have been him.”

{When I first got there I met a centaur named Jek. I told him that you had sent me, and he asked if I wanted to speak with your first mate. The man he introduced me to was named Lorden.}

Mariah’s skepticism turned back to surprise, then to sadness, “Gabriel, my beloved first mate went to the Goddess seventy four seasons of winter ago. It could not have been him.”

Gabriel concluded that ‘went to the goddess’ meant ‘died’ more by the look on the old centauress’s face than her disbelief in the story.

{My apologies Mariah. I didn’t mean to hurt you.}

Marisa shrugged, “The time we had together was long and wonderful. I could not have asked for a better man.”

{I just wish there was some way for you to get up there,} said Gabriel, {It’s very strange. They can’t seem to see or hear beyond the walls of the temple. And all the grass within the walls is dead. I didn’t go into the temple itself because the temperature was far too cold. He told me to tell you that he loves you dearly, and that he would have the amulet ready when I returned.}

Again, a look of sadness swept over the woman. Gabriel felt for her, he was obviously opening up an old wound.

“You could carry me,” said Elena to Gabriel, having snuck up on the two of them, “I know what he looks like from the carvings over the fireplace.”

{“No,”} said Mariah and Gabriel in unison.

“But I want to fly!” she said, half-stamping a fore hoof, “And besides, I could help Gabriel with finding the right amulet.”

{Now let me explain this one more time,} said Gabriel, still not believing he was having this conversation, {Once we’re up in the air you can’t move around. And no matter what happens-}

“Don’t go into the temple.” Elena finished. It was the fourth time she had been warned.

The argument had taken almost two hours. Elena was truly proud of herself for being the victor. Jason thought she had lost her sanity, and Mariah kept asking Gabriel for reassurance. In truth it wasn’t a very risky operation. Elena would sit on Gabriel’s back with her forelegs draped over his shoulders. He could hold on to them and keep her in the crook of his wings. Even if she did start to slide to the left or right he would simply pull his wings parallel and re-center her. If she spooked, then there was always the grab-her-by-the-barrel-and-bear-hug-her-until-we-land maneuver.

He was sure this stunt would fit in the Guinness Book of Word Records somewhere . Probably under the ‘weirdest combination to ever fly’ section.

Mariah had gone into the house for awhile and returned with a rolled up piece of paper. “Whoever this Lorden man is, give him this,” she said, putting the scroll in Gabriel’s hand.

{Actually, let’s have Elena hold it,} he said, passing it to the eager young girl, {I’ll need both hands to keep control.}

Elena carefully tucked it in a purse she had brought along.

{Okay... let’s get going.}

Gabriel lay down on the grass and spread his wings completely out. Elena carefully stepped across his back and settled in between the wings. Hooking her knees over his shoulders, she grabbed two locks of hair out of reflex.

“Elena!” gasped Mariah in shock, “Let go of his hair!”

{Actually she would be better off if she held onto it very tightly. She’s not going to hurt me.}

Mariah was ready to protest, but anything that helped keep Elena safe was not about to be objected to.

{Ready Elena?}

“Let’s go!” she said, the excitement in her voice obvious.

Hoping the initial start didn’t flip her backwards; he pushed himself off the grass with his hands and accelerated forward.

Other than the grass stains on his knuckles, the launch went without a hitch. The moment his wings held him aloft he grabbed the two front hooves of the girl. Surprisingly she hadn’t struggled at all.

{How are you doing back there?} he shouted over the rush of the wind.

“This is great!” she yelled, “Look how high up we are!”

They were barely a hundred feet off the ground.

Gabriel banked into a shallow turn and headed for the valley in the distance. He figured at this speed it should take them about ten minutes.

“My ears feel funny,” said Elena.

{Try yawning,} Gabriel suggested, {They’ll feel better once we get to the valley.}

‘Speaking of valley, how am I going to land?’

Once they were over the valley Gabriel flew a bit higher to scout for a place to land.

“I see the temple!” exclaimed Elena, pointing to the circular brown patch of land.

Gabriel had also noticed that there was a much larger path leading from beyond the temple and heading father into the valley. {I’m going to fly past the temple and circle around. There’s a much easier place to land over there.}

“I’m a little scared,” Elena said, resetting her grip in his hair.

{Don’t worry. The most dangerous part was when we started. The landings are easy.}

“Okay,” she said hesitantly.

{You just hold on until we stop. And don’t get upset if I have to move my wings a lot just before I touch the ground.}

He knew he wouldn’t have to, the wind here was still a dead calm. He simply glided until he was about six feet off the ground, and bled off airspeed. At the last second he pulled up, landed on his feet, and then fell forward into a pushup position.

{We’re here,} he said, setting himself onto the ground. She gently got to her hooves and walked off his back.

The smile on her face told him everything. She had loved it.

“Do you think we can go higher when we go back home?”

{We’ll see,} he said, genuinely surprised that this young girl actually enjoyed flying, {If we have time I’ll show you something called a ‘loop’.}

They headed off towards the temple with Elena begging to know what this ‘loop’ thing was.

{I don’t think they can hurt you. They can’t see or even hear us.} said Gabriel.

They had reached the wall of the temple and almost immediately Elena felt an overwhelming feeling of fear. She had never been to a temple of the Blessed Goddess before, but she knew that they were always full of life, and their trees always bore fruit. The grass in the field before them was brown and withered, and the trees were little more than blackened stumps emerging from the ground. Gabriel also noticed something else he had missed before: there were no hoof prints anywhere in the field.

{When I take off the amulet you’re not going to be able to understand me, and I won’t be able to understand you. Also, when they talk, you won’t be able to hear them. When we take a break I’ll tell you what was said.}

Elena nodded and kept a good distance from the edge of the wall. Gabriel was relieved; he was worried that she might try to enter the temple and he had no idea what would happen if she did. The answer came all too quickly.

Gabriel picked up several small stones nearby, and noticed that one had a small plant growing on it that looked like a two-leaf clover. Stepping next to the wall he tossed the stone just to the other side of the wall. The clover instantly wilted, and was brown within seconds. A middle-aged centauress heard the stone land and came over to investigate. Gabriel then tossed two stones at her hooves. Her expression shifted, and she ran off into the herd of other centaurs milling about.

In a short time Lorden appeared, and the majority of other centaurs followed. Again Gabriel removed the amulet and positioned the medallion directly in the center of the wall.

The familiar numbing cold returned the moment he put his fingertips on the edge facing him. Lorden reluctantly put his hand on the other side.

“You have returned quickly.” he said, “I did not expect to hear from you for some time.”

{My people can travel very quickly. And I have brought one of your descendants with me. Her name is Elena.}

“I can neither see you nor her,” Lorden said, seeming to strain to look at Gabriel, “The wall that surrounds the temple is solid rock.”

{I do not understand it either. From my point of view it looks as if you’re standing within arms reach. I am resting the amulet on the top of the wall that surrounds the temple.}

“This is vile magic indeed. It has trapped us here needing neither food nor water for many seasons.”

With that, Lorden pulled away and began rubbing his hands together. Gabriel took the time out to explain to Elena. He started talking to her but she shrugged and pointed to the amulet still on the wall. ‘Doh!’ he thought.

{He said that he can’t move beyond the temple, and in his point of view I am behind a solid wall.} Gabriel repeated as he put his hand on the amulet and faced Elena.

“I could understand what you said,” explained Elena, “But I can’t hear what he’s saying. But that is Mariah’s first mate. I have seen her carvings of his face and that’s him.”

{Hand me the scroll.} said Gabriel. He could see Lorden was about to touch the amulet again so he switched hands.

“You must travel to Lendoren and tell the mages there to come and free us. What season is this?”

Gabriel was stumped, {I don’t know. I’ll ask Elena.} Turning to Elena, he repeated the question.

“We are in the middle of the season of spring.” she replied.

Gabriel repeated the information back to Lorden.

“Excellent.” replied the centaur, “By the time you make it to Lendoren the Goddess should be there. If you can seek her out then she will free us for sure.”

{I will be heading there shortly, and will tell the mages of this place.} said Gabriel, {But I have brought you something. A message from Mariah.}

“What does she say?” asked the centaur, his expression lifting.

Gabriel passed the scroll over the top of the wall as far are he dared. Lorden grabbed the edge of the paper on his side and pulled it over. Both men took a break as Lorden read the letter.

Gabriel looked at the sky and guessed it to be roughly between two and four in the afternoon. So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours. He had spent most of it flying over the planes. If only he had flown west instead of east!

‘Get a grip Gabe,’ he told himself, ‘This isn’t real. The chances of you ‘accidentally’ teleporting into a world where you can’t teleport out are slim to none. Add to that meeting Noliea. And the chances become zero. Absolutely zero. Whoever’s pulling this stunt hasn’t gotten you yet.’

He checked to see what Lorden was doing, and found the elder centaur writing something on the scroll. Gabriel’s mind wondered back to Noliea and the other centaurs. Would they be okay? No... wait... not real. And not real means no pain. He pictured her in his mind; what she would look like if she weren’t so starved. He thought back to the image Tracy had shown him. Even as a centaur she was beautiful. Even beyond beautiful. The word beautiful had a certain range of women that the word could fit, and Noliea was so far beyond it.

His thoughts were cut short by Elena saying something and pointing at the wall. Lorden was trying to pass the scroll back and was also touching the amulet. Gabriel put his fingers on the other edge.

{You’ll have to repeat what you said. I wasn’t touching the amulet.}

“I can’t seem to pass this back,” Lorden said, frustrated. Gabriel noticed that the old man was on the verge of tears, “I will be back in a moment. I have to go get the amulet.”

{We will wait here for your return.}

Meanwhile, another familiar centaur had approached the amulet and carefully placed his hands on the rim.

{Hello Jek.} said Gabriel, touching the amulet with his other hand.

“Will you be able to return for help like Lorden asked?”

{I will tell the mages in Lendoren what I have seen here, and offer any help that I can. But I have never been to Lendoren and it may take a while for me to convince them of what I have seen.}

Jek looked puzzled. “Are you an outcast?”

{No. But I am a stranger to your world. I am not a centaur and my physical appearance sometimes startles people.}

Jek jerked his hand back in reflex.

“Let me talk to him,” offered Elena. And, already ready Gabriel’s objections on his face added, “And no, I’m not going to go in there.”

Momentarily, Jek placed his hand back on the amulet. Elena winced as she touched the outer rim of the other side.

“My name is Elena, and I am Mariah’s descendant. Gabriel brought me to the temple to help him.”

Jek’s reply was eerily silent.

“Well, he kind of looks like us. He has everything we do except for a lower chest and two back legs. He also had these two things sticking out of his back he calls wings.”

Both Jek and Elena stepped back to warm their hands. A moment later they tried again using their other set of thawed fingers.

Jake spoke to her for a good while. Elena listened intensely while Gabriel stood next to her in case something went wrong. Some instinct was telling him that this was going to turn ugly... simply because it seemed to be going too well.

“I will write a letter and deliver it to her.”

Jek replied to her, and she pulled out a blank piece of paper and wrote a small note on it. Several of the other centaurs came up next to him and they too took turns dictating messages. Soon the entire scroll was filled with small symbols of scores of centaurs before Lorden appeared. He was carrying an amulet.

“That’s-” said Elena, becoming so excited that she let go of the amulet. The rest of the sentence was lost, but Gabriel surmised she was saying, “That’s the amulet.”

Lorden gave her his own message to write, then giving the amulet a soft kiss, tossed it over the wall... only to watch it stop in mid air as if striking a solid object. It fell to the ground on the inside of the temple.

Lorden tried again, and again the same result. He pointed to the translation amulet and touched the rim. Gabriel did the same on his side.

“I can’t seem to get it past the barrier.” the centaur said.

{I watched you trying. Since my amulet will pass through, why not try pulling mine towards you a little, then setting yours on top of mine? I’ll try to pull it back from my side.}

Lorden pinched the rim of the amulet and pulled it closer to him. Then, he set the medallion and chain on top of the translation amulet. Grabbing the chain on his own medallion, Gabriel began to slowly pull the two back across the top of the wall.

‘It’s working.’ he thought as the two medallions made it past the half way point.

Gabriel noticed that all the hairs on the backs of his hands were standing up. And he caught a whiff of something very familiar...

Ozone.

{Elena! Look -}