Chapter Eight #3
“Whoa, whoa, whoa… Remember the muscle.” Psy points his bionic finger to the wall again, and Ryder stops himself.
“We don’t have any more money.” Ryder grits his teeth. The tension in the room increasing drastically.
“Well, it’s either that or I tell the Smokies that their very own Venom has returned.” Psy chuckles.
“You do that, and you’ll wish you—
“It’s fine.” I clear my throat. “Here.” I pass Psy the gold coin I took from the pig that paid the ultimate price. He eyes it up and flashes me a gappy smile.
“See, Venom, ye girlfriend has manners. Maybe ye should get her to teach ye some of them.” The sarcasm in his voice makes Ryder snarl. “This should be payment enough.” He pockets the coin and stands to his feet, walking over to the armchair in the corner of the room.
Ryder steps aside, sending him visual daggers as he walks by him. “I just ‘ave to call on the spirits for help deciphering it. Won’t be a moment.” He takes a sip from the mug, then leans his head back in the chair.
A white film covers his lone eye as he calls upon the Other Side.
He’s a Mourna.
He leans up in his seat and tilts his head at us. His movements are unlike his own and make me feel anxious. I stand up and walk over to Ryder, who is a few feet away from Psy.
“What is he doing?” I whisper to him, and he glances at me quickly before regaining his sight on Psy.
“He is channelling the spirits. Psy is one of only a handful of Mourna’s that can do this.
He can not only travel between planes, but he can also become a conduit on the Other Side, allowing spirits to talk through him.
” He sighs. “That’s why he can get away with charging so much, the greedy fucker. ”
The chair creaks as Psy leans forward, his mouth gapes open, and he stares at us intensely with his spectacle.
“We’ve been waiting for you.” A woman’s voice feeds out of Psy’s mouth as his body moves unnaturally towards us.
The voice is otherworldly and somewhat hoarse.
I stumble back, startled by the change in mannerisms.
This is not Psy anymore.
“Ah, yes, the girl in between.” Another deeper voice comes and addresses us. I hold onto Ryder’s robe as if standing next to him will protect me from the unusual circumstance we have found ourselves in. “Asha Calloway… Asha Calloway… Asha Calloway.”
Three different voices say my name aloud. The spirits know who I am. I step forward hesitantly and address them.
“Yes I’m here.” I gulp. Psy’s head tilts in my direction again, he smiles and nods his head before grabbing Ryder’s arm in a flash.
“There’s a sickness in you, boy.” Spirit moans. “Five days, five days until the sickness spreads and the girl dies.” Ryder yanks his hand from his grip and exhales as he steps away from Psy’s inhabited body.
My heart slams against my ribs, cold sweat prickling my neck.
Five days—That’s how long we fucking have.
Psy’s mouth stretches unnaturally wide, the tone of each voice twisting his face into something I barely recognise. It’s like watching him splinter, piece by piece.
“Can you help us?” I ask with newfound desperation.
Five days.
That’s all we have to find the cure, otherwise I’m dead, or he is.
“The world outside is changing. The object you are looking for is the key to restoring the chaos that is unfolding in your world.” The spirit takes its time looking between Ryder and me. It pauses. “Save the boy, save the world.”
“How do I save him?” I call out, my heart thumping in my chest.
“Only the power of a God will cure the sickness.” Psy grabs my shoulder, making me shudder. “Find the crescent gem.” His voice echoes loudly, like it is scraping against the walls of my brain.
His head buckles back against the chair.
Ryder glances out the side of his eye at me.
I always thought the crescent gem was just a word in a story.
Psy’s head straightens, and the film on his eye vanishes.
He staggers onto his feet, evidently weaker than he was before, as if letting the spirits talk through him has drained him.
He sits back down in the armchair.
“Did ye get what ye needed?” He asks, clearly disoriented. I look over at Ryder, whose worry mirrors mine.
“You could say that,” Ryder says as he scratches the back of his neck.
“What do you know about the crescent gem?” I ask quickly, hoping Psy knows more about this topic.
“Aye, the crescent gem, the stone that holds the power of a God.” Psy remarks, standing up and taking a swig out of the half-empty bottle on the table. He kisses his teeth as the harsh liquid slugs its way down his throat.
“So it’s real then.” A newfound hope asserts my words.
Five days. That’s all we have.
“It’s a fucking death trap, is what it is.” Psy remarks, and I try to hide my apprehension.
“What do you mean?” I ask, tugging on the sleeves of my robe.
“He means anyone who goes looking for the bloody thing dies,” Ryder adds in, frustration harshening his words. And my faith is wavering.
Five fucking days.
“Not anyone.” Psy interrupts in a slow register.
“Tainted souls, maybe, but those pure of heart are said to be able to yield the power.” He walks in closer to me, his hand coming dangerously close to the fabric of my hood.
“Somethin’ tells me this riddle came te you.
” He pulls his hand away, but his eye does not retreat from my gaze.
I don’t say anything, just nod my head slightly.
“Then maybe ye are the one to yield its power.” His words soft as a whisper.
“No. Not fucking happening.” Ryder barks. “Hundreds have searched for it and never made it back.” He paces around the small room, and the floor groans under his weight.
“We have to at least try.” I plead. “Five days, Ryder. That’s all we have.”
A tear threatens to fall from my eyes.
Five days until the man I love becomes a weapon against me again. “And have you forgotten that the sun is dimming?” I add. The spirits said that this is the only way to restore the chaos.
“But if you touch it, you may die.” He begs, shaking his head, his jaw tightens, and his eyes narrow.
“And if I do nothing, I will die by your hand.” My words catch in my throat as he looks at me with regret. “Or worse, you will take yourself from me again.”
I’m crying now, slow tears roll down my face. “Either way I lose you.”
Ryder stiffens, facing the harsh realisation. “I’m not just going to sit around and let that happen. I’m finding that gem with or without you.” I say, drying the tears from my cheeks.
Ryder strides closer towards me, and for a minute, I think he is going to try to stop me. But he doesn’t; he stands slightly behind me and rests his hand on my lower back.
The corners of his mouth rise into a small smile at me before he directs to Psy.
“Okay. Where do we start looking?” His demeanour is still tense, but a glint of optimism hides behind the caramel in his eyes.
I understand why he is tense. If everyone who has ever gone looking for the crescent gem has vanished without a trace, then we may suffer the same fate.
But our fate without it is much, much worse.
I gulp back the thought of Ryder’s hands breathing the life out of me.
Five days.
“Ye are not the only one that has come to me searchin for the gem before,” Psy says his arm half eaten by the box he is rummaging through.
“A wee boy came to me many year ago, desperate to find the thing.” He stares intensely at the contents in the cardboard before pulling something out.
“I’ll show ye the same thing I showed him.
” He switches a roll of paper from his fleshy hand to the bionic one and unrolls it on the table.
“What is it?” I say, examining the off-white pages. “A map?” My head instinctively tilts to the side, trying to make sense of the page.
“It looks like a toddler drew it.” Ryder scoffs before sighing. He’s not wrong. I don’t really know what I’m looking at. The page is sprawled with different images, each carelessly scribbled and overlayed like the artist had drawn over the messy outlines at least ten times
“Tanks a lot.” Psy directs to Ryder, looking offended. “I did these, ye fucker.” He glares at Ryder, who is standing unapologetically over the page.
Great, offend the only person that can help us, nice going.
Psy and Ryder scowl at each other for a moment, making my muscles stiffen slightly.
“Haha, you should’ve seen the look on your face.
” Psy bursts out in a joke, making me jump.
“It was my hand that drew it, but the spirits took the wheel.” Thank the Gods.
My lungs exhale a sigh of relief. I can’t wait to get out of this place.
Ryder’s defences soften as he looks at it closer. “So you can read it then?” He asks, his finger smudging the graphite pencil a tad.
“Not a fuckin clue what it says.” Psy chuckles again, his bionic hand clasped around the brown bottle, taking another swig.
“Great,” I mutter, letting out an audible sigh.
“But I’m pretty sure these ‘ere are trees. A bunch of em.” Psy points to the ridges in the page that look like multiple triangles stacked on top of each other.
More useful information, I think sarcastically to myself.
“Just below something that must be fuckin tall.” He adds his finger, highlighting an arrow pointing upwards.
“The rest looks like jibber jabber.” He chuckles again, and frustration takes another bite at my skin.
My eyes locate Ryder’s, expecting to share a kindred annoyance, but his do not share the same bewilderment as mine.
There is something different about them, something that makes my heart skip a beat or two; a clarity building, his cogs turning like a well-oiled machine.
But he looks apprehensive, Gods, I did not even think he could look any tenser, but he does.
His jaw is pressed together so tightly, I’m surprised his teeth haven’t shattered.
“What is it?” I ask, hoping to edge the words out of him. His eyes look away from mine as if searching for the will to speak. “Ryder?” I say confused. He clearly knows something.
“The forest below the highest point.” He speaks finally, but I am still mystified. “Half Dead Hollow.”
Psy’s eye widens at this name, and a silence overwhelms the room.
“Half Dead Hollow?” I question, not really sure if I want to hear the answer.
“Of course. The forest at the foot of Mourn Peak.” Psy adds in as if he is looking at the world in a brand new resolution. I’ve heard of Mourn Peak before, the tallest mountain in Palidonia, but never Half Dead Hollow.
“Why do they call it that?” I swallow back the saliva in my throat as I ask Ryder.
“It doesn’t matter.” He says, which makes my heart beat faster because now I know he is trying to protect me from something. “Ryder, why do they call it that?” I reiterate, this time gently squeezing his arm.
“Cause by the time you’ve taken ye first step in there, you’re already half dead.
No one makes it out the other side.” Psy begins rolling up the parchment paper before handing it over to me.
“And if that’s not enough, the gem is said to be protected…
to claim its power, ye must complete the trials enchanted on it. ”
I take the parchment with a shaky grip, third meals threatening to make an appearance.
“Good luck.” He says, and I nod my head hesitantly.
I think we’ll need it.