Chapter Thirty-Seven
Climb Every Mountain
The Innermost
The mirror shatters, but the pieces of glass do not fall to the stone ground.
They float, pixelate, and swirl into the ether.
The room spins, and I feel myself in the middle of it all.
The energy pulls from all around to a single point in the center for me, then rapidly expands again.
The air is crisp where it was previously dank. The light is warmer and brighter now.
When my sense of awareness recalibrates, and I can take in the surrounding area, I see a portal open above me.
A rainbow of light filters through a crack in the cave above my head.
I stand below it, expecting the portal to suck me up and take me topside.
Back to the OtherWorld and hopefully straight to Maddy.
But it does not. I remain in place. Hope alone does not help my body reach the opening above me. I look around for a ladder or enough loose rocks to build a bridge to the chasm overhead. But there is nothing.
The ground beneath my feet begins to rumble. Several stalactites and shards of bone break from the ceiling and crash to the floor below. I close my eyes, hoping this is the beginning of the magic that will take me out of this cursed cave. But there is no movement, no transporting.
“Maddy,” I call out. “Are you there? Is this The Bliss?”
The groaning of the rocks gets louder until I realize the sound is coming from more than just rocks.
I open my eyes to see a towering creature rip itself from the rock, formed by the grey and green stones themselves.
It is a monster whose width is rivaled only by its height.
It fills the cavern around me as its two massive rock arms and matching legs pull themselves from the cave wall and become freestanding.
When the creature reaches its full height, it lets out a deep laugh that rattles every surface around us.
“You have got to be kidding me.” I complain in a voice that’s part whine and part exhaustion. “What now?”
The rumbling laughter stops, and the pile of stones in front of me speaks from a jagged crack that runs along the large rock that sits high atop this heap of rubble, in the place where normal creatures have their heads.
When he speaks, the sound of the stones crunching and cracking around his mouth is like nails on a chalkboard, sending shivers down my spine. “Now. You leave.”
“Gladly. Mind lending a hand?” When the monster doesn’t answer, I press. “Who are you?”
“Malleus, the creature of The Catacombs. And you are trespassing.”
“The gate was open when I got here actually. And I didn’t see any opening hours listed anywhere, so …”
“Silence,” the rock monster rumbles, and the power of his booming voice moves the earth under my feet. “Why do you think they put a gate at the center of a maze in an underground cave system? Me. I’m the why.”
“Fyre mentioned a monster, but I gotta be honest, I was holding out hope that they were smaller, and cuter, and maybe less interested in bringing my journey to a close.”
“I am interested in being left undisturbed.”
“So, instead of sedimentary rock, you’re more like sedentary rock—is that it? Like a hibernating bear. Think I’ll call you Boulder the Bear. That work, Rocky?”
“Keep using that tongue, stranger. For you will lose it soon.”
“Come on. We can be reasonable here. I’ve done as the gate instructed. Faced my fears. Now give me a lift on up to the OtherWorld, and I’ll leave you to your … whatever it is you do around here for fun.”
“For fun, I like to destroy creatures that interrupt my slumber.”
“Well, no time like the present to pick up some new hobbies,” I say, hoping humor and reason might have some sway over my large friend here. Based on his response, I’d say that doesn’t seem all that likely.
Before he speaks, his arm lifts and a large rock rolls toward the place I’m standing. I dodge it by stepping gingerly to my left. “Whoa. Little warning next time, Boulder. I’ve had a long journey. Legs are pretty tired.”
“Your prattling annoys me. Now you, like the memories you tried so hard to repress, will stay buried.”
“Reason with me. I’ve just got a new lease on life over here. I’d hate for it to be cut short. How’s about you give me a hand up into that glowing portal and I’ll be on my way?”
The beast laughs. It is not a pleasant sound. “I can give you a hand.”
With no further warning, he balls one of his giant mitts into a fist and slams his long stone arm in my direction.
I leap to my left again, and roll to avoid the blow.
Without picking up his first arm, he twists at his center and slams his other fist down atop me.
This time, I sidestep, and before he can react, I jump up on his fist and sprint up his arm.
I leap from mid-arm toward his face and slam my fist into his granite jaw.
“Owwww.” I yelp at the punishing contact. I’m not proud of the noise I make, but punching pure rock hurts and fighting isn’t always glamorous.
His face distorts, as does mine. The pain of the strike sends bolts of agony down my arm, as the blow stuns my opponent, but seems to do little damage.
He shakes his head and grimaces, his rounded top rock no worse for the wear.
Okay, so punching may not be the best approach here. Noted. Maybe I can sass him to death.
“You didn’t win any beauty contests, did you?”
“Beauty contests? No. Killing contests? Yes.”
Great. He’s winning the war of words now, too.
He pulls both his arms from the stone floor and takes a step in my direction.
The cave shrinks to a fraction of its original size as the creature pins me into a corner.
He slams his palms together, attempting to squash me like I’m nothing more than a house fly.
I sprint forward, narrowly avoiding the contact.
The impact of his hands crashing together sends a shock wave that forces me onto my knees.
“You are not welcome here. You die now.”
“I’m already dead, Rocky. And you’ll not be taking away my chance to live again.”
I pull Ifaísteio from my side and square off against the beast. Malleus looks down at the tiny piece of blade in my hand and laughs again.
While he wastes his energy in mockery, I lunge for his chest and stab the knife into his jagged pectoral.
The sharp metal meeting the dense rock does nothing but leave the tiniest of indentations before glancing off him.
The move sets me off-balance, and the monster brings his stone arms around and squeezes me in place.
If I were carving a sculpture, I could see how the knife might have helped, but in this case, my blade has only gotten me into more trouble.
His python grip crushes every part of my body.
I can feel the bones begin to give, and the joints strain to the point of popping.
I hear Ifaísteio clang to the ground and wonder how much more pressure my physical form can take before I crumble into dust.
Malleus cranes his domed head down to see my struggling form and groans in amusement.
In a move that seems very reminiscent of a predator playing with its prey before killing it, he releases his squeeze, grabs me by his giant hands, and flings me against the far wall of the cave.
Dizziness and disorientation overwhelm me.
It’s the beast’s voice that brings my attention back to the room.
“I take great pleasure in bringing you pain.”
Hearing those words from his deep voice turns my foggy mind clear instantly. The words from Maddy’s letter alight in my mind.
Thomas & Maddy: The Pleasure & the Pain.
A vision of her, of us, flashes before my eyes. A vivid memory that pours through me in an instant.
We are standing by the river that cut through her family’s estate, and I am teaching her how to skip rocks. I see my younger self carefully selecting flat, smooth stones from the river’s edge, then immediately notice the smaller flat rocks that make up the creature’s leg joint.
I look him in his stone eyes and say, “Bad news, Malleus: I take great pleasure in receiving it.”
I crack my neck and roll my wrists as I pull myself off the floor. My eyes lock on the smallest of the stones, and with my hand outstretched, I sprint to the spot and pull.
Though the stone is small, the scream from the beast is loud as he tries to shake free from my grip.
I pull the rock loose and chuck it toward the creature’s face.
The impact does little, but the momentary distraction allows me to return to his leg joint and pull yet another stone free.
I turn to the beast and send the rock flying toward his face again.
But in doing so, I fail to see his pendulum of an arm swing around and slam flush against my side.
The impact liquefies my one side and sends me hurtling toward the cave wall again.
The crash against the unforgiving stone sends pain coursing through my other side as well.
The sensation of hurt ignites a power within.
I remain a crumpled heap against the wall, but I am not incapacitated.
I am lying in wait. The beast trudges in my direction, dragging his disjointed leg behind him.
I open my eyes to watch him as he gets closer, ready to end me.
He bends down, bringing his face inches from my prone form.
I hold still, despite the stench of his cave breath.
He rumbles a moaning sound, then moves his head away, preparing to deliver a final, crushing blow.
As he reels back to strike, I pounce. I plant one foot against the corner of the cave and dive for his weakened leg.
I reach into the mound of rocks and pull with all the strength I can muster.
I pull a chunk of stone free from his leg and feel the structure of the mound crumble.
He loses his balance and tips onto his side.
He holds himself up with his arm, but he’s lost his ability to strike.
His stone eyes flash toward me, glowing a hideous green, but his anger can’t help him now.
“Guess that’s the way the rock monster crumbles,” I mumble, more to myself than my adversary.
While he’s reeling and distracted, I search the room for my blade. My vision darts along the cave floor, but I do not see a glint of metal anywhere. Knowing that time is of the essence, I give up that search and settle for plan B.
I spy a jagged stalagmite growing from the ground a few feet away. I slide over to it and kick the rock from the lowest point, separating the spiked rock from the floor and giving myself a makeshift weapon in the process. I grab the stone knife and turn my attention back to the creature.
“Live by the stone, die by the stone.”
I turn the spike over in my grip and climb up the beast’s broken leg, bouldering around its back until I find the joint that connects his back to his giant rock head.
I plunge the blade between the stones, and his groaning wail cuts off instantly as his body separates from his stone skull.
His form softens, and all his joints separate until he becomes nothing more than a pile of rocks.
The impact of his structure losing shape sends me tumbling down his back.
I lie in exhaustion, savoring the quiet of the room. My head pounds, and my body aches, but when my eyes regain their focus from the ground, I see that the beast is no more. The stone creature named Malleus has been reduced to nothing more than a pile of rocks.
Then the ground rumbles again, and I prepare for the worst. The shaking makes my reaper’s blade bounce off the ground, and I notice it out of the corner of my eye.
As the mound of animated rock continues to rattle and shake, I gather my strength and move across the space to grab my blade.
Standing firm, I watch as the pile of stone begins to move.
I prepare for the return of Malleus and the inevitable end of me, but that does not happen.
Rather than forming back into the hideous creature these rocks once were, they move to the center of the circular space and float into the shape of a perfect staircase that leads me directly to the multicolored portal that still slices the ceiling above me.
I guess that’s what you do if you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, I think to myself as I make my way to the top of the rock pile and enter the glowing passageway.