The Crossing

I am trapped.

I am caught in a web, and it is small comfort to me that the web is of my own weaving. When I think of the magnitude of what I have done, I am overcome by a numb terror. I have behaved in a wicked manner, I know, perhaps a criminal manner; and every morning when I wake there is a heavy cloud over me. I ask myself what fresh disasters there are in store for me this day...

It all began with the sound of a name.

"Nanea... Nanea...” The echoes bounced off the walls of the canyon, creating an eerie shiver that ran down my spine. As I hopped from stone to stone in the river that ran through the steep rock walls, I heard it. It was in singsong, called out by a child. Yet, in that young voice, there was a menacing knowledge beyond that of a child.

"Nanea... You can't hide forever. I'm going to find you," came the voice again, echoing and making me freeze. Some small chunks of rock fell to the sluggishly moving river, making splashes.

I glimpsed a small, pale child standing at the edge of the canyon, peering down at me. I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the light of the afternoon sun, and the child grinned, its unnaturally white teeth shining. There was an unsettling laugh that sounded through the area, and the child was suddenly gone.

I continued hopping from stone to stone. The canyon had always been rumored as cursed, haunted by strange spirits that would kill a man. However, it was the shortest way between Lem City and Kreil City, and I was considered the most foolish young man back home. What else did you expect me to do? I used the cursed shortcut.

For the first time in two years (when I'd started using this way), I felt uneasy. What was a child doing in the canyon area by itself? Parents didn't allow them to go even with supervision. And who was Nanea?

Besides the sound of my boots hitting the stepping-stones, the canyon was silent. The northeast winds that normally blew through there were absent, and I almost missed their dusty brutality. I was growing more and more uncomfortable.

When a wavering note pierced the air, I cried out in surprise and fell into the river. Spluttering and coughing, I crawled out onto the dry land on the other side, soaked. I studied my drenched clothes in dismay, and then checked to make sure I hadn't lost my precious possession in my pocket. It was still there. I gave a sigh of relief and stood up, water dripping from my clothes.

Another more pure note was heard, and I searched the area for the source of the sound. As far as I could see, I was the only one here. That was usual, but these strange occurrences were not. I frowned, then tried to remember what day it was. I sucked in a deep breath when I did.

I started running.

It was dangerous and foolhardy, but I ran. More notes split the silence, turning into a haunting melody that made me drowsy. I shook my head as I ran, knowing that if I stopped, I would surely be doomed.

"Nanea..."

I tripped and landed hard, gasping as I wrenched my wrist. An inhuman cackle came from behind me, and I blacked out when something smashed into my head.

When I came to, I was in a cave. I was lying on the ground, and my arm was in a sling. It was dark, but a pale green light lit the cave. I must have been pretty far in, since I couldn't see the entrance.

"Is someone there?" I asked hoarsely. Now I realized the extent of my stupidity. Not only had I cast aside the superstitions of my people and used the canyon fairly often, but I had also done so on the day of Crossing. Now I was stuck in a strange cave, Vemin (the great spirit) knows where, and I was frightened.

I heard snuffling somewhere nearby. Human sounds. Or were they?

“Hello?” I squeaked, sounding very unmanly. I was seventeen, and my voice had already deepened, so squeaking wasn’t the best thing I could have done. Who was there to know, though? I was probably going to die.

A stone clattered, and I jumped. I saw a dark shape moving a few feet away, and I felt my heart leap into my throat.

It was a girl. She had dark, dark skin, like the foreigners from the desert. Her hair was unevenly chopped and hung around her shoulders, and she was wearing the skin of some type of animal. The things I remember most about her now were her eyes. One was a brilliant green, and the other was a deep, shining blue. Most of the desert foreigners had dark eyes, usually brown.

“Are you real?” I whispered. On the day of Crossing, this was the best thing to ask when stranded in a dark cave with a very strange girl. In response to my question, she blinked once.

She picked up a sharp broken stalagmite and pressed it against the skin on her hand. It pierced her flesh just enough to make blood appear. She smeared it on the ground, leaving a dark red mark on the stone floor, glistening. I was satisfied that she was a living human being.

“How do you know about me?” I asked, questioning how she knew that I, too, was human. She nodded in my direction, and I instinctively reached up with my good hand. I had a lump on the side of my head, and I was bleeding slightly. That explained it then.

“Did you do this?” I asked, pointing to my bandaged wrist. She blinked.

“Do you talk?” She didn’t respond. I decided to take that as a ‘no’.

“Can you write? Can you answer me in any way?” I persisted. She blinked once, then began a series of hand motions and signs that I didn’t understand.

“Wait- that’s the language of the Mute and Deaf. Go slower.” She repeated the signs, taking care to slow them down. Like the rest of my people, I’d been taught the basics of this unspoken, unwritten language.

Can you understand me? she signed, and I nodded. My right wrist was throbbing, and I thought that I had either broken or dislocated it. Her face was devoid of emotion, but her eyes were glowing with happiness. They grew more serious.

The spirits attacked you. I brought you here.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

The girl paused hesitantly, then signed the sounds for her name. Nuh-nay-yuh. Nanea. I felt a sudden chill go through me, remembering the voice I’d heard in the canyon. The pale, small child who’d disappeared lingered, burned in my mind.

What is YOUR name?

“My name is Eili,” I replied. “Why are we in a cave?”

We are safe here, she signed, glancing around.

“From what?” I asked, feeling uneasy again. I hadn’t like the fact that she’d said we were safe, then looked around as if expecting danger.

The Crossing, she signed, her hands moving so fast, I barely caught their meaning.

“I want to go home,” I said. I got up and looked down the cavern both directions, not knowing the way out.

You can’t leave.

“Yes, I can.”

They will attack you again. This time, they’ll kill you, Eili.

“Who, the spirits? Ha, I’m not afraid of them,” I proclaimed, feigning more courage and bravery than I actually had. Nanea shook her head.

“Fine. I’ll find my own way out,” I said, starting off. I got less and less sure of myself with each step, and I hadn’t been all that confident to start with. However, Nanea gave me a funny feeling, and walking alone in a cave with no idea where you’re going COULD be considered better. Well, not really.

I marched in that same direction for a long time. I’m not sure for how long. Eventually, it became pitch black and I couldn’t see a thing. Exhausted, I stopped and rested, falling asleep on the hard, cold stone floor of the cavern.

When I woke, I had no idea where I was. My wrist hurt and my stomach was empty, and I had almost forgotten about Nanea for some reason. I didn’t know which way I’d been going, so I chose a random direction and wearily put one foot in front of the other.

I saw light coming from somewhere up ahead and quickened my pace. I saw that it was indeed the mouth of the tunnel and almost whooped in excitement and relief. It dissipated, however, when I saw that it was nighttime.

There was chanting outside.

I left the cave quietly and sneakily, and saw that the river had been frozen solid. On its perfectly smooth surface, there was a stone block, and hooded figures standing around it as though it were an altar. Nanea was standing on it, silent tears going down her face. She saw me and I noticed the flicker of recognition in her eyes. The figures must have seen it, too.

They surrounded me so quickly, I gasped. Unable to move, they brought me to the stone block. The hooded people seemed to float along the ground.

“Nanea told us you would come. She left the sanctuary of her cave on this day of the Crossing because she feared for your life,” one hissed. I was petrified, numb with fear.

“I knew she couldn’t hide forever,” came the child’s voice. It came from a hooded figure. At that moment, I knew that these must be the dark, malevolent spirits that haunted the canyon.

“We shall strike you a deal, boy. This girl possesses great power. You are nearly worthless. However, you have something in your pocket that would please us greatly. If you give it to us, we shall let Nanea go free.”

My uninjured hand moved of its own accord, reaching into my pocket and pulling out my most precious possession. It was my family’s gemstone-covered amulet. It had been in the family for hundreds of years, if not longer. I gazed at it, my heart thumping madly.

Nanea’s eyes were pleading. She was more frightened than I was. As grateful as I was that she had helped me before, the amulet was worth too much for me to give up. My parents would kill me. However, I was so scared, I didn’t think past that. I didn’t stop to think that any human life is worth more than treasure.

I shook my head, shaking from head to toe. “I can’t give it to you,” I whispered. The spirits hissed in unison, growing taller and taller until their blackness stretched as high as the walls of the canyon above me. Then they swooped down- right over Nanea.

Nanea released an earsplitting scream as the blackness engulfed her. A great gust of wind came from the stone block, and I shielded my face. When the wind died down, I suddenly fell into the river. It was no longer frozen. I gasped, breaking the surface of the water. The current was many times stronger than it had been earlier, and it carried me to the end of the canyon. I was thrown out of the water and rolled on the one sandy area in the whole place.

I backed up against the rock face, aware that my day of Crossing wasn’t over. Nanea rose from the river, head bowed, draped in liquid-like blackness. Her head suddenly snapped up, eyes locking with mine. They were glowing angrily, casting blue and green light over me.

“Go home, Eili. Take your precious amulet. We were hoping that you would pass the test like the others who came before. We made them forget, only giving them a fear of this place. We shall not do such a kindness for you. You will remember, and you will be cursed. You have caught yourself in a very tangled web. Nanea will never forgive you,” Nanea said, but it was not a single voice that came from her mouth. It was the voice of many beings in one body.

I regret my decision to choose the amulet over Nanea. I cannot justify what I did. Now I am forever cursed, trapped within my own mind. My voice is gone and I cannot speak, nor can I remember the unspoken language of the Mute and Deaf. The spirits took that from me.

I can write, however, and I tell you this; life is like a spider, weaving webs to catch those who are unsuspecting, and devouring them without mercy. I thought that I could outwit that spider by going through the canyon and being ‘brave’. Instead, I got caught and even more tangled, creating a new web of my own.

A human life is worth more than the greatest treasure.