Chapter 21

Curious

- The fool whispers the answer but no one hears -

Thon moved closer. What sort of game would it be now?

As he approached the fountain, he saw that the creature resembled a man, but his skin was torn and tattered. His face was hollow and sunken in. But what made him so obviously inhuman were the twin long and curved horns, which protruded from his forehead, curling backwards. The wind blew suddenly and flaps of skin on his face tore off, carried away by the wind. Thon shivered, fear setting in. The creature had burning red eyes. 

Thon could sense some form of energy radiating from within the creature, its eyes staring straight at him as he came to stand in front of it. It was a chaotic energy. Thon braced himself for an attack, his fists curled up in a defensive position, his teeth bared.

Then suddenly, the creature spoke.

"I am the last test, boy. But in order to pass me", it whispered, voice thick and raspy, "you must first answer my riddle. If you answer correctly, I will restore to you what you have forgotten."

Thon felt something rise in his consciousness. Something he had always known. But again, it receded below the surface, sinking to the bottom of his memory.

"What is it?"

Thon could feel his heart racing.

"Are you ready boy?"

"I am."

"Then here is my riddle", said the creature. The man-beast spoke then, as though reciting a song. Harsh guttural words came forth but with an inhuman clarity of speech and intonation.

"First, seek me when thou liest on death’s cold bed.

But gone am I when thou art dead.

But if you choose to surely die,

Then the estate paper does not lie,

For written are the words so clear

What’s mine is mine and yours is sure,

I am also what you often say

For I am used in every way

When thou wants to do, thou sayst my name,

Ask a question, say my name again,

Shall, is a word, with meaning same,

Art thou willing to play this game?"

As the creature spoke, Thon looked to his feet to see the words being inscribed into the stony ground in black letters. Then with its hand, the creature conjured up a giant hourglass with sand already trickling down.

"I must mention to you that failure to solve my riddle by the time the sands run out will be certain death for you", said the creature. "Your death will be long and painful. This I will see to."

Thon’s jaw tightened as he heard these words and quickly turned his attention to the words of the riddle written into the ground. Reading and re-reading the words of the riddle, it then occurred to Thon that there were three separate parts that required deciphering. The first part was as follows:

"First, seek me when thou liest on death’s cold bed.

But gone am I when thou art dead."

Seek me when thou liest on death’s cold bed, Thon repeated to himself. What do I seek when I am about to die? I seek a cure. No, that cannot be it, thought Thon shaking his head. There is no cure for old age. One becomes old and simply dies, he reasoned himself.

Do I wish to die? I may not want to die. He turned to the creature, a hint of a smile playing on its deformed features, with eyes like red burning embers. But the creature said nothing and remained still.

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So, if I do not wish to die. There must be something that will help me live. And that something will not be of help to me when I am dead, Thon reasoned further. The creature smiled this time, baring hundreds of tiny fangs. Not entirely sure what this meant, Thon turned his mind to the second part of the riddle which read as follows:

"But if you choose to surely die,

Then the estate paper does not lie,

For written are the words so clear

What’s mine is mine and yours is sure,"

This part concerns some document evident in the words “estate paper”, thought Thon to himself, and something to do with its contents. But again, he had no clue as to what this meant. The third part was made up the next six stanzas:

"I am also what you often say

For I am used in every way

When thou wants to do, thou sayst my name,

Ask a question, say my name again,

Shall, is a word, with meaning same,

Art thou willing to play this game?"

These last few stanzas point to the use of a specific word that is used frequently, thought Thon. The creature grinned, and for a while, Thon almost lost his train of thought, for the creature had grinned so widely, that the skin holding his face had split down the sides.

When thou wants to do, thou sayst my name. When I want to do something, how do I express it? I want to do it. No, that cannot be.

Try as he did, the answer still eluded him.

Art thou willing to play this game? Yes I am willing. Willing…

Then it hit him.  

Just then, the wind blew violently and the creature’s flapping skin tore off, revealing a hideous red, fresh and sticky layer of raw skin.

But Thon spoke clearly and loudly at the creature.

"The word ‘will’ has many uses and meanings", began Thon.

"Explain", said the creature, its eyes burning, its breath foul.

"The ‘will to live’ is what you seek when facing death. Similarly, the ‘will to live’ departs when you give in to death. A ‘will’ also refers to a certificate signed before one’s death describing clearly the distribution of one’s property."

"And what about the other half of the riddle?"

"When I want to do something, I would say: I ‘will’ do it. And one can also say, I ‘shall’ do it. The clue to the riddle is given in the final sentence, when it asks the reader if he or she is ‘willing’ to solve the riddle. The word is ‘will’ and I bid you return to me what you promised to return."

Upon hearing the word escape Thon’s lips, the creature’s demonic face smiled cruelly. As Thon braced himself for an attack from the creature it suddenly spoke, with a voice like a storm.

"Very good. And now it is time to return to you what was lost."

But Thon was looking at the creatures’ horns, which were wickedly curved.

"I do not understand", said Thon with a frown, for he was puzzled.

What had he lost?

Something hovered near the edges of his memory. Try as he did, it was like trying to make out something from behind a steamed window, and Thon could not place his finger on it.

"Behold, I return to you something that was taken from you upon coming to this place," said the creature, its red eyes burning fiercely. As the creature spoke, the flaps of skin upon the creature’s torn and tattered face began to flatten into a skin, smoothening out. Shrinking in size, the creature’s horns sprouted into smaller horns, eventually melting into four identical curved cone-like structures which twisted in different directions.

The creature’s face grew a pale white as it reared back its head as if to laugh, baring scores of sharp teeth. A harsh peal of laughter erupted from the depths of the creature’s glistening maw, which strangely, seemed to grow more human-sounding with each passing second. Hair burst forth from behind the creature’s head, cascading in long curls of dark red.

Thon’s eyes narrowed as bells appeared at the tip of each cone-like structure atop the creature-man’s head. Still-laughing, McMillian emerged from the creature’s husk, which fell to each side as he walked toward Thon with an outstretched fist. His red eyes gleamed brightly and his purple trousers and dark red top materialised in a flash. Something fell from the sky like a thunderbolt and in the blink of an eye, McMillian’s ruby-encrusted scepter appeared in his gloved fist.

"Why, have you forgotten, boy?" said McMillian with a mock pout. "Silly me. Of course, you have. My, my, you do not seem delighted to see me."

"Far from it", said Thon. “I do not like this place much. The dreamscape is a dangerous place."

"It is not!" McMillian appeared indignant and he pouted at Thon. "I wish to think of it as…a playground."

"And what is more", continued Thon, "you have betrayed my trust on several occasions, leaving me to face dangerous situations without help."

"My, my, that is hurtful!" McMillian features grew sad. "And just when I thought we were finally getting along together here. Oh well, but a promise is a promise. I must return what I have stolen from you."

Rearing up, McMillian smiled at Thon and hundreds of his tiny teeth glistened with saliva. McMillian’s eyes burned a deeper shade of red and before Thon could move, McMillian had morphed back into the terrible creature with curved horns once more. The creature took a step back and bent its head low before running Thon through with its horns. The twin long curved horns sliced upwards, cutting through flesh and through bone, emerging from Thon’s shoulder area. Blood spurted out of Thon’s mouth as his eyes widened with shock and the incredible pain. He cried out, but no sound came out. He fell to the ground as his vision blurred and dimmed.

All for nothing, he thought, and he was seized with a sudden weariness.

"Who are you?" he heard someone ask, and the question hung in the air. "What is your name?"

The last thing he saw was the creature standing over him, eyes burning red. But a single word echoed in his mind.

Thonavar.

Suddenly, everything came back to him in a rush. Overwhelmed, his mind began to shut down. Slowly, he slipped off the edge of the chasm with the woman whom he had met in the middle of the narrow bridge, and spiraled down into the pink and purple flames. Then his vision ended and all was darkness. The darkness swirled around him, triumphant.