I Want to Live, Part Ten

We weren’t supposed to leave a trail, so I began trying to clean up the blood. Since there were no cleaning materials on hand, or in the vault, my only choice was to use the various Gathic treasures. I started shoving coins around to make a new pile over the blood smear. I worked at a feverish speed, pushing big mounds of gold and silver, as well as some of those weird armors and weapons. In this hustle I did take a few moments to get a look at where we were. I was impressed, and that is why I have demanded that our vault be built the same way. There were strong square pillars that hugged the wall like in the other rooms. These pillars had numerous brass hands and faces lining them, and the roof above us had been set with black slate and sparkling white silver dots to mark the constellations. I finally set the last treasure item over the blood spot. A large silver-stringed harp, well, it was large for my three foot frame. A Gol-Gathe could probably hold it in one hand. It was made of wood, but had been plated in gold and the melody it had made while being scooted across the floor was hypnotic, almost lulling me into a deep sleep.

I managed to pull myself away from the seductive item and looked around, seeing the others walking around a stone megalithic structure in the very back of the vault. Inside the structure was a large statue of marble, wondrously and realistically colored of a tall Gol-Gathe, with two massive braids down either shoulder and a short, well-kept beard. He wasn’t wearing armor, nor holding a weapon, but had a large fiddle in his hands and was plucking away with a big, bright smile on his large round face. In front of him, and much smaller, but also made in marble and realistically painted was a Hal-Gathe woman, with shoulder length curls. She was skipping with her eyes closed, and laughing as she seemed to clap a rhythm. Her skirt fanned out as she danced, exposing her hairy legs and feet. Her blouse sleeves were rolled up, showing her hairy arms, and the hair up her neck was so realistically done, it could have moved in a breeze. Her face was completely smooth, devoid of any facial hair. Across from her was a more medium-sized Gathe, the Do-Gathe. He had a large mohawk that was bright red, and a loose shirt, with a grey and blue kilt. He stomped his booted foot as he smacked a drum held under one arm, and against his barrel chest. His long beard was flipped back over his shoulder, and running down his back.

I walked closer and looked at the Reds as they lined up in front of one of the vertical stones. The one-legged one was using a candle stand to support his weight, having tied silver strings from another instrument around his stumps to stop the bleeding. At least the others had been doing something while I cleaned up his mess. We all now stood together before our destiny, and I was nearly bursting in my excitement. We were going to be so famous. The plain, vertical stones stood about twenty feet tall, and must have weighed about a thousand Sckaens. They hummed gently as they emitted steady but comfortable waves of heat. I swallowed hard, raising my left hand. I let out a couple of quick breaths and moved my hand forward. I mean I should have done a countdown, everything is better with a countdown, I thought. I stepped backwards, thinking that I might as well charge at it, as we were going to push them over anyways, right? I might as well make sure this thing went over; Zoltuce had said that we just need to touch it, but it didn’t look like a touch would do much damage. I took another step back, wanting to get a good run up. I looked over to my left, wanting to see what the others were doing, and realized that I didn’t see the Red that had been there. At the pillar to my right, the Sckaen was missing there, too. So, I stepped back. I wasn’t going to do it if these guys weren’t. Didn’t they remember we all needed to do this?

I walked around the megalith, trying to find them so we could talk about this. I realized that all three of them were gone. Nowhere to be found. Also, their stones had stopped humming, and were no longer emitting any heat. Did they do it already, without me? I looked at the floor, frustrated, and noticed a little pile of ash at the base of one of the stones. There was another one, in front of the second pillar, and a third, in front of the pillar across from mine. There wasn’t one in front of my pillar. Not yet, anyways. It occurred to me that Zoltuce had said we weren’t supposed to leave a trace. He had looked at me when he said it, and made sure I understood something, he had singled me out for a reason. This had to be that reason, because I was his. I was just supposed to ensure that they did their jobs, and then I was to clean up after those dummies, may they join the wyverns in the sky. I blew the ashes away, all those years of blowing dust off the records finally paid off, and I didn’t even blow one raspberry. Also, how were we supposed to pick up a reward on our way out if we were dead? This made so much more sense. I hurried for the vault door, looking for a treasure to take with me on my way. I noticed a large crown made of pyrite, and it had all these emeralds and rubies set into the band. In fact, it is the one that I wear to this day, the one that marks me as the king of Sckaens.

Don’t ask me to explain how I got back out, there was a little bit of luck and a lot of exceptional skill, and a rope hanging down from the vent that we had slid down. Somehow, I had made it back there, and I hadn’t even considered how I could get out so was extremely happy for the rope. As soon as I crawled out of the vent I was greeted by an orange snout, with painted pink teeth and pyrite-like eyes. I took Useful’s hand, and she decided to settle with the king of Sckaens, so her and I wove tongues. Besides how could she refuse a Sckaen with three names?

(The Journal of Never You Mind, King of the Sckaens)