Waterlogged - Not a Waterfall
#2 of Adventures in Columns
Waterlogged is a three part story written by a lost, uncomfortable, unnamed wolf. This is part two, (final) draft three. Confused? Let me know.
Oh, and comments, criticism, ratings, etc. are all welcome. I mean, you probably knew that, but anyway.
Hmm. Was it somewhat familiar? No, that couldn't be it, this was a tale I'd never heard before. The fontface was correct, and sentence structure matched up with past pieces.
"The story's not quite done," I thought to myself. Catching a familiar scent, I walked over to another pillar, further away. There's no glimpse of my friend just yet, but there was another inscription on it. "Let us see . . . ."
All these directions seem the same...The pillars are about ten body-lengths apart, but never in a straight line. Each is either a source of cold, comforting rest or a smooth chimney of pain. My eyes ceased to help ages ago. Even Samhach is having trouble seeing in this place.
Naomi stood in the trees away to the left. Some guy was threatening me with a fork just a few metres ahead. Lily was by my side, brandishing a decaying branch. And we were all standing deep under the surface of Lake Flic.
I turned to look at Lily. She was looking directly at the fork-wielder. 'Let's just say that Naomi has her methods,' she replied. 'She is a wolf, after all. If you tell us where your fellow sentries are watching, then we'll let you go.'
The guy shook slightly as he spoke. 'Why would I do that? I have no reason to let you . . you . . to let you get away.' He closed his eyes and leaned on his fork for support. Naomi had started moving in a circle around where we were standing, to the area behind the fork-wielder. I replied this time. 'Your friends have been attacking and killing my kind for years. Your job is to protect those greedy murderers, is it not? These two are part of a bounty hunter patrol group that has no issue per se with you. Nor have they any issue with your death for attacking me unprovoked. Tell us where your fellow sentries are watching, and we'll let you go.'
The guy spoke again, more quietly, holding the weapon tight. 'It's a good blade, cut from the wild fork-trees of the higher plains. Very good for scratching. I've scratched so many threats, it's just so . . so useful.' He managed to release a little chuckle. Lily gave me a quick tap on the shoulder and indicated the area where Naomi had been standing. She started moving in that direction. I glanced around once before following. We could hear a cry as we left the guy and Naomi behind us.
A short while later, Naomi reappeared, following myself and Lily at a short distance. I could hear nothing more than our movements through the water of the lake.
'So, you're a bounty hunter patrol group now?' I asked them. 'When'd you switch teams?'
'Naomi decided it would be safer to get in this way. Research offered the best equipment, though.' Lily placed a slight emphasis on 'research' as she spoke. We were travelling into a more uneven region of the sunken forest now, with more noticeable debris swirling into the water around our feet. I noted that a good number of the trees here were of the pine variety. As I and Lily walked under a particularly tall not-evergreen-anymore, Naomi bubbled.
Turning to look at her, I saw agitation. I stopped, Lily stopped a little ways ahead of me, and Naomi finally caught up. Naomi was a sprightly grey wolf in middle age, just about half my height. 'Quick, Lily, what does your tank reading say?' Lily shifted the oxygen tank on her back onto one arm. The dial showed deep orange fading into a greyish slate. 'I still have about 80 minutes left.' She shifted it back into place as the worry on Naomi's face became disappointment and her ears stirred small rivulets of water around her head. 'Then we need to keep moving. 15 minutes left for exploration.' And so we went on, through the trees.
We passed along a line of plankton-gathering wireframe shrubs, before coming out into a clearing. A slope lay before us, falling down from a spot near the surface on our left to a deep (and murky) hollow ahead of us and to the right. Small disturbances in our movements had caused gradual unrest among the leaf litter, which was now obscuring those depths as if in revenge. A pity that it wasn't quite possible to see how far down that would be. Well, not yet.
What was exceptional about this slope was not simply its proximity to the surface, which could provide Lily and Naomi with a place to pause, but also the complete lack of trees, bushes, plants, or anything formerly alive at all along the near side. Down past the end of the slope and the start of the following rise, a path of cleared, waterlogged, nothingness led onward into the lake. I looked ahead as we approached a slight turn to the right about five metres further along the slope, already seeing a possible connection.
Something had been dragged in, or something had been dragged out. Or perhaps, multiple somethings. And as if to confirm that, Lily sliced the muffly silence. 'That's enough for today. Unless you're dead set on suicide, Zaav, you'll come with us this time.'
'I'll go.' I turned to leave, and left, smelling the crush of pine needles and decay. I caught a glimpse of the grey sky above before passing back by those little shrubs. A swirl of lines spiraled there above, almost @-like in shape. Silence comforted me, blocking out pesky distractions. I'd see Lily and Naomi back safely to their Jeep, at least. No-one else had shown up to stop me in my path out this day, yet a little detour was necessary. I didn't get many chances to see the deeper parts of the lake, but I knew the shallows well.
I walked back alone, at my own pace. There had been a pitfall at one point, innocuous in a sparse area of flat ground and dead trees. Elsewhere, a branch dripped ripples into the surface as a quiet gust of wind blew past. Some cloudy streams of salt water, pooling and flowing through the side of a hillock, falling deep within the ground into some seaward course. I arrived at their Jeep yet minutes before the patrol group would arrive. Fifteen-odd minutes later, they approached.
Naomi sat in the driver's seat; Lily chose to sit next to her. They sat there, implicitly waiting for me to move. Finally, I did so.
And there that inscription ends. A cliffhanger is standard fare in his writing - but it has some sort of meaning, doesn't it? My body would not stay still to ponder, though.
For I had caught another scent in my nostrils, a whiff of the writer: not quite so close to where I stood, but not far either. Another section remained, another pillar touched by his paws. I knew how to find it.
A short trip later, and I arrived at the spot. This one seemed to show some confusion on his part - I hoped not to be too late.
What am I? Four limbs, yes, and a head, and the charred remains of a tail. I wouldn't want to see myself now - my hair (or fur?) almost fully burnt off, with me on the edge of collapse. I can only hope that Samhach will manage to find a way out. Regardless, Za'av's story continues below.
I sat on the edge of Lake Flic. The Jeep beside me rumbled as it manoeuvred its way away through the growth of trees. I would follow Lily and Naomi, later - perhaps.
There wasn't really any need to leave just yet. Then again, I wasn't likely to be as secure if I entered again. I looked again at the greyish clouds above. There'd be light for a while yet.
I'd seen useful things today, but now was not the time to dwell on them. The eventual arrival of the two researchers, their distraction of the only one defending against outside threats, and first-hand view of some large dredging tracks - all without fear of being discovered by the wrong sort. There were definitely others staying at the far end of the lake - above water, perhaps. Below, definitely. How many total, I couldn't say. Most would probably have hidden themselves away to avoid detection by the likes that Naomi and Lily disguised themselves as. Early morning would be the best time to make contact with those two - and probably not until the next week at the earliest.
They'd be hidden for a while, that's for sure. Enough thought on that matter, though.
I walked through the proper, green and brown trees of the forest. Thoille, it was called, and this part was to the south-west of Lake Flic. If I were to leave Thoille in a straight line, I'd have to pass through the old bramble patches and flat marshes, before reaching the foothills of the mountain. Well, semi-mountain. Okay, enhanced hillock. It was the tallest structure, natural or otherwise, anywhere I'd seen, and usually well worth a visit. A light drizzle started to fall as I walked. It was that time of year, that sort of place. While water surrounded me I felt I had a purpose.
As I inscribe this message on this pillar, I can feel the last cooling effects fading away. But the air feels . . different here, somehow. I don't know how. It's grown heavy while I wrote, and -
raindrop! I read the word just as I felt the substance sting my neck. How late can I be if water still falls here . . ?
Oh.
That's why.