Calix Stay by Niel Hancock

Author:Niel Hancock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group

Into the Depths

Neither Bear, nor Otter, nor Thumb, nor any of the others heard the stealthy approach of the padded feet. And none of the animals, nor Flewingam, had a chance to defend themselves against the silky, sticky net that was cast silently over them and drawn into a tight, iron cage.

Otter, awakened by a pain in his shoulder, coughed and spluttered, for a gluey-feeling something had filled his mouth. But the pain increased, and he found he couldn’t move, and the ache came from having Bear, who had been sleeping beside him, squashed solidly against him.

“Bear,” Otter gasped angrily, “you silly ass, you’ve rolled over on me. Get off.”

His temper was short, and he tried to give his big friend a kick to wake him up. To his surprise, he found he couldn’t move.

He tried again, using all his strength, but he was held in a steel vice of a sour-smelling, sticky stuff, which tickled his nose and made him sneeze. In the next instant, he had fainted.

None of the others had ever wakened, and now they all lay senseless, bound tightly in the woven netting that smelled slightly of decayed earth, and which had drugged them all into a deep, fathomless slumber.

Knobby hands drew up cruel knots until the bonds cut deeply into their flesh, and soon, gnarled legs strained to pull the captive friends on deeper into the black hole that led on into a deeper shaft under the soft, damp-smelling floor of the woods above.

As the fog began to clear in the morning light, the mouth of Thumb’s shelter slowly crept into view. Great gray slabs of immense stone ringed a yawning hole that appeared to sink into the very depths of the earth, with ageless, time-blackened trees that ringed the circular opening like gigantic teeth around the ugly mouth of a dark scar.

Had Broco been with them, or had the friends seen the place in full daylight, they would have shunned the hiding place, even at risk of being discovered by Gorgolac warriors, so foreboding was the scowling face of the cavern.

And Thumb, although he had, in truth, used the place for shelter in years past, had never been there overnight, nor had any of his band ever ventured into the foul-smelling place, although he had lied a bit about Fornax exploring it, for he didn’t want to frighten his new friends with needless worry or his own misgivings about the place. It was, he knew, safe from anything they were running from, and he did know none of Mankind had ever found it, or if they had, had ever used it.

It would be safe enough, he assured himself, to lay up for a few hours, until dawn.

Yet somehow, he thought, as if in an angry dream, he felt harsh, evil-smelling ropes about him, and struggled vainly to escape. His mind reeled, then for a brief moment he knew it was no dream, but a wave of darkness washed over him, and he knew no more.

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