Chapter 19

Games

- And upon the grid the games begin, with chariots, horses and screams within -

Returning to the archway, he saw again the tall twin statues of black and red stone on each side. They were statues depicting the identical-looking beasts. Thon circled the statues, studying them intently. The beasts were curved and slender, with long horns protruding from its head and rows of sharp-looking fangs from an elongated mouth. Thon saw that the beasts had giant tails that were curled around the statue, and behind, wrapped intricately around the back of each beast, a hidden pair of folded wings.

Returning swiftly to the grid and beginning on the extreme left side of the grid, Thon walked swiftly along the edge of the grid, inspecting closely each tile that he passed.

There!

Four tiles from the edge of the grid, Thon saw the tile he was searching for. He knelt down, moving as close as he could to the grid, and leaned out carefully, inspecting the tile on which the image of the winged-beast was inscribed. Just as he thought, the image of the beast inscribed on the tile matched the winged-beasts of stone at the entrance to the archway. However, the winged-beast tile was four tiles from the edge of the grid.

I could jump, thought Thon. But if were to jump over the first three tiles, would I also trigger explosions from them? Thon guessed that the tiles reacted to pressure. For when he had pressed his foot down and retreated swiftly, he had felt something give way underneath the tile, and split-seconds later, the tile exploded. If he jumped over the first three tiles and they exploded before he reached the winged-beast tile, he would surely be caught in the explosion, for there was no time to retreat.

No. It is safer to find a starting tile, thought Thon to himself. He continued walking along the edge of the grid, heading right, his eyes searching for any sign of a winged-beast tile. But there were none. A few minutes passed as Thon walked along the grid toward the right end, but still there was no sign of a single winged-beast tile.

Patience.

He had not come to the extreme right end of the grid yet.

But what if he was wrong? What if the winged-beast tile was not the right tile? Then it will explode and I will die in the blast, he thought grimly. There were but a few more tiles till he arrived on the right end of the grid. But still, no winged-beast tile. Swallowing, his disappointment, Thon continued walking.

He arrived at the right end of the grid. And saw a winged-beast tile. Tucked away in the corner. The last tile.

Thon blinked several times. He could not believe his eyes. Whoever had designed this grid was clever to hide this tile in the utmost right corner of the grid. Nevertheless, it was time to test if his theory was correct.

Thon took a deep breath, raising his eyes to look at the night sky and the two luminescent moons hanging in the darkened sky, and took a step forward. His feet made contact with the winged-beast tile, and as his feet pressed firmly upon the tile, Thon took several steps back as quickly as he could, not wishing to take a chance if the tile exploded.

Nothing happened.

Jubilation filled his heart, and he went back to winged-beast tile and stepped on it again, swiftly taking three steps back as soon as his feet pressed down firmly upon it. Nothing happened.

He was right.

Time to move, he thought, and a sense of urgency filled him. He had spent too much time here.

He stepped onto the first winged-beast tile and then quickly located the next, which was diagonally positioned to the right. His eyes soon picked out a path made of winged-beast tiles through the grid. At first, he moved cautiously with each step that he took, fearing an explosion. But as he moved from tile to tile, his confidence grew and his fears dissipated.

For about an hour, he moved swiftly across the giant grid. Sweat streamed down his neck and he stopped for a while to rest. Looking around him, Thon saw that he had arrived somewhere in the middle of the giant grid. The starting point from where he first set off seemed a long way back. Far off in the background, his eyes made out the ruined city from where he had first set out. They city where he had first met McMillian.

Looking up, he saw the sky filled with black holes, yawning widely and then closing, rifting and stretching obscenely. They seemed to be drawing nearer and nearer toward the surface of the earth below. Green and pink jagged streaks of lightning flashed brilliantly in the skies above but no ensuing thunder followed.

Time to move, Thon said to himself, again. Just then, he heard the sound of laughter fill the air, echoing all around him. He recognised the sound for it had become all-too-familiar.

Then the world around Thon erupted into chaos. It began with a roaring noise which reverberated all around. The roaring intensified and soared in volume, thundering against his eardrums.

Covering his ears, Thon spun around, trying to locate the sound which seemed to be coming from the entrance from which he walked in to the giant grid. As his eyes rested on the entrance marked by the twin stone statues, for but a brief moment, he saw the figure of McMillian standing on the edge of the grid, twirling his ruby-encrusted scepter expertly, a sickening grin plastered upon his white-painted face, laughing maniacally. But as soon as Thon blinked, the man was gone.

Then, with another otherworldly roar, the twin statues on each side of the entrance began to shudder and vibrate intensely. Stone crumbled into dust, giving way to shiny and scaly, red and black flesh. Plumes of dark smoke issued from the nostrils of the two creatures that rose into the air with lethal-like grace, great wings of interwoven bone and sinew flapping in a slow but steady rhythm. Red-slitted eyes gleamed, turning in their sockets, eventually coming to rest on the lone figure standing in the middle of a giant grid. Horns of nighttime black protruded from the heads of both creatures while thick blackened tails covered with similar but smaller horns hovered in the air behind each creature, thrumming as they swished back and forth. Perhaps it was a trick in the light, but as the twin creatures advanced toward his position, Thon could have sworn that each seemed to be growing larger and larger in size by the second.

Not wishing to wait, Thon hastily searched for the next tile and leapt onto it quickly. Risking a glance behind, he was just in time to see a searing and blinding burst of orange light rushing toward him with tremendous speed. Reacting quickly, Thon leapt to the next winged-beast tile just as an extremely hot and dry burst of light hurtled past him. Leaping to the next tile, he risked another glance behind and saw the second creature rear back, its chest swelling and glowing red-hot, before opening its fearsome maw and sending another powerful blast of orange light erupting from its depths, streaking in Thon’s direction. Once again, Thon was able to leap to the next tile in the nick of time.

Suddenly, something bright and fiery thundered into the ground a little way off from where he stood, sending a powerful shockwave that shook the ground. The skies flickered and suddenly lightened as it seemed the night was finally making way for the dawn. Yet, looking up, Thon saw, to his dismay, a black hole rift open, yawn widely, before spewing forth a giant ball of fire. Immediately, the night sky became as bright as the day. More and more black holes rifted open, spewing forth more large balls of fire. The skies glowed a brilliant orange-yellow as the balls of fire began raining down toward the earth.

Another burst of searing light hurtled toward him and Thon leapt to the next tile. But just as he was about to land, a large ball of fire smashed down a few meters from him lifting him from his feet and into the air. Even as his body twirled uncontrollably in the air, Thon knew that he had to react quickly upon reaching the ground. He had to land safely on a winged-beast tile. As he neared the ground, his eyes desperately searched for such a tile. There!

Arrowing his body toward the tile, incredibly, he managed to plant a foot there, using his hand to steady himself. Twin beams of orange energy hurtled above him, while he hung in the air moments before, streaking toward the faint outline of mountains in the distant fog.

Moving with a sense of urgency unlike never before, Thon leapt from tile to tile, making his way across the giant grid, fire balls smashing all around him with thunderous force, sending tiles, rock and dust into the air. Even as the fireballs smashed into the grid, the tiles reacted exploding upwards, shattering the giant red-hot balls of fire, sending sprays of rubble, dust and bits of fiery rock into the air. Fiery hot beams of light energy from the red maws of the beasts streaked and hurtled past Thon, sometimes crisscrossing, striking the ground where he was moments before.

As the beams of light energy struck the grid, the tiles that were struck reacted, exploding upwards. The noise generated from the impact of the fireballs as they smashed into the grid all around, the counter-explosions from the tiles and the bursts of light energy from the twin creatures of night was overwhelming and beyond deafening.

Thon’s eardrums had become numb and there was a perpetual discordant ringing sound that prevented him from hearing anything. His eyes were tired and heavy laden, and his face was pale and gaunt from the extreme exertion and application of mind and body. Smoke, dust and fire filled the air and Thon could scarcely breathe. Bits of rock and dust clung to his face mingled with his sweat, which ran freely down his face. Choking and coughing on smoke, Thon leapt from tile to tile, narrowly dodging another beam of energy that slightly singed his left shoulder.

Looking ahead, Thon saw that he had only a short distance left to go before reaching the other side of the giant grid. Exultation soared through him!

He hopped upon the first of the last five winged-beast tiles, diagonal to the previous tile. Something exploded behind him and the ensuing wave of force nearly propelled him onto a wrong tile. With a grunt of considerable effort, Thon twisted his body in time, leaping onto the safe winged-beast tile. He was moments from reaching the other side of the grid.

Feeling a dark presence behind him, Thon spun around and saw to his dismay, the black and shiny forms of the winged creatures hanging in the air. They were massive now. Thon was right. It was no trick of the eye. The creatures had been growing in size, and as they grew in size, so did the force, strength and duration of the energy beams that erupted from their mouths.

In unison, the two winged beasts reared back, their massive chests glowing red as they inhaled the smoky and dusty air, before sending twin beams of blinding light toward Thon. But time seem to slow as Thon watched, mesmerised by the brilliant beams of light hurtling toward him. As he watched, the beams of light converged into one gigantic beam of red hot energy, and his vision became red as the heat pressed upon his face. Turning at the last split second of a second, Thon leapt forward and as high as he could into the air. His back seared with pain from the heat which tore into his tunic, burning his skin. Yet, even as Thon cried out in pain, his feet touched the ground, before buckling and collapsing.

For a moment, Thon lay upon the ground, sprawled out, his mind reeling from events that had transpired moments ago. It was then that he began to notice that all had become deathly quiet. Slowly rising to his feet, Thon surveyed the incredible scene before him. The winged-beasts were gone. No fireball-spewing black hole could be seen in the night sky above. The grid, however, remained, though it was blacked, charred and horribly misshapen. The ringing in his ears had stopped and a gentle breeze blew across his face which was still damp with perspiration.

He had done it. He had survived the grid.

Turning his back on the grid, Thon looked up at the imposing structure of the stone temple building atop the long stairway. It is not over yet, he told himself grimly. He bent low to the ground, stretching the muscles in his back and his legs, which were sore and stiff. Then, he straightened up and walked up the temple steps, eyes shifting to the left and to right, alert to any further form of trickery. He moved up the stairs, taking leaps and bounds, fear of the unknown lending him strength. At last, he reached the top of the stairway. Pillars of stone guarded the entrance to the temple. Upon a closer look, Thon saw the carved outlines of strange slithering and scaly creatures of fang and claw encircling each pillar, hewn into the rock.

"Well, well, well", whispered an all-too-familiar voice. Thon blinked and his eyes narrowed. The bells atop his four-pointed hat jingled merrily as McMillian stepped out from behind a nearby pillar, red eyes gleaming in the dark. Like one of the slithering creatures encircling the pillars, the man seemed to uncoil himself from one of them, stepping into the dim light.

"A high achiever you seem to be, dear Thon", said McMillian again, clapping his fists together in mock applause. His eyes had a maniacal look about them and there was something different about the man this time. Something more menacing and dark.

"What’s next? Do not waste my time. I know your tricks now."

"Oh dear, you hurt my feelings with that tone", said the man himself with a dramatic pout and a bruised look. "Whatever have I done to deserve this?"

Without removing his eyes from McMillian, Thon pointed a finger out at the charred and blacked grid. Thon’s face was stern and he eyed the man suspiciously.

"That really was my fault you know. But come now", said McMillian with a grin. "I dare say we all had a bit of fun did we not my dear boy? At any rate, we have a little more to go before night truly falls."

McMillian moved to stand beside the doorway to the temple, leaning against a stone pillar, his red eyes gleaming in the dark once more. He gestured for Thon to enter, the wide grin still visible in the dark.

Sighing to himself, Thon took a step back and turned to look out over the charred grid below. He marveled for a while, that he had managed to defeat it, for it seemed to stretch into the dimming horizon as far as he could see. Then, reluctantly, he turned his back on the massive blackened grid and headed toward the daunting temple doors. Without a word, McMillian detached himself from the stone pillar and moved quickly ahead of Thon, walking through the doorway to the temple, disappearing into the dark.

It was pitch-dark and Thon could not see a single thing. Darkness reigned in the deeps of the temple. Thick and heavy. Thon reached out and clasped thin air. His footsteps echoed softly as he walked and the sounded travelled far, reverberating all around him. Thon guessed then that he must be in a kind of hall for he knew that there was a great amount of space above his head. Then, far away, a glimmer of light blossomed into existence. It grew and grew, larger and larger, until it enveloped Thon and the entire room. The light struck Thon in the face, temporarily blinding him. But as his eyes grew accustomed to it, Thon gasped inwardly at the wondrous sight that greeted him.

As he guessed, the interior of the temple was a great hallway but lit with thousands of candles. Each candle hovered in the air, brightly lit with a single golden flame. Thousands and thousands of candles hovered in the air, spread out over the entire room up to the ceiling. Thon moved through the sea of floating candles cautiously.

As he moved, the candles nearest to him flickered, as though acknowledging his presence. There were a sea candles as far as his eyes could see and they came in all shapes and sizes. His shadow flickered, waved and stretched in the candle-light, as though it possessing a life of its own, longing to break free from him.

Something caught Thon’s eye. He came to the end of the room and saw a table and a giant painting hanging above it. He moved closer and saw that the giant mosaic painting beautifully depicted winged beasts of black and red, like those he saw before. These beasts seemed to be swirling around what looked like five huge candles burning with a red flame. The painting sat directly above a large table, upon which stood a giant candle-stand. Written on the mosaic painting were words that he could not make out. He realised that his shadow was casting its darkness onto the painting and moved his body to the side so as to let the light from the candles hovering beside him illuminate the words on the painting.

These were the words written upon the great mosaic painting:

‘And coming up the temple steps and into the chamber lit by a thousand candles, he looked up and saw a peculiar sight. There were five red flames burning amidst the gold. But he was unable to find them so that he could place them into the five-figured candelabrum before the bell resounded and the flames went out and the darkness awoke.’

Thon looked up and saw the giant candle stand that stood upon the table. It was a finely-crafted golden piece, branching out to form five cups for holding candles. This must be the candelabrum.

Five red candle-flames burning amidst the gold. That is what I must find, here in this sea of golden flames. But where to start?

He looked around, taking a minute to observe his surroundings. As far as his eyes could see, candles floated everywhere each lit with a golden yellow flame. His eyes searched desperately, but could find no red candle flame. Once or twice, Thonavar thought he saw the red gleam of McMillian’s eyes amidst the sea of yellow gold, but each time he looked closer, the image faded away. Frustrated and weary, Thon sat down and looked up.

Something red flickered. He closed his eyes.

Red?