Creus(Full Book)

The Intermission

Bernard sat on a rock, and they ate the food they had. Soggy cake, and the water from the pump. Silence. Then, he threw the iron pick, catching the side after five tries.

They all went to hurry. They dipped their waists into the water, and across the rapids, they went. As soon as David touched the water, his senses faded and night appeared, his ears turned deaf, the rope was gone, he was gone. Everything was gone. He continued across, but he couldn't move his arms, his arms were gone, every limb, every tangible area, no emotion. Although, he didn't know whether he was moving or not. He wasn't standing or sitting. Not anywhere, not anything, not any place...

Something returned. Some vision, and deaf vision, hah! They'd reached the coast. The river hadn't stopped them, they had finished! Soon, daylight and the sun would go to them, their eyes would see. Now, finish the mountain, the red gone, replaced with the lushes, and... and... and... He took a breath and sat down on the rock. The daylight, and the aliveness, thank the Prophet, the old man was gone.

He saw Bernard and Osmond arrive and they sat, taking a break. Bernard was shaking and shivering. Crouching on the rock, near the river. Muttering words to himself. Bernard turned to look at him.

"I hope I can fix things now. Look what I've done... I've done... Look what I've done...."

David watched Bernard stand up. Osmond ignored them, content with watching the river.

"I admit it now! Are you happy? Standing above all, why you, the Prophet? Standing above all. I admit it, I have horrible dreams of horrible things. Devouring and eating, and savagery! I admit it! My fantasies are the obsessions of a fanatic. I admit it! Are you happy with yourself? We've suffered enough, I don't see why my friends must suffer along with me. My dreams and fantasies are warped enough, can't stop them.... Can't... not at all...."

His words echoed across the Abyss. David stood up.

"It wasn't your fault. The Prophet cares for none. But all you've done was admit, but we'll continue to suffer. The Abysm grasps us with its jaws and teeth. We'll never survive." David nodded. "It's well that you've admitted. But there is nothing. There are no saviors, no gods, nothing...."

"I've admitted, and now the Prophet will forgive us...I should've said it earlier, before the Nalrath and the demons and the army. Now look at you, all of us. We've suffered enough from my faults...", Bernard stared at the rushing rivers.

"The Prophet has never listened. He'll never listen... His ears are deaf, his eyes are blind, he journeys for himself, not for the people. The Prophet feels others, he senses their presence, but he ignores. It's not a matter to be sad about... Let's continue forward..."

"But, my dreams... I laughed at the dead, I laughed at destruction. I continue to dream those dreams. Horrible, horrible dreams. My head contains, and never empties. I can only bear them for so long..."

Bernard looked down.

"Let's get out of the Abyss, then try to go home...", David nodded. "We'll survive. It'll be fine Bernard... Fine...."

So they sat, underneath the red cliffs, quiet, and then they continued.

Across more caverns, and hopping across rocks, onto the final cliff. Then into the rift and up onto Pnoaphales again. A red mist had formed. Forming an isolated world between the Abyss and the Rift. He couldn't see. They huddled close to another and continued journeying across the Abyss to the final cliff. Below, the caverns turned fathomless, yawning into infinity as they continued across the Abyss. Then the final cliff appeared, they walked across various steps of various heights. The rocks got taller as they got closer to Pnoaphales. The mist parted a little, and they watched as the entrance to a rift appeared. The rift that would take them into daylight, and remove them from the Abyss.