Vampyre: Desire Immortal

Chapter 34

The Fall to Earth

The unknown ways can lead a soul to madness.

*****

Near the top of the peak, Dyryke reached for a handhold. The rock gave way, and he slipped and almost lost his footing.

"There is no other way up," said Dyryke.

"Yes, there is," said Perdix, slithering to the other side. "I will go up and send you a cord, and then, you climb up."

The way was treacherous. Several times, Perdix held all his weight by his fingertips, dangling in midair like an acrobat. At last, he made it to the ledge of the great cave's entrance. Winding his cord around a large boulder, Perdix fed the line down to Dyryke.

Dyryke caught the rope and inched his way toward the ledge.

"Give me your hand, Perdix," he said.

Perdix reached for Dyryke, but instead of allowing him be pulled up, Dyryke jerked Perdix hard. He tumbled forward headfirst. Perdix screamed but was saved from sure death because he had tied the other end to his waist. Perdix climbed to the top of the ledge and bellied over the lip. When he stood up, Dyryke was laughing.

Perdix hit the man as hard as he could. Dyryke tumbled backward into the cave's entrance.

Rubbing his jaw, Dyryke said, "I guess I deserve that, but you lived and I'm first to enter Rotou."

"I will kill you if we get down safely," said Perdix.

"Do I look worried? No. You don't have it in you," said Dyryke. "You're a healer. Not a murderer."

Perdix's fury was dying. The two men stood before the entrance of the great caves. They were as beautiful as they were frightening, as magnificent as they were dangerous.

"My brain tells me my eyes are lying," said Perdix.

Dyryke was like a child. He went rushing through the entry and grasped a beautiful rock column and danced around it in a circle.

"You should not act so," said Perdix.

"And why not? Do you think the Celestials frown upon frolic? I think they would smile and be happy along with me," said Dyryke.

"I do not presume to know how the Celestials might react. Therefore, I will remain solemn and in awe of the magnificence that spreads out before me."

"Frightened old maid," said Dyryke.

Dyryke ran down a vaulted tunnel. Sunlight lit his way from a hole in the rock ceiling.

"Come back," Perdix cried.

Dyryke disappeared in a tunnel that veered off to the left.

Perdix stood there looking at darkness. A brisk wind blew through the cave, pushing him toward the edge of disaster.

"I'm heading back down," he yelled.

His voice bounced off the cave walls, echoing until the sound dissolved into nothing.

"Dyryke!"

Still no answer.

Just as he took one step toward further, a mysterious film unfurled like a curtain from the top of the entrance to the ground. The entrance to the caves was blocked. Perdix could not break through it. He tried cutting it with his knife. He chanted every spell he knew. Nothing worked. There was nothing to do but shimmy down the rope and try to descend down the treacherous slopes.

Seven days later, a disheveled and ragged Dyryke entered the castle gates.