Until Forever (1st draft)

Part the Nineteenth

It was night when the giant beetle arrived at the home of Sir Nellaf Wark. It headed straight toward a towering bluff that loomed before them with a menacing façade of sheer rock, but as they drew closer Geneva could see the flickering light of numerous burning lanterns positioned in small openings. When they reached the cliff face she could see a wide stairway carved into the stone that led up to an enormous doorway. The lanterns were bright enough to reveal countless windows, doorways, and balconies higher up along the rocky wall. It was remarkable that such a vast complex had been carved into solid stone.

"Wow," she gasped as the beetle crouched low to let them climb off. Then it scurried off toward a wide slot in the stone that was closed off by a wooden barrier. As it approached, the barrier easily slid open without much sound and the beetle entered. The barrier slid back into place.

"Where are we?" Geneva asked.

"This is Ingar," Nellaf answered. "My home." Although Ingar was formed entirely of lifeless stone, and although it was cloaked in the darkness of night, Geneva didn't find it depressing or scary. The dancing light of the lanterns provided a bit of romantic charm, and mounds of shaggy moss were accented with little flowers that released a sticky spiciness into the air.

"Welcome," he added with a smile of gleaming teeth. His silvery eyes sparkled in the firelight. He took her hand and led her up the stairs to the mammoth wooden doors. Without a word or gesture from him, the doors parted and swung open silently, as if hinged on the fragrant air itself.

They strode inside and Geneva was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't at all like the dark cave she had envisioned was waiting beyond the doors. There were candles everywhere, in all sizes. There were clusters of petite tapers and there were giant wax columns as wide as Geneva and twice as tall as her. The combined light of their flames cast the vast chamber in a warm glow, revealing large floor rugs in contrasting textures from paper-thin to furry plush, and a series of colorful murals in sharply angular patterns painted directly on the stone walls.

"I have to be honest," she said, "this is not at all what I expected when we first rode up to a...rocky cliff with windows."

"Home should be comforting," Nellaf responded. "It should be somewhere you want to spend your time."

"Yeah," she muttered. But thoughts of home still brought only sickening pangs to her.

He led her to a banquet hall where they sat on opposite ends of a ridiculously long wooden table straight out of a predictable movie scene. The table was well worn, even splintered in places, but most of it was covered in a thick cloth of maroon and gray threads. Two precisely aligned rows of different sized candles divided the table right down the center, arranged in sequence from shortest at each end to the tallest in the middle. Each candle appeared to be equidistant from its neighbor beside it, behind it, or in front of it.

"Wow, somebody has OCD," Geneva muttered.

Half a dozen servants brought out a seemingly endless supply of food, primarily smoky charred meats, occasionally accompanied by a platter of warm bread or a bowl of unrecognizable steaming vegetables. The servants were nearly identical, tall and very thin with "hands" formed out of wide panels of flesh instead of fingers. Three eyes roamed independently on their pale faces, just above a row of small nostrils and thin, lipless mouths. They all had earless bald heads, similar body shapes, and no physical attributes that would indicate gender. Every time a dish was carefully placed on the table near her, Geneva would thank the servant, but there was never a reaction. They didn't even acknowledge her presence.

The food was tasty, but Geneva could only eat so much meat, so she focused on the vegetables. Despite her growling stomach, she became full very quickly. Nellaf, on the other hand, ate ravenously, pausing only when his plate needed to be refilled by the servants. He didn't cut the large chunks of meat smaller, he just tossed them into his mouth and gnawed at them rather unattractively. Geneva immediately thought of the way Cleveland the cat would quickly wolf down something he wasn't supposed to have. She nibbled on bread while she waited for Nellaf to finish, transfixed by his incredulous appetite and feeling awkward that she had only noticed him look up at her once the entire time the food was served.