Red Rock

Chapter 29: The Range of Wits (Part 1)

Chapter 29 The Range of Wits

All Daire knew was that he was in some sort of wagon. Every once in a while a bump on the road would jolt his head back into a wooden plank, forcing him to readjust. It was dark. The occasional voices that spoke were not in his language. Jacob was not in the same cart with him, but someone else was. The occasional cough and smell of body odor suggested there were at least two men accompanying him on his journey, most likely not bound as he was. The ride seemed to last forever. Even when he asked to relieve his bladder, he was carried off the wagon only momentarily while two men pulled down his pants and waited. Once done, he would be readjusted then carried back onto the wagon. He didn't resist. The timeless ride let him think. His eyes were all out of tears, throbbing when morose feelings overcame him. Multiple times on the rides he broke into salty shame. He was feeling sorry for himself and everyone else he had wronged. Darkness only enhanced the feelings.

The silence was starting to fade into muddled conversations passing and going with the traveling speed of the wagon. The conversations became more frequent. Soon, the voices were becoming white noise. Each voice seemed to fade into the next. 'Am I going crazy?' Daire thought. The voices wouldn't go away. It didn't matter to him. It wouldn't make any difference in his fate. He let the noise consume him.

Daire fell over on his side at the sudden stop. A guard tore the bag from his head. Brightness. He shut his eyes as tight as he could, opening them slightly to adjust to the light. The guards were not as patient as he was, grabbing Daire under his shoulders and dragging him off the wagon. He was dumbfounded.

There were buildings of all sizes around him. He was back on Earth. There were people all around him, entering and exiting doorways, exchanging goods for monetary value at stalls that littered the streets. There was no wilderness. Not a single tree was in sight.

Not a space was wasted. Daire was made to hop a few yards before being exchanged to another pair of guards and a new wagon. His bonded limbs were cut free by the new guards with little concern. "You behave," the dark guard said in rough English while waving around his knife. "Welcome to Goroth." Daire felt the words hit him like a kick to the side. He wasn't going insane, he wasn't back on Earth. He was in Goroth.

"How?" Daire rhetorically asked of the civilization. There were more people on the crowded street than there had been in The Land of O'Connor as a whole. Buildings were made of stone bricks and concrete, people were selling goods he had never imagined seeing again.

"This is our capital," the guard said proudly. "Stone Sper the Fifth."

The open topped wagon began to move, slowly maneuvering its way through the dense crowd. The horses pulling the carriage were accustomed to the rules of the road, wary of the pedestrians that mindlessly walked the streets. The city never ended.

Daire was a fool. Anger overrode envy as he realized how impossible it was to take on such a faction. He had been ignorant to the fact that such a large place existed on the Martian surface. Dominick had kept major details away from Daire, making everything turn into his favor. Daire was going to be sick.

The wagon stopped just short of a mansion which could've been mistaken as a fortress. The four story building that occupied the center of the city was surrounded by even taller walls. On top of each pillar, a guard stood in place watching over the people in the streets. In the courtyard there was a garden of many colors, giving off a concoction of ravishing smelling flowers. Daire's anger turned back to envy as a statue caught his attention. The carved marble took on the form of a play. A leprechaun lay down on his pot of gold while he watched four young naked women worshipping him at a distance. Seven colorless pillars surrounded and protected the leprechaun in what Daire assumed to represent the colors of the rainbow. Out of the leprechaun's sight there were three ghoulish looking men trying to sneak a piece of gold with the pinch of their fingers without him noticing. One of the ghoulish men was there for more than just the gold and had a long curved dagger wielded in his left hand.