Secret Places and Hidden Things

Chapter Eight

A long time ago...

Two companions found themselves on a wide, flat plain. William could feel gravity pulling him down. It was strongest on the soles of his feet, where the textures of the stone molded with his skin. The very air had weight.

The sky was open above them, with great stormy clouds and a distant, half-obscured sun swimming hazily on the horizon. It smelled red, and it looked red. Blood spattered the fields and groaning men were laying everywhere.

"What is this place?" Jack asked.

"It looks like a battlefield," William said.

Jack had a detached look on his face. William could understand completely. He wondered why they had appeared here, of all places. A loud crack of thunder made them jump. The low-hanging clouds pulled apart with a burst of lightning. Shining objects were falling to the ground. In the distance, cannons went off in a flurry, louder than the thunder, and a black arc of iron went hurling over their heads.

Suddenly, right in front of them, a giant golden bell hit the earth with a cloud of dust. From behind them, a screaming swarm of men came running, some carrying the giant bells above their heads, letting them ring wildly. A man ran right between them and grabbed the bell that had fallen in front of them without breaking stride.

"This must mean something," William said. "Why would they need bells?"

The battlefield began to stretch away, distorting and blurring into an array of lines. It was like the cannons had never been there. The great bells were still falling around them, but they had slowed, landing softly like feathers. William felt a great distance before him, and the further he looked into it, the darker it seemed to get. The clouds above faded into green, and then black. The ground became smooth and featureless. At the farthest distance the sun hung like a burning coal, impossible to look at, but almost dark.

The soldiers had stopped running, they seemed to float by, their colors running together. Their bells burned with shimmering gold. The sound was transparent, like glass shattering in a vacuum.

It began to rain, huge droplets bubbling slowly out of the swirling sky. The air had thickened, each drop flowing around it in sections. Wherever the rain landed, the blood disappeared and a spray of roses bloomed outward.

Jack caught some water in his hand and it solidified heavily like a star given form, rainbows dancing beneath a smooth white surface. In it, he could see the reflection of the bells glittering. It seemed to absorb the sound and emit something even purer, a single high, operatic note that cleared every thought from his mind. He could see a figure, like a giant porcelain spider, splitting itself apart in sheets. His body went limp and he dropped the orb, which shattered with a flash of light and a burst of wind. The clouds and the soldiers were blown away like ash. The bells seemed to sprout and grow into long, endlessly swaying grass. Rolling hills moved in from the distant sunrise.

***

"I think something just happened," Jack said.

"Do you remember it?" William asked.

Jack thought for a while. "I remember bells ringing, and a storm."

"Yes, I think that's right." William said. "It was loud, wasn't it?"

Jack nodded.

"You know, I think we need to try to remember more, Jack. I don't remember how we got here."

Jack smiled wryly, "I know you've said that before, so I must remember something."

William laughed. "I suppose it doesn't really matter."