Enter Abyss

Chapter 8; Enter Abyss.

The next morning was grey, the sky writhing angrily with storm clouds and the rumble of distant thunder. Today, not even the birds dared to soar in the treacherous sky and everything held a sense of bleakness to it as Archer and Pip made their way to the edge of the Abyss.

It wasn't a far walk, to tell the truth, and Archer noted that Mr.O'Conner's house had already been swallowed; plummeting into the eternal blackness. The edge of the pit was not too far from swallowing Archer's home, yet that was not something he worried about today. No, he had quite a different thought on his mind, and every once in awhile he and Pip would exchange looks that went unnoticed by Thaddeus.

When they reached the edge of the pit where all the Keepers and Cogs now stood, Archer steeled himself for what was about to come.

Sadly, most of the town had not come to witness the offering time, mostly likely too drunk from the wild partying the night before. And not even the many people who had known and loved Cogs-- or Levi as they knew him-- had bothered to show up. There were Cogs' parents and distant family, to be sure, but not many lads from school were there, from what Archer could see.

Looking at the head Keeper now, Archer heard him utter the words that no man wished to hear uttered in their lifetime. "And now, young man, go forth and appease the gods!" the Keeper rasped, his ancient voice barely rising above the sudden wind. "Make our citidel safe from the Abyss once more!"

From here, Archer could see that Cogs' head was bowed, his face hidden by his soft golden curls. Yet he could see that his shoulders shook, whether from fear or tears he could not tell. He knew his friend was trying to be brave, even as they ushered Cogs into the basket that was held up only by a ballon filled with hot air; meant to lower him slowly to his demise, after they used a special potion to put him to sleep...forever. Taking a deep breath, Archer nodded at Pip who suddenly rushed foreward and shouted, "Wait!"

Immediately, the Keepers halted and Cogs froze just before he was to climb into the basket. He looked confused-- they all did-- and Archer saw his chance.

While Pip rushed to Cogs and hugged him fiercely as if saying goodbye, Archer ran to grab his newly fixed flying machine that he had hidden behind a rock the day before. Once having grabbed it, he shouted to Pip, who turned her hug into a tackle; knocking a startled Cogs into the basket, which instantly began to sink into the Abyss. Archer ran after them, sloppily tying the straps to his body and hoping the machine stayed.

But just as he was about to launch himself into the Abyss, he felt a strong hand grab him and he spun around, glaring into the harsh gaze of Thaddeus.

"What do you think you're doing?" the man hissed, spittle flying into Archer's face.

But the boy just twisted out of his almost-father's grasp and fell headlong into the pit, yelling as he went, "I'm going to find Mum and Da!"

And as far as dramatic exits went, that wasn't half bad.

                              ......................................

For a brief moment as they were falling, Cogs realized two things. One was that the Keepers had not given him the sacred poison that was meant to make the offering go down easier or something. And two, Pip had hugged him.

Still, he figured that if he WAS dying, then being hugged by Pip was not a bad way to go. And yet he found that, strangely enough, he was not transcending into the afterlife because Pip was still on top of him after having knocked him down.

Again, it was something he could live with.

As he looked up, stunned, he thought he could see the surprised and outraged faces of the Keepers. 'Ha!' he thought to himself, 'Look who's laughing now!' Well, he wasn't exactly laughing, but what could one expect, being thrown into an Abyss and all.