The Door

Chapter 9- So, What Now?

“You did what?” I gasped.

“I liberated cultural and historical relics that belonged to us, or our allies,” Bel’Sheathe replied proudly.

And she seemed so proud of herself! She verily preened as she smiled at me as we walked back to the first three men I killed. We stripped them of their weapons, armor, and all their supplies. I recovered my Gladius and sheathed it. During all of this, I remained silent. I really didn’t know what to say. I had helped the bad guy. The thief! But then, those men were going to r**e and kill Bel’Sheathe. No, I did the right thing, especially if the UHE was committing g******e.

Once we had everything secured in pouches or rolled cloaks, I turned to Bel’Sheathe and asked, “So, what now?”

“Now,” She purred teasingly, “I go to report to my mother, Bel’hinde, in Thelmascarn. You may accompany me if you desire. Your being a true Outworlder and a human makes you very valuable…”

Bel’Sheathe’s voice fell to a husky mumble as she gave me another appraising look before adding, “Both politically and—domestically.”

When her eyes finally returned to mine, she continued in her normal husky purr, “Mother will want to know everything about you. And you rescued me, so she will also want to reward you accordingly.”

“Really?” I mused as I wondered what sort of reward they would offer, and what kind of reward I would even be interested in.

Something was going on, something Bel’Sheathe was not telling me. I am too cynical a person not to be suspicious. However, she was incredibly beautiful, and I find I am very attracted to her despite our age gap, or maybe because of it—I don’t know. So, against my more cynical instincts, I decided to suppress my suspicions and go along.

“Sure,” I agreed.

“Then follow me!” Bel’Sheathe said as she turned and walked off.

——(!)——

The sky darkened as night fell and the forest came alive. It was wonderful. I hadn’t enjoyed camping out since I was a teenager. For the last few years, going camping with family and friends had been more work and drama than anything else. Now, I felt like I was in The Lord of the Rings. It also helped that Bel’Sheathe was beautiful.

There were sounds of insects buzzing, of rodents scurrying, and of owls hooting. We heard snorting off in the distance, and Bel’Sheathe stopped us for a long time to gauge where the creature was. Once she had an idea, she moved us away so that we skirted wide of the beast. I started to ask what it was, and why we were avoiding it, but she motioned for me to be silent.

We stopped three more times to avoid beasts I never saw, only heard. The last time, we stumbled right into a small glade to find an enormous golden buck elk with an astonishingly massive rack that glowed like golden crystal. His rack was significantly broader than I was tall, which was six feet, and it stood at least ten feet to his shoulder. His weight must have been close to two tons. Instantly, I drew my gun and readied my shield.

“Wait! No! Stop!” Bel’Sheathe hissed, “Do not fight it. And do not kill it. Not that you could, I imagine.”

“What? Why?” I replied as the elk lifted its majestic head and looked at us.

“That is Ma’halanorn. Spirit of the Wild Hunt,” Bel’Sheathe whispered as she touched her forehead and then her heart as she bowed to the creature. “He is the king of the forest. Nothing happens within his domain that he does not know about. It is a great privilege to be in his presence. You should show him respect. Bow your head.”

I did as I was instructed; after all, I was a stranger here, and I needed to learn the customs of this place. Besides, I loved animals. I had never been a mighty hunter. When my father had taken me and my brothers hunting, the first rule was never point your gun at something you didn’t intend to shoot. The second was, you clean what you kill. I watched my father and brothers clean their kills and knew that I could never do that, so I never hunted again.

After making her bow, Bel’Sheathe began retreating the way we came. I, however, was still mesmerized by the majesty of the creature. I copied Bel’Sheathe’s hand to head and then heart and made my bow. However, when I straightened up again, the enormous elk was standing right in front of me!

My breath caught in my throat and I froze. I had no idea what to do. I couldn’t run. The beast could gore me with a single swing of his antlers. Also, where could I run? The animal had crossed the glade in the briefest of moments. Within the second that it took me to bow my head and lift it. No, there was nowhere I could run. So, standing there with my whole body trembling, I raised my head and met its golden eyes.

There was an intelligence within those golden eyes and a vastness of wisdom I could never know. It was old, and it was primal. It was as if I could feel the beast looking directly into my soul, and judging me. It was as if my entire life was laid out before it, all the way up to when the Door appeared, then darkness, and then my waking up on the beach, my travels until I met up with those brigands and Bel’Sheathe. It was all there, and then, as if satisfied with what it had seen, the Spirit of the Forest turned away and started plodding off. However, as it left me there shaking in my boots, its great glowing crystalline antlers dropped from its head and landed on the forest floor with a mighty crash!

Darkness overtook the glade as the glow of the antlers dimmed and the enormous beast moved away. Then, the great stag started growing new antlers! Gleaming, glowing crystalline antlers grew within seconds until they were as broad and glorious as the former, and then the Spirit of the Forest disappeared.

Several long seconds passed with neither Bel'Sheathe nor I speaking. I was still shaking. Finally, after a few minutes had passed, Bel’Sheathe mumbled, “I can’t believe that just happened!”

“Me neither,” I mumbled, then more strongly I asked, “What exactly just happened?”

“We— or, maybe, you were just given a great gift,” Bel’Sheathe said as she ogled the discarded antlers covetously, “Those antlers are priceless. The power within them is immense. Used wisely by a master artisan, and those antlers can be used to make either legendary weapons or armor, or even ground down into powder and used as an ingredient for just about anything.”

“So, what do I do with them?” I asked.

“Take them for now,” Bel’Sheathe replied. “Use your magic bag. Those antlers are going to be very heavy.

“Oh, okay,” I said as I slipped my backpack off and started removing items.

Bel’Sheathe watched for several minutes and then came over and picked out a few nuts and oranges and started eating. Eventually, she needed to remove her cloak and filled it with the foodstuffs I pulled out of my backpack. I also had to remove the armor and weapons of the men chasing Bel’Sheathe, and still I was only able to put one antler in my backpack. The other I had to throw over my shoulder.

“Are you going to be okay?” Bel’Sheathe asked.

“This thing is heavy as hell!” I hissed as I fell in behind her and slowly dragged the antler.

We walked for half the night. Bel’Sheathe never seemed to lose her way while I stumbled after her with the antler in tow. Wherever we were going, she seemed to know her way in utter darkness. Thankfully, my new and improved body made it easier for me to keep up with her, but the crystal antler was pushing me to my limits. However, I never would have been able to do this as my old self. Anyway, if I had to guess, and I did have to, I think we stopped around midnight.

Bel’Sheathe pulled a bush to the side, revealing the entrance to a small cave. She crawled inside while I struggled with the antler. By the time I got inside, Bel’Sheathe had a small fire started and was cooking stew in a pot. When she saw me regarding her with an expression of puzzled astonishment.

“I prepared this place on my way in,” Bel’Sheathe bragged.

“Smart,” I said as I dropped the antler near the entrance and waddled over.

The cave was small, so much so that I had to bend over, which meant that Bel’Sheathe had to nearly crawl. Thankfully, though, there was plenty of headroom when sitting, and there was a slope to the ceiling that made smoke ventilation a non-issue.

“You said you were taking me to your mother. Where is that? Where are we going?” I asked.

“Thelmascarn,” Bel’Sheathe answered as she continued to add ingredients to the stew, “It is far away. We will need to travel for the better part of a month and cross an ocean. Right now, we are in United Human Empire territory. Though it used to be the heart of the Unseemly Alliance and the throne of daemon king Nathrim Flamemane of the Everlasting Daemon Empire.”

“I am going to need assistance in carrying that antler then,” I said.

“We are not too far away from a friend who might help us,” Bel’Sheathe reassured.

“Good, good!” I sighed as I thought about dragging that antler tomorrow.

Silence fell over the cave then as we both got lost in our separate worries and thoughts. After a while, I said, “You know, I was sort of hoping this was a simple world filled with beautiful scenery, beautiful women, and delicious food. I really didn’t want to go from one corrupt geopolitical system to another. Is there a remote island, preferably populated by extremely attractive women, you can leave me on?”

Bel’Sheathe laughed as she ogled me in a way that said she was evaluating me. She bit her bottom lip for a moment, then nodded as she replied, “I know just the place.”

“Good, good,” I sighed happily as I thought about my swim in the ocean. I could do with more time to sunbathe on the beach and swim in the sea.

Bel’Sheathe passed me one of the oranges she squarrelled away in her cloak, and I ate heartily as I watched her magnificent breasts sway pendulously in the fire light. Bel’Sheathe caught me staring several times, but her smirk never wavered as her violet eyes ogled me provocatively. She said nothing, though.

After a while, the stew was properly cooked, and Bel’Sheathe filled a bowl that she had gotten from somewhere, probably the same place she stashed the cook pot and the firewood. There was only one bowl. Obviously, she hadn’t intended to return with guests in tow. So, she offered the bowl to me first. However, I waved her away as I excitedly started rummaging in my backpack. Seconds later, I showed her a stainless steel circa 1944 military mess kit that was included as part of the essentials in my backpack.

“This is an old military mess kit,” I explained, “For soldiers on the march through enemy territories.”

“So, your world has armies and knows war as well?” Bel’ Sheathe asked.

“Yeah, you could say that,” I said and shook my head. “One thing humans know how to do well is kill.”

“Yeah,” Bel’Sheathe sighed regretfully.

“Will you tell me about your world? About yourself?” Bel’Sheathe asked.

“Maybe later,” I said, begging off the question, and instead asked, “Will you tell me about this world, and about Thelmascarn? What kind of place is it?”

Bel’Sheathe smiled over her bowl of stew at me and purred, “I will tell you about my world if you tell me about yours.”

“Fine!” I said in mock annoyance as I filled my bowl with stew.