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Hejira: Crystalline Hall

By Mantrid Brizon

Episode 06: Tim The Enchanter

“God damn, I thought my legs would get used to all of this walking!” Kelly groans.

Faye grumbles something incoherent as she marches up the steep incline. The left pass that they were forced to take has wound around several mountains, confusing the pair as they march up and down rolling hills. They have marched every day, throughout the day for a full week, and have yet to escape the mountains, or see a single sign of life besides the flora and themselves. They are running low on food, and have struggled to find a water source the last few days.

Thunder claps overhead as a cold breeze blows through the pass. Faye looks up at the sky as her long hair flutters in the wind. A drop of rain touches her skin, stampeding around her forearm and running down to her elbow. The rain is ice cold. She isn’t prepared to surrender, but it appears that their luck has finally run out. Hungry, dehydrated, and now they may die a painful death of hypothermia, caught unprotected in a rainstorm. She wonders what she did to anger God, that he would allow them suffer like this.

The drops become rain, and the rain evolves into a torrential downpour. Her matted hair sticks to her face as her eyes burn with rage. Faye marches on as Kelly struggles to keep up. They move through the storm, but can’t see farther than a few feet. They lose the trail and end up roaming through woods.

“Fuck! We must have missed a turn!” Faye yells angrily.

“Just calm down! We’ll be okay!” Kelly shouts over the screaming of the storm.

They march on, trying to return to the trail. As they move through the woods, they encounter a hut which seems to appear almost out of nowhere. They quickly approach the hut as a flimsy looking door suddenly flies open, but not due to the howling winds.

“Oh good! Visitors!” A middle-aged looking man says.

He is unkempt and filthy, with wild green eyes and brown hair that seems long on one side, but short on the other. He motions for them to come inside. Kelly pops the flap on his holster, preparing to draw his pistol, if need be. They enter the hut and the hermit closes the door behind the duo. He sits down by a fire pit dug into the floor. A small bronze cauldron sits above the fire, suspended by a bronze handle that hangs from a short rope tied to a tripod of sticks.

He scoops out stew from the cauldron with a large wooden spoon, placing them into strange bowls made of a bizarre, white material. He passes them the stew. His mannerisms are bizarre and he moves as though he were possessed.

“Go. Eat.” The man says, repeatedly tilting his head to the side.

They take the bowls, feeling very uneasy about the man, but don’t have any reason to mistrust him; he’s opened his home and offered food and has yet to even ask their names. They eat the stew with simple wooden spoons that the man provides, drinking the broth straight from the bowls afterward.

“So…” Faye begins, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “What is your name?” She asks.

“There are some that call me… … Tim!” The man replies.

“Well… Tim… Thanks for the stew. It was very good!” Kelly says with a nod of approval.

Tim giggles with a bizarre and frightening pitch. He stands and walks back to the door. He swings it open as the storm rages on outside. He motions for them to follow. Hesitantly, Faye and Kelly stand up from the floor and follow the bizarre hermit. He leads them back out into the storm and rounds a corner, presenting them with a second hut.

“My hut, your hut! My hut, your hut!” He chants as he sways his arms back and forth.

He rushes back inside his own hut before shutting the door, leaving Faye and Kelly outside in the swift winds and frigid rain. They enter the hut, quickly shutting themselves inside. The hut is used for storage, with sacks of various sizes and several wooden crates lining the floor. There is a moderate log pile; Tim must use it to protect his firewood. Using their flashlights, they find a small fire pit also dug into the floor of the hut. They take some of the hermit’s log pile and build a small fire for warmth and light. They stow their flashlights, preserving their batteries.

Kelly sits by the fire and looks at Faye. She seems almost possessed, something that he has never seen before. They sit in silence, keeping close to the fire as the wind screams like a banshee. Kelly can’t believe that this flimsy, dome shaped hut hasn’t blow away already.

“So what do you think about ‘Tim’?” Kelly asks, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

“Crazy…” Faye replies in a cold monotone.

“Right… How crazy?” He presses her.

“What the fuck do you want from me?!” She suddenly snaps, glaring at Kelly with fiery eyes.

“To keep you talking…” He answers. “What’s your problem, anyway? We’re out of the rain, had something to eat, and tomorrow we’ll keep going.” Kelly says defensively.

“Pfft.” Faye looks back to the fire.

“You’ve been acting almost as crazy as Tim since the rain started. What is going on with you? Don’t you want to keep going? Don’t you want to find Naomi?” He asks.

“How fucking dare you!” Faye yells.

She scrambles to her feet and lunges at Kelly. Startled, he moves back and she pushes him down with surprising strength. She grips his shirt with both hands as she glares at him.

“All I want to do is find my sister and get the hell out of this place! It’s the only thing that keeps me going, but we can’t catch a single break! It’s been pain and suffering for seven continuous days!” She begins.

“Not continuous, and we’re getting a break right now.” Kelly says, gently placing his hands over Faye’s and pushing her off him.

“This isn’t a break.” She continues as she stands. “This is a test. God is using this vision to test my faith. He put you here too. I’m not angry. I’m anxious to prove myself and get this over with.”

“So your pissed off attitude is… What? Unhinged enthusiasm?” Kelly clarifies as he raises an eyebrow.

“Exactly. I’m going to pass this test and crush everyone and everything that gets in the way… Then I can wake up…” Faye says as she clenches her fists tightly.

Genuinely frightened by her suddenly change in personality, Kelly stops pressing her. Faye sits back down parallel to him and warms her hands by the fire, a twisted little smile on her face. After a few hours, the storm seems to die down. They lay out their sleeping bags and try to go to sleep in Tim’s storage shack. The fire crackles as it burns dimly. Kelly struggles to sleep; he looks over and places another small log within the flames.

The fire brightens the interior of the hut; Faye doesn’t seem to have a problem sleeping. Kelly tosses and turns on the hard floor, but that’s not what keeps him awake. For some inexplicable reason he can’t close his eyes, fearing that they may never open. The storm dies down enough for him to hear the sounds of the forest outside, but as he lies there, he hears something else.

He gets up and carefully leaves the hut, leaving behind all of his belongings and his pistol belt. He carefully approaches the strange noises, finding that they are coming from Tim’s hut. He very slowly pushes open the door to see Tim kneeling on the floor in front of a bizarre object. Tanned hide and bones jut out from all directions, looking almost like an oriental hand fan. Tim chants incoherently to the object, worshipping it. He suddenly speaks actual words as he bows to the totem.

“Oh thank you, dark Goddess. Thank you for bringing me more flesh. Thank you, benevolent mother of suffering. I honor you with mutilation.” Tim prays.

He takes a bronze dagger and slowly slashes his own chest. He leans over the alter of bones and tanned skin, letting his blood drip onto it.

“I will bring you more sacrifice my Goddess of torment. I will feast on their flesh in your name.” Tim says, slowly standing.

Kelly backs away quickly, trying not to make noise. He moves around the hut towards the storage shack. He knows that he needs to get his gun and wake Faye before it’s too late. Kelly approaches the storage hut, but the hermit cuts him off. Tim must have another exit that he didn’t see. Tim screams in a frenzy, attacking him in a psychotic rage. Kelly jumps back as Tim slashes with the small dagger. Kelly stumbles as Tim lunges forward. Kelly grabs him, throwing him past him and into a tree. Tim’s face smacks into the tree trunk, and he falls down to the ground in a heap.

Kelly looks around but doesn’t see the dagger anywhere; it’s no longer in Tim’s hand. He rushes up to the storage shack but is suddenly struck in the back. He turns to see Tim trying to club him with a large stick. How did he get up so fast? Tim swings again, striking Kelly’s forearm. Tim tries for a third strike, but Kelly grabs the club and wrestles it from him, swinging the man through the air like a flag.

Tim loses his grip and falls back. Kelly walks up to him and clubs him in the left shin, keeping him from standing. He raises the club high and slams it into Tim’s head, knocking him unconscious with a single blow. Blood runs down Tim’s face and stains the dirt. Kelly turns back to the storage hut, limping towards it, but Tim jumps up and latches onto his back.

“What the fuck are you?!” Kelly yells as he spins around.

He pushes back, slamming Tim into the wall of his own hut. He slams him into the wall as he tries to force him to let go, only for the wall to give way on the fourth hit. They crash through and fall inside of the hut. Tim lands near his fire pit and the fur of his hide garment catches fire. He scrambles to his feet and squeals as he throws off the hide kilt. Kelly gets up and grabs a bronze leaf-shaped sword that sits in a corner.

He turns to Tim and immediately turns away from his visible genitalia. Tim rushes naked towards Kelly, screaming like a madman. Kelly dodges his charge and Tim hits the wall. Tim gets back up and Kelly slashes the sword.

“Don’t make me kill you, you crazy bastard!” Kelly growls.

Tim doesn’t listen. He rushes again as adrenaline courses through Kelly’s veins. Kelly swings again as he shouts in anger. As he swings, a beam of cobalt blue light covers and extends past the sword, reaching nearly four feet long. The light hits Tim and slashes a deep diagonal gash through his chest. The blue light is physical. Kelly looks at the blade in amazement.

“Aura… You…” Tim coughs up blood.

He turns and points, but Kelly isn’t giving him any more chances. He swings the blue blade and cleaves off Tim’s hand, slicing through the bone of his forearm. Tim looks at his bloody stump as a burst of hot crimson shoots from his veins. Kelly swings again, decapitating the insane hermit. He steps back from Tim’s twitching corpse and looks at the blade. As his adrenaline wears off, he suddenly turns and vomits. He gasps for breath and looks back at the sword. The glowing blue blade fades away, leaving only a normal bronze sword in his hands.

Faye rushes in, awoken by the fighting. She holds Kelly’s pistol in her hands and looks around. Her mouth falls open and she lowers the weapon.

“What the hell happened?!” She demands.

“I… He… Sacri-… Fucking… Crazy…” Kelly struggles to speak between gasps.

He sits down on the floor as his head spins, a side effect of such a sudden adrenaline rush. He takes a moment to gather his bearings and Faye looks around the hut, examining the shrine.

“These bowls… They’re the tops of human skulls…” Faye says, looking back to Kelly.

“Seriously?” Kelly asks as he slows his breathing.

“There’s a human finger in this stew…” She adds.

“I guess we really do taste like chicken.” Kelly quips.

He tries to laugh, but the thought makes him ill and he leans back. Faye walks up to him and offers her hand. He takes it and she helps pull him up. Kelly explains the battle as articulately as he can in his state. As he describes the blue blade, Faye’s eyebrow raises. She snickers as he insists it happened exactly as described.

“Look. I’ll prove it!” Kelly says, taking up the bronze sword.

He swings the blade but nothing happens. He swings it again, and then a third time. He has recreated the conditions as best he can, but nothing happens. Faye crosses her arms and taps a foot mockingly. Kelly becomes frustrated and his grip tightens. He can feel his blood pressure rising as he realizes that he looks almost as crazy as Tim was.

He grunts and swings the blade angrily, concentrating on the sword. Suddenly, a flat, cobalt blue beam surrounds the sword and extends nearly four feet. Faye jumps back, her hands dropping to her sides. She stares at the blade as Kelly begins laughing.

“Hah! I told you!” Kelly smirks.

“So… You found a lightsaber. Congratulations.” Faye gives him a mocking golf clap.

His curiosity gets the better of him, and Kelly touches the blade with his fingertip. The blade feels solid, but warm. It’s certainly not contained plasma, and it doesn’t feel like metal, plastic, or bone. He isn’t sure what it is. After a moment, the blade fades away again. He looks around the hut and finds a sword frog. He wears it on his belt and slips the bronze sword through the loop, sheathing it opposite his pistol, which Faye promptly returns, along with his holster.

They move Tim’s corpse outside and loot his house for anything valuable. They take coins identical to the coins Casius gave them, dried food, animal hide bags of water, and several smaller articles that might prove useful. Before heading back to the storage hut to search it and get some rest, they destroy the alter, smashing it to pieces and leaving it strewn on the floor.

The next morning, they step outside with their packs filled with food and valuables. They look to the sky together; the sun shines brightly, the breeze isn’t so cold, and the light warms their skin. They feel reenergized, and start walking away from the hut. As it turns out, during the storm they had wandered onto a path that leads directly to the hut. They follow the path back to the road. Faye remembers that when the storm hit, they were moving uphill. Recalling this, they continue walking out of the mountains range.

“How long do you think we’ll be going before we get out of here?” Kelly asks as they march.

“As long as it takes.” Faye says with a sinister smile.