FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Hejira: Crystalline Hall

By Mantrid Brizon

Episode 01: One Small Portal

The trip to Belize, though longer than they would have liked, was pleasant and uneventful. The Madima’s small crew only openly noticed Faye’s figure for the first day, before they learned how to rubberneck effectively, avoiding Gareth’s and Kelly’s combined wrath. After reaching the port, they hailed a cab and squeezed everything and everyone inside. The cab driver took them to a middle-class hotel, which was well within walking distance of the main city, but also a good hike away from the edge of the jungle. For financial and security reasons, they agreed to use a single room with two large beds in them, with the girls in one, and the guys in the other.

The squad spent the next few days going to tourist trap temple ruins, and on hikes through established trails. Kelly seemed to enjoy the jungle after warming up to it, but Naomi seemed unhappy for the majority of the trip. On the third day of hiking, she stayed at the hotel, locking herself in the room to use the power outlets to charge all of her electronics, and watch anime stored on her eight-terabyte hard drive. Although Faye and Gareth seemed to be at home in the jungle, by the night of the third day, they were restless.

“What’s up with you?” Kelly asks as Faye sits on the edge of her shared bed with Naomi.

“Huh?” Faye turns to Kelly.

“You and Gary. You’re both acting kind of… Bored.” Kelly asks.

“I had noticed this myself. I must admit that I am quite perplexed by your conditions.” Naomi adds.

Faye looks towards the large window; Gareth sits in a chair beside the window, staring outside as though in a trance.

“I could use a real adventure…” Faye seems to think out loud.

“Hell yeah. Something unplanned, and not a tourist trap.” Gareth adds.

“It sure sounds like you both got what you wanted out of this trip. I even started to like it.” Kelly adds.

“Not me.” Naomi mutters.

“Yeah, but a real adventure would be nice. Discover a temple no one else has seen. Cut the vines from it myself!” Faye says as she stands and walks toward the window.

“I believe in a country this size, with its population density, that would be highly improbably.” Naomi says, looking up from her custom-built laptop.

“That’s what makes it fun.” Faye replies, looking back at her little sister.

Gareth strokes his long goatee as he looks out of the window. Faye stands beside him and looks down at the streets below.

“You know… I heard one of the guys in the hotel bar talk about a temple that no one gets to visit because it’s off the normal trails. It’s not new, but it might be sufficiently overgrown and abandoned.” Gareth says, looking to Faye.

“Really?! Awesome!” She says excitedly.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Gareth asks.

“Hell yeah!” Faye replies, holding up a clenched fist.

Gareth stands up as he and Faye walk towards the door.

“Where are you two going?” Kelly asks.

“Just to do a little digging. Maybe we’ll get lucky.” Faye answers.

“Be back whenever!” Gareth replies as they walk out.

The door shuts behind them as Kelly grumbles.

“Figures…” Kelly murmurs.

“So… Want to watch Endride?” Naomi asks Kelly.

“Maybe. What all do you have on there?” Kelly asks her.

“Pick your poison.” Naomi giggles as she turns her laptop towards him.

For the next four hours, Kelly and Naomi watch several episodes of different animes. It starts to become dark outside, and Faye and Gareth still aren’t back yet. Kelly tries to call Gareth, but they have no cell service in this city. Naomi doesn’t seem worried, but more annoyed at her situation. Kelly gets up and walks towards the crate that sits on the floor by the bed he shares with Gareth. Suddenly the door swings open quickly as Faye and Gareth walk inside, pleasant smiles on both of their faces. Kelly jumps, but Naomi stares at the screen of her laptop as though nothing has happened.

“Holy shit, you scared me!” Kelly says as he spins around.

“What delayed you?” Naomi asks.

“Lady and loser, we have an adventure planned.” Gareth says as he walks up to the bed.

“What adventure?” Kelly asks.

“We asked around and found a bartender who knows the name of the temple ruins we heard about.” Faye says.

“Not only did he know about it, but a friend of his is a rent-a-guide and will take us there.” Gareth adds.

“And he’s cheap!” Faye smiles.

“A cheap guide does not sound very reliable.” Naomi comments.

Faye sits back on the bed and reaches out, placing her hand on the back on Naomi’s laptop and closing the lid. Naomi’s eyes widen in horror as the screen disappears under the closed lid.

“That’s half the fun. He’s going to be here in the morning, and we are going to hike there.” Faye begins. “There’s a catch though…”

“What kind of catch?” Kelly asks as he crosses his arms.

“It’s far… Really far…” Gareth answers.

“What measurement does ‘really’ represent in this context?” Naomi asks softly.

“He didn’t say, but it’ll take up the rest of the trip. Two days to hike there, one to explore, and two to hike back and make it to the boat.” Faye explains.

Kelly drops his arms to his side and his eyes grow wide. Naomi blinks as though in shock and tilts her head to the side slowly.

“It’s not that bad!” Faye says defensively.

“What about our stuff?” Kelly asks.

“I took care of that. We’ll mail everything that we can’t carry on our backs back to Saeed, and collect it when we get there.” Gareth answers.

“What about the crate?” Kelly points a thumb towards it.

“I’ll take care of that too. No worries.” Gareth answers.

Kelly shakes his head in a mixture of frustration and surprise. Naomi lies back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

“Do you plan these things ahead of time, and feign the surprise? Or do you just make things up as you go?” Naomi asks.

“The second one. It works better that way.” Faye answers as she takes off her boots.

“I feel like this is a bad idea.” Kelly speaks up.

“Noted.” Gareth smirks.

That night, they all struggle to sleep. Naomi struggles out of fear of a hike through the jungle, Kelly out of frustration, and both Faye and Gareth out of childlike excitement. The next morning, they pack up all of their belongings and prepare for an extended hike through the jungle. Gareth seems exceptionally tired, but powers through it with the help of his giddiness and caffeine.

They head downstairs where the guide is already waiting. He is early. They explain the situation to him, and he is willing to wait while they take their luggage to the post office for overseas mailing. Gareth and Naomi stay behind with the few bags that they will be carrying, while Kelly and Faye head for the post office, hailing a cab to take them there.

After over an hour, Kelly and Faye return empty handed. The four adventurers collect their remaining gear, putting on everything that they will need immediately on their belts and in their pockets. The guide hails another cab as they collect their packs. Gareth seems to struggle with his small black musette bag.

“Geez. How much can that little pack hold?” Faye asks him with a concerned look.

“You’d be surprised.” Gareth replies with heavy breaths.

“I can probably take some of that for you, Gary.” Kelly says.

Having a genuine hiking pack with an internal frame, Kelly is more than prepared and starts to take off his pack, but Gareth stops him.

“That’s alright, Kel. No worries.” Gareth says with a raised hand.

“Alright, suit yourself.” Kelly replies, resituating his pack on his shoulders and hips.

They load their packs into the trunk of the cab and climb in, packing it like a sardine can. After a long and bumpy ride, they get out at the edge of a small town that is on the outskirts of the city. They collect their packs and begin hiking through the trail.

“You follow me, okay?” The guide says in broken English.

He takes out a machete and swings it like a sword as he prepares himself. They walk the path for a mile or two before he finally starts to use it, cutting through the brush as they wander off the known trail and into the jungle. Kelly takes out his own machete, which he had brought from home. It is an exceptionally long machete by Cold Steel, designed to look and function like a Katana. He walks ahead of the others, just behind the guide, and helps him blaze a trail for the three behind them.

They cut their way through miles of dense jungle, stopping only for short breaks. Naomi complains almost the entire time, but manages to keep up, even with her ankle-high black dress boots. Gareth seems to hold his pack off his shoulders with his thumbs, regularly shifting the straps. They walk until darkness falls, making a small camp when they have already resorted to using flashlights.

The guide seems nervous about building a fire, but doesn’t tell them why. He eventually allows them a small campfire, but rain douses it during the night. The only reason that they were not soaked by the rain is a combination of affordable rain gear, and Gareth’s skills as a bushman, having crafted a large but simple shelter while illuminated by the flashlights.

The next day, they continue their journey, eating only basic food stuffs from their packs, though the guide also kills a monkey with a small caliber bolt-action rifle, which he intends to cook later. The group hikes until twilight, when they finally approach a large stone structure. They have finally made it to the temple. It is exactly as Faye and Gareth have both imagined it. The action-adventure video games that they have played can’t top the real thing, regardless of modern HD graphics.

“Wow…” Gareth says, staring at the structure.

“It’s beautiful…” Faye says in a soft voice, nearly stunned silent.

Kelly and the guide cut away the vines and find the steps. They climb the steps and reach the peak, looking out at the jungle as the light quickly fades. Gathering what little wood they can, they build another small fire, but do it inside of the stone shroud at the peak of the temple pyramid. Gareth shaves off the wet wood with a large recurved knife as the guide cooks parts of the monkey over the fire. He offers pieces to the others.

Naomi turns away, raising a hand in polite refusal. Kelly seems to look at it for a moment and hesitates. Gareth shrugs and reach out, taking a piece of the monkey’s flesh and pulling it towards him, tearing it off of the charred carcass. Kelly and Faye soon follow along, trying the monkey’s meat. Gareth washes down the meat with water from his BCB Crusader canteen. He places the canteen back into the pouch, which carries the complete cook set. He places a hand on his head as he starts to have a headache, and winces in moderate pain.

“Are you alright?” Kelly asks.

“Caffeine withdrawal. I thought this might happen.” Gareth replies. “It’s nothing to worry about.” He adds, looking back at the others.

They camp inside the temple for the night, eager to explore the grounds the next day. Even though they slept on hard stone, most of them somehow managed to sleep in, even the guide. They awake to find the sun is already high in the sky, and Gareth’s watch, which he set for Belize’s time zone, says it is half past noon. Gareth and Faye quickly explore the grounds, leaving their gear behind. The walk around the pyramid, but only see the path that they had blazed last night.

They return to the pyramid within an hour as the guide and Kelly cook breakfast over the campfire. The rain begins to fall once again as they eat.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Faye asks the others.

Gareth nods in agreement and stands near the entrance to the temple’s room. He looks at the horizon and watches the rain cascading down the stone walls.

“You know what I love about the rain forest?” Naomi asks.

“The rain?” The other three all answer sarcastically.

“Exactly. Humidity does wonders for my electronics.” Naomi adds.

“You brought that stuff?” Faye asks, turning to her sister.

“Of course I did. Trust a custom laptop and my entire media collection to foreign international mail? Please… I have standards.” Naomi says, closing her eyes snobbishly.

After a while, the guide seems bothered by something. He stands and looks towards the horizon, staring in a particular direction.

“We go now. Yes? Must go now.” He says in a very nervous voice.

They put on their packs and try to douse the fire.

“No time. We leave now!” He says insistently.

They move carefully down the slippery steps of the ancient temple as the guide seems very concerned. As they touch the ground, the bushes rustle. The guide grabs Kelly’s arm, as he is the closest one too him. A man appears with an AK-47 rifle, shouldered and ready to fire. He fires a burst of rounds as the group scrambles to safety.

“Oh shit!” Gareth exclaims.

He spots two more men exiting the bushes with old shotguns. They turn the corner of the pyramid, following the guide who runs towards the jungle. They race after him, avoiding the dense secondary jungle flora that beats the group in the face, chest and legs as they push forward. The guide comes across a small clearing near the mouth of a cave. He sees the cave and hesitates to enter. He seems to recognize it.

“Should we go in?” Faye asks him.

“No!” The guide says. “Bad. No go in.”

The guide turns around and takes a step as red mist flies around his body. Gunfire erupts as bullets tear into his torso, neck and head. Brain matter and bits of skull fly away from his soulless husk as his corpse drops to the ground with a thud. Naomi and Faye both scream in shock and Kelly stares in stunned horror. Gareth looks away. Kelly grabs Faye’s arm and pulls her towards the cave, hitting Gareth’s shoulder and getting his attention.

Gareth grabs Naomi’s arm and pulls her as she trembles in fear, dragging her towards the cave as the men with shotguns approach them from another direction. They don’t take aim, but watch them enter the cave. Though the cave seems small from the outside, the interior is extensive.

“Got to get into my pack…” Gareth says repeatedly as he scrambles to hide and take off his musette bag.

“Come out. Cave not safe!” One of the assailants calls out to them in broken English.

“The hell?” Kelly thinks aloud.

“We not hurt you. Cave bad. Come out!” The voice urges.

“Screw that.” Faye says as she takes out a flashlight.

The others take out their flashlights as well, and Gareth slings his pack back over his shoulders. They follow the only path in the cave, which goes deeper and deeper, until light is no longer available from the mouth of the cave.

“Maybe we should wait them out?” Gareth suggests.

“That doesn’t sound wise.” Naomi says.

“There may be a way to escape this system.” Faye adds.

“Those guys didn’t chase us in here. They didn’t even point their guns at me when I stepped in. They may want to kill us, but maybe for some cultural or superstitious reason, they can’t come in here. We have food and water. They’ll get bored and leave.” Gareth explains.

“That sounds like something worth trying.” Kelly agrees.

Faye looks back at the deep and dark tunnel, then back to Gareth.

“Alright, Gary. We’ll try it your way, but if they don’t leave by nightfall, we explore the cave. Deal?” Faye asks.

“Deal.” Gareth nods.

They return to the mouth of the cave, staying just inside. The men patrol the entrance of the cave with shotguns and a single AK-47 rifle. There seems to be four assailants outside. The four adventurers sit in the shadows and wait for the men to give up and leave. Minutes turn to hours, and the hours drag by. Twilight approaches and the men seem to have built a campsite right outside.

“You leave cave, before it too late! If not, you die!” The man says to the darkness of the cave.

Considering their first impressions, the group looks to each other and silently decide that they can’t risk stepping outside, or waiting them out. Gareth nods to Faye, admitting his plan has failed. Night falls and the hostile villagers stay camped outside, urging them to come out. Instead, the four head deeper into the cave, hoping to find another means of escape.

They move through the cave for what seems like an eternity, winding around and heading deeper into the earth. As they round a final corner, they see a faint glow. In their eagerness to escape, they mistake it for daylight, having already forgotten that it just became night outside of their earthen prison. As they move through the tunnel, they discover that the passageway leads to a room covered in blue glowing crystals.

“Wow…” Naomi says as she looks at the crystals.

“It’s amazing!” Gareth smiles as he touches a small crystal.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.” Faye gushes.

“I’m getting hungry…” Kelly says casually.

The others turn to him for a moment. Kelly points to something and the others turn back around. At the end of this crystalline hall is a pedestal located near the middle of the room. On the pedestal there appears to be a crystal skull. They approach the skull and Gareth comes very close to it. Examining the skull, it appears to be that of an unknown three-eyed creature, with a faint resemblance to a baboon. The faint light of the crystals made the pedestal and skull hard to see, until they further entered the room.

“I wonder what animal this is supposed to be?” Gareth thinks aloud.

As he looks at the skull, he leans in and the skull begins to glow a sickly green hue. Gareth steps back, but Faye steps closer.

“I do not like this…” Naomi mutters.

“It’s just a beautifully carved rock… I wonder what it’s worth…” Faye smiles.

“Easy there, Lara. We can rob the next tomb.” Gareth comments.

“I’m just ‘borrowing’ it.” Faye replies as she reaches a hand out for the skull.

“I do not think it wise to touch the skull.” Naomi warns.

“I’m pretty sure no boulders or poison darts are going to kill us if I touch it.” Faye laughs.

“Perhaps not, but I still wouldn’t…” Naomi reiterates.

Faye turns back to Naomi and grins a sinister grin. She quickly takes the skull into her hands and rushes at Naomi with it. She jumps back and squeals as her sister dashes toward her.

“I’ll swallow your soul! I’ll swallow your soul!” Faye teases her with a gruff voice.

“Keep that thing away from me!” Naomi shouts.

Her mission accomplished, Faye laughs and returns the skull to the pedestal. She sets the skull back down facing the wall, though it was previously facing the entrance to the room. She steps away from the pedestal and looks around the room with Gareth. They don’t see any other way out. The single long passage leads only to this room, with this skull.

“Well… This sucks.” Gareth comments.

“Uh… Guys…” Kelly speaks up.

Everyone turns back to Kelly, who points at the skull. The skull’s hue grows brighter as the blue crystals become dimmer. The light in the room fades as they bring up their flashlights. The skull’s three eyes glow a bright cyan and the green hue also fades. After a moment, only the skull’s three eye sockets are glowing vibrantly. It partially illuminates the room.

“What the hell is happening?” Faye thinks aloud.

“You’re the one who had to piss off the ancient Gods by using their skull as a toy.” Kelly says.

Bright cyan beams shoot out of the three eye sockets and focus on the wall. As the beams merge into one, a brilliant glowing pool seems to form, radiating away from the single large beam.

“It… It looks like an event horizon from a Stargate!” Gareth exclaims in shock.

“What?” Kelly asks.

“The visible entrance to a wormhole. Sci-fi shit, you know?” Gareth answers.

“Right. That is your field.” Kelly comments.

Naomi is overcome with scientific curiosity, and steps towards it.

“Stay here!” Faye shouts to her.

“I just want to take a closer look…” Naomi says, almost in a daze.

“Now she feels adventurous.” Faye mutters.

Naomi looks to the skull for a moment before she suddenly swishes her hand in front of the beams. Still possessing all of her fingers, she looks at her hand. She turns back to the others, then suddenly turns, steps forward, and touches the glowing pool. As her fingertips brush the shimmering pool of what could only be described as light blue tinted mercury, the pool jolts from the wall and grabs her arm, pulling her into the portal.

To their horror, she disappears into the wall. Gareth rushes to grab her, taking her exposed hand just as it disappears, himself being dragged into the wall. He sees flashing lights and feels air swirling around him violently, He feels as though he was just dropped into the eye of a hurricane, and his stomach churns and rolls. The light is so bright, he can’t keep his eyes open. He feels as though his body is going to be ripped apart, when suddenly he lands with a thud. He slowly opens his eyes, only to see daylight above him.

He sits up and sees Naomi, lying unharmed on the vibrant green grass. He looks around and sees a veritable sea of green; they are sitting in the middle of a vast field. He looks around, then back up to the sky, where the portal hovers overhead. He stands and jumps up, trying to touch the portal, but it floats easily three meters off of the ground. He begins to take off his pack to allow for a higher jump, when the portal spits out Kelly and Faye, who land with a loud thud on the grass.

“How nice of you to drop in.” Gareth smiles, holding both hands out, one for each of them.

“Where are we?” Kelly asks as Gareth helps him up.

“It appears to be a field.” Naomi replies, sitting on the grass.

“It’s… Daylight…” Faye says as Gareth helps her up.

“I noticed that too.” Kelly replies.

“Looks like that portal sent us to some other place. Maybe another country. It should be daylight in Central Asia.” Gareth comments.

“Teleportation?” Naomi suggests.

The three older friends look back to the portal, which stays open. They attempt to reach it, but after a few more seconds, it suddenly shrinks and closes. They stare at empty air, where the portal used to be.

“It suddenly feels colder.” Faye comments.

“Yeah. This must be a temperate zone.” Gareth replies.

“Feels like we’re right back in Michigan.” Kelly comments. “You think we’ll find a Seven-Eleven around here?” He chuckles.

Gareth sets down his pack and unbuckles the main flap. It is packed to the very top with gear. He takes out a baggy of .45 ACP full metal jacket ammunition and sets it on the ground, along with a leather belt, several 1911 magazines, and a brown leather flap holster containing Kelly’s full-sized, nickel-plated, Rock Island Armory 1911 pistol with rosewood grips.

“Is that my gun?” Kelly asks.

“Sure is. Your gun, holster, belt, mags, and all two-hundred rounds of ammo.” Gareth replies.

Faye and Kelly lean in as Gareth sets Kelly’s weapon and gear aside in a small pile for him. He reaches back into his pack and draws even more gear from it. He takes out his Kahr CT9 pistol and six empty magazines and sets them aside. He then withdrawals a large Ziploc bag that is double bagged, and full of 9x19mm Parabellum full metal jacket ammunition. He reaches in and takes out a second.

“So that’s why your pack was so heavy.” Faye comments.

“Yup.” Gareth says, reaching in for more.

“We left all of that stuff in the crate!” Kelly says.

“We did!” Gareth smiles.

“When did you have time to pack all of that without any of us seeing you?” Faye asks.

“The night before we left for the temple, when all of you fell asleep. I waited until Kelly started snoring, then I figured it was safe. I was slow and quiet, just to be sure. Took me nearly an hour to carefully pack all this crap in here.” Gareth chuckles. “Ready to share the load?” He looks back at them.

Gareth reaches in and very carefully withdrawals his prized possession; he takes out his heavily customized 4th Gen Glock 22 .40 S&W pistol, still inside of his custom-made kydex holster. It is a left-handed, outside-the-waistband paddle holster.

“There she is…” Gareth says softly as he takes out his sidearm.

“You brought her?” Faye asks in amazement.

“I’d never leave the country without Vetra!” Gareth replies.

He has converted the pistol to fire 9mm ammunition with a stainless steel, match grade and threaded barrel, manufactured by Lone Wolf. Other modifications include a golden thread protector and slide cover plate, a steel guide rod with single recoil spring rated to factory specs, triton night sights for a Glock 26/27, a Glock GTL-10 tactical light, all eight of his magazines having a +2 baseplate extension, and an aluminum grip plug with the word “Vetra” laser etched into it. He named his prized sidearm after his favorite character from Mass Effect: Andromeda.

He takes out a large green belt pouch and checks the contents. It holds his original .40 S&W barrel, magazines, and a double bagged Ziploc of ammunition. The pouch also contains a lanyard for Vetra, that attaches to his belt, and a smaller Ziploc bag that holds twelve replacement batteries for his tactical light, giving him six reloads, as well as a few spare bulbs wrapped in pieces of bubble wrap.

“So what do we have?” Faye asks, kneeling down by the pile.

“Kelly’s 1911, my Kahr and Vetra. Two-hundred rounds of .45, one-hundred rounds of .40, and six-hundred rounds of nine-millimeter. I have six mags for my Kahr that hold eight rounds each, three .40 caliber mags that hold seventeen rounds each, and five nine-millimeter mags that hold nineteen rounds each. I didn’t count Kel’s mags.” Gareth replies.

“I have six clips that hold eight rounds each.” Kelly says.

“… Mags… Six mags.” Gareth replies, glaring at Kelly.

“Yeah. Six clips.” Kelly smirks as he taunts Gareth with improper gun lingo.

“Fuck you…” Gareth mutters.

Kelly laughs as Gareth opens a doubled bag of nine-millimeter ammunition. Gareth loads three magazines of nine-millimeter and takes a single extra round, manually loading it into Vetra’s chamber. He stands and slips on his holster, moving the paddle behind his belt. He then undoes his belt and adds his double magazine and binocular pouch to it, before buckling it and slipping the spare magazines into the pouch and Vetra into her holster.

Gareth reseals the doubled bag of ammunition and slips his remaining weapon, magazines and ammo back into his pack. He buckles the flap shut and slides the pack over his back.

“Ahh…” Gareth sighs in relief. “That’s much better!”

“I’ll bet.” Kelly says as he puts on his holster and pockets his loaded magazines and spare ammunition.

“So what’s the plan?” Faye asks.

“Well… Civilization is usually based around water. I guess we can pick a direction and start walking until we find ourselves a stream, lake, or whatever.” Gareth says, adjusting his pack on his back.

“That is a sound plan.” Naomi agrees.

“Then what?” Faye asks.

“Then we follow it?” Gareth replies with a raised eyebrow.

“Bet you didn’t know he was going to say that.” Kelly chuckles.

“Shut up, Kel. I’m just being thorough.” Faye retorts.

With no bearing and no sign of anything around them, the four begin to walk, hiking through the field and hoping that they will find what they are looking for.