The Ancient's Vendetta

Chapter 9: A year later and a fortuitous discovery

Remy scratched at the full beard on his face, streaked with lines of gray. His eyes searched familiar pages, looking for new leads. The flitter of a hummingbird drew his attention away from Monty’s book and for a moment he sat, closely watching the bird’s iridescent feathers. He callously tossed the ancient tome and tore its binding. He slapped his forehead then heaved his body backward landing hard in the dense undergrowth. After two swift punches to the earth he jumped up and stomped toward the book, how much longer are we going to have to search for this… his head jerked up at the sound of Joaquim’s voice. Monty’s tree intercom system allowed his brothers to talk to him, even when he disappeared from the cabin for an entire day.

“Time to head back, I think Pyotr’s hungry…he’s growling again…just joking but we do want to share some updates.”

Darkness settled on the forest floor and with every step Remy took toward the cabin, the slower he walked. The roots and shadows were conspiring to delay his trip home. When the sun sank completely below the horizon a faint red glow emanated from the tear in the book’s binding. Remy dropped to his knees and worked his fingers along the ripped edges until the tear was wide enough to release the source of red light. His mouth gapped open as he lifted his hand eye level; he held an impossibly thin coin made of some type of metal he’d never seen. The coin’s glow revealed unrecognizable glyphs resembling symbols one might see scribbled on the walls of an archeological dig site.

The coin’s light cast a beam Remy could have used to expedite his trip home but his fixation with the otherworldly coin only delayed him even more. The sound of Pyotr and Joaquim stomping through the woods snapped him out of his trance. Out of his peripheral vision he could see their flashlights spotting the dark forest floor.

“Where have you been?” Pyotr asked, with unmasked annoyance. “We were hungry an hour ago…now we are something else”, he continued.

Joaquim placed a hand on Pyotr’s shoulder, “whoa big fella…”, his hand was slapped away aggressively. “My bad.” Joaquim said, turning to Remy. “Really though, what have you been doing?”

Remy’s hand shielded his eyes, “kill the lights, would you?” Once they were enveloped in darkness, Remy held up the coin. “Look”, he said, slowly moving it between their faces. Pyotr and Joaquim spoke simultaneously, and Remy answered them, each in turn. He turned to Joaquim, “I don’t know what this is”, he turned to Pyotr, “I found this in one of Monty’s oldest books.” Then he sighed, “let’s get back and discuss this at the table.” Joaquim snatched the coin and the red hue faded, he then handed it to Pyotr, and the coin remained dark. Pyotr flipped the coin back to Remy and the red cast returned.

“What gives?” Joaquim asked.

“You guys should really open up some of Monty’s books. There’s a lot to learn about our powers and some of those books are instruction manuals. Anyway, certain items are attuned to us specifically based on our powers. We don’t know what this coin is, or what it does, but for whatever reason, I can use it and you can’t. Let’s get back now, yeah?”

The cabin’s front door glided open and the mouth watering aroma of salt and fat wafted outside. “What are we having for dinner Pyotr?” Remy asked, holding his hand to his stomach.

“Wild mushroom and venison”, Pyotr answered, trying to pretend he didn’t know that behind him Joaquim pretended to hurl. “Anyone who doesn’t like that can have canned chickpeas”, he said with a smile.

Pyotr brought the food, plates, utensils to the table, and after a quick prayer, the clinking sounds of porcelain and stainless steel reverberated throughout the cabin. Remy finished his second plate, swigged down a giant glass of water, and then exhaled loudly. “Let’s take a look at this book”, he said as he shoved his used dishes to the side. He dropped the book on the table and started to haltingly inspect the torn binding.

“Let me see it!” Joaquim yelled.

Remy shrugged and then handed the book to his left. When Joaquim’s hand closed around the book’s cover something beneath its spine glowed a golden hue and the light escaped the book’s binding. When Joaqum dropped the book the glow faded, “would you look at that?” Joaquim said with a smirk, “I’m sorry about this Remy”, and he tore the spine open. A piece of parchment floated to the table’s surface, the book no longer glowed but this thin paper artifact shined like gold.

“What do those words say?” Pyotr asked.

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen crazy writing like this before…”, Joaquim said as he stood and leaned over the paper. He inhaled deeply, drawing in the ancient glyphs off the page into his lungs. After he subsumed the words Joaquim skin leaked a flattering golden essence, but nothing else about him seemed different.

Astonished wide eyes adorned Remy’s face, “why did you do that?” he deadpanned, desperately trying to remain calm. Joaquim opened his mouth and an unknown language fluently danced off his tongue. A few seconds later, he stopped talking and the dinner table sat quiet as a morgue.

A booming growl erupted from Pyotr’s mouth, eviscerating the room’s silence, “what the hell were you saying?” he asked, prepared to pound Joaquim into the ground if he even looked as if he was going to do anything else even remotely strange. “Well!” He insisted.

Confused, Joaquim cocked his head and opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. He sighed, “sorry my mouth is a bit out of sorts at the moment. That parchment was a long winded piece of writing. Essentially it’s saying, 'hell doesn’t allow unbridled and free entry. It costs something for tourists seeking admittance, if you aren’t from there, then you have to pay to get there.’ I bet that’s what your coin’s for, it's the perpetual cost of admission. Go ahead, try and use it, Remy.”

Remy’s nose scrunched, “how?” he said, exasperated, pressing the coin into his forehead. The warm light from the cabin disappeared, replaced by a hue of red identical to the coin that now floated next to his astral projection. An insufferable heat attacked his corporeal form searching for a way to inflict painful burns. Remy watched the heat curiously, as it pivoted, retreated, and circled, sensing his presence but not finding the source of its agitation. He retreated deep into the shadows at the sound of lumbering limbs scraping against rock.

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