Masters of the Arches

This story was posted a few years ago on another site under my pen name of mandil.

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For the last half-hour they had been walking in a region covered with small rocks with just a few trees growing here and there. They then crossed a small creek and soon they stood at the limit of an another forest. The minute that they entered the relative darkness and coolness of the forest, Vincent could detect a definite increase in the humidity of the air. Everywhere he looked he again saw enormous trunks covered with thick and scaly brown and black bark. The deep green leaves growing on the lower branches were the size of a large pizza.

The look of the place didn't reassure him at all. He told himself that he was going to penetrate only a few miles inside this sinister forest then he was going to turn back and return toward the high peak mountain leading to his world which was no longer visible now. This he was going to do with or without Nika.

Their progress was much more difficult once they entered the gloomy forest. They had to walk around the big trunks or climb over the mounds of soil that the growing thick roots had created everywhere around them. For those reasons it was impossible to walk in a straight line for any length of time. To make matters worse, the ground was littered with dead branches and sometimes a giant, fallen tree, would block their path completely.

After about an hour of difficult progress within the forest they suddenly heard the sound made by the breaking of small branches far ahead of them. He did recognize the sound for what it was. Vincent knew that there must have been many feet, to produce these noises. It was very similar to the sound that he had heard when he first encountered the Arons the previous day. Both he and Nika heard it at the same time and as soon as they did they looked at each other with apprehension written all over their face. They definitely didn't want to make contact with these ugly creatures again. Judging by the noise they could now hear very clearly, there must have been a large number of them coming their way.

They both immediately took cover in the low foliage near one of the tall trees, crouching low next to the enormous trunk they remained motionless. Soon, not more than fifty feet from where they were hidden, a group of twenty to twenty five of the Arons as Nika called, appeared as they walked in a single file.

They were walking in a northwesterly direction, heading almost in a straight line in the direction from which Vincent and Nika had just come from. The group was entirely made of adult males and aside from the noise they made while walking, none of them was talking, grunting or whatever. Soon their smell reached the hiding duo and once again it reminded Vincent of the smell of rotten meat.

They disappeared into the dense growth of the forest as quickly as they had appeared. But before Vincent or Nika had a chance to get out of their hiding place, a second group appeared. This time it was made of females and young ones. Except for the noise made as their great weight broke the dead branches on the ground as they walked, Vincent was surprised at how quiet they were while moving so fast.

As with the previous group, there was no talking, no laughing of course no unnecessary noises. Even the children seemed very used to this kind of walking as they remained in a single file keeping pace with the rest of the group.

It occurred to Vincent that if they were on the move all the time as it seemed to be the case, their survival did depend on strict discipline and of course in paying a lot of attention to their surrounding when they moved from place to place. The fact that they were trying to be as noiseless as possible did tend to prove that they certainly had enemies. Had it not been because of the unavoidable sound that their feet made as their great weight broke the small dead everywhere on the forest floor, Vincent and Nika certainly wouldn't have heard them until it would have been too late.

They both remained carefully hidden for another ten minutes so as to make sure that there were no more of them coming their way. Finally, they went to the spot where they had last seen the Arons and they discovered a well-used path in the forest. It went between the trees turning here and there, and by its appearance it had been in used for a great many years judging by the depth of the eroded ground of the trail in some places.

That did it for Vincent. There was no way that he was going to go further without being better prepared and knowing more about the dangers to be expected in this place. For one thing he wanted to ask Nika questions about the topography of the terrain ahead of them, but he didn't understand her language at all and he couldn't think of a way to communicate with her. Also he had no idea as to where she was trying to take him. This plus the fact that he only had three dozen bullets left for his rifle, didn't reassure him. As for the food, it was almost all gone now except for half a bag of biscuits and two remaining cans of meatballs.

When they reached a small clearing where the trees were not as numerous, he took her hand and he pulled her gently toward the general direction of the north making it very clear to her that he wanted to go that way. He could see shock and fright written all over her face as she began to talk very fast. But the only word that he recognized was ‘Arons' which she used a couple of time. Vincent could tell that she understood that he wanted to go back the way they had come but still she refused to follow him.

She kept on talking in her language and he could tell that it was not only the danger of the Arons that was frightening her. Of course, there was no way for him to understand what she was trying to tell him but it was quite evident to him that she wanted him to follow her in their southward original direction.

Finally he knew that there was no use in insisting, he released her hand and he began to walk northward on a path parallel to the direction they had watched the Arons come. Even though he could hear her shouting at him, she was probably pleading with him, he didn't bothered to turn or look back. He just kept on walking ahead. After a couple of minutes, he did glance back to see where she had gone, but she was walking behind him. She no longer protested and she quietly followed him.

They proceeded toward the mountain leading to Vincent's world by a different path, one that was well off the trail of the Arons. That night they both slept in his sleeping bag in a place that was well hidden by a couple of large rocks.

While they were in the sleeping bag together Vincent could tell that Nika was doing all in her power to arouse him sexually, but he was much too tired to pay attention to her advances.

When he woke up the next morning, he had one of his arms around her while at the same time his other hand was pressing her left breast. Somehow he had moved his hand over her bare breast while sleeping but he couldn't recall when he had done so. Now, fully awake, he became extremely aroused as she still slept in his arms. Vincent had never married – being too busy trying to make money – and even though he had taken quite a few women to bed when he was a young man, he hadn't a lot of experience in dealing with the opposite sex.

At that very moment, while he could still feel the warmth and softness of her breast against his hand, he was tempted to take her pinkish-brown nipples into his mouth and then make love to her. After all, she had given him many signs that she was willing to let him have his way with her but he couldn't get over the fact that she was barely twenty while he was forty-four. Why would she want to make love to a much older man?

They ate the last of the biscuits that morning – Nika was crazy about them – and they drank water from the bottle he had filled from the small stream that they had crossed the previous day. They were just about ready to leave when Vincent noticed many small fragments of stones sparkling everywhere on the ground. Had he been on his world he would simply have dismissed them since he would have concluded that they were broken glass pieces. But there was no glass here. At least he hadn't seen any yet.

Bending down, he picked up a few of the shining stones. Much to his surprise, he realized that they were unpolished diamonds. Some were as big as peas. There must have been thousands of them lying there on the ground just a few feet in front of the big rock where they had chosen to stretch their sleeping bag. Before leaving he did gather a few dozes of them and he shoved them into his pockets.

Nika watched him in amazement as he did this. She couldn't understand why he was saving those stones.

Around noon of that day, they were almost at the foot of the high peak that hid the cave leading to his world. Nika was very nervous by then. She kept repeating over and over the word "vopa" as she pointed toward the solitary mountain-peak ahead of them. Then by late afternoon they were both standing in front of the entrance leading to the cave where the arch was hidden.

It then occurred to Vincent that he was going to have a problem with Nika. It was his intention to bring her to his world, but he didn't want to frighten her to death in the process. He intended to return again with her to explore her world but first they had to rest for a while in the safety of his house and he needed to get more food and especially ammunition for his rifle. Beside, during the coming few days it was also his intention to teach Nika a few words of English so that she could explain to him what were the dangers that they could expect to encounter when they got back to her world.

They ate the last of their food in front of the hidden entrance of the cave. There were still many grapes on the vines that hid the entrance, Nika seemed to be familiar with them and she did eat a couple of them. While they rested and ate, Vincent thought of a way to get her across to his world without frightening her too much.

As soon as they were finished eating, he removed everything from the knapsack and he placed the empty sack over her head. She didn't protest in the least and he could tell that she had complete confidence in him. He then guided her inside the cave.

It surprised him to see how submissive she was, she trusted him with her life. But at the same time, he could tell by the way that her body was trembling that she was scared to death of this mountain. Still she let him guide her inside the cave.

She was willing to place her life into his hands and he felt a surge of love for her at that moment. Once inside the cave, he held her in his arms for a long minute and he was tempted to touch her nakedness but he knew that this was not the right place or time. She was still shaking in fright when he gently led her toward the plate of the arch. He next lifted her in his arms and he stepped on the plate with her.

As soon as the sensation of numbness died away, he walked off the plate while still holding her in his arms. He then gently let her step onto the floor of the cave and he slowly removed the knapsack from over her head. After kissing her gently on her forehead, he guided her toward the small exit near the floor.

Judging by the expression on her face, he could tell that she was stunned when she saw his cottage and her new surrounding. After a few minutes, as they walked to his cottage, he noticed that she was no longer trembling as she kept looking all around her. Probably the fact that she found herself in a surrounding where the forbidden peak was no longer there was enough to reassure her. But she kept pressing herself against him even after reaching for his hand.

As soon as they got inside the cottage, Vincent went to look around so as to check if everything was as it should be. Once he was satisfied that everything was as he had left it, he sat in his favorite chair and by means of signs with his hands he invited her to sit on the couch that was next to him.

His wristwatch indicated that it was now almost eleven in the morning. When they had eaten last in front of the cave on Nika's world it had been late afternoon judging by the height of by the sun. Of course, once again it was one more proof that her world was in a completely different star system than the Earth was. Even if the sun shining over this other world was very comparable to his own sun, the planet's period of revolution around it was not the same since the length of a day on her world was definitely shorter than it was on his own world. Judging by the two days that he had spent there, and the difference in time that his watch was indicating, he estimated that the length of a day in her world was approximately twenty hours. This of course, was the ultimate proof that the arch had been transporting him to a completely different world in a completely different star system also.

As soon as he felt rested enough, he went in the shed attached to the back of his cottage and he started the generator. Then, taking two frozen steaks from the propane freezer, he cooked a good meal for both of them. His freezer and stove were gas operated so it was not necessary for the generator to be on all the time. Thus whenever he was away from his house for more than a couple of hours, he would always stop it.

While he was cooking their meal, Nika was busy examining and touching all that she could see in the house. Everything was so strange and mysterious to her. But it was the ice cubes in her glass of water that fascinated her most of all. She couldn't help herself from taking a cube of ice in her hand and laughing loudly as she felt the ice melting on her fingers and hand. It was thus evident to Vincent that she had never seen ice before.

But seeing her going about completely naked in the house made him feel uncomfortable. He went into his room and he got her one of his white T- shirts and a pair of beige shorts that he used to wear when he was much younger and thinner. She was so pleased with both garments – which she probably considered as a gift of love – that she ran into his arms and she began pressing her lips all over his face.

They ate in silence, and as soon as their meal was over he proceeded to teach her a few words of English. First he began by touching and naming different parts of his face and body. He next did the same thing with some of the things that he knew that they were going to need when they would be going back on her world. Things such as his rifle, water, knife, and so on.

He was pleased to discover that once she had learned how to say the name of an item, she would never forget it afterward. He was also very surprised by the speed with which she learned to pronounce each word properly. He did try to learn a few words of her language, but it was a very difficult process for him since some of the words would end with a high pitch pronunciation. He discovered much later that the same word in her language had different meanings depending on the intensity and pitch that it was pronounced.

A couple of hours after they were done eating, she was able to compose a few very simple sentences.

That night they both slept in his bed since, Nika insisted on sleeping next to him. He tried to make her sleep in the spare bedroom, but she wouldn't stay there by herself and a few minutes after he would leave the room, she would come back to his bed and curl next to him.

At last, he gave up and they both spent the night together.

The following morning while they were sitting around the kitchen table he once again taught her new words. As they ate breakfast, he would make her repeat the words he had taught her the previous day and he also added new one to her increasing vocabulary. She was learning much faster than he had dared hope, and having now learned a few verbs, Nika could make complete sentences.

They even went outside where he started a small fire using matches so as to teach her the word for the process of burning as well as the words for sticks and matches etc. His teaching went on for the rest of the day. By early evening of the second day on his world, he was able to learn from her that the peak that they had climbed to get to the arch was "vopa", which probably meant sacred. Also it seemed that it was the house of the gods. Each and every time that he would refer to the mountain he would see fear in her eyes.

(to be continue)