The Escape
Mahn risks his life by attempting a bold plot to rescue Tzalaii, while Sihara’s words echo in his head: “Good depth in exchange for evil depth…”
Warriors of Transcendence, Part 39
Tzalaii had been flung to the floor by the Shadows and had lain at the feet of the tall man for some time. Now he arose. Curiously, the man seemed to be quite friendly. He directed Tzalaii towards the room he had been allotted, departing with a smile. “We shall meet again.” But his smile sent chills down Tzalaii’s spine. Though he was alone, imprisoned in a dark labyrinth, he was permitted to wander around the chilly rooms. He was addressed in a seemingly friendly manner but he felt weighed down, suspicious of his captors motives and oppressed by an ever-growing burden. Obsessive recollections of the trauma he had endured haunted him, almost pushing him to insanity. His daring removal of the stone from the wall…his failed escape on Green Isle…the drink of tumult…the strange trial…He was unable to make any sense of past events and he felt threatened by something far worse than even the Abyss of the Shadows. Unable to comprehend his present situation nor to predict his future in this cold, subterranean prison, and his thoughts became weak, his sorrow increased, and the dull, tedious boredom in this netherworld broke his strength. Day after day, he endured the isolation and uncertainty, while the Memory Shields protecting him from soul concentration dwindled.
Not much attention had been given to Tzalaii but until night, while most of the people in the underground rooms were busy at work, one of them came close to examine him. The man had hidden his face with his cape, but red flame emblems were visible on his clothing. Tzalaii identified the flames as those belonging to the Venus Level, the fourth level of the Towered City. He had noticed this man before and was impressed by the respect he received from others. The man gestured to Tzalaii to follow him. Tzalaii was confused. Was this an order or just a friendly invitation, an option?
The man gestured more urgently now and Tzalaii realized that he was being commanded to follow after him. Busy workers and soldiers with weapons respectfully made way for the man with the red flame. Only the head of the Essence Department, a man with a green flame on his clothing, the symbol of the Solar Level, had the authority to speak to Tzalaii’s new acquaintance, Mahn, who was disguised as a Venus Level inhabitant with a counterfeit red flame. Down, down, lower and lower, from tunnel to tunnel, Tzalaii followed Mahn.
Finally, depleted of strength, Tzalaii came to a halt.
“Do what you want with me,” he said, exhausted. “I am losing my mind…”
Suddenly the stranger unveiled his face and Tzalaii recognized him: it was the investigator who had offered him redemption from the forces of nature!
Tzalaii, convinced that this was a trick, took a few steps backwards coming to rest against a cold rock. Instinctively, he put his arms out in front of him, assuming a defensive stance. A trap set up by the Shadows, he thought, or a final performance of illusions before his execution. He tried to speak but he had no strength. He was unable to utter even a single sound.
“Be calm now. I was sent by your sister,” said the man.
Tzalaii was convinced that he was hallucinating, that he had gone mad.
“Look,” said Mahn, as he removed the blue Magnathought Crystal from his cape. Tzalaii’s eyes glazed over and he pressed himself against the wall, trying to escape from this man, this deception.
“I have been searching for you for many days,” said Mahn in a soft voice, tinged with despair, trying to convince the miserable boy that he had come to rescue him. “Good depth in exchange for evil depth,” he said, quoting Sihara’s final words to him.Tzalaii’s face transformed, as he sensed the honesty within these words, and he extended his hand for the artifact, still suspicious. Now the Magnathought Crystal was really in his hands and the golden lines heated up immediately. Tzalaii’s scattered desires and severe state of mind prevented him from concentrating.
“They may have gone that way!” they could hear the voices coming closer and Mahn was terrified. Death was the automatic penalty for misrepresenting the color of a flame. He was perilously endangered by his attempt to rescue this precious prisoner from the hands of the Emperor.
“Your sister escaped through an opening into the Tunnels of Time,” he said to Tzalaii. “Are there other openings to the Tunnels?” he asked urgently.
Tzalaii shook his head. His senses were awakening now, and the significance of the situation brought him back to his senses.
You have a chance! One final chance! He heard the words reverberate in his head. He and Mahn held on to the blue Magnathought Crystal, and they both concentrated the remnants of their fearful desire into one goal: To escape from the cold hell in the belly of the earth.
The voices were getting closer. Mahn pulled out a short sword with one hand, and with the other continued holding onto the warm Crystal with Tzalaii. “Good depth in exchange for evil depth!” Mahn roared, repeating Sihara’s words, though he did not understand their meaning. These were the words she had whispered, right before the wall had split for her.
The words entered Tzalaii’s consciousness shaking his soul violently. Abysmal depths of pain cracked open from within him, layers of terror, despair and loss, exposing a single, bright and distant ray of light beneath. Tzalaii closed his eyes, ignored the darkness and focused his thoughts upon the single, comforting ray of light. “Good Depth instead of Evil Depth,” he whispered, pleadingly, as tears slid down his cheeks. A bright cavity opened up in the wall next to them with pure, turquoise- colored water streaming towards the opening and Mahn and Tzalaii scrambled out through the luminous opening. The wall of stone behind them immediately reappeared, re-sealing itself instantaneously. The echoes of people shouting and pounding were heard for a moment, and then there was silence.
To be continued.
***
Purchase Warriors of Transcendence online at a special discount for Breslev Israel readers here.
(With sincere gratitude to www.levhadvarim.com)
Tell us what you think!
Thank you for your comment!
It will be published after approval by the Editor.