World Below
Wilderstory 16
Night had long since fallen over the western rim.
Moonlight washed the world below in a faint silvery glow. Shimmering stone spires stood in sharp contrast to darkened chasms and shadowy depths.
Dot marveled at the view, as Abe crouched beside her.
“Wanna ride?” he asked, motioning to his broad shoulders. “We’ll move quicker together.”
Dot clenched the dense fur around Abe’s neck as he lifted her onto his back. She looped her legs through the crook of his elbows, which pressed snugly against his sides.
“Hit it,” she whispered, giving Abe a firm tug.
With a grunt, Abe lurched into the canyon. He moved with a steady gait, padding swiftly along winding, gravelly paths that cut back and forth upon themselves.
Better than going straight down, mused Dot, as she pulled herself higher on Abe’s back.
The deeper they went, the narrower the trail became — until it was no more than a shallow groove, bending loosely around gathered piles of stone.
Abe was moving quicker now. He leapt from one flattened area to the next, bypassing whole sections of the path. Dot strained her neck to look back to the top of the canyon, which was quickly disappearing from view.
They emerged onto a wide plateau that sloped gradually toward the next drop. Abe interrupted the silence.
“They call it the Gathering,” he said, slowing down to a walk.
“They?” Dot questioned, shifting her weight back around.
Abe stopped to take a breath. “Close your eyes,” he whispered, pressing his hands onto Dot’s clenched fists.
Dot played along, lowering her face into the fur on the back of Abe’s neck.
“Now take a moment” Abe continued. “And focus.”
Dot slowly opened her eyes, as Abe gestured widely at the cliffs around them.
Dot peered across the moonlit canyon. There was vague movement on a faraway stone shelf. Dot squinted to bring it into focus: a small dark shape, crawling quietly down a separate path.
And then another, across a rocky divide.
And then more.
There were dozens of them. Maybe a hundred, Dot thought. They moved swiftly, as Abe had done — bouncing from ledge to ledge, and ever downward.
“You were able to see me, for what I am,” Abe whispered. “As far back as the gas station, when we first met.”
“You see me,” he continiued. “So I know you can see them.”
Dot looked in all directions, marveling at the sight. “Are they animals?”
Abe nodded. “In a way,” he grinned, stepping lightly down the path.
Abe descended with Dot down a shallow ledge covered with loose stones. He slid deftly down on his hip, bracing himself with one hand, and gripping Dot with the other.
One of the darkened shapes scurried close by, almost bumping them on the way down. It looked like a fox, but different.
Dot clenched at Abe’s fur.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “You’re invisible to them.”
Abe dropped down a few more ledges, as more of the shapes whisked by.
“They tend to live in a world of their own.”
The canyon opened up at the bottom, where a wide river cut through a flat expanse of sand. Abe crouched on one knee to let Dot down. The shapes were descending all around them now — moving as a group, and coming together along the water’s edge.
On the other side of the river, a larger shape emerged.
It stepped through the shadow of a nearby cliff. A stark silhouette on four long legs.
It’s a deer, thought Dot. Or maybe an elk.
It raised its head to reveal one giant antler, which spread like bent tree limbs into the air. Two round eyes glowed white in the darkness.
It moved like a vision. Shifting. Blurring. Changing in subtle ways as it stepped out into the moonlight.
Dot stayed close to Abe’s side.
“And what kind of world is that?” she asked.
A cold breeze swept along the river, pushing ripples across the surface.
“The spirit world,” Abe smiled.
