The 9th Fortress Read online

  "My goodness!" said Missy, star-struck. "My goodness gracious!"

  "Danny!" said Newton, enthusiastically. "It is my great pleasure to introduce to you to Kat." On hearing his name, Kat still did not respond. "A samurai warrior from sixteenth century Japan," continued the scientist. "You are arguably looking at one of the most dangerous men in the whole of Earth’s troubled history."

  Finally now, this Kat gave our trio the honor of his troubled gaze and husky sound. "Arguably?" he sneered.

  The hairs on the back of my neck instantly stood on end as I floundered in that man's scowl, his eyes inspiring a rotting sickness in the core of my guts. Passing us a last look of inadequacy, Kat turned his head to one side, muttering profanities under his breath. This man of experience was not impressed, not by me, not by Newton, not by anyone.

  "Kat will guide you to Hell, the 9th Fortress, and back again." said Newton. "A grandmaster swordsman and mightier than Achilles, Kat is the only soul qualified for such a venture. Daniel, this man will devote everything to your cause. He will perish for it, and for you."

  This wild thing continued cursing to himself, as if a bomb primed to explode. Missy soared to my ear and brushed my hair aside. "Kat has been here in the plain for over two hundred years. Another two hundred…elsewhere."

  "He's been sitting here for two hundred years?" I rasped back. "What's he waiting for?"

  "An audience with God," she whispered, "and that attention requires patience. But Kat has it, and here he waits and waits for his word. No one talks to him, and no one dares approach, for his name is known and feared everywhere."

  "I am pleased by your optimism," said Newton.

  "Not at all!" she returned. "I still think it’s an outrage, but if one man can protect my Daniel, then it’s this hulk. What do you think of him?"

  I shrugged. "If you say so…"

  "Do not write him off so speedily," said the scientist. "Believe it or not, Danny, you have a lot in common with this warrior. You are trees sharing the same root; during your lifetime, you may already have seen his image in dreams or reflected back in the mirror. Kat will be as important to you as anyone you have ever met. He will be at your side, your eyes and ears, your guide and shadow until mission’s end. He is your shield, your sword, your North Star, and deliverer from evil. You will obey him, you will trust him, and in return he will keep you alive."

  Newton then took a step back and I felt his nudge prod me closer to Kat. I glanced over my shoulder to see the angel and scientist urging me on. I was eight years old again, with my mother forcing me to shake the neighbor’s hand because he was new, and we had age and freckles in common. "This is Marcel Winterbottom. Shake his hand, Danny, he’ll be your new best friend!"

  Reluctantly, I took those delicate steps toward my guide, whose burdened breaths sniffed heavily at my advancing proximity, the bull before it skewers you with horns. Kat remained stiff when I faced him, substantial, emotionless, and immovable.

  "My name…is Fox." With no reply, I searched anxiously back at my angels.

  "To your feet, Kat," ordered the scientist, with respect.

  Kat reacted, squinting two tar pits of insolence squarely at Sir Isaac Newton, who would not be intimidated. Kat then redirected his contemptuous glare to someone who would. I shuddered, wet my parched lips, and repeated, "My name is…"

  Suddenly, the samurai lurched up from his seat, armor and bones creaking like some un-oiled, infernal machine. The warrior eyed me over with a grim curiosity on his slashed face, as if I were a tiny frog to be stamped on. Too intense for me, I could not hold this venomous sight, a weakness the man noted with disgust. Focusing my attention instead on my perspiring palm, I extended it for his handshake. Kat scoffed at that insulting lump of flesh, and then turned on his heels and away.

  Embarrassed, I felt like bawling my own brand of profanities at his back. Who was he, this short, angry man, and why did I need him?

  Keen to express these emotions, Newton suddenly placed his gentle hand on my arm. "Do not take it personally," he whispered. "Kat is not the social sort. Few great men are."

  "Are you sure this is such a good idea? Does this Kat person even speak English?"

  "Not a word," he tittered. "The barriers of language do not exist here. Kat speaks Japanese, you will hear English, and vice versa. Only, expect conversation with this man to be limited; his swords do the talking, after all. But for good or bad, your and Kat's destinies have collided, and you will have to persevere. His arrogance will require a great deal of patience, but have faith in him, as we have faith in you."

  I nodded, watching the warrior continue in his random course without ever looking back. "He won’t even wait for me!"

  "Kat only waits for God." said Missy. "You’d best get a move on."

  With no time for this to sink in, I prepared myself to move when Newton placed a leather belt in my hand. Connected to the belt was a pouch and dagger. Curious, I removed the blade. It was sharp, but plain and uninspiring. "Thanks," I said, half-heartedly toying with it. On my way to Hell and given a butter knife to defend myself. I was not impressed.

  "Me neither," said Missy. "It is a butter knife…"

  "Could you stop that?" I said. “It’s weird.”

  Innocently slanting her head, Missy wrapped the hair around her finger.

  "This is no ordinary dagger," explained Newton. “It requires enormous responsibility from its wielder. Listen carefully, Daniel: A man cannot extinguish a soul, but this dagger can. The baffling science confounds most in the Heavens, myself included, but makes no mistake, the power of God is now in your hand."

  Immediately I held the weapon more gingerly, as if it were nitroglycerine in my grip. Missy rubbernecked over my shoulder, hoping to see that magical sheen of light and hint of Godly power. Unfortunately, there was only the wood of the hilt and the dull grey of the blade.

  "How does it work?" I asked, awkwardly. "I mean…"

  "Like any other dagger," Newton answered. "It is God’s gift to you, but I solemnly stress it can only be used once. Prick any soul with this blade and that individual will vanish, never to return!"

  Missy and I shared intrigued faces while Newton concluded, "This blade is one of a kind. Use it when you have absolutely no choice. That is all I have to say. Godspeed." And that was that, Sir Isaac Newton was gone, with the help of his Faraday forces and warping waves of Maxwell.

  Eager to catch up to Kat, I returned the dagger prudently to its pouch and secured the belt around my waist. I then took a brief deep breath and bent to say goodbye to my life support. "Happy one hundred eighty-ninth birthday."

  Her tears were never far away. "My birthday was last week. What if you don’t come back? What will I do with myself then?"

  "This is not the end,” I whispered. “Remember?"

  "I tell you to go!" she exclaimed, pushing herself on my chest. "I can't stand this and I’ll never forgive you for putting me through it! Go now! Hurry!"

  She drew away and I watched her float like a vanishing dream, her mournful face getting smaller and smaller.

  "You’ll see me again!" I cried. "I’ll be coming back, Missy! I’ll make it! I'll come back! You just wait and see!"

  Becoming part of the Waiting Plain, Missy also was gone, and I was alone again in limbo. Quickly, I set after the samurai warrior, who was some way away…

  5. Savage Road

  It was called the Distinct Earth, and the more steps I took toward it, the more this new world revealed itself. I could see the forming of clouds in the sky, and watched contorting shadows steadily transform into trunks and trees. Hearing the chirping birds and the rustling grass excited me. I wanted to run for more, if only to get that constant droning out of my ears, but I did not dare pass this man, this samurai warrior called Kat.

  I hadn't seen his face since cowering from his earlier glare. I didn't care to see it again. It felt right to do something about our awkward silence though, but I had no idea what to say to a character lik
e this, and I doubted the samurai would want or care to melt the gathering ice.

  A weary spell soon sucked away any enthusiasm I had, and staring mindlessly at my steps, Kat's abrupt halt in front sent my face crashing between his shoulder blades.

  "What?" I complained. "Why do you stop?"

  Smudging my sore nose, I discovered every trace of the mundane white plain to be gone; we were now in the Distinct Earth proper. The first thing I noticed was how normal it all appeared, and that maybe, just maybe it was old Earth all along? The sky was a familiar bright blue with a ball of burning sun. The surrounding landscape was lush with long grasses and rolling hills, and apart from the two of us, there was not another angel, creature, or soul in sight.

  Under our feet was a narrow path wandering down the hill, then bobbling over others to a far off horizon of green. The samurai paused, eyes squinting, his hand moving toward the katana at his belt. "What's wrong?" I asked, but Kat remained motionless to my words and to this world. There was no apparent danger, but the man would not be rushed, and I would take time to learn that fact.

  The samurai removed his fingertips from the sword hilt, and grunting, lowered himself to one knee. Collecting a handful of stones that made up our path, he analyzed them in his cupped palm. His black eye peered like a scientist down a microscope, and I only could fold my arms and wait. Was this his routine? Was he always so cautious?

  A few uneventful minutes later, the Distinct Earth's illusion of normality was shattered forever. A rotten taste hit the back of my throat, like a mouthful of wet dog. I dabbed two fingers over my tongue and felt nothing out of the ordinary, but upon removing them, I baulked at the tips, which were caked in soot. It was the sort of filth you find behind old cupboards or underneath car seats, and repulsed, I coughed a puddle of it into my hand. "My God, I'm sick! Look at that!"

  "It is in the air," he said simply. "Harmless."

  I peered again at the clear blue sky, thinking it impossible that this rancid pollution could linger there. I inhaled another breath and knew it was, mold shot up my nostrils and stuck like a clogging flu. "Ugh!" I gagged. "I have to get used to…breathing this shit?"

  Robot-like, Kat patted the dirt from his hands, stood, and said, "You will."

  I wiped the hand clean against my jeans and retched. Just one more thing to get used to, Danny. If anything, it was a timely reminder that this Distinct Earth was simply a reflection of a planet with which I was familiar. Sadly, my days on that realm were over.

  ***

  Without rest, I followed Kat up and down the hills and mounds, and the more I watched his back, the stronger my urge grew to thank the man. This warrior was only here for my well-being, leading a complete stranger into the worst place imaginable, and when trouble called, he would be the one to answer it. My shield and sword, my North Star and deliverer from evil — who in their right mind would be happy bearing that responsibility? What sin had Kat committed to deserve this almighty task?

  In the end, I stuck to keeping my mouth shut. The samurai was a simple man from a different time, and I feared my gratitude would be seen as a sign of weakness.

  It was a long while before woodland came into view. It was a clutched and crackled barb shimmering black over the green, with every possible route inside protected by a thorny outgrowth of branches. The sky above seemed to die before and above these woods. Bright blues were whisked to damp greys and boggy browns, almost as if the sun's rays were prohibited from shining upon it. "Wait!" I said, trying to disguise trepidation as Kat turned around. "Just…hold on a sec."

  "What?" he asked, irked by my interruption.

  "I ain't going in there," I replied, resolutely shaking my head. "Those woods are a maze; any idiot can see that. It's stupid, it's nuts, and I ain't going, you hear me?"

  "It is the way," he returned, obviously.

  "You're sure? And what about all this pretty grassland growing in every other direction? Go through the big scary woods if you want, but I'm going around them!" I set my foot on the grass, and firmer than I would have liked, Kat yanked me back to the path.

  "Never stray!" he growled, his eyes tense and penetrating. "This is a cursed land; inhabitants are treacherous devils. The woods are our road, our way. Stay very close."

  I shook off his grip and gave him my best sulk. "And if something should happen to you, samurai?"

  "I will not fall," he replied, as if an absolute certainty.

  My granite-faced leader then lowered eyes to a procession of ants crossing the tip of his boots. I waited for the warrior to press his sole down on top the helpless colony, but there was no satisfying crush of insects. Instead, the warrior took an unusually large step over them, and I did the same.

  ***

  The dead wood loomed. It was a beached ship left to rot, a building abandoned to natures mercy or vehicles left to scrap. The trunks were rooted thick and unmovable, with crisping, parched bark. Branches resembled spindly spider legs, and the wind whistled us a most haunting tune through the cracks.

  Kat remained still, and searching for my nerve, I found something else, a figure on the field to my right. This object struck out from the grasses: a black scarecrow-like form with arms strung out in a crucified manner. "What is that?" I said, squinting hard. It was no scarecrow, but a man. Living or dead, there was only one way to find out. I stepped into the grass, which reached my thighs and coiled around my legs.

  My shuffling movements alerted my protector samurai, who turned, absolutely outraged. "You! Come here! Never leave me!"

  Taking no notice, I waved a casual hand back at him. "Just wanna check it out! You stay here, I won't be long!"

  Wading through the pretty field, I reached the body in no time. It was a man barely out of his teens, strapped high to a post and held in place with ropes around his chest and wrists. He was wasting away here, with slashes down his clothing and clotted blood seeping out the tares. Flesh flaked from his muscles, and bloated bruises covered what was left of his face and arms. I gawked at the bloody spittle oozing from his bottom lip, his feet like draping curtains before me.

  "Do not touch!" ordered Kat, his voice closer now. "Do not!"

  I kept my hands to myself and averted my eyes from the wet, red mess. "Kat!" I cried. "You need to come see this!"

  However, the samurai warrior was already behind me, pressing an excruciating squeeze on neck and turning me on the spot to meet his reeling glare.

  "Never leave my back!' he bawled. “Never!"

  "Get your fucking hand off!" I grimaced and shrieked. "Who do you think you…What's wrong with you? Let go of me! This man needs help! I'm cutting him down! I'm cut-" I yelped as Kat dug his nails deeper, so deep that I dropped like a sack of spuds.

  "Settle," he said. "The man is done for."

  I strived to contain the agony glowing red on my face. I would not give this brute the satisfaction of seeing it. I could stand it — I had been through worse — I would show this Kat how strong I was. Forcing against his hold, I rediscovered the strength in my legs and attempted to stand, but the more I fought, the harder Kat turned his vice.

  "Settle."

  Reluctantly, I surrendered. A futile exercise, I stopped the fight and Kat relinquished. However, our meager quarrel was forgotten immediately when, to our surprise, the young man spoke from his lofty position, popping blood bubbles from the mouth. "I…I…"

  "What!" I gasped, scurrying to his feet. "What are you saying? Stay with us!" I searched for help, but there was only a callous-looking samurai scratching his own neck

  "He," the boy grunted, "is…n-"

  "What?" I whispered. "Who?"

  "Sca…" His head slunk, and the life in him was gone. Thick foam dribbled from his nose and both eyes rolled to leave a pair of dull ghosts behind. The gruesome sight did not upset me; the holes in my memory had yet to be completely filled in, and I could not recall if I had seen similar horrors in the past.

  "Sca?" I pondered. "What do you think it means?"

/>   "Stand back," said Kat.

  I did so without question, moving to Kat's side as he scrutinized the dead boy. The samurai seemed to be waiting, expecting. I didn't know what and he wouldn't tell me, but in no hurry to enter the woods, the samurai could daydream as long as he wished.

  An abrupt wind gave me a fright. It arrived from nowhere to stick up our hair and whip the grass, but oddly, was only located around the bloodied post. "What's going on?!" I yelled, over a rapidly growing gale.

  The samurai nudged at the boy, who was now emitting a dreamy blue light from his insides, escaping his eyes, nostrils, and every cut over his young body. This force was neither hot nor cold on my skin, in fact, it had no psychical effect at all.

  Kat remained calm throughout, giving the impression that this phenomenon was hardly a phenomenon at all. He took a composed step backward, prompting me with him as the boy's skin began to wither and fall. This person was being erased by nature, and in less than a minute, the only thing left hanging was his skeleton, and those magnificent streams of light blasting out from the ribs. That sturdy bone cage soon bubbled to a milky liquid, splashing to a puddle in the grass.

  Lastly, all the light compacted into one single, fist-sized orb over the post. This singularity did not flake away like the flesh or liquidize with the bone, but remained uniform, effortlessly lingering like a blotch of bedroom dust. The wind went, and a dead calm returned the status quo.

  Stunned, I recovered with both hands on my knees, observing that mysterious ball of swirling light. "What is it?"

  "All he has left," replied the samurai. "Do not touch. Do not ever touch. He may never let go…"

  As if trapped in slow motion, the orb began its descent, and I heard an impatient voice inside my head tempting me closer. "Go on Danny, take it for yourself! See what he saw! Know what he knows! Take! Take it now!"