| Fred found himself running down a dark passage. Behind him he could
hear the clickety-clack of millions of insect feet. Even as he picked up
his speed, he knew that they were gaining on him. It was only a matter
of time until their crooked pincers began to feast on his flesh. Up ahead
he saw the light of a torch flickering from a side hall. His heart beat
faster, perhaps finally he had found escape!
He reached the corner and barely had time enough to fling himself back. He fell to the floor with a thud and slid away from the hissing serpent's head and it's foot long fangs. Its scaled face filled the corridor from one wall to the other. There was no escape here. But atleast its bulk kept it from getting any closer to him. He shivered at how nearly he had averted the viper's poisonous bite. Luckily, the ground was slippery and his about face had sent him sliding out of harm's way. It was then that he noticed why the ground was slippery. There was a thick, golden goo spread across the stones. Fred raised his hand to his nose and breathed in its fragrance. It was honey. He craned his neck back and his eyes widened in horror. Instead of a hallway, he stared down a honeycombed tunnel, its sides dripping with beeswax and thick, amber jelly. And at its furthest end, something glittered. Something that made a sound like a buzzsaw. Something that was flying straight for him. He struggled to get on his feet, but he was trapped within the sticky globs of honey. It stuck to him like glue, keeping his arms pinned and his sword out of reach. He looked up; the buzzing thing was halfway down the hall. In desperation, he heaved himself high, his body straining against the binding strands of gooey amber. But his boot slipped against the slimy floor and he fell on his face into the clinging goo. His eyes peered up from the sweet, strangling pillow of honey and he nearly cried. The fleshy, grotesquely overgrown bee was almost upon him. The flickering torchlight flashed in a hundred sparks from its deformed, black whiskered, faceted eyes. His hands clenched in useless fear, the golden ooze sliding through his fingers. But suddenly his right hand pressed down on something solid. A metal ring! Fred's mind raced, what could it be? He pulled on it, pushed against it. But to no avail. The monster bee rushed forward and Fred's ears filled with the murderous melody of its beating wings. With a howl of anguish, Fred twisted the metal ring with all his might. And then the floor, quite literally, was pulled from under him. He fell with a splash into a foetid, black swamp and dropped to its dark and filthy bottom. The thick mud sucked him down and his eyes bulged as a fire ran through his starving lungs. His legs beat against the muck and the foul, entangling weeds. His arms reached up toward the twinkling, reddish lights he saw beyond the rank, scum covered surface above him. With a roar, he broke through to the night sky overhead. A rush of rancid air filled his aching lungs, but he didn't care. He was alive! But then the sound of scraping leather caught his ear. "Oh, there you are," a slithery voice whispered from behind him. Fred whirled around in the brackish water and his jaw suddenly dropped. A dark, hulking form sat on the oozing bank of the swamp staring down at him. "It's been a while since you and I met face to face. I assume you recognize me." "Minestus," Fred hissed between clenched teeth. "One and the same," the dragon smiled. "You seem to have troubled dreams, my little pet. Are things not going well for you?" Minestus snickered with amusement. "You're dead and gone, foul beast," Fred said glaring at him. "Haunt my dreams if you will, but know this, I shall find a way to undo what you have done. And even these nightmare creatures of yours won't stop me." "Oh, I can't take credit for these monsters. But I do take pleasure in them. You, on the other hand, are a piece of work I'm quite proud of." Fred trembled with rage at these words. "But let me assure you Lord Fred, whether I am dead or alive, real or dream, you'll never be able to defeat me or change what I have done to you." He unfolded his colossal wings and stood up. He gazed on Fred with red, hellish eyes. "You want me? Then come and get me. But don't fool yourself, you don't stand a chance." With that, Minestus bowed mockingly, turned and flew into the dark,
threatening sky. It was only then that Fred noticed what else had been
resting on the oily banks of the murky swamp. A host of giant crocodiles.
Twenty feet long and more, the mammoth reptiles stared at Fred with cold,
beady, black eyes. They opened their steely mouths, the wispy, uncertain
light reflecting off countless rows of sharp, jagged teeth. With a snap,
their jaws shut close and the monsters slid into the dank, sluggish waters
of the swamp. Fred did not see them again until
Fred bolted upright, his face soaked with sweat. A silent scream was caught in his throat. Alicia lay by his side, staring at him with frightened alarm. "Honey, it's a dream. You've been dreaming again." She reached out to caress him, hoping to soothe him, but he pushed himself away and walked over to the deck rail. The boat had glided along the river for three days now, without incident. Tomorrow they would reach the open sea. A week after that, if all went well, they would enter the mouth of the Sueze Channel. "What is it?" Alicia asked, moving to his side. Fred refused to look at her. He knew his words would hold no comfort or joy for his wife. But now, more than ever, his purpose was clear. And nothing would stop him from achieving it. "We're monsters," he said with loathing, "Inhuman. Unnatural." He turned to his pale and trembling wife, "I am an abomination. But I swear to you, I will regain my humanity even if I have to strangle Minestus with my bare hands." "But Minestus is dead," Ananka spoke as she emerged from the shadows. Fred turned to her, his grim face outlined in the evening light. "Is he? I wonder..." Go Back
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