The World Below Me: Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to go back underground. Her curiosity was boring a hole through her.

“I don’t know how to open the doorway,” Zerdi commented unprompted. He was fantastic at reading her.

“I know.” She huffed. She needed that guide.

“How did it happen the first time?”

“I was sleeping, and then I woke up and ran out into the garden.”

Zerdi raised both eyebrows. She knew it must have sounded crazy.

“I couldn’t sleep,” she defended. “Someone appeared. Then I found you. He opened the hole in the ground, or found it, or something. He led me down there like he knew exactly where he was going and what he was doing. He’s the one who exchanged words with the, um... your...”

“Bakdan merchant?”

Elise winced. “Yes.”

“So he bought me for you.”

“I guess. I didn’t even know what was happening. I thought it must have all been a dream until I woke up the next morning and you were there.”

“And my papers were on your table.”

“Yes.”

“You were more clueless than I thought,” he muttered boldly.

Elise pouted. “How about you? Do you know how to get back home?”

“Does anyone know the way out of hell?” He shrugged.

She rolled her eyes, and he laughed. It was the first laugh she had heard from him.

They went out to look at the yard. He donned a long-sleeved shirt she had bought for him and a pair of thick sunglasses. His large eyes were incredibly sensitive. She showed him where they had entered before. There wasn’t even the slightest change in the grass where the hole had been.

He frowned and circled the area, his tail swishing and ears twitching.

“Do you recall anything else?”

Elise thought it over again.

“It had to have been something the guide did. It wasn’t open when I first came out, but when I started following him, it was suddenly right there in the yard.”

The mysterious guide was an enigma to both of them. Neither of them recognized his clothing, mannerisms, or anything else about him. They could not even remember what he had sounded like when he spoke with the merchant.

She looked over at Zerdi, who was examining the yard again, now more interested in the features of the garden. Maybe the mysterious guide had been leading her to Zerdi all along.

Zerdi brushed past her as he turned back toward the house. The moment his finger touched the back of her hand, a silent rim appeared in the yard. It was roughly a meter across, and the grass withered away. The dirt beneath it shifted back, but no mound formed. It simply moved into nothing at all. Within seconds, Zerdi and Elise were standing before rammed-earth steps leading down at an angle, spiraling until they disappeared far below the confines of the opening.

Elise swallowed hard and looked at Zerdi. He backed away.

“Let’s just take a look. We can’t spend too much time down there. We were actually only looking for a way to open the portal, after all.”

She was reasoning as much with herself as with him.

“Amaresh... I don’t think we should. Oruthal isn’t what you might think.”

He struggled with the words. He wasn’t used to questioning his master’s orders, but he knew Elise was not prepared for Oruthal.

“Just a look?” she pressed. “Then we can come back up. We won’t go all the way into town.”

He relented and stayed behind her as they descended. There was one practical reason for this. From behind, he could see what lay ahead while also keeping himself in position to protect her back. It was customary positioning, though Elise was completely oblivious to it.

The tunnel and stairway were the same as before, if not even less dreamlike. The earthen steps gave way to stone, and in the wider spaces they had been replaced with constructed stairs rather than simply cut from the existing rock. Lamps sat in small alcoves. They glowed steadily rather than dancing with flame.

They returned to the surface as promised, and once both of them had stepped out, the hole disappeared again.

“What do you suppose opened it?” Elise mused, watching the last trace of it vanish.

“A fusion of the deep and the surface.”

Zerdi’s words were laced with doubt, but he hesitantly reached a hand toward Elise.

Elise met him and touched his hand. The miniature rift opened again as if fueled by their contact alone.

“We have to hold hands?” Elise tried not to laugh. It was one of the most absurd things she could have imagined.

“It is not the act of hand-holding, but the combination of you from the surface and me, even though I am bakdan, being from the Mother.”

His tone was serious and solemn, as if he were testifying to religious doctrine. Elise let her smile fade.

“That does make more sense.”

They went back inside, where Zerdi shed all of his protective sun gear and went to the kitchen to bake some hand cakes.

Elise went to her office and began planning. The short trip had done little to satisfy her curiosity. She wanted to explore everything down there. She wanted to know the culture, the history, the beliefs, the language.

Language? I should be studying that more, she thought.

She joined Zerdi in the kitchen.

“Hey, Zerdi?”

“Yes?”

“You’re learning English rather quickly.”

His English was still a bit archaic, but understandable.

“The record keepers learn the language of the sun lands as children. I have heard it many times before.”

“You already knew a bit?”

“Not much. Only enough to recognize that you were speaking it when you first spoke to me. It reminds me of the marketplace. Sometimes I saw record keepers speaking the sun language, English, at a platform table as they ate. It reminds me of the smell of fresh meat pies.”

Elise furrowed her brow. “Meat pies?”

“Yes. Is that strange?”

His expression softened.

“I guess not. If that was the only place you heard the language, then it makes sense. Do you miss it?”

She could see him growing restless as the conversation progressed. He changed the subject by squinting as the sun peeked over the fence and shone through a crack in the blinds. Elise moved to block the strip of light. His large eyes watered from the brief assault.

“I do miss some things. Despite who I am, it is still my home.”

“Zerdi. Would you mind returning home sometime? Could you show me around and explain your culture to me?” Elise pressed.

He nodded cautiously, but didn’t say anything. They ate the bread he had baked.

“I would need to teach you first,” he said at last.

“Teach me?”

“How to treat me when we are down there.”

Elise was taken aback. She didn’t like where this was going, but he didn’t explain. He knew most of all that if she got this wrong, she would stand out. That would draw attention. Then people would start asking questions.

“The most important thing to remember is that you own me. I am not myself, but a tool for you to use.”

She winced inwardly, but he still picked up on it. He cracked a small smile.

“You don’t need to be mean to me. Just don’t look directly at me. Don’t acknowledge me or ask my opinion, especially when speaking to others.”

He paused, watching her reaction.

“Then again, maybe it would be best if you just didn’t talk to people any more than necessary.”

Elise blushed. “Am I that bad?”

“You make a terrible master.”

Although the judgment itself was negative, his tone was light, almost playful.

Elise knew it would be vastly different from anything she was used to, and the challenge of it itched inside her. She didn’t notice the concerned frown on Zerdi’s face.