Orgthorak

The dock was quiet as a low mist began to roll in over the ocean. Anteron stood at the edge of the town watching the mist inch its way closer and closer. Altren came rushing past, breaking the peaceful silence, enroute to the ship, crates in his arms. “How many more until you’re finished boy,” Anteron shouted to Altren. He came running back, picking up two more crates and making his way back down the dock. “These are the last two,” he shouted back to Anteron. Anteron followed behind the younger man as the cloaks to his armor flowed through the air like blood through a river. They reached the end of the dock, where their ship was, and climbed aboard after Altren finished throwing the last two crates up and over on to the ship. The captain of the ship approached them from behind, placing his hands on Anteron and Altren’s shoulders. “Gentlemen. We’re ready to head out whenever,” the Captain said. However, they way he said it suggested he was waiting for his payment before the boat would do any moving. Anteron fetched a pouch of coins hidden deep within his robes and handed it to the Captain. “That should cover the cost of the entire trip, and some.” The Captain smiled and turned around, heading to the wheel. “Are you sure about this boy,” Anteron asked to Altren. Altren watched the ship slowly begin to drift out into the ocean. He thought to himself, genuinely caught up in the question. Anteron and Altren had abandoned the Celteras; Anteron being a Celtera himself and Altren having been a ward under the protection of the Celteras. As a result, Altren left everything and everyone he knew behind except Anteron. “Yes. There’s nothing left for me here anyways. Regardless, it’s going to take much more than that to try and get rid of me,” Altren fired back. Anteron laughed to himself and shook his head. They were embarking on a journey to a land called Orgthorak. There had been many rumors and myths about Orgthorak, but Anteron wasn’t content on just stories, we wanted to see first-hand if what he’d heard was true and decided to go and see for himself.

''One week later. . .''

The ship swayed in the ocean as it continued on its path. Anteron sat on the main deck of the ship, smoking from a pipe. He also wasn’t clad in his armor, but a casual shirt and pants. They’d been on the water long enough for the armor to serve no real purpose, and they still had roughly another week before they would reach their destination. Altren emerged from below deck, also not wearing armor. He walked over to Anteron, who was staring ahead into the distance. There was a massive storm cloud looming, almost pitch black in color. “How bad do you think it’s going to be,” Altren asked, the worry in his voice loud and clear. Anteron took a huff from his pipe, then blowing out intricate rings of smoke. “To be honest, couldn’t tell you. That cloud does not look to be very friendly, and I don’t know how this boat is going to fare against it.” He rose to his feet and walked over to the side of the boat, staring down into the water. The color of the water slowly began to change. Anteron pointed down, with his pipe in hand, calling Altren over. “You see that? The storm is about to hit. Water always grows darker before the storm,” Anteron stated as Altren came over, also looking down into the water, watching its clarity darken to an eerie color. Altren kept his eyes fixed on the changing color of the water. “Do you think it’s true, what they say,” he asked. He’d been referring to all the myths and tales that had been told of Orgthorak. Many people had claimed to have traveled to Orgthorak, returning with stories of horrors. Octopi with legs that creeped and stalked them through the trees, giants whose faces were so twisted and contorted you couldn’t distinguish any features that make a real face. Of course, there was no disproving these stories. Unless you’d gone and seen it for yourself. Most people were afraid of sailing on the water due to the mysteriousness of the oceans. No one knew what was below and dared not to tempt or awaken anything lying dormant beneath them. Stories of ships simply vanishing, or dropping below the currents without any sign of sinking. “There’s no telling. Hence why we’ve come to see it ourselves, no?” Altren shifted uncomfortably, turning from the side of the ship and looking out at the horizon over the other side of the boat. Anteron also turned from looking over the side of the boat and examined Altren up and down, reading his body language. “You know, I wouldn’t have let you tag along if I’d known you were going to be this tense about it,” Anteron said, blowing a few more smoke rings. The ship experienced a bit of momentary turbulence, which Altren, Anteron and the Captain paid no mind, seeing as they were heading head-first into the storm that lie ahead of them. Altren remained quiet, contemplating his decision, now beginning to second guess it, an entire week too late. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you home safe, you have my word,” Anteron said as he dumped the contents of his pipe over the side of the boat, into the water, and made his way back below deck. Altren felt a shiver run down his spine, then returned below deck as well.

''Sixteen days later. . .''

Anteron was seated on the main deck once again, still in his casual clothing, watching the tides pass. He had a paper in hand and was sketching the view in front of him. He’d been doing it once a day ever since they’d departed. Altren emerged from below deck with a look of great discontent on his face. He stomped over to Anteron and stared down at the drawing he was working on. “How can you sit here like nothing’s happening? How do you know we haven’t been going in circles these last two weeks,” Altren shouted as he rushed to the side of the boat and pointed down into the water. “The ocean is still the same fucking color it was right before that storm hit!” Anteron continued to sketch, seemingly ignoring Altren at first. “Relax. It’s all about patience. You know, they say people are scared of sailing because they don’t know what lies below the waves. I think people are scared of sailing because they don’t know what time will do to them. Look at what it’s doing to you now,” Anteron said as he tilted his head, then sketching what it was he was trying to get an angle of. “This is the most boring shit I have ever done! You said there was promise of mystery and adventure, yet here we are three weeks into the same fucking boat ride and nothing has happened!” The Captain came from the upper deck at the sound of all the shouting. “What’s going on down here,” he asked, leaning over the railing, raising an eyebrow. Altren turned and looked up to see the Captain, the fire burning in his eyes now. He rushed up the steps and took the Captain by the collar of his shirt. “You’ve been sailing us in circles this whole time, just to cheat us out of our money, huh?!” Anteron turned to look up from his drawing and saw Altren threatening the Captain. He sprung to his feet and rushed up the stairs to where they were. He attempted to pry Altren off the Captain, only to be met with a fist to the face. “No! This slimy little rat, knows exactly what’s going on! He’s been sailing us in circles for the last three weeks so that he can get our money, make us think there’s nothing out here and take us back home!” Altren punched the Captain in the face once before Anteron stepped in to intervene and pry the two from each other. “You need to relax Altren. NOW.” Altren felt the boom in the voice, actually scaring him. Anteron turned around and helped the Captain to his feet, profusely apologizing for Altren’s actions. “It’s fine, it’s fine. He only nicked me. I understand his frustration. Someone tells you they’re taking you on a journey of mystery and adventure, you expect it.” The Captain rubbed his jaw before turning his attention back to the front of the boat. He froze, not knowing what to do. “DROP THE ANCHOR, DROP THE ANCHOR,” the Captain shouted, to anyone. Anteron and Altren turned their heads to see what it was that the Captain had seen. There was suddenly an island there that wasn’t there minutes before. And they were barreling straight for it on a collision course. Altren bolted from the ground to the anchor, untying the knot as quickly as possible before letting it plummet into the water. The shore was rapidly growing larger and larger before the boat came to a violent halt mere yards from the shore, knocking all three men off balance. Anteron was thrown over the railing of the upper deck down on to the main deck landing flat on his back, the Captain was thrown head-first into the ship’s wheel immediately knocking him unconscious and Altren was almost thrown overboard. Anteron violently coughed, having the wind completely knocked out of him. He rose to his feet and turned to face the island that had almost killed them. Altren descended to the main deck, staring at the island as well. It had literally appeared out of thin air. They were both for a loss of words. Anteron rubbed his back before taking a seat on the deck, trying to process how this was possible. “That was not there before,” Anteron and Altren both muttered at the same time, shifting their attention to stare at each other now. “Well boy? You wanted adventure, here’s your fucking adventure,” Anteron managed to cough out. “Stop standing there with your jaw between your legs. Go get our armor. This is what we came for.” Altren remained frozen. The confidence and anger he’d had minutes before was now gone. He was scared again, of the myths and stories others had told. Yet they all failed to mention an island that appeared from nothing. “Go get the fucking armor boy!” Altren snapped out of his paralyze trance and sprinted down to below the deck, retrieving their armor and emerging once again. The two equipped their armor and made their way to the rowboat they would use to lower themselves into the water and row to shore. “What about the Captain,” Altren asked, his nervousness showing once again. Altren stepped hopped the gap between the hanging rowboat and the ship, sitting himself down. “He’ll be fine. He’s going to wake up with an awful headache, but he should be fine.” Anteron extended his arm to Altren to help him clear the gap to the rowboat. Altren jumped into the rowboat, seated himself and Anteron loosened the winch, descending to the water. “You wanted adventure?” Anteron took the oars from within the boat and dipped them into the water, beginning to paddle to shore. “Well here’s your adventure.” Altren sat in the rowboat in disbelief almost. He’d asked, and he’d received. It scared him. He peered over the side of the boat and watched as the water color slowly transitioned from the dark blue it had once been to an ugly, green and cloudy tinge. He reached his hand down towards the water, only his finger making contact. He felt a searing burn on his finger, immediately pulling his hand back. “Ow, the water is fucking boiling!” Anteron quizzically stared at Altren, not believing him. He pulled in an oar and reached down to the water himself. Despite not trusting Altren, he only dipped a finger in the water, shocked by the searing burn as well. “How is that possible? The water isn’t even bubbling.” Anteron was just as confused as Altren, a sense of dread growing within him as well. They both stared at each other for a while longer before Anteron put the oar back out and continued to row to shore. The rowboat beached, but the two were afraid to step in the water in order to make it to land. Anteron sat in the boat thinking about how they were going to do it. “Well? Are you going to do something,” Altren asked, not aware he was trying to think of a way for them to get on land without touching the water. Anteron spent a few more seconds thinking before he realized something. He lifted his finger to his mouth and turned his head looking to the island. “Do you hear that,” Anteron asked, keeping his gaze fixed on the trees, mountains, beach. Altren tried to hone in his hearing, to catch what it was Anteron had heard. Nothing. “Am I supposed to be hearing something or are you losing your mind?” Anteron slammed his finger against his mouth once again. “You hear that,” he asked again. “Nothing. Silence. Not a single sound coming out of those forests.” Then Altren realized. He grew extremely uncomfortable once again. “We have to get into the water. We don’t have another choice,” Anteron stated as he jumped out of the boat into the shallow, boiling water. It wasn’t as hot as skin contact, but he could feel the heat beginning to penetrate through the layers of armor, cloth and socks. He hopped through the shallow waters, stopping right where the water met land. He beckoned Altren to follow suit. He didn’t want to. Altren had an unnerving, twisting feeling growing in his stomach. Like something bad lingered on this island. Or perhaps he was just making himself feel this way out of anxiety from being out on the sea for as long as they had. He started questioning himself. Was he? Altren jumped out of the boat as well and hopped through the boiling water, making his way next to Anteron. They were now facing the island. Perhaps it wasn’t Orgthorak since Anteron and Altren had heard other descriptions of the island. Some described it as being completely frozen over while others swore it being a swamp island. What stood before them was neither, and instead forested. Further past the trees were mountain peaks suggesting the island was a decent size. They hadn’t had the opportunity to take in its full scale, seeing as it seemingly appeared from nothing in front of them. As the two walked, climbing the beach to the face of the forest, Altren noticed something odd once again. He slowed his pace and stared down at the sand, eventually coming to a complete stop. Anteron continued to walk, before realizing Altren had stopped and turned to look at him, confused. “What are you doing?” Altren continued staring down at the ground, at the sand beneath their feet. He lowered himself to his knees and dug his hand into the sand, taking a large scoop. It acted liked sand and shared its properties, but he couldn’t figure it out. Altren shrugged it off then rose to his feet, beginning to walk once again before realizing what it was. He looked up to Anteron, then back down to the sand and stomped his boot. It gave a loud thud. Anteron furrowed his brow, before looking down at the sand as well. He too stomped his boot against the sand creating another loud thud. The sand was rock solid when stepped on, but acted like sand when handled. The two looked up at each other before quickening their pace up the beach to the entrance of the forest. They reached the top and scanned the trees, hardly able to see anything due to the density of the foliage. Anteron turned to look back at the boat one last time before they entered the forest, potentially being gone for longer than they’d expected. He hoped the Captain would wake up and know that they had gone to land and not randomly disappeared like the island randomly appeared. Except, the boat wasn’t there. In fact, the ocean wasn’t there. Anteron was met with trees for as far as the eye could see. He shook his head, then rubbed his eyes and slapped himself. Altren turned at the sound of the slap, noticing the scenery behind them had completely changed. He was speechless. Altren dropped to his knees and tried to force himself not to break down in tears. Everything he feared would happen was happening. “Relax. R-relax. This is fine. I’m sure we made a wrong turn somewhere. . .” Anteron trailed off, not even believing what he said himself. Altren continued to fight back a full meltdown. Tears slowly streamed down his eyes, but he wasn’t crying. “Come on. On your feet, on your feet. Sitting around crying isn’t going to get us anywhere.” Anteron attempted to pull Altren off his knees and to his feet. “It’s ok. Remember what I said back on the boat? I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” Anteron dusted off some dirt from Altren. “Your mother would kill me if something did,” he muttered under his breath just so Altren was unable to hear it. He turned Altren, placed his hands on his shoulders and stared him in the eyes. “Look at me. Stay with me. You need to get yourself together otherwise we’re definitely not going to make it out of this.” Altren nodded his head, tears slowly streaming down his face. “We’re going to stick to the plan and head as deep as we can. Maybe we got turned around. There’s no way the ocean disappears behind us like that.” Altren nodded once again. He wanted to speak but was so choked up he couldn’t find the ability to. All he could do was nod or shake his head. They turned in the direction they’d planned on going in in order to enter the forest. Altren froze, then dropped to his knees and began bawling. There before them stood a massive temple, made out of plain white stone, polished. It was unlike anything they’d ever seen before. Something was playing tricks on them and Altren was letting whatever it was know that it was working. “Hey. Hey!” Anteron picked up Altren once again and slapped him across the face. “You fucking pull your shit together. You understand me?” Altren immediately snapped out of whatever state he was in. He wiped the tears away from his face and nodded once more. They turned to face the ominous temple, towering high, higher than most temples they’d ever seen. There was only one entrance, without a door, and the way in looked like a black pit. No light came from within and no light entered. Anteron approached the entrance to the temple, examining the the material it was made of. He slid his hand across one of the walls, feeling the sleekness of whatever it was. “What do you think it is,” Altren asked through light sobs. Anteron continued examining the wall, so confused yet so interested. He pulled his hand away and rubbed his fingers together, expecting some residue to have come off. The material looked as though it was coated in oil, or water was running down it. Yet there was no residue of anything on his hand. He faced the door and stared into the black abyss. A black fog rolled across the floor out of the doorway. Anteron was overtaken by curiosity and stepped in to the entrance without second thought. Altren panicked and followed in after him. Inside was pitch black and the light from outside could not be seen from within. “Anteron!” Altren scrambled, flailing his arms through the darkness attempting to find Anteron. He felt Altren’s arm hit him and took a hold of it. “I’m right here. I’m gonna tie some rope to you and myself so we don’t get lost.” He did just that. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a short length rope, tying it around his waist then Altren’s. Their eyes weren’t adjusting to the light, it was extremely unnerving. Neither of them had experienced a darkness this blinding before. Anteron cautiously failed his arms about, looking for the wall. His hand made contact with the now-familiar sleek material. “We’re going to follow the wall until it takes us somewhere where we can see,” Anteron informed Altren. Anteron tugged the rope to indicate to Altren which direction they were headed in. Anteron slowly walked through the darkness, keeping his hand on the wall, almost gliding along the material. They continued through the darkness a little while longer. Whatever they were walking through seemed to go on forever with no turns, despite the temple looking to not extend this far from the outside. “How far does this fucking place go,” Altren nervously asked. Anteron felt a slight resistance on the rope attached to his waist and stopped. He held his right hand to the wall and used his left to check the rope. It wasn’t there anymore. “ALTREN! ALTREN?!” Anteron panicked and flung around and threw his arms trying to grab Altren. He was met with a solid wall. “ANTERON! WHERE ARE YOU,” Altren’s shouted, extremely muffled from the other side of the wall between the two now. They were cut off from each other. Anteron punched the wall repeatedly. Over and over again until his knuckles grew numb, warm with the drip of blood. His hand frantically shook as the blood continued to drip. “JUST- JUST STAY PUT. I’LL FIND A WAY ARO-” Anteron shouted before he was cut off by the blood-curdling screams of Altren. “THERE’S SOMETHING HERE. I CAN HEAR IT, IT’S GETTING CLOSER. ANTERON, HELP ME! HELP ME, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE-” Anteron could hear Altren pounding against the wall, as though it would give out if he tried hard enough. “DRAW YOUR SWORD. SWING, SWING UNTIL YOU FEEL SOMETHING HIT.” There was a brief moment of silence. Anteron heard a brief hissing on his side of the wall but was too caught up in what was going on with Altren that he hadn’t even noticed it. Anteron heard Altren’s sword clashing against the walls and floor as the boy swung for anything everywhere. Then it stopped. “I THINK I HIT I-” The voice was cut short by the sound of a thud against the wall. “Altren,” Anteron whispered to himself at first. “ALTREN?! ARE YOU THERE BOY?!” No response. It was then that he finally noticed the hissing. Anteron turned and pressed his back against the wall, sliding to the floor. He shut his eyes to an eternal darkness.