A New Night

Battle of the Bands

Time dragged on as the sun fell in the sky—barely visible through the trees. And I was beginning to feel it. Never before had I experienced the feeling of just being worn out, at least not in my memories since waking up. I had experienced what being sleepy and out of energy felt like, floating on low energy before finding the sunny river. I had been made emotionally tired many times … at Krogallo’s death, at having the climb the Wall, and at continually failing to connect with Romalla. However, this was the first time that I felt like my body was sore.

It was an odd sensation, the more I thought about it. If I focused on any particular body part or joint, there was no specific kind of pain. It was only when I found myself lost in thought that the weariness subtly crept into my body—making my joints creek and all my pseudo-muscles tight. This … made no sense.

I was not sleepwalking yet, and I was pretty sure this was because I had completely recharged and not exerted myself with the gun or climbing any giant walls. But the way time dragged on and the way the jungle seemed to grow darker and taller …. While yet remaining somehow oppressively the same … it … uhm …

It was hard to keep track of what I was thinking about.

Only as night arrived did I finally see something new in the jungle. Or, at least, I thought I did.

In the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a long, black thing slither between branches. Whatever it was, it looked nothing like the giant snakes. Instead, this black cord seemed … weightless. I tried to feel interested in whatever it was, since I clearly liked reptiles. But then again … maybe that wasn’t a good thing. The yellow snakes had done little to give me any sort of well-deserved fear toward serpents in this unknown world. But when I looked closer, something was … unnervingly off about them.

I tried to convince myself that this nervous feeling was silly. I could even come up with a name for these new snakes! Once I learned more about them, I was sure I would be less apprehensive.

I thought about the snakes I had fought, their similarities to large snakes I knew, and the razor-like scales on their sides. I decided that if nobody else had named them, I might call the yellow snake species “garrote boas.” Of course, this came with the implication that these were in fact related to the boas I had known. Honestly, I was kind of leaning in that direction—about the snakes, the bats, and the entire world that seemed so like my own.

When I spotted the weightless black snake again, something about it made me jump so that I instantly forgot my calming naming strategy. Just seeing it, all my curiosity and excitement had melted away entirely. It hadn’t done anything or seemed threatening, but something about it inexplicably made me feel … nervous.

I brought my arm to my chest, making sure Romalla was not extended out as an invitation to be snatched as she slept. I thought about waking her, but I knew that she had been traveling on very little sleep thus far. Besides, I didn’t know for sure that anything was really wrong. So, unless I knew we were in danger, I didn’t want to wake her.

My blades were still extended, and I thought about preparing my ring gun as well. However, I did not feel confident about shooting it. I had become dizzy after doing so the first time—making me think it took a lot of energy directly from my body. Given the lack of sunlight, this seemed like a hazardous idea. Still … I decided it wouldn’t hurt just to have it ready.

I lowered a hand to my side and let it hover over my hip. This is what I had done almost automatically during my fight with Steelface. It took a moment, but I thought I could feel a tingling in my hand and hip. Then, the ring ejected from my leg to my grasp. There, it magnetically locked until I grasped it.

For a moment, I just aimed around—waiting for something to attack now that I was armed. But there was no change.

Was I losing my mind? The only thing stronger than this sense of dread was my own self-doubt. So I tried to distract myself further. Since it seemed that I now had time to look at the weapon I had shot Steelface with, I decided to do so with particular attention.

The gun was steel, entirely round, and shaped like an engagement ring. Only, instead of a diamond, there was a translucent-blue, square attachment, which was where I remembered the energy shooting out before. There were no seams to show how it had been welded together; there was no slot for bullets, a battery, or anything else. Honestly, it could have easily been mistaken for a robot-sized bangle.

The blue attachment produced a dim light—forming a bit of a flashlight. It seemed to help my night vision a bit, letting me more easily distinguish individual vines and trees from the mass of plant life in the growing darkness.

By the blue light, I was again startled by a long black cord closer than before. Upon being revealed, it darted back into the trees. I realized now that I had seen no eyes, mouth, or other sign that this thing was a snake at all. Was … something following us? My inner alarm rang intensely inside me. I could almost physically hear it. My body felt warm and itchy, and my vision took on a slightly red tinge.

How long had it been watching? Stalking … waiting to pounce. Had it been watching from a greater distance the entire time we had been in the jungle? If so, why had it suddenly gotten closer?

“Bassello … please let go of my feet,” Romalla said listlessly. The way she said my name was slurred and slow. I realized that I had unknowingly fastened my rubber fingers tightly around her feet, as if to keep her from being snatched away.

I nearly released my grip on her, but something stopped me. It was something in her tone. She seemed distracted and … not at all irritated or confused. I looked at her face and noticed a hazy expressionlessness. It looked as if she could have been sleep-talking as she said, “I need to leave, Bassello. Let me go.”

“Romalla … are you awake?” I whispered, surprised to find that my words came out choked. Then, my torso rumbled with a series of churning sounds, and my large inner compartment was opened. I gave her a gentle shake and forced my tone to be louder. “Romalla!”

This seemed to startle her for a moment. Romalla looked at me, forehead wrinkled, and then back down at my grasp on her feet.

A little relieved, my voice trembled as I said, “Something is watching us. It’s long, like the creatures from earlier. But … I think they may be even more dangerous. I think … maybe you should get inside.”

Romalla looked at me dubiously. She nearly said something but then darted her head at something in the jungle. She let out a screech … and then waited. Her ears lowered in a way I hadn’t seen before. Then, to my surprise, she fluttered from my hand—into the torso compartment. As soon as she did, the panel shut behind her.

Feeling only a bit better, I ambled along as my body rattled with nervousness. A minute went by, and then another. Still, I saw no further sign of the black cords.

“What is it?” Romalla asked, her voice echoing slightly from inside me.

“I … don’t know,” I replied. “But it feels … really bad.”

“I felt it too when I was out there,” Romalla said. “It was like … the opposite of when I could hear the spirit realm on the Wall. I couldn’t hear anything. But there were no normal noises either. Like the nothing was pulling in all the something.”

“Like a black hole,” I muttered to myself.

I walked more quickly, jumping at anything that moved. In my dread, I felt tempted to fire blindly into the darkness … or … or run in terror! Fortunately, some instinct blared at me that these horrible ideas would kill us. So, I forced myself to look straight down at my feet as I walked. This helped keep my mind a little clearer. Still, I could feel an overbearing pressure all around … a growing of the alarm I had felt since we had arrived in the jungle.

This pressure grew steadily. For about an hour, I managed to keep it at bay. Then … it broke through. I could physically feel it everywhere, making me feel like I was made of glass. And there was a pain in the center of my forehead.

I stopped for a moment, dizzy and trying to regain my composure. I looked around and was surprised by how little I could see. It was like … my night vision had been turned off. I hadn’t noticed before because I had been looking down and pointing my ring light at my feet. Now, I could only see a few feet in front of me, and only with the aid of the blue light.

I looked up to see if the canopy had grown thicker. However, I was stunned when I saw the opposite. The trees above us were the clearest they’d been. I could easily see the starry sky. I could even see the looming Sky City. We were heading right towards it.

I looked down at my feet and forced myself to continue walking. More time passed, but I was too scared to have any real idea of how long.

I looked up at the sky again to check our location. But this time … there was no Sky City. It was just gone entirely! Where was it? And how was it even possible that I had gotten turned around so completely?

Then, I spotted a second cord dart from the jungle darkness. I knew this was different from the first because it had faint spots a little darker than the rest.

An overwhelming feeling filled my brain—an electrical fear and confusion. It made me feel helpless … dizzy … slow. I could feel a coldness begin to work through my extremities, causing my joints to fight me. And the more I thought about the cords, the stronger the effects became.

I had to focus on something else … something loud that I couldn’t ignore. Something … anything!

“Rom …” I began to say before I was stopped by a tightness in my non-existent jaw. Then, one of my finger claws sporadically extended and contracted in a spasm that ripped through the soft rubber on it. Horrified, I forced out a second word—the only thing I could think of more piercing than whatever was assaulting my senses, “song!”

“Bassello? Bassello, are you alright?” Romalla shouted my name several more times and began thumping around inside of me.

However, I was unable to say anything more. Every ounce of energy I had was focused on moving my legs … one … at … a … time. Until I could move my legs no longer. Was this the end?

Then came a loud and grating screech!

It … it was coming from inside my chassis. This screech was long, and … I realized it had a melody.

“Save us, defend us, oh gods good and brave

Who watch us and hide us in the depths of our cave.

Oh Ragalla, Mother Ocean, of rains, mist and flood

Nurse the land oh so gently, that there might be blood

Look at Mulla the moon, and sweet daughter of night

Who sings with her winds, and coats her mother with light

And to Magolla, harsher daughter and bringer of sun

whose wrath leaves winter’s ice-terror undone

And last, Sleeping God, watch over our cave

Save us from evil. Let our People be brave.”

It was a song I’d heard before—when I had woken up in the cave. And I’d heard it a few times on the Island. And it was loud! Within the confines of my chassis, it was more grating and ear-piercing than I’d ever heard it. Still, never had it sounded so sweet as it did now. The high-pitched painful screech at the end of every couplet freed my mind from its drunken terror. I was still afraid, but I could think and move!

Desperate, I joined Romalla’s song in as loud and shrill a tone as possible. I began to walk as fast as I could. I slashed blindly at everything in front of me—stopping only when a tree was too sturdy for my blades and mechanical frame to bulldoze over.

Then, a cord passed right under my nose. I jumped and then made the mistake of looking up. Three more had emerged from the dark jungle. They were closer than ever, dancing around us in spirals and swirls—just out of arm’s reach.

Seeing them slowed and confused me. And I knew their power would have paralyzed me had it not been for Romalla’s song.

I sang louder and changed my walk into a run—slicing more vines and branches as I went!

One by one, more cords passed under my nose and around my feet. Plaint ones, potted ones, leopard-print ones. I didn’t want to think about how many were around me and overhead.

For a while, the song managed to keep their power at bay. Over the course of an hour, however, Romalla’s voice began to sound hoarse and … gradually … softer.