The Laws of Hyraxia

"Stop, hide here" Javier ordered as he threw a corner of his blanket over the lantern, shrouding us in darkness.

We obeyed and huddled together under the arch of an old alcove that once held a statue, now desolate. Through some experimentation, we figured out that so long as I didn’t stare directly into the light, and if I merely kept it behind me at all times, I could preserve some of my night vision, and if we needed to snuff out all light, my eyes would adjust rapidly.

Just ahead, at a four way intersection, I could see a greater gangrel ambling through, sniffing the air deeply in search of prey. A faint breeze flowed through the passage, leaving us effectively downwind. It caught no hint of our presence, and it harmlessly passed us, moving onwards without incident.

After several long minutes, Javier revealed the lantern and said, "It's safe, we're free to move onwards."

This was the fifth time this has happened, and for the first time in my life, I could feel myself happily embracing the cold comfort of false safety. I knew we were relying on the fickle premonition granted by an uncaring God, but after the fifth time, it felt certain enough to be reliable.

"Javier, I thought you said that you only occasionally got vague premonitions." I said, still not confident enough to raise my voice above a whisper.

"Before now, they were occasional and vague. It's never come to me so clearly, so swiftly, or so often." Javier whispered back, "It could be that just like the crippled saints of legends, losing my eyes and legs strengthened my connection to God."

"Wonderfully convenient." I said.

As planned, Javier clung to Amparo’s shoulders, a blanket draped over him to better keep him warm. For additional stability, he was tied to her shoulders like a backpack, permitting Amparo some use of her hands, although we had to use our climbing rope for it. Although I was solely responsible for the backpack, nearly as heavy as Javier, it did not impede my movement terribly, and I felt that I remained fully capable of fighting. Had we been in any other circumstances, I would’ve found the arrangement laughable, a tall girl carrying a short boy, being led by a tiny bear girl.

"If you get healed, will your strengthened powers go away?" Amparo asked as we emerged from our hiding place.

"I don’t know. In those stories, even though the saints could call upon miracles to heal people and even resurrect the dead, I’ve never seen them healing themselves." He said, his tone rich with uncertainty. "I presume it is the great plan of God, and leave it in their hands. Speaking of which, I have recovered enough to pray for the Golden Path to emerge."

Amparo and I looked expectantly at the saint, who had clasped his hands together above Amparo’s head, and began to murmur a heartfelt prayer. Golden dots of light began to emerge on the dark ceiling, like the first stars to emerge from the growing night. They sprinkled forward, clearly bending right and then disappearing, marking a path that we could follow.

"What happened?" Javier asked as he finished praying, "Did anything appear?"

"Yes…" Amparo said, looking up at the gold lights in wonder.

"You’re right, a golden path appeared, right above us." I said, also impressed, and filled with hope, for the first time since I’d arrived. Maybe I really might just get out alive.

"If only I could behold it myself." Javier said, smiling as he looked up. "Is it clear and visible? Whenever I called upon this miracle, it was only ever faint and barely seen."

"Only a blind man could miss this." I said, only to remember that Javier was blind, but he and Amparo could only stifle a laugh, interpreting my insensitivity as a bad joke.

We followed the light trail, still stopping and obeying any of Javier’s premonitions, which continued to be accurate regardless of time or place. Curiously, the golden lights did not actually cast off any illumination, and they disappeared as we went past, leaving our wake shrouded in shadow. Our conversation turned to light and jovial topics, led by Amparo, who once again described for us her home, with Javier turning out to be a far more attentive and participatory listener than I. In turn Javier would share snippets here and there of his life

"Could it be that God intended for you to get crippled?" Amparo asked the question I’d hesitated to bring up. Matters of faith were such delicate things, especially in regards to tragedy. "If you hadn’t been injured like this, your miracles wouldn’t be so effective.”

"The past makes the present, and things happen for a reason, even if that reason is simply to teach a lesson." Javier said, "Because knowing that lesson will change the future in unimaginable ways."

"So you do think that God did intend all these horrible things to happen." Amparo said.

"Yes. Being so injured has been far more useful so far." He said. "If this is to be permanent or if something worse were to happen to me, I will accept it. Unless that is not God’s intention."

"Then that means that whatever happens next, no matter how terrible, was because God meant for it to happen." Amparo concluded, "And God is helping us to avoid all these monsters because whatever it is next we are to confront, we’re going to need all our strength."

Javier did not answer, and so I did, "God works in mysterious ways."

"Does that mean that we’re destined to not run into the Wheezing Dragon, either?" Amparo asked.

"It could be that we must encounter the Wheezind Dragon." Javier said, bitterly. "Just not now. Not yet."

"I do hope that is not God’s plan."

We continued onwards, blindly traveling through the labyrinth. I’d recommended following our leftmost path, and they agreed, because as Javier put it, ‘In the absence of good ideas, uncertain ideas are still better than bad ideas.’

Twice more did Javier randomly tell us to stop and hide in some unnoticed crevice, without me having noticed any danger whatsoever, and twice more did we avoid running into an altercation. We now had full faith in Javier’s premonitions, and allowed ourselves to relax, or at least relax enough to let our voices go above a whisper.

"Loiel, you said that you already knew your class and level. When were you baptized and had communion?" Javier asked, "Normally that doesn’t happen until your twelfth summer, and you seem far younger than myself or Amparo. Amparo, you should just about be having your own communion, should you not?"

"My village was destroyed before I got to have my communion." Amparo said, "So I don’t know."

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories."

Meanwhile, I had to think of an excuse. It had been a slip to mention my level. I shouldn’t have even mentioned my class earlier to Amparo. Then again, I didn’t realize how big of a deal this class and level stuff even was. Had I known that learning my class was a full blown coming of age ritual, and I was too young for such things, I would’ve played stupid. I suppose that just confirms that the status screen is outright unusual.

"I don’t know." I said, "I just knew what my class and name was."

"That’s strange. But you also knew your level as well."

“I just knew what my class and level were when I woke up here. I don’t know if I’ve leveled up since then, but I knew I was level 6 when I woke up. I don’t know if that’s changed, either."

"But why don’t you know?"

"Amparo said it’s probably my slave mark. She said that when it’s applied, it’s so painful that some people forget who they were before the mark." I said, trying to weave a believable cover together. I could tell the truth, but I didn’t trust Javier. The bad habits of growing up in a low trust society. "When I woke up down here, I only knew my name, my class, my level and my race. I have no other memories."

"Is that true Amparo?" He asked, more shocked than I thought he would be,

"Yes, I saw the mark on her." Amparo said, her tone noticeably tinged with discomfort.

"I’m sorry. The slave mark is a barbaric thing. We of the Stone Solari find slavery distasteful. Once we escape and are confirmed to be chosen, they can remove it and set you free."

"If you say so."

"You don’t believe me?" Javier said.

"We live in a kingdom, don’t we?"

"Yes, the Kingdom of Hyraxia."

"And that Kingdom has laws, doesn’t it?"

"Yes?"

"Does that Kingdom permit slavery?"

"People can be considered property under certain circumstances, yes."

"Then I am someone’s property. If I am released without their permit, that would be theft. Or, I am the property of the Stone Solari."

"No, never. The Stone Solari would never own you. And besides, not all the laws of the Kingdom are worth following."

"Is that what the leaders of the Stone Solari say?"

"Yes, undoubtedly. They do what is right, regardless of Hyraxia’s laws."

"Then I trust the Stone Solari, even if they are the ones who sent me down here." I said, glancing back to see that Javier had a despondent look on his face. He clearly hadn’t considered why we were down here, and whether that had even been by choice, "Javier, what is a Chosen?"

"They’re the ones who survive the labyrinth. They’re chosen because they have the strength and the will to survive, or because they’re chosen, they have the strength and will to survive. Those that are chosen will be elevated, granted immense power, and become sacred soldiers who will free us from the tyranny of class, and make all people equal under the sun."

"What does that even mean?" I snapped, almost yelling. Both Javier and Amparo shrunk back in fear, "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. A huge woman said that to me before throwing me into the Dungeon. She said that, word for word. What does that mean?"

"All people are born equal as defenseless babes, and all people die no matter their glory or wretchedness. Yet the Evil God of the Spirit decides who is to be a king and who is to be a peasant. We, the Stone Solari, believe that all people are equal, and we have the right to aspire to our place in the world."

"The Evil God of the Spirit?" Amparo asked, actually stopping her pace. "Don’t you mean the Evil God of the Body?"

"Both the God of the Spirit and the God of the Body are evil. There is only one good and true God, the one that exists beyond both." Javier explained, equally confused. "The Evil Spirit suppresses the true, limitless potential of people by imposing class. If we destroy class and make everyone equal, then the best among us will rise up and lead us back to the true path. Not birthright, but merit and effort, will decide our place in the world. Then we will be liberated from the shackles of the body and become truly free once more."

"How stupid." I blurted automatically, because I already lived through such propaganda before. The myth of meritocracy. The belief that superiority and power automatically granted wisdom. Even in a world of supposed equals, people will make their own class, their own distinctions, their own higher and lower. And we did that all without a God.

"Take that back!" Javier yelled, echoing up and down the halls for anything to hear.

"I take it back." I sighed, unwilling to get into this with a literal child. Despite my words, it was hard to hide the contempt in my tone. I guess I was also just a child.

"Then if I free you, will you believe?"

"Sure, why not?" I said, as a distant roar shattered our tranquility.

The gurgling, hungry cry came murmuring through the walls, barely audible. Blood pumped so hard through my veins that I thought that they would explode. We strained to listen for it and find out where it was coming from. We stood in a passage with only two directions, forward and back. The sounds were not coming from either way. The noise evolved into tremors, and all the walls shook. It was in a hallway parallel to us, but how far away? How would it get to us? Oh God no, it was coming through the walls!

By the narrowest of margins I pushed Javier and Amaro ahead, narrowly avoiding the spray of stone and debris. As the dust settled, I beheld an absolute atrocity for the first time. It resembled a komodo dragon, if scaled up a hundred times. It barely fit within the passageways, its charcoal black, scaled body was carried by six limbs, its tail a horrific spiked mess on which withered remains were impaled. But most horrifying of all was its head. Instead of a reptilian head as I’d expected it to bear, it instead had a gigantic human skull. It was covered in just enough muscle and sinew for its jaws to move, and from its eye sockets two fleshy eyestalks that poked out like a snake. It looked down at me, coughing and wheezing, sending bloody mucous and spittle that fell onto the ground with a sizzle. All over its body were spears, axes and swords embedded in its hide, but most terrible was a broken harpoon lodged into its throat. Like a splinter, raw flesh had grown up and around the spear’s sides, embedding it deep within so that it might never be released.

"Loiel!" I heard Amparo and Javier both yell from behind the beast, and I watched in horror as its attention began to be drawn towards them.

"Go! Run!" I yelled as I picked up a fallen piece of masonry and threw it with all my strength. It tagged the monster’s cheekbone, which drew its attention back to me.

Now what?

Of course, I had only one choice.

Run.