Victor and the Seven Circles of Darkness

Chapter 14 - The Second Gate

Victor's legs ached while forcing his steps up the high stairway. He looked over his shoulder and saw Trobit crawling far down behind him. He heard him gasping, craving for air, carelessly dragging the rooster cage over the solid steps, making the rooster inside squawked and restless.

Now he felt so warm and wet with sweat. He sat on a step to cool down. Just that moment, his thoughts diverted to the human world, where humans enjoyed the comfort of elevators and escalators. They have no magic powers, no wings, and yet they managed to make their lives far easier and comfortable. How he wished he had magic powers now so he could convert this stairway into an escalator, or simply fly. He wiped his forehead with his sleeves and trotted up.

He reached the top and slumped on the floor. He next searched for his backpack, took a bottle of water and quenched his thirst. Trobit came next, panting, sweaty, and reddish in his face.

"Are you all right?" he asked Trobit.

Trobit nodded. There's no more strength left in him to answer back.

Master Tyrus shared a bottle of water to Rower. Although he couldn't hear what they're talking about, he knew Master Tyrus was orienting Rower about the feather sign as his finger kept pointing at the stone walls. Bogle was out of sight, maybe Master Tyrus had already instructed him to search for the feather mark.

Rower took a moment to get a last glimpse at the circle, which he thought had offered nothing but pain to him. He felt sorry for these people, nevertheless relieved that he had escaped the cruel punishment of the circle. No more broken glasses piercing his knees. However, not unless they got out of the mountain, still, there's no certainty of his freedom. Not yet. Everything for now was temporary and unpredictable. He turned his back and faced the companions. He's ready to move on.

Victor approached him. "I'm sorry you'd been punished because of me, Rower. If only I knew this is the consequence of letting me pass the Black River without paying you, I shouldn't have made a deal with you." 

"I didn't know either, Victor. My utmost concern at that time was to help you cross the river. I think no one knows the consequence of breaking a rule in the Black River until it happened to me. I'm the first violator in the history of rowers, and you're the first whom I transported to the Golden Palace of Destiny without any payment. I knew the rules well, and I myself was confused as to why I allowed you to pass. It's the call in my heart to help, I guess. You convinced me so easily, but to be honest with you, Victor, I didn't regret helping you."

"That's a very kind gesture of you actually. If you didn't help me, I might still be in the Black River, lost and wandering."

"Strange though, you see, those people we're transporting to the palace were all dead. Naturally, they can't come back to the river. But you, Victor, you're different. You came back and very much alive. Just imagine if I did the same to a dead person. How could this person ever pay me back? That would only mean I suffer in this circle for many years of my life. It's horrible just to think of it. But then, here you are, together with your friends taking the risk and rescuing me here in the Darkworld just to fulfill your promise. How could an ordinary human do that?"

"A promise is a promise, Rower," said Victor. "I hold on to promises." Aside from that, how could he explain to him his real identity? That he belonged to another world. Did Rower ever encounter any magical beings before?

"I have a strong feeling that you'll honor your words. I have no doubts about that. What puzzled me most was ... how did you manage to come back to the Black River if you're not dead? Only dead people could enter the Black River, that was one foremost rule."

Victor gazed at Master Tyrus for permission to reveal their real identity.

"Go ahead," permitted Master Tyrus.