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| If you could only bring one thing back from a magical land, there are worse things than pearls. |
Who really believes in magic these days? They say only crazy people do, but I can't help but believe in it as well. Nothing else really explains the nine-headed bird that swooped down out of the sky and snatched me up with its claws. Apparently it used to have ten heads, but it lost one.
It dropped me on a cave floor and said, "Help me."
Well, what else was I supposed to do? This bird was huge and could probably eat me without a second thought. But there were some supplies on the floor near where it had dropped me, so I set about changing the dressing on its neck.
"What happened?" I asked, while I was taking the dressing off.
"A dog."
From the bird's tone, I could tell this wasn't a popular subject. Still, it was enough information. The head had been bitten off, so there was a chance of infection. I didn't know what kind of dog would be big enough to bite through the neck of a bird like this, so I didn't know how clean its mouth might be. It was probably best to assume that giant dog's mouth wasn't clean.
I finished tying up the bird's wound and it settled in on the floor.
"Aren't you going to take me home?" I asked.
"No," one of the heads said, cracking an eye open. "You can stay here until I'm healed."
Great. The bird fell asleep. If I was going to be stuck here for awhile, I should see what I had to work with. Carefully, I walked toward the front of the cave. I knew we were high up, so I was somewhat prepared when I looked down, but I wasn't prepared enough. We were very high. I looked at the cliff below us and it was completely sheer. No change of getting a handhold on that rock. If I tried to climb down, I'd fall. I looked up above the opening of the cave and it was the same story. Sheer rock as high up as I could see. Where could you even find a cliff like this?
I pulled out my phone. No signal. Of course. Why would I get cell service in a cave where a magical, nine-headed bird lived? At least the camera on my phone still worked. I took a few pictures of the bird, for proof if nothing else.
I stepped back inside, considering. I'd been kidnapped by a nine-headed bird and taken to a cave in a completely smooth cliff. This was probably the weirdest day I'd ever had.
I wondered how the bird knew I was a veterinarian. Was it staking out the office or did it just get lucky? I didn't like the idea of a bird this large being able to watch me without me noticing.
Well, that took care of the front of the cave. What about the back of it? I crept past the bird, but it kept sleeping. Probably secure knowing there was no way out of here unless I grew wings.
There was a fish on the wall. I stared at it for a moment. I wasn't expected to eat that, was I? It looked incredibly unappetizing. I decided I wasn't going to mess with it. Maybe it was a precious trophy to this bird, or something.
I walked a little farther and kicked something that had a little give. I looked down. I was staring at a dead woman.
Without thinking, I backed up and started breathing faster. She looked far, far too skinny, but she had no wounds I could see. When I finally stopped looking at her, I saw there was another dead girl next to her. It also looked like she had starved. There were more than just those two. Suddenly dizzy, I staggered back to the front of the cave. Shaking, I sat down and pulled my knees up to my chest.
This day had gone from weird and scary.
How long had this bird been doing this? Kidnapping women? Were all of them here to heal him? Were they starved on purpose, or did he not understand that people needed food? My head swam with questions, but I didn't have answers to any of them. The biggest question was, How do I get out of this?
*
Jak saw a woman walking in the park. Then, there was a big noise, and she wasn't there anymore. Jak looked up and saw that a bird had grabbed her. Or, something that looked like a bird. She was in trouble, so Jak watched the bird and ran after her.
After what seemed like a long time, the bird flew into a hole in a cliff. Jak watched for a moment, but the bird didn't come back out. Jak let his head drop. His neck hurt from looking up for so long. He rolled his neck a little and looked back at the cliff. It was smooth. He wouldn't be able to climb that. So, how was he supposed to rescue that woman?
Jak walked around the cliff, wondering. He'd never seen a cliff like this before and he'd lived around here for years. It was puzzling. Maybe if he walked all the way around this cliff, he'd find a way to get in. After a bit of walking, Jak came across some other guys.
"Did you see the bird fly into that cliff with that woman?" Jak asked them.
"Oh yeah. We've got a way to get her out," one of the guys said.
"Great!" Jak said. "What is it?"
The guys smiled at each other. "Well, we'll put you in a basket and lower you down from the top of the cliff. Then you can go in and get her out."
"Let's do it!" Jak said.
The guys smiled at each other again and started walking. Jak followed. There was a trail going up the cliff and it was pretty steep, so Jak didn't have the breath to talk. They finally got to the top.
They tied a couple of ropes to a big basket and Jak stepped inside.
"You'll need this," one of the guys said, handing Jak a belt with a sword on it.
"For what?" Jak asked, holding the sheath.
"The bird," the guy replied with a smile.
"Oh," Jak said, buckling the belt on. "Thanks."
Chuckling, the guys lowered him down until Jak made it to the opening of the cliff. He stepped out of the basket and into the cave. The bird was sleeping. Jak pulled the sword out of the scabbard. It was pretty heavy. Jak wasn't really sure how to hold it, but he held on tightly.
He stepped forward and saw something move to his left. It was the woman.
"I've come to save you," Jak whispered.
"Great. Cut the bird's heads off."
"All of them?" Jak asked.
"Yes," the woman replied, annoyed. A lot of people talked to Jak in that tone, so he didn't really mind. He stepped forward and swung the sword down as hard as he could on one of the necks. The head separated. Jak kept swinging until they were all disconnected. The sword was bloody and gross, so Jak dropped it.
"You did it!" the woman yelled.
"Yes," Jak replied. "Now you can get in the basket and my friends will bring you up."
"Your friends?" the woman asked.
"Yes," Jak replied. "I followed you here after the bird grabbed you and I met those guys when I was trying to think how to get you out. They had a plan already and they gave me this sword."
"Oh. Did they?" The woman didn't really want a response. Jak could tell.
"What's your name?" he asked her.
"Maria," she said. "What's yours?"
"Jak."
"It's nice to meet you, Jak."
Jak smiled and offered his hand. Then he looked down at his hand. He wiped it on his pants leg. "Sorry," he said.
"It's okay," Maria replied.
They stood in silence for a bit.
"Get in the basket," Jak said. "My friends will pull you up and they'll bring me up afterwards."
"Are you sure?" Maria looked at the basket. "Do you trust them?"
"Why not?" Jak asked, surprised. "They smiled at me when we met."
"They did, huh?" Maria asked. "I think you'd better go up first."
"I'm saving you," Jak argued. "You have to go first."
"But-"
"No," Jak insisted. "You need to go first. I'll leave last since I'm saving you."
Maria looked at him for a moment and sighed. "Fine. Once we get out of here, do you know how to get home?"
"Sure, we just walk that way," Jak said, pointing straight out of the cave. "That's how I got here."
"I guess so," Maria replied. "All right. I'll go up first, and then you."
"Good," Jak said.
Maria stepped into the basket and it started going up the cliff face.
Jak waved. He saw the basket go up and up until he couldn't see it anymore. He waited for it to come back down. And waited. The basket wasn't coming back. "Something must have happened," Jak said. "Good thing Maria went up first."
He shrugged and walked into the cave, past the dead bird. He saw a fish on the wall. "Poor fish is stuck on the wall," Jak said. He pulled the nails out of the fish and set it on the ground. "There you go."
Jak looked away. Then something caught his attention and he looked back. There was a man standing there.
"You released me from that prison!" the man said.
"You're welcome," Jak said with a smile. "I'm Jak. What's your name?"
"Prince Halbert."
"Nice to meet you, Prince Halbert. Do you know the way out of here?"
"Of course," Prince Halbert replied. He looked at the bird and back at Jak. "You'd better get your sword."
Jak shrugged. Prince Halbert probably knew better than he did. When Jak grabbed his sword, it was wet, but just with water, not with blood. "It's all clean," Jak said.
"Yes," Prince Halbert replied. "Just wipe off the water before you put it in your sheath."
Jak wiped the sword off and put it away.
Prince Halbert smiled at Jak. Then, he walked deeper into the cave, and Jak followed.
*
Maria had her doubts about Jak's friends before she even saw them. Who gives a random guy a sword? Jak seemed really sweet and trusting. Maria knew she wasn't either of those things. Hopefully she was wrong about these guys.
The basket got to the top of the cliff and Maria climbed out.
"Is the bird dead?" one of them asked her.
"Yes," Maria replied.
"Excellent!" he replied. Immediately, they dropped the rope and started walking away.
"What about Jak?" Maria asked.
"You mean that idiot we sent down there? He's gone. We killed the bird and saved the damsel in distress. Come on."
Maria looked at her options. There seemed to be only one path off of the top of this cliff. She couldn't hope the pull that basket up the cliff by herself with Jak in it. There wasn't anything for her to wrap the rope around to help distribute the weight, either. In short, she wasn't getting Jak out of that cave without their help and she was almost certainly going to walk down the cliff with them. So, for once, she would have to do her best not to piss them off.
Maria thought about her options for another moment or two before sighing and following the men down the path. Hopefully she could get away and head toward home. She was pretty sure none of this was part of her world. Which, at least, would explain how she hadn't heard anything about a nine headed bird flying around.
Maria followed the guys down the path, wondering what their plan was next. "So, where are we headed?" Maria asked.
"The king has offered a great reward to the hero who would slay the bird!" one of the men proclaimed.
Maria tried not to wince. She'd never heard someone proclaim something like that in her life and it was tempting to think she was at a Ren Faire or something. "And I'm guessing you'll all be claiming it," Maria replied.
"Smart wench," one of the men said.
"So, how are you splitting it?" Maria asked. She had to get them to divide against each other somehow without hurting her.
"An even cut," one of the men said.
"There's four of us, so I get 50%, John gets 50%, William gets 40% and Arthur gets 30%."
"How come I get 30%?" one man, probably Arthur, whined.
"Because you didn't help pull up the basket," the first man replied.
"I did," another man, probably William, said. "I pulled the basket both times!"
"Yes, but John gave away his sword and I came up with the idea," the first man replied.
Maria made a doubtful noise.
"What?" the main speaker asked.
"I was just wondering how much John's sword was worth, for it to give him an extra 10%," Maria said. "Must be a pretty expensive sword."
"Hey!" William said. "It weren't no more expensive than mine!"
"You got to keep yours," John replied. "Mine's lost in that cave."
"We could lower you down to get it," the main guy said.
"Oh no," John replied. "I'm not stupid."
"That's not what Howard said," Arthur said.
"What?!" John stopped dead and all of the men stopped with him. Maria edged around them slowly. Now they weren't between her and the end of the trail.
"I did not!" Howard, the main speaker, replied, hotly.
"Yes you did," Arthur said. "You said...you said all of us was stupid and that's why we followed you and needed your leadership. You take care of us."
"All of us are stupid?" William asked.
Maria kept walking down the path. None of them paid any attention as she walked away. Behind her, she heard a fight starting. Oh good. Maria began to run. The more distance she put between them and her, the better.
Maria made it to the bottom of the trail and headed around until she could see the cave. She spared a moment to look into the cave. If only there was a way for her to help get Jak out, but she had even fewer options now than she did before. "I'm sorry," Maria whispered. Then she put her back to the cave and started running. Hopefully Jak would be right about this, and she'd be home soon.
*
Jak followed Prince Halbert through the cave. It was always bright enough to see, even though there weren't any lights around. Which was nice because the floor wasn't smooth and Jak stumbled a few times, even when he could see.
After a long time, Jak saw a light getting brighter. "Is that the way out?" he asked.
"Yes," Prince Halbert replied. "We're close to my home."
"Good," Jak said. "It's good to go home."
"Are you on your way home?" Prince Halbert asked.
"Oh yes," Jak replied. "I rescued the lady, so now I'll go back home."
Prince Halbert smiled. "Well, if you want to stop by my home for awhile, you'll be welcome."
"Thank you," Jak replied, "but I'm just out for a walk. I want to be home for dinner."
Prince Halbert almost said something, but stopped himself. That was okay. Jak had to stop himself from talking sometimes too.
They made it out of the cave where Prince Halbert and Jak said their farewells. Jak started walking, but he couldn't see the cave, so he wasn't sure how to get home from here. That made him worry a little. But a little further on, there was something on the ground. Jak got closer and saw it was a tortoiseshell. There were pearls in it.
"Pretty," Jak said. He took the pearls and put them in his pocket. Maybe he could give those to Maria next time he saw her. Girls liked pearls.
Jak kept walking and he found himself at the edge of a lake. "That isn't right," Jak said. "I am lost." Jak started to think he wouldn't make it home for dinner. Maybe he wouldn't make it home. Jak took out a pearl and looked at it. He realized he was starting to cry. Well, at least he could send this pearl home. Jak threw it into the lake.
Almost immediately, the water split in half, all the way down to the bottom. Intrigued, Jak walked down it.
"Who dares disturb my home?!" a big, scary man demanded.
"I'm Jak," Jak replied, his voice wavering. "I'm trying to go home."
"Jak?" There was someone behind the big, scary man. It was Prince Halbert! "Father, this is the man who saved me!"
"Is it?" the man looked at Jak again.
Jak nodded. "He was a fish stuck to the wall," Jak said.
The man looked much less scary. "If you have saved my son, then you are like another son to me. Stay with us!"
"Okay," Jak agreed. He could visit them for awhile. He could see a house in the water and it looked really nice.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure you can breathe," Prince Halbert's father said.
"Oh, thank you," Jak said, as the water closed back up. This would be a nice visit.
*
It had been about a month since Maria had managed to make it home. She'd shared the pictures of the nine headed bird with some of her coworkers and all of them were interested in how a bird like that worked. Maria almost wished she'd been able to stay long enough to heal the bird. She'd never had the opportunity to heal up a neck wound.
Still, it was much better to be home and safe than learn from such a scary bird. It might have decided to eat her one day.
Maria thought about Jak a lot. She hoped he had managed to make it out of that cave. Perhaps he'd been able to eat the bird so he didn't starve. Still, it wasn't like he could use the bird's wings to get out. Maria worried about him, but she didn't know how to get back. She had tried walking in the park where she'd come out, but she'd never made it back to that strange world. Sometimes she wondered how those four men had ended up splitting the reward, but that was much less often.
Then, one day, when Maria was back at the park, someone yelled her name. She looked up, and it was Jak.
"Jak! You're all right!"
"Of course I am. I stayed with the King of the Waters."
"What?" Maria asked.
Jak told her a little of his adventures. "...and in return for saving his son, he let me pick a present. Prince Halbert told me to take this little gourd flask because it gives me everything I want."
Maria stared at him. "Does it work here too?"
"I don't know," Jak said. "I want a car."
Nothing happened. Jak shrugged. "Oh well." He pulled something out of his pocket. "These probably aren't magic here either, but I thought you'd want them."
He handed Maria some of the biggest pearls she'd seen in her life. "Jak! These are beautiful! Are you sure?"
"Of course. I don't want to wear them, but they'd look really pretty on you."
Maria smiled. "Thank you, Jak." She thought of something. "How are you getting home from here?"
"I don't know. I rode my bike here before, but I looked and it's gone."
"Well, you were gone for a long time," Maria replied. "I'll drive you home."
"Thanks, Maria." Jak's whole face lit up when he was happy.
Maria smiled at him and shook her head a little. "You're welcome, Jak."
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