Six

The unsightly demons bustled about us, cramming things into our arms, then just as quickly replacing them with something else – nothing ever stayed in my hands long enough for me to even figure out what it was. I gave up on getting any answers to my questions; it seemed the more I asked, the more determined the demons were to talk about anything else. They argued about what we would need, what we should eat, whether we should leave now or wait until later, perhaps we needed to rest longer.
“But where are we going?” The demons just continued in their cacophonous choir. Michael was no help. He simply accepted the supplies the demons were giving him and placed them carefully in his bag. He didn’t even look curious, just eager to go. It was maddening. How could he take this all in stride? Angelic visitations in your dreams or not, this was—literally—an unearthly experience, yet he was acting as if it was just another day in the life. Or no, he was acting as if this was something he had prepared for his whole life and it was finally happening. I didn’t understand anything that was going on. I was still trying to piece together what had happened on the mountain, how we had gotten to this place, what was this place? And now, there was the mystery of Sadie’s note. How had it gotten in my pocket? Was it possible to get a message back to her? If it was, what would I even say?
Dear Sadie, I climbed a mountain with Michael today. When we got to the top we were somehow transported into a fantasy world. Oh yeah, and there are demons. Please tell Mom and Dad I’m ok. –Cass.
But was I ok? I mean, I wasn’t in any pain, I wasn’t hungry, and I wasn’t alone. Check, check, check. All ok, by general standards. I was just lost. Very, very lost.
Finally the demons seemed to settle down a bit. They had packed our bags with various items, and they were now only speaking in a slight hum and slowly pushing us towards the mouth of the cave. I suddenly felt a surge of panic. What was out there? What kind of world was I about to enter? I dug my feet into the ground and pushed back against their gentle pressing. “Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey, HEY!” I finally shouted, and the demons stopped, all their blinking eyes trained on me. “Hey,” I said, a little feebly. “What’s going on?” I felt like I was about to cry.
“Do not worry, Cass Cassie,” the main demon said gently. “You will have guides.”
And with that, the pressing started again, and we were impelled out of the cave and into the most blinding sunlight I had ever seen. I shielded my eyes immediately with my arm, but the sun was so bright I cried out in pain. I turned back to the cave, but I could see through the bright reflections and my own tears that the demons had disappeared quickly behind the thick doors that clearly implied “No admittance.” I could only squint in pain and wait for my eyes to adjust. The light was so bright, it took several moments before I was able to register that there was also a great deal of shouting going on. Slowly, blinking away tears, I was able to see and take in a bit more of my surroundings. It seemed as though we were on a giant beach, with white sand stretching out in all directions, though it was hard to tell because with all the reflection from the blistering light, I could barely even see the cave we had just exited. I turned and saw Michael, tears running down his cheeks as well, pointing off to our left.
“Look,” he said.
I followed where he pointed, and saw many creatures, their varied shapes constantly moving and twisting in a frenzied dance. They were all holding what looked like ropes, and they were pulling against them with a sort of frantic energy. The ropes all reached up taut into the sky, and the creatures were pulling them and tying them to giant pegs in the ground. They shouted at each other, urging each other to hurry, as more and more ropes were flung into the sky. I tried to follow the path of the rope to see what they were trying to reign in, but the light coming from the sky was too intense to make anything out. “We’ve got her now! We’ve got her now!” The cry started with one voice and then was taken up by all. “We’ve got her now, don’t let go!” The ropes seemed to tighten, any slack that had been there was now gone. At the same time, the ropes’ angle shrank, and they got closer and closer to the ground. “Hold her up, boys, don’t let her down!” The shouts of encouragement continued, but the ropes kept tightening and dipping nearer to the brilliant white sand. Then, one of the pegs burst out of the ground with a great snap, the rope it was attached to coiled up into the air. There was a great shout of dismay from the creatures and they seemed to redouble their efforts, pulling on the ropes and securing them against whatever great force was pulling against them. But they were fighting a losing battle; one by one the pegs were ripped out of the ground, each one snapping with a tremendous sound. It was like watching popcorn pop, slowly at first, one here, one there, then all at once the pegs popped out of the ground and sprang into the air. The light became incrementally less and less brilliant, until finally I was able to look up and see what the ropes had been trying so desperately to hold onto: it was a giant, glowing white orb, and it was now dipping behind a range of jagged mountains. The light was no longer painfully reflecting off of the white sand; it was more like the light of a brilliant sunset, glowing pinkish orange and illuminating the scene before us. The creatures, I could see now, were of all shapes and sizes, with no continuity. Some looked like animals, others like humans, and most like some bizarre cross between the two. There was no logic to their coloring either – they were as varied as shells upon a beach. Most had collapsed dejectedly into the sand, some leaned on each other for support. It seemed they were seeking comfort, as the glow faded.
“That’s the most bizarre sunset I’ve ever seen,” Michael finally spoke, and I realized what he said was true. It was the sun that they were trying to reign in, and it had gotten away from their grasp and was now setting behind the mountains. The mountains themselves looked oddly familiar to me.
“Michael,” I gasped. “That’s our mountain!” And it was, only there was something wrong with it. It took me a moment to register what it was—it was upside down. The few sparse trees that before had lined the top of the mountain now grazed the ground and their rust-colored needles stood out starkly against the white sand. Finally, a picture of what had happened hours before on the mountain top came clearly into my mind. We had completely flipped. The great cracking sound I heard must have been the base of the mountain ripping out of the ground as Michael, the mountain, and me had hurtled through space and landed on the underside of the world. Yes, I thought, that makes perfect sense.
And I was just about to explain it all to Michael, when one of the creatures pulled away from the crowd and dashed over to us. It was one of the shorter beasts, about as tall as my waist, though it walked on two legs like a human. Its fur was sleek and red covering all but its face, two human-like hands, and cloven feet. Two delicate horns curled outward from its forehead and its tail swished behind, leaving intricate tracks in the sand. I edged closer to Michael.
The creature seemed to sense that I was afraid, and stopped a few feet from where we stood. It cocked its head and seemed to squint at us, as if straining to hear something. Its eyebrows raised in sudden understanding, and suddenly it bowed with intricate flourish, dipping its head gracefully toward one outstretched cloven hoof. It straightened, and spoke.
“Good sir, dear lady,” he said in a decidedly male and surprisingly normal voice. “I am Farrow, your guide.”