Digby Chapter 11

Read Table of Content | +Kyla Scurchio
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     Zugzwang sat on the ground in the meadow leaning on one arm while poking a stick at the Deathbot he had been purposely making go off four an hour. He rather enjoyed watching it shoot its mini, missiles, lasers and guns into the dirt.
     "Could you please stop doing that, for five minutes" I snapped trying to focus my attention back on my map. It was a blazing hot day and we had miles yet to travel before we made it to Digby. We had to pass clean through the mountains and follow an old path straight up to the Town of Digby. We planned to hunt when we stopped and rested, but with the racket Zugzwang was making I figured we scared all the mice away by now.
     Funnily enough we hadn't. White, brown, and Grey mice nearly ran right up to us. Zugzwang even caught one with his hands when it came to close. He laughed as it squirmed trying to get away. I folded my map in thirds and gave up.
     "We are supposed to follow this path straight through the mountains but it hasn’t
been traveled in years. I'm afraid it may not be there."
"All the more fun." said Zugzwang like it hadn't fazed him.
     The trek back to the Mountain was not a pleasant one for me. I had been so ready to leave a few days ago, that it was one of the last places I wanted to return to. And it was strange to me to finally be going over the mountain pass. I'd been on this side of Gnawnia since I was little. I could barely remember Digby, just the image of a shiny building on the hill, the Lab.
     Back then the Scientists had been building an incredible telescope, I wondered if they ever got it up. And it had also been the beginning of Furoma. Rumor had it that it was now abandoned. The Pagoda lay empty and the training grounds deserted. We had talked it over and planned on visiting Furoma before returning to the Town of Gnawnia. I could always just send a runner to give notes to the King if need be.
     "How long till we reach Digby?" asked Zugzwang, after another hour of walking in the heat.
"At least another day’s walk and that is only if we don’t get lost and stay on time." I saw a look of disgust on his face.
"Why," he asked "did we not get a horse to take us?" I heard him grumble.
     "The horse can’t make the trip through the pass." I gazed at the sky shielding my face from the sun. "Come on if we keep moving we'll make the mountains by night fall."
     By the time the sun had set we reached the valley pass. Mountains loomed over us once more.  We would pass through the valley before rounding into Boulder pass, beneath the mountain Morvyn. It was the largest mountain in the Kingdom. We had settled for the night, setting both traps and pitching the tent. A fire crackled casting long shadows that danced off the rocks around us. My eyes began to droop as we sat staring at the flames.
     "I'll take watch first buddy. You go rest." said Zugzwang getting up to check our traps. I stumbled into the tent and dropped. Out cold before Zugzwang even returned.
      I dreamed of the past that night. A past I usually kept locked up. I was a little boy, standing at the front gates of the Town of Gnawnia. My father had his hands on my shoulders.
"Now you do as the King tells you and hold your head up. I'll be back before you know it.” He tousled my hair as he smiled at me.
     "But Pa, I don’t want to stay with Uncle, he doesn’t even like me that much." I screwed up my face in a scowl.
     "Oh son, sure he likes you. We only just moved here. Give him a chance to get to know you. I know you loved Digby but the Town of Gnawnia will be good for us."
I sighed as he hugged me and walked out the gates. Fog enclosed around him and the air grew heavy, too heavy.
     My coughing awoke me, the dream still fresh in my mind. I hated that day. I resented my father for ever leaving me. He being my only living parent was hard enough, but he flat out abandoned me. He never did return. Not days after his departure the Kingdom was shut down. The Gates locked in and no one was allowed in or out. I still remember the King's flier on every citizen's door, announcing the danger of leaving the protection of the town. That there were mutated, strange animals on the loose and it wouldn’t be safe until the scientists figured out a way to protect ourselves.
     They of course had been wrong. We were safe; the mice here weren't bad at all. But still, my father never returned.
     I shook my head of the memory. "Not there, don’t go there" I told myself. I crawled out of the Tent to see Zugzwang drooping by the fire surrounded by thick fog. I gave him a tap.
     "I'll take over." I told him.  He only nodded and crawled over to the tent. I could hear his snores before I even seated myself.  Tomorrow would be chilly if the Fog didn’t let up. I spent the rest of the night wide awake, watching the fire die down to nothingness.
     Around dawn I got up and stretched, stiff from sitting all night. I walked up the path a ways to check our traps. Just when my Forcefield came into view I paused. There at the trap was a solid black mouse, except for the red X that was on its back.  When it heard my approach it turned to look at me. It gazed over its shoulder and winked and then proceeded to snatch up my bait easily and scamper off.
"That," said Zugzwang coming up behind me "was a Black Widow. One of the more crafty mice I know of. Don’t let her fool you though, she'll rob you clean."
     I stood staring at the spot where the widow had left, when Zugzwang handed me my Journal.
"Here mate, sketch in the Black Widow, I'll go check my trap."
     "Nothing." came Zugzwang's voice from up the path. He came into view carrying his base and trap. "She robbed me too."
     "Dear King, we encountered a new mouse today. Zugzwang called her a black widow. She's intriguing to say the least; crafty, and intelligent, not like the common mice. Our traps didn't stand a chance.”
     We made it to Boulder Pass by mid afternoon. It felt nice to have the shadow of Morvyn over us. It was as hot as ever and to avoid the sun for a few hours would be a great relief. The Path, though old, was still there. It appeared the mice had used it this whole time, instead of scampering over and under rocks.  I smiled at the thought of mice walking down this path like your average traveler.
It was growing darker by the time we came out of the shadow of the mountain.
     "Nearly there now." I told Zugzwang coming quickly out of my stupor. I hadn't seen Digby in years.
     "Well I sure as hell hope so." said Zugzwang rubbing his shoulders.
The path opened up quickly to a grassy landscape. The mountains lay directly behind us dark and looming.
     "Ok," I said to Zugzwang pulling out my map, "normally we would have to follow this path all the way to the lab and then come back down to Digby from there, but I think if we just cut across this field we could save us some time." Zugzwang just nodded in agreement and we left the path. It was like the child in me was squirming to get out. I practically ran up the last hill to see Digby first. Zugzwang took his time.
     Just as I came up to the top of the hill I paused. Standing just as I left it was the large drill like structure waiting for my return. The Iron door was up and tightly closed but I knew there would be men staged at the entrance.
     I could already remember the spiral stairs that led to every room and floor structure. An entire town placed in one large iron drill. At the very top of the drill was the Lord's chambers. He managed and maintained the Town of Digby. There were also cavernous chambers that spiraled down into the earth. You wouldn’t believe how much there was in such a small space. Any time we expanded we expanded down. A whole Town beneath the earth. I smiled to myself. I was home.