Chapter Four
The long walk up the stairs from the basement was much harder with so much emotional weight resting on his shoulders. He felt bogged down by his dilemma and didn’t know what to do. Standing in the massive foyer, Ben examined the long haul up the three flights of stairs to the attic—the highest point he knew of without getting on the roof. He hadn’t been up there in awhile because the room itself was unsettling, a cramped space that had a way of capturing shadows, despite the lights that hung from the ceiling.
“This is so stupid,” he thought, rationalizing that he had become deranged and this was just some manifestation of boredom seeping its way to the surface. The idea of being insane left him feeling even more scared. Without looking at the hole in the floor, he rushed up the stairs toward his room on the second floor. Denial was his only shield from what was happening to him.
He slammed his bedroom door shut and rested upon it for a moment, catching what breath he could. The click of the lock calmed him enough that he finally abandoned the false safety of the wooden barrier and went over to his cluttered desk. Yanking out the chair, he sat down in front of the computer monitor and hit the power switch. While it warmed up, he picked up the phone and dialed his mother’s cell number. Pulling the receiver up to his ear, he waited with little patience for a few moments before giving up on the silence. He tried a few more times before throwing it. The plastic shattered into pieces against the wall and rained down onto the carpet. Throwing the phone didn’t offer him much comfort, but it allowed him to blow off some steam.
“Where are you when I need you?” he asked out loud.
The computer beeped with confidence, grabbing Ben’s attention. Using the mouse, he clicked on the little earth icon to pull up the Internet. Four windows opened up at once, but each one had the same bad news. With no connection, he had lost complete contact with the outside world. The crushing realization that he was alone came down on him all at once. Crying wasn’t the best course of action, but it had become an option. Scared and alone, he sat at his desk, trying to figure out what to do. Going backwards wasn’t possible, and if there was any hope of getting out of this, forward seemed to be his only choice. Stuck to his chair, Ben sat there weighing all the possibilities in his head. This proved to be an impossible task and finally he gave in.
Opening his desk drawer, he pulled out a small medallion with a three legged crow on it. He measured the weight of it in his hand as he thought about his grandfather and how he had wanted nothing more than to see Ben become a man. They had been friends when Ben was growing up and losing him had been devastating. As he sat there looking down at the symbol engraved on it, he thought about what Grandpa Jack would have done in this situation and how he would act if faced with something so big.
Placing the memento in his pocket, Ben stood up with a newfound vigor and pulled a four-inch pocket knife from the top drawer. It snapped open, fitting with perfect ease against the contour of his palm and fingers. Gripping it like a vice, he walked to the bedroom door and opened it. It took him a moment to make that giant step over the threshold, but once he did, he headed for the stairs without stopping or looking back. With a single thought in his head—“forward”—Ben took each step up, trying to hold on to his flimsy courage.
The attic was strange with all of its abandoned nostalgic treasures hidden away for a lack of better storage. There were so many relics from his life as he passed through the room on his way to the back where the small light bulb’s illumination couldn’t reach. Like the past itself, these items were sequestered from the present in order to keep the stale memories they evoked at ease. His family had given up on these things in order to continue moving forward with their lives. Pictures and trinkets filled up box after box, creating a maze of wasted sentiment for Ben to maneuver through.
A constant cold breeze hit him in the face as he got closer to his goal. Lurching forward into the darkness itself, Ben could smell the difference in the air. The cool gusts were fresh and brisk, where the rest of the attic seemed stale and sour. The blackness of the corner enveloped him as he shuffled his feet and held out his arms to keep from running into a wall. Something sticky and light touched his arm. With a jerk, he waved his arm to move the substance from his path. Bringing his hand up to his face, he saw that it was covered in a thick layer of webbing. With knife in hand, Ben began to slice the air until he couldn’t feel it anymore.
Staring into the static darkness before him, he said the word “Shirak.” At that moment, the shadows opened and a small light the size of a coin appeared in the blackness. Taking the medallion from his pocket and clenching it tight, he stepped through the small gap, trying not to trip and fall. After taking a few steps, he noticed the floor had become golden sand. Its beautiful gleam helped him to see as he walked through the cramped passage. The walls began to turn from hard gray stone to brilliant specks of crystal that seemed to catch the light and hold it. Ben took a final step and found himself standing in a large cavern with a high ceiling. Behind him, the light from the attic had disappeared; leaving only the thick void he had just fumbled through.
The tall ceiling was rough and craggy with veins of crystal running across it. Specks of light reflected off the minerals in the rock, creating the look of a starry night across the cave’s ceiling. The golden sand on the floor shifted under his feet as he stepped further into the glistening grotto. To his left was a large conical fire that almost reached the ceiling. Its powerful heat was enough to singe the hair off any man’s face, but Ben kept inching forward. With his arm up, he approached the intense blaze to investigate the four black dots in the center. There, just inside the flames, were four egg-shaped stones resting in the flames.
“Curious being, the Phoenix,” said a voice to Ben’s immediate left. He jerked around with knife in hand to look and there, on a ledge at eye level, was a creature with its head tucked under a wing of iridescent feathers. It revealed its feline head as it stretched with its front paws out and its back legs up. The sound of old bones popping and groaning was enough to make Ben cringe. Thin, fine grooves were left in the stone where the creature’s claws scraped it with razor sharpness. Ben took a cautious step back, allowing the fire to come between them.
“A-are you the Sphinx?” Ben asked, with a noticeable stutter in his voice. The question was almost rhetorical because its iconic visage could not be mistaken. The creature before him was a beautiful mixture of cat, human, and bird, taking all the best qualities of each. Its regal presence was seen most in how well groomed the beast was. Its feathers were pristine and its fur shone. Ben found his courage waning again as he stood before another impossible being. Each swallow was harder than the last and his heart continued to beat faster and faster. With each thump in his chest, he gripped the medallion a little tighter, using it to give him strength. Its presence in his hand helped him feel grounded and secure.
“The bird lives its life, born from the flame, and then when it’s time to give birth, it returns to the flame to incubate its young. They are truly amazing and can be quite tasty if you can catch them between each transformation,” the Sphinx said, flashing a toothy grin. It got up and started moving around in catlike fashion. It scratched the fur on its neck against the sharp edge of the wall and purred a bit as it did.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Ben said, stepping further behind the fire as the Sphinx moved closer. Ben knew that if he could keep the flame between them, he might have a chance at escape if the creature came at him. It wasn’t the best plan, but he couldn’t think with his heart beating in his ears. Every ounce of free energy was screaming for him to run away, but he held fast, digging his feet into the sand.
“Oh, don’t be afraid, and please, put away that tiny knife. I can only eat you if you can’t solve the riddle. Would you like to hear the riddle?” it asked with that same devious grin. “You don’t seem very bright, so I’m going to offer you another deal. If you can find me a viable substitute, I’l
l reward you, and not just with your life.”
“I need to think for a moment,” Ben said, examining the creature with a puzzled look on his face. With a little confidence that it wouldn’t attack, he folded the blade up, placed it in his pocket, and began to search the surrounding area for ideas. The only thing that really caught his eye was a blur of sunlight pouring through the entrance of the cave. As he moved toward it, the Sphinx began to follow him, never turning its gaze from the boy. After a few moments of this, they were walking side by side. Still gripped with fear, Ben always kept the creature in his peripheral.
“What’s your name?” Ben asked, trying to lighten the mood. The creature paused with a distant look on its face. It was obvious that most visitors didn’t entertain such candor with the being.
“I…I’m not sure; it’s been so long since I’ve had visitors and even longer since anyone’s asked that, if ever. I seem to have forgotten if I ever even had one to start with. Either way, it’s not important to the matter at hand. Now, have you thought about my proposal?” They stepped from the cave and on to a ledge that protruded out about ten feet from the mouth. “I particularly enjoy little puppy dogs.”
“I’m still thinking…” Ben said, struck dumb by the amazing sight before him.
They looked out across a massive range of sierras that stretched on past the horizon. Their tall peaks were jagged, like the bent teeth of a busted saw blade, and the ground below was obscured by a blanket of thick clouds. Ben, taken aback by the scene, felt his chest tighten at the sheer height. With an immense sense of awe and a small helping of fear, he stood there watching as creatures with immeasurable wing spans flew across the sky out in the distance.
“How is this possible?” Ben asked.
“How is anything possible?” the Sphinx replied. It preened, as if reveling in its ambiguous response.
The amazing creatures were unlike anything Ben had ever imagined. They were reminiscent of dragons, but with almost no neck and a leathery hide where scales should have been. Their mouths were beaks, ending in sharp points that glistened in the sun every time they shifted in flight. The grace they exhibited was unlike any bird, as they flipped and turned so quickly it was almost too hard to keep up with them. Ben stood there for a moment in silence and watched as the large winged animals soared through the air competing in mock battles, fighting and releasing before any real damage could be done. They were living swords, slicing and jutting through the air as though it were a simple task anyone could complete.
“I’ve never seen anything like these creatures,” Ben said.
The Sphinx looked up at him with a smug smile and asked, “But you’ve seen something like me before?”
“That’s not what I meant. I’ve seen Sphinx statues before and other creatures in books, but never anything quite like this,” Ben said, squinting against the sun. Suddenly, one of creatures took a dive and soared down, landing on a plateau below. He watched as little specks that could only be people approached and bound it with rope. It put up little fight as they captured and restrained it.
“What’s that down there?” he asked, pointing. On the plateau were large pointed buildings that were barely visible through the low-hanging clouds. It was an entire city masked by the thick haze that clung to the mountains. The people scrambled to subdue the creature as Ben and the Sphinx watched. They heard a loud screech as the beast was forced into submission.
“Eh, those sorcerers are at it again. It doesn’t bother me much though. Those damn wyverns are bothersome and often defecate on my perch here,” the Sphinx said. “The sorcerers have tried on more than one occasion to get up here to me, but they always fail. I guess you could call them collectors, or even preservers, but I call them trophy hunters. Granted, they don’t kill all the creatures they trap, but that glorified prison isn’t much better, if you ask me.”
“They want to capture you?” Ben asked.
“Something like that. Now, don’t bother yourself with Leng, or those incessant necromancers. They’re just a bunch of overly self-important wizards trying to figure out the secrets of the universe. They should know that anything worth knowing can only be learned from a good riddle. Speaking of, there is the matter of my empty stomach at hand and that is a much more pressing issue.” The Sphinx turned and made its way back inside the cave. Ben stood there for a moment longer, watching as the other wyverns circled. They flew around as if aware that their friend was being pulled into a building, clawing and screaming for its life. It was a sad sight. Ben decided to turn away before he had to witness any more.
Without a plan, Ben knew he was stalling so he wouldn’t have to answer the riddle. There was only one option at this point and that was the Phoenix’s eggs. Even though they were surrounded by fire, he had to come up with a way to get one and feed it to his hungry opponent. Shuffling around the room looking for answers, Ben almost tripped over something buried in the sand. There, below him, was a bleached white skull covered with the sparkling granules. Curious, he dusted it off and saw that it was accompanied by even more remains just beneath the surface. It became obvious that these must have been the leftovers from the creature’s kills. It was seeing the gnaw marks that gave him an epiphany on how to solve his dilemma.
The Sphinx watched with interest as the boy rushed over to the towering fire. Bending over, he started grabbing the largest handfuls of golden sand that he could. The granules rushed from his palms almost as fast as he could scoop them, cascading back to the ground. Finally, after realizing the futility of his actions, Ben removed his shirt, set it on the ground, and started covering it with sand. Once it was full, he picked the shirt up and dumped the sand over the fire. Its flames were reduced, but not doused. He continued the process, working as fast as he could. As he smothered the blaze, a loud screech emitted from it as though it were a living entity. Within a minute, the sand was turning into glass, making the urgency of his actions more apparent. Thinking fast, he rushed over and procured a bone from one of the Sphinx’s unfortunate victims. After dumping even more sand over the fire, he used the bone to push one of the eggs out of the flames, just in time for the glass to melt and the fire to erupt anew. He jerked his hand away, but still felt the searing pain where the heat had hit his flesh.
“Ow,” he exclaimed, pulling his hand up by instinct.
“Oh, how fortunate. The flames of the Pheonix are far less forgiving than the heat they put off. They will burn you to the bone within the blink of an eye,” the Sphinx said. It approached with a bounce in its step that portrayed the creature’s amusement at Ben’s misfortune. “How about that riddle now?”
“You said if I fed you, you would reward me,” Ben said.
“Did I? I’m not sure I remember that,” it said with a mischievous grin.
“Of course, I can’t believe I trusted you!” Ben said.
“Brat,” it said. “You know how to ruin someone’s fun, don’t you?” the Sphinx said.