Tyler Has Words is the blog of Tyler Patrick Wood, a writer/musician from Texas. You'll get free book excerpts twice a week. On the other days, you'll get words. If you would like an original take on everything by an expert on nothing, this might be a cool place to hang out.

About The Laws of Space

About The Laws of Space

Post 213:

The Laws of Space

Episode 28

Chapter 15 Begins

 

Chapter 15: The Old Man and the Three

            When Addie came back to retrieve them, she looked annoyed.

            “Everything alright?” Tate asked.

            “Yep. He’s ready, let’s go.” Sensing more questions, she held up a restrictive hand. “Everything will be explained in a minute, so don’t ask.” Addie led them out of the anteroom and into a massive underground courtyard, half grotto, half tenement. Around the perimeter of the natural high-vaulted chamber there were spaces cut out, little apartments reinforced with timber, concrete and jutting rebar. Some living spaces were adorned with fabrics not seen in the Five Cities. Drapes, shades of all colors—it was a sight to behold. Alder, Lerner and Travers were stunned at the makeshift ingenuity, swiveling their heads so often they forgot to mind their footing. On the left was an elongated food preparation area, complete with an ingenious meat smoker punched into the cave wall. Adjacent the kitchen was a well springing clean, fresh water. The water was syphoned off to various points of the cave through a system of mini canals. It was all a sharp contrast to the murk of the anteroom; everywhere they looked, lanterns burned. The mineral-laden walls seemed to dance with the light, sending it back about the chamber in efflorescing tones.

            “This way,” Addie said, turning toward an opening to their right. It led to another tunnel that opened into a smaller yet still marvelous cavern. In the center of the room sat five men and two women, positioned around a small pit which hosted a dying fire. They looked steadfast and imperious; Alder could sense that these were people of substance—hard people made harder by hard decisions.

            All except one. The man farthest from them in the circle, directly facing Alder and the rest, seemed otherworldly, unaffected, even numinous. His hair was white and puffy with dark streaks, like a storm cloud. Over his eyes were brows of an irregular size and thickness, highlighting every move of his face. “Welcome, Alder Tate,” he said. The sound echoed through the cave ceremoniously, but no one sitting around the pit moved a muscle. Addie and the group stopped at the power of his voice, and then for a moment a strange silence sat atop the scene. Alder and his friends assumed the speaker was the Old Man, but he was not the slumped, tenuously built figure they expected. In fact, the stormy haired man appeared to be younger than all but one that sat before them.

            “Yeah, nice of you to invite us,” Travers said. “Oh, and great to meet you too. We really should do this again. I’m Webb by the way, and this is Lerner. You know, the guys tied up and left in the dark while you lot were apparently sitting in circles. Good stuff.”     

            “Are you the Old Man?” asked Alder, trying to balance his friend’s sarcasm with a tinge of seriousness.

            “I am. Well, that’s what they call me, anyway.” Tate tried to get a sense of the strange character but he was different, separated. Different than the ones he sat with, different from Webb, Lerner, even Addie.

            “You’re not very old—for a, well, you know,” Lerner mumbled. The words were stunted but his observation was apt and worthy of query.

            “No, I’m not that old,” he responded. “You see, age doesn’t really have anything to do with my title.” For once, Alder and Webb shared in Lerner’s bemusement. Standing side by side, they wore identical faces. Addie shook her head and moved toward the circle and the square-headed individual to the Old Man’s right. Just get this over with, she thought.

            “Come a little closer, into the light,” he said, still cordial. The six others remained fixed on the center of the circle, as if dying embers held the secrets to all life. Alder and his friends inched forward, stopping about five feet from the group. “That’s better.” He smiled warmly.

            So many signals from so many directions—they were at sea, in a cave.

 

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