Everflame (5 page)

“Hello,
” Eveneye shouted. He received no response. Even further than that, from the echo his voice created, he could tell that the hole was very deep.
That hole must be so deep that the fall would kill me.
He moved to the other hole. “Hello,” he called out again. No response. Yet this time, there was no echo at all. The hole was shallow, maybe too shallow. He would not want to choose that hole only to find himself stuck in the middle of a burning pyramid.
If only I could see
. It was getting very hot now and the smoke obscured his view of the crowd.

The flames had reached the top
of the platform. His time was running short. Eveneye cursed. Then a grand idea came to him. He ran to the scroll and picked it up. He tore a piece of the scroll off and then went to the fire and lit it. He then rushed over to the shallow hole and dropped it in. Sure enough, the hole was too shallow. The walls of the hole were already starting to smoke. The hole was a trap. Thinking the other hole was too deep, Eveneye lit another piece of the scroll and headed to the hole he had lined up with the banner of the Flames. Anticipating the outcome, Eveneye backed away from the hole as he dropped the burning piece of scroll. A jet of flame shot out of the hole. The hole had been filled with some highly flammable substance. It was another trap, although, this seemed to confirm his theory about the banners.

The
fire was closing in on him now and he didn’t have much time. It seemed the hole that lined up with the Fighting Fish banner was the right choice. Fish were food, they were life, it must be the right choice. He began to lower himself into the hole and then heard a large splash come from the bottom. There was water down there, but he didn’t know what was in the water. He decided to drop the rest of the scroll to the bottom of the hole. He heard it splash as it hit the water and then the water became a thrashing frenzy. There was something down there and whatever it was, it was not friendly. All that was left was the deep hole.

Eveneye spun and looked at it from across the platform. Flames were everywhere now and the smoke was burning his eyes. Just then
, a giant, cracking sound ripped the air and the pyramid jolted. The flames were consuming it.
I’m out of time
, thought Eveneye. He quickly resigned himself to his fate and dashed for the deep hole. As he ran to it, the pyramid continued to break underneath him. Without a second thought, he launched himself into the hole and disappeared into the blackness.

The crowd could see nothing. The pyramid had become a great bonfire. Everyone expected the worst. Irontooth smiled from his high seat and turned his gaze at Goldenheart. Her face was wet with tears
, though she made no sound. Whiteclaw sat emotionless.

“Let this
be a lesson to the both of you,” sneered Irontooth.

Irontooth turned back toward the crowd and inhaled the smell of smoke that had filled the air. He smiled and sighed in satisfaction, relishing the moment. He wanted to watch the pyramid
until it became a pile of ash and he wanted every bear in the kingdom to watch it too.

As Eveneye fell
, he closed his eyes, bracing for an impact that would never come. He had flung himself down the hole, headfirst, in a free fall. However, his body quickly came flush with the wall of the hole and it began to change his direction. Eveneye realized that the hole did not go straight down and was, in fact, an angled slide. The slide eventually came level and Eveneye skidded to a stop. He was in complete blackness but he could feel the walls on either side of him. He knew from which direction he had come and decided to continue in the opposite one. It was not long before Eveneye ran into a staircase, and as he began to climb it, pride welled up inside of him as it became clearer that he had chosen correctly. He came to the last step and hit his head on the ceiling. He pushed at it with his paw and it gave way. It was a trap door in the floor of the arena, and Eveneye pushed himself up and out of it.

Members of the crowd began to point as they noticed his presence
, some sixty yards from the burning pyramid. As more of the crowd noticed, they began to cheer, no longer able to conceal their natural inclination to support the underdog. Whiteclaw and Goldenheart began to cheer as well. The guards raised their spears to the bears’ throats and they were quickly silenced.

Irontooth shook with rage, unable to speak. Eveneye ran across the arena floor until he was under Irontooth’s box and shouted at him.

“Irontooth,” he called. “Tell my brother, Whiteclaw, that he shall help me rule this kingdom so that my heart never becomes as poisoned as yours.”

Irontooth shot out of his seat and bellowed into the
smoky air.

“Begin the second challenge now!”

This time, Irontooth gave no instructions to Eveneye and there was no doubt that this was done purposefully. The fourteen bears returned through the gate, yet one came back out carrying a johnball and motioned for Eveneye to follow him. The arena floor already had markings for johnball and Eveneye was led to the far end of the johnball field. The bear gave the ball to Eveneye and said, “Your goal is the opposite end of the field. When you hear the horns sound, you may begin. You must score only once.”

Eveneye nodded
and the bear turned and left the arena. Eveneye looked around and saw nothing in the arena other than the burning pile of wood that was once the pyramid. He kept his senses sharp. He knew that any moment his obstacles would be presented to him and they would most certainly be deadly. He took the johnball and waited, ready to run.

The horns sounded and a gate opened on the opposite side of the area. Gasps came from the crowd as ten giant wolves came
, barreling out of the gate. The wolves were at least as big as the ones he and Whiteclaw had battled the previous night. Eveneye’s wounds ached and his eyes narrowed. Despite his injuries, he had better battle more effectively than last night or it would cost him his life.

He immediately dropped the johnball and began running toward the fire. The ball would be no use to him unless he could kill all ten wolves
. He had an idea and he quickly reached the perimeter of the blaze and turned toward the charging wolves. He stood on his hind legs and roared at the approaching pack. It did not slow them and Eveneye realized he would have to be fast. As the first two wolves reached him, they leapt into the air, going straight for his throat. Eveneye anticipated their jump and fell to the ground, as the wolves overshot him and landed in the flames. The next two wolves were immediately behind them, and Eveneye used their momentum against them, slashing at the first with his claws while sidestepping the other. His blow met the wolf under the chin, stunning it. The second wolf that he had sidestepped tried to stop itself, but could not until it had just passed Eveneye. He lined the wolf up and kicked it, sending it into the blaze. The stench of burning flesh and hair now permeated Eveneye’s consciousness and sent adrenaline coursing through his veins. The wolf Eveneye had slashed came back at him and he was ready, swiping at it and knocking it into the fire as well.

Four down, six to go. Eveneye
again stood on four legs and roared at the pack. They had grown wary of the fire and were no longer flinging themselves at him. It was now Eveneye’s turn to go on the offensive. He flung himself upon the pack with reckless abandon. He took his claw and uppercut the first wolf under the jaw, lifting it into the air. With his other arm, he slapped a wolf to the ground. Stepping on its head with his hindquarters, he crushed its skull. Another wolf dove at him and he swung the wolf, impaled on his claw, down at it. The wolves came crashing together and rolled to the side, stunned and wounded. Eveneye used the small diversion and quickly darted at another wolf, catching its hind leg in his teeth. He crunched down and broke the wolf’s leg. When he released it, the wolf fell to its side. Eveneye then clamped his jaw to its neck and ended the wolf’s life. There were now four wolves left. The two Eveneye had knocked to the side were back on their feet, although one had been severely wounded under the jaw.

The wolves were
now afraid of Eveneye and circled him, looking for a weakness. Eveneye had an idea of how to bait them in, though it would take all of his strength. He rose up on his hind legs and roared toward the ceiling of the arena. The wolves took the bait and launched themselves at him as he looked toward the sky. Immediately, he felt the searing pain of fangs in his flesh. All four wolves were upon him, hanging from his body. The weight was immense and it took all his strength to remain upright. Slowly, he gained his balance and took a step toward the fire, then he took another step and another. The crowd stared in awe as Eveneye, carrying four immense wolves, took one final step toward the fire and then fell backward upon it. The two wolves on his back were crushed between Eveneye and the burning wood. They relinquished their hold, and as soon as they did, Eveneye rolled. He then pushed himself up and off of the wolves that were on his stomach, crushing them against the fire as well. Eveneye was off of the blaze but the fur on his legs was on fire. He rolled on the arena floor and smothered it. The wolves were dead, but Eveneye had suffered severe burns on his legs.

He limped over to the johnball and picked it up in his mouth. The crowd began to cheer. They routed Eveneye onward as he limped
, with the ball in his mouth, all the way to his goal. Once Eveneye had crossed the opponent’s territory line, he dropped the johnball and called out to Irontooth.

“Irontooth! Tell my Kingdom to cheer louder! For my victory is their own!”

Irontooth stood from his chair and turned his back on the arena.

“It is time that I end this,” h
e uttered through clenched teeth. Irontooth began to leave his box, but stopped short and stared at Goldenheart and Whiteclaw. Then he turned to one of his guards.

“
When I have taken the life of that traitor, kill those two.”

“Yes, S
ire,” answered the guard.

The crowd continued to cheer Eveneye and as he stood on the floor of the arena
, he felt his strength waning.
I shall not fail
, thought Eveneye.
Just one last challenge.

The horns sounded and the gate opened again. This time
, Irontooth himself walked into the arena. The crowd quieted instantly, as if suddenly aware that their cheers for Eveneye had also been cheers against their King. Irontooth was bigger than Eveneye and as he walked toward the wounded bear, it was evident that rage was also on his side.

Eveneye closed his eyes and pictured his wife. He loved her more than anything in the world. He would not let her life continue without him, having to bare his disgrace. He would not leave her with that burden.
The bear thought of his wife being shunned from the Kingdom and a fire rose in his belly. He gritted his teeth, furrowed his brow and opened his eyes. Irontooth stood directly in front of him and unleashed his wrath.

Irontooth swung and caught Eveneye on the side of the head with his paw, knocking him to the ground. He followed with
another blow to Eveneye’s ribs and then stepped on one of his burned legs. The pain was unbearable and the bear cried out. He rolled away from Irontooth, narrowly missing another blow to the head. Irontooth, however, would not let him escape. He pounced on Eveneye, pinning him on his back. Blow after blow came to Eveneye’s head.  His wounds had weakened him. Eveneye’s vision began to blur as blood dripped into his eyes. Irontooth had control. Eveneye was going to die. He could hear Goldenheart cry out from far above as he drifted away.

Eveneye’s mind drifted far above the scene of his wife
, walking through the roads of the kingdom. Bears, along the sides of the road, were assaulting her with slurs and pelting her with rotting food. Whiteclaw wasn’t far behind her, being taunted by children and stabbed at with spears. They were being banished from the mountain, sent far from the light of the Everflame, far from their home. Storm clouds formed in the sky and lightning flashed in the distance. At the top of Gray Mountain, the Everflame burned and upon its pyre, laid the body of a small boy.

“No,
” grunted Eveneye. He opened his eyes to see Irontooth on top of him, afire with vengeance.

“What did you say, you maggot?”

“I said, no.”

Eveneye swung both of his arms up at Irontooth, sinking both sets of claws into
the King’s throat. He brought his hind legs up under Irontooth and pushed him off, rolling him over. Eveneye kept his claws in Irontooth’s throat, rolling with him and ending up on top of him. Then, Eveneye bent his head down to Irontooth’s ear.

“Tell whatever it is that waits on the other side of death that my life has only just begun.”

And with those words, Eveneye tore Irontooth’s throat out, defeating him and claiming the Kingdom. He stood and unleashed a primal roar as his Kingdom chanted his name.

Chapter 4:
Rumors

Eveneye had never forgotten those words.

Why have you done this to yourself, Eveneye?

Those words haunted him, Irontooth’s image haunted him, and the sculpture of Irontooth, standing right outside of his courtroom, haunted him. It had been fifteen years since he had killed Irontooth, but those words stayed as fresh as if they had just been spoken.