The Fall

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The Fall - Chapter 6

Pōuriuri/Into The Night

Aaron wakes suddenly to a noise. He sits up quietly, listening. There is someone at the iron gate of the cell. He hears the bolt being loosened. He waits in the darkness. No one enters. Quietly he approaches the gate. It is slightly ajar. He listens. Is this a trap? After a moment he opens the gate and sneaks into the corridor. There is no one there either. Trap or not, Aaron is going take his chances. He slides along the wall at speed, feeling his way to the stairs. He stops and listens. Then moves up the stairs with stealth and precision. Ducking past the the windows he gets to the door, opens it. People are mingling, drinking, keeping warm by fires. He looks up to the sky. It is a full moon and there is no way he could sneak past the people. So he pulls his hood over his head, takes a breath then walks calmly across the courtyard. People don’t take any notice of him. Or so he thinks.

In the shadows someone is watching Aaron. It is Panea. As Aaron crosses the courtyard she quickly follows. Aaron reaches the gateway where a couple stand talking to each other. If they’re guards they’re not doing a good job. He smiles to himself. 'These people are not very good at this'. As he exits the gates he turns to make sure no one is following him. Panea jumps back into the shadows just in time.

Outside of the gates Aaron runs for the hills. Panea follows close behind.

Aaron makes his way slowly through the bush. He stops to get his bearings. In front of him is the clearing where he was trapped. But he can’t remember which direction he had come from. He slowly makes his way along the bush line. Then Aaron senses something and freezes.

Behind him Panea stops too. She holds her breath, anger building inside, threatening to give her away. What is he doing? Why? Where is Perenara?

Aaron scans the clearing. The moonlit trees. Nothing moves and silence is only accompanied by the chirp of crickets. He moves on.

Panea does too but her anger has gotten the better of her. She carelessly steps on a twig that snaps, loudly. She silently curses.

Aaron is on to her now. He suddenly runs into the clearing and across to the other side and disappears into the bush.

Panea arrives at the clearing. She stops and listens. There is no sound except the crickets. She is gutted. She knows she has lost him.

Aaron arrives at the cliff top where Perenara fell. He peers over the edge and can make out Perenara’s mangled body in the blue light. He eases himself over the edge and slowly lowers himself holding onto shrubs and rocks. It is a perilous decent. Suddenly he loses grip and slides down the gravel face. Desperately he grabs for a shrub, then another, then finally gets his grip. Relieved he slowly eases his way to the bottom.

Perenara is all dried blood, flies and maggots. Aaron gags at the stench. He sees his knife sticking out of Perenara’s leg. Bones crack and flesh oozes as he pulls it out. He reaches into the pack searching desperately but cant find what he is looking for. He checks the pockets. Nothing. He is confused. Then he starts to look on the ground, feeling around in desperation. Where is it? He notices a shrub and looks under it. The black disc is there. He picks it up, looking at it. He shakes it. Nothing happens. He bangs the disc against the palm of his hand. Still nothing. He is gutted and doesn’t know what to do. If the disc was working he would wait it out. But it’s not and even with his knife he knows he’d never survive very long by himself in the bush. He has to go back to village and tough it out there. Patience. He just needs to be patient.

Aaron pockets the disc, shoves the knife into his belt and covers it with his shirt. He hides the back pack in the bushes then heads along the bottom of the cliffs.

When Aaron approaches the gates to the village there are no guards this time. He catches his breath, pulls his hood over his head and casually walks inside. He moves quickly down the stairs and along the corridor. Entering the cell he closes the iron gate behind him. By his mattress he inspects the cracked bricks in the wall. He finds one that is slightly loose. Bits of mortar crumbles in his hand. He starts to scrape the mortar with his knife, loosening the brick even more. But it is stubborn. Suddenly he can hear voices. He panics, scraping faster and harder.

The voices are closer.

He pulls the brick out and shoves the black disc and his knife into the cavity.

The voices are outside the door.

Aaron replaces the brick and moves his mattress up against the wall covering the evidence.

The iron door flies open. Panea and Toa enter. They are surprised to see Aaron who is resting on his mattress where he can see scraps of mortar on the cloth. He shifts his body to cover it.

"I know you went out," Panea doesn't hide her anger. Aaron stares silently back at her.

"You should’ve stayed out there. Better chance of survival."

Toa slams and locks the iron gate behind them.

When Aaron can no longer hear them he quickly pulls the brick out of the wall and grabs the disc. The dark metal is cold in his hand but it soon warms within his tight grip. He breathes a sigh of relief.