part 4: you can only take it for yourself

No sooner had we crashed into the blinding obelisk, than we appeared in a vast underground cave. Thunder shook around us, and I came to realize that I was laying on the ground, no longer a rug, but again myself: a human wanderer. The stranger raised himself from the ground and looked for me. He too realized that my form had changed and was surprised.

“The blood of that goat must have allowed our passage,” said the stranger. “We must be in yet another world, deep underneath the sharp peak of Toubkal.”

I stood and faced the stranger, and he observed my human form. I no longer felt the bond that had joined me to him as we flew. He spoke firmly to me, “you will still obey my voice. After we have found the shrouded jeweler and we leave this cursed depth, you will again be my woolen steed.”

From where we stood, the huge cave was dimly lit. Stalactites held lichens that glowed a gentle green. The maze of dank pools and shadows of stalagmite columns filtered in and out of focus as the lichen glow ebbed and flowed. The stranger reached down to retrieve his scimitar and dropped it. The steel sword clanged loudly on the rocky floor and beyond us a roar sounded.

As if in response, the lichen in the great cave grew their soft green glow so that it was much stronger, focusing on the approaching creature like a spotlight. Blood dripped from the predator’s maw, still fresh from the slaughter of the goat. Yellowed teeth and claws shown dimly in the lichen spotlight and the creature’s bright green eyes glistened. I stood transfixed in fear. Next to me the stranger lifted his scimitar in the confident stance of a trained fighter.

The beast lunged towards us, and I fled. I could not well see and I stumbled through the dark cave, while behind me I heard the stranger shout and the sharp clash of talon and steel. Through shallow pools I sloshed and past enormous stalagmites I struggled to escape the doom of battle. The predator roared and the sounds of steel and rock rang loudly through the voluminous cave, echoing against the distant walls.

I tripped again, and I found at my feet the goat whose blood had brought us into that underground depth. I looked in horror at the remains of the horned creature. Behind me there was a shriek, unlike anything I had heard before. The predator had sounded his defeat, and I heard the monster clatter upon the hard stone floor. The stranger made his victory known. “Victorious I have always been, victorious ever shall I be!”

The large cave held a quiet rush of wind and dripping water.  My eyes had adjusted in the dim green light and I could more clearly see. As quietly as my position allowed, I knelt down and hid behind a tall stalagmite.

The stranger called again, but this time it was for me. “You are mine. Show yourself!” But his will was no longer within me, and I did not leave my hiding place. It was as if the monster had not died. “Together, we seek greatness! We will find the shrouded jeweler and restore my houses’s power.”

His voice felt of evil. I remembered his callous laugh and the somber face of the old, wizened man from the room with the high ceiling. In that moment I felt a terrible fear. Dread consumed me while I considered the return to a life of servitude, like some great steed. I could never again carry the burden of the stranger with the sword across the starry skies of a purple night.

I worried that the blood pounding through my chest would give away my spot. I searched around my hiding place for some advantage that might allow me to escape. “Do not fear,” called the stranger. “You and I are meant to fulfill a greater calling. Rise! I know there is honor within you still.”

I ignored his petition for my return and looked back towards the slain goat where I had tripped. It’s horned head lay mostly severed from its mangled body. The horns were long and sharp. I had no other option for defense and so I took up the head and tore it from the corpse. I would escape this mountain dungeon.

The stranger found me. He held his scimitar low, the long curved blade extended in front of him. “You should not hide from me. You must do all things that I ask of you. That is the requirement of every Soaring Rug of Chefchaouen.”

I held the goat head in front of me with both hands, as both a shield and a weapon. The sharp, curved horns extended in grim defense.

He saw my makeshift weapon and laughed. His evil mirth again filled my head with sharpness, but I stood firmly in my place. The dim green light of the cave pulsed around us, expectant of our duel.

I called to him. “I do not wish to fight you! My only wish is to regain control of my human self.”

His laugh ended but his smile remained while he replied. “The control of self is the greatest wish of all. That, I will never grant you. You can only take it for yourself!”

Anger flowed through my veins. The green light around us pulsed, as if following the speeding beat of my heart: a war drum inside my chest. The stranger’s navy tunic looked black in front of me, and I steadied the severed goat head fiercely within my hands. His curved sword swung slowly through the air like a pendulum, feeling the distance between us.

His words lingered hotly. You can only take it for yourself! I lunged forward with every ounce of speed that I possessed and stabbed the twin horns at the arm that held the scimitar, wishing to disarm him.

He stepped deftly to the side and laughed. “You fool!” I regained my balance as he mocked me. “You think that you can defeat me? Did you not see that predator, now lying dead upon this stone floor?”

“No,” I replied. “I did not see the monster fall. But you; you I will send back to the place of evil from whence you came!” The dim green light pulsed brightly and I felt it’s sustaining strength. The cave wanted me to fight. Again, I prepared myself to lunge.