Blackbird

Chapter 6 : The Gateway

Patrick heard footsteps approaching in the dark.

"Who is it?", another voice echoed through the darkness.

Patrick recognised the voice, it was Hans. He calmly walked towards the approaching men. Three men with flashlights came towards his direction.

"Patrick?What on earth are you doing here at this time?", asked Hans as he shone his light at Patrick's face.

"Hey…nothing man… couldn't sleep so came here to relax…", replied Patrick uneasily. 

"God… you could have got shot by my guards… You could have told me if you wanted to come here… ", said Hans walking upto him.

Patrick slowly tried to move away the broken pieces away with his foot but Hans noticed him as he walked towards him. 

"What's that?", asked Hans curiously.

"What? Nothing… just stones…", replied Patrick inna nervous tone.

"Well… my boy's working overtime huh?", remarked Hans changing the subject.

"Did you find anything here?", asked Hans to Patrick who felt like he was caught stealing.

"Not yet … but this is a really mysterious place… another day and you will have your answers…", replied Patrick.

"Ah! so I was right about the theory then? There's something valuable here ja?", asked Hans trying to find out what exactly Patrick found out.

"Ha ha … not so soon… the text is not as old as you thought…", replied Patrick being careful not to give away too much information.

"Well let's discuss this in my tent then … come!", said Hans putting his arm on Patrick's shoulder.

"Ah…you know what man… it has been a long day and there's nothing really important to discuss now… we could do this tomorrow morning…", said Patrick removing Hans hand from his shoulders.

Hans became more and more suspicious and he knew Patrick was hiding something but he let him walk off to his tent. Whatever it was, Hans knew how to get it out from him, he had done it before.

"Watch him… watch him closely…", said Hans to Rocko.

Meanwhile Patrick entered his tent and cleaned himself off. He splashed some water on his face and lied down on his bed. But he couldn't fall asleep. The entire mystery was bothering him. He kept thinking why would anyone write such a detailed text about something so unusual and why couldn't he find the gateway? What was it that he was doing wrong?Or maybe it's a hoax?A work of fiction or fantasy? But the smudged- out Turkish word? What could it all mean?

He kept rolling in his bed from one side to another but the thoughts wouldn't let him sleep. After half an hour he felt as if someone was in his tent. The light was out and it was pitch black inside but he saw a silhouette of someone in a dark robe standing in the entrance. He got up and sat upright on his bed and watched the figure silently, he wanted to say something but words won't come out. He saw the figure was wearing a hood and its face was covered. Suddenly it raised its hand towards him as if it were summoning him to come closer. Patrick realised that the hand was elegant and its movements were graceful, he felt like it was the hand of a woman.The figure then slowly hovered away from the tent as if it was flying. Patrick tried to move but he felt paralyzed as if his limbs were all frozen. Through the cracks of the tent he saw the figure was moving towards the exacavated mound and disappeared…

"No!!", yelled Patrick as he woke up. He was dreaming. He rubbed his sweaty forehead and got up from his bed. The room was dark but he could see the search lights outside. He sat down on his chair and turned on the table lamp.

"What a dream that was… ugh… this place is messing with my head…", thought Patrick as he drank a glass of water. He looked at the ancient text once again and tried to recall his dream. For a moment, he sat in silence. Then suddenly he got up from his chair and took the text in his hand and walked outside.

"I need to find out what all of this means…", he thought as he walked towards the mound. His heart began to race as he carefully dodged the guards and crossed Hans's tent. He could hear him snoring loudly.

"Good… old man's asleep", he said to himself and stooped and cowered to avoid the lights. Finally he reached the mound. He looked around to see if there were any guards following him but he couldn't be sure in the darkness. He looked at his watch- it was 1.30 a.m. He walked towards the pillars and began to search for the broken pieces of the clay pot he had found earlier. Strangely the place was clean as if someone had swept the ground with a broom. Patrick scratched his head and put his hands on the pillars trying to make sure that these were the same pillars from before. Suddenly a flashlight shone from behind.

"Looking for something Mr. Hoffman?", asked Rocko.

" What? Nothing… just…", before he could reply Rocko grabbed him by his shirt collar and pinned him to one of the pillars. Two more guards stood behind him with guns ready to fire.

"Tell me what you've found here or I'll bury you here and make you a part of history….", threatened Rocko.

"Nice line … you speak to your mother like that?", mocked Patrick. This wasn't the first time he was threatened.

Rocko grunted and punched Patrick on his face and watched him roll on the ground.

"You bloody thief… if it wasn't more Hans I would have snapped your neck long back… I have always hated your guts…ugh!" said Rocko as he kicked Patrick in the stomach.

"Ah… ummm… yeah… go lick his feet … you're just a dog anyway… heh!", replied Patrick rolling on the ground in agony. 

Rocko lost his cool completely and landed a few more punches on him. Patrick was bleeding from his mouth and drops of blood fell on the ground near the pillars. He wiped his mouth with his hand and grabbed one of the pillars but Rocko pulled him by his legs and dragged him away.

"Tell me scroundel… what did you find ... ugh…" asked Rocko ad he landed one more punch on his face. Patrick almost lost consciousness.

"Go get the boss before I kill him…", yelled Rocko at the other guards. One of them quickly ran towards the tents.

"Last chance funny man…tell me the truth…" said Rocko as he stood like a giant on top of Patrick, cracking his knuckles. 

Patrick was having trouble breathing. Blood began to collect in his mouth and he spat it out on the ground beside him. He felt like he was going to die. He remembered what the text said…

"the true of heart shall pass,

with an offering of blood and sweat…"

"Anki…", whispered Patrick.

"What?", asked Rocko.

"An…ki…", whispered Patrick again with a bloody face.

"What the hell is he saying?", said Rocko to his fellow guard who simply shrugged.

"An…", said Patrick once again .

Rocko walked towards him and kneeled in front of him trying to hear his words.

"ki …", said Patrick lying on the ground and looking at Rocko's face.

Suddenly the ground began to shake like an earthquake approaching. The pillars began to hum and the wind blew hard. Rocko got up wondered what was going on. The shaking and humming began to grow more intense. Rocko and the other guard saw weird shapes of lightning begining to form between the pillars.Now the wind blew harder and dust and sand almost covered the mound like a sandstorm.The noise and lightning was so strong that Rocko and the guard could hardly stand up straight while Patrick lay unconscious on the ground.

The lightning began to intensify and Rocko and the guard started to run away. Then suddenly a burst of lightning struck from the sky and fell on Patrick's body and everything stood silent as before. Rocko was halfway to the entrance of the mound when everything turned back to normal. He turned around and shone his light towards the pillars. Patrick was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile Hans and a few of his guards were approaching the mound.

"What the hell happened here?", asked Hans curiously as he approached Rocko who was standing there with his mouth open in awe.

"I whacked him… and then there's this storm and lightning and… and… he's gone…", replied Rocko shaken at the bizzare turn of events.

"What? What storm?", asked Hans furious at Rocko.

Later on he was explained everything that had occurred by Rocko and the two guards. Hans eyes lit up with excitement.He knew the legends, the myths were true. But where was Patrick. The guards searched all around the campsite and the ruins but couldn't find Patrick.

"Where the hell is he?", asked Rocko.

"On the other side!", replied Hans in a cryptic manner.Rocko scartched his head… … … 

Somewhere on a field lay Patrick unconscious and bleeding. A splash of water woke him up. 

"Ugh… Anki…" whispered Patrick as he opened his eyes. He saw the same hooded figure kneeling over him trying to nurse him as a young kid in a strange dress stood beside. He turned his head around and saw that he was lying on a green grassland and the sun was either setting or rising from beneath the mountains.

He saw the face of the hooded figure -it was a beautiful lady with curly black hair and eyes like black pearl. She spoke in a strange tongue. He felt like she was asking him something. 

"What?", asked Patrick trying to say something but he fell unconscious again.

The mysterious woman looked at the strange man that lay before her. She had never seen anyone wearing such strange clothes and with such a haircut. But she understood that he was badly injured and needed help. 

"Is he the one that the mage talked about?", she thought as she and the little kid dragged him and placed him on their donkey cart and took him away.

                                                                             ⁂