“I think he’s still breathing, I
can feel his breath.” Tom says while placing his hand close to Anderson’s ajar
mouth.
Henry places his hand on his
friends arm “Yes his bodies still warm, I don’t see any visible wounds, and no
blood around the body, what do you suppose happened to him?”
“I don’t know but soon there won’t
be enough light to see by we should take him back to the cliff.” Tom looks
towards the direction they had climbed down into the valley.
“Yes then we can hopefully find
out what befell our good friend.”
They lifted his limp body off the
black crystalline ground and started carrying it back to their base camp; or
what they were passing as such. Behind them the stone monoliths glinted with an
internal light as if a candle had been light within. Forty-two versions of them
watched as they left, each one crowding the periphery of the crystals internal
space to get a look at the three men leaving.
They carried him in a fireman’s
hold across the rugged landscape while the globe of light above them slowly
dimmed behind a bastion of clouds, long shadows drew across the landscape, the
men marched on. Soon enough they mounted a shaft of black crystal and came
within sight of the encampment, Gestalt sat upright on the vertical column,
while the ape crouched several feet from him in front of a warm red-yellow
flame.
“That magnificent bastard got a
fire started!” Tom exclaimed while picking up the pace.
“Steady on there ol’ boy.” Henry
calls to his friend as he tries to keep up.
As they rapidly make their way
down to the glowing embers and flame Gestalt hears their approach and turns to
look, “My friends welcome back, I was worried for you” a huge smile beaming out
from his glowing face.
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