“NO!”

  Roots snapped, dirt flew into the air, and Tex suddenly found himself gulped up by the darkness.

  One hand gripped a broken piece of the sapling. The other instinctively clutched his rifle.

  The wind howled in his ears and made his eyes water.

  High above, a patch of pale blue light got smaller and smaller. It receded until the darkness swallowed everything, and the sound of his own grunting and cursing filled his ears.

  He was a dead man, for sure. No one could survive such a long fall.

  And it was a long fall.

  An impossible distance! His terror became overpowered by amazement. How deep could it possibly go?

  But things got weirder and weirder.

  A sense of panic seized him as he realized he’d lost all sense of direction — he could not tell up and down. Consequently, he couldn’t even tell if he was still falling. The only clue was that his stomach kept turning with the sensation of movement.

  But where was he moving to if there was no up or down?

  Sounds came out of the blackness: in the distance, a river thundered. But water also seemed to trickle around him; he felt it splashing onto his face and clothes.

  Just when he wondered if he would ever touch the ground again, he grazed a slimy rock face, which sent him spinning. Then he smashed against a steep slope. Water splashed when he hit the surface. Then he violently rolled down the slope before plummeting into freefall once again.

  At that point, Tex lost his senses. His mind resolved into a haze.

  The next thing he knew, he was rolling down a mossy slope as if he’d been spat out there. Finally, he launched off the edge and fell a good 12 feet before smashing into a puddle.

  ***

  Tex lay still for some time, staring at the glistening rock walls.

  He was in a cave.

  Was he alive? How was that possible?

  Aches and pains stabbed him from all over his body — probably a good sign.

  He wiggled his feet, painfully sat up, and moved his legs.

  Okay, he wasn’t paralyzed. There was something to be thankful for. Hurt in all kinds of ways, though. His shoulder felt off. His ribs ached. And he probably looked like he just picked a fight with Mike Tyson.

  But he didn’t feel any intense pain, thanks to the adrenaline that still rushed through his veins. Staggering to his feet, he looked around for his rifle. The weapon was lying on the mossy ground nearby.

  A sense of relief washed over him as he snatched it up and switched off the safety lever. Squinting in the dim light, he took stock of his surroundings. Water was everywhere. It dripped from stalactites, trickled down the walls, and flowed in little streams near his feet.

  He started. The ground was alive with movement.

  Frogs. Scores of them, hopping over the moss and plopping into the water.

  Craning his neck, he looked up at the cave’s ceiling about 15 feet above. A chill ran down his back as he saw the dark hole that had disgorged him.

  It measured perhaps 20 feet across.

  There was no way to climb up to it. But even if there was, it wouldn’t do him any good. Was he going to climb all the way back to the same little hole he’d fallen into?

  It would be like scaling a slippery mountain in pitch black and having to find one small spot at the top.

  No, it was impossible.

  He pushed the thought out of his mind and walked in the light's direction. Despite the hopelessness of the situation, he felt a powerful sense of curiosity. Coming around a turn, the sunlight burst into his eyes.

  He pressed his fingers onto his eyelids. His head was spinning with confusion.

  How the fuck do you fall into a hole and then come out into the sunlight?

  “What, am I in China?”

  Walking towards the bright sunlight, he heard buzzing insects, squawking birds, and rustling leaves. Then his eyes were assaulted by the violent brightness of a rainforest. Enormous green leaves shimmered in the heat, blazing flowers of yellow and pink bowed their petals, and snakey vines hung from gargantuan trees.

  He kept replaying the events in his mind, but they didn’t add up. Fell into a hole in Northern Canada. Landed in a jungle cave.

  It was utterly disorientating; he didn’t know how to process it.

  Five minutes passed. Ten minutes. Fifteen. Still, he stood there, staring at the forest, unable to make sense of things.

  Finally, a decisive frown came over his face. He looked at the ceiling of the cave.

  “Fine then! I won’t make sense of it! I’ll just let it hang there. How does that sound?”

  The cave ceiling did not reply, but Tex seemed to feel somewhat better.

  He walked out into the sunlight, where streams of water gushed over a rocky ledge and trickled down to a mossy clearing. Tex’s hiking shoes were soggy, and mud smeared his jeans. The T-shirt underneath his flannel was soaked with sweat.

  The sun’s sweltering heat started cooking his face as soon as he stepped out from the shadows of the cave.

  Climbing down the rocks, he looked over his shoulder and saw that the cave was at the foot of a small mountain.

  The vegetation hummed with activity as Tex stepped into the watchful trees. Enormous insects buzzed in the air while the branches above echoed with squawking and chirping.

  The ferns towered over Tex’s head, and the trees were big enough to build a house inside them.

  The place was menacing and lovely at the same time. You could almost smell blood and death mixed with the gaudy scent of the flowers. It was a place to have your guts ripped out in two seconds while the trees stood by with timeless indifference.

  Tex had never been so glad to have a rifle.

  Too bad Ajay dropped his handgun.

  He suddenly wondered what had happened to him. Did he end up here too?

  Tex suddenly felt an urge to speak to him, the one person who shared this bizarre experience.

  Men’s voices carried through the trees, interrupting his thoughts.

  They were close, but muffled by the forest. Tex stopped and listened, holding his rifle at the ready.

  He couldn’t tell what they were saying, but they talked excitedly, perhaps arguing. Their tone was unhinged and savage.

  Tex carefully made his way through the forest, compelled to see who these people were.

  As the voices got louder, he could hear the sounds they articulated, but the language was completely unfamiliar. It was simple and guttural, with rolling r’s and harsh throat noises.

  They did not sound friendly.

  To make things worse, he increasingly had the feeling of being watched — hunted, even.

  Perhaps he should have stayed in the cave a little longer, but he was never one to wait around for something to happen.

  The need to figure out what was going on prodded him forward. If he could just get a glimpse of these men, maybe that would give him a clue.

  The shouts and grunting grew louder as Tex crept through the trees towards a cluster of ferns.

  They repeated one phrase often enough for him to pick it out.

  Kdar Tol.

  Peering through giant ferns, he saw glimpses of dark shapes through the branches, circling a fire. He crept into the ferns and reached out to push aside a frond.

  Just then, one man shouted, “Kdar Tol!”

  The lot of them thundered in response: “KDAR TOL!”

  It sounded like a bigger crowd than Tex had realized.

  With his heart pounding in his throat, he pushed aside the oily fern. There was still some foliage blocking his view, so he only caught glimpses.

  But his face twisted in disgust.

  They moved and spoke like men, but their faces were disfigured to the point of resembling gargoyles. Their hair was matted and filthy, their skin gray and cadaverous.

  They wore rude animal skins around their waists.

  Perhaps the most obscene thing about them was the way they moved. Jerking and jumping, arms swinging, ghoulish eyes flashing with frenzy.

  Changing his position, Tex noticed two of them squatting over something on the ground. He couldn’t see what it was, but one of them was busily working on it.

  The brute’s ugly brow frowned in concentration as his muscles worked vigorously, like a surgeon opening a patient.

  Picking up a different tool, he raised a hatchet in Tex’s line of vision, bringing it down with a wet crunch. Then they went back to sawing and cutting.

  They seemed to be gutting an animal… and yet, something was off about it. Tex was not one to be squeamish. He’d gutted plenty of elk and other game. But a sinking feeling came into his stomach.

  Creeping farther into the ferns, he pushed aside another frond and got a full view of the scene. He almost vomited in his mouth.

  It wasn’t a game animal.

  It was Ajay.

  Chapter three

  AJAY’S FACE STARED at the sky, its mouth agape. The savages were busily pulling his guts out.

  The one doing most of the work appeared to be older; his hair was spotted with gray, and his face was more weathered than the others.

  Holding the long squishy chords in his hands, he began murmuring. All the other savages fell silent and gathered around, eagerly listening to his words.

  Tex’s view was mostly blocked now, but he saw the old fiend continue to rummage through Ajay’s entrails as if he was looking for his car keys.

  He’s a soothsayer, Tex thought. This place is fucked!

  He resolved to march back to the cave. Maybe he’d been too hasty in dismissing the possibility of getting back.

  Yes, it was impossible— but people sometimes accomplished the impossible. He would do it or die trying.

  But what if the portal’s closed?

  Because that’s what it was — a goddamn portal.

  At the very least, I can go back and investigate it.

  Tex liked this idea; it gave him something to grab onto.

  But the soothsayer’s voice suddenly rose, trembling. Ajay’s guts must have contained a terrible portent, because all the fiends gasped and grunted in response to the soothsayer’s words.

  They began scanning their surroundings with bloodthirsty eyes and raising their spears into the air.

  Tex hurried through the forest, back towards the cave, but his instincts told him to tread carefully. Sure enough, he’d barely taken three steps before he caught sight of more of the same ghastly creatures coming towards him through the trees.

  Lots of them.

  Changing course, he plunged into ferns and continued in the same direction for a good five minutes.

  Stopping under a tree that made him feel as small as an ant, he looked back the way he’d come. It was a monotony of trees, ferns, and flowers.

  He hesitated to go any farther and risk losing his way back to the cave.

  Maybe the savages would fuck off soon. But then again, they might come straight in his direction. After all, it almost seemed like they were looking for him, even though they hadn’t seen him yet.

  They were certainly looking for someone.

  Fine. I’ll keep moving a little farther.

  Tex scanned the surroundings carefully, looking for any sort of landmarks. The most interesting thing that caught his eye was a hollowed-out tree with a hole in its trunk. Tex also noted a boulder beside a patch of mud.

  To make it more easily recognizable, he collected a bunch of sticks and arranged them on the mud in the shape of an arrow, pointing in the right direction.

  Continuing his way through the shadows of the forest, he emerged into a small clearing where bracken blazed in the sun.

  Looking over his shoulder, he saw the mountain rising above the treetops.

  Making his way to the other side of the clearing, something suddenly passed overhead, darkening everything with its shadow.

  Tex had the intense feeling of being watched. It only lasted an instant. By the time he looked skyward, the sun sweltered down on his face again.

  But he still sensed a menacing presence somewhere nearby.

  It’s gonna circle back!

  Turning around, he dashed back into the trees. Craning his neck, he looked through pine branches and vines.

  The air-born giant swooped past again, blotting out the sky and darkening the forest with its shadow.

  “Holy shit, that fucking thing is huge,” Tex grunted, leaning his back against a tree.

  It was the size of a small airplane. He felt his stomach rising into his throat.

  A moment passed. It swooped overhead once again — much closer this time. The leaves and branches swayed and fluttered violently.

  Tex’s eyes darted around for a place to take shelter as great gusts of wind came down from overhead, blowing leaves down from the canopy.

  Then, high above, there was a violent rustling of leaves and swaying of branches.

  I bet it can literally smell me from a mile away.

  Glancing around, his eye fell on something in a muddy patch of ground.

  His arrow.

  Not that it was of much use now, but it reminded him of his other landmark: the enormous tree with a hole in the trunk.

  “Where the fuck is it?” he hissed, scanning the forest.

  A deafening shriek blasted from above. Another tree began swaying, branches and leaves falling to the ground.

  Finally spotting the hidey-hole, Tex dashed, practically diving into the tree.

  The soft floor of the tree was a few feet below ground level, and the air inside it was cool. It would have been refreshing under different circumstances.

  With a great swoop of wind, something alighted on the very tree he was hiding in. Tex backed into the darkness as far as he could, glancing out at the sunlight.

  The tree shuddered and creaked. A shadow descended. The deep swooping of massive wings set the wind awhirl. The bird landed with a heavy thud, darkening the tree’s entrance.

  Tex fell back against the wall and pointed his rifle.

  A gigantic beak — well over six feet long — deftly extended inside the tree. Tex couldn’t even see where it began, but he could hear its nostrils drawing in great breaths and letting them out with a long hiss.

  It poked on one side and then moved to the other. Tex pivoted out of the way, sweat pouring down his face.

  He aimed the rifle and put his finger on the trigger.

  But the beak abruptly withdrew.

  Tex stood up, aiming out of the hole.

  He glimpsed the massive featherless breast of the monster bird; its skin was wrinkly and naked, like a plucked chicken–-only giant and terrifying.

  Again, his finger was on the trigger, but he waited.

  The winged monster reared, beating its giant wings and causing a minor hurricane once again as it launched into the air.

  Trees shook and branches fell as the bird left the forest.

  Something must have drawn it away. The call of a mate, perhaps? Or the sound of an easier prey animal?

  Tex collapsed onto the floor of the tree, taking deep breaths, waiting for the adrenaline to settle down.

  Maybe it never will, with the way things are going.

  ***

  He stayed there for a long time, stupefied.

  It was all too much to process, so he gave up trying. Wasn’t that what he’d already decided anyway?

  Stupid brain. Stop trying to process this shit. You’re wasting your time, bud.

  He contented himself with staring at the tree’s woody interior and vaguely listening to the monotonous hum of the forest.

  At one point, he heard voices not far away, followed by footsteps crunching and swishing through the bracken.

  Strangely, this came almost as a relief. He positioned his rifle.

  Let’s just get it over with. A lot of these motherfuckers are gonna die before they take me. I’ll make sure of that.

  The footsteps swished just outside Tex’s tree, walking past it and returning a minute later. Tex thought he was definitely about to be discovered, and part of him wanted to jump and start firing just to end the tension.

  But another set of footsteps came rushing through the bush. A rough voice clanged through the forest, apparently announcing some news.

  Voices closer to Tex grunted with apparent surprise and excitement. They all hurried away, whooping eagerly.

  The voices faded, and Tex felt strangely disappointed. He thought his adventure was about to reach its crisis point, bringing some kind of resolution, even if that meant death.

  But now he was plunged back into uncertainty.

  He returned to his reverie. For a long time, he sat there gazing up at the canopy, where sunlight danced among the green boughs.

  When the daylight began to fade, Tex stirred, wincing in pain. His ribs ached, and he seemed to be sore just about everywhere.

  “Alright. Decision time,” he muttered. “Should I stay here all night?”

  That was the only option apart from going back to the cave before nightfall; there was no time to look for another shelter, and he wasn’t likely to find a better one.

  He scratched his chin. Wait... I guess there is a third option. I could wait for the sunset and then go back to the cave under the cover of twilight.

  He’d perhaps be exposing himself to a greater risk of getting eaten by something. But the distance to the cave was relatively short, and the savages would likely not be snooping around when night was falling.

  He waited for the daylight to fade. Gray clouds rolled in, chasing the light away even faster.

  Tex climbed out of the tree and followed the direction of his arrow. Dusk was thickening fast in the trees, thanks to the cloud coverage, and Tex walked faster and faster.

  After a few moments, a bright light fell on him as if a searchlight had caught him. Turning, he saw through an opening in the canopy that the clouds had parted, and a large moon shone down on him. It was accompanied by a second, much smaller one.

  Tex continued, wondering if he’d lost his way. Then something caught his eye: a flickering flame. It burned red through the dark, silhouetted foliage.

  Creeping closer, Tex came to the same clearing where Ajay had been butchered. A few torches burned around the edges, and a bonfire roared in the middle.