(1 of 1. Originally posted on July 14, 2023 for the prompt “Beneath the Water”)
Roxie squinted against the morning sun, searching for signs of pursuit. “What’s the delay, Matt? They will have noticed our escape by now. If we don’t find Refuge soon, we won’t get another chance.”
Matt didn’t look up from the scrap of paper he’d been staring at for the last half hour. “This is definitely the right place. I just have to figure out the last bit of translation, and find the gate.”
The small stream they’d been following ended in a pool about thirty feet across. Thin, curly-haired Karl stood at the edge of the water, throwing rocks at a leaf that drifted on the surface in lazy circles.
Roxie squatted beside Matt. “I thought you knew where we were going. We don’t have time for research.”
Matt shrugged. “I knew the way here. I figured we’d find more clues once we arrived. Ubili hasn’t been spoken in a thousand years. It’s a very…contextual language. I thought being here would help.”
He rocked back on his bare heels, shifting into his teacher voice. “Traditional interpretation of this passage makes it all allegorical, talking about the afterlife. Most scholars translate this passage as, ‘To enter Refuge, first consume much spirit. When the gut stirs, you must be buried and born again. The lifeblood will carry you through the gate.’ In other words, if you live a good spiritual life, you’ll die when it’s your time and have new life in heaven. And then some religious-speak about bad life choices corrupting your blood, so the purity of your blood is what gets you in. But I’m not convinced that’s the best interpretation. It seems to me the scholars chose their preferred meaning, then tried to justify it afterward. But, based on my own studies, I postulate Refuge is a physical place in our world. If it’s physical, there must be a way in.”
Roxie pressed a hand to her forehead. “Well, if you take too long, we may get to test the afterlife theory. You led us here without a better idea?”
Matt shook his head. “Too many possibilities. Most Ubili words have multiple meanings. The word ‘lifeblood’ literally just means ‘flowing liquid that gives life.’ It has been used to describe running water. Like the stream that guided us here. ‘Born’ is the general term for ‘emerge.’ ‘Buried’ is the same word for ‘swallowed.’ But that makes less sense here. The word for ‘gut’ means ‘inner depths.’ It could mean literal guts, or deep emotion, among other things. ‘Spirit’ can also mean ‘wind’ but I don’t know how you’d consume either spirit or wind.”
Karl paused in his rock-throwing to toss a comment over his shoulder. “I consume wind every day. Makes a nice breakfast.”
“You make wind every day.” Matt shot back.
“Wind…” Roxie closed her eyes, thinking out loud. “Wind…air…we ‘consume’ air by breathing. Could it mean ‘take a deep breath?’ Why would you have to…”
A splashing sound interrupted her thought. The pool churned as large pockets of air bubbled up to the surface. An idea coalesced in her mind…a stream running into a small pool, air coming up from beneath…before her brain completed the concept, her body kicked into motion. She sucked in a breath and sprinted toward the water, jumping into the center of it, trusting the boys would follow.
A strong current dragged her down into darkness. Whispers of doubt plucked at her nerves, playing a song of panic. What am I doing? What if I can’t get out? What if the Ubili text was talking about death, and this is how I die? Her fingers brushed solid rock on all sides as the water pulled her through a black tunnel. Her brain completed the thought that had inspired this crazy impulse. To enter Refuge, first take a deep breath. When the depths stir, you must be swallowed and emerge again. The flowing water will carry you through the gate. As her lungs began to burn, Roxie saw a light ahead.
