Pisgah Tells A Story
John didn't know how long he'd slept since there was no clock and no sun or stars. When he opened his eyes he saw the faint glow of Pisgah's eyes, so knew at least that he hadn't been dreaming. He switched the lantern on and its white light bounced off the skulls and bones of the place.
"Did you sleep well?" Pisgah asked, a slight sarcasm in his voice.
"Very well, thank you." John pulled some dried fruit out of his backpack and chewed on it. "Tell me a story, Pisgah."
"What story?"
"I don't care. Anything. Like, why did you call him the Great One?"
John heard Pisgah take in a deep breath, the same kind of breath he heard when he'd just taken the rope off him, a breath of pain. "Why do you want to kill him?"
"I have friends that have been hurt by him. He dried up all their water, burned their palace, hurt people. And I need to figure how to get home, and it seems that killing him is part of it." He paused. "Would you like something to eat?"
Pisgah didn't respond. "You're a fool. You can't do it." John didn't answer, partly because he knew Pisgah was right, at least as far as knowing what he would do to kill the Evil One. He hadn't been able to do it yet -- what made him think he could do it now?
"I think you and I have to make a deal," Pisgah whispered. "A deal."
"What kind of deal?"
"You let me go, and I'll tell you how to kill the Evil One."
"Nice deal, except how do I know you know how?"
"I know how. But you have to let me go."
"And what would you do then? Run off and tell him, so I could join all the bones around here? No, that's not a smart move."
"He has something I want -- something precious. I want it back." There was a tremor in his voice that told John that either Pisgah was a great actor or he really felt what he was saying deeply. John didn't know what to do. "Tell me a story, Pisgah."
Pisgah had been a member of a village several miles from the cave, a village that had no king. The people instead voted on everything, and everybody had to agree or something wouldn't be done. Men and women could vote just the same. They had no soldiers and they spent all of their time growing food, making clothes, singing songs, and laughing. One day the Evil One came and set himself up as their king, calling himself the Great One. No one could vote on anything, and only a few people in the village had the right to do anything. These people were the rich ones, and they got rich because the Evil One had taken everyone's land and given it to them. The rest of the people had to work the rich people's land, and they never had enough food or clothes. And no one laughed anymore.
Pisgah had led a rebellion against the Evil One. All of his friends had been killed, but the Evil One kept Pisgah alive, bound by rope. The Evil One like to take the rope and twist around Pisgah's skin until his skin got so raw from the rope burns that even the cool evening breeze blowing across it gave him pain. He kept Pisgah in the dark, feeding him raw fish, until he broke Pisgah's spirit and Pisgah called him the Great One. From that day on Pisgah was so ashamed that he ran away to live in the caves. The Evil One eventually destroyed everyone there, bringing their bones back to the Forest of Death to amuse himself.
Pisgah said that the first thing the Evil One had done was outlaw laughter. He sewed people's mouths together to keep them from laughing, and it seemed as if laughter was the one thing the Evil One couldn't stand. Pisgah had lived in the caves so long that he couldn't think of going back to the world. The caves would be where he died.
John thought for a long time about Pisgah's story and decided he was telling the truth. He undid the rope around the cage and let Pisgah out. "What is it you want from the Evil One? What's he got that's so precious?"
Pisgah ignored the question. "What do you have wrapped up here?" he said, poking at the burlap covering up the sword and shield.
"Nothing," John answered. He put the backpack on. "What's our deal?"
"I will take you to where the Evil One lives."
"And you'll tell me how to kill him?"
"Yes."
"And what do I have to do for you?"
"You will help me get back what the Evil One took away from me."
"Which is?"
Pisgah ignored him again and started walking off, to the north. "Hey!" said John, "you didn't answer my question." Pisgah turned his glowing eyes on John. John picked up the lantern and started off. "Turn off the lantern," Pisgah commanded, and their path was lit by the faint white glow of Pisgah's eyes. "I see better in the dark." All around them John could feel the bones stare at him at they walked north, then west, then south, then west again.
