Eden by Keith; Korman Read Free Book Online Page B

the barren valley fell away below.
    Slower and slower they went, yet ever higher and higher. Finally they stopped to rest on a wide ledge before the mouth of a cave. Eden panted heavily; the air seemed very thin, the stink of tar and ashes filled her nostrils. At some point during their climb night had fallen; the stars shone down, not with majesty and wonder, but with a kind of bitter light, making Eden want to look away.
    Once again the two opponents sat in silence. Eden’s master held a pebble in his hand and rubbed it with his thumb as though to wear it down, but Eden could not see whether the pebble was white or dark inside.
    Their adversary squatted by the cave. Beside him an oil lamp burned.
    Yet the flame shed little light, the cave mouth an ugly gash in the side of the mountain. This ledge was not a pleasant place and Eden had no urge to explore further. Even the valley of stones was purer. A scorpion scuttled to the edge of the cave and stared out on the ledge, its pointed tail a crooked finger, searching for something to sting. Another scorpion challenged the first and the two faced off. Their claws clicked, their stingers flicked like poisoned knives, each seeking advantage over the other.
    Eden caught her master staring at the two insects. The next moment she saw a glint of laughter in their adversary’s eye.
    â€œCan you tell what’s inside without breaking them?” he scoffed. Eden’s master did not reply. At the cave mouth the scorpions writhed, locked in a death grip, each with a claw about the other’s stinger.
    Eden saw a flicker of movement in a lump of rock.
    A serpent curled on the ledge quietly opened its eye. For several moments it considered the thrashing enemies, each holding a dagger at the other’s throat.
    The serpent struck. Fangs flashed, jaws snapped and the two scorpions vanished. The serpent curled head to tail once more, nearly invisible again. A lump moved in the serpent’s throat as the coiled creature quietly savored victory.
    So that was the reason for the glint of laughter. The Hollow Man had known all along what lurked in the dark, ready to devour any creature that crossed its path.
    A serpent—far worse than mere insects …
    The oil lamp sputtered and went out. Eden saw her master pull his cloak about him, for the air had grown cold. But then thinking better, he took it off, folding his cloak to make a pad for her. The stars overhead wheeled silently across the sky and the three silent figures sat before the cave mouth under a moving dome of endless night.
    How much time passed Eden did not know.
    When she gazed across the ledge again their adversary held the serpent in his lap. The snake was dead and the Hollow Man had skinned it, laying bare its flesh.
    â€œOne of the scorpions must have struck on the way down,” he said softly. “Or maybe both did. He ate too fast. Anyway, this gives us meat.”
    A strip of snake dangled in his fingers and he tossed the dainty before Eden’s nose. The aroma filled her nostrils, not evil but delicious, the finest meat she’d ever smelled. And a hunger rose in her, a hunger unlike any she had ever known.
    â€œGo on, take it,” the Hollow Man said. “We can’t go on like this forever.”
    Eden’s will began to weaken, her mouth watering for the first time in god knows when. But she knew if she took this slip of meat she would no longer be her master’s friend and protector, but this creature’s creature sitting across in the dark. He would own her, possess her, she’d become his alone. Just when she thought she would succumb, when she began to crawl on her belly for a taste … her master’s soft voice held her close.
    â€œWhy not?” he asked. “Why can’t we go on forever?”
    The Hollow Man seemed taken aback; he had not foreseen this turn.
    But then he slyly turned her master’s mind back on itself, pointing toward the ledge and