Marrow Hole (pages 21-22)

Transcript

… pantomimed to Gareth a pulling motion, delicate, with thumb and forefinger. Gareth looked away and saw that, indeed, the tray of instruments had been placed next to the spider. The medic had begun coaxing a silky web from the creature’s abdomen and through the eye of a needle.

“Remove your clothes and lie down on the mat,” the medic growled. “We are ready to begin.”

He did as he was told, and soon the child Kander came to his side with a bottle and a cloth. The young goblin took a deep breath, soaked the cloth for a moment in the bottle’s contents and – without hesitation – held the cloth over Gareth’s mouth and nose. Before he could ask why, the dim light of the room seemed to brighten. He suddenly realized that Kander was gone, and that the medic was standing over him. He relaxed as she began to explain her process, as he knew with certainty that this is what she was doing, despite her words blending and shifting into confused rhythms. She was calm, so he was calm.

As she proceeded to cut into his body – what a strange warmth! he thought – her voice was overtaken by dozens more; the corpses lining the wet room were giving him their encouragement. He couldn’t imagine how the medic was able to concentrate in these conditions, but he retreated into his beautiful dream, trusting in the old goblin’s expertise. … [cont.]

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