Caino's Alphabet, Y

You saw that dark light? It came from over there,” said Isak in a harsh whisper.
    “We would have heard if they ran,” 
replied Hall, ”they must have crept off or hidden.  Circle the clearing and beat the bushes.”     
    Four figures emerged from the forest 
holding bows with arrows notched. 
Splitting off into pairs, they circled the clearing, closing in on Caino’s little band of malcontents 
from two directions at once.
    Caino had recognised Hall’s voice 
and correctly guessed the others to be Isak, 
John and Karl—the militant monks 
whom he had first encountered outside the Abbey.  They were without a doubt 
after the Point Xalwo had borrowed from the Abbot.
        Caino knew the situation was dire.  
Hall was a zealot who considered the Abbot’s Point 
a sacred relic; he would have little mercy 
for the thief who had taken it.
    Pressing himself against the ground, 
Caino looked to either side of him at the novices, monks and nuns he had brought 
into this conspiracy.  They were cowering 
as he was—bellies flat on the ground, 
eyes wide with fear.  It was because 
of him they were here, hunted by Hall and his men.
    Caino thought back to his first meeting 
with Gail when, with Darius’s help, 
he had ambushed her band of kidnappers, 
freeing Aaron as well 
as the unfortunate Bartholomew.  
He thought to himself that if he could 
just get far enough away from the others, 
Darius would appear and together they 
could plan an attack or make good an escape.
    Caino rose to a crouch as the others 
watched him nervously, 
and without making a sound he headed deeper 
into the woods.  
He was just approaching a small depression 
in the forest floor that promised to serve his purpose when the ground wriggled violently under his foot.  There was a squeal, 
and he leapt up in startled confusion 
as the rabbit on which he had trod 
dashed off into the undergrowth.
    “There!” he heard, 
“the thief!”
    There was a rustling behind him, a twang!  
And a flash of pain shot up from his kidney 
as something sharp struck him hard on the back.  Another twang and another pain, 
this time just below his shoulder blade.
    Caino fell face-first onto the ground.  
Winded and unable to move, 
he heard a man roar like a savage beast.  
Then more cries, the sound of fighting, screams, 
and blackness.
—
    Caino woke with a start, his head was foggy, 
his body cold.
    “He’s awake!” Caino heard Xalwo’s shout, 
“come quick!”
    Caino found himself lying on his side; 
he tried to move but pain shot through his torso 
and he lay still.  He watched as Gail came 
and knelt beside him. “What happened?” 
he gasped feebly.
    “You were shot by Hall’s men,” 
replied Gail.  “When he saw you fall, 
Aaron went after them like an animal.  
The rest of us joined in with branches and stones; two of them died.  The others we tied to a tree.”
    Caino coughed, watching as a spray 
of blood speckled the ground before him. 
    “I’m okay… send me to the Day.  
Like we planned.”
    Aaron and the others had joined them, 
and judging by the expressions on their faces, 
Caino knew he must look as bad as he felt. 
    “I’ve already prepared the Points,’ said Gail, 
her brow furrowed with con-cern, 
“we can leave when you’re ready.”
    A shout came from beyond Caino’s vision, 
and he recognised the speaker as Hall.  
“Heretics!  You would betray us all 
to the Second Science?  
Our brothers will make sure 
this Path on which you betray us is a short one.  Your new cult will reject your truncated Paths, 
only oblivion awai-“
    Caino heard a slap 
and then Paulo’s voice answered, 
“There’s a third Science now, you old fool.  
By the time we’re done, there’ll be more 
than enough room for all of us in the Machine.”                “And it’ll work,” said Gail under her breath.  Then, to Caino, “are you ready?”
    Caino nodded.
    “When you awake you’ll 
be in the Machine’s control room.  
Other bodies will be there as well, 
but they will be empty vessels like mine.  
You’ll find a chair in the room with a helmet on it.
When you put that helmet on your head, 
your Mind will become one with the Machine.  
Once inside, you’ll either be guided 
towards your goal or absorbed by the Machine.  
Now goodbye and good luck!”  
She kissed him on his brow, 
removed the Point from her device 
with a small pair of tongs, and dropped it 
onto his fore-head, exactly 
where she had placed her kiss. 
—    
    Again, the violet flash, 
and the next moment Caino’s pain was gone.  
He opened his eyes to find himself lying 
in a padded half-cylinder next to several others, 
in a clean white room otherwise empty 
but for a large metal chair.
    He tried to rise and felt a sharp tugging 
at his arm. Looking down, he saw a jumble 
of tubes protruding from the crook of his elbow.  
He tore them out and removed several others attached to his head and his… 
only then did he realise 
that he was wearing the body of a woman.  
    When he had possessed the pig 
there had been no time for reflection, 
but now he found himself alone and unhurried.  
He recoiled in alarm as he removed the waste tubes from his new feminine plumbing, 
but as he made his way across the room 
to the chair he found himself 
fondling a breast with interest…
    Caino found the helmet as Gail had described, picked it up and sat on the chair.  
He was about to put it on 
when a familiar shape walked out 
from behind him and sat down at his feet.
    “I have another favour to ask,” 
said Caino to the wolf, 
in the language that was theirs alone.  
        “Shall I spy on the people in this place?” asked Darius. “No.  I must do a thing 
with the Machine.  
When it’s done you’ll be flung backwards 
with me through time as you were with my father.”
    “With Yuri, yes, but whose Path 
will I follow this time?”
    “You must find the way yourself.  
This time I will be following you.”  
    And with that, 
Caino put the helmet onto his head.