The Turning of Nike
Let me tell you a story. I call it The Turning of Nike.This story took time a few dozens of years after I was born. It was a nice period, back then. Nehmen was nearly fluent in English and I had just completed my first map of the underground. Nike was… well, Nike was being Nike. Completely straightforward, blunt and really strong like he always was.
My story begins in the big Throne Room, where Hoborg was – as on every Friday – telling stories. He had announced that on that Friday he would tell a story never written in the Hall of Records. The Witches of the Mediterrean. I thought that no one would want to hear a tale so frightening and dark that the Wall of Records refused to write about it. But I was wrong. Nearly everyone was there. Their curiosity must have got the better of them.
Even though the Throne Room was packed full, nobody made a sound while the tale was being told. There was something mesmerizing about Hoborg’s voice on that day. No one dared to disturb.
Hoborg told us of an island called the Mediterrean and of the witches who gathered there annually. He recited their chants and translated their meaning: They were meant to invite dead beings from the Underworld, a place where bad people passed on to. According to the witches of course. We knew that after death every being passed on to the other side to be happy with Father forever. I thought that the witches must have been lonely, believing that they would go to a place as horrible as the Underworld.
Hoborg told us that the witches were indeed very frightened of this prospect. The reason why they wanted to invoke an underworldly was so that he’d tell them what they should expect. Hoping that heartbroken cries would reach the other realm, the witches went as far as sacrificing new-born children. I grew cold when I heard that. All I could think about was that it didn’t have to be this way. The witches weren’t evil, they were just afraid. It was their fear which made them do bad things. They wouldn’t go to the Underworld if they didn’t perform their twisted rituals! I couldn’t understand why they didn’t realise it. Why didn’t they break free of that fear?
Hoborg was speaking in a powerful voice now. He told us that the witches prepared a final invocation. They made everything in their power to call an underwordly forth – and for the first time they succeeded. A high-pitched wail pierced the air and just above the throne of the highest witch a dark shadow sprang into the air.
And my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets! There was – I wasn’t mistaken! – a black shadow above Hoborg’s head. I wanted to shout but I found myself unable to speak. My body had forgotten how to move altogether.
Two wicked eyes popped out on the shadow’s face, one pitch black, the other sickly yellow. A row of sharp glinting teeth formed under the eyes. Prominent cheekbones and a pointy stem later, I realised whose face I was seeing. And I wished nothing more than that someone would stop him.
Klogg’s body was taking shape now. He hung in the air just behind Hoborg, transparent but becoming denser and darker by the minute. Klogg studied his see-through hands and then looked at us. He smirked when he saw our faces and he bowed his head to greet us. And to thank us.
I became sick when I realised the latter. Klogg was thanking us for bringing him here. Having believed blindly in Hoborg’s story, we ended up invoking Klogg. I needed to tell this to everyone. That this was an illusion and the more we believed in it, the more real it would become. But even knowing this, I couldn’t move an inch. Was everyone’s belief holding me back? In that case, who could go up against the collective mind of the entire Neverhood?
Just then I felt something next to me stir. I glanced to my right as best as I could – and I saw my brother Nike getting up! He was moving very slowly, as if his entire body was made of lead, but he was breaking free of the spell! Others must have noticed his effort and wished him to succeed, because his movements were becoming easier by the second. Finally Nike straightened. Klogg was gawking at him – as was Hoborg, because the king hadn’t noticed anything unusual yet. Nike covered the distance to the throne in a few long strides and he stopped right under it, staring up at Hoborg and Klogg.
“Stop it,” he said.
“Why…?” Hoborg was asking but Klogg cut him short when he yowled loudly. Hoborg jolted and turned around. He and his first son came face to face and Hoborg exclaimed in shock. Klogg made an attempt to grab the crown but his claws passed through the metal, only managing to tip it to the side. Klogg let out a screeching wail that had us cover our ears. He hurled his shadowy body forward – and he knocked the crown off Hoborg’s head! The king tried to catch it but he wasn’t fast enough. The golden crown bounced off the throne steps once with a resounding clink, flew through the air…
…and landed squarely on top of Nike’s head.
Nike was frozen on the spot. Hoborg’s gold crown was jammed on his head while its rightful owner stared at him fearfully.
Then all hell broke loose. Everyone was panicking and screaming and running in circles. I tried to make my way to the throne but Hoodians kept running into me, so I was thrown from side to side and I was nearly trampled.
Suddenly there was thunder and lightning! We all knew what that meant – that Nike had begun to change. The screaming rose in pitch and everyone was now trying to escape the Throne Room. I caught sight of Klaymen for a moment. He was trying to approach the throne, but he was pulled back both by masses of Hoodians and by Willie Trombone, who was screaming louder and higher than anyone else.
In less than a minute the Throne Room was empty and my path was clear. I ran to the throne. Nike still hadn’t moved. I grabbed him by the shoulders to turn him around but he shoved me so hard that he sent me flying!
“Get away from me!” he roared and he made a break for it.
“Nike!” I called. Nike was running toward a window… and then he leaped out of it! I dashed after him in terror. Had he just jumped off the Neverhood? But I was relieved – there was ground under the window. Nike was already gone. “Quater damn it,” I swore. That Nike of all people would run away! I could only hope that someone would catch him and bring him back before Hoborg… Oh no. Hoborg.
Hoborg was kneeling in front of his throne, slumped forward and propping himself up on his arms. I ran to him and took him around the shoulders.
“Are you alright? Can you stand?”
But Hoborg was shaking his head and taking me by the arms. “Krevel, you… you have to stop him. The crown… you have to take it… quickly…” He was fighting to remain conscious.
“Where’s Klogg?” I asked.
“Gone,” Hoborg rasped. “Disappeared after the chaos broke out. Krevel…” he placed a hand on my shoulder. “You have to find him. I entrust… this task to you.” His grip became slack and his hand slid from my shoulder. I panicked.
“Don’t die Hoborg! Can you hear me? Dad, wake up!” I shook him wildly.
“I’m not dying,” Hoborg groaned, slightly annoyed and more touched. “Get the crown back… for me, okay? I’ll wake up… then…” And he fell silent.
I dragged his lifeless body to the foot of the throne and set him to recline against it. Wow, what a task. Catch Nike. The fastest Hoodian of them all. How in the world was I supposed to do that?
I heard approaching footsteps. Their thumping was resounding in the big Throne Room and I was hoping to receive good news now that Hoborg was out cold.
What I didn’t expect was that Nike himself would come running from the door. He dashed up the stairs to the throne and came to a standstill in front of Hoborg. He glared at him for a second – and in one swift movement he took the crown off and rammed it back on Hoborg’s head. It sounded like breaking glass.
I stared at Nike. My brother nodded in my direction and smiled. And then his light brown eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted.
“Whoa!” I tried to catch him but I wasn’t fast enough. Nike plummeted down the stairs and remained lying face down. A few Hoodians ran into the Throne Room right then and they immediately came to the conclusion that Nike was dead.
I tried to ignore their renewed screaming while I walked down to inspect Nike. He was alright. I checked his eyes: their irises were still light brown. Nike’s natural eye colour was grey, so this must have been the only physical change the crown gave him, in spite of all the thunder and lightning. Strange.
Hoborg was coming to his senses. He asked how long he’d been out and he was pleased to hear that it was only two minutes or so. He thanked me for a job well done, assured everyone that everything was alright now and sent Nike to bed.
Since no one was willing to touch Nike quite yet, it was up to me to carry him upstairs, into one of the guest rooms in the upper floor of the Castle. I stayed there with him until he woke up two days later. During that time Nehmen came to apologise for getting caught up in the moment and running away with the others instead of staying with us. He congratulated me for handling the situation so well and called me a hero. I assured him that the hero part had been played by Nike and I expressed the desire to finally learn Nike’s side of the story.
When Nike woke up he was confused and I had to hold him down before he realised that he wasn’t being chased by monsters. Then he fell back in the bed and asked if everything was really over.
“Klogg’s dead, Hoborg’s fine, everyone’s talking about you,” I told him, studying his eyes. Thankfully they were back to the usual grey. “What in Quater’s name happened?”
“You tell me. My memory’s all fuzzy.”
“Hoborg, Klaymen and Willie have worked out that the chanting really worked. Hoborg hadn’t realised that it was so potent and he promised never to do it again.”
“So… we really called forth the ghost of Klogg?”
“We did. Fortunately he disappeared right after we stopped focusing on him. All he had managed to do was knock the crown off Hoborg’s head. What happened with you? All I know is that you froze up, ran away, came back, returned the crown and passed out. What gives?”
Nike was straining his memory. “I… don’t know how to describe it. When the crown landed on my head, my mind… was filled with voices.”
I blinked. Voices. Right. I just hoped he wasn’t still hearing them.
“They were promising me everything that I’ve ever desired. They told me that… if I ruled everyone, I could do whatever I wanted.” Nike shook his head. “It was complete bullshit. But it sounded agreeable back then and I was tempted.” He sighed. “I’m ashamed of myself now.”
I tried to make him tell me more but he only repeated that he was ashamed of himself. Finally I gave up and I asked why he had run away instead of returning the crown. Nike answered that he’d been in need for some air and he apologised for shoving me. I chuckled. “So you ran out of the Castle and you found all the Hoodians who were trying to catch you…”
“Yeah,” Nike said in a surly tone. “You should have seen Klaymen, he’s a beast when he’s mad. He and Willie nearly trapped me in the Lake.”
“You got as far as the Lake?” I asked in amazement. “You returned in less than three minutes.”
“That only proves that the Neverhood is too small for me,” Nike snorted. “I realised that I was being silly when they began shooting at me from the Cannon. So I returned to the Castle and I gave the crown back to Hoborg. It was such a relief, I didn’t know why I hadn’t done it sooner. “
“And then you passed out from the stress,” I concluded. Nike nodded. “You do realise that you managed an impossible feat right? You were given the crown and you didn’t take it. No one could ever do that. Hoborg himself has said it. The temptation is too great for any living soul.”
Nike shrugged and said: “Eh. I never wanted it anyway.”
And with that, our conversation was over for Nike. I never got to know what exactly had been going through his head while the Neverhood crown was resting on top of it. Nike has never told anyone because he thinks that it was a moment of weakness. But in my opinion? Nike passed that test with flying colours. Where anyone else would have failed helplessly, Nike managed to defy the entirety of the Neverhood and then even its crown. I’m in awe even today.
Oh and this story is true all the way through. I’m not kidding you, it really happened.
