Down Below and the Archon's Castle: A Couple Through Time, #1

By Michael A. Susko

Zoe enters a Wizard of Oz-like world to find her lost friend Tod. There, she finds help in the form of a Sphere, a Rubbery Man, and a Rock Man. Their journey takes them below ground where they find Ancient Ones made of stone,  a castle ruled by a mad scientist, and a planet where no more children are being born. This  tale is the first of a seven-part series, which follows a couple throughout their lives. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: AllrOneofUs Publishing
• Release date: Nov 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393552413

Michael A. Susko

The author, having degrees in philosophy and psychology, has taught a variety of classes, from dream interpretation to Indigenous studies. He has also helped to found and taught in a progressive charter school that used arts integration, in which two disciplines were intertwined. In his own research, he has embraced and published on a variety of topics. He now hopes to sum up his life work in this book on Ten Discoveries.

Book preview

CHAPTER I

The Underground Fort

ZOE COULDN’T BELIEVE she was moving without using her legs, hurling while in the narrow confines of a dark space. The earthen walls of the underground fort were blurring and dissolving too fast for her to stop. She tried to wish herself back, but the vortex was too strong.

Somehow, things were moving in different directions at once. So where would that put her? Zoe was no longer in the fort, or even on Earth. Just as Tod had said, she was slipping into another world.

Zoe still felt connected to Earth, if only by a thread. It was like a funnel or hose that let air or reality in, but it was stretched too thin. When it breaks, what will happen? Will I be able to come back? Tod had gone this way before and became stranded. I should be afraid, she thought, but the energy was so powerful and felt so good that she let herself go.

Zoe looked forward, if forward it was. The cord was stretched to its utmost, and the slightest movement would snap it. To remain still for very long would not be possible, so Zoe flexed her toes. The connection broke, and she landed. Things settled around her and took shape.

Two days ago she was with Tod in the underground fort, its layers of clay pocked with rocks and laced with curled roots. Zoe loved the feeling of being close to the earth. Ever since she was a toddler, she loved to play and dig in the earth.

What happened? Zoe had asked.

Don’t you know? You jarred me back.

Zoe tried not to look too surprised.

From the other world, Tod added, as if teaching her something elementary.

Look, Tod. I believe you do go somewhere. But how do you do it?

Focus your eyes on a spot and let go. You enter in sort of sideways.

Yes? Then what?

Everything at first, said Tod.

LARGE PURPLE-RED ROCKS held a faint under glow and sheltered miniature, bonsai-shaped plants. In the distance billowy cumulus clouds merged with the highest parts of a mountain range. Something broke the rhythm of the horizon on the left, a stark silvery structure.

It looks like another world, thought Zoe. And one so much larger than the underground fort.

She started walking briskly and felt something peculiar. When she tried to turn or stop, she found herself subject to a pull. What could be causing this?

For an hour, Zoe walked without resting and walked despite herself. She neared a gray boulder, whose irregular shape attracted her, and summoning her will, placed herself behind it. Planting her feet firmly, Zoe caught her breath. She noticed the rock’s purple under glow.

Closing her eyes to rest, she realized that she had been compelled to focus straight ahead. When she opened them again, she noticed something that looked out of place. A circular object was outlined on a nearby boulder, and it laid at an angle that defied gravity.

It must be a ball of sorts, and one that’s just balanced. Zoe wanted to walk over and touch it, but remembering the pull, stopped herself. She contented herself with studying its colors, a blue pastel darkening toward the middle, with a perimeter tinged with yellow.

It moved slightly and jerked back. My eyes must be playing tricks, Zoe thought. She closed and opened her eyes again, but the sphere was still there, still looking askew.

Zoe chalked it up to being in another world, with the glowing rocks, strange pull, and now the sphere. She looked steadily at it, wondering what it really was, when she heard a voice say, I’ve heard Earth’s children love to play.

CHAPTER II

The Sphere

IT TOOK A FEW MOMENTS for Zoe to register the sound as coming from the Sphere. It was pulsing. What are you? she asked.

I am what you see. Round, don’t you think?

But where are your eyes, arms, and...?

I forget Earthlings are prejudiced that way, vibrated the Sphere. You think there must always be limbs and openings. There’s perfection to a circle. No protuberances, no need to eat or let things out.

You mean you don’t–

At least not in the manner and quantity you do.

But you’re alive, so you have to breathe and eat. All creatures do that.

Minimally ... a troubling dependency.

How do you get your food, or energy?

There’s plenty of light, and light is energy. As for substances, you’d be surprised what’s in the air: water, pollen, miniature life forms, even elements.

Zoe remembered an air fern her father had kept, which didn’t need to be watered or put in soil. I think ... I understand. But how do you talk, if you–?

You’re wondering about the need for a mouth. Do you think all sounds come from tubes vibrating air? I vibrate my entire surface.

How do you do that? Zoe asked, feeling a twinge of discomfort, wondering what was inside.

The Sphere, however, was not insulted. "I simply think and vibrate. Do you know how your vocal cords work when you speak? But let’s not talk about how we do things. Play is a good way to find out what others are like."

Zoe wondered, how does it play without arms or legs?

The Sphere ignored her puzzled look and said, I must ask for a favor. The top of this rock is electrically sticky, and I’m stuck.

Zoe considered whether it was safe, but the Sphere sounded gentle and didn’t have a way to grab or bite her. She noticed too that the disturbing pull had become much less since she had been with the Sphere. Last, she figured she was going to need help to survive in this world and make it back.

Zoe unhinged the Sphere, making a staticky sound. Then she carefully placed it on a lower surface, noticing how delicate it felt. I was wondering how–

I play? completed the Sphere. To begin, you can look at my surface. It will be like a movie at first, then you’ll more fully enter my world.

You’re not from here either?

Most drawn to the castle are not from here, the Sphere informed.

Yes, it’s the