Digger Doyle's Real Book of Monsters

by Daniel Warriner

  “You think he might be your dad? But why would he want to steal these treasures?” Corliss picked up the doll and brushed it off. “And if he did swipe them from Amaterasu, do you really think we should be taking them back to her?”

  “I don’t think it’s him. But I think something terrible happened to my father. And he’s changed.”

  “So then what? He lured us here with the letter? And Yukiko and her dad with the shell?” Corliss shook his head. “Maybe, Dig. Maybe you’re right.”

  “Okay, break time’s over,” Yukiko announced. “Let’s get moving.”

  “I hope there’s fresh water at the top of this rock heap.” Corliss got up. “Only a few sips left in the waterskin.”

  Digger took a couple weary steps. The sword was starting to weigh him down like an anchor. “All I see are more rocks up there and . . . A cloud?” The peak was blanketed in a smoky haze.

  “What if the god is hungry?” Corliss asked as fear coursed through his veins.

  “Hungry?” Yukiko didn’t know what else to say. While she knew deep down that Corliss’s question was absurd, the fear had been getting to her as well. She now found herself afraid of a hungry god. “Yeah—not much food up here, is there?” She searched around. “Actually—none, I’d say. The three of us might be the closest thing to meat she’s seen in days. Or weeks.”

  “That’s the fear speaking through you,” Digger reminded them.

  “Right,” said Corliss. “Besides, if she was really hungry, she would have eaten Inari-san.”

  “He was up here?” Yukiko asked.

  “He seemed to know things,” Corliss replied. “Then again, she probably wouldn’t have eaten him—not enough meat on his legs. Too much fur.” Corliss wasn’t joking.

  As the mountain steepened, their footsteps sent more stones rolling down its slopes. And there were more thin fissures in the ground letting out yellow gas that burned their eyes and throats. Near the top, they drank the rest of their water in the haze shrouding the mountaintop.

  Boulders as tall as two-story houses crowned the peak. How these massive rocks had gotten there was anyone’s guess. Digger imagined Amaterasu lugging them up the mountain eons ago. Perhaps the Tengus had helped, during happier times. He placed a hand against one. It was hot.

  The wall of boulders was blocking them from climbing any higher. “Let’s circle the peak,” Digger suggested. “There might be a way we can get through.”

  The vapor, in drifting currents, swirled and tangled and disentangled. The fear was so intense at that altitude that their knees were wobbly. Digger was hoping—as much as he was dreading—to find a crevice between the boulders that he’d be able to squeeze through.

  “What’s this?” The crack between the rocks was dark and narrow. Even its G-shape was in some way frightening. The thought of going through it freaked them out. “Can we get thr . . . thr . . . through?”

  “I . . . I can’t tell,” Corliss stammered. His trembling arm reached in. “I . . . I don’t think we’ll fit. And . . . I’m terrified something’ll bite off my hand, or my head.”

  “Or you’ll get that big head of yours stuck, and have to stay there . . . forever.” Yukiko wasn’t playing around this time; she was extremely serious.

  “I don’t want that to happen,” Corliss said. “We have to go back down.”

  “It’s the fear,” Digger whispered. “What we have to do is keep searching for a way inside. The fear’s not real. Not all of it, anyway. We can’t let it control us.”

  After a moment, Corliss straightened himself and started breathing through his shirt. Digger watched the gaseous vapor curl and shift. It was thicker here than by the lake. In places it was so dense and heavy that it rolled down the mountain. But where was it coming from?

  Digger could barely make out the round tops of the boulders. It was clearer up there, but the boulders were too smooth and too tall to climb. “The vapor,” he said, “it doesn’t go up that high.”

  Yukiko caught on quickly. “So it’s coming through somewhere lower—a bigger crack than this.”

  “Exactly.”

  They continued to circle the summit. On the other side, they couldn’t even see their hands in front of their faces, let alone each other.

  “There.” Digger pointed through the milkiness.

  “Where? What?” Corliss’s eyes strained to penetrate the polluted air.

  Yukiko stood at Digger’s side. “What is it? Did you see something in there?”

  “The gases . . . This must be the place.”

  Digger felt the scorching dampness on his cheeks and eyelids. Without another word, he stepped into the gushing flow of vapor, which spewed out between two tremendous boulders and wound around Osorezan like a serpent cloud.

  Chapter 32—Goddess of the Sun

  Through vapor as dense as pillow stuffing, Digger blindly pushed forward with arms outstretched.

  Fears bubbled up . . . What if he fell into a deep hole? What if a volcanic rock gashed his leg? What if he stumbled and was sliced by the sword? What if the streamlets, trickling down the boulders, poisoned him? And what if Amaterasu was in fact on this peak, and upon seeing him, became enraged? Would she punish them for their intrusion?

  What we see, or find, often depends on what we were looking for . . . Those words his father had spoken . . . He wasn’t talking about quests to find the world’s unseen creatures. Digger also needed to search inside himself for something unseen. Courage. Something he never before believed was there. And only with that could he push onward.

  His eyes stung as if frothy with soap. His shirt, through which he breathed, was sopping wet and making his lips burn. He sensed that Yukiko was close behind, and heard Corliss coughing up the pea-soup air.

  After a few more steps, the haze brightened. Digger had made it through the tunnel between boulders.

  “See anything, Dig? Yukiko?” Corliss spluttered. “This air is barfy milk.”

  “Watch your head,” Yukiko warned. “I nearly smacked mine against the rock.”

  “Keep going,” Digger called back to them. “You’re almost . . . Wait!”

  “What is it, Digger?” Yukiko blinked repeatedly to clear her eyes. “What do you see?”

  “Water . . . On fire.”

  “Huh?” Corliss continued to follow his cousin’s voice. “Dig—you sure?”

  “Yes. The water . . . It’s . . . burning? Come all the way through. You’ll see.”

  Digger peered toward the sky. All around him, twenty-four boulders stood in a circle, forming a ring wall. Each one leaned inward, coming together like a monumental tepee. The ground was even and a stony white, and the sun, directly above, shone down through the opening amid the boulder tops.

  The air was clearer in there. The vapor was spewing out between the boulders in streams. And all of it was flowing out the side of a pool of murky grey water—about the size of Digger’s favorite fishing pond back home. The liquid in this pool gurgled and bubbled, and blue flames danced and rippled on its surface. The heat made him sweat, and he wiped his forehead with the back of his arm.

  Yukiko and Corliss made it all the way through and blinked away the cloudy film over their eyes. When Corliss saw the flames, he lowered his shirt from his mouth. “Yeesh—so much for getting a drink of clean water up here.”

  Yukiko was mystified. “The water—”

  “—is on fire,” Corliss finished for her.

  “But how?”

  Digger stood at the pool’s edge trying to see if anything was below the flames.

  “You see any gods down there?” Corliss asked nervously. He stared up at the monoliths, all of which were leaning ever so slightly toward them, as if respectfully bowing. “Guys, really, we have to get outta here.”

  “Maybe she’s gone,” Yukiko said with a note of relief. “Maybe she—”

  Digger jumped away from the pool. “There’s a FACE—floating UP.”

  Yukiko and Corliss jumped back, too.
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br />   The air was getting hotter, and their drippy faces appeared sunburnt from the heat. The blue flames were twisting and coiling together. As they became entangled, they broadened and thickened and rose. The stream of vapor was now charging out of the pool. And there were wisps of yellow flames—circling like bats on fire, and crackling, as if popping with electricity.

  They watched in awe as the blue flames shot up out of the pool and braided themselves into a woman’s form.

  Corliss lunged sideways then stopped. There was nowhere to run; the blazing bats were whirling all around them. And at the center of this fiery twister hovered Amaterasu.

  Bluish-yellow, ablaze, the Sun Goddess had taken shape above the pool. Her voice came out strained, as if from the deepest crevasse. “Tell me your names now . . . or burn to ash and blow away.” These harsh words seemed everywhere at once, swirling among the bats of yellow fire.

  “I’m . . . Digger Doyle.”

  “Satori . . . Yukiko.”

  “Corliss . . . Corliss Happer.”

  Amaterasu’s flowing hair was drenched with flames, her eyes were like tiny bursting violet suns, and her arms were spread wide as though she was holding up the staticky air.

  “DiggerDoyleSatoriYukikoCorlissCorlissHapper,” she said altogether. Her scorching eyes locked onto the sword, the sight of which made the goddess flicker.

  Her eyes then met Digger’s. “Digger Doyle, son of Daryus Doyle, son of—”

  Digger stepped forward. “You know my father?” Of all the things the goddess could have said, Digger hadn’t expected to hear his father’s name.

  “Careful, Digger.” Corliss placed his hand on his cousin’s shoulder. “Don’t get burned.”

  “Long ago I watched over your father,” the goddess said gravely. Her words had slowed, and a few of the spinning flames had somehow been snuffed out.

  What does she know? Digger waited. What has she seen? He gazed up at her. Amaterasu’s true intentions were still not clear to him. Though if she wanted to burn them up, she probably would have done it already.

  “The fox sprite told me the forest is dying,” Amaterasu said sadly. “I do not possess the power . . . to cure the spreading sickness. Which fills me with misery.” Her words were even weaker, as if choked by the vapor. Or had her spectacular entrance been merely for show? To scare them off? Now she seemed barely strong enough to keep herself alight, and parts of her were fading back into the pool.

  Corliss pulled the mirror out of his bag. Yukiko dug the jewel out of her pocket. And Digger held out the sword.

  “Wait,” Corliss whispered. “Not yet—we’ve come all this way.”

  “It’s why we’re here,” Yukiko reminded him. “To return what’s hers.”

  Corliss turned to Digger. “What about your dad, Dig? After years, don’t you think she should tell us what happened . . . before we hand these over to her? Think about it—what if she disappears back into that pool without telling us?”

  “Her strength is gone, Corliss. And the poisons won’t stop flowing unless . . .” Digger lifted the sword. “We have to do this—and trust her. We’re running out of time.”

  Amaterasu gracefully bowed her head and Digger took another step closer.

  “Place it below me, in the fountainhead.” The goddess’s eyes shifted to Yukiko and Corliss. “The jewel, too. And the mirror. Do not be afraid. I will not allow the water to scorch you.”

  Digger lowered the sword toward the flames, which could roast his hand, he thought. But, in an act of faith, he reached through the fire, and it did not burn him. He gently held the sword under the surface. When he let go, the blade sunk slowly, glimmering beneath the flames and Amaterasu’s radiance, which immediately brightened.

  Yukiko and Corliss placed the jewel and mirror into the water next. When all three treasures met below the surface, the bubbling and gurgling stopped, and the pool settled. The vapor thinned out and the air started to clear, while the smell of stinky eggs began to drift away.

  Digger, Corliss and Yukiko stared in wonder at the marvel that was Amaterasu. The Sun Goddess raised her burning arms as her hair roared with every color of flame. She floated away from the pool, and circled overhead, casting a bright warmth over the giant boulders. Her flames shimmered with a twilight-blue splendor over her layers of red and white silk.

  The water in the pool was crystal clear, its fiery cover now a fluidic glow. The sacred treasures glistened. And the fear—little by little—was creeping away.

  Chapter 33—S

  Amaterasu’s voice came to them in delicate whispers. “This water is now pure. It will flow through Osorezan, and wash away that which has flowed before it.”

  Corliss dropped to his knees beside the crystal-clear pool. Cupping his hands together, he filled them with water, and drank in long slurps. Yukiko filled the waterskin and drank too. But Digger’s thirst to know something—anything—about his father was greater than his thirst for water.

  Amaterasu gazed at him fixedly, as if reading his thoughts. “He was here—Daryus Doyle of Westwood. Your father. On this peak. Three years have since passed.” She drifted over to an impeccably round rock. “I am sorry, Digger Doyle; I was unable to protect your father.”

  “Protect him?” Digger searched the goddess’s shimmering violet eyes. “Protect him from what?”

  “From the being who brought you here.”

  “Pardon me, Amaterasu, but no one brought us to Aomori. We came here on our own—on a boat named Wendy.”

  The goddess’s gaze shifted toward Yukiko. “The fox sprite said that Susumu Satori received the shell of a Kappa.”

  Yukiko nodded. “That’s right. I answered the door when the mailman brought the box. The shell was inside, though we have no idea who sent it.”

  “That shell was taken, recently, from the woods around this mountain. Many years ago, another shell was taken, and it was sent to Daryus Doyle. Both shells belonged to Kappas—centuries-old ancestors of the Aomori Kappa clan. And both were stolen from their shrine behind the waterfall.”

  “So, whoever took those shells wanted us to come here.”

  “That is correct, Digger Doyle. Your father, years ago, and now you.”

  “How do you know it’s the same person?”

  “Yeah,” said Corliss. “I saw heaps of shells in that shrine. Lots might have been stolen over the years.”

  “Only two shells have gone missing.” Amaterasu shook her head. “The Kappas came to me, to ask for help finding them. I can see far, but no farther than the shores of Japan. After the shells were taken, I was unable to see either of them. That is, until one shell returned to Japan. It was taken to a nearby village, where Daryus Doyle once stayed, and from there the shell was sent to Susumu Satori.” Amaterasu raised her eyes to the sun, as if to draw wisdom from its vibrancy. “The being who brought you here is called S.”

  “S?” Yukiko had never heard of such a man, or creature.

  “Once a man, but now not entirely—someone else, something sinister. S wanted to make Daryus Doyle his follower. And, if your father would not follow, then S would take him.”

  “The envelope, with the page—did that S person send it to me?”

  “Yes. Your father, like you, received information about the Kappas—when S sent him the shell. In a message, S warned your father not to tell anyone where he would be going.”

  Digger imagined what happened . . . His father was sent the shell along with the message. S somehow knew his father would come to Japan in search of the unknown creatures that bore such shells. Following S’s instructions, his father told everyone he’d be traveling to Australia, but instead secretly traveled to Japan. Then deep in the Aomori woods S tried to take his father. But had S actually succeeded in taking his father someplace? And if so, where?

  “My father—was he here?”

  “Yes, for three days. S chased him from the woods all the way up this mountain. Your father knew he would have to leave this peak eventually, and th
at S was waiting for him outside. S came inside—right up to this pool. He saw the treasures, but did not dare try to take them. I did not let him take Daryus Doyle, either. When he reached for your father, his hands burned instantly.”

  Digger pictured his father on that hard, stony peak. “But why? Why would S want him?”

  “Daryus Doyle—like you, Digger—has powers that can be used to influence the unseen creatures of this world.”

  “Powers?” Corliss studied Digger for a second, then looked back at Amaterasu as if she was nuts. “What powers? This is Dig—my cousin. It’s just Dig.”

  “Digger Doyle will have to discover for himself what he is capable of. It is not the work of gods to instruct boys and girls in such matters.”

  “I talked to the creatures down there—Kappas and Tengus.”

  “There are many languages within you. And much more. But S has those too.”

  “Did S take the treasures from you?” Yukiko asked.

  Amaterasu gazed into the pool. “S’s Barghest came in the dead of night, when the sun is farthest from this mountain. Invisible, the Barghest dipped its savage snout into the pool, and with its crooked fangs took hold of all three treasures. The beast made off with them, followed only by the jingling of its unseen chains.”

  “The ghost dog,” Yukiko said. “A demon.”

  “S and the Barghest stole my treasures. The Three Sacred Treasures were divided among the Kappas, the Tengus, and the fox sprite. All were told they could give the treasures to a boy—Digger Doyle. That only Digger Doyle could return them to me.”

  “So Slithis was right—S lied to the Kappa clan, and the Tengus, and Inari-san.”

  Amaterasu nodded at Digger. “S told them that if he was not obeyed, or if they attempted to bring me the jewel, sword, or mirror on their own, I would melt these lands with poisons and flames. However, in spite of S’s warnings, a number of Kappas and Tengus, as well as the fox sprite, did not believe him. Others resolved never to give up such valuable relics, even if a Digger Doyle did enter their woods.”