by Lucas Flint
For the longest time, Shell and the elephantine creature stared at each other. Neither one made the first move; each waited for the other to act first. Shell realized that he still had his shield up, which probably explained why the elephant did not attack him, but he did not dare lower his shield, because he didn’t want to give that creature an opening in which to strike. Assuming, of course, that it even wanted to attack him, but Shell could not think of what else this mysterious creature could want.
Finally, the elephantine creature raised its trunk. Shell thought that it was going to attack him, but instead, the creature actually spoke in near perfect English. “Hello, human. Can you understand me?”
Shell’s jaw fell open. “What … did you just talk?”
The elephantine creature nodded. “Yes, though I am not used to it.”
“I … what?” said Shell. “How can you speak English? This isn’t Earth … right?”
“It is part of my powers, as your language might put it,” said the elephantine creature. “When you entered my realm, I was able to copy your language skills with my plants. My trees constantly absorb information from the environment, including from other living creatures such as yourself. It is a very handy skill.”
“So you’re not really an elephant at all, are you?” said Shell. “What are you, really, then?”
“Call me the Spirit of the Woods,” said the elephantine creature. “My real name is not something that would be easy to pronounce in your language, but this translation should suffice.”
“That … doesn’t really help me,” said Shell. He gestured at the forest around him. “Where am I, exactly? I’ve never seen this place before. What is it?”
The Spirit was silent for a moment, as if it was trying to determine how to respond to his question. Finally, it said, “This is a place between dimensions, much like the void, except habitable for beings such as yourself. It is known as the Endless Forest, because my trees stretch on forever and ever in every direction.”
“What about that cliff I saw, though?” said Shell, gesturing over his shoulder. “When I entered this place, I fell past a cliff. Doesn’t seem like such an endless forest to me if it has a cliff. Oh, and I also saw a weird castle, too, although I might have been hallucinating that last one.”
The Spirit suddenly looked at Shell with renewed interest, as if he had just said something unexpected. “You mean you saw the castle? Interesting. I didn’t think it was possible for beings like you to see it. Then again, most people who come to the Endless Forest never make it above the trees in the first place. Most simply wander endlessly through the woods until they find a way back home.”
“What are you talking about?” said Shell. “And what do you mean, ‘until they find a way back home’? Do you mean that it is possible for me to get back to my home universe?”
“It is more than possible,” said the Spirit. “It is even easy. The Endless Forest always sends those who enter its lands along their way to wherever their heart desires.”
“Really?” said Shell. “Wow, that’s nice. What do I have to do to get out of here?”
“Simply wander through the woods until you find a portal,” said the Spirit, gesturing with its huge trunk in a random direction. “That portal will take you back to your universe, though once you pass through it, you will never be able to return here.”
“You say that like it is a bad thing,” said Shell. “Well, if that’s all I have to do to get back home, then I’ll just leave now. Thanks!”
Shell turned to leave, but before he could take even one step, the Spirit said, “Wait a moment, young one,” causing Shell to stop and look over his shoulder at the Spirit.
“What’s the matter?” said Shell. “Is there something important that you need to tell me?”
The Spirit nodded its large, elephantine head once. “Yes. I am aware that the Starborn are coming to your world to destroy it.”
Shell blinked. “How did you know that?”
“I know many things, being the guardian of the portals,” said the Spirit. “I can see into many different worlds. I also know the Starborn, having met them when I was much younger and when their race was just experimenting with interdimensional travel. While they are a proud and intelligent people, they also lack empathy for those they consider inferior to them.”
“Yeah, I already knew that,” said Shell. “Is that all you wanted to tell me or is there more?”
“I wanted to warn you that the Starborn can be beaten,” said the Spirit. “They may be more powerful than any other creature on your world, but they are not invincible. Do not allow yourself to become fearful when you face them.”
Shell frowned. “So are you going to tell me how to beat them or not?”
“All I can say is that you must not be afraid to make the necessary sacrifices to stop them,” said the Spirit. “One thing the Starborn do not understand, despite their great power and knowledge, is the willingness of ‘lesser’ beings to be willing to sacrifice themselves for a greater good. Once you face the Starborn, it will be clear what you need to do to beat them.”
Shell’s frown deepened. That seemed like the most useless advice that anyone could possibly give him, but Shell said, in a polite voice, “Well, okay. I’ll keep that advice in mind if I run into them anytime soon. But why are you helping me at all? What do you gain from giving me this advice?”
“Must I gain anything?” said the Spirit. It shrugged. “I simply do not want to see more chaos and death in the multiverse. Normally, I am not allowed to intervene in the affairs of other universes, but since you came here, I decided to tell you what I know. It is up to you to decide whether or not it will be helpful in saving your world from destruction.”
Shell wanted to say that it was not very helpful advice, but because he was in a hurry to get back home and had no interest in getting into an argument with the Spirit, he simply said, “Well, thanks, I guess. But I gotta go. I don’t have time to stand around and talk. My friends need my help.”
With that, Shell turned and ran deeper into the woods, hoping against hope that he would be able to get back to Earth in time to save his friends.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Mig-Noggorth jabbed the DNA reader into Blizzard’s forehead. Blizzard screamed in pain as its needle-like tip stuck to her skin, but she was so distracted by the sheer pain emanating from her brain that she couldn’t even hear herself scream. All she could do was feel the needle sucking inside her brain. The pain was so horrible that Blizzard’s vision started to fade, her consciousness slipping rapidly through her fingers.
But it wasn’t very long before a loud alarm suddenly began ranging inside the lab. Abruptly, Blizzard’s vision returned to normal, though her forehead hurt like hell. Vaguely, she was aware that Mig-Noggorth’s three eye stalks were looking up at the ceiling, where the alarm was coming from, while the now-bloody DNA reader dripped drops of her own blood onto the floor.
Growling in annoyance, Mig-Noggorth held up a small, phone-like device to the side of his head (perhaps where his ‘ears’ were, though he didn’t seem to have any ears that Blizzard could see) and snarled, “What is it? I was in the middle of an experiment. This had better not be a false alarm or so help me I will—”
Mig-Noggorth suddenly went quiet as another voice on the other end—which did not speak in English, but rather that strange Servant language which sounded like clicks and growls—said something. Mig-Noggorth’s face was extremely alien, but even Blizzard could tell that the news that Mig-Noggorth had received was not good.
“I see,” said Mig-Noggorth. “And you don’t know where they are? You think that they’re going to search for the other girl? That means they are heading here, yes?”
Blizzard’s eyes widened in surprise. She didn’t know for sure who Mig-Noggorth was talking about, but it sounded like there were intruders aboard the ship, intruders who had come to save her. Perhaps that meant that Shell had managed to make it back to Earth and find
the others after all. She bet that Bolt was among her rescuers, no doubt fighting his way through all of the Servants in order to rescue her. That thought made her smile, despite the pain that she was still experiencing in her head.
“Of course they don’t know where the girl is,” said Mig-Noggorth to the phone. “Even so, send some more troops to the entrance to my lab. I don’t want to be taken by surprise while I’m still working on the—”
The voice on the other end suddenly started shouting angrily, causing Mig-Noggorth to pull the phone away from his head like he was trying to save his hearing.
But then Mig-Noggorth pulled the phone back to the side of his head and snapped, “You may be the Captain of this ship, Omanx, but I am the master of my lab. I will not abandon my experiments so quickly, not when I am on the verge of making important scientific discoveries that could change the way we understand the multiverse forever. Or would you like to be the one to tell the Starborn that the reason we had to abandon this important scientific discovery was because you thought it was a waste of time?”
Omanx’s voice came over the phone again, though this time it sounded a lot more restrained, as if Omanx wanted to shout at Mig-Noggorth but couldn’t for fear of reprisal.
“Yes, you finally understand,” said Mig-Noggorth. “Once I’m done with the girl, then I will come to the deck. But not a moment before then. Good bye.”
Mig-Noggorth turned off his phone and placed it inside a compartment in his armor. He looked down at Blizzard again, his distorted mouth twisted into a terrifying, unnatural grin. “Looks like today is your lucky day, girl. Some of your friends are trying to rescue you.”
“They are?” said Blizzard hopefully. “Where are they?”
“Somewhere on the ship,” said Mig-Noggorth. “That is to say, nowhere near my lab. Likely they’ve already been backed into a corner by my fellow Servants, meaning that they won’t save you.”
Blizzard scowled. “I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you. My friends are smarter than you think.”
“If they’re as intelligent as you, I have nothing to fear,” said Mig-Noggorth with a snort. “You humans like to think you are so much smarter than other species, but your geniuses don’t come even halfway close to the least intelligent of the Servants. Humans smarts will never be able to beat Servant smarts.”
“What are you going to do to me, then?” said Blizzard. “Are you going to jab that DNA needle thing back into my head?”
“The DNA reader, you mean?” said Mig-Noggorth. He held up the needle, which glistened in the light from the ceiling. “Yes, seeing as I was interrupted by the alarms. I only got about half of the relevant data I need; therefore, I will need to reinsert it into your skull in order to get the other half.”
Blizzard tried to free herself again, but as usual, the clamps were as tight as ever. The power-inhibiting collar around her neck was also as tight as ever, making it impossible for her to use her powers. She focused on using her powers anyway, but she couldn’t even feel the cold energy within her body anymore.
“Still trying to escape?” said Mig-Noggorth. “You humans are as stubborn as you are stupid. It is pointless.”
“It’s not pointless,” said Blizzard. “You said the DNA reader wouldn’t kill me, right? Well, all I need to do is wait until you finish using the reader on me and then take advantage of an opening to escape. It might take me a while, but—”
“You are assuming I intend to use the reader on you while you are still alive,” Mig-Noggorth interrupted. “When did I ever say that?”
Blizzard suddenly frowned. “But you said that you weren’t going to kill me.”
Mig-Noggorth made that same strange, bubbly sound again that was apparently supposed to be a chuckle. “Did you honestly believe me when I said that? The situation has changed. While I consider it highly unlikely that your friends will save you, it was also highly unlikely that they would even break into the ship in the first place. Therefore, in order to ensure that you are not rescued, I will kill you and then use the DNA reader to gather the rest of the DNA it needs from your corpse.”
“Hold on, won’t that make it harder for the reader to get the information it needs?” Blizzard asked. “I mean, isn’t my DNA easier to get when I’m alive than dead?”
“It is,” said Mig-Noggorth as he walked over to a table full of scientific tools that looked an awful lot like instruments of torture. “The DNA reader works best on live targets. Still, the fact is that I already got most of your DNA on the reader, so it should still be able to get the rest of the DNA I need even if you’re dead. Besides, death is only a problem when the target in question has been dead for more than three days; you won’t be dead for more than three seconds before I jab the needle back into your forehead, and there isn’t much of a difference, from a scientific perspective, between a living people and that same person dead three seconds later.”
Blizzard would have said that there was actually a really big difference between a dead person and a living person, but at the same time, she knew that smart comments wouldn’t save her. She kept struggling against her bounds, trying her hardest to loosen the clamps, but they wouldn’t even budge. It was times like this that Blizzard wished that she had gotten super strength as her power; then again, the collar around her neck meant that even if she had that power, it would have been every bit as useless as her ability to control ice and snow.
The sound of tinkling metal instruments made Blizzard look back at Mig-Noggorth. Mig-Noggorth held a long, deadly-looking blade in his hands which looked like a scalpel of some sort, except for the fact that it had a chain like a chainsaw.
Mig-Noggorth walked over to her, the stink from his green sweat filling her nostrils once more. “I have studied human biology before and understand that one of the most efficient and quickest ways to kill a human is by slitting their throats. I believe this scalpel should be sharp enough to slit your throat, wouldn’t you agree?”
Blizzard didn’t respond. She just looked at her own terrified reflection in the clear surface of the scalpel. Her face was deadly pale, even though it was normally fairly dark, almost disappearing into her long white hair. Her red lips contrasted more sharply than usual with her features, but then Mig-Noggorth raised the scalpel above his head.
“Let’s do this quickly,” said Mig-Noggorth, in the voice of a scientist announcing the start of a new experiment. “I dislike wasting time, so I won’t banter with you too much.”
Right before Mig-Noggorth could bring down his scalpel onto Blizzard’s throat, the door at the end of the lab suddenly exploded open, sending the door flying toward them. Mig Noggorth had just enough time to turn around before the door crushed him under its weight, causing him to drop the scalpel somewhere off to the side. The door bumped against the table upon which Blizzard lay, but it did not actually touch her. She still flinched when the door landed on top of Mig-Noggorth, however.
What the heck? Blizzard thought, looking down at Mig-Noggorth in surprise. Why did that door blow off its hinges like that?
Blizzard’s question was answered almost immediately when two figures burst through the doorway. One of them was Treehugger, who was carrying a small packet in her hands, while the other was a black man wearing futuristic armor and carrying a strange-looking gun-like weapon in his hands. Shell was not among them, though Blizzard was so happy to see that someone had come to her rescue at all that she didn’t mind that.
“Treehugger? Is that you?” Blizzard said. “What are you doing here? And who’s your friend?”
“Blizzard!” Treehugger shouted from the other side of the room. “There you are! Are you okay?”
“I’m—” Blizzard said, but she was interrupted by a grunt below her, followed by the sound of metal being shifted.
A second later, Mig-Noggorth stood up, holding the door above his head. Even though Mig-Noggorth did not have particularly large arms, he lifted the heavy metal door like it was nothing more than a thin piece of plywood.
His back was to Blizzard, while his face was to Treehugger and her friend, a deep growl emitting from his throat.
“That was rather … rude,” said Mig-Noggorth, his voice full of venom and hate. “But I shouldn’t be so surprised. After all, I know that Mr. Jason Space does not exactly have a reputation for politeness.”
“Shut up, monster,” said the black man, who was probably named Mr. Jason Space. He pointed his gun at Mig-Noggorth. “Free the girl and we won’t kill you.”
Mig-Noggorth made that strange chuckling noise again. “You two aren’t in any position to bargain with me. Right now, even as we speak, my fellow Servants are no doubt on their way here to come to my rescue.”
“They would, if we hadn’t sent them on a wild goose chase,” said Space. He flashed a small disk in his hand. “Illusion disks, courtesy of Galaxy’s awesome brain. Right now, half of the Servants think we’re still somewhere on the prison deck while the other half think we’re trying to hide in the kitchen deck. They’ll figure out they were tricked eventually, but by that time, Blizzard will be free and we’ll be on our way off this damn ship.”
Mig-Noggorth grunted and threw the door to the side, which crashed into the floor rather loudly. “Clever. Much cleverer than I expected, but that doesn’t mean that I am going to give up that easily. I can still defeat you myself.”
Mig-Noggorth suddenly pressed a button on his right shoulder armor. Without warning, the tops of the tubes standing along the walls began to flip open, while the creatures within the tubes started to move. At first, the movement of the creatures was slow, very sluggish, but they soon began to climb out of their tubes, dropping onto the floor with wet, slopping feet and fur and feathers and tentacles. One of the creatures—the one with a jellyfish body, wolf head, and the eyes of a snake—partially floated, partially dragged itself past Blizzard’s head, leaving a strong stench of rotten eggs in its wake, while the other creatures all stopped between Mig-Noggorth and Blizzard and Treehugger and Space.