by J E Mueller
Ah, so that was why. I was not the fight or die type, but if I chose to hide on my own I’d be left behind and lost. “Well, here we go then.”
“The Moglozas is quick enough. Let’s go that way,” Clove declared, and Mare started along that route.
“Is there anything I should know about this thing?” I really hated that I needed to know this information. Why couldn’t I just wake up?
Mare set a quick pace. “Well, it doesn’t exactly pick favorites like the Agmon, and it’s not as easy to hide from as the Taggollur…”
“The important thing to know is to just stay out of the way. We’ve got this. It’s unlikely to single you out, and it does spit lightening,” Clove added quickly as we took a turn.
“How the hell does something spit lightning?” I was ready for this day to be over.
“In a glob.” Mare cringed as she said it.
Great. I took as deep of a breath as I could. “Let’s do this.”
“That’s the spirit.” Mare laughed.
“Oh, it kind of rolls,” Clove declared as we stopped.
Down the hall we just turned I saw a strange creature that reminded me of something I only saw out of a book. It was an oversized barrel-shaped creature with what looked like leather armor on its back. It must have heard us, and it turned to look our way. It’s face had beady glowing gold eyes and a snout.
“The heck is that thing?”
Clove chuckled. “A Moglozas.”
The creature didn’t seem that interested in us and just stared for several moments before it started to make a gagging sound.
“Run forward in three… two.... one…” Mare and Clove dashed forward and the Moglozas started to spit something up into the air.
Instinctively, I ran backwards away from the globs of neon green that had sparks tingling throughout them, even in midair. As the globs landed you could see the sparks arc out and take hold of the ground. A line of sparks and lightning blocked me from Mare and Clove.
The two, no longer paying any attention to me, dashed toward the creature. Seeing its first trick hadn’t worked at all, it curled up into a ball and started to roll toward them for a few moments before it became a ball of spikes.
Mare and Clove dodged away from it and the spiked ball unraveled itself once more and began coughing up another round of fun.
To your left.
Ah good, old random voice in the head was back. I glanced to my left and saw another creature altogether. It looked like a floating eel, carefully swimming in the air toward me. I glanced back over to the other two. The sparks were still blocking the way and I felt confident enough that I shouldn’t touch them.
“Um, there’s a thing coming this way,” I called loudly.
Mare glanced at me and cursed. “Should have ran forward.”
“Going to have to run,” Clove called as she swung at the Moglozas. “The sparks will die with this thing.”
I cursed my luck but wasn’t surprised. I took off running down the hall behind me, wondering if I could hide from the thing or if I just needed to find my way to another floor. Preferably the first floor. This thing didn’t look like it could open doors though. Then again, it could blast it with a fireball for all I knew.
Instead of hiding, I ran down the hall, around a corner and kept running. When I reached the end of the hall I paused and saw the eel-like thing leisurely keeping up with me. To the right however, I noticed a Taggollur and to my left a staircase heading up. The Taggollur hadn’t noticed me yet, but if I ran it surely would. The eel was starting to close in on me and I dashed for the stairs, pushing myself as hard as I could. At least upstairs I’d have a moment to figure this thing out.
I reached the top of the stairs and saw the eel thing ram into the Taggollur and watched as the snail-like monster turned and whacked it. The two quickly vanished from sight. Well, it seemed they could fight, but I wasn’t sure if that was a standard thing.
And now I was alone on the third floor.
Once more I glanced down the stairs and knew it would be several minutes before I would be safe enough to head back down. Was it safe just to wait it out here or were they just going to wait, lurking around the corner for me to come by? I wasn’t sure how clever these creatures were, but if I were them that would be my plan – set an ambush.
Sighing, I glanced along the hall. Nothing seemed particularly dangerous here, but I knew the Agmon lurked up here and who knew what else. What was the final count on creatures per floor? I should have asked that.
You should move.
Thanks, voice. But where should I move that could be safe on murder floor?
To the left, down the hall and around the corner to the right. Third door on the right.
It was probably not the safest thing, taking advice from random voices, but it seemed I had few options or better advice.
Who was this voice?
They call us the Creators. For now, I’ll have to withhold my name. They’re watching you.
Who were they? Why the heck would anyone want to watch me?
You’ve got power, power that few here have. They seek to manipulate you as they have the others.
Ah. Of course, the only thing was, I didn’t have access to any power nor did I know what I could even do.
They see the potential just as clearly as I can.
Well, mystery voice, how do I use it then?
The voice was silent for a moment. Call your inner light forward and push it outward, release it and your gifts will show.
That sounded straight forward, except I didn’t know how one even accessed an inner light so I couldn’t just push it forward. Still, I finally reached the designated room and opened the door. To my surprise, Benz was sitting on a bed in there, leg covered in cuts and blood. He looked up at me in surprise before grimacing from the pain.
“What the heck happened?” I asked, closing the door behind me.
“Are you alone?” he asked, equally confused. Taking a deep breath he shook his head. “How do you keep losing your group?”
I shrugged and replied honestly, “They said to rush forward but the gobs of lightening slime freaked me out and I moved back.”
Benz gave a tired laugh. “Ah, good old Moglozas. They’re pretty startling.”
I nodded dumbly.
“So, how did you end up here?” Benz asked simply, taking a deep breath as he grimaced in pain.
“You never answered my question,” I pointed out instead.
Benz shrugged and tried to shift his leg but cursed in pain before replying, “We accidentally attracted a Semill which was fine to deal with except we forgot that usually attracts more Taggollur. We already slew two of them, so it’s really weird another even appeared but that’s life lately. Anyway, we all escaped, just a few injuries. I just needed to rest.”
“Rest on the third floor? That sounds stupid.”
“Says the one who came alone to the third floor,” Benz retorted.
“There was an eel thing chasing me and then I saw another Taggollur... and well this was the only safe way to go.” I crossed my arms. “I figured I can’t just head right back down.”
Benz gave an approving nod. “Very true. At least you’ve got that down.”
“For the head of the opposing team you don’t seem as evil as everyone makes you out to be,” I blurted suddenly.
Benz laughed as my cheeks grew red. “Oh, I’m sure both Clove and I do have our evil sides. That doesn’t mean it’s the default.”
He was a bit too nonchalant about that whole statement. I felt the bracelet on my wrist and wondered what he was thinking. I decided against using it for now.
“Anyway, you should leave before Canton gets back with our healer,” Benz stated firmly.
“Why does he want to kill everyone not directly linked to your team?” I asked, genuinely curious since it seemed everyone else was on a team just to survive.
“Because he is just that evil.” Benz shrugged. “He’s hard to kee
p under control as it is.”
“Why don’t you do away with him then?”
Benz crossed and uncrossed his arms as he thought. “Because no matter what anyone says, neither Clove nor I have stooped that low. We won’t kill another soul stuck here just to be rid of them. That doesn’t mean Clove may not find someone willing to get their hands dirty for her.”
“What about you?”
“Does it matter what I say?” Benz smirked. “You’ll have to make up your mind on your own there.”
“Mare said you and Clove used to be friends,” I commented, getting the feeling I should leave, but still didn’t move.
Benz nodded. “She told you correctly. What of it?” He tilted his head as he waited for the answer.
“Why are you at each other’s throats now?”
Benz sighed and gave a slow sad smile. “It’s complicated, and what’s done is done.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He nodded and tried to get to his feet. “The truth is, neither of us can give an actual answer, even if we want to. The layers complicating matters are much deeper than you might think. But you need to go.” Benz struggled over to the wardrobe and motioned for me to follow.
“Another passage?” I asked as he opened it and pushed the backing of it aside.
“Of course. I wouldn’t just trap myself somewhere.” Benz gave me a look that screamed ‘really’.
That made sense. I looked at the passage for a moment. “Where do I go?”
“Follow your gut. It seems to be working well for you, as usual,” Benz replied simply.
“As usual?”
Benz sighed. “We don’t have time for that conversation.”
Nodding, at least I had that answer. We did know each other at one point. Without wasting more time I got into the wardrobe and pulled myself up into the passageway. At least the wardrobe’s height made it easier to climb up.
I crawled a little bit and wondered if the voice would come back and give me directions. When nothing happened, I continued, hoping I was near the stairs, before I pulled up a ceiling tile and glanced down. I clearly had no sense of direction and was not near the stairs. Below me was an Agmon who must have heard the shifting tile because he glanced up.
Quickly, I shoved the title back into place and could hear the should of pounding on it. The tile had been light so I could only assume it was some weird safe zone magic at work and continued my crawl in the opposite direction. I was not going to deal with that thing on my own.
Chapter 7
I crawled for a few more minutes and tried opening another tile only to see a different creature. I closed the tile again before the weird walking guppy-like thing could notice me. I did not want to know what it was, what it could do, or why the hell it had legs. So, once more I continued on vaguely wondering if I would get dropped from the ceiling or find a way down on my own. Did opening the tiles reset things at least? Did this place know I was trying to get out, just safely? Did it care I wanted to be safe?
Yes.
I was relieved that the voice inside my head agreed, but I still wanted to know where there was a safe place.
Not near enough. You can take on the creature nearby. Just hit it in the eyes, go past it, and around the corner there are stairs.
I wondered why I couldn’t just crawl to the stairs when a tile fell out from under me.
With a painful landing, I pushed myself back to my feet and looked around. Nothing was directly here yet, but I was fairly certain something had to have heard my magnificent landing. As if on cue, I could hear what sounded like many hooved feet heading my way. Oh great, demon moose? Demon mule? What could possibly be next?
Find your inner light.
Thanks, voice, but where was it and how did I just find it? I could feel magic more easily around me now, and I could feel that I had it, but there wasn’t a tangible source for this. Nothing that screamed ‘Here I am! Use me!’
Down the long hall I could see shadows of something big with large, intricate antlers. Well, possibly a deer, but this place turned adorable into horror with ease. Steeling myself, I tried to mentally grab at the magic around me, hoping something would stick.
Don’t grab, find it and push it forward.
The voice sounded like my sewing instructor as a child and I cursed. Of course, I was doing it wrong, and the face of a deer slowly peered around the corner. It had three eyes on each side of its face and while its coat was white and looked soft, I could see the easy shine of what looked like icicles at the ends of its fur. This thing was not something you should pet.
As it turned further into the hall, I could see it had six legs and a tail that might as well be a ball of ice crystals. The creature stared at me curiously as it carefully approached. While scary, it didn’t look deadly. Was that code for being extra deadly?
Magic, magic come on!
I slowly took careful steps back as I tried to make something, anything work. I felt a ball of panic inside, and it almost felt like it was pulsing with magic. That’s it! I pushed the magic feeling forward, calling on its power to become physical in my hands.
To my surprise, a bow appeared in my hands. The wood had intricate leaves and flowers carved into it, but I had no time to admire it. The creature down the hall had stopped and it’s eyes were glowing an icy blue.
Panicking, I noticed I didn’t have arrows. What good was a bow without arrows?
The creature began moving forward again. This time it wasn’t hesitating as it quickly started to take bigger and longer steps. I wanted to scream, but instead pulled the bow back and hoped I could magic an arrow as I released the string.
With a thwack of the bowstring, I saw an arrow made of light reach the target, hitting it in the neck. The creature slowed its pace to a standstill, knowing I was a threat now.
Deep breaths, I commanded myself. I could do this.
I pulled the string back, imagining myself nocking another arrow and tried to aim for the face. As I released the arrow, the creature dodged, screeched, and launched itself forward. I nocked another one back and aimed again, waiting for it to be too close to dodge and fired it, landing a shot in one of the eyes.
Screaming, the creature fell back and I took the opportunity to run by it. Its screams echoed loudly through the halls and somewhere in the distance, I could hear the sound of an Agmon dragging a blade along the walls.
At the staircase, I didn’t hesitate and dashed down at full speed. I didn’t know where I was going but I took this turn and that until I finally found another set of stairs heading down. I didn’t stop until I reached the bottom step and collapsed.
Whatever was down here wouldn’t be as bad as those things I had already seen. I could rest. At least for a moment.
What had that thing been?
Daidogze.
Thanks, voice. Where did these freaky creatures come from?
Souls who couldn’t rest and were too corrupted.
What? That wasn’t what I was expecting. Though, to be fair, I didn’t know what I was expecting.
After a time, the souls will calm and be able to go back into the world. Until then, they take on a different form and give the souls who need closure, or something to complete, a foe to face.
That was somehow not the strangest thing I had heard here. Still, what about me? Why am I stuck here?
That was an accident. I’m not sure what let Dreamers cross into this world, but we never did find a solution. For the most part, you wake up and there’s no harm. Those knocked out tend not to be stuck here very often either. Usually, they fall back into a dream world rather quickly.
Then why was I here?
They’re keeping you here.
Something about that gave me chills. Who were they?
They are the creatures I moved to this world. They were hurting your home world. Slowly corrupting and destroying it for their own greedy reasons. They don’t appreciate being trapped.
Why didn’t you just kill t
hem if they were so foul and evil?
We... really I wanted to redeem them. Everytime I think there’s a chance, the greater majority prove me wrong. It may be a long process, but I will not give up hope.
Do you think you’re giving them too much of a chance? Sometimes, things just don’t change.
There was a long pause. To be fair, I have an eternity, just as they do.
That wasn’t much of an answer, but before I could ask more I heard footsteps coming from down the hall. I clutched my bow tightly, hoping I was ready for whoever or whatever it was.
I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when Mare and Clove rounded the corner.
“There you are, Remi.” It felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders.
“I have no idea how you got all the way over here, but I’m glad to see you are alive and uninjured.” Mare beamed.
“And with a weapon,” Clove pointed out.
“I really don’t know what I’m doing with it, but I’m glad I finally have it.” I nodded at the two of them.
“So, what brought it out?” Mare asked a bit too excitedly. Clove gave an expectant look.
I realized there was no reason I should know the creature’s name and had to think before I replied. “It was a weird deer-like thing that looked like it had ice crystals on the end of its fur.” I shrugged as I continued. “Um, icy blue eyes, giant crazy antlers…”
Mare and Clove stared at each other for a moment.
“Ice ball tail?” Clove asked.
“Six legs?” Mare threw in.
I nodded. “Yep, that was it.” I smiled. “I shot it a few times before I got it in the eye and managed to run past. I’m guessing it’s really tough if it’s on the third floor.”
Mare looked at Clove with concern and possibly fear. “What in the hell was a Daidogze doing inside?”
“Or on the third floor. I can’t imagine it wandered inside and up there by chance.” Clove nodded with as much concern as Mare was showing. “Let’s get back. The others need to know this development.”
“What’s going on?” I could only vaguely guess.
“Normally, outside things can’t get inside, and vica versa. So something somewhere is going wrong, and if there is a problem with barriers, there could be a problem with safe zones too,” Clove summed up as she motioned for me to follow.