“Sorta. Why don’t I go talk to him?” Terrance said, then realized how much that prospect frightened him.
“Why don’t we just hack him apart right now?” Talia suggested.
“Because it looks like a trap,” Randolph said, stroking his beard.
It certainly does, Terrance thought, but found himself walking toward Chet anyway.
Chet stood with his arms folded, his large axe strapped to his back. His eyes, barely visible through the slits of the helmet, looked down at Terrance. “I think you’re keeping some secrets from Shannon, aren’t you, little man?”
“I guess you found me out.” Terrance kept a tight grip on his sheathed sword. “You’re outnumbered, so I don’t know what you’re expecting.”
Chet lowered his voice. “And do these agents of chaos behind you know about your other associations? What are you planning here?”
He really didn’t know what his plans were, and that was the problem. Obviously Shannon was going to find out about him soon, and most likely the Infinite would find out about the secrets he’d kept hidden from them. So he dodged the question. “What are you planning?”
“The same as always: for my axe to taste the blood of fools.” Chet laughed.
Terrance drew his sword, pointed it at Chet, and said, “That won’t be easy.” It didn’t sound as intimidating as he’d hoped.
Chet looked him over. “Did you pee your pants?”
“No! It’s a cof—”
Chet kicked him in the chest, knocking Terrance backward onto the ground. He lifted up his head to see a few dozen large figures emerging from the rocky path behind Chet. They were eyeless soldiers in dark armor with pale skin and sharp little teeth.
Terrance scrambled to his feet and backed away from Chet to join the others, keeping his sword between himself and the enemy, for what little good it did. As the enemy advanced, the Infinite also had their swords drawn as they watched with steely faces—except for Curtis and Vivian’s children, who stood behind and watched the scene unfold with great curiosity.
“What are those things?” Terrance asked.
“We call them ‘cavefish,’” Curtis answered. “They’re foot soldiers of the Darkness that we’re seeing more and more of. They seem to have access to them in large numbers.”
“And you brought them here,” Talia growled.
“I…didn’t know he was following me.” Truthful, though Terrance still felt that he was being quite deceptive. He saw Grace and Daniel behind him and felt extra guilty, though they didn’t look frightened and were simply interested in seeing what was going on. Terrance looked back at Chet and said, “If you have a problem with me, leave the others out of it.” He tried to say it forcefully, but his voice faltered as he looked at Chet’s horde.
“Oh, we deal with stuff like this all the time; don’t worry about it,” Randolph said, holding his sword relaxed by his side.
The cavefish assembled behind Chet, blocking off the Infinite from the only escape from the castle on the cliff. The creatures were brandishing their weapons and stomping their feet, ready to charge at any moment. But they stayed where they were.
“Why aren’t they attacking yet?” Donald asked.
“We could ask him,” Joyce answered. “Hey!” Joyce started to call out, and then stopped and looked at Terrance. “You know his name?”
Terrance was starting to get a little tired from holding up his sword. “Chet.”
“Hey, Chet!” Joyce yelled. “Why aren’t you attacking yet? Why not yet, Chet?”
Chet laughed. “I am simply biding my time. All I have to do is wait while you stand where you are, and you’ll be dead.”
“Like from starvation, or do you have something more immediate in mind?” Joyce responded.
“Patience,” Chet said. “The end is coming.”
Joyce looked at the others. “I guess we’re in the middle of some trap or something.”
Randolph shrugged. “That seems pretty obvious.”
“Guys,” Terrance said, “I’m really sorry I—”
“Could you stop whining!” Talia shouted. “I say we attack them. If they expect us to stand here and wait for the machinations, then we disappoint them.”
“A rather blunt solution to this problem,” Curtis said, “but I’m not sure what our other options are.”
Felicia tensed, preparing to fight. “And I have a bad feeling about what we’re waiting for.”
The sky began to darken, the blue turning to gray. Erica looked up and then moved closer to Travis. “And I think I see it.”
The others looked up. In the distance, a black dot in the sky was growing larger, and as it grew, so did Terrance’s overwhelming sense of doom.
“Malcus,” Curtis uttered, his face betraying his fear.
Chet started laughing, a huge, booming laugh that only added to the panic, as he stood still and watched.
“Maybe if we engage them in battle, it won’t breathe fire on us,” Travis suggested.
“I wouldn’t count on it.” Vivian sheathed her sword and took her daughter by the hand. The little girl was also watching the sky, but without the same amount of dread. “We have one way out of here fast.”
Everyone groaned except for Terrance. “What are we doing?”
Curtis picked up his son. “Jumping into the water.”
Terrance looked toward the cliffs around the castle. “The water down there?”
Chet’s laughter seemed even louder, and Malcus was now close enough that instead of being just a black blob in the darkening sky, it was a horribly spiky black blob.
“We’ll be fine,” Curtis said, and then jumped over the cliff holding his son. Vivian followed, jumping hand in hand with her daughter.
“This isn’t suicide?” Terrance asked, trading panicked glances between the cliff and the approaching demon dragon.
“Not if we’re assuming we live.” Joyce ran and jumped off the cliff.
“Stop them!” Chet roared, and the cavefish began to run toward them.
“Yeah, that’s our cue,” Travis said, and held close to Erica as they both took the plunge. Randolph, Donald, and Felicia quickly followed.
“Come on, idiot!” Talia yelled at Terrance, the two of them the only ones left.
Terrance sheathed his sword, took off his glasses and slid them into his pocket, and looked down the side of the cliff as he prepared to jump. The fall was farther than he’d thought. He looked back at the charging cavefish, who were almost on them, and then up at Malcus, now clearly visible as a massive black creature covered in spikes. Its red eyes seemed to be locked on Terrance. In its mouth something glowed, and he could tell it was about to incinerate him
Talia yanked on his arm and Terrance stumbled backward with her, off the cliff. As they fell, black flames erupted from Malcus’s mouth, and the whole cliffside became covered in fire. Above them was nothing but the horrible, unnatural-looking flame, black at its center but tinged red at the edges. But the flame died down quickly, and the castle and much of the cliffside were gone.
Then he hit the water.
Chapter 21
From the height of the cliff, Terrance had expected that hitting the water would be like slamming into pavement, but the surprisingly warm water accepted him gently and gracefully, almost like a reassuring hug. When he opened his eyes, he was looking over an underwater valley hued in blue, with glowing creatures swimming throughout. Jellyfish hung about in the water like street lamps as fish of all sizes swam about. Terrance saw a long eel-like creature—longer than a bus—slithering beneath him. Something the size of a whale swam off to his side, but it had a tail like a fish and was dotted with glowing spots. From the size of the creatures, Terrance felt he should be afraid, but he wasn’t and instead watched them with fascination. In the distance and further into the depths below, he saw a cluster of lights that looked like an underwater city. He was enthralled by the scene, temporarily forgetting his situation and how he had ended up in it, unti
l a current suddenly yanked him backward.
Terrance turned to see that he was heading for the rocky cliff he had jumped from, but the water pulled him through an entrance below the cliff. He found himself tumbling through a large tunnel that was somehow lit, but he was moving too fast to see what produced the light. He remembered that he was underwater, which meant that breathing should become a concern at some point. He wasn’t panicked for air yet—he didn’t even feel like he was holding his breath—but he hoped his water ride would end soon and that it wasn’t sending him further underwater.
The current finally threw Terrance out of the tunnel, and he felt himself float upward. When his head crested the surface, he took a deep breath of air just because it felt like he should. He quickly spotted the others swimming toward the shore, and followed them. They soon reached rocky land, and Terrance took a moment to sit and take in the surroundings. They were in a large cavern lit by hundreds of glowing crystals, and on one side of the underground lake was what looked like a temple. “I know where we are,” Terrance said. “There’s actually a ladder to my apartment near here.”
“That’s convenient,” Donald said. His suit was dripping wet like everyone else’s clothes. “You have any towels there?”
Terrance looked at the size of the group. “A few.”
“Can we do that again, Mommy?” Daniel asked. Grace was busy looking at one of the glowing crystals with quiet fascination.
Terrance felt an intense guilt, watching Curtis and Vivian’s children; his secret-keeping had almost gotten them incinerated along with the rest of the group. He walked over to Vivian. “I’m so sorry I put you all in danger like this. I had no idea that—”
“It’s okay.” She patted him on the shoulder. “These things happen.”
Having escaped from a giant dragon into a massive underground cavern, Terrance was pretty sure these things did not happen, despite Vivian’s assurance. “I got your whole castle burned away and—”
“It’s really not a big deal.” Erica looked over her wet clothing. “I’m just glad I left my purse in the car.”
“Yeah, we’ve all made mistakes, bro,” Travis said. “This whole thing is a big learning process for all of us.”
“We’re all in constant danger.” Curtis knelt next to his son. “Especially children. You just have to learn to deal with it, not ignore it.”
Terrance looked around the group. None of them looked angry at him. Except for Talia. “He’s hiding something!” Talia shouted. “Why does he know so many of the Hollow Ones?”
Curtis stood up and walked over to Terrance. “If he’s hiding something, he’ll have to deal with it. And if he needs our help, he’ll ask.”
For a moment, Terrance considered telling them his situation. He did feel so alone in it, and it would be nice to have some help. And after what he’d put them through, it seemed like he owed them the truth.
“Hey, Terrance!”
Terrance turned around to see Jenna the mermaid, holding her top half above the surface of the water. “Oh, hey.”
“I saw you in the water and was going to swim over to you, but you were with others and I didn’t know if it was a party I wasn’t invited to or something.”
“No, we’re just…um…fleeing mortal danger.”
“Mommy, it’s a mermaid!” Daniel said.
“Yes, it is,” Vivian said, pulling him close. “And she’s not…wearing a shirt.”
“Nope. I don’t own any,” Jenna said. “They don’t keep well in the water.”
Talia glared at her. “You’re indecent.”
Jenna sunk lower into the water so that only her head was sticking up. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be mean to the mermaid, Talia,” Randolph said.
“I don’t trust her,” Talia said.
Randolph rolled his eyes. “That’s a surprise.”
Felicia was trying to fix her hair. “Hey, someone mentioned something about towels.”
“Oh yeah, there’s a ladder over this way.” Terrance started to lead them away.
“Nice meeting you all!” Jenna yelled, waving at them as they left.
With the long ladder climb, they all made their way up to the entrance to Terrance’s apartment. He had to give the little trapdoor a big shove to knock away the stuff on top of it, then they came in one by one while Terrance tried to find all the towels he had.
“Will blankets work?” Terrance asked, bringing out a few spare ones.
Donald took one. “I’ll give it a try.”
The group was now dripping all over Terrance’s apartment and furniture. He still felt pretty bad about the whole thing, but most of them looked a bit amused by the situation. Except, of course, Talia. “We need to find a way to take on Malcus,” she said.
“That is true.” Curtis dabbed himself with a towel. “I don’t think the direct approach is going to work.”
“I’d better call my mom soon.” Felicia pulled out her cellphone, which was protected in a plastic Ziploc bag. “Of course, I don’t think I want to tell her I’m dripping wet in a strange man’s apartment.”
“You put your phone in a plastic bag?” Terrance asked. He didn’t even want to check on how his phone had fared.
Felicia laughed. “You do this a while, you learn to be prepared.”
“Where are we, anyway?” Vivian asked while helping her daughter dry off.
“Tall Oaks apartments,” Terrance answered.
“I’m near here,” Randolph said. “I can give everyone a ride back to where you parked your cars.”
“Man, I hope the cavefish didn’t key them or something,” Donald said.
“Again, guys, I know you say it’s not a big deal,” Terrance said, “but I’m sorry about how—”
The front door opened, and Terrance froze in abject horror. There stood Shannon, smiling at first, then looking more and more confused by the scene in front of her. Luckily, she was dressed in regular clothes, so the Infinite didn’t regard her with suspicion (except Talia, but that was starting to seem like her normal manner when greeting anyone), but Shannon looked over the dripping-wet strangers, and the swords at their hips, with a blank expression for what seemed like hours. Finally, she looked at Terrance and smiled. It was disturbing, as it was her perfectly normal smile, not betraying anything. “You didn’t mention having guests today.”
Had he put them all in danger again? Terrance wasn’t sure, but Shannon certainly didn’t appear dangerous at the moment. “Yeah…it’s a long story. Um…hey, everyone, this is my girlfriend, Shannon.”
They all said hello, then Daniel walked up to her and said, “We went swimming in the ocean and saw a mermaid!”
“Wow! That sounds exciting!” Shannon looked at the group. “So…you all go swimming in the ocean with swords?”
“I don’t know how much Terrance told you about us, but it’s a little hard to explain,” Curtis said. “Anyway, we had to quickly escape a demonic dragon…so, the ocean.”
Shannon nodded. “I didn’t even know we got dragons in these parts…or oceans. But, no, Terrance hasn’t told me much about you. Boy, I’m just glad I didn’t show up here wearing my work uniform.”
Terrance’s heart sank into his stomach, and he found himself frozen in place again.
“Your uniform?” Vivian asked.
“Yeah.” Shannon slowly walked over to Terrance and stood beside him. “I’m a barista, and it always smells of coffee…which Ance just loves.” She then whispered. “It makes him a bit amorous. If I had it on, he’d be all over me, which would be embarrassing in front of company.” She put her arm around Terrance, then quickly pulled it away. “Ew. You’re wet.”
Talia moved nearer to Shannon but still kept her distance. “Do I know you?”
Shannon betrayed her smile just slightly while looking at Talia. “Do you enjoy high-quality, fair-trade coffee?”
“No. I drink Folgers.”
“Then I don’t think so.”
“Wel
l, I think we’ll all get out of your hair now,” Curtis said while heading for the door. “Thanks for the towels, Terrance.”
“No problem. Sorry again about the whole…um”—he glanced cautiously at Shannon but realized there was nothing left to conceal—“castle getting burned away and jumping into the ocean.”
“We all have days like those; don’t worry about it,” Curtis answered. “We can get a new meeting place. But if you have some personal matters to sort out, you’d better get working on those.”
They all headed out, Randolph subtly motioning at Shannon when she wasn’t looking and giving Terrance a thumbs-up. When they were all gone, Shannon closed the door and turned to Terrance, still smiling normally, which was creeping him out. They stared at each other silently for a while, Terrance having no idea what to say. Eventually, Shannon pointed to the couch, then sat down while Terrance adjusted the sword at his hip before taking a seat beside her. Shannon gently felt along the sword’s scabbard with two fingers, and Terrance almost thought he could feel the blade stir. With the same two fingers, she touched Terrance on the cheek. “Sounds like you had quite a day.”
“I…guess we need to talk.”
Her smile finally faded. “About what?”
Chapter 22
“So—funny story—just before I met you, I sort of ran into these faeries who gave me a sword,” Terrance said.
“And you never thought this was worth mentioning to me?” There was anger in Shannon’s eyes, but it seemed like a low boil right now. Terrance made a mental note to step very carefully.
“I was embarrassed,” Terrance explained. “I really like you…and I got the feeling this would be an issue. So, I just tried to figure things out about it by myself.”
Shannon nodded. “So you’ve been secretly meeting with people who are plotting to kill me and my friends.”
Terrance realized this was not the sort of issue where there was any way to step around it carefully. “I’m…it’s just…this is all very confusing…”
Sidequest: In Realms Ungoogled Page 17