Gift of Gold (The Year of Churning Bloods)

by Leone, Hudson

  “Are you sure?” I asked hesitantly.

  Umber frowned slightly. “If you want to, be my guest,” He mumbled wearily.

  “No, I just...” I began to protest but was instantly cut off by the large judge.

  “Competitors? State you are ready!” Everyone surround me thumped their chest in unison and let out a fierce cry. I tried to do the same however much to my dismay, my voice cracked terribly. The audience behind me erupted with mirth at the strange twisted sound I made, however I was too nervous to pay them much mind. The large judge seemed to quiver slightly on the spot as if he himself were as nervous as the competitors. The crowd hushed until only the distant patter of rain could be heard. I scrunched my toes together and felt the gravel beneath my boots crunch like bones being fractured. Everyone was alert. Everyone was anticipating and yet the only thing that was running through my mind was blood.

  “Begin,” the elder’s voice rang out like a single rock tumbling down a snowy cliff. Gradually the roar of the crowd engulfed this one word until finally an avalanche of sounds sent me hurtling forward. The locks on the blackened crate shattered in an explosion of light and golden fumes. Some trainees stopped in alarm, however the majority like myself kept on charging. Savouring one last breath, I plugged my nose and hurled myself into the dense cloudy mass. The fog of the penelopis was far thicker than I would've expected. It stung my eyes like a fierce wind, and restricted my vision to the point where I found difficulty in seeing my own hand in front of my face.

  Despite this, I continued onward, trusting the direction that my feet took me. Painful seconds passed, and yet I found nothing of any importance. From far away I heard the giddy laughter and horrified screams of trainees who had taken breaths of the creature’s fumes. A slight breeze from somewhere surprised me, causing me to inadvertently let the breath out of my lungs. Inhaling sharply, I was immediately overcome with a feeling of perfect euphoria. The gas smelled strongly of over ripened fruit and fresh flowers that had been left out in the summer sun for hours. I took another breath and felt a goofy grin relax my eyes and open up the world surrounding me. The fog had evaporated and I could see with perfect clarity that I was resting on a grassy bed just beside the edge of a cliff face.

  “Tea Jacob?” Professor Wenchenberg had removed a tablecloth from his bag which he let flutter in the wind for a moment. He gently set it down before producing a kettle from somewhere behind me. I sleepily accepted a mug but tilted my head when I realized that the glass was empty. I held it up and frowned slightly.

  “There’s no tea,” I responded stupidly.

  Professor Wenchenberg frowned and looked at me incredulously. “Well of course there’s no tea, I haven’t put any water in the pot.” I pulled my lips back and tilted my head the other way.

  “Where are you going to get the water?”

  “From Ocean of course!” Professor Wenchenberg responded happily. “It’s all around us you know.” Sure enough as soon as he had said this, I could see that see a vast expanse of water off in the distance, gently washing underneath the sounds of our conversation.”

  “Oh,” I said in response to this.

  “Oh indeed,” The professor said, waving his hand carelessly. “Jacob, do be a dragon and fetch us some Ocean.”

  “Do be a what?” I responded in shock.

  Professor Wenchenberg lazily looked up in response. “Do be a dear and fetch us some Ocean,” he repeated for a second time. The professor seemed oblivious to the correction he had made and continued to stare off into the distance.

  I squinted and looked off with him. “Why do you want me to get it?” I asked, suddenly feeling somewhat irritated. “It’s awfully far away.”

  “Go get it,” he commanded before sharply pointing to the water.

  I shook my head.

  Professor Wenchenberg turned stony faced. “Do you... not want your tea?” he asked, putting extra emphasis on each syllable.

  “I’m happy with what we have here,” I proclaimed loudly.

  “I’m not,” The professor said, twitching slightly as he said so. “I brought you here Jacob. I brought the mugs. I brought the tea.” The professor stood suddenly and turned away from me. “I gave you the gift of gold, yet out of all things you still refuse to get Ocean?”

  “Ocean is not needed here. We are both happy and well,” I protested sternly.

  Professor Wenchenberg suddenly shuddered and grasped at his face. I stood up immediately to help him, however lept back in alarm as I met eyes with a reptilian looking creature with bulbous yellow fish eyes on either side of his face. The penelopis grabbed me in a tight embrace and threw us both off the cliff. The entire creature turned cotton white, puffing up slightly as he instantly transformed into a thick milky cloud. He fell through my fingers and hovered above me while I continued to accelerate at an impossible rate.

  I was just about to turn around when the scene surrounding me unexpectedly exploded into darkness, sending squares of empty space floundering about like pieces of an intricate puzzle. I must have landed on a surface of some kind, as moments later I had gone from falling to sprinting in one seamless transition. I stopped, now realizing that everything had gone too dark for me to see clearly. After a few cold moments, I could now see that I was in a gentle forest clearing which was lightly dusted by a thin layer of powdered snow. The foliage that sprang from the earth was neither large enough to sleep beneath, nor mature enough to shelter from the elements. This place felt so familiar, but in my weary state I found it difficult to remember my own name.

  “You can be happier still,” the voice of Professor Wenchenberg rang out from an unseen source. “You can make the world happier still. You just need to relax.”

  I ignored the voice and began to walk very quickly through the sparse forest. I had to get away, but away where exactly? From somewhere nearby I could hear the gentle trot of pig hooves on a bed of snow. I stepped on what felt like a twig, however the moment I had looked down, I could see that I was standing on a human being of literally only skin, bone, and bits of hair.

  “You see what you’ve done?” Preston wailed from beneath my feet. “You’ve failed us Jacob. You let us go.” A detached wail of distress escaped my throat, and without looking back I began to run. I ducked behind a tree and withdrew F’anger the beast. From far away I could see my enemy, whose lower body had taken the form of a himathor.

  He turned sharply and charged suddenly. I wildly flailed my sword however the creature simply disappeared into nothingness. He rose from the ground and tried to strike me a second time, however I blocked this maneuver with a sharp jab. The penelopis literally sank into the shadows, before sprinting away in cowardice. At first, I wondered what on earth would have caused him to do this, but a deep orange glow caused me to turn around and gasp. An impossibly large forest fire was brewing just behind me, burning matter itself as if it were no more than paper.

  I began to run, but it soon became apparent that the burning world would surpass me eventually. Thick blades of flame licked at my legs and crumbled the very ground around me. For the second time, I was falling. I wailed in fear, not because there was no ground below me but because there were no more memories to hold me up. I began to tumble down a gentle sleet covered hill where someone might have taken a lofty Sunday stroll. Through the confusion, I could see the Penelopis rolling after me with his lower body now undefined.

  I stopped my descent as did my enemy and ran to strike with my sword. Seconds away from impact and I felt a swooping sensation where my feet remained stationary but my chest continued to move. From the earth, a gnarled root had risen just enough for me to stumble over. I fell to the ground and rolled just before another root pelted the spot where I should’ve been.

  The penelopis rose above me, with dozens upon hundreds of root like limbs now supporting him as if he were some grotesque octopus. With some difficulty, my blade sliced through one of his roots however many more took its place. The penelopis struck me and although
I felt no pain, I flew upward. I felt my center of gravity shift until I was staring upward at a sky of green grass and an earth of blue sky. I tumbled to the ground limply, and struggled to retain any conscious thought.

  The roots of the creature churned the soil like lumpy butter as it continued to advance. The penelopis raised his hands suddenly and began to fire a cascade of green luminescent orbs which each hit the earth with a fantastic blast of energy. I was knocked into a nearby rock where I felt a sharp twinge of pain that existed for just a moment before fading into distant memory.

  “Don't play its games,” a strained voice from afar advised me. I recognized it despite the fact that it was far away. Perhaps I had known it in a previous life, for the only people that seemed to exist in this world were my enemy and I.

  “Jacob listen to me.” The voice was harsh, and cold. Yet there was something about what it was saying that made sense.

  I realized wearily that he was talking about me. I was Jacob. I am Jacob. I frowned suddenly. Why I had forgotten this? What was I doing? The penelopis launched another bombardment of projectiles and I found myself absorb into the fight. It could have been weeks or years or even just a minute before I heard the voice again.

  “Don't play its games,” the voice repeated.

  I felt angry at myself for not being able to remember the name of the speaker. It was a good name too. Now that I thought about it was almost as if I had chosen the name myself. My eyes widened as I realized and remembered. “Umber?” I said aloud.

  He gave no sign of acknowledgment but I knew I was correct. “Jacob you can't fight him this way,” he said quickly. I heard each word, sharper and clearer than before but they lost their meaning as they tried to intertwine themselves into a sentence.

  “Jacob you can't win in a world where this creature controls everything. You have to leave this daydream. Get Pride’s Grip, put it on.”

  The world around me flickered suddenly. I briefly saw the stadium, the judges, the people and I remembered everything. But it was so loud and so bright. I wanted to go to a place where it was nice and quiet. The mist engulfed me once more but I resisted. I reached into my pocket and threw on the pendant before turning its face and waking up. I knew where I was now. I knew what my goal was. I let nothing escape my mind as the scenery dissolved. Through the sudden shock of Pride’s grip, I could now see the chest in front of me. I wanted to give into the smell and lose myself in the glorious fight that I was going through. I wanted to fight the creature and see it squirm under my blade.

  But more than anything I just wanted the professor back.

  I fell forward and jammed the key into the simple brass lock. The chest fell open and instantly a wild whirlwind threw the fog away from the stadium. The big black box had begun to draw in air like a powerful giant taking a deep breath. The penelopis screeched in dismay and desperately tried to cling to what it could, however it was still sucked back into its cage. All went silent. With the little effort I could spare, I lifted the wooden box above my head and drank in the deafening cheer of the audience. The judges stared in open mouthed amazement while the competitors surrounding me glared in angry protest.

  Inside the wooden box was an golden key, not too dissimilar to the silver one I got from the magmot pit. I quietly removed it from the box and pocketed it before quickly leaving the stadium. Ensuring that Pride’s grip was hidden well under my armour, I quickly hurried back to the distortion dormitory where I knew the only people who would harass me about the competition were the company of my friends.

  Chapter eighteen

  Long Worms and Scary Visions

  Life made the effort of living in us,

  So we can make words like hippopotamus.

  If you think there’s a purpose,

  In naming the porpoise,

  then you’re not having fun with the one life you’ve got.

  So at the round table, where the living muck about.

  Try everything once,

  Try even sauerkraut.

  I was just in the middle of recalling my encounter with the penelopis when a timid tap shot through the Distortion Dormitories. Sebastian looked up.

  “Do you want me to get that?” he asked, quickly jumping to his feet.

  I shook my head and slowly lifted my aching body off of the couch to go and see who was at the door. “Preston!” I said after cracking it door ajar. With the little energy I had left, I brought a smile to my face and carefully stepped outside. I noticed his darkened hands were cold with frost and his cheeks were rosy with flush, leading me to believe he’d been spending a great amount of time outside.

  He nodded slightly and folded his arms carefully. “Congratulations,” he said without a great amount of enthusiasm. A small crevice opened up on my forehead as I frowned slightly.

  “You were hoping I wouldn’t make the finals, weren’t you?” I concluded weakly.

  Preston’s shoulders fell and the tension fled out of his eyes. He sighed apologetically and rubbed his arms together.

  “It sounds worse when you say it out loud,” he responded in protest. “So I care for your safety, especially after watching you go through a fight like that.”

  “Preston you don’t understand,” I said morbidly.

  He laughed like a deflating organ. “Don’t I?” he asked loudly. “Tell me Jacob, how don’t I understand? What makes you want to go and put yourself in this danger so constantly?”

  I blinked as I was momentarily flung out of reality. “Professor Wenchenberg’s been taken,” I said limply.

  Preston’s angry face suddenly fell into empty shock. He stared at me for a couple of seconds in open mouthed silence before he shook his head slightly. “Is that true?” he asked at a far more acceptable volume.

  I gave a heaving shudder that closely resembled a nod before slinking down on the spot and sitting with my back pressed up against the wall.

  Preston uncertainty joined me. “What happened?” he asked carefully.

  “He tried to help me. Simple as that.”

  Preston nodded although I could tell he didn’t know what I meant. I could see a surge of questions in his eyes that he still wanted answered, yet for my sake he kept his mouth shut.

  “I’m really sorry Jacob,” Preston said in sincerity. I nodded quietly before drawing my attention elsewhere.

  “I have to win,” I said, shaking my head. “I have to win for the professor.”

  Preston suddenly seemed unsure how to continue the discussion. After a long while, he sighed and reached into his front pocket. “I brought you some chocolates,” He said, trying to beat the tone of his voice up slightly. “I hope they haven’t melted. I’ve been keeping them close to me ever since you made the finals.”

  I stretched a smile onto my face however it felt as though the majority of my muscles had lost their elasticity. I carefully removed a single sphere of candy that had been heavily caked with cocoa powder and took a small bite to be polite. The second after I realized I was ravenous however, I had to restrain myself from devouring the chocolates all at once.

  “You’re getting quite a bit of attention Jacob,” Preston remarked slightly.

  I shrugged and bit into another chocolate. “Good kind or bad kind?”

  Preston frowned slightly. “It’s hard to tell.” He admitted weakly. “But you’re the only pronounced trainee to have made it into the finals. Everyone else is tier three and most of those people are prefects.”

  I coughed loudly and pressed my fingertips together, unsure if I wanted to carry on with this discussion.

  “People are noticing you Jacob,” Preston continued slowly. “There’s nothing I can do about that, but I’m just preparing you for any unexpected attention.”

  “Has Gregor made the finals?” I asked, biting his last sentence off slightly.

  Preston nodded and I quickly brought a hand to my forehead.

  “I figured just as much.” I folded my arms crossly and almost ended up swallowing another sw
eet whole. “I just hope he’ll ignore me, because in all honesty I can’t afford to be fighting two beasts at once.”

  Preston smirked slightly but immediately darkened before his next sentence. “So what happens if you win?” he asked, however I immediately shushed him.

  “I don’t want to talk about that just yet,” I said forcefully. “We still got some time, so may as well just enjoy that.”

  Preston nodded in agreement and together the two of us watched the dwindling hours of the sunset. Eventually we retreated to our respective dormitories where we both swam through an exhausting night of many twists, turns and bumps. I cracked open my eyes a sliver just in time to see the dark dawn spend it’s last few moments before it was going to be swallowed by the sun. It had hardly felt like I slept an hour, much less an entire night.

  “Are you awake mortal?” Umber asked, drifting into view. “Your mind moves so slowly it’s often difficult to tell.”