by H Waters
“What is that?” I asked, pointing to a very large black blob in the distance.
“Shit,” Scarlet replied.
“That’s not very reassuring,” I said, concerned. “What is it?”
“It’s not good, that’s what it is,” she replied, her eyes darting all around. “I have a plan. Alaric, get up.”
Scarlet ran towards the geyser, and Alaric, Lucy and I followed as fast as we could. “The geyser is going to blow soon. We can use that to dismount Gout,” Scarlet said frantically, looking for some sort of cover. The ground consisted of flat shell-like rock, with absolutely no vegetation around, likely from the constant abuse of the erupting geyser. “Echo and I will take the Boden, you take Gout.”
“How are you going to take down a Boden?” Alaric said. “The thing is the size of a bus, with scales thick enough to withstand almost anything and Echo can barely wield a sword.”
“If the geyser hits it then the force should knock it out, or at least daze it enough to buy us some time,” she replied.
“I really don’t think this is going to work,” Alaric said, pacing back and forth.
I turned to Alaric. “You are a legendary Saint. Why are you so scared of a creepy little man on a big lizard?”
“I am not scared! It’s just, you know, been a while since I’ve been in a real hand-to-hand combat situation. I am out of practice,” he awkwardly added.
“I’m sure you will do great!” Scarlet smiled, patting him on the back.
“The Boden is after Alaric, so he has to lead him into the geyser,” Scarlet announced.
“I really don’t like this plan,” Alaric muttered.
“Alright, let’s get moving!” Scarlet said, enthusiastically shoving Alaric in the direction Gout was coming from.
Scarlet and I ran behind the geyser, hiding behind some of the only large rocks in the entire area. Lucy lay calmly beside us, her eyes fluttering shut as if nothing was happening. Alaric stood in front of the geyser, his sword on his back. He looked small in this wide open, barren landscape. “He seems calm enough,” I said.
“I’m sure he has done crazier things,” Scarlet said, nonetheless sounding concerned. The Boden barreled towards Alaric, picking up speed with every step. Alaric was not joking, the Boden was the size of a bus if not bigger. The ground shook every time one of its large hooved feet slammed into it. The sun shining on its slick, black, scaled body made it seem like it was made of glass or obsidian. Its long tail snapped side to side as it lumbered forward.
Alaric waited until the Boden was uncomfortably close, and once he was sure the Boden could not stop, he broke out into a full sprint towards the water. For such a bulky man, Alaric was fast enough to able to keep just out of the Boden’s reach. The Boden’s head reared back, then snapped forward viciously. Using the momentum of its head snapping forward, it shot a long, rough, pale pink strand towards Alaric. Alaric shifted to the right, the thing from the Boden’s mouth just missing him. It then retracted back inside the jaws of the Boden.
“What the hell was that?” I asked Scarlet.
“That was the Boden’s tongue. I seem to have forgotten about that part.”
The Boden continued trying to hit Alaric with its disgustingly long tongue, but every time Alaric moved out of the way just enough to miss the tongue and not slow his sprinting. The water in the geyser was beginning to bubble.
“You have to make the Boden run faster!” Scarlet screamed. Alaric slowed his run a little bit.
“What is he doing? He’s going to get himself killed!” I panicked out loud. Scarlet just looked on, with intense focus.
The tongue shot by Alaric, this time only missing him by a hair. The tongue retracted and Alaric started saying something, but he was too far away to be heard. “He is counting,” Scarlet noted. Alaric shifted his large sword to his left hand. He began swinging it up and bringing the end of the blade down right in front of his right shoulder, like a clock spinning its hands.
As the sword came down, the Boden shot its tongue at Alaric. The tongue sailed past his right shoulder, and just before it could be retracted Alaric’s sword passed clean through it, cutting a good three-quarters of the tongue off. Alaric picked his speed back up, running even faster than before. The now pissed-off Boden followed suit, picking up speed at an astounding rate.
“How is he going to get that creature into the water?” I asked Scarlet, looking out at the geyser from behind the rocks we were using for cover. The water was at a rolling boil by now.
“By running,” she said, motioning to the currently sprinting Alaric.
With the Boden hot on his tail, Alaric dove into the water. The Boden tumbled into the water after Alaric. High-pitched angry screaming came from atop the Boden. On its large neck sat a saddle and on the saddle sat Gout, in his blood red armor. “I thought he would be bigger,” I thought out loud.
“He is like a rat — small, but incredibly hard to kill. That armor is new, though,” she replied with curiosity in her tone.
Alaric surfaced in the middle of the geyser, gasping for air. As soon as the Boden heard Alaric, it began to swim towards him. The massive creature awkwardly slugged its way through the water as Gout screamed at it to go faster. Just before it could take a snap at Alaric the geyser went off, sending an incredible amount of boiling water up through the air, along with Alaric, Gout and the Boden. I screamed, flinching back.
“Calm yourself,” Scarlet told me. “Draw your sword and be ready.”
Through the foamy white water we could not make out Alaric or Gout, only the occasional flailing tail or limb of the Boden. I nodded, collecting myself and drawing my sword, as we watched the large wall of water slowly diminish.
“Over there! Now’s our chance,” Scarlet shouted. She began to run towards a large cluster of rocks.
I followed suit sword in hand, while Lucy lay back, eyes still shut and fast asleep. As we got closer to the rocks I could make out the large form of the Boden lying amongst them. “She is going to get us killed,” I muttered to myself. “What about Alaric?” I yelled to Scarlet.
“He’s a big boy, he can take care of himself.”
Scarlet came to a halt staring at the large lizard in front of her. It had thousands of black and gray scales all over its body, a bit like a checkerboard. The creature’s tail was almost as long as its torso.
“So now what? How do we kill it?” I asked, trying to catch my breath.
“I … I don’t know, the geyser did nothing,” she replied, confused.
“Well, you must have killed one, or seen one be killed before?” I asked with worry in my voice. “Considering how old you are.”
“Let me think,” she replied, scanning the creature.
Sounds of yelling and steel hitting steel were coming from behind us. I turned to see Alaric and Gout locked in combat near the edge of the geyser, Alaric clearly injured from the explosion of water. Parts of his clothes and skin were burnt from the heat. The left side of his face was completely burned and red, patches of his skin missing.
“Um, hey, Echo,” Scarlet said nervously from behind me. “We have a situation.” I turned back around to see what she was so worried about. “It’s breathing,” Scarlet said, clenching her staff. As she finished her sentence the Boden began to rise, slowly shaking off the boulders that covered parts of its body.
The creature turned its head, looking right at us. Its face was long and leathery, housing six terrifying yellow eyes. Half of its face was covered in red open sores, burned from the geyser. Its mouth opened wide like a snake, revealing rows upon rows of needle-like teeth. “Is it going to attack?” I asked, tightening my grip on my sword.
“Once the scales cover the eyes, then it will charge,” Scarlet replied. It looked dazed, confused about what had happened.
Alaric screamed from behind us. I turned my head to see what was happening, Scarlet still staring at the beast. Alaric was on his knees, badly cut and covered in blood. Gout held his two small go
ld blades to Alaric’s neck.
“You have grown fat and old!” Gout chuckled. Clearly offended, Alaric swung his right leg out from under him, hitting Gout and knocking him off balance, giving Alaric time to roll away and find his sword.
“Run!” Scarlet screamed from behind me. I did not hesitate for a second, running to where Alaric and Gout were fighting. I looked back to make sure Scarlet was still running. “Don’t look back, just keep running!” she screamed at me.
Scarlet was only a few meters ahead of the barreling Boden, which still seemed slow and groggy from its run-in with the geyser. Its eyes were now completely shielded by thick black scales. As we got closer to Alaric, Scarlet sprinted past me. Gout was stumbling around, clearly exhausted from the fighting. “Trade you!” Scarlet screamed.
Alaric saw the beast chasing us and nodded. He looked considerably better than even a few minutes ago; his wounds were healing.
“Give me your sword,” Scarlet said. Without question I passed her my weapon.
Alaric began running towards us, his long sword at the ready. Gout stared at us with a very confused look. Scarlet dropped down, using her knees to slide on the wet rock. She swung the sword as she passed Gout, slicing the backs of his knees as he fell screaming in agony.
I looked over to see how Alaric was dealing with the Boden. The Boden was still picking up speed. The Boden was far more clumsy while it ran than before the geyser. Every once in a while it would misstep, slowing itself down. Thick black blood fell from its nose and mouth, likely from its wounded tongue, and when it exhaled the air would push blood from its nose, the air making it look as if it was foaming.
Alaric grabbed his sword with both hands, putting it as far behind his head as possible. With one swift motion he threw his sword like it was a toothpick. It spun and whistled through the air. Alaric’s sword found its mark, cleanly sliding into a patch on the Boden’s neck made vulnerable by the geyser. The Boden collapsed, retracting the scales that covered its eyes and gasping for air. Alaric calmly walked over, stopping to pull his sword from the twitching neck of the lizard before positioning himself directly in front of the creature’s face. He plunged his great sword deep into one of the now-visible eyes. He pulled the sword out, and the beast began to flail and thrust. The Boden was dead.
Gout screeched. Scarlet grabbed Gout by the neck and forced him to his knees. “Where’s Snarl?” Scarlet demanded.
“Your friend, the old wizard. He killed him. Tore him to bits, he did,” muttered Gout.
“What became of the wizard?” I yelled at Gout.
“Check the saddlebag,” he laughed.
I walked toward the Boden, where Alaric was cleaning his sword, wiping off the Boden’s disgusting thick, black blood. As I approached the saddlebag a terrible smell lingered in the air, and it wasn’t the rotten stench of the Boden — it was different.
I opened the bag and gagged. Inside was Dante’s rotting head, pale and blue, his eyes wide open.
“Sorry,” Alaric said.
“Don’t be,” I replied, grabbing the blood-covered sword from him. It was too heavy for me to carry, so I dragged it all way to Gout. I had little strength, but summoning all of my anger and my body weight, I swung the sword — but Scarlet intervened, using the bony end of her staff to stop the sword.
“Control yourself!” Scarlet screamed at me. “I have a few questions for him,” she added, calming down a little bit. I huffed and dragged the sword back to Alaric, wiping the tears from my eyes.
“So many people die just like that, in the blink of an eye,” I yelled at Alaric, dropping his sword at his feet, “but you get hit by a wall of boiling water and in a few minutes are good as new?”
“Honestly I do not know,” he replied.
“You don’t know why you’re basically immortal?” I growled back.
“My brothers and I have just lived with it. The only thing we know for sure is that for as long as we have existed, our goal has been to stop this key from getting to that machine.” He sheathed his sword and pushed past me to see Gout.
“Yeah, sitting in an inn getting drunk while the world outside burns, real noble of you,” I yelled at his back.
“Living this long is exhausting,” he angrily muttered as he walked away.
“Who created you? Who told you to fight for this key?” I asked, but he just ignored me and kept on walking.
I walked over to where Gout was kneeling, holding the backs of his knees as they leaked blood onto the rocky ground. “Where is Lucy?” I asked Scarlet. She pointed over to the rocks where we had hid. Sitting on one of the lower rocks was Lucy, chewing on a Boden scale.
“Is Gorelock heading for Redwood?” Alaric demanded.
“Eat dirt, you fat old fu—” Gout began to reply, but Scarlet swiftly cut his right hand off with my sword, the black steel slicing through the demon’s flesh like a knife through butter.
Gout sat there clenching his newly created stump, black blood oozing all over. “Fine,” Gout shrieked. “He was recalled to the University.”
“The strange water cave deer mentioned that place!” I said. Scarlet and Alaric both looked at me like I was insane. “In the woods where Ralph died, I had a horribly uncomfortable conversation with some sort of magic deer, and he said that machine must be being used at the university,” I explained.
“Uh, I feel like that should have been mentioned earlier?” Scarlet said, still looking at me like I was crazy.
“Well, I didn’t know if you guys would believe me, but now this creep has mentioned the same place,” I told her.
“Why has he been recalled?” Alaric cut in.
“I don’t know,” Gout pleaded, quivering. “They don’t tell me much, just give me orders.”
“And this armor? Where did you get it?” Scarlet questioned, ripping his helmet off. His face was gray and leathery, the tight skin hugging his cheekbones. Atop his head was nothing more than a few scattered tufts of black hair.
“Sweet lady Claire,” Gout grinned.
“You expect me to believe that low-level witch was able to get you shiny new rags like this?” Scarlet said, tossing the helmet up and hitting it with my sword. Instead of cutting clean through it, the sword barely made a dent. “Sounds more like the Necromancers’ doing,” she growled.
Gout laughed. “There has been a change in head office since you were last around,” he said, continuing to laugh.
“You’re lying,” Scarlet scolded him. “That’s impossible.”
“Believe what you will,” Gout shrugged.
Scarlet turned, walking past me, and as she did she put my sword back into my hand. Approaching Gout, I swung my sword, catching him in the shoulder, and with ease I dragged the blade through his body, finally ending at his hip. The lower half of his body slumped forward, while the top half fell backwards, becoming a pile of twisted arms and organs. His black blood quickly pooled around his severed body.
“Well at least you didn’t puke and pass out,” Scarlet said, sounding concerned.
“I’m starting to realize that out here it’s kill or be killed. The world is far more cruel than the cities say.”
“We have to go to the University,” Scarlet declared.
“Okay,” I agreed, wiping the blood off the blade and sheathing my sword. Scarlet and Alaric looked at each other.
“No argument about how you have to find your son?” Scarlet asked, confused.
“The white deer is looking for him,” I confidently replied.
“Uh, huh,” Alaric said. “Well in that case, let’s get moving. We need to figure out why Gorelock has been recalled.”
“And figure out how the hell Claire got Gout that armor,” Scarlet added as she walked past us to the trail.
I followed Scarlet, trying to shield my mind from thoughts of Jake, or the fact that I was trusting a deer with his life. “Lucy, let’s go!” I yelled, trying to sound normal. Lucy dropped the scale she was vigorously chewing on and joined me.
As we walked the path began to get gradually steeper with every hour. Scarlet led the way, never slowing her pace. “Alright, I’ve got questions!” I hollered to Alaric, speed-walking to catch up with him.
“Shoot,” he said, crunching into a piece of dried meat he must have brought from the inn.
“Who is this Claire lady that has Scarlet all hot and bothered?” I asked. Alaric sighed.
“Why don’t you go and ask her?” he said, sounding annoyed.
“Because I am asking you,” I snipped back.
“She is part of the Devil’s Legion that Scarlet used to run with, lower rank and incredibly creepy,” he promptly replied. “You don’t happen to have any ale?” he asked.
“Why on earth would I be lugging around ale?”
Alaric just shrugged and kept chewing his dried meat. Lucy barked at him. He looked down and smirked, tossing her a small piece of meat. “Cute little pup, always seems to know what she wants,” he laughed.
We continued to walk, passing nothing but rocks and the occasional shrub.
“We must find a place to set up camp for the night,” Alaric said, looking up at the setting sun. Far in front of us, stretching south to north, stood a never-ending line of giant mountains with white peaks.
“Would those mountains be a safe place to stay?” I asked.
“Possibly, if we found a cave or outcropping,” replied Scarlet.
“They are too far away,” Alaric said. “We will get caught in the dark if we head for the mountain pass tonight.”
“Are there Ghouls in the mountains?” I asked.
“Well, first off, there are creatures far worse than Ghouls that walk these lands,” Alaric replied. “Also you need your rest, young Keybearer. The last thing you would want is to doze off in the middle of a brawl,” he chuckled.
“I guess it would not be very fun to be caught in the dark with something like that Boden from earlier, that was definitely worse than a Ghoul,” I agreed.
“We will stop at the next overhang,” Alaric proclaimed.
As the rocks grew larger, our footsteps began to echo. Surprisingly enough there was no plant or animal life to be seen, not even birds nesting in the rocks. The only creatures we saw were the odd ram or hare bounding away from our footsteps.