by Tew, J. D.
‘Wake up Ed, come on! You can’t just go off-line when the crap is hitting the fan!’ I screamed, and shook his stainless steel body.
Crack! Creak! Bam! Deafening noises arose as the hull began to bow inward and beams began to crack and buckle. The jungle was pulverizing our ship from all directions!
The walls closed in, and I quickly grabbed pipes that were knocked from their bindings to jam from wall to wall, slowing the crushing force from the plants outside. That done, I desperately salvaged as much as I could for my imminent escape from the death trap. My heart beating, I unsheathed Wrath with one hand, on the lookout for predators. Next, I rattled Ed’s body wildly. He was barely responsive.
‘Ed, I need you! You’re an asshole!’ I said. After blaming Ed for everything, I noticed that Ed had what appeared to be an Allen key, strung out on a cord from the cabinet on his back. I zipped over to the key, seized it, and made countless attempts to plug it into every robotic orifice on the damn thing, as the ship’s cabin continued to be compressed inwards. Finally, I found the right slot for the key—in his leg.
‘Ed, wake up you—you jerk!’ I shouted.
‘The chance of us surviving this inward pressure is two percent,’ he said in a monotone, and I quickly unlatched him from his seat to aid me in stopping the crushing forces.
The walls began to vice me, and the metal pinched my skin just below my armpit, causing me to drop my sword in anguish. Ed and I were pinned between the roof and the floor of our ship. Finally, just as I thought I was about to be squished to death, the inward pressure stopped. I could only move my shoulders a few inches.
If it weren’t for Ed, I might have slowly starved away in the rattletrap. With his incredible robotic strength, Ed forced the roof slightly higher, affording me a clear reach to my sword. I stretched my fingers, feeling the renewed circulation of blood within the ligaments of my biceps and shoulders. I massaged my shoulder, just so I could convince myself my blood pressure was returning to normal.
‘Just a little more, Ed!’ I yelled.
I grabbed my gun-blade Wrath, and flipped the switch to on, using Wrath to initiate destruction on the hull of the ship. Wrath was glorious at that moment. As I felt a swell of pride, I slashed away at the junk. The damage incurred was devastating to the vessel after I let loose the fury of Wrath.
I stood on top of the ship wreckage and reached inward to grab Ed to pull him out, but to my surprise, he levitated toward me. The metal compartment on his back was a type of jet pack. Yes, he was the bot that was just full of surprises.
‘Oh man,’ I said, shaking my head at our narrow escape. ‘We were dead—we were so dead, Ed.’ I grabbed my hair, attempting to set my thoughts straight. ‘Now I’m rhyming! Ed, you only have a limited supply of energy. We need to save it. I don’t want you to use your jet pack because I can carry us both with my lifters.’ He told me that he only needed to be plugged in for a second to reach maximum energy capacity. Wow!
Upon his side, Ed pulled out a phaser and started looking about with high alert. I let my sword’s phosphorus green blade glow in the shade under the canopy.
The jungle was thick and overwhelmingly lush. There were thousands of different species of plants surrounding us. We stared at the ecosystem—both stupefied with awe. If Ed could feel emotion, that is.
‘Don’t make any sudden move,’ a voice whispered from behind my ear. I felt a sharp point of a weapon teasing about on the skin on the back of my neck.
The honed object intensified the tension of my neck muscles. I would not look back, lest I provoke whatever was behind me.
‘You hear me robot? Don’t move! I will drive this spear into the spine of your master,’ the male voice said, restricting us to an awkward silence. “Just start walking forward and don’t look back, if I even see the whites of your eyes or a flap of your binoculars, robot, this boy will be a human shish kabob.’
We walked through a worn path suffocated by overhanging foliage. Claustrophobia—a fear that I was never acquainted with—swelled up inside me. Finally, after several minutes of hacking away at the frondescence, there was a clearing in front of us. After we broke through the last layer of the forest, we were at the edge of a cliff. I was afraid to look down.
‘Now, which one of you is in command? Don’t try anything either or you will regret it,’ the alien said. He poked at my neck with his spear from behind, daring me to fall into the canyon.
Ed was quiet, because I was in charge, and like a dork I said, ‘I am the Human Messiah.’
‘Ha, you look like a meal for the Morlorian, and your little robot looks like a good souvenir for the dark Elon King,’ he said, laughing for a moment. ‘Messiah! You could not snap a twig if you fell on it with a bucket of skeetle beetles in hand. Now, what is your business here?
‘We crashed. That is it—we have no mission,’ I said.
‘Then survival is your mission—hmm?’ He stroked his beard in wonder, ‘Ah, but you are a Messiah? You are lying! Tell me, what are you doing here? Or I will cut you up like a water flicket and caramelize you with today’s bonfire,’ the masculine alien said, touching the tip of his weapon against the bony ridge of my shoulder blade.
That did it. I wasn’t going to take any further intimidation from anyone.
With a swift, deft move, I unsheathed Wrath and spun to greet him with its scorching heat and razor-sharp blade. My sword trimmed his long brown beard in half with a singe of his shag. In my haste, I had lost my balance, and teetered at the edge of the cliff. It appeared I was about to fall to my death fifty thousand feet below.
Ed reached out to me, but failed.
‘Master!’ he cried out, with alarm.
A second later, my shoulder smashed into a hard surface, and my trusted gun-blade, Wrath, clanked right beside me. As Wrath was about to bounce off the edge of the newly discovered platform that saved me, I scrambled and grasped it, sighing with relief. Without that sword, I would have been a fart in the wind.
Now that I had a secure moment to scan my surroundings, I discovered that I had fallen onto a rickety structure supported by ropes, situated just below the edge of the cliff. It was similar to the design of a window washer’s platform.
‘What the heck…’ I said in shock.
The makeshift platform started creaking back up to safety. As my head rose above the cliff’s edge, I saw the stranger grunting to turn a structure attached to a tree trunk in front of him, a device that looked like a steering wheel attached to a pulley system. He was helping me.
After shakily crawling back up onto the ground, I took a close look at the Tritillia being that had threatened us previously. He appeared human-like enough. Atop his bald head, he wore a projection band that looked similar to my rolesk. He had a head that appeared proportionally large, as well as an enormously thick neck. His frizzled, unkempt beard showed the singed whiskers from its brush with my sword. His tan robe comfortably clothed him, all the way down to his ankles.
As I stared at him, he growled, ‘I will bring you to my home to gather your wits, but afterwards you are on your own. You are not a Messiah until you prove that you can survive on nothing but your own wits.’
He beckoned both Ed and I to step onto the platform as he firmly grasped the ropes in his hands. Tentatively, I once more treaded on it, while Ed followed closely. Straining, he loosened the rope, lowering the platform along the cliff’s face, while I clasped the railing with white knuckles.
We all descended to a shelf along the side of the cliff. The being led us beyond his neat steppe farm and down a winding ledge on the cliff. I felt goofy from the abundance of oxygen in the air.
The wind rushed in, triggering logs from the upper shelf to come down crashing in front of us. I stepped back, and my heel stumbled against a gnarly, thick vine. As I fell, the blades of grass beneath me turned hard like a bed of nails. The Tritillia being grabbed my hand and pulled me into his arms just before I was inches from being stabbed by a thousand petrified blades o
f grass.
I smelt his beard as he pulled me in—it reeked of a garlic-like scent, and I scrunched my nose to block out its foul odor.
‘Ha, they know we are here now. We must hurry to the cave. Take caution in your strides. They usually don’t act this quickly. There must have been word of your landing,’ he said. We ran with consideration to every step. The cave was dark, and an impervious blanket of vines curtained the entry.
‘We must hurry. They will be here soon and the wind speed aids in the rate of their transport. I hope you can use that thing,’ he said, after pointing to my sword, and then he shook his head.
In a nagging feminine voice, another being slung words in our direction from within the cave. ‘Zzz-Is that you Pike? I hope you have not brought any more pets back here! I have my hands full-zzz with just you-tch.’
Pike said, ‘Ha, like you can talk! You are the one I have to feed and care for! You know what? I should trade you in for a Morlorian! Not only it could protect me, but I also could sleep all day! Ha!’ Despite his mocking words, he lovingly bowed to her. ‘My queen . . . I have great news. I bring to you, the Earthen Messiah.’
‘The Messiah? The one destined to save Sephera?’ rang out a breathless voice, alluringly feminine.
‘It is he, my queen.’
From the darkness at the back of the cave, a stunning, beautiful Elon emerged, much like a walking Venus Flytrap. She was a strange and wondrous creature. Human-like in appearance, but completely composed of plant cells. Her limbs were smooth and taut; chlorophyll coursed throughout her veins. She did not wear any clothes, and did not need to. The features so common to humans were all rounded down and reduced to insignificance on these beings; however there was no mistaking that this being was female, due to her wider hips and bosom.
No eyes! But she did have a mouth that flapped as she spoke. Positioned directly in front of the mouth was a jaw harp that vibrated as she spoke, producing puzzling buzzing sounds. From this being standing before me, I learned of the uniqueness of an Elon’s voice.
Lovely strands of leaves arose from her scalp, flowing down all the way to the bottom edges of where shoulder blades would have been.
Briskly walking over to the cavern wall, she pulled down a tiny disk attached to a string. I blinked as warm light flooded the cave; she had opened up a glass skylight at the top of the cave. Instantly, the leaves in her locks delicately unfolded even more in direct response to the sunlight. Inquisitively, the leafy brownish green figure sized me up and down. ‘Ah, a boy-zzz. I cannot imagine they would send a boy to save Sephera.’
She lowered her voice as she turned to Pike. ‘The boy-zzz—he is not who he says he is. He cannot possibly be a Messiah.’
‘Jezra, he has Wrath, and the Dietons are with him. Look, upon his head, it is a rolesk. I am certain of it,’ Pike said.
‘This is my robot Ed, and I am Theodore Crane,’ I said.
Pike turned to me. ‘Your robot? Ha, you are dumber than I thought. That robot does not belong to you. He is made of metal and claims you to be his master, but a true Messiah would give him the freedom he deserves—liberation from command. I am Pike, the Rangier responsible for this green rock we call Tritillia, and this is Jezra, my Elon wife and rightful queen of Tritillia. We have a lot to discuss, boy. Please excuse her buzzing, it is an unavoidable affliction of Elon speech,’ Pike said.
Jezra frowned and raised an accusing finger. ‘You are lucky to have a wife who will even talk to you, buzz or not! I should have stopped-tht talking to you the moment you grew that stink-trap beard of yours-zzz. The boy cannot stay, Pike. He has zzz-no courage!’
My face grew flushed. Reality hit me— this slender woman could possibly have all the power of the anti-Zane forces on Tritillia right in her leafy green finger. ‘I do have courage! I am here. And I will fight until the end.’
Jezra seemed unimpressed. ‘Theodore, do you know why you are here-zzztht? Pike and I have been waiting for you-za. We knew hundreds—no, even thousands of years ago, that you would be here. We founded this dwelling, because it was the closest spot to where it was prophesied that you ffft-would land. You are supposed to be a Messiah, a savior of a cause that you are not aware of-tch.’ Strutting, she leaned back, arms crossed, to listen for any pathetic peep from the lost and befuddled boy standing right before her.
I protested, knowing I didn’t look the part of a 275-pound warrior with iron chestplate, bulging biceps, square jaw, unruly stubble, and bass-baritone voice. ‘I was promoted to the rank Messiah, and I know why I have been chosen. I am here, right? I need to save Sephera—that is all I know. Why does everyone doubt me?’ I asked, while I leaned against a protruding rock on the tunnel’s wall.
Pike jumped in on the merciless pillorying. ‘Ha, Theodore, the title of Messiah was given to you, but it isn’t a rank as you have been misled to think,’ he said, placing his hand on my shoulder. ‘You not only are said to be the one that can change everything, but the true one that can kill Odi—’
‘Pike, stop it now-za.’ The slender plant woman pushed him aside as she strode up to me. ‘Theodore, you can be courageous in carrying a sword as majestic as yours.’ She admired the blade right by my side, yet sneered at me. ‘But, let’s suppose Odion is not only before you, but has taken your sword from you. Would you run like a baby, Theodore, or will you fight for what’s right, no matter what? Ha! Your courage has been blind obedience thus far, am I correct?’
‘Yes, but I know I want to protect Sephera. I have decided that I would do this, even if I have to do it by myself,’ I said.
Jezra looked at me as if I was just a poor lost turkey and laughed, ‘Ha-ha, you cannot save a planet alone, Theodore-zzz. You need an army, but first, you need courage. Why do you think this is about only saving Sephera? My boy, sit down-na-na,’ she said, pulling a moss-covered rope attached to a series of pulleys that pulled up strategically concealed blinds everywhere on the walls. Light poured in through more windows randomly located throughout the cave dwelling. She glanced in the direction of her husband. ‘Okay, Pike, the boy has stood up to us. He has demonstrated moxie.’
Pike nodded.
She sat before me, her face softening in the brightened atmosphere. My heart leapt with joy at her change of tone.
‘Theodore. The multiverse is in need of you. Let Zane worry about Sephera.’
‘Why do you say that?’ I asked.
‘Ha! We have been in conference with King—’ Pike said, before he was interrupted again by his mate.
‘Will-zz you stop with your drama King? Trazuline is of no concern to us now. Boy, this is between you and me. Two demigods, with egos too large for the multiverse, are what have brought peril upon us,’ she said.
‘You are right. That makes sense,’ I said. I knew exactly the two demigods of which she was speaking. Odion and Zane, fighting in their little sandbox. Only that it wasn’t a sandbox—it was the multiverse. The querulous woman said, ‘Now, one step at a time. For us to help us, you must free us from the evil Quasikeum, Dark King of Jaakruid. Then, after we are freed, you can take our army to go on to fight Odion.’
‘Whoa,’ I said, confused by the onslaught of unfamiliar names. ‘What is this Jaakruid?’ I badly mangled the pronunciation of the strange-sounding city.
‘Jaakruid is the key city of our planet, and is close by. It is now under the tyranny of the Dark King.’
‘What was his name again?’
‘Quasikeum. You must defeat him.’
Before I could protest, she waved off any objection I could sputter off my lips. She put the back of her leaf hand to her head and stumbled back to her rocking chair, ‘Pike, show Theodore to the dining area. He must be starving, and Theodore,’ she paused, ‘I have always believed in the Messiah. I just had to be sure it was you.’ She seemed weak, and her body was withering and turning brown.
Pike and I went into the other room and there was a bulging feast on a tiny table. Pike proudly said that it was all for me.
&
nbsp; Jezra popped her head into the kitchen and said, ‘I have to leave and rest.’
‘I will be there soon my queen,’ Pike returned.
In front of my gleaming eyes, sat a cornucopia of fried insects, vegetables, and succulent fruit. The ralua leaves had a subtle crunch and crumbled on my tongue. They released a complexity of flavor-confetti. I buried my teeth up to my gums in the nova fruit. It was so sweetly aromatic that it lulled me into a daze, and its sugary juices drizzled down to the tip of my chin.
There was no bread or meat, but the crigulean beetles were each the size of a goose. Their savory legs had a firm crunch like fried chicken, and in the center, there was a sweet pudding that titillated the inside of my mouth. The meal was an exotic arrangement. I abandoned all fears of strange and new inter-stellar food as I ravenously chowed down on the delicacies. Pike was eagerly munching away too, while Ed looked on politely.
Pike said, with a shred of meat bobbing up and down one his bottom lip as he spoke, ‘When I saw your ship drop into range of the forest canopies, I knew if the crash could not kill you, the king would. And if I didn’t get to you soon enough, who knows what would have laid its leaves on you.’
I was now heavily confused. I thought Trazuline had possibly been an ally all along. ‘You mean King Trazuline? You spoke of him earlier.’
‘Ha!’ Pike muttered. ‘No, not King Trazuline. No, our own Dark King, the one that Jezra just spoke of. The King of Jaakruid reigns from the mile-high canopy city, a fortified plant structure that houses an entire population of Elons under siege to their Dark Majesty. Your first worry should be of the giant plant beast that will surely be guarding it. It is called a Morlorian’ he said.
My eyes widened in fear. ‘What is a Morlorian? Isn’t there a way I can avoid that thing?’ I asked.
‘Theodore, there is no avoiding a Morlorian. They are the largest sentient plants in Tritillia, and this one is the deadliest of all of them. Between the Morlorian and the evil Elon King, you will have your hands full.’