by Jason Letts
How didn’t Vern get himself put in the ground, or Chucky? He looked down at both of them, thinking about how he couldn’t wait to rub it in when he’d topped them. They were both idiots anyway with about as much promise as a rotten banana. Their lives meant nothing to him, and they were all the more pathetic for the company they kept.
Aoi was next to them, close enough to Vern to give him pause. But she looked fierce even in her sleep. Come to think of it, he wasn’t convinced there was any way he could kill her with one shot unless he had some kind of weapon. How was she able to be so strong and so receptive at the same time? Maybe it would be best to find a knife somewhere and kill her first. That would probably be the only way to get rid of her.
Will kept his eyes on the fire, completely unaware of Neeko’s presence and looking like he would nod off at any moment. Neeko bet he thought this would be an easy shift, and he wanted to make sure everyone knew he had blown it. Jumping next to him, Neeko stuck out his tongue at the boy. When that wasn’t enough, he stepped onto a nearby rock to wave his butt near his face. It was a shame he didn’t need to fart. It’d been a while since Neeko stripped Will of his place among the Sunfighters, but the memory hadn’t faded at all. That was Neeko’s big break into the dominant order, and he wasn’t about to give up his place now that it temporarily ceased to be.
Finally, he strolled over Mira, the one who had somehow managed to bring the whole thing down. How did she do it? He knew the Warlord was still alive, and yet the camps, the army, everything had come to an end. She slept there soundly, her face so much like the girl they’d just left earlier that evening. It didn’t matter how she did it. The only thing that mattered was that eliminating her would bring it all back.
Still, it didn’t mean he couldn’t have fun doing it. He imagined some kind of game where he tied the rest of her friends up and tested her to see which one she would be willing to give her life to save. Scratching his neck, Neeko wouldn’t need a second thought to let Jeremy or Gloria go, but he bet Mira cared about someone here enough to give herself over. She was weak like that, so much like a girl. It didn’t make a difference how smart she was, you could always dangle a family member or friend in front of her to make her jump.
“What’s taking him so long?” Jeremy asked from behind the ledge.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think I can wait much longer,” Gloria said.
When Neeko’d turned from Mira to give serious thought to how he would make his first strike, he did a double-take and noticed a small bundle on the ground. He’d thought it was just another one of their bags, but some sound escaped from it. Bending over the baby, he looked at its face and the blankets they’d wrapped it in. Intrigued, he wondered what it was doing next to Mira and why it was so fat. Could a baby really be that plump?
Even before he’d made up his mind it couldn’t, his hand started pulling away the blanket. There was something hard in there, and he tried to get to it without causing the baby to make any more noise. Finally, a rag slipped away and revealed a short shiny cylinder. It was sharp and strangely compelling, and it took his breath away to reach for it.
So little else seemed to exist right then. Neeko could barely even acknowledge the baby staring directly at him, and he dropped the blanket over Knoll’s face as he reached for this serendipitous treasure. Clamping his hand around the carafe shard, he felt a sudden jolt shock him to his knees. A whimper escaped from his lips as the flash went through his mind. He pulled the carafe close, and the string came out from around Knoll’s neck. Soon he was cackling.
“That idiot!” Jeremy barked as Will jerked from his position at the sound of Neeko’s laughter. Alongside Gloria, Jeremy leapt onto the ledge and beckoned a swarm of flies so numerous their buzzing would split an eardrum.
Neeko had returned to plain sight, and he knew Will was barreling at him from only a few steps away, but it didn’t seem to matter. This diamond he clutched in his hands was transforming his power. He seemed to swallow gallons of air with one breath. There were other alarmed noises, but they meant nothing to him in this miraculous moment.
He felt so hot, and the heat started to burst from his skin in the form of light. He looked down at Mira as the flash made her almost indistinguishably pale. She awoke and her first expression was one of strangling horror. Rolling away, she shrieked. Will had caught the light directly in his eyes as it radiated from Neeko, making him wail and twist with his hands on his face. Neeko’s skin was a hot light that shined in every direction, illuminating everything as if by a miniature sun. He felt alive for the first time.
Jeremy and Gloria had been racing into the frenzy of panicked movement and unintelligible cries, but they too were forced to scuttle their charge because of the light.
“What’s going on?” Jeremy shouted, shielding his eyes and yet trying to look. His voice barely registered over the baby’s cries. Though the light had driven all of Mira’s party away, they tried to get as close to Neeko as possible in case they needed to protect him. The horde of flies blotted out the sky above them, the rays of light bubbling against their undulations and fluctuations.
“This is me,” Neeko declared, the light somehow carrying his voice and magnifying it into something pounding and terrible, before finishing with an order. “Take the baby.”
Mira, slinking away on the ground, dragged Knoll by his blanket behind her, unable to look back at him. Gloria started toward them, extending her toxic hands until Jeremy stopped her and went on himself.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean you,” he said.
His back to the blinding light pouring out, Jeremy grabbed the baby, and that’s when Mira dared to look back at him.
“You’re one of us, Jeremy. This is wrong!” she cried.
Snarling, Jeremy ripped Knoll away from her, causing Mira to fall back against Mary and Roselyn. Some of the others were attempting to find a way to get to Neeko and had spread out along the mountainside, but no one could get anywhere close. Neeko had already started off toward the far side of the ledge, and his first step down the other side brought incredible relief from the brightness.
“Where are you going? We came here to kill them! This is for our leader!” Jeremy shouted at the top of his lungs.
“This is the beginning of Neeko’s empire! I must have it all. Nothing else matters!” Neeko’s voice roared through the light.
Mira got up and attempted to get to the edge where Neeko was descending, but Jeremy and Gloria stepped in to block her. Holding her hands to her mouth, she screamed over the buzzing flies and the wailing baby.
“You don’t know what danger you’re beckoning! Stop this at once or it’ll be your undoing!”
The ensuing laughter made them all cover their ears and tremble.
“I know what haunts you, girl. But your fears are insignificant to me. My omnipotence will reign eternal!”
“You’re being illogical! Let us help you. Don’t be fooled by this growth of power. You are still only human!” Mira shrieked.
“Come to me,” Neeko said, and it was clear he had ignored Mira completely. Following his latest order, Jeremy and Gloria reluctantly started for the far ledge.
“I can’t believe we’re not killing them. This isn’t making any sense,” Gloria grumbled, continuously looking back over her shoulder at the group they had come to ambush.
Mira turned as Will and Mary took his side.
“He’s not listening to me. He’s making a mistake. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. What are we supposed to do? How can we possibly stop them?” Mira jabbered.
The light was almost tolerable now, and the swarm of flies had passed overhead. Jeremy and Gloria disappeared from the knees and then from the waist down as they continued down the mountainside. Knoll cried incessantly.
“Don’t worry, Mira. You don’t have to get your hands dirty. I know how to get them to come back,” Mary said, running out toward the ledge’s far side and calling for Roselyn. When they came to the edge, Mary shou
ted down to the lackey trailing the ball of light.
“You’re our running joke, Gloria! The way you threw yourself at Will, where’s your self-respect! But it never stops being funny for us, how he tricked you for so long!”
Mary cocked her hips to the side and tossed her hair over her shoulder to rub it in. Roselyn put her hand over her laughing mouth. Gloria had been mortified, and her face turned as red as her hair. She howled like a banshee, not even using words as she bolted back up the hill at them.
“Gloria! He told us to follow him!” Jeremy snapped, but there was no getting through to her. Struggling to adjust the crying baby in his arms, Jeremy and the swarm of flies above reversed direction.
Even as Gloria raced at her in bloodthirsty rage, something struck Mary then and she turned around with the same expression of petrified terror as if a knife-wielding killer had snuck up behind her. Her mouth hung open, speechless, and she stared into the darkness. Before it was too late and they fell victim to the product of their taunts, Roselyn started pushing Mary back toward the center of the terrace, but Mary quibbled and resisted.
In their place, Aoi stepped in to catch Gloria and hold her back from getting to the others. Gloria’s thrashing and struggling coated Aoi in the green toxic goop running from her fingers, but as long as she kept her mind at peace she could absorb it without harm. The same though could not be said for the massive cloud of flies weaving at her in the air.
The ground shook suddenly at the sound of a large blast coming from the direction Mary unwaveringly stared into. Gloria lost her balance and fell, allowing Aoi to pin her arms behind her back.
“Oww!” Gloria barked amid obscenities and threats.
“Actually, it’s pronounced Aoi!” she gloated, once Gloria had been rendered immobile.
“We can’t stay here!” Mary yelled.
“Let her go!” Jeremy ordered from just a few feet away, the flies circling over their heads.
Before either Jeremy or Aoi could act, another blast came from the ledge Neeko had come in on. A boulder exploded, sending fragments and dust everywhere. Their hulking adversary appeared on the ledge, his face the picture of rage. His burnt hair looked painful and horrific. Blood seeped down from the center of his chest, staining the foul rags covering him. The electrical current he used to kill flashed like little lightning bolts between his muscles and limbs. Arent’s arrival sent a charge of distress and desperation through everyone present.
“What are we going to do?” Will cried alongside the others who had been pressed back against the mountainside’s steep wall.
“Where is it?” the drifter bellowed, but the unnatural light made the answer unmistakable.
Jeremy had turned to shout back to Neeko.
“He’s here! Finally we can give it back. Neeko! He’s here!” Jeremy cheered.
“He can’t take it from me,” the light replied. “Kill him. Kill anybody who wants it.” The light Neeko cast continued to recede as he passed farther into the distance.
Everyone had scrambled as far away from Arent as possible. They wedged themselves into a nook in the rock just a short distance from Aoi, Jeremy, and Gloria. Mira stepped out even as Arent twitched with readiness to charge.
“The shard never made you happy. For all the years it was yours, it never satisfied your thirst for revenge. Just let it go. Let it all go!” she shouted.
His contorted grimace only twisted, conveying more hatred and resentment as Arent fought away her words.
“It’s got to be mine! I must have it back!” he roared.
He would waste little more time assessing the situation. An attack was unavoidable. Aoi got up off of Gloria, whose frothing rage now had a fair degree of panic, and turned to their newest threat. Aoi stood still and straight, holding her hands in front of her chest almost in prayer. Her breaths were deep and her gaze steady and peaceful as if she were staring at clouds.
“Fear alone has kept me from stopping you, but I fear you no longer. The destruction you have wrought is at an end,” she whispered.
Aoi had succeeded in diverting his charge from Mira and the others, but now alarm gripped Gloria and Jeremy, who couldn’t be sure if there was enough space in Arent’s brain to recognize they were not his enemy. He looked at them with the same murderous intent, and before they could find out if Aoi’s entranced stand could hold him off, Jeremy sent the horde of flies to intercept him.
The cloud swerved at the raging bull careening across the platform. They landed on him coating every inch of his body and face, but in an instant a discharge of electricity swept through the tiny attackers, killing them all. The buzzing stopped and the flaming carcasses rained down around him. It didn’t slow Arent in the slightest, and Jeremy and Gloria turned tail to run after Neeko.
Aoi did not run. She waited for him despite his increasing velocity. Her calm and collected expression never wavered, even when Arent snatched her by the neck with his gargantuan hand and lifted her from the ground. As he ground his teeth and scowled at her, she looked at him as one might a child, with patience, understanding, and compassion. But this was an awful shock to her friends, who raced out to try to save her.
“Keep your distance. Everything is fine,” Aoi said to them, though it looked like her head would pop off like a grape. The surge from Arent’s center started to build, and the electrical charges grew in intensity, confusing Aoi’s friends about what they should do. Having been in the same life-threatening position, Roselyn put her hand to the scars on her neck.
“Aoi!” Vern hollered as the charges moved through the muscles in Arent’s arm and into Aoi’s body. She blinked rapidly, but didn’t display any signs of pain. Her skin looked lighter, and she started to glow. Arent growled and roared from the exertion.
The energy would not harm her, but it had not disappeared. Although Aoi kept her composure, it was Arent who suffered for it. The ground started to shake as the charges escaped into the rock below their feet. A crack appeared, and then Arent could hold her no longer. When she fell, the charged energy released in an explosion that sent Arent flying back down the mountainside and crumbled the rock underneath her. The ground gave way, opening up a fissure in the surface of the mountain through which Mira, Vern, Chucky, Will, Roselyn, Mary, and Aoi fell.
Rocks tumbled all around and they screamed as they fell into the darkness. The unstable mountainside collapsed in a rockslide, sealing the opening above them. The mountain had swallowed them whole.
Chapter 3: The Corporeal Cave
“I’m wet,” Chucky shouted in the dark, surrounded by his friends.
“Eww!” Will whined.
“What, did you get some up your skirt?” Mary sniped at him.
“It is wet,” Mira verified, her hands against the ground, “and soft. This isn’t rock.”
All of them fondled and flopped around on the strange surface supporting them. They could sink their hand into it, squishing as they rolled around. It didn’t make any sense, and their confusion led to wild speculation. After Neeko’s glaring flash, it took a while for their eyes to adjust to the near-perfect darkness. They started to recognize that the walls gave off the slightest glow and had something of a pinkish tint.
One after another, they got to their feet, feeling the strange slippery material seep in between their toes. The air was stuffy and thick, making it hard to breathe. Only the dullest thudding echoed through the chamber, while the light allowed them to only faintly see the features of their faces.
“What did we fall into?” Aoi wondered.
“We might be trapped down here,” Vern said, his hands against a rock wall that the cave-in had formed, which sealed off one side. He suddenly pulled himself away when he noticed how close Aoi was. “I’m sorry. I should’ve said something about how glad I was you survived.”
“Not at all. Don’t worry about it,” Aoi deferred.
“I agree. It’s a little hard to celebrate in here. Can anyone do anything with these rocks?” Mira asked. Sighing,
Aoi walked up to the cave-in and surveyed the wall. She put her hands on the rocks but just as quickly pulled them away.
“It looks like the whole mountain is hanging over us. There’s no way I could dig us out from here,” she said.
“That explosion was incredible. It ripped right through the rock. How did you do that?” Chucky asked.
But before Aoi could answer, Roselyn tripped backward over something, falling against the mushy pink material surrounding them. Everyone rushed over to see what had happened, and from there they noticed squishy tubes running along the floor. Where they couldn’t see the emanating pink walls, other bulky material with soft exteriors took up space around them.
“I’m seriously freaking out. Can anybody tell me what’s going on down here? My heart’s beating so loud I can’t hear myself think,” Will said.
“Wait, listen to that,” Mira said, drawing everyone’s attention to the faint sound pulsing around them. It kept a strange rhythm, like a one-two step. Mira had her own hunch about what it was, and as time went on the possibilities dwindled. “It’s not your heart, but it is a heart.”
“So are you saying…” Vern wondered.
“We’re in some kind of body?” Mary finished.
Mira went over to one of the objects suspended in the air around them. It was still soft, but not as soft as the floor. She examined its shape and followed some of the tubes tethered to it.
“This is a kidney. And Roselyn must’ve tripped over part of the rectum, which has been pinched by the rockslide,” she surmised.
“That sounds like a serious case of constipation if I’ve ever heard one,” Vern added.
“But how is this possible?” Will asked, throwing his hands in the air. “I’ve been in caves, but none of them were coated in skin. None of it makes any sense.”
“Somebody must be doing something,” Mira answered as best she could. She cleared her throat and struggled to put it all together. On top of being stuck in what most definitely seemed like a body, and a human one at that, her mind fought to comprehend what they had just been through on the surface.