The Grim Conspiracy

by C. Craig Coleman

  “Looks like maybe someone lives in that forest area.”

  Toda was shaking his head, looking at the murky woods. “Actually, weevils don’t taste too nasty. So far, our luck with dark, wet forests hasn’t proven beneficial to our health.”

  “Oh come on, Toda, we need to find provisions. There’s only one fire, likely only one dwelling. We’re veterans now. We can take’em if need be.”

  They walked down a slope towards the woodland.

  “Why do you suppose Ickletor wants that magical stone so many worked so hard to keep hidden?” Toda asked.

  “I’ve been wondering that myself. It must be powerful, indeed. You’re the priest; what do you think about it?” Malladar noted the sour scent of a festering swamp for the first time approaching the thicket.

  There are no signs of animals returning to it for safety in the night, he thought.

  As they came to the swamp’s edge from the open glen, he spotted tough briars with unusually long thorns wove an impenetrable fabric, a barrier to entry.

  “That looks so inviting,” Toda said. “Don’t you see that as a bad sign, too? We should travel around this nasty place. Yingnak has graciously placed this warning for our benefit. I’m not anxious to get through to the other side looking like chopped liver.”

  “Come on, Toda, we can get through the briars, and they won’t be bad once we’re inside. It’s dark in there. The tree canopy will prevent the undergrowth from growing. It will take many days to travel around the forest, and Ickletor said he needs the stone as soon as we can get it back to him. He might need it to save the city. The situation back in Octar was pretty grim when we left, and we’ve been gone too long already.”

  “Very well, but you lead. Make the path you chop a clear one so I can backtrack fast out of here when a giant bear or jaguar grabs and eats you, okay?”

  Malladar chuckled. “I’ll lead; you clear it up to your liking.”

  “The more I think about that stone, the more I wonder what it’s for,” Toda said. “I’m not much on spells and incantations. Those are for witches and warlocks, but I do know crystals contain powers we don’t fully understand. Ickletor doesn’t want that black stone for a trinket. If I know him as much as I think I do, he’s got a use for its power, its energy to perform something extraordinary. I don’t have a good feeling about it, though.”

  A limb slipped out of Malladar’s hand and swung back smacking Toda in the chest, knocking him backward on his butt.

  “Oops!” Malladar said. He grinned.

  Toda rose up on his elbows, shaking his head. “Are we under attack? I surrender. Do with me what you will.” He smelled something bad and sniffed his hand when he rose. His face scrunched.

  “Are you alright? What’s wrong?”

  “I’m just cursed, that’s all. I landed in some pretty nasty dung. Whew!”

  Malladar got a whiff and stepped back. “We better find some water you can wash that off with.”

  Toda shook his head and held his hand out at arms’ length. “At least nothing will want to eat me.”

  Malladar walked faster through the undergrowth, and Toda hung back out of consideration until they came to a small stream with surprisingly clear water trickling down to a festering, tannic pool. Toda got down washing the dung off while Malladar scanned the forest looking for a cabin or whatever source the smoke had come from earlier.

  Dusk further dimmed the already low light of the woods. Here and there a bit of light penetrated dappling the leafy ground with spots of pale silver. When Toda stood and was wiping his cleaned hand, the silence returned to the forest for a moment before powerful whooshing sounds started in the trees.

  Malladar noticed it first and searched the canopy. He froze then reached grabbing Toda’s forearm to stop his movement.

  “Stay down; don’t move or speak.”

  Toda looked to where the prince faced. The flapping came from high up in the trees. The fluttering began to spread and intensified.

  “What are those things?” Toda whispered.

  “How should I know? I’ve never seen the like of them before. They’re some sort of bat I think. They’re the biggest bats I’ve ever seen.”

  “They remind me of those shape-shifters we encountered. I hope these are fruit bats.” Toda looked at Malladar, “They are fruit bats, aren’t they? I’ve seen forest bats before, well once. They eat fruit, right? I mean they wouldn’t eat tough, stringy old priest, surely.”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never seen fruit bats like that. Now be quiet!”

  Still staring at the hairy monsters the size of howler monkeys, Toda said, “Your young, tender, juicy flesh would be more to their liking if they have a taste for meat.” He then looked at Malladar. “You did offer to be the sacrifice should this garden spot turn out to be less than ideal.”

  “Back up,” Malladar said, “slowly.”

  A loud crashing sound shattered the silence on the forest floor. Something smashed into big tree trunks making powerful booming sounds. The bats began a wave of swooshing sounds as flushed; they flew into the evening sky above the tormented forest.

  Ahead a small bearded man in ragged clothes with lichens woven into the fabric began to emerge from the vegetation.

  “A hermit,” Toda said, watching the man.

  Watching him approach, Malladar mumbled, “A hermit with red, glowing eyes.”

  Toda nodded, “That doesn’t bode well, does it? I know he eats meat.”

  They stood still transfixed as the recluse approached with his club.

  “Why have you entered my woods?”

  “We seek supplies and the fastest way to the east,” Malladar said. “We mean you no harm.” Toda just stood bug-eyed nodding assurance.

  The loner scanned the trees and hurled his club at a trio of bats still suspended watching the proceedings. One fell dead; the other two took flight.

  “You’re lucky I came along. Those things usually dispose of those who invade Spindle Wood. I should’ve let them have you.”

  “We mean you no harm, sir,” Malladar said. He was careful not to raise his war club in the least. “Might you spare us some food? We will be on our way at first light.”

  “If you live through the night.” The hermit struck rock to rock and sparked a flame on a torch. The light exposed a mass of rats that had emerged that was racing towards the body of the dead bat nearby.

  The wide-eyed travelers glanced back and forth to each other and the dead bat. The carcass jostled as if it was alive as the squabbling rats swarmed over it devouring the flesh.

  “What do you offer me in return for keeping you alive through the night?”

  Malladar and Toda looked to each other for suggestions, but neither said anything. The hermit reached his beefy hands veined with black swamp muck stains and felt of Toda’s cloak. He smiled exposing his yellow and missing teeth.

  “Would you like Toda’s cloak?” Malladar asked. “Toda, give him your cloak.”

  Toda reared back, his lips pinched, and glaring eyes spiked the prince.

  “Give him the cloak, Toda. You want to live through the night or die with your cloak on?”

  The priest’s sneer fixed on his face. He mumbled, “Better than dying in the night without it on.” He hesitated and glanced at Malladar, who glared back. He then peeled off the cloak as if parting with his skin. He passed it over to the filthy man. The hermit put on the cape and beaming brushed its feathers with his nasty hand.

  The sudden crashing of a dead tree nearby caused him to scan in that direction. He looked over at the rats who’d consumed most of the bat carcass. The mass of dark bodies rippled as they scrambled back into the forest’s twigs and branches revealing bloodless, fleshless bat bones.

  “Quick! Come with me.” The hermit started back through the wooded mesh. Malladar followed right after.

  “What is it?” Toda asked.

  Branches very close to him rustled. He bolted to keep close to the two men ahead of him. Massive
brown-spotted wood slugs two feet long began to slime beside the men as if herding them.

  “Where did they come from?” Malladar asked through heavy breathing, still rushing to keep up.

  “The rats accompany it. They seem to smell out prey and lead it to the kill,” the hermit said.

  Malladar looked back but saw only the slugs moving silently if ominously along beside them. “What? I don’t see anything back there. What is the ‘it’ you speak of?”

  “You won’t see it. It has no bones and slides through the trees like a slug. It’s huge, feeds on men and the larger animals of the forest, deer, and boar. Keep up; it’s almost on us.”

  Toda yelped and ran up almost into Malladar. “Something cold slimed my ankle!”

  Malladar shoved Toda ahead of him and turned to face the threat giving his companion a moment’s lead. He shoved the new spear he’d made on entering the forest into the ground and hunkered down to keep the spearhead facing the oncoming menace.

  A foul stench of decay wafted over him. He saw the forest seem to ripple like heat rising from a hot desert. Intermittent flashes of something a pale, translucent brown came and went as the thing twice the size of a bear slid between trees like an octopus with no fixed form. It had huge eyes protruding on stalks like a slug, but the mouth had fangs for grabbing and ripping meat. It was almost on Malladar when it began to split; the two halves were passing around the spear. Malladar stumbled backward in horror. The creature recombined and rose up to pounce.

  The hermit dashed up beside Malladar and threw a strange mustard-colored powder on the creature. It reared up and flushed slime to get the power off that burned it. In the moment’s respite, the powerful hermit grabbed Malladar’s shoulder and jerked him up. He shoved the prince ahead of him. “Go! Faster!”

  Ahead, Toda tripped and fell. The sound of dry leaves crunching behind them told Malladar the creature was again close behind. “Move, Toda!”

  “Where am I to go?” Toda said.

  When it seemed the creature would have them, a clearing appeared through the tree trunks. They dashed into the tiny glade and for a simple stone hut with a thatched roof at the center. Smoke drifted from its chimney.

  The three men turned to face the creature that reared up as if there was a wall. Malladar noted there was a definitive circle around the edge of the clearing, a circle of the mustard-colored powder. Still running, the hermit took a brown powder from a leather pouch hanging from his belt and chanted some spell. He threw the powder onto the phantom’s belly. It flashed as it made contact with the slime and burned a blue flame. The monster turned back as if hermit had thrown salt on it. It fled back into the forest taking the slugs with it. A new silence emerged. The three men stood staring at the forest and each other for a few moments.

  “What did you do?” Toda asked.

  “It’s an ancient spell from those that lived with those things in an age long past. I think it might be the last of them.”

  Malladar looked at the hermit his quizzical head cocked to the side. “And you choose to live in this forest with that thing?”

  The hermit picked up his club and started to the hut. “I don’t like people, and they don’t like me. The creature and I co-exist. I know about it and respect its space. The creature, in turn, eliminates people that come here to annoy me.”

  “Why did you save us?” Toda asked.

  The man grinned and stroked his new cloak.

  “Good thing you had that cloak, Toda,” Malladar said.

  The travelers followed the recluse into his shack when he waved for them to join him. Inside the two-room hut, the man stoked the fire in the fireplace and settled a black pot in the coals. He added wood to the coals and then took down some smoked meat hanging from the rafters. He cut the meat into chunks and tossed them into the pot adding some fat. The meat began to sizzle as the fat rendered into oil. As it browned, the fragrance of cooking meat filled the cabin and made them all salivate. The hermit tossed his knife and some forest version of cabbage to Toda.

  “Chop it up and add to the pot.”

  He tossed two root crops like carrots and turnips over by him as well. Toda fumbled catching the knife and frowned then grimaced at the vegetables by his feet.

  “What am I, the scullery maid? I always get the dirty work. There is no mercy. His lip protruded when he glanced at Malladar who grinned and nodded his head at the cabbage. Toda turned red and stomped his foot. He snatched the cabbage and chopped it up then threw it in the pot splashing out water.

  The recluse glanced at the pot then Toda, “There’s more water in the jug over there. He nodded the direction and turned again to Malladar.

  “The people round these parts don’t dare approach this forest even at midday. You must come from afar to risk entering here. What drives you to come here?”

  “We are traveling back from the mountains to our kingdom far to the east.”

  Toda interrupted, “We went to get a magic rock.”

  Malladar’s reddening head jerked to stare at Toda. Toda realized he’d said too much and looked down chopping vegetables at a feverish pace.

  The hermit’s face hardened. “You went in search of The Eye of Dindak.”

  Malladar didn’t face the hermit, “We just took some time off to see the world and maybe find some gems in the mountains.”

  The hermit nodded but stared at Malladar. He then glanced at Toda before again watching the prince. “I hope you didn’t disturb The Eye of Dindak. It’s said to hold powers from another age that can bring things to life that should never be seen again on this earth.”

  “We never found any gemstones,” Toda squeaked.

  A single chuckle rocked the loner’s head behind his grin. He said no more of it. Malladar stood and stirred the stew. The man pulled down some dried herbs from bunches hanging from the rafters, crushed them in a mortar and pestle, and added them to the pot. The stew bubbling was the only sound in the hut until the man passed around wooden bowls of the stew. They ate in silence.

  After they’d eaten, the man took Malladar’s bowl and handed it and his to Toda then pointed to a bucket of water. He turned to speak to the prince and again Toda fumed. The bowls splashed into the bucket, but Toda dared not say a word after blubbering out about The Eye.

  The man hung the cloak on a wall hook. He motioned for Malladar to sleep on a pile of furs. He then added wood to the fire and settled into his pile of furs. When Toda looked at the man, he pointed to a bare spot by the fire and scratched his head and wiry beard. Toda’s pinched lips were blue poking out at Malladar who shrugged. The disgruntled priest scratched a spot on the floor by the hearth and shuffled around a while before settling down with his arms wrapped tight around his chest.

  “In the firelight, the hermit mumbled, “Good that you didn’t disturb The Eye of Dindak. It draws evil to serve its own will.”

  “Will we be safe here, from the monster I mean? It won’t attack us in the night?” Malladar asked.

  “The creature has never crossed the barrier I laid down. I’ve not known it to come here in an age. I think something you have with you drew it. I believe you’ll be safe here tonight, but you must leave tomorrow. It’ll be safe to travel in the sunlight.”

  “Thank you for saving us,” Malladar said.

  The man didn’t respond but got up and retrieved Toda’s cloak and threw it over him. “Take your cloak when you leave. It has your scent. It’s tainted as well now.”

  “Thank you,” Toda said.

  The man went back to his crude bed, slid under his furs, and soon snored. Malladar was troubled. He had thanked the man for saving them, and the man had not responded. It might have been nothing, but then he’d returned Toda’s cloak that had sealed the bargain to save them. The prince’s worries kept him awake a long time. The fire died; only glowing coals lit the room. He finally fell asleep not long before dawn when the muffled sound of sandals sliding over the grainy floor woke him from his troubled sleep.

  A
pale shadow cast by the fire morphed on the wall. Not daring to reveal he saw it, Malladar peeked at the changing shape. Whatever it was, it was similar to the giant bats. It crept across the rafters and slid out the door without a sound. Malladar shot up out of the furs and shook Toda.

  “Get up, put on your cloak, and grab your satchel. We have to get out of here now!”

  Toda shook his head. “What’s wrong?”

  Malladar threw on his cloak and grabbed his bag. “We have to leave before he comes back.”

  Toda looked over to where the man had been sleeping. There was nobody under the furs. He jumped up and threw on the cloak.

  Malladar was at the door, cracking it slightly, peeking out scanning the woods. He could just make out a single slug beyond the circle behind the hut.

  “He said we’d be safe for the night,” Toda whispered coming up behind Malladar.

  “He knows we have The Eye. He gave back your cloak, so he’s no longer committed to our safety. I think he’s made some deal with the creature in exchange for getting The Eye. We have to get beyond this forest into the sunlight, or we’re dead.”

  “But that thing crawled away. The man said it wouldn’t attack this compound. Shouldn’t we wait here until dawn?”

  “It’s lurking about, Toda. See that slug there in the leaves just beyond the barrier. I don’t know if it can get in here, but if we don’t leave now, I don’t know what that shape-shifter will do to feed us to that thing.”

  “Shape-shifter!”

  “Come on!” Malladar slipped out the door and around to the side of the hut. When Toda joined him, they crept away into the forest, rushing as fast as they could in the spotty moonlight. They kept traveling through the day and only stopped in the evening for a light meal fearing to have a fire.

  Toda handed Malladar the bowls and glared at him. Malladar shook his head and went to wash the dishes in the stream without complaint.

  Before the first bowl got wet, Toda was beside Malladar. “What did you mean by shape-shifter?”

  “Whatever that man is, he isn’t just a man. I think he must have been from some age long past like the other creatures in that forest. He changed shape in the night. I suspect he’s somehow in a symbiotic relationship with the bat-like creatures.”