Avernus: Book One

by Steven Webb

  “Sophie do you wanna help me look for some food?”

  “Sure, let me grab Rocco’s knife. He won’t even know I took it.”

  A slow movement of Sophie’s hand saw the blade freed from its sheath.

  The damp ground hid their footsteps as they tracked down a pack of strange creatures with gill like flaps on their sides. Every time air was forced through them they produced a strange harmonica like sound. The limbless creatures glided along the ground. They managed to stay just ahead of Sophie and Trent, leading them through the pillars and purple discs. They finally slowed down to nibble on the white balls atop the the disks.

  It made the perfect opening for Sophie to sneak up. Trent watched her brandish the knife and carefully approach one of the creatures. Just as Sophie prepared to stab the creature it let out a sudden whistle from the folds. The entire pack took off in different directions. The one in front of Sophie and Trent fled for a stray ribbon tree. They had it dead to rights. Sophie closed in while Trent circled around to block any possible escape.

  The creature curled into a crescent shape and rolled over onto its back. It seemed like a strange way to react to a predator. Then, what they had thought were strange ridges on the back, broke free from the body turning into clawed legs. The creature raised up from the ground and scurried up the Ribbon tree out of reach. At roughly the size of a dog, it was a wonder how nibble it appeared in the branches.

  Sophie flipped the knife in her hand placing the blade against her palm. She bobbed the piece of steel up and down a few times before holding it out in front of her. In one fluid motion, Sophie pulled her arm back and then forward releasing the knife. It spun end over end. The side of the knife hit the creature. It didn’t manage to pierce the flesh but the momentum knocked it from the tree. A loud thump, and the body laid still in the mud. Sophie picked up the knife from off the ground and drove it home. Black liquid oozed from the body.

  “I caught it so you get to carry it back.”

  “Deal.”

  Trent grabbed the corpse, and slung it over his shoulder. The two of them headed back to camp. Up ahead a strange new object blocked their way to camp. The closer they got the more it looked familiar to Trent. “Was that there before?”

  “No, I think I would have remembered something that large.”

  “Yeah same here. But still something about it seems familiar. I swear I’ve seen those markings before.”

  The object rose up on wavering legs, and turned around to face Trent. Its three eyes locked onto him.

  Now Trent knew why the marks looked so familiar. They were the scars it received from the spikers that attacked it. This time there were no trees to hide behind and the spikers were nowhere in sight. white powder clung to the legs and mouth of the creature. Black goo dripped from the gaping mouth mixing with the yellow saliva.

  The sight of the beast made Trent freeze up. Sophie readied the knife in case the beast attacked. Trent watched the eyes remain glued to him.

  “I’m going to give it the thing we just killed,” he whispered trying not to startle the beast. “Maybe it’ll let us go, and eat the meat.” He pulled the body off his shoulder and set it on the ground.

  A few steps forward and the beast fell down. It tried to regain its footing but continued to fumble around. It seemed to be sick. The fear it normally created in Trent now disappeared. This was not the same ferocious creature that had attacked him. What stood in front of him was now a feeble, shadow of itself.

  Trent took a few steps back from the black mess on the ground. The beast tried to make it to the prize but found itself strafing from side to side as if intoxicated. It let out a roar mixed with undertones of sloshing water. The head lowered and a large glob of black and yellow passed between the teeth. It drew closer to Trent. He could now make out all the details of the creatures face, along with the white powder covering it. It was the spores from the mars moss. Somehow the monster had wandered into the moss and ingested some of the powder not knowing the consequences.

  “How is this thing still alive? The spores killed Taylor and Zea within no time.” Trent was amazed at the beast durability.

  “Yeah it’s unbelievable.”

  The beast tried to approach but fell down. This time it stayed where it was, letting out a soft moaning sound. Trent and Sophie watched the beast’s labored breathing slow and eventually cease all together. Life drained out of the body.

  Trent felt some remorse for the beast despite its previous attempt on his life. Seeing it humbled by something so small made for a sad sight. Then he realized this was their chance to test out a way to stop the spreading on a small sample. Left alone the moss would grow and take over, but it had yet to form a cohesive shape. Quickly he picked up the creature they had killed.

  “We need to get back to the others now. We have a chance to figure out if we can stop this stuff.”

  Sophie agreed, “Solid idea.” The two turned and made way towards camp.

  Rocco and Joseph were awake and clearly awaiting their return. Rocco’s face had a disapproving glare on it. “Where’s my knife?”

  Sophie pulled it from her boot. “Oh sorry. We needed it to get food. See this is a good catch but if I didn’t have the knife there was no way I would have caught it. So you’re welcome.”

  “Just don’t do it again. Give it here and I’ll start prepping the meat.”

  “All you.” She tossed him the knife. The blade landed in the ground between Rocco’s feet.

  “You can cut up the meat in a bit.” Trent grabbed a branch from the fire. “Right now we have a chance to see if we can burn up the spores.”

  “I don’t even know where we are much less the mars moss.”

  “That’s true, but remember that beast that attacked me? It found some and now it’s dead not too far from here. So I figure we can at least try and burn it.”

  “And that’ll take four of us?”

  “Fine if you don’t want to go that’s up to you. Joseph, wanna join us?”

  “Sure count me in.”

  Joseph and Sophie each grabbed a branch and they headed off leaving Rocco to his own game.

  The body was already starting to decay by the time they reached it. The Moss had worked fast, taking root in the body and breaking down the organs. A large had hole opened up in the side. The rate of growth was proving to be unparalleled.

  “Remember, whatever you do don’t breathe in the spores.” A piece of cloth shielded Trents mouth and nose making the words muffled. He reached his branch out and touched the still loose spores. They ignited instantly. “Looks good so far.” The stench of sulphur was overwhelming.

  Joseph was busy burning up the growths with less appealing results but something they could work with. The bunches shriveled up beneath the heat, but no flame spread. The heat was the only thing that affected it. Moisture inhibited the ignition process. “At this rate we’ll be dead long before we burn it all up.”

  “As long as we have the body here we can get rid of this patch. That’s a good start.” Trent held his stick up to the beast’s body but the flame didn’t take. “We need some kindling and branches to lite this sucker up.”

  The group managed to scavenge a fair size pile of kindling. Each piece was laid with care to prevent any pods from opening. All three threw their torches into the pile and watched it take hold. The flames started small, but quickly grew larger consuming everything in their path. Flames flew high into the air. The heat was so unbearable Joseph, Trent and Sophie had to backup around twenty feet just to cool their bodies off. They stuck around to ensure the flames ran out of fuel. All that was left behind was a burt husk of a corpse, and white ash where the moss had once been. It wasn’t a perfect plan, but for now they could at least stave off any growth that might come near them.

  The hunger was getting worse, and the smell of the cooked flesh only strengthened it. Trent could feel drool pooling in his mouth. “I need to eat. Think Rocco’s ready for us yet?”

 
“I hope so.” Sophie picked up a hand full of dirt to throw on a small flickering flame, extinguishing it’s life. “I’m feeling a bit light headed. A little food could do me some good.”

  With their heads held high from their miniscule victory, the three joined back up with Rocco. Scraps were piled up neatly, a ways off from the camp. Meat skewers roasted over the open flame.

  “Perfect timing guys. I just finished the last of the meat. I was hoping for more but this’ll last us a few days. Maybe more if we ration it.”

  None of them felt like talking. Trent was the first to grab a skewer. His teeth sunk into the warm meat. The pleasant aroma pushed out any lingering scent of sulphur. The juices coated his tongue and flowed down his throat. The hunger pains subsided. Sophie joined him, making a mess of herself tearing into the meat. Joseph was slightly less barbaric, taking small bites and savoring them.

  “Good right?” It seemed Rocco wanted a response

  Trent figured a grunt would have to do. “MMmhhh.”

  Nothing was going to stop him now. Once they had all had their fill they settled in and watched the evening go by. It was a rare occasion to have a full belly. Now he just had to try and fall asleep.

  JOSEPH

  “Your breaking the branches all wrong.” Rocco placed his hands around one of the ribbon tree. “It needs to be done like this. See how the fibers break off in splinters at the edge.”

  Trent reached up, eyes locked onto Rocco, and grabbed a branch. With a twist of his wrist the branch broke in two. “Oooh so hard.”

  “You’re such a child.”

  “And proud of it.” Trent snapped another branch. “I prefer the easy way.”

  “That’s obvious. If you’d take the extra second to do it the right way, then the branches would burn better. But hey getting a fire going out here is easy.”

  Joseph watched the two bickering back and forth. He was trying his hardest to keep his head down and just pick up branches that were already on the ground.

  “Tell him he’s being ridiculous.” Trent seemed to be wanting Joseph to respond. If he pretended he didn’t hear anything maybe they would leave him alone. “Joseph, come on. You know I’m right. Just tell him.”

  “I don’t know, I guess.” Joseph picked up another branch. His hands were full enough to give him an excuse to leave. Neither of them seemed to notice that he had left. The branches dung into his arms. Their weight added up making the short journey a struggle. A few smaller branches fell here and there but the bulk of his haul remained. Any attempt to regain them would just cause the large branches to fall.

  The camp was empty when Joseph arrived. No sign of Sophie anywhere. He searched for something to do as an excuse to not have to go back to branch collecting. The answer to his prayers laid just outside the lean-to. The emergency beacon was still inactive. The battery had been disconnected but the rainstorm had filled up the wells. The water level had stopped just before overflowing, meaning none of the salt had been lost. He drained the dish and planted it firmly in the ground. This was going to be the true test of his engineering. Joseph took a deep breath, anticipating the worst. After everything that had happened, no one would fault him for thinking that way. He removed the end screws and attached the wires. Using the hooks, he latched them back into place completing the circuit.

  Beep…..Beep….Beep.

  The box was still working. Now they just had to hope NASA would get the signal. There was no way to know for sure. All Joseph could do was assume that it was working. He sat back and stared into the sky, imagining a satellite receiving their signal and transferring their location to earth. Nasa upon receiving it would pool all their resources into getting the crew back. Everyone would be cheering him on. A true hero’s welcome. But what about when they learned what happened to Nova. would they really welcome him home with open arms as a some amazing legend? His mind created thoughts of everyone ostracizing him for his mistake, unable to calm their fears. He felt like a monster inside. The large asteroid that had sent them here passed overhead. He wished that the impact had killed him.

  Trent’s voice came ahead of the sound of crashing branches, “Fuck this. I’m done. If he wants a fire he can do all the work.”

  Joseph snapped out of his zone at the unwelcomed disruption. “If you pretended to take his advice he wouldn’t be such a dick to you.”

  “Yeah thanks for the advice. I’ve never had to deal with anyone like him before.” Sarcasm dripped from Trent’s voice.

  “I heard all of that.” Rocco holored in the distance.

  “Good. I wasn’t trying to hide it.”

  “Maybe if you weren’t so useless and actually did what I said the ship wouldn’t have crashed.”

  Trent’s entire face was a brilliant red. His entire body showed signs of agitation. “I’m done. Joe come help me?”

  “Help you with what?”

  “I’m building my own sleeping quarters so I don’t have to deal with this jackass any more.” He ran into the lean-to and stole the knife from Rocco’s backpack.

  “I don’t see why you need me.”

  “So that you can help me carry the cups from the tentacles.”

  Joseph didn’t want to but he was finding Rocco more unbearable than Trent at the moment. “Whatever.” he tagged along, twisting through the forest looking for just the right tentacle plant. “How about this one?” He held up a large flat cup. It was comparable to the ones Rocco used for the first lean-to.

  “Sure. it looks like there’s another one over there.” Joseph continued on.

  Not wanting to cause any more tension, Joseph left the one he had to go help Trent with the ones he chose. He hardly noticed the forest change around him. When he finally looked around the trees were still the same, other than a few larger looking Tentacle plants, but strange almost net like lattices covered both them and the forest floor. It added a hint of green missing from an otherwise alien colored landscape. Large rainbow colored bodies grew sporadically from the intersecting branches. Generally they appeared as three spheres merged together but occasionally they had strange projections separating them.

  “Let’s start with this one.”

  Trent took the knife to the branch. He made it seem infinitely more difficult than when Rocco had done it. The knife only got half way through when his frustration set in. He pulled at the branch hoping to break it loose. His hands slipped and gravity sent him flying backwards. A nearby Rainbow clump exploded throwing juice into the air and all over trent’s face.

  “Uch!” His had wiped the juice from his mouth. “It tastes like a doctor’s office smells. Aggh.” He scraped fervently at his tongue. “I need water. I have to wash this taste out.”

  “All the waters back with Rocco.”

  “Never mind than. I’ll just bear with it.” He acted like it wasn’t bothering him but Joseph could tell by his contorted face that it was pure misery. Trent picked the knife upand returned to cutting until the branch eventually broke loose. “Two more should do it.”

  “I’ll take this one back for you.”

  “By the time you get back I should have the others down.”

  The sound of footsteps caught Joseph’s attention. “Rocco that you?”

  “Better not be you, asshole.”

  “It’s just me.” it was definitely Sophie’s voice. “I’ve been trying to find you guys.”

  “Perfect. Sophie can finish helping you.”

  “Sure I can do that. Toss me the knife.” Sophie reached her hand out as if she actually expected Trent to throw it.

  Trent walked over and handed the blade to her. “Here all yours.”

  Joseph and trent were at a loss for words as they watched Sophie grab ahold of one of the cups, and with a single swing, bury the blade halfway into the stem attached to it. She then pulled the cup tight and ripped the knife through the rest of the flesh.

  Trent stared unblinking at what they had just witnessed. “That was pure luck.”

  Sophie g
ave him a look of nonchalance. She started pulling the next cup, and with one swift motion drove the blade in and dragged it home. The cup fell free spilling water on her.

  “See that’s why I was taking my time.”

  “What ever you have to tell yourself. So what are you making, another shelter?”

  “Yeah I’m not sleeping next to that pile of shit Rocco. Help us drag these back.”

  Each with a cup in hand, they dragged them through the forest and to the camp. Trent set to work grabbing branches from the fire wood pile to create his canopy.

  “I know you took my knife.” It was none other than Rocco standing behind them, his chest puffed out, breathing heavily through his nostrils. His fists were so tightly clenched, that his hands were shaking.

  “Yeah, I did. See.” The blade glistened in Trents hand.

  “You son of a bitch.” Rocco’s fist rose up in a flash and connected with Trents face. A stream of blood poured from his nostrils. Trent’s body went limp.

  Sophie went over to check on Trent. “The hell Rocco. Not saying he didn’t deserve to get hit but did you have to hit him that hard.”

  Joseph gabbed the canteen from the lean-to and ran it over to Trent’s unconscious body. “This should wake him up. Use to work whenever me or my brothers would black out.” He emptied the water onto Trent’s face.

  It was enough of a shock to get him to open his eyes. He blinked a few times before was able to speak. “What just happened?”

  “Dude, Rocco laid you out.”

  Trent sat up. “Not cool man.”

  “Listen, I’m sorry.”

  “No, screw you.”

  “Really I didn’t mean…”

  “I don’t want to hear it.” Trent rose to his feet and grabbed all the wood he needed for his makeshift canopy.