Isle of the Ape

by Jason Halstead

  Chapter 5

  Aleena closed the book and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She looked up and saw Celos through the archway to the kitchen. She took a deep breath and let it out, and then grimaced when she realized she'd gotten used to the smell of the dead wizard. It was just as well; that's where she needed to go next.

  She rose up from the table and earned a glance from the Knight of Leander. She gave him a noncommittal wave and turned to the back of the cottage. She took another breath to steel herself before she opened the door and stepped into the bedroom.

  Insects fluttered up and away, seeking to hide. Most crawled under the wizard's body or into the open wounds of his corpse. Aleena grimaced and forced herself to look away. She studied the shelves of books as quickly as she could, looking for anything that might tell more of the fallen nymph's tale.

  She stopped when she came upon a gap in the books. She reached out to feel the empty position and then turned and looked at the rest of the shelves. Other books were missing as well. She couldn't begin to guess what they were about, though; it seemed the wizard had no sense of organization.

  Aleena pulled out one book from a shelf with more empty space than filled and had to slam it shut as soon as she opened it. The words crawled on the page like hungry insects. She shook her head and put it back. Magic she didn't need.

  She left the room behind and pulled the door shut behind her. Celos stared at her from the kitchen archway.

  "Anything?"

  "The woman who was here took several books from him," Aleena said. "Arcane texts mostly, but random bits and pieces here and there, too."

  "How does that help us?"

  "I don't know that it does," she admitted. "At least not right now."

  Celos scowled. "So we've wasted our time then?"

  "I didn't say that," Aleena replied. "I found more on the story about the nymph. Notes in the book written by Therion make me believe she was nearby."

  "Was?"

  "When she was alive," Aleena agreed.

  "Then she's dead and we're back to wasting time."

  "No, I don't think so. He scribbled down some thoughts about harnessing her power and using it."

  "For what?"

  Aleena shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe keeping the things out there alive."

  Celos let a grim smile show in the lantern light. "And you say she's nearby?"

  "In the swamp behind the cottage," Aleena said. "Somewhere. He mentioned a twisted tree."

  Celos glanced around and frowned. "Let this serve as a lesson that Leander's Light can shine on all professions. Even that of a lumberjack."

  Aleena laughed silently and nodded. "These twisted creations embrace the night; we should carry torches. It might frighten them."

  Celos bowed his head in prayer and whispered words that Aleena couldn't make out. The holy symbol on his cuirass began to glow until it rivaled the lantern Aleena held. He looked at her and drew his sword. "Grab a torch or two. I'll keep the beasts at bay while you find the tree."

  Aleena smiled. She turned and grabbed her shield from where she'd laid it on the bed and then grabbed a torch from the barrel near the door. "May Leander light your way," she said when Celos moved the bench from the door and glanced at her.

  "And yours," Celos returned before he opened the door and stepped out into the soggy marsh.

  The horned frogs were waiting for them. Celos shouted in surprise when two of them leapt at him and drove their velveteen antlers into his metal greaves. He kicked back and swung his sword, splitting one in half and spilling blood and entrails onto the ground.

  Aleena pushed out behind him and swung her torch low, keeping the throng of amphibians at bay. They croaked loudly and shifted, turning as Celos led the way along the front of the cottage so they could get behind it. Aleena followed but spared a glance into the jungle and saw the reflection of her torch in the eyes of the corrupted animals. They were moving towards them.

  Celos kicked another frog out of the way and hurried along the side of the wizard's house. Aleena walked backwards so she could use her torch to keep the horned frogs away. She stumbled twice on roots and clumps of mud but kept her balance until she backed into Celos.

  "Keep going!" Aleena snapped at him.

  "Where?" Celos asked.

  Aleena risked looking away from the frogs that had followed them and saw the wizard's creations were waiting for them on that side of the cabin as well. Four sleek animals padded across the high ground on six legs. Their four rear-most legs were canine but the front two had the joints, pads, and claws of panthers. Their heads and mouths were feline and filled with teeth that were both large and sharp.

  "Behind those beasts," Aleena suggested.

  The light from Celos's breastplate shown on the beasts, causing them to hiss and spit while squinting their eyes into slits. "Oh, you mean where the bears are at?"

  Aleena looked beyond and saw two bears standing. In place of snouts and fur on their heads, they had giant-sized versions of ant mandibles. "They're protecting her," Aleena reasoned.

  "Why didn't you say so," Celos grumbled. He stepped away from the building and stalked towards the beasts. Aleena hurried behind him and tightened her grip on her torch.

  The six-legged hunters shied away from Celos at first but his course led him into their midst. They growled and hissed but would retreat no farther in spite of the bright light that shone down on them.

  "Be gone, foul beasts!" Celos cried out at them.

  Aleena raised her eyebrow behind him. Magically created or not, she didn't expect them to understand him. Whether they did or not became irrelevant as soon as the two on either side rushed towards the knight. Aleena was about to cry out a warning when she felt something slam into her back and stagger her.

  She spun and swung her torch but it sailed over the horned frog that had bounced off the metal plate on her back. The other frogs hopped forward, one of them leaping through the air only to crash against her shield. Two strikes later and her torch broke against a frog. The burning end fell into a fetid puddle and sputtered.

  She fended off two more strikes with her shield before she could draw her sword. Blood stained her shield and breastplate from the mindless attacks the frogs made. It was their blood, not hers. She added to the gore by hewing into them with her sword as they threw themselves against her.

  "Leander take you!" Celos cried out behind her.

  Aleena kicked aside a frog that fell from her shield and turned to see Celos wrenching his sword free from where it had cloven one of the stalkers nearly in two. Another of the beasts already lay dead in the water beside it. Before he could free his blade, another leapt on him and sent him staggering away.

  "Celos!" Aleena cried out. Two more frogs slammed into her, one managing to jam a horn between the pleats of metal and chain covering her behind. She ground her teeth and spun back around so she could stab the frog that had injured her.

  When Aleena turned back, Celos was on his back but he had the shaft of his mace jammed into the teeth of the six-legged monster on top of him. The creature used its four canine legs to stabilize itself and clawed at the knight's armored arms and shoulders. The fourth aberration was circling on a path towards Celos's unprotected head.

  Aleena knew she was too far away to reach her mentor, so she tugged her arm free of the straps of her shield and flung it towards the circling creature. It fell short but splashed water up into the feline face. The beast backed up in surprise.

  She was already running, the few remaining frogs forgotten behind her. The squire took her long sword in both hands and thrust down, grating off the ribs and spine of the monster atop the knight. Her year of exercise and drilling paid off, pushing her blade through the creature's chest until the hilt was against its fur.

  The beast threw its head back and snarled. Its teeth snapped the air and it clawed at Celos twice more before it shuddered and slumped down on top of him. The weight of the monster as it rolled off to the side tugged Aleen
a with it until she let go of her trapped blade. She saw the point of her sword had left a dent in Celos's breastplate after she'd impaled his attacker.

  Movement made Aleena look up in time to be tackled by the fourth creature that she'd slowed down. He clung to her with his feline paws and rolled her through the shallow and fetid swamp water. Aleena gasped and coughed, drawing more of the water into her mouth. She pushed into the muck with her hands, trying to lift herself up when the jaws of the creature closed on her helm and pulled her face out of the water. It started to twist and pull, intent on snapping her neck, if not tearing her head off completely, when Aleena's face was suddenly jammed back into the water and the muck at the bottom.

  She pushed away, sputtering, gasping, and blinded by the rotting mud. She rolled through the water, hacking and wheezing as she struggled to wipe her eyes clean with a dirty hand. Her other hand reached for her mace and found it still secured to her back. She yanked on the cord that bound it until it was loose enough that she could rip it free and swing it back and forth in front of her. She was still blind but she had a weapon again.

  "It's dead," Celos gasped.

  Aleena lowered her weapon and doubled over in a fit of wracking coughs. She retched a moment later, her stomach too upset by the swamp water and the convulsions of her coughing fit. When she straightened, she squinted and blinked until she could make out her mentor's fuzzy image. He stood in front of her and dispatched the last of the frogs that had pursued them. Other animals were approaching from the house, but she could only see blurry shapes.

  She saw Celos turn and walk up to her. "Are you well enough?"

  "Well enough for what?" she gasped.

  "To fight!"

  "I can't see a damned thing," she spat, tasting mud and bile. "But I'll fight so long as Leander's Light shines on me."

  "Then let Leander's blessing fill you," Celos said. He reached forward, his hand suddenly as bright as the symbol on his chest.

  Aleena's breath caught in her throat as the light burned away the filthy water and restored the clarity of her vision. Celos pressed his palm against her forehead, making Aleena realize her helm had been ripped from her head. The agony in her throat and chest was burned away by the warmth of a pure summer day that flooded her body. It faded when Celos pulled his hand away, the glow fading as he did so.

  "Grab your sword," he said as he turned away.

  Aleena stared at him, her mouth hanging open in awe. "You healed me!" she whispered.

  "And I won't have time to do it again if you don't pick up your sword!"

  Aleena scrambled over to the dead creature and pulled her sword free of its carcass. Celos did the same with his great sword. Aleena went to secure her mace but saw that she'd broken the straps. She dropped it and fetched up her shield.

  "Come, to the bear-things. We must be quick or the others will be on our backs."

  "What then?" Aleena asked.

  "Then you find this tree and we kill the shade that poisons this place!"

  Aleena hurried after him. The bears were waiting at the edge of a pond, their insect-like mouths wide open and dripping saliva. Celos cried out to Leander and charged forward. Aleena grimaced and followed suit so he wouldn't be outnumbered again.

  She was stunned by the power of the bear's claw that smashed into her shield but she still managed to cut a jagged wound on the creature's flank. The mandible clacked together just over her head, spraying her with spittle. She backed away to avoid a swipe of the other claw and then lunged forward and thrust her sword into the ant-bear's shoulder. It screamed a piercing shriek and swung at her again, batting her blade aside.

  Aleena backed up a step and saw Celos finishing the creature he faced with a mighty chop that had caved in its ribs. She brought her attention back in time to duck under another swipe and then thrust her sword into the bear's belly. She yanked it up, tearing through muscle and fur so that when she backed up a step, the entrails slipped free and hung like sausage from its stomach.

  The bear came at her and then stopped and stared down when it stepped on its own intestines. Aleena cried out, "For Leander!" and swung her sword in an overhead chop that bisected its mandibles and crushed its bony skull.

  "Run!" Celos said from where he'd approached behind her opponent.

  Aleena saw him looking behind her and knew better than to question. She ran, passing him by as he turned and tried to match her speed. The water was up to her knees and the muck at the bottom sucked at her boots. She struggled forward, losing a boot and nearly falling over had it not been for Celos grabbing her shoulder beside her. She looked at him to thank him but instead saw him staring ahead.

  "Where is it?" he demanded.

  Aleena saw and heard the twisted creatures of the forest behind them. They splashed into the water and ran for them, whether on two legs or more. She turned back and saw a mound rising out of the gloom ahead of them. On it, a gnarled tree stump took shape with skeletal limbs that rose no more than a dozen feet in the air. It looked putrid and fallen, but still the trunk stood against the test of time.

  "There!" Aleena pointed. "That's it! Come, Celos, we can end this!"

  She turned to her mentor but found him absent. Something brushed against her leg, making her jump even as she spun in the water to look for him. The creatures had paused, venturing no more than a score of feet into the pond. She kept turning and saw water swirling and eddying as something moved beneath it.

  Water sprayed as Celos burst from beneath the surface. Something thick and slimy was curled around his chest but he struggled against it and managed to drive his feet into the ground to hold his balance for a moment. "Go! Kill it!"

  Aleena opened her mouth to respond when Celos was knocked back and pulled under the water again. She started towards him and then stopped when another serpentine shape snaked through the water towards her. She snarled at it and nodded. "You will die!" she raved before she turned and ran through the water to the mound with the tree on it.

  She climbed up on the muddy bank and raised her sword, only to have the tentacle wrap around her bare ankle and pull her back. She cried out and swung her sword blindly, hacking into the sinuous appendage that foiled her. It hit with a wet thud, like the sound of an axe striking wood. She hacked twice more before it broke free and she could scramble out of the water.

  The tree lay before her and moved as if to retreat from her. Aleena started at the rotting thing and reached out with her hand. She tore at the punky wood, yanking the rotten bark and meat of the trunk free. The more she dug at it, the sturdier the wood became until she pulled back on a piece that gave with a wet crack. A glow shone from within, purplish and red from the core of the cursed tree. Aleena cried out and thrust her sword into it, spearing the heart of the tree and causing a thunderous crack to pulse through the swamp.

  Aleena picked herself up and looked around. The swamp was still; not even the water of the pond rippled. She saw a light beneath the surface of the water. A light that overpowered the darkness of the murky water. She ran to it and plunged in, grabbing onto Celos and pulling him free of the water.

  She sat on the bank and looked at his still face. "Celos! Wake up. It's dead, Celos. I killed it! We killed it!"

  But Sir Celos didn't stir. Tears fell from Aleena's face onto the fallen knight. She shook her head and whispered, "No," over and over. She rolled him over and beat on the back of his armor but knew it was pointless. She scrambled with the buckles and straps, removing his breastplate so she could hit him again with the flat of her palm.

  Still Celos lay oblivious to the world. Aleena stared at the stars visible above her and prayed. "Please, Saint Leander, spare this man. It's not his time. There is so much good he can yet do. So much in your name. Take me in his stead. He saved me from falling and was taken by the evil instead."

  A light grew beneath her chin, causing her to gasp. She stared down and saw that the light in Celos's plate had faded but this new light came from her hand. She stared at it and
remembered when Celos had laid his hand upon her.

  Not daring to breathe, Aleena pushed Celos back over and then reached down to touch Celos on the lips with her glowing fingers. The glow faded but she swore it slipped into his mouth and he swallowed it. A second later, he coughed and retched. Fetid water ran out of his mouth and nose. Aleena pushed him over and beat on his back to help him hack the putrid swamp out of his lungs.

  Several tearful moments later, he drew a ragged breath and sat up. He stared at the tree with Aleena's sword still sticking in it and then he looked at her. "Not bad for a squire," he said.

  Aleena stared at him, her jaw hanging open.

  Celos chuckled and coughed again. He went to wipe his lips with the back of his hand but he saw his hand was even dirtier. One of his gauntlets lay on the ground nearby. He looked back up at Aleena and saw her still staring at him.

  "Forgive me this, Sir Celos," Aleena finally managed before she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him without care for the mud clinging to them.