“Holy Sea Zombie!” he gasped.
“Are you two all right?” Fibian asked, helping Cyrus to his feet.
“I think so,” Cyrus said, checking himself.
He noticed a strange, scrutinizing expression on Tier’s face. Then he searched for his torch.
“My torch! Where’s my torch?”
“The troll,” Edward shouted, from Cyrus’ shoulder.
Grim had stolen Cyrus’ torch and was running off down the tunnel.
“Inbred scum,” Tier spat.
She gave chase. Cyrus and Fibian followed.
“We can’t lose him, or we might never leave this place,” Edward cried.
Ragged footsteps ghosted their hunt. The tunnel twisted and turned. The cave walls grew pockmarked and the air became warm. The troll was fast, but his torchlight betrayed his position. The rumble and shake of Grim’s footsteps echoed throughout the caverns. Stone and dust fell from the craggy ceiling. The lava vent began to expand. Odd rock formations, like stretched cheese, grew from the edges. Cyrus smelled something that reminded him of a blacksmith’s shop.
They continued their chase. The tunnel opened up into a grand hollow. Cyrus skidded to a stop at the threshold of a yawning gorge. He stared down at a glowing river of lava below. Angels! The river cut through the middle of the cavern, hundreds of feet below. A delicate bridge-way crossed the gap from one end of the cave to the other.
“What now?” Cyrus asked.
Hot ash rose from the inferno, blackening the twisting stalactites and fractured ceiling high above.
“We continue on,” Fibian said.
He grasped Cyrus’ arm and led him forward.
The bridge was about six-feet wide and seemed ready to collapse.
“Hurry,” Tier growled back, “the troll’s escaping.”
Grim reached the end of the lengthy bridge-way and vanished around a bend. Cyrus continued forward, glancing over his shoulder.
“Wendigo!” Fibian shouted.
He turned and fired his crossbow. A pale ghoul crashed at his feet.
Cyrus saw five more follow through the darkened tunnel behind them.
BOOM!
Tier dropped another. The creature struck the ground in a rattle of sinew and bones. Cyrus took aim and fired. He hit one of the wendigo in the stomach. The savage stumbled but continued forward. It grabbed Cyrus by the neck. Cyrus fell backward, struggling to get an advantage over his attacker. The creature snapped at his face; its lips pulled back like a ravenous dog’s.
“Edward!” Cyrus hollered.
The wendigo was too strong. Cyrus’ strength was draining.
“Tier, Fibian, help!”
He saw the inside of the savage’s gaping mouth. Its tongue was a mere stump and its throat was blackened and spoiled. The creature rose up. It clubbed Cyrus in the face with a right fist. Cyrus’ mind flashed fuzzy. The back of his head bounced off the rock. The villain rained down several more blows. Cyrus shifted his head. The strikes pounded the stone next to his ears. Cyrus bucked his hips. The creature fell forward. Again, the fiend rose, its fists bloody and poised.
“No!” Cyrus shouted.
The wendigo raised a fist to strike. Its whole body twitched and froze. Its face fell slack. It looked down at its left hand. The thing’s flesh grew purple and blistered, then began to decay into sand. The savage dissolved in Cyrus’ grip. Cyrus quickly dug through the silt and found a snow-white ball.
“Thank you, Edward,” Cyrus gasped.
Edward smiled back, breathing heavily. His fangs retreated back into his gums.
Cyrus looked up. Tier was locked in battle with four wendigo. Fibian fought two. Both wielded torches at their attackers.
One leaped onto Fibian’s back. The creature bit the froskman’s neck. Fibian stabbed the torch into the savage’s face. The wendigo still held on. Fibian dropped the fire and slammed his back into a wall. The villain’s grip loosened. Fibian snapped his mechanical hand around his attacker’s neck and threw the savage off. The fiend struck the ground, scrambled like a wild cat, and sprinted back towards the froskman. Fibian took three large steps, grabbed the back of the creature’s head and drove his right knee into the wendigo’s chin. The villain collapsed to the ground like a sack of bones.
Fibian’s second attacker was holding his torch, blinded by its light.
“It’s trying to steal the flame,” Edward shouted, from Cyrus’ shoulder.
Confused, the creature shifted on its toes, unsure where to turn. Then, in a desperate attempt to escape, the savage dashed clean over the edge. The torchlight illuminated the contours of the massive shaft as the wendigo plummeted far, far below.
“No…” Cyrus breathed.
Tier’s attackers clung to her back. One had one arm around her neck, and one hand on her torch. Tier twisted and punched, teetering at the edge of the chasm.
“They’re going after our last torch,” the yeti growled, punching the wendigo in the face.
“Cyrus,” Edward shouted, gesturing in Tier’s direction.
Cyrus picked Edward off his shoulder and threw him at Tier. He lost sight of the spider in the twisting thrashing of limbs and fur.
One wendigo jerked the torch from Tier’s grip. Fibian dove and tackled both Tier and the four wendigo to the ground, clutching for the fire. The wendigo with the torch kicked and scrambled like a wet cat. It broke free and ran for the ledge. Tier grabbed its ankle while fighting off the other three. The first wendigo kicked and flailed, blinded by the torch.
“I’m losing my grip!” Tier said.
The wendigo wriggled free and sprang for the void. Mid-air, it twitched and paused. Then it crashed to the ground in a splash of sand. The torch fell atop the pile. Edward crawled from beneath.
Fibian broke the neck of one of the remaining three. Cyrus stabbed a bolt into another’s skull, and Tier hurled the last one into the river like a sack of rubbish. She caught her breath and stared at Edward with narrow, probing eyes.
“Thank the Angels, Edward,” Cyrus said, picking up the spider and Tier’s torch, “If we lost this, we’d be finished.”
“It was a suicide mission,” Fibian said, touching the bite on his neck,” They wanted our fire so they could take us in the dark.”
“What should we do about that one?” Cyrus asked, motioning towards an unconscious wendigo laying on the ground.
“Toss it over,” Tier said.
“It’s unconscious,” Cyrus replied, “It doesn’t seem right.”
“The fall should wake it up,” Tier said, grasping it by the ankle and hurling it over the edge.
Chapter 20
ALL BECAME DARK
THE FOURSOME CARRIED ON across the narrow bridge-way. Tier kept the lead. Fibian held up the rear. Unless they could find Grim, they would be forced to rely on Edward’s sense of direction to guide them through the caverns to the yeti slave camp.
The group entered a darkened tunnel and began to walk carefully down the twisting corridor. They held their weapons and torches high. Cyrus could smell Grim’s stench.
“No!”
Tier’s footing gave way. She began to slide on her backside down the passage. Cyrus jumped after her and caught her by the wrist. The ground had been covered in a slippery sludge. The two started to accelerate. Cyrus felt Fibian clutch his ankle. In a train of three, the group slid down the coiling passageway. Cyrus’ body bounced off stone walls, further bruising his flesh.
“Watch out,” Edward shouted, from Cyrus’ shoulder.
The spider pointed ahead to a pit in the floor. Cyrus tried to reach out with his free hand to slow their descent. The rock was too smooth.
“Brace yourself,” Tier yelled.
The group slipped over the edge into a dark cavity. Cyrus’ mind froze with panic as he plummeted to his death.
The fall seemed to last minutes. Cyrus struck the ground, but to his surprise, his bones did not shatter on cold stone. Instead, he landed on something that felt like twi
gs.
“Master Cyrus, Master Edward, are you all right?” Fibian asked.
The froskman stood crouched, his eyes ablaze.
“I’m okay,” Edward whispered.
“Me too,” Cyrus said, feeling for injuries, “Where are we?”
“I think we landed on the troll,” Tier replied.
The yeti had rolled off the mound and was surveying their surroundings.
“Those things must have set him a trap.”
Cyrus and Fibian dismounted what could only be Grim’s belly. They began to look about the cave. The group had fallen into another passageway. The walls were blackened and tempered.
“They fixed wooden stakes into the ground,” Cyrus said, peering beneath the troll.
A bed of spikes had pierced the giant on impact. Lucky for the group, none had passed through Grim’s thick body.
“They will be coming soon to claim their catch,” Fibian said, collecting his weapon, “We must find a way out of here, quick.”
The troll had died wide-eyed, his tongue flopping out the side of his mouth.
“We’re just going to leave him like this?” Cyrus asked, “Shouldn’t we do something?”
“What, like burry him?” Tier said, disgust in her voice, “Your weak heart’s going to get someone killed one of these days,” she added, searching for a way out.
“This way,” Edward said, pointing from Cyrus’ shoulder, down a tunnel to his right.
***
THE GROUP TRAVELED for what seemed like days, the lack of sunlight confusing their internal clocks. They had not seen any sign of wendigo since Grim’s death. Cyrus did not know whether to be concerned or relieved. Would the monsters be satisfied and leave them alone after they had feasted on the troll?
“I believe the wendigo are light sensitive,” Fibian said, after a time.
“I was thinking that too,” Cyrus said, rubbing his eyes, “It must be why they fear the fire.”
“It would make sense,” Tier said, “Living down here so long without sunlight.”
“Where do you think they’ve gone?” Edward asked.
“Probably still busy eating their catch,” Tier replied.
A less stale air began to waft in from the passage ahead.
“What about this one?” Cyrus asked, pointing down a tunnel to his left.
The edge of the footpath was narrow and jagged, the throat of the cave seared and frozen.
“I don’t think this is it,” Edward said, from Cyrus’ collar, “It looks too small, and it leads more northwest than north.”
“How is your injury?” Tier asked.
Fibian touched his neck.
“Their bite is not poisonous. It has healed.”
The yeti nodded towards Edward.
“The spider, one bite, they just turn to sand. How does he do it?”
Edward looked to Cyrus, his eyes watery.
“He is a blodbad spider,” Cyrus said, stroking Edward’s blue mark, “The blodbad were the most poisonous spiders in all of creation. He is the last of his kind.”
“Yes, he is our secret weapon,” Fibian said, “We are alive many times over because of him, and he is the reason we still have fire.”
Tier continued down the tunnel in silence. She now knew it was Edward that had delivered her mother’s killing blow. Would this change their bargain?
Like the previous passage, the cavern’s walls had been melted and cooled, giving the surface an almost liquid feel.
“This is the way,” Edward said, pointing down a tunnel to their left.
“What makes you think that?” Tier asked.
“It heads due north, and look there.”
A skeleton, dressed in armor, rested just beyond the shadows. Cyrus and Tier moved closer. The creature’s cat-like skull had been split open at the top. Its steel chest piece had been pulled apart, exposing its broken ribs.
“Water klops,” Tier said.
Cyrus picked up a short sword lying amongst the remains. The weapon’s steel was tarnished and crooked. He handed it to Fibian.
“It’s of better use to us in your hand.”
The end of the machete-like blade was wrapped in thick leather.
“It would be an honor,” Fibian said, sheathing the weapon in his belt.
Cyrus heard footsteps behind them.
“Did you hear that?” he asked.
“They have been following us for some time now,” Fibian said.
“You didn’t tell us?” Cyrus replied.
“Would it have helped?”
“What do we do?” Edward asked.
“We stay calm and keep moving,” Tier said.
The grouped trekked on for countless hours, exhausted and on edge. Lone wendigo watched them from shady recesses throughout the subterranean maze.
“They’ve been at this forever,” Cyrus snapped, rubbing his eyes, “What are they waiting for?”
“They are trying to wear us down, just as the troll said,” Fibian replied.
The group passed the remains of three more water klops. The dead klops wore the similar rusted armor. Their skulls had been smashed open like raw eggs.
“We must keep our heads and push forward if we are to make it through the mountain,” Fibian said, watching their rear.
A heavy draft began to whisper through a large chamber ahead.
“What is that?” Cyrus asked.
Tier walked forward into the room; her torch held high.
“It’s a large cavern blocked by a rock slide. It’s a dead end.”
Cyrus and Fibian rushed to Tier’s side.
“Where’s the draft coming from?” Edward asked, from Cyrus’ shoulder.
“The outside,” Tier said, “They’ve blocked the exit. We’re trapped!”
A rock seared through the air and struck the flame from Tier’s hand. The fire fell between several boulders, only able to illuminate their immediate surroundings. The chamber grew dark. Out of the shadows rushed a pack of wendigo, silent and frenzied.
“Behind us!” Edward screamed.
Fibian’s eyes lit up like two moons. Cyrus aimed his crossbow, searching for a target.
BOOM!
Tier’s muzzle-flash lit the cavern. The image of thirty relentless and depraved wendigo burnt itself into the back of Cyrus’ eyes.
Again, the room grew black. The first savage splashed to the floor at Cyrus’ feet. Tier shot her crossbow, then began to reload her rifle. Cyrus fired an arrow into the darkness. The bolt sounded as if it shattered against rock. A wendigo rushed into the glow of Fibian’s eyes. The froskman shot his crossbow. The projectile punched clean through the savage’s chest. The wendigo’s feet slipped out from under it and it crashed lifelessly to the ground. Like a rabid beast, a second fiend sprang at Fibian. He dropped his crossbow. His sword flashed from his belt. He cleaved the wendigo in two.
Two more attempted to scramble past the group, running towards the torch. Tier swung her cannon at the first. The savage ducked under the barrel and leaped up onto the yeti’s chest. Cyrus struggled to load another bolt. The second wendigo grabbed the flame from between the rocks and turned to throw. Cyrus aimed and fired. He shot the creature in the liver. It fell to its knees, clutching the arrow. With its other hand, it threw the flame back to its kin. Fibian leaped into the air and intercepted the toss. Three more villains closed in. They took the froskman to the dusty floor. Cyrus ran to his aid. A fourth and fifth came at him. He turned to Tier. The yeti was slamming her first attacker to the ground as three more converged.
“Edward, what do we do?” Cyrus shouted, scrambling to reload his weapon.
A fourth wendigo jumped on Fibian. It pulled the torch free. Then all went black.
Chapter 21
A RAY OF LIGHT
WENDIGO TACKLED CYRUS TO THE FLOOR. He kicked and thrashed. He felt iron fists grip his arms and legs. He pulled his left arm free, pushed, punched and grasped what felt like a neck. The creature pressed forward. Cyrus could hear
its teeth snapping against his ear. The creature’s breath was still and musty.
“Help!” Cyrus cried.
He looked around. Fibian’s glowing eyes flashed about in battle. White bodies twisted and scrambled in their glow.
Cyrus fought to get his right arm free. He grasped for his crossbow. He felt a bolt lying on the floor. He grabbed it and stabbed it into the snapping wendigo’s face. He felt the savage’s hand go limp. Panicking, Cyrus slashed wildly at the darkness. The grip on his right leg vanished. Cyrus sat up. Tier’s cannon fired. For a split second, the room exploded in light. Cyrus saw a wendigo standing over him with a boulder held high.
“No!”
He fell back and curled up like a child, bracing for impact. The bone-breaking hit never came. Instead, the stone struck the ground beside Cyrus’ head. Then sand showered down, pouring over his face and chest.
“Cyrus, get up,” Edward yelled, crawling on his stomach.
He’s learning to control the blodbad within, Cyrus thought.
Fibian turned in their direction. His eyes lit their surroundings. Two wendigo pounced out of the darkness and dove at Cyrus. Fibian leaped over and, with two coordinated blows, lopped off both of their heads.
“Master Cyrus, we must find a way out.”
“Over there,” Edward shouted, crawling onto Cyrus’ shoulder.
The spider pointed to several beams of light peeking through gaps in the rock.
“You must dig,” Fibian said, “Tier and I will cover your flank.”
Fibian delved back into darkness. Cyrus crawled blindly towards the small streams of light and began to move stones. The sound of creatures scrapping and seething were growing nearer. Cyrus fought the instinct to panic.
Cyrus LongBones Box Set Page 25
