by Mark Boutros
Oaf pointed to a hillside, far away from the stench and danger. ‘I’ll meet you back there.’
‘What?’ Karl said.
‘Those branches won’t hold me.’
‘Are you sure?’ Karl stared at the branches that definitely wouldn’t hold Oaf.
‘Sorry,’ Oaf said.
Tortured Soul leapt out of her bottle and onto Oaf’s shoulder. ‘I can help Karl and Questions. This green stuff won’t bovva me. I’m too light to sink, and too quick to grab.’ She jumped on the filth and ran around, proving her point. ‘Plus it keeps me moist.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Karl replied.
‘Come on. I can go ahead and warn you of any dangers and stuff.’
‘Please, Karl, she might remember things,’ Oaf pleaded.
Karl stared at Tortured Soul’s sad, little, abnormally shaped head. ‘Fine, you can come.’
Tortured Soul smiled.
‘Good luck.’ Oaf walked away.
‘Bet we come back and he’s having a nap,’ Karl said to Questions. ‘Okay, Tortured Soul, what do…’
Tortured Soul was gone, running along the green muck having the time of her life.
Karl shook his head. ‘I guess we’d better get going.’ He moved his foot towards the first branch, but Questions stopped him. ‘Do I weigh less than you?’ she asked.
‘I’ve not exactly been able to look after myself recently.’
‘Do you want me to go first? Do you want me to make sure it’s sturdy?’
‘Oh. Good idea, but please be careful.’ He held Questions’ hand. She stretched out her leg. Karl felt guilty for not going first, but her idea made sense.
The branch wobbled under her weight. She placed a hand against the top of the tree for support and climbed up.
‘Good work,’ Karl said.
Questions moved to the next branch.
Karl cautiously followed. ‘Now let’s speed up so we don’t get swiped.’
Branch by branch, tree by tree, they advanced over the stench. Karl found his rhythm. It was slow enough that he didn’t lose balance, but not so slow he got caught. Questions was far ahead now.
‘Stop!’ a Fool holding a spear shouted behind Karl. ‘No one is allowed to…’ It looked at its parchment. ‘Ugly Karl!’
‘Just Karl is fine.’
The Fool’s eyes glazed over and it chased him. ‘Must kill ugly Karl, and return his head to Arazod.’
Karl sped up but slipped and fell face first onto a branch. A sludge arm grabbed him and dragged him by his head. Flies jabbed at his eyes. ‘Help!’ He pulled himself up but another slimy arm grabbed him by the waist.
The Fool was only a couple of jumps behind. It steadied itself on the wobbling branch. It threw its spear, cutting through a sludge arm and grazing Karl’s cheek.
Karl’s blood ran down his face. The arm pulled Karl’s head, and his lips touched the muck. His nose and eyes followed and he struggled to breathe and lost his grip. Something pulled him up.
Questions helped Karl onto the branch and punched sludge arms while he caught his breath. They jumped away and the branch cracked under their shared weight.
‘Must kill ugly Karl. Must return his head to Arazod.’ The Fool jumped onto the branch and reached for its spear, but the branch snapped. The Fool tried to grab onto other branches, but the green hands dragged it into the slime. It stared at Karl. ‘Must… kill… ugly Karl. Must…’
Karl and Questions leapt on, avoiding arms and making it to the cave entrance. They sat to recover.
‘Thanks, Questions,’ Karl said, tormented by another Fool wasting its life.
‘Do you think the lake is one giant creature?’ she asked.
The thought had crossed Karl’s mind. ‘I hope not…’
Questions looked at the cave entrance. ‘How are caves made?’
‘Don’t do this now.’
‘Are they made by things trying to get out of somewhere? Or are they made by things trying to get into somewhere?’
‘Please…’ Karl lay on his back and shut his eyes.
‘Do you think Oaf is okay?’ Questions asked.
‘I don’t care… I’m resting.’
‘Can you open your eyes?’ Questions’ voice quivered. She poked him.
‘Give me a moment, will you? I’ve just been through something very traumatic. I need my heart to calm down.’ Liquid splatted against Karl’s cheek. ‘Stop dripping whatever you’re dripping on me, Questions. It’s not funny and it smells,’ he whined.
‘Why don’t you tell the dripper that?’ Questions said.
‘What are you talking about? There’s me, you, and that useless little idiot… No...’ Karl’s voice cracked. ‘I’m going to open my eyes, and there’s not going to be a weird scary thing here, okay? Eyes about to open.’ He opened them. A bubble with an eye stared at him. Karl shrieked and sprinted into the cave.
21
They crept through the dark, narrow, chalky cave. Everything Karl touched left a dusty stain on his hands, but he was relieved that whatever that eye thing was had left them alone.
‘Oaf is probably eating some berries around now,’ he moaned, saying anything to distract himself.
The cave led them deeper until they couldn’t see anything in front of them, or the green glow of the lake behind.
‘Why have you stopped?’ Questions asked.
‘Because I can’t see, Questions.’
‘Does stopping in the middle of darkness make your eyes work better?’
‘No, Questions! It doesn’t! I’m just collecting my thoughts.’
‘Are we lost?’
Karl huffed. ‘We’d be lost if we knew where we were meant to be going! So no. We’re not lost.’
Drops echoed through the cave and rose in volume.
‘What’s that?’ Karl said.
‘Help!’ Tortured Soul screamed, bumping into Karl’s leg.
A green glow closed in behind them, the bubble.
‘Of all the ways to die, I’m going to be suffocated by a stench bubble.’ Karl clenched his fists.
The bubble stopped in front of them and they waited for it to make its move. Questions approached it.
‘No, Questions…’ Karl said.
The bubble wiped itself on Questions’ face, tickling her, and then it indicated to Karl with its eye.
‘What’s it doing?’ he asked.
‘I reckon it wants you to follow,’ Tortured Soul said.
The bubble’s eye moved up and down to nod.
‘Just make sure it don’t gobble me up,’ Tortured Soul added.
‘Do you think it wants to be our friend?’ Questions asked.
‘It wouldn’t be the smelliest friend I ever had,’ Karl replied.
The bubble floated towards Karl’s dragon dung scented hand, rolled its eye around, and then gave off an eye sneeze.
‘Looks like you’re the pongiest chum it’s ever had though!’ Tortured Soul said.
Questions laughed.
‘Great, we’ve got ourselves a jester. We should take it back to Arazod to see if it can make him crack a smile in that stupid little beak of his.’
The bubble’s eye welled up.
Karl shook his head. ‘It seems the glorious one has already left his mark on this part of Flowfornia too.’
The bubble sped ahead and they followed its glow until they came to an opening.
They stepped into what must have once been an underground paradise, now overrun by sludge that dripped through holes in the cavern walls.
‘Wow!’ Karl stared ahead. The most dominant tree, bigger than any Karl had seen in Flowforn Forest. On one half green sludge hugged the skeletal branches, turning the brown into a dead grey. The other half shone so brightly that Karl had to squint. Beams of light burst through cracks in the rocky ceiling and illuminated the red, yellow, and orange leaves. It was as though whatever created Hastovia chose this tree to be the most beautiful in the world, then for some reason hid it from eve
ryone.
‘Is the tree dying?’ Questions asked.
‘I don’t know, but it doesn’t look healthy,’ Karl replied.
The tree roots pierced up through the soil and created ten normal sized trees in a perfect circle around it. Half of the trees mirrored the beauty of the tree, while the others struggled for life.
Karl’s eyes traced a tree root, which cracked through rocks in the north wall and escaped into the world above.
A waterfall poured through a large hole and flowed into a clear stream with the freshest smelling water. It split off and fed directly into fountains to the south and east of the tree. The western fountain overflowed with sludge.
Questions approached the southern fountain and ran her hand over the tiles, carved with bald-headed, but hairy bodied, one-eyed people with wings.
Tortured Soul jumped into the water while the bubble, vibrating, stared at the tree.
Karl entered the circle of trees and joined the bubble. He noticed the bony remains of what must have been small creatures… or children. Another pile of bones was at the base of the tree along with spears. Dead Fools.
Karl touched the tree’s bark, smooth as skin. It vibrated and rippled. He rubbed his hand over it then poked it. The bark moulded around his finger but he wasn’t scared. It was like it communicated with him.
‘Do you think the tree is part person?’ Questions asked.
Karl shrugged and knocked on the tree. It vibrated. He knocked again, making it vibrate again.
‘Do you think that’s a bad idea?’ Questions asked.
‘It’s probably been ages since something has been here. If it is part person, it just needs a bit of waking up.’ Karl smacked the tree. ‘Come on.’ The vibrations sped up and the tree shook.
The bubble shot back into the cave.
‘Maybe you were right, Questions…’ Karl and Questions stepped away.
Branches shook from the top of the tree all the way down. The tiniest, frailest thing poked its head out from behind the trunk. It was like a bald, naked, little old man with wings. It had one eye on its berry-sized head and was a shrivelled version of the creatures on the tiles. Karl imagined it was the kind of thing a king or queen would give their spoilt child as a plaything, only for the child to torment it.
‘Are you who I get the wings from?’ Karl asked.
The creature flew in front of his face, spat in his eye and flew several feet back.
‘Horrid little thing!’ Karl wiped his face.
‘Shall I look through my book?’ Questions asked.
‘If you think it’ll help.’ Karl edged closer to the creature.
Questions skimmed through the pages.
Karl readied his fingers to pinch the creature by the wings. ‘Okay, let’s try…’ It whizzed behind Karl’s head. He turned around and the creature kicked his ear then flew away. ‘This is annoying.’ He chased the creature but couldn’t catch it.
It flew up and sat on a branch. ‘Enough,’ it said in a deep voice reserved for bigger beasts. ‘I ask three questions. If correct… You ask me question. If wrong… I eat.’
‘You eat, in general? Or you eat… us?’
‘I eat.’
‘That doesn’t answer anything, and I’m not sure how you can eat us with that tiny little mouth, so come on. What have you got? General knowledge, tyrants, types of wagon? I can smash those out of Hastovia.’
‘Favourite number of mine, what?’ the creature asked.
‘You’re joking, right?’
‘You’re joking not number.’
‘Wait! That wasn’t my answer. Hmm… Twe...’ Karl studied the creature’s face for a hint. ‘Se… Foouu…’
‘Is it six?’ Questions stood next to Karl, book in hand.
The creature laughed then stopped. ‘You correct.’ It disappeared into the leaves.
Questions showed Karl a page with a drawing of the creature. It had no name.
Karl took the book and read. ‘Does the creature like the number six?’ ‘Have I met three of them on my travels?’ ‘Are they always near filth?’ He smiled. ‘Very impressive, Questions.’ He flicked pages back and forth. ‘But where’s the rest? It’s got two more questions.’
Questions shrugged.
‘Your dad didn’t finish it, did he?’ Karl asked, sympathetic.
Questions shook her head and Karl handed the book back to her.
‘Thanks,’ Karl said. The leaves rustled. ‘Come on then. Next question.’
The creature burst out of the leaves and placed two, egg-shaped pieces of fruit, one black, and one red, on the grass in front of them. ‘One good. One deadly, but one time good. Which?’
Karl, baffled, scrunched his face.
‘Shall I do this for you, Karl?’ Questions stepped forward.
Karl put his arm across her. ‘You’ve done enough for me.’
‘Did I tell Sabrinia I would do anything to help?’
‘Yes. So you can help by not doing this.’ Karl picked up both pieces. ‘So one good. One deadly, but one time good? Whatever that means.’
The creature rubbed its belly, mocking Karl.
‘Is it you?’ Karl asked the black fruit. ‘Or is it you?’ he asked the red.
‘Fruit no speak, idiot man,’ the creature said.
Karl tutted. ‘So one is completely fine. The bad one that is one time good probably means it’s a mystery fruit.’ Karl had no idea what he was talking about. ‘I’ll trust instinct.’ He took a bite out of the black one before he could convince himself not to.
Questions gasped.
As soon as Karl’s teeth pierced the skin his head inflated to six times its size and thudded against the grass.
‘Am I dead? Is this death?’ Karl tried to lift his head off the ground but couldn’t. His brain felt hot and his legs ran around his anchored head.
‘That’s amazing!’ Tortured Soul said.
‘No, it isn’t!’
‘Are you okay, Karl?’ Questions tried to lift his head.
‘No, Questions. My head is the size of a small boat and my brain is hot. If you were to define being okay, this is the opposite!’
The creature laughed.
Karl cried. ‘You must be very happy with yourself.’
‘Congratulations. Eat other fruit.’
‘Congratulations? How is this correct?’
‘Good one turns you big head. Deadly one, good for one time when you big head. Antidote to big head. If eat without big head, head shrinks, crush brain and eyes. Small head make dead.’
‘What’s wrong with you? Why can’t we just talk instead of this death game?’
‘I hear visitors like games,’ the creature replied.
Questions fed the fruit to Karl. His head shrunk back to normal size.
He rested, relieved to be alive. ‘Thank you, Questions.’
The creature chuckled.
Questions tapped her head as though remembering something. ‘What did Father tell me in his story?’ She turned away.
‘Question three…’ the creature announced.
‘I don’t care anymore! Where are the wings?’ Karl stood and picked up one of the spears. He threw it but missed the creature. The intent was clear though.
‘You left me no choice.’ Karl picked up another spear and threw it. The creature dodged and settled on the grass. It growled at Karl.
The creature’s eye reddened and swelled.
‘Did you attack it?’ Questions asked Karl.
‘Maybe.’ Karl, regretful, stepped back.
The green sludge poured out of the western fountain, moved towards the creature and slid up its body and into its mouth.
The creature grew to twice Karl’s size. It shot green ooze out of its eye, which splatted by Karl. An arm grew out of the slime and swiped at him.
‘Questions, if you can remember anything else, now would be good.’
Questions took cover behind the east fountain, hopefully thinking of a solution.
Karl dodged slimy green hands and eye shots. ‘Questions! Tortured Soul! A little help!’
Tortured Soul ran up to the creature. ‘Halt!’ she shouted.
The creature stopped and blinked at her.
Tortured Soul screamed and ran away.
Useless. Karl swallowed.
'Questions, any luck?' Karl prepared to dodge more slime shots. Was water the answer? Did he need to somehow push it into the fountain?
The creature sucked the leaves off a branch and covered it in slime. The creature turned to Questions.
Her eyes widened. ‘Karl, can you block its belly hole?’ She ducked sludge that hit the fountain.
Of course. The creature could only shoot from its eye because it discharged a thicker, green, sand-like material from its belly hole.
Karl clenched his fists. ‘Hey… Disgusting unhygienic thing. Here!’ The creature turned around. Karl charged but it backhanded him into the fountain. It dragged him by his foot, lifted him and slammed him against the ground.
Questions ran to help but took a punch. Her head bashed against the fountain tiles.
The creature pinned Karl, used one hand to force his mouth open and gushed ooze into it. Karl coughed and struggled until sludge overflowed from his mouth. His breath was stuck and his body weakened.
Everything blurred. Tortured Soul bit the creature’s heel, but then was swatted away.
Karl couldn't breathe and his chest ached. His brain wanted him to move but his body refused.
Questions ran behind the creature, reached around and jammed her book into its belly hole. The creature squirmed. It swung its arms back but she held on.
Karl’s arm regained some life. He hammered his chest and stomach until he coughed up mess. He rolled onto his side and puked up a puddle of it.
The creature flew several feet off the ground and lined itself up with the tree. It grabbed Questions’ arms so she couldn’t let go. She would be crushed against the bark.
The creature flew backwards.
Karl jumped into Questions and spun her so the creature smashed its face against the tree. They all fell, and Karl helped Questions to hold the book in the creature’s belly hole.
The creature groaned, coughed and gargled. It writhed around and withered until it was so small it burst into specks of coloured dust. Questions grabbed her book and held it close.
