“Who was that?” Han whispered, unsure how discreet they needed to be.
Luke didn’t whisper but spoke softly. “Tom’s the son of an old landlord named Tobias. His dad mismanaged the family fortune, an he drank away the rest. Theys live on one of the few properties they has left, spreadin rumours and causin trouble.”
“But what did they mean by “your creatures”. Is there something about Aza you neglected to mention?” He pulled at the sides of his coat, uncertain of these still relative strangers.
Luke sighed. “Nah, they think he’s the Nightman, the guy with the lantern.” He stuck his arm out and swung it around, mimicking the gestures.
“Oh. Any reason they go after him? I recall you saying there were others with…”gifts”, I believe you called them. I assumed they were other Puppet Masters.”
“Well...eh...not exactly..maybe?” He scratched his chin. “He’s...kinda unique, even with all the people that has gifts.”
Han’s interest was peaked. “How so?”
“Well...for starters, ereyone I’s heard of that has the strings can’t use em without burin their hands. Aza’s never had that problem, in fact he’s pretty good with em. While he likes to downplay it, I’s know he’s been playin with them for years and people has noticed.”
“Interesting.” Worry for his new ally began to slither up his back. “So the rest simply aren't as powerful?”
“Not sure bout that, he’s just seemed to have an easier time usin em. Than an he’s got more then one gift. Most has the fear but not the strings, the strings but not the mind talkin. The only eseption to that would be the Undertaker. They say he's been round for over eight generations, no one else like em. Then there’s all the rumors bout the mayor…” Luke trailed off as he bounced between thoughts.
With this new information, Han thought back to the ingredients and instruments hidden within his bag at the library. He might be able to run a test...it would be immoral not to given what he was hearing. Yet he was also drawn to the new names. He didn’t expect there to be someone that long lived here, maybe even an immortal. That being said, there were more pressing matters he had to contend with. “So...uh...will Tom or his father pose a...physical threat?”
“Nah, they’s all talk. Though…” His voice fell to a whisper. “Word around is Tobias is holdin rallies, getting lotsa people riled up.”
“You think they’ll come after us?” Han looked around for the four assailants that could still be lurking around any bend.
Luke shrugged. “Yous came at a bad time. Nowhere’s safe no more, nuthin certain. Not sure what Tobias is capable of really. That buildin we fixed up, there’s been rumors bout that for near a decade. Word at that time was that he was the one who lit the blaze that killed the miller an his son.”
Han stumbed a bit. “He killed a child?” The thought made him sick to his stomach.
“Allego...allegll.” He cleared his throat and thought to how Aza said it. “Allegedly. Is cause the mill was run by his...”
“We’re here.”
Han and Luke ground to an abrupt halt, nearly crashing into Aza. He had stopped a few moments before them to look over the jagged rocks less than fifty feet away. Bolted and fuzed to their side was a set of stairs that led up to a platform made of stone and wood. From there was another set of steps going the opposite direction and leading to a similar platform. This crooked pattern repeated itself all the way up to the beast’s spine.
Aza gazed up at it, assessing if it was even safe enough to climb after all. “It’s a lot more...rustic than I remember.” He walked over to the first set of wooden steps, and pressed his foot down. It buckled and groaned, but ultimately held, at least for the time being.
Han strolled up to it, noticing something that had not been obvious from a distance. The whole structure looked to be coated in melting wax or some kind of frozen slime. “What exactly is this?”
Aza took a few more steps, but looked down. “Oh, the coating?” He turned back and carefully continued up the path.
“Yes. Is it from something within these rocks?” He nervously thought back to whatever he had stepped on earlier as Luke passed him by, following Aza.
“No, it’s amberance.” Aza had reached the first platform about fourty or so feet above the ground with relative ease. “It’s a cheap coating you can make from the bell caps that helps keep out the moisture. Probably the only reason this thing is still standing.”
Aza and Luke were now well on their way up, with Han hurrying to catch up with them. His steps were not nearly as careful as the other two, but he was thinner and lighter on his feet. “Are there other things living up here?” He quickly noticed that while there were many large holes and cracks in the cliff, any directly around the ladder had been collapsed or boarded off. Though some of the old barricades had long since been broken.
“Yea, there’s a lotta things, though they don’t rear their heads much, specially not durin the day.” He passed by a tunnel who's wooden covering had been cracked. Despite sounding far off, perhaps a mere echo from deep within the rock, Luke could hear something crawling around in the darkness. “That bein said...keep yer guard up.”
Han tensed but kept moving, quickly catching up and squeezing between the two.
The trip took nearly an hour. Despite their fear, the old structure held up well, say for the occasional cracked or missing board, several new ones of which were caused by Dullahan. Yet despite their luck, the summit was far more foreboding than their previous path. The middle of the spine was relatively flat, with a rickety wooden path winding out to sea. Yet the edges shot up and curled in towards them, each one looking like a giant fang made of grey, dead coral. To them it was like standing within the jaws of a real leviathan, long dead, and yet teeming with some unnatural life. That was not even taking into account all the holes dotting the ground around them, no longer barricaded. Each one spiraling deep into the darkness. Each one holding any number of unseen horrors.
Luke gazed out at the long road ahead, the lighthouse but a shadowy dot in the distance, the clouds above a lot darker than they were only an hour before. “You sure we needa do this?’
“Yes.” Dullahan trained his eyes on the cracks and crevices directly around them. “All I need to do is confirm a hunch, then we can go.”
Luke peered up at the sky. “Nah...nah we can’t do this.”
While both Luke and Han were scared of what lie ahead, Aza was excited. “No, we can!” He spoke with confidence, as if he could take on the world. “This is what we’ve been waiting for all this time. Our first real challenge, the first real test of the new Nightwatch!”
Luke looked uncertain, but like always he was drawn in by his friend’s enthusiasm, his drive to go on in the face of danger.
“You can shoot better than anyone I’ve ever seen, and if that won’t scare em off I can.” He smiled, still afraid of his gifts, but having a new understanding of them.
“Well...if you say so!” Luke smiled and the two charged forwards, Han having to catch up once again.
They trode fast, but light. Each step brief, and quickly springing into the next as not to shatter the ancient path they now tread upon. The group stopped periodically to catch their breath, but not long enough as to let something deep within the rocks know they were there. Yet while most of what lie beneath were none the wiser, there were hungry things that could feel the vibration of the rock, the sound of food just above them marching to their fate. The three got around a third of their trip completed before having to take a long stop around a patchier section of the spine. It was an odd spot where the walkway was abnormally wide, going all the way to the toothy rocks on either side. Yet just ahead of that lie a short stretch where the teeth were spread thin. This gave them an ideal place to catch their breath as it meant that there were less crevices where things could be hiding. Aza was able to feel out an especially sturdy spot and sit down, followed by his two companions. While they were resting, he decided to ask
a question that had been burning in the back of his mind since they had encountered Tom and his cronies.
“Hey, earlier when I used my soul, or whatever it is, to frighten Thomas and his goons...how did you two feel?” He had an inquisitive nature to his voice, as if prodding for some deeper point.
Luke shrugged. “Afraid, not as much as I’s been before.”
Han on the other hand knew what he was getting at. “You were trying to direct it.”
Luke looked to him in confusion, but Aza smiled. “I’ve always thought I had no control over the fear, it just...happens and I have to try and reel it in. Then I thought about what you said earlier, and instead of tyna pull back, I tried moving it so that only they were afraid.”
Luke and Han were impressed but it was Dullahan that spoke. “You still have work to do, but you have my respect for trying.”
Aza wasn’t sure how to take the comment, but before he or Luke could reply he heard a strange sound from somewhere near them. His pointer finger went to his lips as his eyes darted around. The other two boys went quiet and did the same. None of them knew what the beasts below were, but if they shared anything with the other horrors of the town then running might only make things worse. Yet that idea proved futile as one by one they put together what the sound was. It was breathing. A heavy, pained breathing that seemed to get louder by the second. It was Luke that sprung up first but it was already too late. The path exploded into wooden shards as a great monstrosity burst its way to the surface. The terror looked like a massive sea slug covered in thin black barbs and writhing white tendrils. Slime and mucus oozed from all around its pale form, drenching the area around it in a paralytic poison. It sprung from the wider part of the path, the walkway having covered its home.
“Run!” Luke turned and began charging away, followed by his two friends.
The monstrosity lurched it’s great body forwards and crashed down behind them, shattering more of the path and getting its tendrils within range of its prey. The closest ones struck their target first, wrapping around Han’s boot and causing him to fall. He screamed to the other two for help as more wrapped around his thigh and began pulling him back. Aza and Luke both turned, Luke pulling out and firing his musket. The bullet hit true and cut down one of the tendrils, allowing Han to kick off the others. Yet the creature was far from done with them. It laboriously breathed out, making one of the most chilling noises any of them had ever heard, like a low horn twisting and crumpling as it ran out of air. This caused its body to retract and the tendrils to double and triple in length. Seven more got Han, while ten wrapped tight around the sleeve of Luke’s ratty overcoat, causing him to drop the musket and cry out in pain. Despite their small size the tendrils were crushing his arm. Many more coiled tightly around Aza’s body, quickly pulling him in and towards hundreds of the thin, wiry tentacles.
Luke and Han were beyond panicking, but Aza held his ground. He had seen the Nightman and lived to tell about it. He had promised Han a lighthouse, Luke the Nightwatch, and his Grandpa a future. No, he wasn’t gonna die to some monster in the rocks, none of them were. Without the unnatural fear of the Nightman or his minions, Aza was free to act. Tendrils of his own billowed from his palms. Twice before he had practice a maneuver to chop wood, but while it had failed then, it would more than excel now. He slammed his hands together and fired the glowing strands out as two thick chords, each one comprised of countless smaller threads. It punctured the beast’s, thick, fleshy hide causing the monstrosity to screech in pain. It felt as if its gut were burning, then its whole body as the chords uncoiled from within, each one slicing and bouncing around its innards, ripping it apart from the inside out. It may have had size and strength, but Aza had determination. His emotions, his drive to go on, powering his attack and forcing the creature down. It didn’t take long for the thing to release its grip from them and collapse one final time.
Aza kept directing the cords throughout its deflating body, not willing to risk it getting back up, and still riding the euphoric high that beating this thing had brought. As his threads ripped and spun about its dying form he began to feel something slipping away from it. Something warm and sweet that he had only felt once before. His cords began to swing and strike like a hungry kraken in search of it, but were too late. With the monster dead, Luke and Han were able to get back up and run from it, Luke making sure to pick up his weapon as they retreated.
“It’s over, Aza!” Luke called out, but jumped back when his friend turned to him. His eyes were glowing brighter than he had ever seen, each iris alight with an icy blue aura. The look on his face not one of someone defending his friends in a life or death situation, but of someone desperate for something. Someone enraged by this interruption.
Aza took notice of Luke and the fear in his eyes, briefly breaking him from his hunt. How was he afraid? He wasn’t giving off any...was Luke afraid the creature was still alive? Turning back to its bleeding, matted body revealed the truth. Luke was scared of him. Not from some magic, but real, natural unease. It broke him from the intensity of the moment as he realized what he was doing, how it shouldn’t make him feel. The thin blue lights dispersed, their work having long since been done. He turned around to join the other two, who made sure to stay out of his path.
There was silence for a while, but Luke eventually broke it. “That was...incredible. Scary, but incredible.” The usual excitement of seeing Aza’s powers in action were tempered by a new understanding of just how devastating they could be.
Han on the other hand had more pressing matters on his mind. “What are we to do about that?”
Aza and Luke looked to where he was now pointing. At first they were confused, but then realized what he meant. The path above the hole was gone, and further obstructed by the creature’s carcass. They could go forwards, but the way back was shut.
“Well…” Aza looked to the clouds above, time was running out. “We might have to go all the way...see if there’s another way down.”
Luke was certain that no such path existed, but had no other choice but to nod. The only other possible option was to try and scale around on the side of the cliff, something none of them were capable of. Then even if they were, surely some other horrifying beast would strike at them. “I’s suppose it’s worth a shot. If anythin we may have to stay the night.”
None of them liked the idea, but for now they had to move. The trip continued on like it had before. Now the stops lasting only a minute, each time one of them taking watch while the other two rested. The land underneath them slowly began to disappear as the trio drew further out to sea. Each one looking for another path or ladder, only to see the teeth of the leviathan draw closer and closer to them. All the while the ancient tower grew near, its grim form inviting them in as the only possible point of safety on this desolate rock. The closer they grew, the more features became clear, intricacies neither Luke nor Aza had ever thought of. It was made from the same misty rock they had pulled from Luke’s room, only much duller looking. The bottom stood thicker than the top, much like a real lighthouse, though lacked windows. Yet it was not only made from stone. All around it were tentacles of violet wrapping themselves around its base and stretching up to its peak. They looked like they were made of thick, smooth glass, the real substance unknown, but familiar. While difficult to see at first, the actual light, and any modifications made by the town were gone. All that remained was the tower in all its glory.
It was dark when they finally stopped, but not the suffocating blackness of evening. It looked like night was still an hour or so away, though it could be a trick of the clouds. The fog that guided it, only just visible in the distance. The area around the lighthouse was different from the rest. No crevices, no teeth, no sound, just the dark tower and the raging sea below. Aza could even see what may have been Shaw’s ship heading towards the mainland.
Han marveled up at the black spire in awe. “By the gods...it is…”
“What is this exactly?” Luke w
as on his guard. Despite the seeming lack of life or anything to house it, he was on edge. This place felt wrong...evil.
“Yeah...what…” Aza on the other hand felt beckoned by it as if it were welcoming him. This secluded haven was calm, serene even.
Dullahan walked up to it, and touched one of the glass tendrils with a gloved hand. He got a strange look on his face. “No…”
“No what?” Luke replied but with more force then before. He desperately wanted to get away from here.
“I want both of you to touch this.” His mind was reeling, an X factor he had never considered.
Luke didn’t budge, but Aza strode up to it. He placed his hand on the glass...then the world went black. For a moment he was back in the world of ink and darkness, the prize that eluded him for so long just before him. No running, no climbing, no tricks, just a great orb of thick, black ooze. He was already reaching out to it, touching it. All around him were the sounds of the shadows shifting and drifting in all their forms. One word being whispered from the great beacon before him. Aza. He was startled by this, never before had it spoken, yet it did far more. A gauntlet burst forth from the darkness and grabbed his wrist, its iron grip crushing down on him. He began to scream and scrape helplessly at it as the malevolent force tried to pull him into the orb of ink. Yet it couldn’t as both Luke and Han had ripped him away, breaking the delusion and casting him back to reality.
“Aza, Aza are you ok!?” Luke was shaking his friend, whose eyes were alight with an icy blue flame. Unlike before, they were glazed over and vacant.
Free from the tendril, Aza snapped back to them. He blinked a few times as his eyes returned to normal.
Luke let go and turned to Dullahan. “What did you do!?”
Han stepped back as the imposing farmer approached him. “Nothing! I just wanted to see if he thought it felt warm or not!”
The Curious Case of Jacob's Hallow Page 9
