by J M Hamm
After about fifteen minutes, I reached another ledge. I took a minute to rest and drink a few sips of water. My heart was racing, and it refused to slow, no matter how much I concentrated on my breathing. I had covered more ground in the last few minutes than I had during the early hours of my escape. It wouldn’t be enough. The light above me was growing brighter, but I had yet to close even half the distance.
I would have to be faster. Below me, the sounds of sharp limbs tearing through rock continued to grow louder. Big Momma needed no rest, her arachnid limbs did not tire and moved with mechanical strength and precision.
I pressed myself against the rock to continue my ascent when everything went still. The roars had quieted, and sharp limbs no longer tore through stone.
Had she stopped chasing me?
I stayed still for several moments and was just feeling relieved when a blood-curdling howl cut through the gloom. She was climbing again. This time she was coming faster, and the impacts of her claws on the rough stone were like the booms of attacking cannons. I fled.
My arms moved like lighting, no longer taking the time to search for safe handholds. Blood flowed down my fingers, slickening the stone. Still the spider gained on me, the light above growing too slowly.
The glow of the bioluminescent lichen bathed everything in pale, shimmering green. It felt like being trapped at the bottom of the sea, the surface visible but unreachable. Far below me, movements were just beginning to become visible through the gloom. The howl drowned out everything else, even the beating of my heart.
“This can’t be real, this can’t …”
Over and over I repeated the mantra. My mind had fled, but my bloodied fingers continued to clasp at the stone. I climbed with the reckless abandon of the damned, leaping up the cliff rather than carefully making my up the plentiful handholds or carefully around fissures and ledges.
I don’t know how long it was before my hands came down on a flat ledge and I pulled myself into an open cavern. Bright lights blinded me. Artificial, I realized. The bulbs of numerous spotlights were trained on my position.
Was I saved? Had this all been some terrible nightmare?
A ball of webbing struck my foot, pinning me to the ground. I reacted on instinct and flooded the adhesive substance with a jet of venom from each hand. I was able to roll away, just as a sickle-like claw slammed into the stone, inches from my head.
Gwerlum stood over me, staring down with countless shiny black orbs. Her limbs arched backward, tightening like the string of a bow. She howled as razor tipped limbs launched forward.
I spun to the side and activated Arcane Shield but fell to the ground as a string of silk wrapped around my legs. I tried to roll away as I attacked with an unrelenting stream of Arcane Missiles. The creature reared back, covering her sensitive eyes with armored limbs. I attacked until my mana was nearly dry, and I drained it completely with a final, pitiful Arcane Bolt.
I looked up but found only empty shadow. I heard the monster’s screech growing further away and looked around in confusion. The spider had fled. Hah, that’s what you get!
I let out a whoop of triumph, “Take that you piece of …”
I felt something whizz by my face, drawing a line of blood. I looked around in confusion, only then did I register the sound of gunfire. Behind me, a steady flash of automatic gunfire was visible even against the intense glare of the floodlights.
Had the military finally arrived to set things right?
I turned back to look at the spider matriarch, hoping to see her demise. She waited at the edge of the cliff, her body mostly hidden in shadow. Thick streams of ichor ran down her limbs, and heavy pools of it gathered on the stone floor. She still howled as bullets tore into her flesh and shattered chitinous armor. She paused her flight to look back at me, many of her eyes now nothing but mush and gore.
I could see a promise in the remaining orbs. I had been hers and would be again. She seemed almost to grin as two large pincers on her mouth drew together into a V shape and a curved tail lifted behind her. I gasped, looking down to find a long barb buried in my stomach. Already, I could feel the flesh beginning to blister. My head was growing heavy, and my vision became hazy.
I collapsed onto my knees with a scream. I looked up just in time to see a shadow disappear back into the darkness below. Gwerlum had fled, but not before she had taken revenge. I hoped the spiteful bitch died, feasted on by her own brood.
I fell forward onto the cold stone. There I found the peace I had been craving.
***
“You’re a man now,” I heard a familiar baritone.
What? Where am I?
I turned around to see my father’s face, clean-shaven and strong-jawed in a way that I was always envious of. I had inherited my mother’s fair skin, oval face, and softer features. At least I’d gotten my father’s height.
A dream? This had happened years ago.
“I’m sixteen Dad,” I replied, “I’ve been a man in many cultures for years now.” I held up a brand-new license to prove it.
“Well, not in this one kiddo. Talk to me when you can vote, or drink … or have kids of your own.” He smirked with his trademark half-smile, “Well, let’s hold off on that last one.”
“And what makes you think I haven’t done those things already ... well maybe I haven’t voted.”
He clapped me on the shoulder and laughed. “You’d break your mother’s heart if that were true, but you come to me if you ever have any problems, okay? I know I haven’t been around much, but it’s not because I don’t want to be.”
“I know, but you know I’m just joking. I’ve had like three beers in my life … and no need to worry about the other stuff.”
He looked at me quizzically before continuing. “Look,” he said, “I wanted to give you this.” He held a shiny pair of keys on a leather cord stamped with the letter “8.”
I immediately grabbed them, looking towards his old ’68 Chevy pickup.
“It’s mine?” I asked.
I shook in anticipation. I could hardly contain my excitement. It took all I could to hold myself back from sprinting straight to the truck.
“I left something else for you in the back. Your grandfather’s old jacket from the war. It’s one of the few things he left behind, I think he’d want you to have it.”
We walked over the truck together. My father ran a hand along the bed of the truck with a faraway look in his eyes. He’d always loved that truck. It had been a part of his family for longer than I’d been alive.
I wish he still were … I miss you.
“Well,” my father said. “Care to take the old man for a spin. See what this old beauty’s got?”
I answered with a grin and leaped into the driver’s seat. I slammed the door as the key slid into the ignition I was immediately greeted with the soft rumble of a well-maintained engine. I ran my left hand around the steering wheel and reached down with my right to put her into gear.
“Well, old man,” I said, “Are you coming …”
I heard a soft gasp. I looked out at my father who was clutching his chest, a dribble of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. A mass of writhing black had erupted from his chest and was spraying blood through the open door and into the cab of the truck.
No ... this wasn’t right. Dad!
The world immediately exploded into movement as the truck, pavement, and even houses began to be drawn upwards. The sky burned with fiery redness, and thousands of black wings darted between dark clouds. At first, I thought they were birds, but they were too large. As a group of them dived towards the truck, I finally saw them for what they were. Monsters.
The creatures were made from lumpy, tumorous flesh full of lesions and gaping wounds. Some clutched people in their spindly arms, dropping them from great heights or devouring them with twisted jaws. A group of the abominations had surrounded my father and pulled at his limbs as they fought amongst each other for the biggest morsels.
Above it all was a massive eye full of flames and swirling vortexes of black energy. It was watching me, waiting. I could feel a connection to it, like it was trying to tear away at my soul. It sought not to consume me, but to change me. Mold me. It wanted me to see.
Open your eyes … see me.
Chapter Six: Debrief
I awoke in a white room.
The nightmare still lingered on my thoughts. It had felt real. My dreams usually faded into half-remembered mist upon waking, but this was different. It was both real and false, as if my true memories had been altered. That day had been one of my happiest memories.
I rubbed at my eyes and tried to sit up and take stock of my new surroundings. Both my arms were restricted with white, cloth straps. I pulled against them but found them unbreakable. I looked around the room for a tool, something with an edge.
Wherever I was, it was at least free of giant arachnids. Despite my captivity, this was an obvious improvement. The clinical setting, however, made me slightly warry. I might have been out of the proverbial spider’s nest and into the mad scientist’s laboratory.
The walls were white and seemed to be made from ceramic tiles. The material was subtly textured, as if each square tile was made from thousands of tiny, interlocking hexagons. The walls had a polished gloss, amplifying the glare of the powerful fluorescent lights that hung overhead.
My bed seemed no different than any you would find in a hospital. A tube connected me to an IV and countless cables ran from my arms and chest to various monitors that beeped and displayed readings in an unknown language.
“You’re awake.” The voice was synthetic and monotone, more like a computer assistant than a person.
A man, or at least it was similar to a man, was standing in an open door. Several more of the creatures stood on the other side of a glass window that had been reinforced with a grid of metal wires. They were giants, almost all of them at least eight feet tall. The speaker was the shortest, perhaps not even breaking seven feet.
The speaker looked at me and turned its head from side to side. Its pupils were slit, like a cat’s, with yellow irises. It wore a solid-red jumpsuit, with a golden eagle above three chevrons on each shoulder. Black plates, made from the same glossy material as the walls, armored the creature’s arms and chest. The short sword on its belt seemed at odds with the massive rifle strapped to its back.
The most striking feature, however, was the creature’s skin. It was a deep crimson, only slightly darker than his uniform. The silent watchers standing behind the glass had skin in various shades of brown, red, and green. Their faces were covered in small raised bumps that gave it a thick, stony appearance. If these guys had invaded earth, then I didn’t think we had a chance.
“Forgive the translator,” said the alien in the red uniform. “I have not yet had the time to assimilate to the native languages. I understand that this planet has many cultures and dialects, diverse as they are beautiful. I am fascinated. I am afraid, however, that I will not have the time to appreciate them until our mission is accomplished.”
He reached out his hand and cut the cloth straps with a single, clawed finger. “I am sorry for the restraints, as well. Your doctors feared you might hurt yourself. I am told you were quite animated in your sleep. My medics informed me that you were given sedatives, so please be careful as you get up.”
I messaged my arms and looked up at my captor. Rescuer? He smiled with a mouth full of rows of razor-sharp teeth.
“Who are you,” I asked. “What is this place?”
As I spoke, I could see the creature’s eyes track from right to left. It seemed to be reading from an invisible display.
“My full name is Sebbit’Task Orvilio Xern, Vanguard of the Hegemony, Captain of Her Majesty’s Peacekeepers. I have been tasked with the containment of eldritch lifeforms in this zone. My secondary mission is the assimilation of the native population into the Hegemony and its related systems.”
He stopped and gave me a stern look, eyebrows lowered and making direct eye contact. “My soldiers call me Captain Xern, or Sir. You may call Sebbit.”
The alien smiled and held out his hand in a surprisingly human gesture, “May I know you as well?”
“Uh … Sure,” I replied.
I shook the offered hand, his palm was massive, and his fingers were nearly twice as long as mine and ended in sharp, curved talons. He smiled and held my hand for longer than I was comfortable with.
The creature terrified me, and despite no longer being bound I was still surrounded by what could only be described as alien soldiers. Invading alien soldiers. I would have preferred little green men, or even spiders. Well … maybe not spiders.
“My name is Augustus Finn,” I said, “but please just call me Finn. And, uh, well I seem to be between galactic conquests.”
He heard my reply and simply nodded, denying my attempt to probe his intentions.
“A pleasure, to be sure, Mr. Finn.” Even through the artificial voice, he came across as overly proper and by the book.
“Now, if I could address my reason for speaking with you today.” He paused and looked at me, making sure he had my attention before continuing.
“Wait,” I said. “Can you please just tell me what happened? Where am I? I thought I was dead. Did you guys save me from that spider-thing?” My words stumbled over each other until my questions were a jumbled word salad.
“We saved you, Mr. Finn. My soldiers were tasked with containing creatures leaking from the recently created containment center, or dungeons as the adventurers like to call them. We —”
“Wait,” I interrupted. “That was a dungeon? As in monsters and levels and all that?”
“As I said, Mr. Finn, it was a containment center. I do not want to repeat myself so please listen. The worst of the threats are quarantined from the general population and placed in these areas for processing. Any more question?”
“Um … no?” I had thousands.
“Very well,” he nodded. “The reports I read indicate that one of the quarantined creatures, a high-level one I might add, chased you right into our arms. You should consider yourself a lucky man.”
“That’s right,” I added. “I was trying to escape, but she caught me. She impaled me. I thought I was dead, so please give my thanks to your men.”
“Women,” Sebbit said.
“What?”
“You said ‘men.’ Over seventy percent of my command is women, Mr. Finn. Males of my species rarely serve in combat duties. We tend to be smaller, and more suited to administrative tasks. Like interrogating natives, for instance.”
“Well, sure,” I said, “please thank the ladies ... uh, soldiers? Anyone who saved me. I really do appreciate it.”
I felt his distaste as he looked down at me. “We will leave the subject of nobility open for now. It is best that we get back to the debriefing.”
“I need to know how you appeared where you did, Mr. Finn. You shouldn’t have been able to enter the dungeon at all, let alone enter such an advanced area. Not at all, and certainly not at your … level.”
“I’m not really sure,” I shrugged. “I just kinda woke up there. I was really hoping you could fill me in.”
We spent the next several hours going everything that had happened since I woke up underground. And then … we went over it once more, in excruciating detail. Sebbit would occasionally ask questions to clarify some point, but he mostly just let me speak. He never took any notes, but I imagine it would have been easy for him to record the entire conversation if he needed to.
“Wait,” I said, “we’ve been at this for hours. I need to get up, move, you know?”
“Of course,” the alien nodded his head, “I will have an escort prepared for you, very few areas will be restricted but you cannot leave the encampment. It’s not safe.”
“Sure, just more thing … can you tell me how long I was out for?”
“Well, Mr. Finn, if you mean unconscious, then you were under my car
e for nearly forty-six hours. It has been five days since the Initialization, the events that led up to our being here.”
“Five days … shit. I need to leave, I …”
“There is a group of humans within a day’s march, and you will be allowed to leave soon. Before we discuss that, there is one thing I must know. Your story seems … odd, but you have been honest with me so far. Please continue to be candid.”
“Of course,” I said.
“Mr. Finn. I must know, did you look into the eye? Has it spoken to you?”
“Wha …,” I said. “You mean with the spider? I mean sure, she had enough of them.”
“No, that is not what I meant.” He sighed and sat down on the hospital bed, “This creature spawns madness in everything it touches, Mr. Finn. Do you understand?”
“You mean …” I paused. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“I thought you might,” Sebbit nodded. “That creature was an Old One, a truly ancient being known as Kyr’Teleth, the Crimson Hunter of the Void. He sometimes devours entire planets and … sometimes he does not. Always, he leaves behind destruction.”
Sebbit reached out and grasped my shoulder, before continuing, “He takes on many forms, but the most common is an all-seeing eye burning in the sky. Most importantly, strange things tend to happen to those who survive his gaze. He infects minds. Consumes them. Making eye contact is especially dangerous.”
“Is Cthulhu out there, too?” I asked in disbelief.
“I wouldn’t joke about these things, Mr. Finn. There are many great evils and Old Ones roaming the universe. Universes. But please answer the question, Mr. Finn. Did you make eye contact?”
I met Sebbit’s eyes, mere inches from my own. He watched me with an unblinking gaze, waiting for my answer.
“No,” I lied.
