Plague of Mybyncia

by C. G. Coppola

  But he’s concentrating, focusing on the group of scuttling Gorgen. A moment longer and he finally nods, motioning our retreat. We follow eagerly—more than eagerly—until we reach the same small rock from before, quickly jetting behind it.

  “I counted five. You?” he looks to Clarence.

  “Kept mixing them up. Figured half a dozen or so.”

  “Same,” I throw in.

  “We were not prepared for an entire herd,” Qippert exhales nervously, shifting looks between Sampson and Clarence. “We do not have enough to lure them away. It will not work.”

  “We can’t come back,” Clarence shakes his head, “this is our one shot. If we don’t try for it now…”

  “There is no possible way we can get the Dilly.”

  “We can’t go back empty handed.”

  “As long as we come back,” Qippert argues, focusing on Sampson. “My vote is to abort.”

  “I’m with Qippert,” Werzo pipes up. “There’re too many…”

  “If we abort now, we’re a go for the Zingfinolds,” Reid says, pegging us each with a hard look. “That’s what we’re deciding.”

  Everyone quiets for a minute and finally Sampson nods.

  “Yes… I’m afraid so. With this unknown factor, it ups our odds of defeat and I promised the chancellor we’d all return.”

  “So is that it then?” Werzo asks with hope.

  They sense you.

  Lalu’s warning rings in my head, sending my heart racing. There are more Gorgen than we counted on. If they find us, we’re dead.

  Do they know where we are?

  No. Not yet.

  “Uh… guys?” I try.

  “Yes,” Sampson agrees. “It would probably be best to abort, though I assure you, facing the Zingfinolds won’t be any easier.”

  They are searching.

  “Guys?”

  “If we leave now, they might not even know we were gone. It’ll be like we never left,” Werzo tries wrapping it up. “No harm, no foul, right? We tried, saw it for what it was—impossible—and left. We should still get an award for valor.”

  They are coming for you.

  “Guys!” I demand focus of the group. “We’ve got to go… now!”

  “Why, Fallon? What’s—move!” Sampson darts backwards as a ferocious black leg clamps over the rock, snapping it in two.

  “Holy fuck!” Jace swerves backwards.

  “Shit!” someone else calls, everyone fleeing from the crumbling boulder.

  I’m back a few yards but I’m pretty sure my heart has stopped. I can’t look away. All those tiny red eyes flickering, searching, as the entire Gorgen crawls over the fragment and plunges another sharp tooth into the remaining rock.

  They are all coming.

  “This way!” Sampson calls, racing from the rock formation with Clarence, Qippert, Werzo, Booker and Jace on his tail. I’m heading behind them but the Gorgen leg reaches out, swatting near Reid and I, blocking our path.

  “Boss!” Tucker yells. “Fallon!”

  Everything happens so quickly.

  The Gorgen swings at us again, three legs cutting across our way and I’m momentarily paralyzed at the size of the teeth. I gulp, unsure what to do, where to go. How can something like this exist? In my second of hesitation, it leaps off the rock wall, aiming to separate Reid and me. It succeeds as Lalu takes the initiative and jets backwards.

  “FALLON!” Reid barks with an intensity I’ve never heard.

  With his voice ringing vibrations through the water, the Gorgen turns all red eyes on him, leaping for Reid and Tucker next.

  We must leave.

  We can’t leave them! Follow the Fychu!

  The second and third Gorgen crawl over the remaining boulder fragments behind us. With teeth dug deep into the rock, both leap off, aiming straight for Lalu and me. But she’s fast. Jetting away with seconds to spare, she races after Sampson and around the other Gorgen, which is gaining on Tucker and Reid. Relief blooms in me when I see them soaring ahead of the creature, swerving in and out of its swinging limbs.

  But the feeling is fleeting.

  A wave of glistening orange sludge emits from the creature’s tiny red eyes, spearing right past the boys. They weave in and out of the ongoing acid spurts, my chest about to constrict from the fear. Too preoccupied with them, I don’t realize the two Gorgens are gaining on me until something insanely sharp pierces my calf.

  A sharp scream pours from my mouth.

  Has anything ever felt this awful? It’s like my leg has been split in two. Maybe some of that glistening orange sludge has hit me. Will it infect my entire body? And is Lalu struck too? A thousand questions race through my mind in this agonizing second as Lalu races up, higher and higher, leaving the two rushing behind us in a dark blur below. I can’t believe the amount of pain I’m in. It’s got to be the acid. It has to be.

  You have a Gorgen tooth in you. You must free it before the poison infects you.

  Looking down, I find Lalu is right. Lodged in my right calf is an enormous triangular tooth, nearly the size of my body. Reaching down, I go to grip it, but my leg spasms and I cry out again. I can’t do this.

  You must do it now.

  I can’t.

  You must do it or you will die.

  With tears streaming down my face, I grip the tooth in both hands. Gritting my teeth, I yank as hard as I can, ripping the foreign object free with another agonizing cry. Blood immediately spurts out of the open gash.

  I will help.

  I’m bucked off Lalu, floating freely, but panicked. I attempt to scramble back on her but she’s at my leg, her long pink tongue lapping up the bloody tear. As soon as she presses her tongue against me, a cooling sensation erupts, lessening the fiery pain. She laps at me again and the pain subsides a little more.

  This will decrease any toxin spread.

  Oh—thank you, Lalu. Thank you.

  We must move. They are coming back for us.

  The thought of those creatures returning sends a chill racing up my spine. Reaching for the nearby tooth, I tuck it into my side as Lalu rears up beneath me. Grabbing onto her bairs, I pull myself up, still wincing from the pain as my right leg collides with her side.

  We must move.

  Both Gorgen climb through the water for us, but not half as fast as the Millix. Lalu dodges past them on our descent down to find the others… but I don’t see them. Where are they? And Reid and Tucker? What happened to them? My mind races with gruesome images of everyone—burning from the glistening orange sludge or punctured with razor sharp teeth.

  The others are not injured.

  How do you know?

  I have not been informed otherwise.

  We’re racing back to the field of Dilly below, my leg bellowing in pain. I ignore it. I can’t concentrate on it with all the adrenaline rushing through me. Then there’s Lalu, swerving down through the water, trying to confuse the Gorgen behind us. Any second we could be killed—burned alive or stabbed to death—and I can’t find the others.

  Where are they?

  I will sweep in low and fast. You must grab it.

  I’m about to ask what she means, but we’re already soaring down into the green nest. She was right. There will be no way to steal the Gorgens’ Dilly. We’ll have to kill them—and there are far too many for that. Or we can steal it, but little by little.

  Swooping low through the tall green stocks, Lalu leans to the left and I snag as many strands as I can, clutching with fervor. I’ve only managed to grab a handful, but I keep them close to me as she shoots back up through the water, swiftly passing the two Gorgen. They scurry around in their field, accessing the lost weed and in seconds, they’re dark blurs behind us again.

  Once we’re up a ways, I hurriedly reach for the bag to stow the collected Dilly but I don’t have one. We hadn’t gotten to that point yet. Shit. What are we going to do now? And my leg is still throbbing, screaming with agonizing pain.

  Did you get enough
Dilly?

  There’s too much happening, too much to consider and I still don’t know where the others are. We really will have to abort this mission. Have the others gone back already? Is that why I can’t find them?

  They are nearby, leading the Gorgen away.

  Then maybe there is hope for securing some of the plant? But how will I hold onto it? Looking around frantically, I find only one thing I can use. Quickly winding the strands over Lalu’s bairs, I get the Dilly secured in seconds, just in time to see a Gorgen climbing through the water for us.

  Where’s the other, Lalu?

  It is waiting for us.

  Where?

  In the field.

  We can’t return then.

  This is correct.

  Glancing to the few strands around Lalu’s bairs, I’m thankful for what we’ve got. But it won’t be enough, not by a long shot. I guess the straight Dilly is a moot point now and the main thing is survival. Pure survival.

  Do we just leave? Head back to the FH?

  It will follow. We must kill it.

  I really hadn’t planned on killing a Gorgen today. But what about the others? If there were six or seven total, and one of them is following us, and the other is in the nest guarding the Dilly, what about the last four or five? They’re chasing the Rogues and Dofinikes.

  Your friends are leading the Gorgen far from their den. Once they are a mile off, your friends and the Fychu will return to the FH but we travel too quickly for the Gorgen to follow. Once they reach their den again, they will remain.

  And you know this?

  It is the Fychu’s plan. It will work.

  And us? How do we kill the Gorgen?

  You hold the weapon in your hand.

  So I’m right. I’ll have to stab it. My heart stops at the thought of getting close enough to that thing to jam the tooth in its belly. I don’t know if I can do this. I’ve faced the Kings, the Vermix and the Muskos. But this? This Gorgen? Is there even a chance? Thinking of the others, I ask the obvious question.

  Can’t we outrun it too?

  We have the Dilly. It will follow the scent.

  I can remove it…

  I start unwinding the strand.

  I have been tainted with its scent. It will follow us to the FH. Our only option is to kill it.

  Shit! And I was only trying to grab the little bit I could. Am I really going to have to kill it? Will I even be able to?

  “Fallon!” Reid’s voice calls from a distance. My heart stops at the sound as I glance down, finding his shape as it appears from deep below. He’s racing up toward me with Tucker, Jace, Sampson and Clarence behind him. “FALLON!”

  They’re ascending through the dark, murky waters just after the Gorgen, which is steadily gaining on Lalu and me. Do we head back toward the field of Dilly or attempt to kill this thing up here? And how are we going to do it? My mind is going a thousand miles a minute, trying to analyze the situation. The Gorgen needs to be stabbed. And what if that other one decides to come after us too? There are too many things to figure out and not enough time.

  Think, Fallon. Relax and think.

  But the sound of angry whistling shakes my focus as glistening orange sludge flies through the water beneath me. Bright white lights flash in response, blasting into the Gorgen, sending it tumbling backwards. Lalu takes the opportunity to fall down toward the others, my leg screaming in pain as I grip her at the sudden descent. We only have seconds to rejoin the group when the Gorgen rights itself, hurling its body at us again. A stream of the orange sludge shoots overhead, nearly striking us, but Lalu dodges the hit, jetting down swiftly. Another orange light whistles past as Tucker, Jace and Reid whip around, blasting white sparks from their Enidds behind us, hitting the Gorgen’s thick black armor. It doesn’t even slow down.

  We’re soaring low, back toward the black rock fragment with Sampson, Clarence and the Rogues on either side of us. Another orange flame shoots past, barely missing my injured leg and sending us tumbling ahead.

  “What the hell?” Tucker yells somewhere behind me. “It’s aiming for Fallon!”

  More blasts of white and crashes of thunder as the Gorgen descends on the wall before the Dilly field. Bits of rock fly, Lalu and I dodging past them as she dives through the thick green weeds. But the second Gorgen is gone. I don’t have time to wonder where it went because Qippert, Booker and Werzo are already leading it away.

  “FALLON!” Reid barks again, a mixture of fear and panic.

  But in the second it takes for me to look at him, the Gorgen launches itself at Lalu and me, separating us with a violent crash. The impact slams into me and I’m thrown through the water, hitting the hard ground in the bottom of the field of Dilly. I feel my entire body, pain shooting through every limb and for a second, I’m not sure if I’m alive.

  I can’t see anything.

  The green stocks tower over me, clogging all sights other than the dark, murky water above. My arms lay sprawled on either side of me, in the same position as the landing. But I reach, searching for anything, trying to get my bearings. My right hand hits something hard and sharp. I’m afraid to turn my head and look—I could be broken, really broken this time. Will I even be able to get up? And what’s this under my fingertips?

  I blink, trying to search for anything but it’s too dark. Only the stocks of Dilly are here and this, whatever this is under my hand. Tugging it forward, I pull it toward me.

  The tooth.

  Suddenly, the murky water darkens to a deep black mass. Something is descending over me. It’s the Gorgen and I know any minute I’m going to be crushed or stabbed. There’s only one thing I can do. With my heart racing, I gather my remaining strength and drag the tooth over my stomach. Holding it in both my hands, I lift it up over me, praying.

  Chapter Sixteen: Ellae

  “How’s she doing?”

  “She’s healing up well. I’ve got the last of the Vilbrees on her leg. She just needs some time. Reid—you really should get some rest.”

  “I’m not leaving her.”

  “You’ve been here for hours. If she wakes up…”

  “I said I’m not leaving.”

  Silence.

  “I know my mother wants to thank you again, Fychu. Come, let us leave them alone. Reid, we will be nearby if she awakes.”

  A shuffle of noise but everything is dark, like it was before, only seconds ago. But it feels different. I’m not in the suit and I can hear everything like it’s right here, happening in front of me. There’s no slight echo from the headgear. Does that mean I’m back at FH? How is that possible? I was just in the field of Dilly, beneath the towering stocks and trapped under the—

  I jolt up.

  “Fallon!” Reid reaches for me, his huge brown eyes filled with relief. “Easy… easy…” he grips my shoulders in both hands.

  I take a second, searching behind him, trying to place myself. I’m in the FH, in one of the coral beds in the attendants’ room and Reid is on the ledge next to me. “What happened?”

  He looks between my eyes. “How do you feel? Are you okay?”

  I nod, still trying to understand the sudden change. “But what…”

  “You were almost killed,” he drops his head, running his hands through his hair. Another deep breath and he hangs his head low between his shoulders.

  “But the Gorgen…”

  “Is dead.” He peers up. “You killed it.”

  “The tooth?”

  He nods. “Christ, Fallon. I…” he exhales, his head dropping again. A long second passes but when he speaks, his voice is soft, fragile, like it could break at any second. “I thought you were gone. I thought…” he sniffles, quickly wiping moisture from his eye. He glances at me but stands for the door instead. “I’ll tell the others you’re awake.”

  “Wait.”

  He stops and when he spins toward me, it nearly breaks my heart. Both his eyes are glazed and red, the tip of his nose pink. He swallows. “I’ll be back. Samp
son wanted to know the second you woke up. They want to do an internal exam and see about your leg,” he looks to it. His mouth opens, but quickly closes again, his focus up and away. “I’ll come back when they’re done.”

  “Reid…” I try once more, but he’s already leaving the room.

  I don’t have more than a few minutes before Ariana, Mae and Pratt tumble in, Sampson right behind them. Pratt reaches my bed first, dominating my attention with her bright, worried eyes.

  “You’re awake! Do you remember anything? How’s your leg feel? Everyone thought it was going to be a few days before you woke up. Reid hasn’t left your side,” she exhales in one long breath, glancing at the door behind her, “except just now. But he’ll be back any second. Really, we thought you wouldn’t be up for days!”

  “What day is it?”

  “Same,” Ariana smiles gently, “just later.”

  “Almost evening,” Mae adds, “you’ve been out for a while.”

  “Is everyone else okay?” I ask.

  Ariana nods. “Yes… you are the only one who did not return awake. After the Gorgen nearly crushed you, you passed out and Reid took you back on his Millix. You have been in here since.”

  “I—you sound better!”

  Ariana blushes. “It is the Dilly. We are not fully healed but the straight Dilly is definitely having a positive effect.”

  “But I only grabbed a few strands.”

  “And after you killed the Gorgen,” Sampson approaches, “Werzo, Booker, Qippert and Clarence stayed behind to gather more. Reid, Tucker, Jace and I took off to get you back to the FH. We…” he suppresses an amused grin, “we were going to gather much more but Reid was already racing off with you. I had to assure you both returned in one piece. I needed to keep my promise to the chancellor.”

  “Oh…” I’m still trying to wrap my mind around everything, “…was he mad? Is the queen?” I look to Ariana.

  She blushes again, glancing at Sampson. “She was not happy when she awoke. And then seeing Reid fly in with you unconscious… well… she definitely was not pleased.”

  “But she came around,” Sampson continues. “Especially when I informed her you would make a full recovery.”