The Four Territories

by Stevie Collier

  Esh slammed his shin against one of the bed posts and both of them froze, both of their eyes wide with terror. The Elder turned and gave a look that said, “What the four hells, lad? You tryna get us killed!”

  The room was still dead, not even a break in the snores. So they continued to tip toe. Esh’s eyes were more accustomed to the dark, enough that he could tell the faces if he squinted hard enough. They probably passed twenty sets of bunks before they found him.

  Fat, wearing nothing but his underwear, and food still on the corner of his mouth. Now that they had found him Esh was dumbfounded as what he should do. He wanted to kill him, that was true, but he couldn’t do it here.

  But before he could ponder on how to move Mehch from his bed, the Elder pulled out a small liquid compressor which had some sort of make shift needle at the tip and shoved it into Mehch’s neck. The fat male’s eyes and mouth shot open, his tongue flopped out and his irises disappeared leaving only the whites.

  “Whuh,” Esh muttered, but the Elder shushed him once again.

  “He’s not dead!” he whispered, and quietly hoisted the male over his shoulder.

  They were on the move.

  This time they were faster. Esh didn’t remember the way out but luckily his garbage mentor did. His heart pounded, not sure if he was excited or scared or both. They got to the exit exactly when the whole base lit up with screams from other soldiers.

  “Intruders! Intruders! The undesirables are here! We are under attack!” was being repeatedly cried out by the guards on duty.

  The Elder and young one looked at each other.

  “Dammit, I knew I should have held that choke longer,” said the Elder with a shrug. “I guess you lose what you don’t practice.” He readjusted Mehch on his shoulder and before Esh could ask him what he meant the Elder busted into an unnatural sprint.

  Esh could barely keep up and he wasn’t the one holding the heavy sack of lard! At first he thought they were heading for their spot by the bridge, but the Elder made a turn which directed them to the Igneous Plains. The army base was alive and so now was the city of Zel. Humanoids walked out of their metal-roofed huts to see what all the commotion was about. The Elder was smart in that he chose all the alley ways that kept them in direction of the same destination but with fewer witnesses.

  With one more turn they were spit out of Zel and into the Igneous Plains. Tiny moon-cycle creatures fled out of their way as the Elder ran deeper into the sleeping desert of dried magma.

  The Elder stopped his sprint and came to a fast paced walk. They must have been running for half an hour! If Esh hadn’t been training for so long to be a soldier he never would have been able to keep up. Then what would have come of him? He would surely have been captured.

  They stopped and Esh put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. There was a tall mactus behind one of the giant dried magma stones. A mactus was a plant covered entirely of metal and grew to be around fifteen feet tall and were very rare. Herbs usually had to be grown indoors by chosen Reahlic herbalists, except for this species which had adapted to the heat with a hard metal shell that coated its body. Esh had heard stories of humanoid bones being found near their stalks having died of thirst while trying to carve their way into the liquid filled meat.

  The Elder pulled out a rope from his bag and tied Mehch’s limp body to the mactus. He then proceeded to blind fold him with the young male’s own underwear.

  They waited.

  After a while, Esh’s stomach growled very loudly. The Elder must have heard for he threw some sort of food bar that of which Esh caught like a starving animal.

  “What was that?” Esh asked, nibbling on the bar. It tasted so bad that he thought he might rather eat some of the garbage they had been picking up.

  “What was what?” asked the Elder, giving his own protein bar a disgusted look before taking a bite.

  “What you put in his neck, what was that?”

  “Isn’t it obvious? A sleeping aid, just a really powerful one.”

  “Oh. When will he wake up?”

  “Hmm… Not sure, really depends on him, doesn’t it?” The Elder took another mouthful of bar. “But I sure hope he wakes up soon… Once the sun rotates back and shines over that mactus… Well… your buddy here is gonna fry. Probably tastes better than this shit, I bet ya.” He took another bite.

  This whole ordeal seemed to be no big deal to this old trash worker. Who was he? First, he’s choking soldiers half his age to sleep and now he doesn’t even care if this orphan male basically burns at the stake? Question was, did Esh himself care? He kind of liked the idea of seeing the one responsible for this hideous scar get toasted by the sun.

  “What are we gonna do when and if he wakes up?”

  The Elder gave Esh a confused look as if he should already know the answer. “Well, we give him an ultimatum of course.”

  “What’s an ultimatum?”

  “Well, it’s a kind of question, just a bit more severe. The way you answer it can have dire consequences, or at least for this kid it will.”

  “So… What is the question, er, ultimatum we are going to ask him?”

  The Elder looked at the sky, the moon side of the sun was reflected in his eyes. “I’ll leave that up to you.”

  The Elder and young one both slept apart. Esh was surprised how easily sleep came considering that they had just stolen a fresh soldier recruit and had him tied up naked to a metal plant out in the Igneous Plains. Yes, sleep came very easily to him and no dreams soiled his rest. The only thing that did interrupt his sleep was the surprised squeals of a very brave young soldier.

  “What the cold four hells is going on? Where am I? Who are you?! I’ll have you know I’m a decorated soldier!”

  The Elder was still snoring when Esh shook him awake.

  The trash worker awoke with a jolt, coughed a few times and said “Oh, well it looks like our friend has finally joined us from the land of the dreams. He’s probably gonna wish he stayed there, isn’t that right, Esh?” He pulled out another canister, one that looked ragged and well used. He lifted it to his mouth and a dark colored alcohol poured into his mouth.

  Mehch’s mouth dropped upon hearing his past victim’s name. “You! You’re the one behind this?! You filthy piece of shagra shit! Untie me right now so I can give you another scar!”

  Esh didn’t say a word, he couldn’t. He was disappointed, disappointed that he was actually frightened of Mehch’s words, even though he was the one in power here.

  “You aren’t a very bright one, are you?” the Elder asked, poking Mehch’s belly. The fat child flinched and made another squeal as he tried to break his bindings, his gut bouncing.

  “When they come for me they will execute ya both! An I’ll be there! Watchin’ the whole thing!”

  Esh tried not to listen. This was his time, his moment. He could do whatever it was he wanted! He could cut off Mehch’s toes one by one and then move onto his fingers. Or he could gut him, give him a matching scar. He could even beat him to death with his fists. No one would hear this demon scream.

  It was then he knew what he wanted.

  “You have a choice, Mehch. I’ll give you one chance, once chance to save your worthless life. You hurt me and hurt me bad and all I ever wanted was to be accepted!”

  “Let me stop yuh there,” Mech said, his smile looking funny with blind folded eyes. “There isn’t a single humanoid in the land that would accept a half bred like yuhself. You’re ash! No! Worse than ash, you’re shit. A plague on this-”

  Esh interrupted him, “You either apologize to me… or I gut you and leave you here for the glint fliers.”

  The Elder gave him a surprised look. “I’m impressed, lad! Gut him and leave him to the glint fliers, an excellent choice.”

  Glint fliers were three feet long winged animals. They were called glint fliers because they used their metal bellies to create a glint of light in eyes of their small prey. However, they’ve been known to pick the f
lesh off wounded humanoids and animals alike.

  Mehch did seem nervous now, but was trying his best not to show it. “I won’t… I won’t do it. Not to uh monster like you!”

  The Elder stroked his beard whilst looking at Mehch and then back to Esh. “Looks like he’s made up his mind, lad. Do it quick.” He pulled out a hidden dagger from his hip and flung it into the air. It twirled a few times before he caught it softly and accurately by its blade. He then handed the handle to Esh, all without taking his eyes of Mehch.

  Esh held the dagger out in front of him. Its handle was shaped in a way that fit his hand perfectly as if it had been made exactly for him. At the very top part of the hilt was a blue gem that glowed without the help of reflection. It was beautiful and enticed him to keep looking and looking… He couldn’t take his eyes off the-.

  “Stop!” yelled the Elder, bringing Esh out of the trance. “Don’t look at the blue, just do the job.”

  He was right, Esh had to do this. But why was he hesitating? And what the four hells was that gem?

  “Get on with it!” the Elder said impatiently. He walked up to the tied up soon to be corpse and poked it hard. Mehch screamed out loud and flailed like an animal caught in a trap.

  “Nooo!!!” Mehch cried, tears coming from under the underwear blind fold.

  The Elder fingered a large X shape on the fat gut, “Right here, Esh. Do it here!”

  Esh was almost giddy. But he was also scared and this created some strange mixture of crazed adrenaline. He walked closer and closer to his prey, his own murderous smile creeping across his face. This was his time.

  Esh reversed his grip of the dagger and held it over his head. He took a deep breath.

  “Good bye, demon,” he said, and brought the dagger down.

  8 - The Wisps

  He couldn’t do it. The tip of the blade grazed Mehch but nothing more. He dropped the blade into the ash and stepped back.

  “No… I won’t… I can’t… I am not like you,” Esh said, tears running down his face.

  The Elder blew out a puff of air and picked up the dagger, placing it back in its hiding spot.

  Mehch began to laugh despite the pain he must have been from the scratch Esh gave him. He laughed so hard that it began to hurt Esh’s ears. The young male was beside himself with pure ecstasy. “I knew it! You’re not only a piece of hot shit, but a coward as well! You don’t know how happy I was when you got chosen to pick up the garbage! How fitting for a piece of garbage to pick up a piece of garbage!” This was followed by more laughs, laughs that sounded like screams.

  Esh sat down and the Elder knelt beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “I was right about you,” he said. “You’ve passed, Esh.”

  It was the first time the Elder had called him by his name in all the time they had been together.

  Esh was just about to ask him what he meant by that when the Elder jerked him up in one abrupt movement, his face a sudden seriousness. He brought Esh close to his body, but not in a hug, but more of how a father would hold a child when danger was near.

  “Oh no… No, no, no…” the Elder whispered to himself, looking up at the sky and down at the ground. “Not now.”

  “What? What is it?” Esh asked, following his mentor’s gaze.

  The Elder dove for Mehch and began cutting away at his bindings.

  “Run Esh! Run!”

  Esh didn’t run, he just stood there blind and confused as to what was happening. The ground abruptly started to shake sending vibrations all the way up Esh’s spine, but he stood his ground. He wanted to run, but something deep inside himself wouldn’t let him leave his mentor.

  The Elder released Mehch who fell flat on his chest still in a fit of hysterical laughter. He tried to pull the male up but to no avail. Mehch wasn’t going anywhere with them, especially not without a fight.

  “Shit, no time!” cried the Elder. He pulled the dagger back out of his robes and with one swift movement he cut the throat of Mehch. Blood gushed out almost immediately and the dying child gave a questioning look at the life pouring out of his throat.

  “What did you do that for!” Esh screamed, his knees trembling more from the sight of blood than the quaking ground beneath his feet.

  The Elder turned to him and grabbed his arm. “Go!”

  Before Esh could protest the Elder wrenched him off his feet and was carrying him underneath one arm. The ground grew more and more turbulent and cracks began to appear. The Elder was forced to jump over several of the larger craters just in time before they had become too wide. Esh made the mistake of looking down one and could see nothing but darkness.

  The Elder probably carried him a good two hundred feet before stopping and dropping him.

  “Look,” he commanded, grabbing Esh’s head and turning it towards the dying Mehch now twitching on his side. So much blood.

  What came next would change Esh’s life forever.

  A black shape emerged from the ground in the shape of a gigantic mouth. With a gooey like texture, the mouth formed long spiked teeth that slowly enclosed themselves around Mehch. The mouth closed but Esh could still hear Mehch’s muffled screams. How was he still alive?

  The black mouth chewed its prey twice, silencing the young male’s screams and sending a red spray from the side of its lips. It raised itself from the ground just enough that Esh could see its red eye. The same eyes from his dreams, his dreams of the land of sin. A dream come true.

  The demon descended back into hell.

  There was silence for a few moments. The Elder put a hand on Esh’s chest and said, “Calm your breathing, you are the master of your body.”

  “What was that… that thing? Did that really just happen?” Esh asked in a panic, trying to stand up. The Elder wouldn’t let him.

  “You first need to relax, lad. You won’t be able to comprehend anything at your current state. A panicked mind creates a blind eye!”

  “How can you be so calm? Did you not just see that… that… that demon! It just swallowed him whole!”

  The Elder stared at him. “You’ve seen them before, haven’t you?”

  Esh didn’t say anything. He turned away from his mentor.

  “Of course, why didn’t I see it before! You’re a half breed! That must be why… I’m guessing they’ve sought after you in the dream world too, huh lad?"

  Esh began to calm down and the Elder sat in front of him, his hands on Esh’s shoulders. “They’ve visited you, haven’t they?”

  “It was just a dream.”

  “It wasn’t just a dream!” the Elder yelled, shaking him. “They visit half breeds in their sleep! They try to… lure you.”

  “Lure me? What are you talking about?”

  The Elder was quiet, his mouth opened and shut multiple times as if trying to find words to say. And finally, “We should go to my home. I’ll explain to you everything there. Everything.”

  “You have a-,”

  Something grabbed his ankle and ripped him out of his seated position and started to drag him away from the Elder. Ash kicked up into his face as the unknown force accelerated faster and faster. Esh struggled to look down and saw a black hand sticking out of the ground and gripping his leg, its sharp finger tips digging into his skin. He could hear the Elder running after him calling out his name but Esh figured he would be long dead before the Elder was able to catch up. He was on his own and he had to think fast.

  He leaned up, his buttocks now taking most of the damage. Balancing against the high speed, he bent down to wrench the grip open, but it was no good. His hands disappeared into the black mass and was only able to feel his taught ankle.

  The hand released him and he found himself laying on his back with the ground rumbling beneath him. The Elder’s cries were barely audible and Esh knew this was the end for him.

  He tried to lean up and get to his feet but the turbulence had started back up and made it too hard to stand. The ground opened up to his left and right
and with quick thinking he tried to jump as far as he could but something reached out and caught him by the abdomen. He gasped, seeing that he was now being gripped by the same hand but it was now much larger as if a giant lived underground and had just shoved his entire hand through the surface. The black gooey hand did not squeeze tight this time, but just enough to let Esh know there was no escaping.

  Black strings formed and slapped against his face. Esh tightened his mouth as hard as he could, but it was a futile attempt. The black strings hit the corners of his lips and forced themselves inside. He gagged as they flew to his throat and down into his stomach. And then there was nothing. Esh hit the ground just as fast as the black hand had disappeared.

  He sat up and brought his knees to his chest. He reached for his ankle but felt no pain. In fact, he felt… rather well. He stood up and found that his fatigue had left him and so had his fear. His stomach felt full like he had just eaten a very hefty meal.

  It was a long time before the Elder finally caught up to him, clutching his knees and trying to catch his breath.

  “What- What was that all about? How did you-,”

  “I didn’t do anything,” Esh replied. “It just kinda…… let go of me.” He thought it best to keep the matter of him consuming demonic goo to himself.

  The Elder gave him a wild look. “The Wisps don’t just let go of their prey, lad. You must have done something.”

  “I’m telling you, I did absolutely nothing! I tried to get it off of me but my hands just went right through it.”

  The Elder stared deep into his eyes as if he could smell the lie. He then closed his eyes and let out a big puff of air. “Let’s get outta here, lad. You got lucky once, don’t bet on getting lucky twice.”

  9 - Secrets of a Trash Worker

  They walked back into town without saying another word. Esh was absolutely exhausted and his brain was having trouble functioning. He figured that at any moment he would wake back up in the orphanage surrounded by snoring and farting orphans. But if this was a dream it was to continue for they had made it to the middle of the town and he hadn’t woken up.