by Obert Skye
Leven blinked and then coughed. He pressed his palms into the dirt and pushed his chest up off the ground. His long, dark hair hung down in front of his face and covered his glowing eyes. Leven got onto his knees and then sprang up as if he were a child. He pushed back his hair and partially smiled. The land-scape was covered with snow, and Leven brushed some of it off his arms.
“We were just talking about you.”
Before Leven stood the Ring of Plague—twelve nits, each with a different one of Foo’s twelve gifts. The last time Leven had seen them he had been fighting them from the back of an onick outside of Cork. Now they were standing still, almost as if waiting for him to say something.
“You’re shorter than I remember,” Leven finally said, standing up straight and measuring at least two inches taller than the tallest ring member.
“You’ve become legendary,” one of the Ring members said. “I don’t suppose you remember me, but you left me floating in the maze of air in Fissure Gorge.”
“Sorry,” Leven apologized.
“No apology necessary,” the Ring member insisted. “I’m just happy that fate has pulled me out so that we can finish our business.”
Leven reached for his kilve, but it was not there. He also wasn’t wearing his robe.
“Wait a second,” Leven said. “How did I get here?”
“Um, the tunnel you were digging collapsed,” Clover said. “And you were taken downriver. I couldn’t find you, but then there was this huge explosion and foam was shooting up everywhere and I saw you get blown up out of the river. After that it was pretty easy to find you.”
Leven looked down and for the first time realized it wasn’t snow he was standing in and brushing off, it was foam mixed with what looked like fish bits.
“I was inside a huge fish,” Leven said, disgusted.
“Is this him?” Clover asked, picking up a scaly piece of skin.
“You have a strange life, Leven,” one of the Ring members observed.
Leven felt an odd pang of pride from such a comment. If someone from Foo thought he had an unusual life, that was really saying something.
“And now you are my unfinished business?” Leven said. He spotted his kilve five trees over in the top branches of a tree. “Clover.”
“I’m on it,” Clover replied.
A Ring member with a long, braided beard saw what Leven was looking at and held up his palm. “You won’t need that with us. Were we to have met three days ago, we might have desired to fight you, but we know now that you were right.”
“I was?” Leven asked in amazement.
“Can’t you feel Foo failing?” Beardy asked.
“I thought it was just me,” Leven said. “I’ve been going through a lot of changes.”
“No dreams come in any longer,” Beardy said.
“That, I’ve noticed.”
Clover knocked Leven’s kilve from the tree and it came crashing down.
“And so many are leaving that we fear there will be nobody here to sustain Foo,” Beardy added. “Even those who believed in Foo are making a run for it. Beings from the farthest corners of Foo are figuring their only chance is to make it to Reality. The Sochemists are gone, Cusp and Cork have no law, and the siids are dying—fading away, actually. Can you imagine a being so big fading away?”
Leven shook his head as Clover dragged his kilve over to him. Leven bent down and picked it up.
“You’ve been washed downriver,” Beardy said. “We were to meet near the path of glass. Now you must move that direction and make up time.”
“What about you?” Leven asked.
“The Dearth still holds us,” Beardy said. “I speak for myself, but my soul is soon his. Look: We are bound to him.”
Beardy held up the hem of his robe to expose his feet meshing with the soil. His ankles looked like mossy stumps.
“Can’t you stop it?” Leven asked.
“We have given away all our freedom by pretending that we had nothing to worry about,” Beardy said. “We were supposed to be an indestructible force, but in the end we have changed nothing for the better, and our souls belong to the soil.”
“No,” Leven insisted.
“What do you mean no?” Beardy said, confused.
“There’s always a chance to turn from what you’ve become. I’ve seen people become better seconds before their dying breath.”
“It is not our fate.”
“Then let’s change things,” Leven urged.
Leven lunged forward with his kilve. Then, with one swift move, he spun and smacked Beardy on the side of his right shoulder. Beardy flew sideways as Leven charged him. Leven threw his weight into him and hoisted him off the ground, ripping his feet from the soil. Beardy screamed, but Leven jumped up on top of a large, flat rock and held him there. He kicked and hollered for a while, but eventually he stopped wailing and lay still.
Leven looked down at the other eleven Ring members. They were trembling, but they hadn’t moved.
“He was our leader,” one with blue stripes on his cheeks said.
“Well, he wants you to stay still.”
They all just stood there as Leven climbed down from the rocky shelf. Leven then wrapped his arms around the one with blue stripes and, with one terrific pull, tore him from the ground. He screamed louder than the last one had. Leven carried him up onto the rock and held him down by Beardy, who was passed out. Once he was subdued, Leven turned and looked down at the remaining ten.
“He was second in command,” a Ring member with really bad teeth said.
“Can none of you think for yourself?”
They all shrugged.
“It’s hard to believe anyone ever feared you.”
Leven tore out another, and another, and another, and another. He then took a break so that Clover could show him an odd-shaped bickerwick. Leven then went back to plucking up Ring members. Each one screamed louder than the last, and in the end Leven was exhausted, but he had before him a row of twelve beings with raw, swollen feet and clear souls. Most of them had passed out due to the pain of being ripped from the soil.
“We’ll let them rest,” Leven said. “So let’s sleep here.”
“That will leave us just one day,” Clover said casually. “And you’re off track.”
“I’m exhausted. Besides, I want to make sure these twelve are clearheaded.”
“You’re the boss,” Clover said. “Hey, do you think if you ever left me that I would just stand around like that not knowing what to do?”
“I’d never leave you,” Leven smiled.
Clover did a little jig and then disappeared while Leven quickly bound the hands and feet of each Ring member to make sure they stayed in place.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Oklahoma Bound
Santa Rosa, New Mexico, was a mess. All over there were fires and fights breaking out. Some vehicles were racing to get to the scene; others were racing to escape it. The air was filled with twice as many helicopters as before, and there was no semblance of law down below. Every fence and tent had been torn down while jeeps and cars had been tipped over or torn apart.
The government had tried to stop the flow of Foovians coming in, but that had just created panic, and greater numbers were spilling out mad and ready to fight. And on top of that, all the commotion had attracted any avaland or telt from miles away to come join the party.
It was complete chaos, and there was no sign of it slowing.
Dennis had taken Winter and Phoebe to the secured scuba shop, where they had waited for Geth to return. When Geth did come in with Ezra on his shoulder, only Dennis was surprised.
“I thought you were going to kill him,” Dennis said to Ezra.
“Has your face always been so bland?” Ezra asked Dennis.
“It was your plan,” Dennis said boldly.
“Well, maybe I’m just drawing them in to my confidence,” Ezra whispered.
“Are you?”
“No,” Ezra sai
d.
General Lank looked about as desperate as a man can look. What was supposed to be his big chance had turned into the beginning of the end of the world. He kept asking Ezra and Dennis what he should do and radioing important people who were dealing with things falling apart in their own parts of the world.
“What do we do?” Lank said as he paced the room. He stopped in front of Geth. “Well, what do we do?”
“I know what we have to do,” Geth said. “We’re going to Oklahoma.”
“The play?” General Lank asked.
Elton Thumps hit his head with his palm and screamed.
“See what I’ve been dealing with?” Ezra asked Geth. “Total and complete incompetence.”
Ever since Geth and Ezra had returned, Ezra had begun to see the value of having part of him be a big man. He was also quite impressed with how handsome he was. And when Phoebe held onto Geth’s arm and looked him over to make sure he was okay, Ezra kind of felt like she was talking to him.
“Dennis,” Geth said kindly, “will you come with us?”
Dennis looked at Ezra. “Are we on the good side now?”
Ezra screamed, “Can’t you think for yourself? Your brain’s as smooth as your forehead.”
“All right,” Dennis said, embarrassed. “We’ll come with you.”
“We’ll?” Ezra questioned. “You got a gimped-up monkey in your pocket? There’s no ‘we’ll’ any longer. I’m with me.”
“Okay,” Geth said nicely. “But ‘we’ll’ need everyone.”
“Not me,” Elton insisted. “Don’t count on me.”
Geth didn’t have the heart to tell him he wasn’t really invited anyhow.
“I’m going down through that empty lake and into Foo if it kills me,” Elton announced.
“Let’s hope it kills you,” Ezra said.
“You won’t succeed,” General Lank said. “There are just too many still coming out, and the tunnel’s probably packed with thousands behind those thousands.”
“I’ll go by myself,” Elton growled. He grabbed his stomach and mumbled something about Leven.
“Suit yourself,” General Lank moaned. “Your presence has always been a joke.”
“What?” Elton said angrily.
“This mess is because of you,” General Lank accused. “You were supposed to understand what was happening.”
“I do understand what’s happening,” Elton replied. “You’re looking for a scapegoat, you old fool.”
“You’re useless,” General Lank said. “They needed you because of your son and now you have no way—”
“Hold it,” Winter insisted. “This isn’t helping anything. You two can argue later if you want, but for now Geth and I are going to Oklahoma.”
“I don’t understand, but fine,” Lank said.
“So,” Geth asked, “where’s Oklahoma?”
Lank reluctantly pointed east.
“And do you have a helicopter we can borrow?” Geth added.
General Lank put his head in his hands and began to sob.
“I like my style,” Ezra cheered.
Phoebe gazed up at Geth and smiled. “Is Reality always this exciting?”
Geth, Dennis, Ezra, General Lank, and Elton all began to answer Phoebe’s question as she sat there looking beautiful.
Lilly sighed and whispered into Winter’s left ear, “Is she for real?”
“She gets worse,” Winter whispered back.
Geth stood up and picked up his kilve. He slipped it behind his back. “Now, about that helicopter, General.”
General Lank waved a tall soldier over as Lilly continued to whisper in Winter’s ear. “I’ve never flown before,” she said excitedly.
“Me neither,” Winter said back.
Lilly wrapped her arms around Winter’s neck and smiled for the first time in a very long while.
ii
Elton Thumps was sick of it—sick of it. His whole body burned with the feeling of hate and darkness. He had spent his entire adult life studying, investigating, and wondering about Foo, and still he had nothing to show for it. He was bitter and resolved to the fact that if it had not been for Foo he would have still had his wife, his child, and possibly his self-respect.
Now he had nothing but a blackness in the gut.
General Lank had finally said what everyone was thinking: Elton Thumps was a joke and a failure. The government had used him for their purposes and now, when the chips were down, they were ready to leave him by the side of the road and pretend he had never happened.
Elton unbuttoned his shirt and looked at his stomach. Large black scratches were pulsating and oozing. He looked away and quickly buttoned his shirt back up.
Elton rummaged through the scuba shop and found a couple of guns. He then threw on a military jacket, a helmet, and the most rugged boots he could find. He loaded the jacket pockets with food and ammo and left without saying a word to General Lank.
Once outside the scuba shop, Elton moved through the rings of guards and tanks and worked his way over to Blue Hole Lake. The empty lake was still spewing out hundreds of strange creatures and beings like a volcano. Elton worked his way to a steeper spot where there wasn’t anybody climbing out at the moment. It worked for a little bit and he was able to climb down the back wall of the empty lake. Then the flow of refugees was just too great and too strong for him to continue forward.
Hundreds of beings were crawling over each other frantically trying to get out. Those climbing out seemed to realize that things were falling apart. Many had weapons ready and were already looking for someone to fight.
Elton turned around and moved in reverse. Walking backwards, he squeezed himself down through the opening and into the cavern, but a huge woman carrying a crying child in her right arm pushed him back out and kicked him down.
Elton tried again, but there were too many people and odd-looking beings coming out. He tried to be forceful, ordering those who were about to trample him to make room for him to climb down.
Nobody was listening.
Elton attempted to dive between people and crawl his way into the watery cavern, but he was forced out again by a thick group of huge rants who had linked arms and were plowing through everyone.
Elton pulled out his gun and waved it around. Nobody seemed to care—the refugees just kept coming and coming, wave after wave of frantic and excited beings. Some looked scared, some looked anxious, and others looked as if they were out for blood, here to fight for their place in Reality.
Elton fired his weapon into the roof of the cavern. Everyone in the cavern stopped, while those already in the empty lake scrambled out.
“That’s better,” Elton said. “I’ve got to get back behind you all. Now, move!”
Apparently no one was in the mood to cooperate. They surged forward again, trampling Elton, walking over him as if he were a rug. He dropped the gun and it slid to the far side of the cavern. Elton tried to reach for it, but it was no use.
Feet rained down on him in the face, the neck, the stomach. Elton tried to scream, but nobody cared. Feet just kept pounding down on him. Then, as if someone had pulled the plug on the tunnel, the walls of water collapsed inward, washing over everything and pushing out all the air. Deep in the tunnel the door slammed shut, and everybody unfortunate enough to still be in the passageway was enveloped in water and darkness.
Working toward Foo had been a really bad idea.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Fair Fight
Leven tossed and turned, trying to catch a few last minutes of early-morning sleep. The bed of leaves he had made up on a rock shelf was not half as comfortable as he wished it would be. Each time he turned over, it sounded like someone or something was creeping up on him.
Clover was bothered as well. “Can’t you stay still?” he whispered. “You’re making me jumpy.”
“You’re always jumpy.”
“Still,” Clover insisted. “This is different.”
The members o
f the Ring of Plague had initially all passed out from the pain of being ripped up from the contact with the Dearth. But as they had come to, they had begun to complain and fuss over Leven’s insisting that they stay on rock. They were like some horrible drug addicts who were bad at lying; they kept making up stories to get a chance to reconnect with the soil. Leven had kept them tied up through the night.
Beardy, it turned out, was named Glen, and was originally from Canada. He had been snatched into Foo over thirty years ago and had been made a member of the Ring of Plague about ten years back.
Now that Foo was falling apart, he was confused and worried and aware that those he had worked with had been wrong. But they had spent so much time being influenced, mindlessly doing as they were told, that they now felt a bit adrift. After being detached from the soil for a number of hours, however, they all began to feel incredible. Their heads were clear and they could think for themselves for the first time in a while.
Leven and Clover had slept thirty feet away, but they could now hear the Ring members talking. Leven staggered up and wordlessly untied them, then dragged himself back to his leaf bed.
“You were pretty cool with them,” Clover said softly to Leven.
“What?” Leven asked.
“I mean, the way you ripped them out of the ground last night and threw them over there. I wish Winter and Geth had been here to see that.”
“I just lifted them up,” Leven said modestly.
“Listen to you,” Clover waved. “So humble.”
“Look at the air this morning,” Leven whispered. “There’re no dreams at all anymore. I barely got a chance to start seeing them and now they’re gone. It sort of makes me mad.”
“Yeah, you said that in your sleep.”
“I did?”
“That and some stuff about Winter.”
“I don’t believe you,” Leven smiled.
“It’s true,” Clover insisted. “Of course, maybe you were talking about winter, the season.”
“Maybe,” Leven laughed. “Do you see how the horizon is slanted?”
Clover nodded.
“So many of our inhabitants have left Foo.”
