by Lola StVil
“He’s kidding, Randy. It falls off altogether,” Swoop replies with a serious face.
“That’s not funny. You guys are joking, right?”
We all look at him, as serious as can be. Then after a very intense pause, Swoop and her cousin start laughing.
“That’s not funny, guys, really,” the human says.
“Randy, the contract allows us to track you by alerting us should you be near Malakaro. It’s not because we don’t trust you; it’s him we don’t trust,” Pryor says.
“How does it work?” he asks.
“It’s an app, so if you go near him, we will be notified,” East tells him.
“So let me come with you. That way you can keep an eye on me,” he offers.
“We still have work to do. You need to get us as much info as you can on Malakaro in case the vial fails. And you are supposed to be spending time with your mom, telling her how you feel,” Pryor reminds him.
“I know. I will. Later. But right now, this mission needs me.”
“You already helped. You found the stone of the Kaytu, a rare stone given to the First Kon that can make you disappear. The White Lady will love that gift. That was all you,” East says.
“All we had to do was ask Bex for it,” Randy says, deflated.
“Yeah, but you did the research,” East adds.
“See, you are super valuable to us,” Pryor says, giving him her best smile.
“Yeah, I guess. And anyway, this mission won’t be that cool. I mean, it’s not like there’s a bridge you have to pass over with your life hanging in the balance. I mean, it’s not Lord of The Rings, right?” Randy says, laughing. None of us can look him in the eye.
“Wait! There’s a bridge?” Randy says, sounding betrayed.
“Well…a little one. And it’s more of a floating staircase that measures certain characteristics. Your kindness, your empathy, courage…” Pry says carefully.
“Great, and what happens if you don’t measure up, Swoop?”
“When you get on the step, if you fall short, you get an express ride to what you humans call hell,” she replies.
“Aw, man! Steps to hell! A bridge! Swords! Why don’t you just go to the planet Krypton without me? That would hurt less.”
“We can’t go there. You know very well Superman’s home planet was destroyed,” Spider says. We all turn to Spider, shocked.
“You’re into comic books?” Randy asks.
“I’m full of surprises,” Spider replies proudly.
“Hey, I know you guys can’t take me with you, but are you sure you don’t need more backup? Devil’s Backbone can be rough. If you survive the Egons, you will still need to find the marking on the mountain that leads you to the floating staircase, or the Leap of Faith, as they say.”
“Spider, did you bring the pills we asked for so that we can be invisible to the Fire Swans above?” Pry asks.
“Yes, but I only have one pill for each of you. And they only last three minutes,” Spider warns.
“So, three minutes to go up a mountain full of demented immortal creatures. Great!” East replies.
“Thanks for getting us these,” Swoop says.
“Um…yeah, it’s cool. So if you need anything, call. I mean anything at all,” Spider says as he walks away. He turns back to Randy.
“Hey, Spider, the new Superman is out, wanna catch it with me since my best friend is deserting me?” Randy says pointedly.
“I feel your pain. I’ve been left behind too,” he jokes.
Swoop smiles and shakes her head, knowing that was directed at her.
“But I’m not really into Superman. I mean, he’s okay, but I kind of like the bad guys. I like the Watchmen. It’s good to know that sometimes bad guys win,” Spider says as he takes off.
“Bird, when are you going to put that guy out of his misery and go on a date with him already?” I ask.
“I asked him if he wanted to go for a walk a few weeks back, and he said no,” she replies.
“Aw, Swoop, you made him nervous,” Pry says.
“Okay, okay. I will stay home, but promise me, on this mission if any of you ever get the chance to strike a rod into the dirt and say, ‘You shall not pass!’ please record it for me,” Randy begs.
Pryor laughs and places her arms around him lovingly.
I asked her earlier if she wanted to have Randy watched all the time, but Pry said it would breed distrust. And she didn’t want that to drive Randy even closer to Malakaro. So for now, we’re tracking Randy, but in my opinion, not as closely as we should.
A few hours later, we are at the base of Mount Egon. Since it’s a no-fly zone, we can’t go over it; we have to get through it and to the other side, where we will find the Leap of Faith (floating steps). The steps should take us right to the White Lady. We give her the stone; she lets us get the venom we need.
Pryor gives the signal; we are no longer allowed to speak. Before us stands a mountain of sleeping Egons with dome heads, rotting flesh, and skeletal frames. We are about to climb on the backs of the very things that could kill us. If everything doesn’t go as planned, we will have no time to fix it. Knowing that, the team is focused and on high alert.
Pryor points to her watch to remind us that we have three minutes to get to the top of the mountain. If we are not at the top by then, we will become visible to the Fire Swans circling above our heads. While the Egons won’t be able to see us, should the birds above spot us, they will cry out, alerting the Egons to our presence. So in order to stay alive, we have to be quick and quiet.
Pryor gives us the signal, and we all ingest the pill at the same time. As soon as I swallow it, I can feel the coating take effect. It’s like someone placed a warm blanket over me. I signal to the others, grateful that we can see each other. We have three minutes, and our time starts now.
We all latch on to the nearest Egon. Like the rest of the team, I place my hands over their fleshy, cold skulls. I lift my leg and insert it in the opening in the rib cage of one of the Egons. We begin our ascent.
No one told us that Egons’ flesh is slippery or that they reek of death and bile. But no matter how awful it is, we have no choice but to keep going. So we dig our hands into their eyes sockets, in between their ribs, and up their spinal cords. We latch on to anything that will allow us to get one step closer to the top of the mountain.
Pryor signals to us that we have one minute left. We have managed to climb at a steady pace, but we are only halfway up the mountain. In order to reach the top in the next sixty seconds, I motion to the team that we have to climb faster. In her haste, Swoop misses a step and goes tumbling down the mountain.
Fuck!
Swoop manages to grab on to the boney ankle of an Egon just as she’s about to hit the ground. However, she is quickly losing her grip. East reaches out for her; she manages to grab his hand and keep from falling further. But now the Egon’s rib that East was holding onto can’t handle the added weight; it snaps off, sending both Swoop and East down the mountain. Diana quickly throws down a Tint; it quickly attaches itself to Diana’s palm and forms a gel-like harness around Swoop and East. But Diana can’t pull them up; she’s not strong enough with her powers gone.
I try desperately, but I’m too far away to reach Diana. It’s up to Pryor, who manages to make it over and help. Together they rescue Swoop and East. Unfortunately, our time is now up. The warm blanket has been lifted. The invisible coating has worn off. As of right now, every Fire Swan can see us.
We all look at each other with terror in our eyes. We are expecting the Fire Swans to swarm down on us. The second their fiery cries hit the air, the Egons will awake and our death will be all but certain. Yet seconds go by and there are no cries, no sound at all. We look up, and the Fire Swans don’t notice us yet. In fact, the flock is heading away from us. They may have found a new feeding ground, or maybe they are off to mate. All that matters is, as of right now, we are not on their radar.
“We need to go no
w,” Pryor mouths soundlessly as she starts climbing up the mountain. We follow her lead and quickly aim for the mountaintop. Overhead, all the Fire Swans are almost out of the area completely—all but one of them, a baby Fire Swan. The more it flies, the more confused I am by its flight pattern. It goes up and down in the sky and flies in a bizarre zigzag pattern. That’s when it hits me—Nix is playing with the creature.
For Nix, this is a fun game where we can make the Fire Swan dance and do tricks. But if the rest of the flock notes the swan’s behavior, we are in serious danger. I signal to Diana to stop Nix from playing with the bird, but she can’t see me. Before we can stop him, Nix summons the last Fire Swan in the area to come and play. Excited, the Fire Swan lets out an ear-piercing cry.
The entire flock hears it and swiftly heads for us. They swoop down and bathe the mountain with flames. We are a breath away from being burned alive. We move quickly, latching on to different Egon bones to help us get to the top. But from the corner of my eye, I spot a series of bright blue flaming eyes opening all around us. They are awake. They are all awake.
“We gotta move!” I shout.
It’s too late; suddenly there are thousands of boney, fiery Egons clawing at us from all sides. They yank and pull relentlessly, trying to get our flesh. The frenzied mob climbs over each other like they are possessed. As the nest of Egons follows us onto the top of the mountain, the sky above is red with the flaming breath of pissed off Fire Swans.
We activate our individual weapons. Given that we are so heavily outnumbered, there is no reason to think that we will survive. Yet, we fight like hell anyway. Our years of training don’t fail us, but being skilled doesn’t mean you will make it out alive. So right before we attack, we all look at each other, knowing these may be the last few moments of our lives. We nod to each other in solidarity. If we die here, we die among friends.
Pry whips out her poison-dipped sword, leaps into the air, and drives it right through an Egon’s head. The bright light in the Egon’s eyes fades to black as he collapses on the ground. East spins his spiked hammer in the air and makes contact with two Egons as they are about to feast on Swoop’s legs. The spikes go clean through the creatures, who fall sideways off the mountain.
Diana drives her sphere into the Egons’ chests, one Egon after another. A nearby Egon latches on to her and yanks her overboard; East catches Diana by the tail end of her shirt. The Egons still crawling on the side of the mountain pull on Diana, desperate to throw her down into the abyss. They claw and paw at her with their clawlike fingers. Diana screams in agony as strips of flesh from her thigh are being stripped away.
Once again I am too far away to help. And even if I could, I am taking on five Egons. I crack two of their skulls with my heel, jab my blades in between the ribs of another two, and then pull. Their rib bones pop off like human champagne corks.
But no matter how well I fight, I can’t get to Diana because the fifth Egon bites into my shoulder blade and tries to tear my arm from my body. I tell myself to ignore the pain. Pain just slows shit down. But my body isn’t really listening to me. I know I can take this Egon asshole, but I can’t do it and reach Diana.
“Nix, it’s playtime! Call your friend. Make him show you his fire. Make him fire away from your mom,” I shout to the Sib.
Diana’s markings start to glow, and just as the Egons are about to skin Diana alive completely, the baby Fire Swan playfully opens fire on them. The fire doesn’t kill the Egons, but it does cause them to back off so Swoop can help Diana get back onto solid ground. I manage to get the upper hand on the fifth Egon thanks to Pry’s quick sword and perfect timing.
The messed-up fact is no matter how much or how well we fight, the Egons always get up again. And every time we get the upper hand, we are forced to retreat thanks to the sea of flames coming at us from above.
“Where the hell is the symbol to let us into the entrance to the valley?” East shouts as he body slams an Egon to the ground, only to have another one crawl up his back.
“It has to be here somewhere. Keep looking!” I shout as I jam my blade under an Egon’s chin. It comes out through the top of her head. Her eyes go black and she falls. But as soon as we kill one set of bright eyes, a few more pop open again.
“Does anyone see the Leap Symbol?” Swoop asks.
“I’m looking, I’m looking!” East says.
“Well, hurry up!” I order.
“Sorry, I’m a little busy here,” East replies as he tries to stop Diana from bleeding to death.
Shit!
I ram my way past a dozen Egons and get to Diana. She has lost a lot of blood and is shaking uncontrollably.
“Damn it, we have to find that symbol now!” I roar as I look into her face.
“Aaden, look out!” Pryor shouts as she careens across the mountain, trying to save me from a danger I have yet to see. By the time I turn around, it’s too late. The blaze hits me face first, or at least it would have if Nix hadn’t convinced the Fire Swan to redirect his blast. He may not be able to control all the birds, but he impresses the hell out of me.
“Thanks, kid!” I reply to Diana’s markings.
“We have to get out of here right now!” Swoop begs as she uses her curved machete to cut an Egon in half.
“Diana will bleed to death out here if we don’t get moving,” East says.
“Where is your pouch of mixtures?” Pryor asks as she bashes an Egon in the knee, causing her to topple off to the side.
“It fell overboard. It’s gone,” Diana says as she starts to lose consciousness.
I look over the side of the mountain and spot a red pouch sitting on the chest of a temporarily dead Egon. I alert the team and let them know I’m going to head down the mountain to try to reach it before the Egon rises again.
“Aaden, I can’t let you go into that dense pit of Egons,” Pry says sternly.
“We can’t let Diana and Nix die here on this mountain,” I reply.
“Yeah, I know. But let me go—I’m lighter than you. You can lower me down the side and hold my legs,” she says.
“Okay, I’ll clear a path for you. East and Swoop, keep going for the symbol. It’s our only way off this mountain of crap,” I order as I slice my way through and make a small path for Pry.
“Can you swing over and reach it before he wakes?” I ask.
“Yeah, I got it,” she says as she climbs down onto the makeshift ledge to retrieve the mixtures to save Diana. I do a good job at keeping the Egons away from me, but there is nothing I can do about the fire from above. Three times, the blaze touches Pry’s hand and sears patches of her skin off. But she finally reaches the pouch. She goes to snatch it off the unconscious Egon, but he wakes up and yanks her down to the hell below.
“Aaden!” I hear Pry call as she falls to her death, or so I think. She is scooped up at the last minute by someone riding a silver Tally, a bird that has the ability to freeze things and is the natural enemy of the Fire Swan. The being at the helm of the Tally is the Kon.
“Bex…” she says as he flies her back to the top of the mountain. He doesn’t really acknowledge her. Instead he addresses the team as he tackles the Egons head-on.
“Swoop, I have a pouch with me. Give it to Diana, quickly!” the Kon orders. Swoop takes a blue pouch from Bex and runs over to aid Diana. In the midst of all the chaos and blood, it seems the world slows down for two former lovers. They exchange a quick yet intense look. Then we all get back to fighting. I hate to say it, but having Bex and the Tally helps us gain some balance in the fight.
“I found the Leap Symbol!” East says.
“Great, let’s go!” Pry replies as she takes the lead and steps on the circular symbol carved in the ground. Soon, a floating crystal staircase appears. Each step is for one member to stand on.
“According to the symbol engraved on the first step, this measures purity of heart,” Pry tells us.
“Okay, so if you are pure of heart, let’s go!” Swoop says as she
leaps onto the steps. We all follow and await the two beings that have not come with us.
“Bex, Diana, let’s go,” East says.
“I can’t,” she says. We are all wounded in some way, but thanks to the mixtures from Bex, Diana is nearly as good as new. She should be fine to leap onto one of the steps.
“If I’m not pure of heart, it will take me to the house of fire,” Diana says to herself in a whisper.
“But you are. You started out kind of nuts, but you are pure of heart,” Swoop tells her.
“Pry, should I?” she asks.
“Yeah, you should. Now if it was a staircase that judged how well you dealt with friendships, I would say stay with the Egons, but yeah, you can get on this one.”
“Guys, we need to hurry. The Tally can’t hold everyone back forever,” East reminds us.
“Bex, are you coming?” Pryor asks.
“No, I’ll handle things up here. I just came in case…I’m fine here,” he says as he gets on his Tally and takes flight. Pryor is about to say something but then thinks better of it.
“Diana, move your ass!” I shout. Having no choice, she leaps onto the nearest step, and it goes straight down as if to take her to the house of fire.
“No!” Pryor shouts.
Thankfully, the step rebounds back up and levels itself out. The floating steps glide across the sky, and our powers return to us. The steps take us down to the ground, onto a dirt road. Just beyond the road is the Devil’s Backbone. It has a vast forest of twisted trees, scavenger birds, and a black-colored lake. A shimmering dome covers the entire area. We run towards it to get a better look.
“We really need to talk to our travel agent about getting us better mission locations. Not that this place isn’t lovely, but next time, I’m thinking spring break in Cancun, Mexico. Who’s with me?” East says.
“Count me in,” Swoop says.
“Where’s the Lady in White? Isn’t she supposed to be here to let us beyond the force field?” I ask.
“She’s not going to let us in,” East says as he looks towards the forest.
