Everville: The City of Worms

by Roy Huff

  “Varrick, we have the position of the armies of Them, but there is something else. Them are attempting to give the worms sentience. If Them succeed, your army will be in grave danger. It may very well be a battle from which you will not return.”

  “That is indeed very troubling, and I’m not sure how to defend against such an unpredictable thing. I have, however, sent just half of my armies to the tunnel underneath the monolith. If we lose half our army, it won’t be a total defensive loss, but it will still be a great loss in the lives of our soldiers and their families. Nevertheless, my army of giants will do their best to prevail. We are not afraid of death, only of inaction as a result of the fear of death,” General Varrick said stoically.

  “Once again, General, words cannot express our gratitude for your continued allegiance and wisdom, which are rare for races in the borderlands,” The Keeper replied.

  “It’s time to alert Borak and the rest of your army. When the sun moves another ten angles in the sky, send your soldiers in through the tunnel, and our armies will do the same. The armies of Everville will escort Owen Sage to The Second Pillar, where he will attempt to uncover The Second Pillar of Truth of the Universe, and with it a solution to thwart Them’s plan. Our armies will then converge on the armies of Them, the armies of Everville from the west and your army from the south. Good luck. Your army will need it, and so will ours.”

  “Good luck to your armies as well, Keeper, and if they die, may they die a good death in the battle against our common enemy.”

  Back at The City of Worms, Mallory had remained with the armies of Them, and Them had once again entered his mind. This time, however, there was no one there to slap him out of it. He had been given a choice by Them, and he had relented. In order to save his own skin, he had given Them the plan of The Keeper and General Varrick.

  In response to the information Mallory had provided, the bulk of armies of Them marched south with tremendous speed. The remaining contingent stayed with Mallory in the hopes of succeeding in giving the worms sentience. Them were close, but success still eluded Them.

  CHAPTER 24:

  THE ELEMENT

  Back at the Echo Club, Cleophas and the nine had spent the greater part of the day studying, researching, and using the knowledge of the objects to try and ascertain additional bits of information about the current state of the breach and The City of Worms, but without much success.

  “Where is it? Where is it?” Cleophas asked.

  “Where is what?” Avery replied.

  “My medicine. I haven’t been able to find it, so I haven’t taken it all day.”

  “Jack and I will look around and see if we can find it for you, Cleophas,” Avery said.

  “Why don’t you just keep working with Owen and the others to see what you can find?”

  “Well, all right then,” Cleophas responded as he headed back to the tables and watched over the shoulders of the others while they continued working.

  Cleophas was standing over Owen’s shoulder when he looked up and said, “The objects so far haven’t provided any additional clues, Cleophas, but The Keeper will be calling me back to Everville soon in the hopes of finding The Second Pillar of Truth. It’s getting late, so I think I should be heading back to my dorm. I’ve got some homework to do anyway, and I was hoping to have it done before I was called back.”

  “Yeah, it is getting late,” Anika said, “and I have a ton of homework, too. Maybe it would be good if we came back in the morning when we’re fresh. I think most of us have a lot a homework as well because of catch-up work from the storm.”

  “You know, Anika, I think that’s a good idea. Why don’t all of you head back home and you can stop by before your first class,” Avery said.

  “Okay, I guess I’m out of here. I’ll see everyone in the morning,” Dante replied.

  The rest of the nine started to leave, and before long, Jack, Avery, and Cleophas were all that remained.

  “You know, I don’t see your medicine around here anywhere, Cleophas. Maybe you left it at home. Why don’t I call you tomorrow morning and we can go to the pharmacist if you still can’t find it then,” Avery said.

  “Thanks, Avery. Sorry for being so absentminded today.”

  “No need to apologize, Cleophas. It happens to the best of us,” Avery replied.

  “Well, I’m going to get going, too. I’ll check in with you in the morning as well, and I’ll see you here at the club sometime before lunch,” Jack said.

  After grabbing some papers and a few other things, Avery and Jack walked out the door. Cleophas was now alone with his thoughts and the objects that resided in the great inner room of the Echo Club.

  Earlier in the morning, Jacob had been released from police custody to his adoptive parents. He had since spent the greater part of the day planning what he needed to do in order to get the container back from Zee, who he now believed had given it over to Owen.

  It was just a hunch, but based on Jacob’s knowledge of the membership and structure of the clubs, it made sense that the most likely location of the container was the Echo Club, which was where he was now headed. He had waited until late in the evening in the hopes that most of the members would be away, and lucky for Jacob, he was right.

  He wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to find the collector that held the element, but his plan was to break in and search the club if no one was there. His backup plan was to pretend to be interested in joining if there were leadership present, though he wasn’t sure how well that would go over if they were privy to all of the recent happenings. If that didn’t work, there was always brute force.

  Jacob approached the front door of the Echo Club and looked around to see if anyone was watching. He looked to his left, to his right, and then to his rear. He had a lock-pick in his hand that he was going to use to jimmy the lock on the door. He peeked inside and saw that the light was on, so he tried to see if would open first, and it did.

  Jacob had a few objects in his pocket, as well as a couple of small weapons just in case he needed them. He felt them and imagined using them against one of his would-be victims. He felt the sides of a sharp metal blade that protruded from the end of a small dagger. He touched the grip of a small handle belonging to a nightstick, which he thought would make an excellent blunt instrument to use for something like this.

  He then started looking around the room but saw nothing out the ordinary—until, that is, he noticed the second door leading to the inner room. As all the others before him, the second door took a while to be noticed, as if it were protected by something that didn’t want the door to be seen. He approached the door with caution, and then he pushed on the handle.

  The door made a sound as he pushed; it was locked. He jiggled the knob a few more times and was about to use his pick, but Cleophas had heard the door and pulled it open.

  Jacob fumbled with his fingers in a hurry to put away the pick, and just in time. Cleophas opened the doors to the inner room wide, and Jacob was in awe. He turned in every direction and marveled at the rows of bookshelves that extended high into the elevated ceiling. He looked at the objects that decorated both the walls and various tables in the room. Jacob was now convinced that the container was somewhere in this room, it was just a matter of finding it in all this clutter.

  “Ah, you’re back, Owen. I thought you were headed home to do some homework and wait for The Keeper. You look different, and I see you changed your clothes,” Cleophas said.

  Jacob stood there for a moment, thinking, but it didn’t take too long for him to go along with whatever lapse in mental function or vision was plaguing the old man.

  “Oh yes,” Jacob started, before realizing he didn’t know the man’s name.

  “I just realized that I wanted to look around some more just in case it would help with what The Keeper wanted,” Jacob continued.

  “Good for you, Owen. I knew you had what it took to save the world. Now let’s see what we can get for you,” Cleophas repli
ed.

  Jacob continued to scour the room looking for any and all potential containers or hiding places, while Cleophas brought over a few objects. Jacob inspected the objects and figured they’d be useful, but none of them resembled a container. He decided to go for it. What did he have to lose?

  “You know what would really be helpful?” Jacob said.

  “What’s that, Owen?” Cleophas replied.

  “The container with the element,” Jacob replied.

  “Element. Element. Now let’s see, what was the element again? Oh yes, I remember. I think it’s over here,” Cleophas said as he fumbled around, looking at each of the books on one particular bookshelf.

  Cleophas triggered a secret opening and took out an object.

  “No, that’s not it,” he said as he put it back.

  “Maybe it was over here,” he said, as he went to another bookshelf.

  Cleophas continued with the same routine, moving from one bookshelf to the next. It was clear he could not remember where he had put it, and he often repeated back to himself what he was looking for. Jacob had begun to grow annoyed with the whole process and he decided to take matters into his own hands.

  Jacob, like Owen, possessed the power to transport himself between worlds. Of course, while Jacob was most strongly tied to The Other In Between, that being his lineage, he was also able to get a strong sense of the history of an object through touch and focus. Jacob picked up one of the objects in front of him. It was a photograph of Dala. He picked up the photograph and held it in his hand. He let the memory of the photograph take him wherever it wanted.

  Jacob could see now what Cleophas had done and what he had researched, but that was less useful to him. Jacob already knew about the element and so much more, even more than Cleophas. At that moment, the only thing he cared about was its location, and now he had it, as well as the name of the scattered old man before him.

  “Cleophas, I think you put it over there in that bookshelf on the second row,” Jacob said solicitously.

  “Yes, that’s right. Thanks, Owen,” Cleophas replied.

  Cleophas walked back to the bookshelf that he had already passed by numerous times. He was close the first time, the same bookshelf in fact; only one row down and he would have had it. He pressed on the top of the two center books of that row, and a large compartment opened up. He reached in and grabbed the container that held the element.

  “Ah, there you are,” Cleophas said as he touched the sides of the container. “Here it is, Owen,” he said as he handed the container to Jacob.

  “And there you are too,” Cleophas continued as he saw the plastic pill bottle that he had forgotten in the same compartment.

  Cleophas unscrewed the top of the bottle and went into the other room to get some water to help wash down the two blue and yellow capsules that he had just placed in his mouth. He opened a small refrigerator and pulled out a small bottle of water. He washed down the pills, and then he drank half the water in the bottle. He sprinkled a few drops on his face and stood there a moment, rubbing his face with his hand as if to make himself more alert.

  Cleophas walked back into the inner room and watched as Jacob picked up each one of the objects and attempted to glean whatever information he could. Now that Jacob had the container, he was free to do a little spying for the other side.

  Jacob stood there for at least an hour, devouring all the information he could on each of the objects. Unlike Owen, Jacob had been at this for a very long time, and he was quite adept and gathering information and traveling between realms. Jacob was also skilled in the art of deception, something that came in very handy for the current task.

  Cleophas was starting to come out of the haze that had engulfed him after the medication had cleared his system. He was starting to think a little clearer and see a little better. Jacob was starting to come into focus. He was starting to remember.

  Jacob put down the final object and gleaned the last piece of information he could before making his final move. He picked up the container that held the element. He touched its surface and enjoyed its smooth texture. He loved the idea of holding actual power in the palm of his hand. More than that, it was what this particular bit of power was about to let him do that excited him, and then he did it.

  Cleophas watched as the container that Jacob was holding in his hand vanished. That was the final piece; that action woke Cleophas from his stupor.

  “Hey, wait a second. You’re not Owen!” Cleophas exclaimed.

  “That’s right, you senile old man. I’m not Owen, not that it matters now,” Jacob responded.

  “What have you done with the element? Give it back.”

  “I’m not giving anything back, and what I’ve done with the element doesn’t really matter anymore, now does it. It’s already done,” Jacob said.

  “Listen, you reckless boy, you may think you have gotten away with this but you haven’t. Whatever you’ve done will come back to you, and we will find a way to undo it. Now tell me what you’ve done,” Cleophas demanded.

  “Awww, you look so helpless. It’s almost cute. You call me the child and yet, in your old age, in your weakened state, it’s you who looks like a child, like a frightened, scared infant who’s been startled by a toy that just fell over and made a scary sound.

  “Well, let me tell you something, Cleophas. You can play Sherlock Holmes all you want, but you’re an old man with a dying brain. You’ll never figure it out, so why don’t I just have a little fun with you? Since you’re too stupid to comprehend the exact magnitude of what I’ve done, why don’t I just tell you?”

  Jacob stood up and walked over to Cleophas, who towered head and shoulders above him. Jacob had to pull up a chair just to see eye to eye. The adrenaline flowing through Jacob’s body, and the sense of security that came from the dagger in his pocket, gave him a false courage. Jacob took his free hand and grabbed Cleophas’ throat. He pressed down hard and listened while Cleophas gasped for air.

  “Listen. Do you hear that? That’s the sound of an old man who’s already close to death wondering if this is the moment he’s going to die.”

  Arrogance had gotten the better of Jacob. The objects may have given him a little information about Cleophas, but he hadn’t fully grasped just exactly who Cleophas was. Cleophas may have been old, but weak he was not. In spite of the lack of oxygen, Cleophas picked Jacob up by the throat and tossed him to the floor.

  Startled, he reached for the dagger in his pocket and lunged towards Cleophas, who swatted his hand down like it was a slow fly. Jacob attempted to retrieve the dagger, but Cleophas pinned him to the wall. Jacob reached in his other pocket and pulled out the nightstick, but Cleophas took that from him as well and let it fall to the ground.

  “Now, Jacob, I believe you were about to tell me something,” Cleophas said in a very calm tone. “Where is the container and what are you planning to do with it?”

  “Well, Cleophas, this little show of yours is really just academic. It’s already done. I have sent the container to The Other In Between. Them have been trying to give the worms sentience. Them were planning on using Oldrik’s makeshift container once the beetles were destroyed in addition to the power of the breach. Even Oldrik was unaware.

  “Them knew about the existence of the worms and were hoping to find them with the element from the makeshift container, but once Oldrik had given himself over to Them, that was no longer necessary. The only problem was that Them didn’t have enough of the element to get past The Second Pillar which protects The City of Worms. Them had almost enough, but not quite. Now you see, don’t you? It’s too late. Them will be able to give the worms sentience.”

  “Do you realize what you’ve just done?”

  “Of course I do. That’s I why I just did it,” Jacob said.

  “You stupid fool! You stupid, stupid fool!” Cleophas exclaimed.

  “Why so mad, Cleophas?”

  “You can’t control the actions of the worms once they become sen
tient. Power will overrun them just like it will any other creature that attempts to concentrate power in any one place,” Cleophas said.

  “That’s where you’re wrong, old man. See, even The Keepers don’t possess all the knowledge in the universe, and neither do The Seven Pillars of Truth. There are other truths out there, and do you want to know one truth of which you are not aware? No, don’t bother to try and guess, old man. I will tell you.

  “A long time ago, creatures from outside the borderlands came and planted their seed in the universe of Them. Those visitors smelled the sweet scent of darkness that was concentrated in The Other In Between. They set their babies down in The City of Worms. The worms are the progeny of those visitors. When the worms gain sentience, those who first possess them will train them. Those worms will become dragons.”

  CHAPTER 25:

  THE SECOND PILLAR

  Owen had just finished his last homework assignment of the night. While he was preparing for bed and was about to brush his teeth, The Keeper pulled him from his room.

  “Owen, the situation is grave. I am confident that we can overcome the evil, but I fear that there will be dire consequences.”

  “Why? What is it?”

  “I have just heard back from Calvin and the Ubaloo. The armies of Them are planning to give the worms sentience. I have the position of the armies of Them and have given the armies of Everville and the giants ten angles of the sun to prepare their soldiers to cross into The City of Worms. Those ten angles are nearly gone. I need you to transport yourself to the armies’ location near the portal in Brackenbone. Follow the armies across the portal to The Second Pillar.

  “Once the worms gain sentience, it’s unclear what they will do or the danger you may face. The worms possess the power to rip apart entire worlds, so you must hurry and find The Second Pillar of Truth.”

  “Yes, Keeper.”