Light crept through the closed shutters signaling the coming of morning. Finally, the old hag coughed loudly from the back and hobbled out of the room. She smelt sweet even through the loose lid, like she spilled an entire bottle of honey prior to leaving.
She stomped up the stairs to the side of the room and finally disappeared from sight. Egosum laid in wait as the noise upstairs finally died down and silence overtook the room he sat in. The other animals appeared too terrified to even breathe despite her being gone.
‘What kind of monster is she?’ The fear that she might find out he was the one who caused the alarm played in the back of his mind, but now wasn’t the time for indecision.
He stood up in the jar and unscrewed the lid ever so slowly. It had gotten much easier since he was the one who had tightened it last.
The lid steadily turned when the alarm abruptly sounded off, shaking the glass containers and hanging herbs. He froze for a small amount of time before quickly turning it back around to stop it once again.
The stairs shook despite the alarm ending as the hag barreled down them with glowing hands ready to slay whatever intruder there was. Egosum sat still in his jar watching her scan the room with violence barely closed behind her eyes.
“Blasted useless alarm. One of these days I'll turn you off!” She screamed while shaking her fist.
‘Well, she was a liar. I wonder how many times I can do this before she loses her shit?’
And so the alarm onslaught began. He repeated his actions nearly a dozen times to the increasingly frustrated monster that dwelled upstairs. On the final attempt she came down the steps slower than before, unnerving him as he watched her measured footfalls.
Had she found him?
The steps were heavy and purposeful. She took one step after another straight to the back room when noises even louder than the alarm came pouring out. Swears flew at the top of her lungs. Things even Egosum would find himself remiss to say.
A cracking noise followed by static was the final thing to leave the room as she stomped her way back upstairs.
‘What a good sign. Surprised she held out so long.’
He waited for a while before attempting the lid once more. This time it came undone with no other hassle. No alarms or angry old hags came flying his way as he pushed the lid higher and higher up.
The lid popped clean off and dangled to the side of the jar by a fiber string. The room was quiet and still as he slowly inched his way out.
The smells that hung in the air drew him around the area. Deep inhales took him closer and closer to his prize. He had finally found the smell that drove him truly crazy.
A small bundle of orange plants hung to dry further down the shelf. They smelt of the first batch of food he had ever eaten. The delicate aroma tickled his senses as he slowly opened his mouth to take a bite.
The plant matter lit his taste buds up. He saw the future of the world he desired. A wetland world that housed only amphibian kin. The swamps had overtaken the other tribes and countries while the hot sun that baked the earth dry failed to penetrate the clouds up above.
Just as quickly as his mind left the plane he was on, he came back to his senses. The bundle of herbs that sat in front of him blasted him out of his mind and to the greater world beyond.
He wanted to eat more of it. He needed to. The orange plant called to him, but he fought it off.
He couldn't fall to temptation. He needed to control himself.
With the will of a thousand kings, Egosum turned from the plant and looked at the other herbs around the room. They all called for him to take a bite, but nowhere near as strong as that other thing had.
‘Well, if they aren’t so demanding of my attention, I don’t see why it would hurt to pay them some.’
He walked over to the various other bundles to fill his stomach. Each bite sent tingles down his spine, reminding him of his earliest meals.
By the time he found himself full, he had tasted nearly the entire collection of herbs available to him in the alchemist's shop.
The fullness that overcame him was both physical and ethereal. The closest feeling he could remember was when he was eating the wisps in that gray swamp.
The crawl back to the jar was a slog because of all the extra weight, but the nostalgia trip was all worth it. He hopped with all his strength to make it back inside and pulled the lid back over the side to close it.
With his outing a complete success, he sat in the shallow water of his temporary home and drifted off into sleep.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
-
Instead of waking up in the jar, he found himself back in the gray scale swamp for the third time.
“I don't deserve this. What must I do to end this suffering? How can I make amends? Please!” The shouting welcomed him to the pleasant swamp.
“Hello soul soil, how are you?”
“What? Who are you? Ah, oh, it’s you.”
“Well, who else would it be? Do you get many visitors?” Egosum hobbled over to the red soil and sat in front of it.
“I…I… no I do not get any guests other than you.” It spoke in hushed voices as it realized he had finally returned.
The surrounding swamp had changed since he last remembered. The gray swamp had regained a bit of color. Small sprouts all around the area had just broken the surface and began to expand by the time he arrived.
“This place has changed some huh?” He was unsure of what to do now that he was here. He didn’t really feel like arguing and the soul soil seemed to have lost much of its fire that kept it yelling all the time beyond just the normal complaints.
“Huh, I guess it has. Did you finally start cultivating or something? Took you long enough.” The soil below him sagged slightly.
“No, I don't think I did, but this place seems a little more comfortable than last time. Some new foliage is always nice. Am I right?” Egosum walked over to the new sprouts and sniffed them.
It took a few moments for the faintest of smells to break through to his senses. They were weirdly reminiscent of the herbs he had just spent all morning devouring.
“If you haven't even started to cultivate yet, then that stuff shouldn’t even be sprouting. I am just surprised you were even able to find so many spirit herbs so quickly. Especially such potent ones like the camber lily and frog bulbitis.”
“Well, are you having fun here at least?” He turned to look at the sad dirt.
“You know I’m not. I was the celestial demon. I ruled entire swathes of planets and now I am reduced to a patch of dirt in the soul domain of a toad. I am left with nothing and can do nothing. I have no legacy and no future.” Somehow the soil grew even more depressed looking.
“Well, we can talk at least. It's something to do even if it's a little boring, you know. I can talk about my planet. I think the history is pretty interesting.” He shuffled closer to the former wisp and sat in place.
“I…I…I guess that's fine.”
“Why do you do that? The I I thing?”
“I… eh um. It's a habit. Just get on with the story.” It seemed to get flustered at the question before egging him on.
Egosum took a deep breath as he gathered his thoughts.
“Well, it all started with the great goddesses Hekate and Ceneotl. They traveled in tandem through the stars and found our world in a state of death. The lakes were lava. The oceans were boiling. The ground was cracked and dry. They refused to let it stand.”
“They poured their hearts out to the ground, letting their personal mana hearts flow out over the world carrying water and life through every inch of the world. The soil was verdant and the waters were clear.”
“Life had finally reclaimed the world with the influence of the great goddesses. It was a utopia for the amphibians of the world. The educated higher castes ran the civilizations that sprouted out around the lands, coexisting with their lesser bestial brethren.”
“Peace rained for millennia under our rule. It was truly paradisiacal. This all ended abruptly one day. Other gods saw the world that our deities had revitalized and sought to take it for themselves.”
“They knew that if they descended onto the planet themselves that the world would once again fall to ruin in their struggle for dominance. Their godly clashes would flatten the land, returning it to the primordial state our great goddesses found it in.”
“They instead decided to send forth their legions of followers. All sorts of creatures invaded the world. First the reptilian gods sent their hulking masses of destruction and insidious envenomators to wipe us from the face of the planet.”
“Despite all of their attempts at eradicating us, we fought them back out of our swamps except for the most adaptable of their kind. Then came the human gods, dwarf gods, and elven gods.”
“Where the reptiles were merely expanding because they moved on instinct, the new beasts attacked out of disgust and vitriol. They took advantage of all of our weaknesses to beat us back out of society and into the wilds to live amongst the beasts.”
“Millenia passed as the machines of war the evil societies made beat us into the ground. Their vicious magic and heavy metals proved deadly to our soft skin. That all changed when my great master found a way to harness the magic heart within him!”
“Sounds a lot like a qi core.” The rude soil finally interrupted the best part of the story.
“No! It is a mana heart and you will be quiet as I continue!” Egosum huffed in anger at the intrusion.”Now, where was I?”
“Ah. My great master Quetinctol used his impressive size to blend in with the various societies that had beaten us back. He infiltrated the palaces of kings, vaults of hoarders, and the treetops of the elven holy land.”
“In each of these places, he drew inspiration from their teachings while hidden from sight when he finally had an epiphany. The amphibious people were not a warmongering group by nature so they needed to become one through nurturing.”
“He found perfect combinations of plants and animals to enlighten him to the winds of magic that still blew through the lands from the planet's primordial times.”
“Sounds like an awakening pill.” The former wisp spoke in a deadpan tone.
“It was not whatever you just said! Let me finish. I am almost done. Now, my great master had gained this knowledge and put it into use. He made the pill -argh- the um- the herbal bundle and ingested it to awaken-bastard- to stir the magic within him.”
“Using the magic and his intimate knowledge of the wetlands that they called home, he expanded them outwards to bring the fight to the enemies instead of waiting on our own demise.”
“So, he used his understanding of the dao of wetlands and his qi to spread them out into your enemies' lands?” Despite the questioning format, it felt like much more of a statement than Egosum was happy with.
“He empowered dozens of young amphibian-kin to train in his ways and lead their repressed people out of the dark corners of the world the great goddesses Hekate and Ceneotl made impenetrable to the other races.”
“Of the first two dozen younglings, one stood above the rest. The benevolent and powerful mage king Quetulopus! He took over Quetinctol’s position as he grew old and expanded the borders far beyond where they once stood.”
“Nearly a fifth of the continent was pure wetlands and even more housed the front lines of the continual war against the other races. So, what do you think?” He leaned forward and stared at the little spot of dirt.