Chapter 4
Subsurface
Maxith's sleep was interrupted the next morning by the sound of running through the hallways. Eager to find out what the panic was about he shot out of bed and ran to the door and opened it. Soldiers were rushing out of their rooms through the narrow hallways making haste for the exit. Maxith immediately started off with them and asked a soldier next to him what was going on. “We gotta get outside! Quick!” The soldier responded. All the men squeezed through the doorways and the exit like fish in a barrel. Once Maxith managed to push his way through the exit he saw… fish in a barrel. Soldiers were all crowded around watching street vendors cook up fresh fish caught this morning in the lake. Maxith spotted Emerson helping carry barrels filled with fish off a boat by the dock across the street. “What the hell is going on?” Maxith exclaimed. Putting down a heavy barrel next to one of the street vendors hard at work frying the fish for the hungry soldiers Emerson replied, “I woke up early and decided to help out with some fishing, I taught the civilians a thing or two about setting up nets and we struck the mother load!”
“Wait, you know how to fish?”
“As a soldier, we are expected to look after ourselves and finish the mission even with no outside help. It used to be customary to teach all soldiers how to properly fish. If you were sent on a lengthy mission behind enemy lines you have to feed yourself somehow. I make it a point to never let any of my training get rusty so I still go fishing here and there.” The smell of Cajun seasoning was strong in the air and smelled delicious. “Here try one,” Emerson grabbed a plate from the vendor who was just about to hand it to a soldier who had been patiently waiting his turn for breakfast. The dish was white rice with fried fish laid over top and covered in crawfish gumbo. Steam from the warm food flooded Maxith’s nostrils instantly making his mouth water, the spices smelled delectable.
As he pierced the fish with his fork an audible crunch sound emitted from the fried outer layer, he raised the fork full of fish, rice, and crawfish gravy to his mouth and it exploded with flavor. The crunch from the fried fish gave a satisfying texture without forgetting the soft flesh within. Pieces of celery from the gumbo melted in his mouth giving a proper amount of green flavor that wasn't too strong but fit in just right. The crawfish added a saltiness to the dish that was compensated for by not adding any salt to the meal, it worked perfectly. The flavor from the gumbo flooded the previously plain rice giving a whole new outlook on the grain Maxith will never forget. The rice acted as a flavor absorber letting all the spices distribute evenly throughout ensuring the excess of spices don’t overwhelm your taste buds.
“This is amazing!” Maxith said through large bites.
“Fresh ingredients make a big difference kid, always eat local delicacies when traveling.”
“Do we have to pay for all this?”
“Since I gave them some effective tips they returned the favor by feeding us for free. The fishermen had some buddies that are street food vendors so they’re helping out.”
A short time later once everyone had eaten Emerson raised his voice, “GATHER ROUND GIRLS, NOW THAT YOUR TUMMIES ARE FULL IT’S TIME WE GET A MOVE ON!” All falling happily into formation the small army of men began marching once again leaving the beautiful city behind. “So what’s our next move?” Maxith asked. Emerson looked at his map and pointed out a forest, “See that? That’s the Chikalow forest, the locals told me some stories about it, we can’t go around cause it’ll take too long so we have to go through.”
“What kind of stories? Is it dangerous?”
“Apparently those who enter it disappear. Hopefully it’s just bullshit to scare children from going in and getting lost, but we will see.”
Two hours of travel later they began to approach the forest. The dense tree line looked intimidating to Maxith after hearing the folklore, but to any normal passerby, it seemed like a normal forest. Emerson turned to yell to the group, "ALRIGHT LADIES, I KNOW SOME OF YOU ARE SCARED OF THE DARK BUT REAL WOMEN LIKE MAXITH HERE NOT ONLY SHAKES IN HIS BOOTS LIKE YOU, HE PISSES IN 'EM TOO!" Manly laughter emitted from the crowd of soldiers, "SO FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE, AND WITH THAT BEING SAID KEEP YOUR FUCKING EYES OPEN FOR THREATS!" As the group entered the forest shadows enveloped the marching men. Maxith asked Emerson, "How long will it take to get through this forest?" Emerson responded while scanning the area ahead like he was looking for something, "The inside of it is unmapped and it’s a pretty big forest so it might take around two hours."
Somewhere near the back of the formation, two soldiers walked next to each other in the group talking. "I bet Jenny would go out with you if you came back from this with a few kills under your belt, she's looking for a real man, not some pansy ass." said the soldier on the right. "Ya think so? I mean I've been meaning to ask her out for a while now but I can't seem to bring myself to do it. What if she says no?" the soldier on the left responded.
"Listen man, you really gotta step up and stop being such a bitch, she was totally eyeing you up the other night at the tavern."
"Maybe you're right, I've been training all these years for something like this, I think I'll come back from the raid with a newfound confidence after experiencing some battle and I'll walk right up to her and ask her to join me for some lunch."
"There ya go man! Besides I'm sure with all that yoga she does she's itching to get some action in the bed! HAHA!" The soldier on the right laughed while going for an elbow into the other soldier's side but hit nothing. He looked over expecting to see his mate's face all red from his sarcastic statement but saw nothing but the empty forest a few feet from him. Confused he looked behind him thinking he left to talk to the soldiers there. He turned to see other men talking shit to each other not paying attention and laughing, his friend was nowhere in sight. He turned to the soldier on his right and said, "Hey where did Fothner go? He was just here next to me." The other soldier responded, "He'll if I know maybe he we-" Suddenly the man speaking right in front of him fell below as if he tripped, upon looking down to see him on the ground he saw nothing but dirt.
"What the fuck?!" he reacted loudly. The men behind him looked forward to see what was wrong. "Did you see that? He just fucking disappeared!" Before the clueless men could answer he heard screaming from in front of him. The soldier turned to see another frightened man who looked as if he just witnessed something horrible happen before his eyes. Immediately the man ran to hop on the horse carriage next to him but as he grasped the wood ledge to jump in a circle of earth tilted slightly up and from it quickly emerged long brown claws reaching for the man. It grabbed his leg and pulled aggressively to try and bring him into the hole. With his grasp tightly on the carriage he held on screaming preventing himself from getting swallowed into the hole.
The soldier quickly ran forward and drew his sword cutting the claws on the man's leg, the release of tension from the struggle caused him to lose his grip on the carriage and fall to the ground. The circle of earth quickly plopped back down after the claws retracted back into the hole, the ground looked as if nothing had happened. As he went to give his hand to help the man get back up another circle of dirt cracked open right next to the man's head. Multiple claws enveloped his face and pulled his whole body into the darkness. Right before the earth plopped closed again the soldier saw a glimpse of the creature within.
He saw a massive skull-shaped head with sickly light brown skin almost vacuum-packed to it. You could see the veins as dark lines, like spider webs running across the skin. Large hollow eye sockets took up most of the "face" area, you could see the bone deep in the back of the sockets behind the darkness in them. Below the sockets were pointy teeth lined up along the bottom of the skull like the upper jaw of a human but no lower jaw was there to be seen. Somewhere in the darkness the long, brown and black, spiky, spider-like claws connected to the rest of its unseen body. Seeing the man get swallowed into the abyss everyone began to panic, the soldier who witnessed the creature yelled out, "DEATHMITES!" just before he too got swallowed into a hole of his own.
The group of men scattered trying to get away from the ground and climbing into the carriages, but they could only hold so many people. Others climbed into trees and held onto branches. From the higher point of view, you could see people here and there drop into oblivion within the crowd of scrambling individuals. Maxith at the front didn’t know what to do and began to dismount his horse planning on making his way into a tree. Emerson grabbed ahold of his arm tight preventing him from dismounting, “Don’t Maxith! Stay on the horse, they won’t try to take in something so large.” Yelling now he stated, “DON’T RUN, THEY FEEL VIBRATIONS IN THE GROUND!” Paying no mind to his yelling amongst the madness everyone was still scattering. “JUST STAND STILL AND LISTEN TO ME!”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Are you sure? What if they just wind up sitting ducks!?” Maxith opposed Emerson’s outlandish idea.
“I know what I’m doing, just help me stop them!” The two of them rode their horses back across the ocean of panicked men shouting, “STOP MOVING, THEY WON’T ATTACK IF THEY DON’T KNOW YOU’RE THERE!” A large majority of the soldiers put their faith in Emerson but some didn’t listen. Of those who didn’t listen they either got to a tree safely on time or got swallowed whole into the pitch black with the disgusting creatures. Those who stood still didn’t dare move a muscle or speak. Once everything calmed down Emerson spoke and everyone listened intently, “Listen well for your lives depend on it, those of you on foot must walk slowly and carefully. If your footfall is too heavy they will feel it and pounce just like a trapdoor spider to an insect.”
“How would you know?” A voice inquired from somewhere in the group. “I’ve dealt with these in the eastern continent, they’re not native here in the western continent, especially a nest this big. The carriages can only carry half of us at most, the other half will have to wait until we unload the first half outside the forest.”
“I’m not waiting around here with these monsters!” Another voice spoke up from a tree.
“WELL, THEN I SUGGEST YOU GET TO WALKING! THOSE OF YOU TOO PUSSY TO FOLLOW ORDERS CAN GET YOURSELF KILLED TAKING YOUR CHANCES. IF YOU DO MAKE IT OUT ALIVE ILL EXECUTE YOU MYSELF FOR DISOBEYING A DIRECT ORDER!” Flustered Emerson began leading the way with his horse. Maxith and the carriages followed while the rest waited in the trees or stood frozen in place like statues.
Reaching the other side of the forest took about an hour for the group. The carriages immediately overflowed with bodies once back into an open field. Sighs of relief could be heard as stress was lifted off of their shoulders. Emerson got off his horse and immediately went to one of the horse-drawn carriages taking a position as the driver, “Maxith! Let's g-” Emerson began as he noticed Maxith already on another carriage preparing to go back in. Maxith stood awkwardly atop his carriage and said, “The longer we wait here the more our men back in there risk their lives! We need volunteers to drive the carriages back in there with us!” Emerson let Maxith take control knowing it was good for him. Soldiers slowly began standing up to go back in. ‘Well he’s still figuring it out,’ Emerson thought to himself while chuckling. “That should be enough,” Emerson began, “One man per carriage, let's get our boys back.”
Re-entering the forest wasn’t something Maxith was interested in but was something he knew he had to do. Every breath he took felt unsure but in the back of his mind he knew he had to lead by example. What would his soldiers think of him if he sent others to do his dirty work for him, not much of a leader at that point, just someone who points and demands.
Silently traversing the now death whispering terrane Maxith and the others steering their carriages looked to the ground in fear. Not a single word was spoken on the way for it felt taboo in the scenario despite the fact it wouldn’t stir the deathmites from the safety they sat. Only inches away from their bench was the possibility of falling into your own miniature hell. Even though you obviously knew you wanted to stay atop your carriage safe and sound, you couldn’t help but feel the call of the abyss licking your ears from below. This discomfort led many to scoot away from the edge for room.
With the horses less weighed down this time around it only took half an hour to get back. Upon their arrival, it was obvious a few more had been swallowed up during the wait. Excitement from those in the trees was quickly shushed by those on the ground sweating bullets. First Maxith and the others helped those still on the ground at risk. Bringing their carriages within arms reach allowed the stranded men to grab ahold and pull themselves inside while moving their lower bodies as little as possible. Once off the ground they flipped themselves into safety with a sigh of relief. With the ticking time bombs now defused it was time to worry about those up above. Parking the carriages under the trees for those in them to drop down was all that needed to be done for them. Once everyone was collected they turned around and headed for the exit one last time.
As they continued down the now familiar path with minimal risk Emerson turned to Maxith and said, "You did good kid, leading by example is important. Not many men out there are capable of ignoring their fear for the greater good without outside influence."
"What do you mean?" Maxith said with a puzzled look.
"A leader is capable of leading others because he does not need a leader to make hard choices for him. You knew getting those men back was a requirement, but you didn't let the fear consume you and force the logic out of your head. Situations like that are similar to war, no one ever really wants to charge into battle, your mind eats away all your thoughts screaming to stay safe and back away and cower like a dog. You were capable of accepting that fear, pushing it aside, and instead think of what charging in meant, what the reason for you charging in is really for. That's why a leader is needed, to speak his mind and remind everyone why we're doing this, to give reason to dive head first into suffering and keep a level head knowing it's worth it."
Hearing these words improved Maxith’s confidence in his capabilities. He understood that Emerson was right, that he should be more concerned about acting rather than worrying. What Maxith also understood was that knowing is different than doing. It would take time to solidify this change in his character, and it would be something he had to actively pursue. Soon their conversation blended into the sound of idle chatter as the sound of footsteps and soldiers speaking overcame the fields of freedom outside the dreaded forest.
Days passed as they traveled, giving way to numb minds and feelings of boredom. The thought of possibly dying in the next few days flooded everybody's mind but no one spoke of it, for it would be like giving in to weakness and sentencing themselves to death in battle. If one could not handle the mental stressor of war how could they survive the actual action of it? All but one felt this way. In the world, some men will always exist who feel as though their life is meant to happen, for what cause and purpose unknown but it all had to mean something. Everything up to this couldn't have been for naught, it's simply impossible. Greater things are meant to be achieved and change to be made. Death here would be too soon and simply wouldn't align with their belief in his unseen, unknown, and possibly unwritten destiny.
Who gets to have destiny though? And why? Do some not and others do? Is it selfish to think you have a destiny and be ignorant of the idea you might be stealing other's destinies from them via your success? By default your success means other's failure. This guarantees someone at some point in time has had their self-given purpose stolen by another. If that one person now has no purpose then what if we all have no purpose and it's all just random? What are the rules? Who or what makes them in the first place? Ignorance of these questions can lead to someone having a false idea of their importance, always believing in their uprising to a greater meaning. Maybe this false belief is what leads to such change in the first place. If no belief is present at all then why even try? Why are you even alive right now? Maybe your purpose has passed and you are simply a play piece in another's story now to be discarded at any given moment. Even though such events occur what would happen if you hold onto the false belief despite your non-ignorance to the questions? Will that reignite your destiny that was always meant to be or is that simply forging a new one? Maybe some people have one big purpose and others have several sma- STOP!! STOP IT!!!!!!!! STOP IT!!!!!!
NO MORE NOISE! I CANT TAKE IT! IT'S SO LOUD, SO UNBEARABLY AND UNSPEAKABLY LOUD! WE KEEP GOING AND GOING BUT NOTHING CHANGES! MORE QUESTIONS, MORE PROBLEMS, AND EVEN MORE ASSUMPTIONS! NO SOLUTION COULD POSSIBLY PUT US AT REST! END IT PLEASE!!! NO MORE NO MORE NO MORE NO MORE NO MORE!!!
Indona was their last stop for the trip and they finally reached it on the sixth day of travel. Upon arrival, Emerson gathered everyone in the local tavern and began to speak, “Tomorrow night is the Siege of Bhrunum gentlemen. I’m sure all of you have been mentally preparing for this raid, but tonight is no time to sulk! Tonight we celebrate Prince Maxith’s inauguration as division captain!” Cheers and happy congratulations were shouted across the tavern while Emerson stood by Maxith with his arm around his shoulders. The crowd started slamming their tankards full of booze while chanting, “TOAST, TOAST, TOAST!”
Maxith grabbed his tankard and began to speak, “Tomorrow we march into Kadince and give them a glimpse of hell!”
“Yeah!” The crowd yelled.
“Tomorrow we prevent a war from reaching our soils!”
“Yeah!”
“Tomorrow we charge into battle alongside our brothers to DEFEND OUR FAMILIES!”
“YEAH!” Now screaming.
“Each and every one of you will risk your lives tomorrow, and yet we will NOT be afraid!”
“WOOO!”
“Look to your left and look to your right, those are the men who will be fighting by your side! Those are the same men who will not forget your memory if you pass! Every time an Opik man embraces his wife your memories live on! Each and every time an Opik child smiles on a day of peace, your memories will live on in those smiles! AN OPIK SOLDIER CANNOT BE KILLED BECAUSE THE SOULS OF OPIK MEN ARE IMMORTAL! WE WILL LIVE FOREVER IN THE GLORY OF OUR VICTORY!!!”
Going absolutely ape shit now the bar erupted with yelling and screaming with men raising their booze in the air chanting, “OPIK, OPIK, OPIK, OPIK!!!” You could feel the testosterone in the air like it replaced the oxygen itself. Soldiers pushed each other around hyping up the situation even further. “BUT TONIGHT!” Maxith was shouting now to be heard over the excitement overflowing from the bar, “WE DRINK!!!” Maxith pressed his 34oz. glass tankard to his lips downing the whole thing in one pull and slamming it down on the table. Following his lead, the whole room gulped down their beer the best they could but only a few could do the whole thing at once like Maxith.
The party continued late into the night, releasing all the pent-up stress as excitement and anticipation after Maxith's speech. Preparation for the raid began the next morning, loading armor, weapons, and arrows onto the ships along with replacing the red and white striped sails with all-black ones instead. All this sounded like dreadful work to the hungover army of men but it had to be done, and as the harsh leader Emerson was, he didn't go easy on them. With everything ready Emerson pulled the different groups into the planning room one at a time to go over their part of the plan with them once more. The tavern was used as a makeshift war room since they already occupied it the night before. Each part had to be executed perfectly to ensure absolute victory alongside a minimum loss of life for their forces. Once the eleventh hour struck and the night was black, it would be time to set sail.