Elurra’s first warning was the smell. The air turned foul, and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. The tunnel smelled like a garbage pile left in the sun for days on end. Her second clue was the strange green glow radiating from the passageway entrance when she investigated the stench. The last hint they weren’t alone in the caves was the awful singing. Haphazard strings of words were thrown together in an old, off-key voice and mashed into a made-up tune.
Elurra’s curiosity got the best o f her. She tiptoed closer, partially afraid of what she might find. She could tell whatever it was, it was male. The green glow intensified as she crept nearer. She made out the words:
“When the pot o’ gold glows brightest, the Dark Angel weaves his spell.
When beads of white merge with web, desolation swells.
Battlefields cover lakes and clouds, burning bright with lust and smell.
The nothingness swirls around us all, but the little ones can’t tell.”
The thing sang loudly. Elurra peeked around the corner to find a short man scurrying around a huge, steaming black pot and pouring ingredients in gleefully. The contents glowed an eerie neon green, which produced the light she saw in the tunnel. Upon closer inspection, the man wasn’t a normal Incarian. He ran around barefoot and had seven toes. His feet were much too large for his body and were covered in hair. His toenails were long, chipped, and disgusting. Chubby, stout legs led up to a short and pudgy torso with a protruding round belly.
The creature’s back was hunched, and his arms were only two feet long with seven lengthy, thin fingers on each hand. His face was rounder than most, and he had large eyes and a bright red nose. His ears were long, and the tips came to a point. Each was about four inches and stuck out at a forty-five-degree angle. There were wrinkles on his cheeks and forehead, and a bushy gray beard that reached his stomach. Every exposed inch of skin was covered in hair except his head, which was completely bald.
She thought her presence was undetected, but as soon as she poked her head around the corner, he said, “Come on in, stranger! I’m not used to pretty visitors, although today I’m expecting two. Isn’t that marvelous?”
He giggled, which made his stomach jiggle. Uneasiness settled inside of Elurra as she stepped into the open.
“Who is your other visitor?” she asked nervously.
He turned and smiled as if there was a joke she wasn’t aware of.
“Would you like to see? Come glance into my kettle,” he offered cheerily.
He waved one grubby hand at her, motioning for her to come closer. She hesitated. Elurra did not trust the creature in the slightest and would rather stay away from him. He sensed it and gave a hearty laugh.
“Don’t worry, pretty girly. I’ll go on this side of the pot, and you can stand on that side. That way, my back will be turned to our next visitor, and she’ll feel it’s safe to come in.”
He sang happily as he skipped around to the other side of the cauldron. Elurra approached the gargantuan, bubbling pot slowly. She refused to take her eyes off the strange creature. He didn’t look up at her, just gazed into the fluid with an excited, anticipating expression. She reached the edge of the kettle, and for the first time, noticed how odd the smokeless fire under the cauldron was. She finally glanced into the bubbling green liquid and was astounded to see images spinning around in the depths of the goo, playing out their stories to an invisible audience. She saw one image of her entering the cave and another of a boy sneaking out of a house. Men on horses galloped over hills toward looming mountains, thousands of them trailing into the distance.
The Army of Amora, she realized with dread.
Before she could dwell on the image, it morphed into a marketplace full of people. A man took a woman’s bag, and she silently screamed for help as he darted away. She searched the depths for whatever the cave man had referred to, but the only picture she found of any interest was a group of sailors standing on the edge of a deck looking out at a huge sea monster.
“Poor, unfortunate souls,” she muttered.
The scene flickered and changed to two women hanging the wash on a sunny day.
“Whom were ya talking about? Those sailors?” the man asked.
“Yes. The ones facing the sea monster.”
“Oh, they are probably all long digested by now. That side of the pot depicts memories of the past. It’s hard to tell exactly how long, but I would guess they all died a week or two ago. Personally, I was amused by the boy dangling from the monster’s tooth.”
She looked up and gave the man a questioning glance. “How could you see that? The image was so small.”
She could barely observe the pictures before they changed. He laughed heartily, and she felt like she’d asked something silly, although she couldn’t see what was so funny.
“I’ve been looking into this kettle for a hundred years. These are all images of misfortune from the past, present, and future.”
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Elurra wrinkled her brow and glanced down at the women hanging the wash. They were fighting, and one had a kitchen knife. The image flickered again and changed to a bar at an inn.
“Why do you have such a—” Suddenly, another thought occurred to her. “Why did you look in here to find out who your second visitor would be? Did you see me in here, too?”
The man smiled widely to reveal a mouthful of grimy, square teeth.
“Oh, look. Here she comes,” he murmured.
His eyes flashed with a dark emotion Elurra didn’t recognize. Before she could piece together what was happening, Aleah poked her head around the corner. Her face immediately twisted in confusion.
“Elurra?” Aleah asked. Elurra was also confused.
We took opposite directions and agreed to go straight as much as possible, so how did we end up in the same cavern?
The creature clapped in delight. “Now that everyone is here, the party can begin!” He clapped his pudgy hands again before a frown crossed his face, and he snapped his fingers. “I almost forgot. We can’t leave the prince on his own. He is the prize, after all.”
Elurra’s gut was telling her she should run while she had the chance. She turned to bolt down the tunnel behind her, but it had vanished. She was trapped on that side of the kettle, and to leave, she would have to get past the man. He started to sing again, and ingredients appeared out of thin air and dropped into the pot as he waved his arms around and began his nonsensical singing again.
Aleah looked hopelessly lost, and Elurra felt the same way. She concentrated on figuring out what the creature was, which was hard to do while he was belting out off-key nonsense. She tried to recall any helpful fairy tales. There were plenty of stories of creatures living in caves, but most of them didn’t involve pots of glowing danger predicting liquid. Elurra turned her attention back to the boiling cauldron when the color changed from green to orange, and foam started to form on the top.
“Not many things visit me, if you didn’t know. The last thing that entered my cave was a bear, and he wasn’t much fun to be around. He was very tasty though,” the man said, chuckling. “Then there was an old ahool that found its way into my caves. They are a species of giant bats, if you didn’t know. Gave me lots of trouble before he found his way into the kettle. Once, I found my way into Jorōgumo’s territory. She is truly terrifying, she and her servant Preta. They say she is a ghost, if you didn’t know, but I didn’t stay long enough to find out. Giant spiders like her don’t taste good anyway.”
Elurra shivered. She had read tales of Jorōgumo and Preta, but she thought they were only legends.
“Compared to the other horrors in these caverns, I think a glow moth would be the best thing to run into, but a cave troll like me isn’t bad.”
Just then, the cauldron boiled over, and Elurra jumped back with a yelp as orange liquid splashed to the ground. Steam filled the cave, and the walls started to spin. The tunnel Aleah had entered through slid across the wall and vanished into smooth rock. The walls slid by like they were moving, and new tunnels connected to their cave only to vanish again. Elurra was mesmerized.
“Like my cave? It was a gift in the Great War from the…what do you call them? Demons,” he said gleefully.
Adrenaline roared in Elurra’s ears when she realized the implications of his statement. Abruptly, the cave merged with a larger cavern containing a very startled Kai.
“How did...?” Kai sputtered, too confused to speak. Aleah looked just as astounded.
The troll clapped his hands in delight.
“My last guest! What luck to have you in my domain. Cythraul are one of the worst things to have after you, if you didn’t know. Once a Cythraul gets you, you’ll wish you were already dead. Demons, I mean, if you didn’t know."
Elurra’s ears pricked at the new word, but he had said it so fast the syllables didn’t stick in her mind.
“Do you have something you want to ask me?” he sang loudly.
They stared at him for a few moments, then Kai propped himself up slowly and asked, “What do you want with us?” The troll giggled jollily and clapped.
“That's the question!”
The stone floor around Kai started to shake, and bars of rock sprouted up and formed a cage around him. He let out a startled exclamation and tried to escape, but he was trapped in seconds. Aleah bolted toward him with a cry of surprise, but a pedestal of stone sprouted under her feet, and she had to skid to a stop to avoid falling off the edge. Elurra froze, knowing any move she made would be thwarted. The troll laughed merrily as Aleah called to Kai.
“What do you want?” Elurra demanded.
“Firstly, my name isn’t ‘you.’ It’s Erasmus, if you didn’t know, and we’re about to begin the festivities.”
Elurra looked at Aleah for some assistance, but she was fixated on Kai, who was pointlessly trying to break the bars.
“What game?” she asked, dreading the answer before she finished the question. The troll clearly enjoyed her discomfort.
“You must find three gems I will hide somewhere in these caves. They will look like this, if you didn’t know.” He waved his hand, and three glowing gems appeared in the air: red, purple, and blue. “They glow, which should help you. I even promise I will not hide them in Jorōgumo’s territory. I’ll give you a full day to find them. If you locate them, I’ll help you out of these caves.”
“What if we cannot find them?” she asked, her stomach twisting into knots.
“Then I get to eat you. Incarians are so tasty, if you didn’t know."
He licked his lips, and Elurra flinched.
“What if we do not want to play?”
“If you don't play, then I will eat him while you watch.” Erasmus grinned widely as he gestured to Kai, who looked ill. “Are you ready? Any questions?” he asked as Aleah was lowered to the floor.
“How will we find you when we’re done?” Aleah asked. She finally tore her eyes away from the helpless prince.
Erasmus beamed at her. “You will find me, no worries.” He waved his hand, and the gems vanished. “Ready? Begin!”
As he spoke, a giant hourglass materialized, and golden sand started trickling down. Without another word, Elurra and Aleah bolted out the only exit.
°◌°○●○°♣°○●○°◌°
Kai watched them go in disbelief.
Why am I always the damsel in distress? he wondered in exasperation. He rammed his fist into the stone bar and yelped in agony when it didn’t yield. Erasmus ignored him, staring after the two girls with obvious amusement.
“Don’t you love their determination? That’s my favorite part, if you didn’t know. I enjoy watching them lose hope.” He laughed merrily.
Kai thought he was talking to him and was about to give the troll a piece of his mind when a cold breeze whistled around him. He shivered violently as two shadowy beings appeared.
“Why did you not kill her? We instructed you to end them,” the one with green eyes hissed.
“I want some entertainment before I kill them. I get lonely in these caves, if you didn’t know.”
The red-eyed one glared at Erasmus. “What if they find all three gems?” the dark creature growled.
Erasmus laughed merrily again then pulled out a glowing blue gem from his pocket. “They won’t,” he said as he threw it into the cauldron. The liquid changed from orange to blue.
Kai slid down the bars of his cage dejectedly.
We are doomed.