Chapter 6: Jasper

It was two days later, that the cousins decided to find Seraphis, not just to talk to him, but to check on whether he was safe, as his cave was smack bang in the middle of the flood zone. After taking the same coach they had used before and arriving at the Kingston walls around 11 AM, and chatting to a few of the refugees, Lily and Finlay set foot again to the Lupine woods, each step crunching the undergrowth beneath them. As they made their way further west, the memory of the first time they were there contrasted markedly with the reality that lay before them now. Even the sound of their feet on the path had a different report. Now there was a slight squelch with each step, and the rich pallet of aromas they enjoyed before was now replaced by a single overarching dampness. This was not a friendly smell. It reminded Lily of the time her house was flooded and the carpet remained soggy for several months. The bountiful array of colours that popped in and out of the trees and hills were now replaced by two shades: the pale blue of the sky, and the dark, grey brown of the water. The scene was now devoid of the rich foliage, flowers, bushes and colourful man-made objects. Gone were the foxes darting in and out of the bushes. Gone were the spicules of colour that adorned the branches of the trees, while chirping happily away. Gone were the staring eyes of the deer and the darting shadow of the occasional zigzagging rabbit.

At one point, Finley stopped walking, and stood, still, holding his right index finger to his lips, indicating that Lilly should do the same. They both stood there, listening to the new soundscape. In the distance they could hear the echoing and reverberating ‘boing boing boing” of the jelly bouncers, creating a distant backdrop of what sounded like drums being hit by children. They could hear the accompanying high-pitched castanette sound of the flatheads at play, and the soft eery drone of the snakanista’s wings, which also hummed at different musical pitches adding to the bizarre backdrop. The ethereal soundscape made Lilly feel that she was walking into somebody's dream.

A curtain of mist shrouded the waterlogged woods as Lily and Finlay continued across the wetlands. As they moved further west , a sense of foreboding clung to the air,

Finlay stared ahead, the watery landscape reflecting the dappled light that streamed through the tall trees. He broke the silence, "Remember when we used to imagine what lay in these woodlands, but were not allowed to go in here, Lily? It feels like a different world now, at least to the one that we imagined.”

Lilly nodded, her eyes glistening with reminiscence. "I know. It's not the same. I remember imagining a beautiful magical world, with fairy creatures in a glittering castle, made of toffee and sweets with beautiful horses and unicorns running up and down, and princesses waving magical glittering wands with sparks coming from the end, but in a way, now it's kind of beautiful as well, isn't it?" She pointed towards a group of Flatheads that were rolling playfully in the shallow water.

Finlay chuckled, "No. There’s nothing beautiful about this scene at all. There’s only two colours and all those funny sounds are giving me the creeps.” he paused to think, “I don’t think I ever imagined any fairy castles in the past. I can remember picturing waterways and canals, with steamships bearing down on each other and deftly bypassing the other with beautiful precision.” He paused to look at a flathead, which had just lept up in front of him, clacking its jaws and darting off, chasing a piece of rubbish pushed on by the wind. “They do have a certain charm, don't they? I'd never have imagined we'd be sharing the woods with such... unique creatures."

There was a pause, and the sound of the rustling of Snakanistas in the tree tops could be heard. Then Lily said, "It's like we're walking in a dream, isn't it? Everything has changed so dramatically. We’ve just got to look past all the weird stuff.”

There was a large splash in the distance followed by the distinct bongo drum sound of a Jelly-bouncer. The pair watched as the large jellyfish-like creature bobbed away.

"You're right, Lily," said Finlay, returning her determined look, "And we've got something we have to do, and we'll see it through, no matter what comes our way."

As they stepped onto the path, a small flurry of movement caught their eyes. A peculiar creature, a Flathead, rolled past them. This five-legged furry entity, with its eyes protruding on stalks and its jaw clicking rhythmically, scampered after a fallen leaf, clearly oblivious to the human intruders in its world. When it became aware of the cousins, It paused and looked up at them curiously, its front leg poised in the air as if inviting them to join its play. When they didn't, it clacked its jaw nervously and rolled away, a palpable disappointment in its departure.

Further into the woods, the rustling sound of wings drew their attention. High above, Snakanistas twirled in the sky, their short, black wings creating a discordant drone that filled the air. These creatures, adorned with various stolen finery, were an extraordinary sight. Finlay couldn't help but laugh at the spectacle of snakes wearing hats, sporting bracelets, and drawing exotic patterns on their wings. Their vain demeanor was endearing in its own odd way, creating a strange sense of joy amidst the overwhelming uncertainty.

They ventured into the labyrinthine marshes, standing knee-deep in water at times. Their path was uneven and unpredictable, every step a further comittment to their task.. They balanced on floating logs, hopped from one soggy island of land to another, and swam through narrow channels where the water was too deep.

As they neared closer to their destination, at one point they had to utilize logs and branches to create a makeshift raft to carry them across the flooded woodland. The cave, now visible to the pair, once perched high and dry, now bore the semblance of an entrance to an underwater kingdom.

A few moments of silence passed as they trod along the damp soggy path that would take them to the portal, Lily noticed an annoying suction to each squelching step she took, and broke the silence, her voice barely above a whisper. "Finlay, are you scared?"

He glanced over at her, a soft smile playing on his lips. "Honestly? Yes. But I'd be more scared to not do anything, knowing that our world's in danger. What about you?"

Lily looked at the reflection of the trees on the water, her mind filled with a feeling of angst. "I am. Of course I am. I’m not even sure I’m making the right decision to get involved. But on the other hand, you're right, we can't just do nothing. I guess we just have to trust that we can handle whatever comes next."

“But do you really, truly trust we can handle everything that will come our way?” asked Finley with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

Lilly remained silent while thinking of her response. “Probably not.”she admitted.

“I sort of feel the same.“ he confessed, looking straight ahead at nothing, while he walked.

They moved forward, cautiously avoiding a playful group of Flatheads clacking away excitedly in the shallows. They heard a loud thump followed by the familiar bongo drum sound of a Jelly-bouncer. They froze in their tracks, exchanging alarmed glances. Lily took a deep breath, her hand resting on Finlay's arm. "One thing at a time, right?" She reminded, her voice filled with determination.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Finlay nodded, his eyes meeting hers. "One thing at a time."

A Snakanista flew overhead, adorned with a stolen necklace glinting in the sunlight. They watched it disappear into the woods, the hum of its wings slowly fading.

As they waded through the water, they could see the portal to Seraphis’s cave. The wooden boat sat in front of the entrance, rocking back and forth with enthusiasm. A large jelly-bouncer blocked their path. It bobbed up and down on the water, as if an unseen giant was playing with it, bouncing it on the floor over and over again. To avoid its touch, lest they believe themselves to be some random forest animal for three days, they cautiously moved around it, and stepped into the boat which had positioned itself ready for them to enter the swirling tunnell.

Once inside the hidden cave, Seraphis greeted them with a smile, his eyes twinkling in the dim light. His joy was palpable as he heard Lily's decision to get involved, to embrace her destiny. He then walked away without saying aything, only to return a minute or two later, with a heap of firewood cradled in his arms.

“Let’s get you two dried out before we do anything else.“ He said, crouching on the ground and lighting the first spark, which in no time became a healthy dancing bonfire. After both the children were dry and warm, he spun around, and saying nothing, walked away from the pair along the sandy floor of the cave to the opposite wall. When he reached the end, he turned around and, smirking looked directly at the cousins who had now started to follow him. When they reached him, still saying nothing and looking directly at the bewildered pair, he pulled an oddly-shaped lever that came out of the floor. A section of the cavern wall silently slid away, revealing an opening, beyond which was a spectacle they could scarcely believe: a state-of-the-art research laboratory lay hidden within the depths of this ancient cave.

Laughing he said, “Let me introduce you to the world of Jasper Sommerset!”

He looked at Finlay, “your uncle”, and looking at Lilly, “your father.”

The lab was lit by shards of sunlight that penetrated the ceiling and landed in varying angles, to create a dynamic assortment of light sabres, all gently illuminated by motes of dust, having accumulated after five years of stillness.

The floor of the lab was not sand, unlike the rest of the cave, but solid floorboards that had been kept meticulously clean.

On the far end of the lab, lay a metallic cylindrical object with a glass bubble running along the top half of the cylinder. There were brass cogs and pulleys underneath. On either side of the contraption, ran two wooden benches, one to the left and the other to the right, each one attached to the wall.

On the bench to the right, lay machines, or devices, neither child had ever seen before. They were fronted with glass dials, levers and buttons, all connected to eachother by wires and tubes.

On the left bench lay an arrangement of several pipes and tubes, intertwined with each other, but seeming to go, nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

Seraphis walked ahead of the children and took a chair that lay under the left bench. Sitting himself, he recounted the tale of Lily's father. Many years ago, Jasper had been crafting a vessel that could breach the Dome of their current world. This craft could connect him to the world above. He had done all of this work before Seraphis had met him. This, first lab lay in another secret location, a cave nearby. There, he built the first prototype vessel, but that success was short-lived when it was stolen and the thief, with the craft had dissapeared without a trace.

Jasper's search for the missing prototype had lead him to Seraphis when he encountered the old man outside his cave picking berries. The old man, after learning about Jasper’s dilemma, had joined him in the search for the thief, but after 3 days of constant hunting, nothing had come of it, and recognizing the importance of what he had constructed, Seraphis offered the engineer a secret sanctuary to continue his work. Over the next 2 years, two more vessels were born in this cave, the first, Jasper had used to venture into the Overworld, the other lay there still, a marvel of technology, waiting for its time to take its maiden flight.

There, nestled on a wooden desk, was a letter. Lily’s hands trembled as she picked it up, Jasper’s neat handwriting spelled out their names:

“Dear Lily and Finley, I hope the pair of you are well, and before I continue, I have to congratulate the pair of you for joining me in this most important mission to control something that threatens our entire world. As this letter will be about 5 years old when you read it, I assume you both will now be around 11 or 12.

For reasons, I cannot go into now. I predict that our home, which, as you have been told is a huge dome at the bottom of the ocean of another world, will be under some form of attack… Of this, I don’t know how it will happen but the fact that it will, I have no doubt. I have made a craft that will take me to the over-world, and I will be leaving this very night. For reasons that I cannot reveal, I am not able to tell anybody about this.. I have made an identical second craft for you to use, as apparently the pair of you have skills, that are unique and essential for the completion of this mission. I have written a small booklet for the pair of you to refer to, which will give you further instructions on how to use the vessel, plus where to park it, who to talk to, and other necessary things you need to know.

Seraphis will help you launch the craft, The fact that the pair of you are standing in my lab now, and reading this letter means you have shown a resourceful spirit. Finlay … you are my Nephew. I know you will make me proud. Lilly … it goes without saying that you will also make me proud. Give my love to your mother, who has probably been told that I am missing and no one knows where I am, just as I give my love to you.

See you soon.

Jasper S.”

Finlay, more focused on the bizarre contraption in front of him, cautiously walked up to it, and with reverence, like it was a new foal greeting the sun for the first time, curled his hands into a fist, and gently knocked on the hull, listening to the reverberating report. It was roughly 15 feet long, with a glass bubble, running half the length of the vessel. Inside there were 2 seats, one in front of the other, the front facing a very busy dashboard with dials, knobs and levers.

He carefully opened the glass bubble that hinged lengthways, then leaped into the front seat examining the dials and buttons with a puzzled expression on his face. He turned to Seraphis, and, with a sense of agitation said, “how are we supposed to operate this? These levers and knobs mean nothing to me!”

He returned to stare back at the dashboard.

After a few seconds, he half protruded his body out of the vessel, and called to Lilly, waving his arms gesturing her to come to him, “Lilly, come and have a look. Maybe you can make sense of this!”

While she was walking to her cousin, Seraphis lent his lean frame over the left bench to a shelf that ran above it. He extracted a hand made book, saying to Lilly, “This is the book your father mentioned. It should explain everything. Apparently that vessel is not that hard to operate, once you know what you are doing.“

Finley, in a rush of excitement, grabbed the book from Seraphis, and started flipping through the pages.

Lily, observing this gasped in frustration and snapped, “Fin, Fin! You don’t need to be so rude. Why snap the book right out of Seraphis’s hands?”

Finley looked at his cousin and sighed, “ yes, yes, you are right.“ He said nodding his head. He turned to the old man, “I’m sorry I just got excited“

Seraphis just chuckled and looked at Lily giving her a quick smile, then, nodding, told Finlay he understood. Lilly, still holding the letter from Jasper, put it back on the table. Tears glistened in her eyes as she let it go.

At the end of the day, Lily had absolutely no idea if she would be able to do what was asked of her, and she suspected that her cousin had the same self-doubts. She did not want to be a hero. She did not even relish the idea of the adventure, but some part of her, some part deep down, knew that she had no choice.