“What?” Levi stammered.
Something huge, black and glistening interrupted the conversation, thundering through the circle of light, ploughing into a guardsman and carrying it off into the dark.
“What the fuck was that?” Levi swore as black smoke coalesced around Eric’s fists.
“That,” the puppet said, cracking its knuckles as the guardsmen fell into a protective circle around the living, “is why us Ancestors exist.”
There was a din from the darkness as the monster thrashed about, smashing stalagmites apart as it fought the guardsman.
Although, Levi thought as the top half of the guardsman sailed back into the ring of light, its scythes bouncing away from where the body fell. ‘Fought’ may be too strong a term.
A second later, a long, slimy arm rose from the darkness, the clawed, yet uncomfortably human shaped hand coming down on top of the errant torso. It dragged it back into the dark, quickly followed by the sound of slurping and cracking bones.
“Levi, when it comes, I want you to run. We’ll keep it distracted,” Hamzir said.
“I can fight!”
“You couldn’t kill me, boy. You’ll have no hope against this thing. Especially not one this size.”
As though taking a cue, the monster entered the ring of light proper. Levi gasped as the smoke died around Eric’s fists, a soft ‘oh, fuck me,’ coming from the mage’s mouth.
Levi had spent his life in a jungle inhabited by the most terrifying and bloodthirsty apex predators in the world, and he had killed representatives from almost all of them, yet the mere sight of this monstrosity threatened to break his mind. The arms were spindly and looked as though they should snap under the weight of the thing’s body. Despite this, they dragged the long, serpentine torso with ease, the oily scales covering it more akin to a skink than a drake. The worst part was the head, though. It resembled nothing Levi had ever seen, though the closest he could come up with was a mass of bloated earthworms, each over a foot long and tipped with a circular maw filled with razor-sharp teeth. As he watched, a few detached, falling to the floor and wriggling off into the dark as more sprouted in their place.
“Run!” Hamzir roared, unleashing a stream of Umbral magic into the beast’s face. A piercing shriek filled the air as it stormed forwards, swinging a clawed hand that swept the puppet away into the dark. The guardsmen leapt into action, surrounding it and gouging deep furrows of flesh with each swipe of their scythes, and Levi was struck by familiarity. This was exactly how his men had slaughtered the drake the day before.
But this was different. This beast was faster, and the wounds inflicted by the scythes were shallower than they should have been. It snatched a guardsman with a clawed hand and pulled the struggling undead up to the mass of worms. They latched onto the corpse’s face, tearing it apart so fast it looked like the head dissolved. The nightmarish hands fed the body into the grinder, hand over hand, and within seconds the corpse was gone from the waist up, the remains tossed aside as the beast turned to its next victim.
A shout beside him snapped Levi from his horrified stupor, and he turned his head to see Eric pooling smoke down his arms. He unleashed on the monster; the smoke billowing over it disintegrating the surrounding stalagmites and even gouging out the ceiling as though it was all just loose soil. The shriek returned, and the monster charged, unaffected, or at least not slowed by the magic. Eric’s eyes went wide, and he turned to run, but a lazy backhand sent him sprawling to the ground. He started desperately crawling, but the beast languidly reached out and snagged his foot, dragging him back towards the unholy maw.
You dumb fuck! Levi thought as he looked around for a weapon. His eyes landed on one of the scythes from before. He grit his teeth and charged, scooping the blade as he went. Eric was struggling, half swearing, half crying as the worms writhed inches from his face. With his companion a moment from death, Levi leapt, sailing through the air, scythe held two handed above his head. A war cry tore from his throat as he brought it down, cleaving through the beast’s elbow. It reared back, shrieking so loud Levi’s brain vibrated in his skull as it dropped Eric. Levi didn’t waste time, grabbing the mage by the collar and dragging him away as he felt blood trickling from his nose.
They didn’t get far before the beast recovered. It dropped onto its remaining arm and turned to face them. It had no eyes Levi could see, but he knew it was staring at him all the same. He tugged harder, Eric desperately kicking his feet to help, as the monster surged forwards, the lost arm not inhibiting its movement in the slightest as it slithered after them.
Levi swore and let go, putting himself between Eric and the monster, brandishing his scythe. He flashed back to facing down the drake with a useless arm and a pointy stick, and despite the magical weapon in his hands now, he was more certain of his death now than back then. The beast reared, and the worms splayed out, the maws gnashing in anticipation as Levi raised his arm, prepared to deliver one final, defiant strike.
A wisp of something like mist appeared beside his head. It darted forward, hitting the beast in the face and dissipating. Another quickly followed, and then another and another. Soon coils of soft white vapour were raining on it from all sides. The beast shrieked again, though the sound was noticeably weaker this time as it tossed its head from side to side. It fell to the ground, struggling, but its movements were sluggish. As Levi watched, it raised its remaining arm and raked the claws across its face, tearing through the worms, sticky black ichor spraying from the flailing stumps. The remaining guardsmen seized the opportunity, darting in and hacking at the beast with sweeping strokes as the monster continued to mutilate itself.
“Levi, take the paleskin and go,” Hamzir said as he strode back into the circle of light. One of the puppet’s legs was crooked, the femur snapped in two, and the head lolled around, the neck finally giving way from the beast’s strike. Though the lips still moved, the voice Levi heard was directly in his head, and it no longer sounded like a corpse. It sounded like a strong, proud Aluwai warrior.
“What’s happening? Are we winning?” Levi asked, not daring to lower his weapon.
“We are, but the battle is far from over. More are coming, and we cannot protect you from them all.”
More shrieks came from deeper in the cave. A lot of shrieks. Dozens, at least. They didn’t sound as large as the monster before him, but the sheer number chilled Levi, as he thought what would happen when they reached the surface.
“We can’t just run! There’s too many, we can help you stop them!”
The puppet smiled, though it looked like a frown, with the head hanging upside down as it was. “Give us some credit, boy. They will never see the light of day, but neither will you if you don’t run!”
Levi glared at the puppet as the shrieks grew louder. Soon he could make out the sound of slick skin sliding over rock. But he remained until he felt Eric’s hand on his shoulder.
“Come on, Levi. You saw how useless we were. We’d just get in the way.”
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Levi begrudgingly let the mage drag him away, staring at the puppet the whole time. Just before the pair disappeared into the stone forest, the puppet raised a hand in farewell.
“Goodbye, Levi. I always knew you were destined to be a great hero of the Aluwai.”
Wait, what?
Levi squirmed in Eric’s grip as monsters started pouring into the clearing. The puppet turned and unleashed a spray of Umbral magic at the closest one, the smaller beast slowly withering away under the magic. It finally stilled as another launched at the puppet, tackling it to the ground and ripping its torso apart before it was overcome in turn by vapour. When the mist cleared, the beast was still there, but instead of attacking the remaining guardsmen, it turned on its fellow monsters, tearing into them with reckless aggression. As the space filled with vapour, more and more beasts turned on their comrades and soon the space was coated in spasming worms and ichor as the battle devolved into a cannibalistic frenzy.
“Damnit Eric, let me go!” Levi shouted.
“Not on your life, mate. We wouldn’t last a second in that mess!”
Levi stopped struggling. He hated to admit it, but Eric was right. After just a few seconds, the floor was piled a foot deep in body parts and viscera, the guardsmen’s corpses already turned into mince. This was not a battle mortal men could fight. He turned and ran back towards the entrance as the screams of dying creatures echoed around him.
They made it out, stepping into the cool morning air as the first rays of light peeked over the tree line. He almost blundered into Isakoa and the others as they prepared to enter the cave. The Aluwai were ready for battle, sporting their spears and their pointless leather armour, the porters arrayed behind them, armed with an assortment of clubs and cooking utensils pillaged from the camp. Levi opened his mouth to say something smart and witty, but shut it when no sound came out.
Isakoa took one look at his face and gestured to Derek. The giant strode forward and Levi sagged into his arms, feeling himself lifted effortlessly into the air as the adrenaline and strength fled from his tortured muscles. He was dimly aware of a pair of porters carrying Eric beside him as they waded into the swamp.
*
A few weeks later, Levi sat on the porch of the chieftain’s hut, puffing away on a tobacco pipe he had picked up back in the port. He felt a little guilty for the indulgence, but Eric had honoured the deal and suddenly the Aluwai found themselves with more money than they knew what to do with. If Erskine hadn’t shared his own pipe with Levi before he left, then he never would have known what he was missing out on, so really, it was the Calandorian’s fault.
His lips curled up in a smile at the memory. He would never admit it out loud, but he missed the marine captain and his company, and wondered if they would ever cross paths again? He hoped so.
“What’s that smile for, young Levi?” the chieftain asked as he hobbled up onto the porch.
Levi gave him a nod and offered the pipe, but the chieftain coughed as the smoke drifted into his face and waved it away. “Ancestors, no. I’ll stick to rednut thankyou very much,” he said as he produced his nut pouch and started prepping the contents. “But tell me, what’s on your mind?”
“Just enjoying the moment,” Levi replied, pointing with his pipe at the children running around the village centre, playing a game with a vine hoop and sticks. The mood when he left had been sombre, the people grieving for their losses and preparing for worse to come. Now the village felt alive! Its inhabitants allowed themselves to be swept up in boundless optimism for the first time in a long time.
Levi hadn’t just returned with cartloads of food, he had brought tools for the adults tilling the fields, toys and treats for the children, and most importantly of all, he’d brought the Tribeless. The chieftain had been hesitant to adopt them at first, but after some persuasion from Levi, he had agreed to let them stay and prove their worth. A dozen strong and able warriors. If the Gundagaal returned, the Aluwai would be ready.
“It gladdens the heart, to see the village like this,” the chieftain said, interrupting Levi’s reflections as he popped the rednut into his mouth. “But I wasn’t asking about your thoughts now. I meant since your return.”
“What do you mean, chief?”
“You seem different, Levi. I’d say more mature, but that would be a stretch. But something has changed.”
Levi snorted at the observation, but he had to admit, his experience in the cave had been playing on his mind. The horrors lying just beyond the entrance. And the puppet’s last words.
I always knew you were destined to be a great hero of the Aluwai. The words his father had spoken to him time and again, coming from the lips of a mutilated corpse. Had it really been him?
“I saw things down there. Horrible things. Undead meat puppets. Monsters that had no right to exist. Magical weaponised water vapour and… I think, my father.”
“Ah!” the chieftain cried, raising his eyebrows with a smile. “What a rare gift! How was your old man?”
He was curiously undisturbed by Levi’s other revelations, and he wondered just how much the old man already knew.
“Wearing a dead Emrinthian,” Levi said in a flat tone. “He almost killed me, then we chatted for a bit, and then a monster excavated his chest.”
“I see, I see. That sounds like a fairly emotional family reunion,” the chieftain replied, chewing thoughtfully, the blood red juices coating his lips and teeth. “Which part of the story is troubling you? Seeing your father? Fighting your father? Or the monsters?”
Levi sighed and leaned back, staring at the thatched veranda ceiling above him. “All of it, I guess. But mostly those… things. An eternity spent battling those monsters? Seems like a poor reward for a life well lived. And that’s what my father is stuck doing right now, what we will all be stuck doing in time.”
“Who’s to say it’s for an eternity, Levi?” the chieftain asked, hawking a bright red glob of saliva onto the ground. “Our ancestors have contained the evil for thousands of years. Maybe, sometime in the future, we will win the battle once and for all.”
Levi gave the chieftain a look that said he wasn’t convinced, and the old man chuckled.
“Marduk is not an easy place to live,” he said. “Our lives are brief and our ends, often painful. But it makes us strong. As a person, to be certain, but also as a people. Tell me, Levi, why is it you think only Mardukians join with our ancestors in death?”
Levi sighed. He loved the old man, but he could never give a straight answer. “Because the paleskins don’t have the balls to face what our Ancestors face?”
The chieftain chuckled. “Perhaps, in part. But mostly it’s because our people have been charged with a sacred duty. From the Outsider himself.”
The Outsider.
Levi’s father had mentioned him in the Entrance, but the god didn’t play a prominent role in their beliefs. Or, at least, Levi hadn’t thought he did. Their religion was ancestor centric, the gods of the Pantheon didn’t even get a mention, and the Outsider was only worshipped during certain festivals scattered throughout the year. The rest of the time, he was curiously absent from their ceremonies.
“Who is the Outsider?” Levi asked. “Father mentioned him, and you make him sound important, but it’s as if we actively avoid mentioning him most of the time.”
The chief gave a non-committal shrug. “The root of many of our traditions transcend the cultural history of our people, so who’s to say with certainty? But the story passed down from elder to elder is that, while important, The Outsider is a notorious dickhead, so we venerate him as much as is needed, and avoid drawing his attention the rest of the time.”
“Makes sense.”
“Indeed, so can I continue now?”
“Sorry, please do.”
“Where was I? Ah, that’s right. Sacred duty from a god. The jungle prepares our people for our role in the afterlife, as jailors, to an unspeakable evil from the dawn of creation. It is a grim charge, that is certain, but we are the ones who keep the world safe. While the foreigners fight their wars over honour and gold and land, we maintain our vigil in the jungle.”
“I don’t see your point,” Levi interrupted the chieftain. The old man reached over and smacked Levi behind the head, but he laughed as he did so.
“You really are your father’s son, you know that? Anyway, the point; the Outsider is a trickster god. Harms as much as he helps, usually, but he always has a plan and he always wins in the end. If he wants us to fight the evil to a standstill, it’s because he needs time for another plan to come to fruition.”
“So we live, fight and die, to fight again in the hopes this dickhead saves us all one day?”
“That’s the nature of faith, Levi.”
Levi shook his head. “It’s a rort is what it is.”
“Maybe, maybe not. But I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” he said as one of the children ran over, waving and shouting for him to come play with them. The old man sighed and stood, patting the dust off of his backside, a look of suffering on his wrinkled face. “The Outsider, while immortal, is not known for his patience. Celebrate this proof of our beliefs, Levi. Something tells me our final salvation may come sooner than we expect.”
With that, the chieftain clambered down from the porch, breaking into an awkward shuffle, the children squealing and scampering away at his approach, apparently deciding the game was tag now. Levi watched the old man go as his brows furrowed together. He thought back to the monster in the dark and the horde of smaller demons bubbling up from under the earth.
He hoped the old man was right.