The Brothers Locke, page 19
Von Strauss, Bando, the Bascelics, and Dana were trudging through a cluster of the slender golden trees, the leaves shaking, falling to the ground, and giving away their movements.
“We’re getting close,” Sharp signed.
“We’re going to have to get down this cliff carefully,” Bulk groaned as he took one labored step onto the stairway. “With my leg, this is going to be hard.”
“Is it hurting again?” asked Jocelyn.
“It is. But you know what? The five of you go on ahead of me. I’ll cover you from the rear. We can’t let them get out of sight.”
“Right,” Mouth agreed. “Let’s get to it, brothers. This is what we came here for.”
“And what do we do if we get to them without Bulk?” Echo asked.
“We’ll figure that out once we catch up,” Mouth answered. “Our friend needs us.”
The Brothers Locke
Episode 8: Children of the Spire
Dana had never seen anything like the caves beneath the northern mountains of the Dea. Surrounded by oddly shaped trees, glowing oversized mushrooms, motes of glowing energy floating through the air, and rock formations of various unique shapes covering the ceiling and floor, this strange landscape was enough to temporarily take her mind off the fact that she was a prisoner.
“They’ve made it into the cave,” Von Strauss said as he looked behind them.
Bando followed his stare and saw the group of teens and Bulk Brown beginning their descent down the cave wall hundreds and hundreds of yards behind them. At the rate they were going, it wasn’t much to worry about.
“By the time they make it down the cliff we’ll be well on our way. At some point, they won’t be able to follow us any further,” Bando said.
“They shouldn’t have made it this far,” Von Strauss said. “Bulk Brown and those children are proving to be more trouble than they are worth, no?”
“What do you suggest?”
Von Strauss looked around at their surroundings and noticed a stretch of empty space beyond.
“Have you ever seen the Bascelics reproduce, Bando?” he asked.
Not waiting for an answer, Von Strauss approached the three remaining winged creatures and spoke to them in a language neither Bando or Dana could understand. The Bascelics responded with cheerful cries and howls that echoed throughout the cave. Eagerly, they approached the clearing, each claiming a spot. They knelt to the ground and wrapped themselves in their leathery wings.
“What are they doing?” Bando asked.
“Buying us more time,” Von Strauss explained. “Bascelics do not mate. Instead, they break off pieces of themselves and bury them in the ground. Their offspring are born from that.”
“I don’t think that’s going to help. We don’t have time to wait for their babies to pop up.”
“You are thinking like a human, Bando. No, the Bascelics’ spawn will emerge in roughly a half hour, almost instantly absorbing the soil to feed them. They were designed that way. All it takes is a warm climate, which we have here, and open space. That should delay Bulk Brown long enough for us to make it to the Spire without any more interference.”
Mongrel, the deformed mix of humanity and beast, clamped its grip on Dana’s arm to prevent her from escaping. She didn’t dare challenge the creature even though Bando and Von Strauss were so distracted she could have easily escaped. The brute was under their control. She was walking a fine line between being defiant and smart. She knew neither of these men cared in what condition she was brought to the Spire, and Mongrel could easily break a leg or arm to keep her subdued.
With escape not an option, Dana watched intently as the creatures twitched and howled, breaking off pieces of their fingers, stomachs, and toes. They carefully buried these pieces in the ground and covered them up as if they were planting seeds. Although it weakened them greatly, the three creatures left the open area with demented smiles on their faces, their needle-like teeth exposed and glimmering in the golden light of the cave.
“We can leave now,” Von Strauss said. “Marvelous creatures, they are. Now let’s hurry.”
“That was disgusting,” Dana commented.
***
The Locke Brothers had little difficulty getting down the side of the cave. The steps were not the most sturdy, some crumbling simply from their weight, but they held up long enough for them to reach the bottom. Bulk Brown was another story, as the pain in his leg was beginning to return from his earlier injury. Frequently, the mercenary had to stop and wait for the pain to subside before continuing down the stairs. He realized he was delaying their journey and increasing the distance between them and Dana.
“Just go on ahead,” Bulk continued to say every time he had to stop. “I said don’t wait for me. I’ll get down there in my own time.”
“We’re not leaving you behind,” Mouth replied.
“I’m not taking on those winged monsters without you, that’s for sure,” Kale added as he and Jocelyn kept behind Bulk just in case he needed assistance.
Bulk tried again to move and made it six steps down before he needed to stop. He winced as he grabbed at his leg. There was still another fifty steps to go before they reached the cave floor.
“Just take it easy, Bulk,” Jocelyn said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
“Did you hear those things?” Kale asked, changing the subject. “It sounded like they were having a party or something. I wonder what that was.”
“Oh, I’m sure we’ll find out,” Bulk said.
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Echo commented.
Once again, Bulk managed to recover and, with a deep breath, travel down a few more steps. The question of how they would manage to get out of this cave, especially if it meant having to go up these steps, crossed Bulk’s mind. There was no way he’d manage. The truck was also destroyed, and walking through the snowy ground above the cave wasn’t going to be easy either. This wasn’t the time for those concerns, though. That would come later.
“So, what’s the plan once we do meet up with them?” asked Echo.
“Well, I’ve got some things to settle with Bando personally,” Bulk answered. “The five of you just stay out of the way. Be a distraction but don’t get close to those things or Von Strauss. With any luck, we can get Dana away from them and …”
The teenagers waited for Bando to continue. Seconds passed without him continuing his thought.
“And then what?” asked Kale.
“I think it’s best if we just improvise. At this point, that’s all we really have,” admitted Bulk.
“Again, not making me feel better,” Echo said.
Bulk let out a wince once again. He sucked in a few deep breaths, and mustering as much energy as he could, started down the steps. His leg was killing him. There was no way they would catch up at this rate. He put the pain aside and forced his body down the rest of the stairway. The sooner they reached the bottom, the sooner it would stop hurting. The Locke Brothers hurried ahead of him as to not slow him down. They voiced concerns along with Kale and Jocelyn, but Bulk was determined. The last few steps proved the most difficult, but he managed. Once at the bottom, he collapsed on the ground in a cloud of dirt.
“Bulk! Are you alright?” Jocelyn cried out, running to his side.
“I’ll be fine. Trust me,” the man grunted, spitting dirt as he rolled over on his back. His forehead was sweating, and his breathing was labored, but he had made it. One small victory here. The downside was the pain in his leg was at an insane level now with sharp pricks stabbing up and down his thigh.
“One of you, pull a branch off of one of those trees. A big branch,” Bulk said to the teens.
Sharp knew what he was asking for and immediately went to one of the taller, odd trees in the cavern, but it was of no use. All of the trees sprouted short, thin branches from their slender trunks. Instead, Sharp came back with the remains of a smaller tree trunk that was just large enough to support Bulk’s weight.
“So much for settling any scores with Bando,” Mouth said.
“I’ll be fine,” Bulk replied.
“Are you serious? You’re on one leg, and he’s like seven feet tall! We have to think of something else besides just rushing at them and getting smashed to bits!”
“Like I said, we’ll improvise. I just need you not to panic right now. Let’s take this one step at a time. First thing is to get to them as soon as we can. This crutch will help me walk faster and stay off my leg until it feels better.”
Kale started walking towards the path set before them and agreed with Bulk’s assessment. “He’s right,” said Kale. “Remember, there’s an Ostiary we have to contend with, and we’re short one gold coin.”
“Doesn’t matter, we’ll find a way,” signed Sharp as he pressed past everyone and started down the path.
Echo and Mouth watched their brother march into the unknown. Sharp’s fire hadn’t diminished at all despite whatever setbacks they had experienced. There was something charming to this side of Sharp that they had never seen in their sibling before. It was almost adorable, but they would never tell him that.
“I tell you what. If that boy didn’t have such a big crush, we’d probably not be here right now,” Bulk admitted.
“And you’d be freezing to death waiting for Pharracrop to send someone, which they never would have,” added Kale.
With Sharp leading the way now, the teens and Bulk Brown did their best to keep up with him. The most athletic of the group and the one most determined to rescue Dana, he refused to slow down for anything.
Bulk Brown was walking a lot faster with the aid of the crutch, so the teens weren’t slowed by him at all. Mouth helped his brother Echo through the densest parts of the cave, compensating for his lack of vision, while Kale and Jocelyn kept their eyes open for any threat that might come their way.
It was too quiet here. There were few animals in this cave, and the most audible sound was the dripping of water and the swaying of grass and leaves as the unnatural wind flowed throughout the cavern. The whole place was irregular; perhaps a side of nature they didn’t understand. Anything could happen down here, and Kale and Jocelyn were not comfortable being without their gadgets.
Nearly fifteen minutes had passed. As the group continued their hike, they soon realized that it would be really easy to get lost in here if it were not for Sharp’s vision. He was using every advantage his enhanced sight could give them, but the one that came to help him the most was his ability to see heat. Mongrel’s massive frame left traces through the grass and on the ground. The monster’s pure mass made it hard to miss. As long as Sharp followed the temperature changes it left behind, they wouldn’t be lost.
“Something’s wrong up here,” Echo said to his brother Mouth.
“What’s up? What do you hear?” Mouth asked.
“It’s like … I don’t know … lots of things in the ground. Something is moving.”
Bulk Brown overheard them. “You mean like the Rensom from Black Harvester Forest?” he asked.
“No, this is smaller,” Echo answered. “It’s not too far up ahead. Something is burrowing in the ground. Shifting. Growing. It’s alive, whatever it is.”
“Sharp!” Mouth called out to his other brother. “Stay put. We’ll be there in a second.”
They had lost sight of Sharp through the tall grass and trees. A cluster of oversized mushrooms pushing their way out of a series of boulders obstructed their view as well. They managed to navigate their way around it, but time was wasting away with each obstacle they encountered.
Once on the other side, the group saw Sharp standing still. He stared intently at a clearing just ahead. There were nearly a dozen greenish-grey pods bubbling up from the ground. The outer shell of each slid off in a mix of dirt and a coarse black liquid, which filled the air with a putrid stench. With each layer they shed, another would form and then go through the same process.
They looked like eggs in shape, the bottoms planted in the ground beneath. Some were taller than the others with the smallest ones being about half the size of Bulk Brown. Just then, the tiniest of calls came out, a screech at first, then a growl. With a crack, the first egg sloughed off its final layer to reveal a set of leathery wings piercing through the last thin, slimy membrane.
“That’s not what I think it is, is it?” asked Mouth.
Bulk Brown loaded his weapon and took aim at the first hatchling. His ammunition was limited, and he knew he’d need it for later, but this threat was more immediate.
“Baby Bascelics,” Kale said flatly. “I think we better get out of here.”
“They’re not slowing down. Let’s move,” said Mouth. “Are you going to be able to follow us, Bulk?”
“I said before, go on ahead. I’ll watch our back. If these things get close, then they’ll have a very short life in the Dea,” said Bulk.
With renewed energy, the teenagers started to run away from the clearing, past the trees beyond and towards an incline that led down to a darker part of the cave. It was the only path available to them, and while they didn’t like the idea of being in the dark with these hatchlings following them, there wasn’t much of a choice. They would have to trust that Bulk was healthy enough to watch their backs and keep close.
“I hear water ahead,” Echo said as they ran down the incline.
“Stay close to me, Echo. It’s clear ahead, you should be fine,” Mouth said.
It was a straight shot down towards the darkness below. Kale and Jocelyn continued to look back for Bulk. He was nowhere to be seen. No shots from his firearm could be heard. They wanted to assume the best, but at this point, the only thing they could do was run.
The incline began to slope sharply, causing them to lose their footing. It happened so fast that they all tumbled down the rest of the slope, landing harshly at the foot of the hill.
“I’m just about done with this cave,” Mouth commented.
After the teens dusted off their clothes and checked to make sure all their bones were in one piece, they all marveled at the landscape before them. Some distance from the bottom of this slope, they saw a platform. The full-grown Bascelics, Mongrel, Von Strauss, Bando, and most importantly Dana were passing through a gate at the end of the path.
“They’re not that far away,” Mouth said.
“But they’ve already gotten through The Ostiary, apparently,” Kale noted.
“I don’t see any Ostiary,” signed Sharp. “Let's hurry!”
Sharp knew that the longer they waited, the harder it would be for them to catch up. It was a good stretch of ground to cover before they reached the gate. Echo was having a hard time keeping up, his attention diverted by something he was hearing.
“There are a lot of boats here,” he said as he slowed down briefly from his sprint. “Mouth, can you see them?”
“I can’t see much of anything, Echo,” answered Mouth. “I’m nearly going to pass out from all this running and falling. I’m sure Sharp knows where he’s going. What are you hearing?”
“Bubbles. Just a bunch of bubbles in the water and creaking wood. Sounds like boats bobbing against each other.”
“Sharp!” Mouth called out to his other sibling. “Slow down!”
“There’s something else,” Echo continued as he started to run full speed again. “Something big and unnatural. I hear breathing.”
“You hear what?” asked Mouth.
“Breathing. It’s not … natural.”
Up ahead, Sharp had slowed from a full sprint to a jog, and then eventually completely stopped his progress altogether. A few moments later, the other teens caught up with him and slowed their pace as well. Sharp was examining the ground in front of them. He put his hand up, warning the other teens not to come any closer.
“There is an Ostiary,” he signed to Mouth.
The end of the path they were running down took a slight dip. From there, The Ostiary arose and slowly stepped onto the level ground with the teens. His face had been stitched together. Large portions of his body were made from the scales of fish and the shells of crustaceans. When he walked, it was with an awkward limp, as if his right leg weighed considerably more than his left. His clothes were nothing more than a collection of age-worn rags held together by threads and staples. Black eyes reflected the low light in the cave from underneath a mop of green, stringy hair, which hadn’t been washed in ages, set on top of an oval shaped head with weathered orange skin stretched tightly over the skull.
“Another group. Another set of fresh faces. Another …” The Ostiary said before drifting off into a trance.
The teens waited for him to finish his sentence, but the old man’s eyes flickered and then lazily turned upward to the ceiling of the cave. Kale and Jocelyn looked at one another, shrugged, and then started towards the boats.
“No! Backward walk, you! Backward!” The Ostiary snapped at them.
His right hand extended towards them with curled fingernails, filthy and yellow from ages of growth. The two cautiously retreated as The Ostiary placed his crooked hand back into his robes.
“We need to follow them,” Mouth said calmly.
“Following. Ah, yes! Said to me, did they. Said you would follow. Said you would want. Said you would …”
Again, The Ostiary’s thoughts drifted into nothing. Sharp’s patience, which was already thin to begin with, had reached its limit. Bando and Von Strauss’ boat was already beginning to disappear over the horizon beyond.
“Hello?” Mouth said, trying to gain the man’s attention.
The Ostiary continued to look off nowhere in particular until Jocelyn snapped her fingers to draw his attention again. His eyes blinked multiple times as he refocused on the teens. A sneer then crossed his face, and he flung his hands up in a fit and stormed down towards the boats.
From here, the teens could see there was a gate made of a patchwork of rocks, mud, wood, and dead sea animals blocking entry to the docks. While it was as grungy as The Ostiary, it looked to be sturdy. The locks were held by massive chains, one of which the old man was closing. Perhaps if the teens all rushed the gates they could have made it through, but they had no idea what this man could do, and without Bulk Brown, they didn’t dare try to get into any physical altercations.
