Monsterworld, p.106
Monsterworld, page 106
part #1 of Monster Slayer Series
Lace helped solve that problem, bounding forward and slashing once, twice, thrice, chopping the guy in half, his gory body sloshing wetly to each side, blood pooling around him. The crank loosened again and we were able to finish the job, the wall slamming into place and blocking out the rest of the gorillas, who began to pound on the outside, their angry barks muffled.
“Will it hold?” I asked.
The woman with the accent said, “It’s the strongest wood in Ursula’s Forest. It’ll hold ’em.” A thunderous crash resounded, shaking the ground. “But it won’t hold that one. We need to go.”
Sounded like a good idea to me.
THREE
PRE-BATTLE TRADITIONS
The woman led the way into the darkness without any kind of light. I could see her and Lace ahead of me, barely. We were walking inside the hollowed-out tree, which must’ve stood so high it reached the clouds when it was still standing. Soon I couldn’t see the end or the beginning, the trunk stretching for hundreds of feet in either direction. The ground continued to shake, and we heard the sound of the gorillas on the roof and sides. They were tracking our progress by the sound of our footfalls, which meant—
“They’ll be waiting on the other side,” I said.
“The other side is sealed,” the woman said.
(Okay, I should probably stop referring to our temporary savior as ‘the woman’. We all know who it is, right? You know, that bombshell of a Southern Belle who’d decided to join Buttplug’s tribe several months back? The one, ahem, named Belle?)
“So we’re trapped?” I asked.
“Great,” Lace said. “Good plan.”
“Not exactly,” Belle said. “We’re almost there.”
Without any other option, we continued to follow her along the length of the trunk, reaching our destination a few minutes later. At this point the ground was shaking so violently it was difficult to maintain our balance. Any second now whatever massive thing was pursuing us would come crashing through the trunk, squashing us into goo.
I’d aspired to be many things in my life, but goo wasn’t one of them.
“Nice,” Lace said ahead of me, the first of us to see the hole in the bottom of the trunk. Hell, it wasn’t just a hole, but the start of a tunnel. Actual, real steps led downward, lit by wall sconces forever burning with demon’s blood. The hole had been revealed by Belle, who’d removed a circular section of trunk that had been carved out. Lace entered the tunnel first. Then me. The tunnel was tight and I was barely able to fit, my broad shoulders scraping the sides as I carefully maneuvered Silk’s unconscious body into a better position to avoid hitting her head.
Belle followed last, drawing the circular section of trunk back in position to mask our escape route. Even if the gorillas breached the hollowed-out trunk, they’d be left scratching their heads trying to figure out where we’d gone. From their standpoint, it would appear as if we’d vanished into thin air.
Awesome.
“Belle,” I said.
“Talk later. Keep moving.”
I knew she was right, but I had so many questions it took all my willpower to remain silent and just focus on taking one step at a time until we reached the bottom of the staircase, where the tunnel leveled out and extended forward in a relatively straight line.
I turned sideways so Belle could brush past me and then past Lace as well, taking the lead. She looked…different. When I’d last seen her, Belle had already been undergoing major changes, becoming the strong capable woman she was now. Still, seeing where her evolution had taken her was breathtaking. I felt fortunate to have played a small role in her journey.
The tunnel went on for several miles. The sheer effort of digging it out would’ve taken her tribe many weeks. Or perhaps the giant leader got involved; I could see Buttplug digging the tunnel in a few hours given his size. Whatever the case, the escape route had been a lucky charm for us, or we might’ve ended up in the belly of…whatever the hell had been shaking the ground with its footsteps.
“Belle,” I finally said. “Stop. Please.” I wasn’t tired. Though I was still carrying Silk, her weight was nothing to me.
Belle paused to half-turn. “It’s not much further.”
“Good, but that’s not why I stopped. I stopped to say thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I looked pointedly at Lace, who had been silent as we walked. Contemplating the past, present and future, perhaps. “Yow, okay, okay, thank you,” she said. Lace had been one of Belle’s harshest critics back when she’d first arrived on Tor.
“You’re welcome too,” Belle said, no venom in her tone. If she remembered the bullying she’d undergone at Lace’s hands, she didn’t hold it against her.
“You’ve…changed,” Lace said, a hint of appreciation in her tone. She looked Belle up and down. I understood why. The changes wrought in Belle were more than just mental. She’d always been a beautiful woman, but the way she held herself now was so attractive. She seemed to stand taller, straighter, like the world could throw her fastballs, curveballs, whatever-balls and she would smash them all out of the park. Her golden-red hair had grown longer and was pulled into tight braids that fell near her waist, leaving the lovely features of her pale face visible. She wore the same clothing as when she’d left our camp—leather bikini-like top and bottoms. The smooth skin in between the sections of fabric were more muscled than I remember. She had abs and an ass most women back on Earth would kill for. The katana she’d worn when I last saw her hung from a makeshift scabbard fitted loosely around her waist.
She looked hot as hell, if I’m being fully honest.
Her gaze traveled past Lace to me, and she said, “You’re…different too.”
“I am.” To tell her the whole story would take hours, so instead I just said, “It’s good to see you.”
“I’ve missed you.”
Really? Wow. I didn’t really expect her to say that given I was a part of her awful entrance into this world. Yes, I’d set her free, but only after putting her through hell. Then again, we’d almost died together, entwined in spiderweb tombs.
Sometimes going through a near-death experience with someone bonded you to them for life. I wondered if that’s how it was with Belle and me. Time would tell, I supposed.
“We should keep moving,” Belle said, breaking the spell of being reunited.
“Wait,” I said. “Where did those gorillas come from? And what was the thing shaking the ground?”
Belle looked uncertain whether to tell me or insist that we continue walking. Finally, she sighed and said, “They are called ulu. Vicious masters of the forest.”
“But the spiders once controlled the forest,” I said.
“And you killed their mother. The others became easy prey for the ulu after that. The spiders are gone now.”
It would be like killing Hitler only to have Mussolini take his place. Killing Sadam Hussein to make way for Osama Bin Laden.
“And the big thing? Another ape?”
She nodded. “Fucking King Kong,” she said.
Oh man. “Where did that thing come from? How could it have grown so large?”
She shrugged. “We can only speculate, but most think the Morgoss had a hand in it. We just call it Kong—I came up with the nickname. Ever since Kong appeared, we’ve struggled to hunt without losing tribeswomen. We’ve lost a dozen—” She swallowed, and I could see the emotion rise in her features. “—women in the last few weeks.”
“Damn.” I remembered the one and only time I’d hung out with her tribe. There were maybe sixty women total. Losing twelve was bad. Very bad. They couldn’t sustain any more losses if they hoped to survive.”
“What does Butt…er, I mean, Bu’ploog say?”
A haunted look swept across her face. “He’s…struggling. He’s folded inside himself. He won’t eat. He won’t speak to anyone. He just sleeps all day. Kong is much larger than him. Bu’ploog thinks he’s failed us.”
I nodded. I understood the sentiment. For a while I felt like I was failing the Warriors. Like no matter how hard I tried, how much I pushed for things to be better, they just kept getting shittier. On the other hand, I never gave up the way Buttplug apparently was. It pissed me off a little, to be honest. This woman and her tribemates deserved someone who would fight for them to the very end.
“I want to help you, if I can.”
I could see a sense of relief wash over her. It was the first sign of any weakness she’d shown, which led me to believe that part of her new look was an act, a façade meant to guard herself against the fear and turmoil roiling inside her. “We will accept any help you’re able to provide. The tribeswomen still speak fondly of you.”
That was surprising, but nice to hear. But I didn’t come here just to give assistance. “And in return…” I said. “I would ask that your tribe help us in the coming battle against the Morgoss.”
Belle nodded thoughtfully. “I cannot speak for the others, but I am willing to help in any way I can. You can make your case to everyone else.”
I wasn’t worried about everyone else. I was worried about Bu’ploog. Though the giant seemed to have a good heart, he was an odd fellow. And, from the sounds of it, his current state of mind might be a little off. Still, it was an opportunity. That’s more than I could ask for. “Great. Then lead the way.”
Belle flashed a dazzlingly white smile and soldiered on. Lace fired me an unconvinced look but then fell into line. I continued to carry Silk, trying my best to keep her body from bouncing too much as we walked.
Belle hadn’t lied when she said we were close. Not a hundred yards from the point where we’d stopped, we reached a staircase. There were approximately the same number of stairs up as we’d taken down from the fallen hollowed-out tree. At the top of the landing was another makeshift hatch. Belle used an elaborate pattern of knocks to alert whoever was on the other side that she required entrance. After a few moments, the round portal door opened up and out, hinges creaking slightly.
To my complete and utter surprise, a familiar bronzed Asian face looked down at me. I remembered her name: Misha. I also remembered the epic orgy I’d participated in with her and Belle the last time I was here. For a second she didn’t really notice us, her eyes fully engaged on Belle. “I was worried sick,” the woman said, helping Belle out and pulling her into a hug. “I feared the worst had befallen you.”
“I’m fine, Mish,” Belle said. There was a familiarity in their tones of voice and the way they touched each other. These women were far more than friends or comrades in arms at this point.
While the two women embraced, Lace and I climbed the last few steps and emerged into a large space I remembered well. It was the inside of the giant tree we’d been looking for from the moment we entered the wood. The outside of the tree was like the walls around a city while the inside was completely empty, rising hundreds of feet into the air. Demon’s blood wall torches cast an orange glow throughout the circular space. Evidently it was naptime, because other than Misha, there were dozens of sleeping women interspersed on the ground throughout the area.
Finally, Mish seemed to notice there were others in her presence. Her eyes found me first, flicking between my face and Silk’s limp body in my arms. “I know you,” she said. “Right? You were different the last time I saw you.”
“Hi Misha,” I said.
“Sam Ryder,” she remembered. “You are Leveled up again?”
“Yes,” I said, not wanting to fully elaborate on how many times. I didn’t know if the women of this tribe—all of whom had escaped the Three—would look too kindly on someone who was clearly blessed by the goddesses. I quickly moved on to introductions so she couldn’t ask me any hard questions. “This is Lace. Lace, meet Mish.”
“Charmed,” Lace said, seeming to eat the woman with her eyes.
“There are no Protoans here. And now there are two.” She said it neutrally, which left it unclear whether they preferred not to have any cat-women or if it was just an observation.
“The other is Silk. She was injured by the ulu.”
“You faced them in the open?” There was a hint of alarm in Mish’s tone.
“Yeah. At least until Belle got us the hell out of there.”
“Is the escape route compromised?”
Belle pursed her lips. “It’s unclear. Kong was in the vicinity, but we didn’t see him.”
Misha nodded. “You’ll have to tell Bu’ploog.”
“I can do that,” I said. “Where is the big fella?”
A concerned look scrunched up Misha’s cute features. Instead of answering, she just pointed. My eyebrows shot up as I realized I should’ve seen the giant as soon as I entered the space.
The reason I hadn’t was because of how still and silent he was, massive body nestled against one wall, looking more like a mound of dirt than a living, breathing creature. In fact, unless I looked very closely, I couldn’t even tell if he was breathing, the rise and fall of his chest almost imperceptible. Hell, a few vines had even curled around his limbs, leaves sprouting from their tendrils. I looked harder. “Is that…moss…growing on his cheeks?”
Misha nodded sadly. “Bu’ploog has not been himself. We feed him by hand. We try talking to him, but he only responds with grunts. We try to pleasure him, but his body doesn’t respond like it used to.”
I almost choked at the last part but managed to maintain my composure. The giant didn’t know what he was missing, which meant he really was in a bad state of mind. “When did this all start?” I asked.
“Three weeks ago,” Belle answered. “We lost four women in one day, killed by the ulu while hunting. One of them—Gloria—was Bu’ploog’s favorite. Almost like his wife, if a man living amongst fifty women can be considered to have a wife. He has barely spoken three words since. He moans sometimes. I think his heart may be broken.”
“Jesus,” I said. This was not good. I knew these women loved the giant, each in their own way. He’d given them a safe harbor, a place to be themselves away from the dangers of the Morgoss and the Black. Unfortunately, the forest held dangers of its own. Well, there was nothing for it. I was here to talk to good ol’ Buttplug. If I couldn’t get him to listen, I would have to try to convince the women to abandon their leader. “Can you take care of Silk?” Mish nodded and I handed the cat-woman’s body to her, our arms brushing slightly together during the exchange. I felt a shiver run through my body. “Lace, please stay with her.”
“Fine,” she huffed, though I think she was secretly glad not to have to go with me to speak with the giant. She’d never really liked the massive creatures hailing from Primo.
“Shall we?” I said to Belle.
Belle nodded and led me toward the sleeping giant. As we approached, I could hear the faint sound of his breathing, heavy exhalations pushed from his lips. Slow and steady. “How do you wake him up to eat?” I asked.
Belle stepped up to him and stroked his chin. “Boo,” she said softly. “You have a visitor.”
“Mmmm,” the giant murmured, lip curling up slightly. “Too tired. Come back later.”
I felt my fists tighten at my sides. I knew the giant was grieving, but that didn’t mean he could shirk his responsibilities to protect the surviving women of his tribe. I was about to say as much, but Belle seemed to recognize my anger, because she touched my shoulder and shook her head as if to say, Don’t. Let me handle this.
I took a deep breath and nodded once. I couldn’t overstep—at least not yet. I waited impatiently as Belle tried again. “Boo. It’s time to awake. We have much to discuss. The escape route may be compromised.”
This seemed to get the giant’s attention, his eyes flicking open and narrowing. “What? How?”
The sharpness of the questions was good. I could hear his anger, a powerful emotion that cut through the waves of sadness that seemed to constantly wash against his enormous form. His eyes found me and he said, “You.”
I said, “Me.”
“Shouldn’t be here.”
“Last I left we acted as allies.”
“Long time ago. Ryder comes here and fucks our escape route?”
“That was my choice,” Belle cut in. I was impressed by the courage in her voice. “Ryder and his companions were in grave danger and I made the choice to save them.”
“Wrong choice,” Bu’ploog grumbled, but much of the fight had left him already. He slumped back down and closed his eyes once more.
“Not necessarily,” I said. “Not if I can help you defeat Kong.”
This time, the giant’s eyes didn’t open when he spoke. “No help for us. No defeating Kong.”
“Let me try.” I didn’t really need his permission to fight the giant gorilla, but I needed to play to his pride, if there was anything left of it.
“Do as wish,” he said. He managed to lift a hand and flick it as if to say And don’ let bark door hit ass on way out.
It was good enough for me. “When I bring you Kong’s head,” I said. “You will help us fight the Morgoss.”
If the giant heard me, he gave no indication. Once more, his chest rose and fell as he slept.
~~~
“Well that went well,” I said to Belle when we were out of the giant’s earshot.
“That’s the most he’s spoken in days,” Belle said. Her hand had naturally fallen down to grip mine. I didn’t mind it at all, her warmth welcome amidst the coldness that had entered my chest while speaking to the downtrodden giant.
“That’s something, I suppose. Now for the easy part: killing Kong.” Belle looked at me like I’d gone mad. “Kidding.”
She managed a half-smile. “Sorry, we don’t joke around here much these days.”
“I always try to bring the fun.”
Her smile broadened and she squeezed my hand, stopping. She lifted onto her tiptoes to kiss my cheek. “You really are a sight for sore eyes,” she said.
“Really? Why? Your time with us in camp was miserable.” I was genuinely curious why she thought of me fondly.
