It didn't take long for the mine cart to gain speed. Sudden curves and bumps were dangerously shifting the fish from a side to the other of the metal box. William was in the middle of a slimy ballet and his face was vigorously slapped on several occasions by the wet and smelly cargo. When the creaking noise of rusty wheels became unbearable for the increasing acceleration, the cart started to slow down and to go uphill and then it descended again. Time became an illusion in this smelly seesaw of bumps and flying fish. William was utterly nauseated. He felt sick inside the cart on several occasions. Now the cargo was even slimier. After what seemed to be hours of sliding up and down left and right, the mine cart violently impacted against something big. The vehicle went off the rails and Will was vigorously catapulted outside the mine cart with all the fish. He hit a rocky wall and fainted.
He dreamt of slugs, hundreds of them. They crawled up his leg with sudden and compulsive movements. He felt the gooey rout of animals slowly dragging him away. They smelled of rotten flesh. The stench was so sharp and acid that it was unbearable. Then he realised. Those weren’t slugs and he wasn’t dreaming. He woke up completely. The adrenaline rush instantly shook away his numbness. Will’s eyes were now wide open, but he could not see a thing. Utter darkness was surrounding him. He pulled his leg as strong as he could and got free from the slimy grip. Will got up quickly and tottered away, trying to put some distance between him and that malicious thing. The smell of decay was unbearable. He leaned against a rocky wall and threw up. William frantically moved his head around, looking for a way out. He saw a faint glimpse of light coming from a recess a few meters ahead “The torch…?” William walked towards the delicate source of light and then he saw it: a glowing fish. It was lying on the ground next to the overturned cart with all the dropped shipment, motionless. Will did not remember of any luminous fish being dropped on his head by Alabi during the loading, though. It was a big dead tuna, casting a feeble blue light which was constantly changing its tonalities from cobalt to indigo. Will painstakingly lifted the fish and weirdly looked at it. He noticed that the light was brighter on the area surrounding the head and inside its mouth. He opened the fish’s mouth and put his hand inside of it. After a few seconds, he had his arm inside the fish, up to his shoulder. He reached something hairy and round. He grabbed it and took it out. It wasn’t a torch, but a tennis ball. A normal size tennis ball was now glowing in his hands. He looked at the object with dubious distrust and moved it slowly to better look at it from different angles. He thought he already had his share of oddities for the day and quickly had a look behind him to see if that strange creature had followed him. No movements. Maybe he had imagined it? He turned again to look at the ball in his hands and he noticed that the ball had eyes. Two big blue expressive eyes were looking at him. He let out a scream of terror, making a very loud high-pitched cry and dropped the ball.
The tennis ball bounced a couple of times and then fell on the ground with a heavy thud. It started to swell and became bigger. The strange object was still round, but it wasn’t a tennis ball anymore. Its blue skin was lucid and transparent. It was casting a brighter azure light which was now clearly illuminating a wider area around them. A large mocking smile appeared under the blue eyes “Well done! It is a great idea to scream like a cheerleader in such a great moment! Bravo! The monster that just tried to eat you is still crawling behind the corner! Shut the fish up, you idiot!”
Will was looking at the blue thing in complete shock “Wh…wh..wha..”
“Ooohh. Great! We have a stutter AND an idiot!” The round creature spelled out the word slowly and loudly “Lo-wer the To-Ne of your Vo-ice if you wan-na Li-Ve.” It rolled his eyes and snorted “I would tell you in sign language, but I don't have hands at the moment, soooo..…” It had a very tiny and squeaky voice, but it sounded somehow very confident and resolute.
“What are you?” Will asked stridently.
“No time for that, schoolgirl! Right now, we need to survive. And you need to do exactly what I say”
“What are you talking about. Survive wh…!?”
Will’s words died in his throat. An enormous lumpy figure appeared in the blue dim light. The creature was slowly moving towards him. It looked like it was falling and rolling at the same time. Hands and feet, unevenly disposed on the meaty mass, were moving in a convulsive agglomerate of flesh. Limbs of skin and what seemed to be human organs and guts were pulsing all over the immense creature. It didn’t have a face, but thousands of black malevolent eyes. Will could not see where the thing started or ended as the rest of its body was hidden in darkness. Long strips of paper and worn out cloth were nailed to its thick rotting skin. Ancient unreadable symbols were marking the rags and engraving the organic membranes covering the aberration.
The blue ball talked again with the outmost calm. He was still smiling “We need to survive that. But hey, look at the bright side. It hasn’t eaten in centuries and it’s weak and slooooow. That’s the only reason it hasn’t minced us in very small pieces yet. CAPISH? Plus, I can get us out of here... Do you want to get out of here?”
“Yes…Please…” Will was looking at the monster in utter horror and disbelief “What do you need me to do?”
The blue talking creature became small as a tennis ball again “Pick me up”
William picked it up very gently and brought it closer to his face. He was now looking at it anxiously, waiting for instruction.
“Listen carefully, boy...this is very important...” the blue little monster was very serious now.
“Ok....”
“If you throw up on me again, I'll mess you up. What you did in that cart before is disgusting! I can still smell it...”
“So..Sorry?”
“Apology accepted…Just keep it together, ok. No more puke, promise?”
“...Ok…promise” Will was confused and embarrassed.
“Remember kid... whatever you do, you can't touch the rags pinned to its skin. Each one of those is a terrible curse. These ancient spells were cast in moments of grief and despair. It is powerful magic. If it doesn't kill you, it will make you desperately wish you were dead...”
The blob of flesh and organs was getting dangerously close. The smell of death and rot was spreading everywhere. The fish around them rotted and decomposed instantly.
Will was feeling sick again and risked breaking his promise.
The blue ball smiled gently "Don't worry kid. We'll be alright...Now, squeeze me
“What the fish did you just said!?”
“I SA-id SQU-EE-ZE me!”
“Why would I do that!?”
“You see where that thing is coming from? That's where we need to go. There's no coming back and we can't get out of here if you don't do this... I need... let's say...a push. Can you do this for me?”
The little ball was talking hastily, but firmly. His big blue eyes where now even bigger and full of hope.
Will nervously gazed at the aberrant mass of flesh and realised that he had nothing to lose.
He squeezed the blue ball with a vigorous movement of his right hand.
The little creature started to melt. A gargantuan glowing flow of blue slime was now dripping on Will’s harm. Little protuberances were spawning from the melting ball and quickly turned into gooey tentacles. The blue slime twisted around Will’s arm with twitching and spasmic movements and quickly spread to reach his shoulder. In just a few seconds his arm was completely enveloped by the blue glowing slime. He furiously tried to tear the gooey substance apart, but it was so slippery that he couldn’t really grab it. In the meantime, the monstrous aberration was dangerously getting close to him. Something in his head clicked. Fear? No, that wasn’t him. Not completely at least. Will extended his gooey arm to reach the mine cart on the ground. The slime extended farther and embedded the metal wagon. With a furious movement of his slimy arm, Will hurled the bulky metal box against the flesh monster. The impact was so brutal that the cart literally passed through the loathsome cluster of decomposing flesh. It was a blast of blood and entrails. Will remembered what the little ball said about the rags pinned to the creature’s skin. He had to avoid being touched by them. The blue slime quickly retreated to protect his host from the toxic outburst. It frantically swelled to create a protective coating that completely embodied the young smuggler. The discharge of fluids violently hit the slime armour, leaving Will unscathed.
The path was free.
Will walked through the cave, the coat of slime was still around him. Every wall and ceiling of the cave were covered in organic materials and steamy fluids. Dark blood was drizzling in a putrescent thin rain. Will found the mine cart a few meters ahead; it was completely crumpled by the crush against a rocky wall. The ride was over, he had to walk and leave the cargo behind. Not that he minded. He carefully followed the railway track barely illuminated by the blue dying light coming from the slime on his arm.
When the way looked safe and intestines-free the slime started to withdraw. The sludgy tentacles were slowly retracting. But the little creature didn’t complete its metamorphosis. It stopped around Will’s arm and gradually dried out. It didn’t look elastic and slimy anymore, but it continued to glow faintly. Will tried to grab one of the tentacles, but the slime tenaciously tightened its grip.
“It’s done little thing… you can leave now” No answer.
The grip around his arm became stronger, but gentle.
“I understand, you must be exhausted... I got it from here.”
Everything around him was darkness and utter silence. He had no idea how long it had been since he started walking. It didn’t matter. He was thoroughly entertained by the whirlwind of thoughts and unanswered questions scattering through his head. He started to understand why Alabi was so nervous about this job. But more importantly, he had an apprehensive feeling about who (or what) was waiting on the other side. Will had a glimpse of the excitement he felt when throwing the mine cart right through that creature. He felt invincible. And he probably was. I mean, how much does a mine cart weigh? 300 pounds?
He finally reached the elevator. It was a large rusty compartment that looked like a cage, a conveyance used for moving workers and supplies below the surface. It was suspended from the hoist on a metal chain. The railway ended right in front of it. Will stepped inside the elevator and pulled the metal lever on his left side. A clanging noise triggered the lift-wheel and the chain started to pull up the cage. The lift ascended trough the cold stone for what seemed to be hours. When it finally stopped, Will could see a sturdy wooden board right in front of him. He pushed it steadily and heard a short, sharp sound coming from behind the panel. The door opened slightly. A thin blade of bright light permeated from the other side. Will cautiously peaked through the opening. He hesitated, listening to any potential noise. He heard a voice “Braking news…from the tower… parliament”. The news on television? He warily leaned out of the door. His eyes took a moment to accustom to the bright white light, but he recognised the place immediately. It was the kitchen of the Coral Reef, the restaurant where he worked at night as a cover for his smuggling business. He glanced around quickly. There was no one in sight. He stepped in the kitchen and delicately pushed the door behind him, being very careful not to close it. The hidden door was perfectly camouflaged with the white stainless tiles covering the kitchen wall. He looked at the blue round clock on the wall. It was 10.30… in the morning? He had left Alabi’s shop the day before. The kitchen was immaculately clean. Someone had forgotten to turn off the old television on the shelve. The news where sharing images of the Tower of Parliament in flames. A female Koral reporter with long colourful fins was talking about the lockdown of every district in Sea Snake City “…No one will be allowed to leave their house and curfew will be in place tonight as a safety measure” William silently walked around the kitchen. The boiling and braising pans were carefully piled next to the cooking station. Utensils were steadily hanging from the racks over the steel ovens. Will’s contact didn’t usually get to the restaurant before 1 pm. The smuggler suddenly felt exhausted and realised that he hadn’t slept or eaten in over 24 hours. It was also very early, and he didn’t want to be seen around the restaurant before his evening shift started. He decided to have a nap behind the secret door. He needed to gather his energies and decide what to do next. He reluctantly looked at his right hand. The motionless dry tentacles were still firmly seizing his arm and shoulder.
He grabbed a multipack of breadsticks from a kitchen trolley and ravenously devoured its content. He greedily drank tap water from the kitchen sink. William was now heading for the hidden passage when the TV mentioned something that instantly got his attention “The Council of Keepers was urgently summoned this morning by the Mayor’s Cabinet … It was confirmed that the Freshok Keeper, Adrian J. Lingerfin and his Sacred Egg are missing … we just receive a terrible update…” the reporter nervously brought a hand to her earphone “…The Freshok Egg, Belzer the Kind, hatched…?” her voice was broken by tears “Members of the Kroster Special Forces just retrieved his empty eggshell from the Tower of Parliament… They are transporting it to the Eastern Laboratories for further analysis…” The camera moved to frame a group of corpulent Krosters coming out of the Tower. They were carrying a metal crate and placing it inside an armoured police vehicle. Forensics masked medics in white coats came right behind them. The reporter had completely lost her composure. Black eyeliner was melting on her cheeks “…We will provide you with further updates soon…sob…sigh… Reporting live from The Tower of Parliament, I’m Neela Sheva, SSC TV - 24. Back to you Allison.”
Will was staring at the little TV with his mouth wide open. He could not believe what he just heard. This was a very sad day for the Freshok people. The egg… The idea popped in his mind as quickly as a mine cart pops a flesh monster in a cave. He had the son of a god wrapped around his arm.
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