***
A roar sounded somewhere in the gardens.
‘Something very angry is pursuing us,’ said Gloria frightfully.
‘I guess I would be angry too if I was lying awake in a tomb for so long, unable to die from hunger or thirst,’ said Fedaro.
‘Can you tell us more about Ultair?’ asked Beluka.
‘I can tell you this much, I intend not to run into him.’
‘Is he a man?’
‘Sort of. Sacrificed by his own people, his heart was cut from his body. They wrapped his body in cloths washed by the blood of many virgins. The people that lived here, believed that if you go through the same process as a caterpillar, you will emerge as something greater. I guess they wanted to create some kind of god. Their priests cast many spells on him and he awoke as something no one quite expected. Being able to command creatures like the spiders and feasting on the souls of his victims I guess were his rewards for participating in such an ordeal.’
‘Blood of many virgins?’ asked Beluka as though that's all he had taken from what Fedaro just said.
‘I might've made that part up, but the rest of it is certainly true. ’
‘Can he be killed? asked Beluka.
‘I hate to admit this, but I don't think anything I carry on me currently is going to do it any harm.’ Having said that, Fedaro noticed Beluka walked all the more faster.
I can't agree more big man, let's get out of here.
Fedaro fiddled with his Musket, not voicing aloud the fact that he had less than a hundred and fifty rounds left. Of these at least some were some specialized bullets of which he made sure the most appropriate ones were all set in a magazine he would only slam into the Musket when face-to-face with Ultair. The bullets in that one would deliver a cocktail of agents that had worked for Fedaro against a variety of deadly things in the past, including a soul-eater, albeit a much weaker one than the one they now faced. The three types of bullets Fedaro thought would most effective here was a high dosage acid round, a tessenair shot that was known to undo magical protection, and a bullet with a toxin that supercharged the rate at which blood coagulates. If this Ultair had any blood to speak off, Fedaro was going to do his best to slow him down by petrifying his insides with his own blood.
‘Can you use your powers?’ he asked Gloria, not feeling too confident about his special bullets.
She shook her head frantically.
Fedaro sighed. ‘Can you use your bow?’
She looked unsure.
‘We might need you to fight too okay? I've seen you kill a giant lizard. Now I can only assume you are shy of using your powers against something that drinks the very essence of your bond with dead spirits, but I need you to show some courage and use the bow and arrow. Alright?’
She said nothing, but Fedaro saw some kind of agreement in her eyes, as though she was resigned to the fact that they would not leave the gardens easily, which Fedaro considered to be a healthy attitude at the time.
‘What's your bow called?’ asked Fedaro.
‘All weapons of Arterra are of the moon. My bow is called the Crescent,’ said Gloria.
‘Crescent moon?’ asked Fedaro thinking of the shape of a sickle moon. ‘That's quite clever. Did you name it that?’
‘No, it was my father. ’
Fedaro nodded. ‘From now on, that bow of yours carries the fury of your people. Anything your people had ever done, is now reduced to you getting out of this place and use your bow the way it was meant to be used. It's your survival and your instrument by which the world will know your people. Do you get that?’
‘Yes,’ said Gloria.
‘Good girl,’ said Fedaro, and moved on with as much speed as circumstances allowed. He hoped Beluka had some stamina in him, not sure that Gloria could move any real distance yet with her ankle.
Their trouble came again the form of spiders, homing in on what Fedaro thought was all Gloria's doing. He considered asking her if there was some facet of her ability that she could mute, so that Ultair and his spiders would not smell her out so easily so to speak. But given her limited control he had seen her exercise so far he was guessing that that was not really an option for her. The first few spiders Fedaro dealt with promptly and they seemed to make a good deal of ground without trouble. Fedaro's instincts told him this was all wrong and that even though they were heading in the right direction, something bad was already waiting across their very road.
Things had grown quiet and then the creature treaded across their path, its patient approach a horrifying aspect.
Of all the creatures in this Jungle, Ultair was the very worst of them. It identified itself as an eater of souls. It was not a monstra, but rather a sinister creation of the rituals mankind had practiced here eons ago, that much was now confirmed. Fedaro was certain its man-like shape was at least eight feet tall. It looked like most of its skin had been turned inside out, with flesh having rotten over the course of time, in essence being a walking carcass, its eyes literally looking like glowing coals. It had war paints on its body, all white shapes like those on the spiders; its only clothing being a loincloth and a rudimentary belt. The aforementioned flesh of its body was a mahogany colour, and he looked as hard and unbendable as the tree that inspired that colour.
‘Do not run!’ it commanded in an inhuman voice, its rotten teeth bared in a lipless mouth, and the sound of its voice carried a component as paralyzing as any toxin made for that purpose. Fedaro pushed at Beluka's shoulder. ‘Now is not the time to start listening to dead things, go!’ While he said it Fedaro traded the magazine of his musket with the one holding the cocktail of special bullets.
‘Such insolence! I, king of Scithea, come awake with mankind not obeying my commands? What has time done to my world that peasants live for their own purposes?’ it roared as it came trudging forward, its movements still jerky and disjointed as though the centuries of sleep had not been kind to its limbs. With Ultair's approach Beluka was off in a different direction, disappearing from sight with Gloria and Fedaro lifted his Musket at the incoming creature.
Fedaro steadily fired, knowing he was simply wasting lead, not even sure he was causing Ultair pain even though his flesh exploded where the bullets struck. The mercenary could not make a study of it given the circumstances, but he was certain the body of Ultair was renewing itself by some dark art. Coming too close for comfort, Fedaro also turned and ran.
Fedaro had no idea how long or how far they fled the creature, moving just fast enough to stay ahead of it, and the petrifying agent of Fedaro's bullets surely gave them some space to work with. But they were moving haphazardly now and were more likely to go further into the gardens instead of getting out of it. Also, they were tiring, while Ultair was simply regaining his strength and becoming faster by the minute. All of that was not even counting the hordes of spiders that seemed to hunt them now. They came from all sides, and from above of course, and sometimes emerging from places like they had burrowed themselves into the most unlikely hiding spots. Fedaro had trouble following their movements, dedicating his efforts to warding off the spiders of greatest threat and keep on moving at all costs.
Beluka stomped some of the spiders, again, which seemed to be an amicable solution given that his hands were occupied.
Gloria had seemingly found some volition, climbing onto Beluka's shoulders, with her moon bow which had been strapped to the Hippo's backpack, holding herself in place by wrapping her legs in underneath the Hippo's arms. While the hippo kept moving, she was stinging the spiders were her arrows. Fedaro was very impressed; she had to his guess at least ten years of practice with a bow, missing her target less than once every five shots, which under the circumstances was still quite amazing. Add to that Fedaro did not need to waste all his ammunition.
The girl has courage. If only she could maintain this, we might escape here. She also pulled the makeshift spear Fedaro had cut for Beluka from his backpack and handed it to him, who, now with
his hands free, could use it effectively against some of the spiders who came too close. Had it not been such a dire situation, Fedaro would certainly have stopped and laughed at how the Hippo's spear was starting to resemble a giant spider-kabob as he skewered creature after creature. Between the three of them they did a good enough job to fight through the worst of it.
But the spiders also laid traps, stray webbing laid across their road. Fedaro cut through the webbing with his bayonet and used a fire-shot to blast his way through where the spiders had weaved a giant circular web waiting to seemingly swallow them. Fedaro and the rest crashed through the cinders as the fire consumed it.
Beluka in the meanwhile had started to pant heavily, his legs becoming numb by now and Fedaro knew he could not continue on. Fedaro sympathized with him, knowing most men could not even carry the load he had for a few paces, never mind running with it at long distances. In fact that he had made it this far was a wonder.
He halted his party, knowing Beluka was soon going to fall over anyway, and that the spiders were an endless horde that would sooner or later overwhelm them.
‘What now!?’ said Beluka breathlessly.
‘Sit down a minute,’ said Fedaro as he casually fired dead another encroaching spider, hearing the rhythm of the greater horde bearing down on them and surely foreshadowing Ultair's appearance.
‘We will have to