cap off Morio with a crown of fire. A crown bejeweled in emerald, one forged by a jealous hand.
He fought to peer through the firewall looking out from the gates of hell. He had something to tell the true young woman.
“Go Miss Vaam. No more to do here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes love, it’s for the best.”
“Yes. I do have someone to find… now that they’ve moved the timeline.”
“Hurry girl, just go. I’ll be fine. Happy to hold down the fort in the meantime.”
“Ogspeed, Uncle M.”
“Take care my dear.”
As Morio watched, a bend in the air sent Vaam’s shape shifting from the room. Her soul poured out through a whirlpool blur. The phantom Vaam followed a little while later, vanishing cold from the floral inferno.
The flares were so tall now that neither Guard noticed.
“I must say that this is quite the pickle,” Morio said to himself aloud. “Not that I would mind one now.”
A demon’s whip nearly seared the map, so he held it higher overhead.
“Instead of dread I need a plan. Hmmm… I’m thinking again of my chum, my dear old pal… How I wish you were here…”
Green sparks festooned his clothes and hair. The blaze reflected in his stare. A smell of sulphur in the air. Phosphorus everywhere.
“I can almost imagine what you would do, Jurykynd, if you were in this stew. So many adventures we lived to tell, not to mention your own had as Miss Vaam’s daddy… By the way, such a lovely child she is. You should be very proud. Anyhow… Isn’t it typically right about now that there should be some kind of intervention? A lucky break? A villain’s mistake? Maybe a miracle or two?”
The green storm swirled around him. It closed in closer with every spin.
“Well if you have any pull at all, this would be the time…”
Mossy mortality was at hand. A maelstrom unleashed to engulf the man.
“Okay, last chance. I’m counting to three…”
He coughed and croaked from the acrid smoke and gasped for a final breath to breathe.
“That works in every fairy story.”
Morio shut his bloodshot eyes.
“One…” The cavalry did not come.
“Two…” But something grabbed his shoe.
“THREEE…” He felt something funny. Bad funny.
“Oh dearie me.”
Thwwwurp.
He was pulled down under from below. Buried alive. Swallowed up whole. Sucked in with a hideous slurp. A devilish kind of sound.
The only sign that remained of him was a hand protruding from the ground, one still clutching his treasured map.
A second gulp took care of that. It was bound to rejoin its owner now. Both lost, drawn into uncharted realms of the netherworld.
The gluttonous pen let out a burp.
The near empty room went silent and dim.
Morio Yoop was gone.
###
To be continued… Look out for the next exciting episode of Lore of the Underlings!
About the Author
John Klobucher is the author of many technical manuals that you’d never want to read. But he is also to blame for Lore of the Underlings, this ill-advised epic adventure that’s available to you in tasty little episodes, with new ones coming — farm-fresh, organic, and cruelty-free — every now and again. (For more behind-the-scenes news and nonsense, hie thee to this bloggery: loreoftheunderlings.wordpress.com).
John has also been known to paint a little, including the watercolors used in the cover art for Lore of the Underlings.
John lives in Framingham, Massachusetts, USA with his wife Diane, son Sam, and daughter Mia.
~ ~ ~
Other titles by John Klobucher:
Lore of the Underlings: Episodes 1 & 2 ~ A Door to the Lore
Lore of the Underlings: Episode 3 ~ Fyryx
Lore of the Underlings: Episode 4 ~ The Letting Pen
~ ~ ~
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends