Tales of Alterra Chapter 2

 

Chapter 2

August sat down on a rock. “You’re an alchemist, aren’t you?”

Elyse scoffed, walking to her clothes and grabbing them off the tree branch. “You’re one to talk. You managed to deactivate my invisibility field with a single spell.”

August shook his head. “That’s not the problem. Have you been dumping waste chemicals into this river?”

Elyse shrugged. “Yeah, I have. What, is that a problem?”

August sighed, standing up. “Yes, it is. The people in the village downriver have been having a, well, a fungal problem.”

Elyse’s eyes opened. “Wait, what do you mean, downriver?”

Is this girl just incredibly unaware? Thought August. He rubbed his eyes. “There’s a village downriver. They’ve been drinking whatever you’ve been putting in this water.”

“Oh, well, I, uh.” Elyse snapped her fingers and her wardrobe wrapped around her. First came her undershirt and then the black cloak that covered her entire body, from wrists to ankles. She rolled her arms and turned to her cave. Then she turned back to August.

“Is that a skysteel sword?” she said.

August reflexively grasped his sword’s hilt. “Yes.”

“Can I see it?”

August read Elyse’s gaze and felt no malice. So he handed her his sword.

Elyse giggled and held her finger to the blade. A small ball of purple light formed underneath the finger. She ran the ball up and down the blade and then twirled the blade with surprising dexterity. “Wow.” She handed the blade back to August. “I happen to be an expert in skysteel.”

“Back to the topic at hand.” August sheathed his sword. “You. You’ve been dumping dangerous chemicals into the water.”

Elyse waved her hand. “Come with me.” She walked into the small cave between the rocks at the edge of the river. There was a ripple and then her form was gone.

August took a deep breath and then plunged in after her. The world switched instantly and he stood at the entrance of a large cave that was filled to the brim with alchemical equipment.

“I’ve been working on a serum to increase crop yields through splicing grain with mushrooms.” Elyse did a twirl in the middle of the equipment. “If it’s successful it could triple crop yields around the disk.”

“I don’t think you understand.” August walked, with caution, to the center of the laboratory.

Elyse picked up a bottle with blue liquid in it. “But it could change the world.” She put the bottle back down. “What’s a few people with mushrooms sprouting from their arms compared to millions of people who will have food on their tables where there wasn’t before?”

“Are you one to make that judgement?”

“Dunno. I’ve never thought about it like that.”

“Please, move your lab or stop dumping stuff in the river.”

Elyse picked up a pink vial. “I did, of course, come up with a cure for mycomanifestia.” She tossed it to August. “It’s right there. Rub a bit of it on the affected limb and the mushrooms will be gone. Probably. Side effects may include …” She mumbled. “And there you have it! All better.”

“I think you better come with me to help administer this stuff.” August examined the small pink vial.

Elyse sighed. “Yeah, I guess it is my responsibility.” She sighed again. “Really? Do I have to go into town?”

“You have to.”

Elyse looked nervous. “Really?”

“Is there a reason why you shouldn’t?”

“Um …” Elyse scratched her chin. “No. No there isn’t.” Her voice cracked.

August frowned. “Then let’s get going.” He paused. “You going to wear that even though it’s the middle of the day in summer?”

Elyse twirled. “It’s precisely because it’s the middle of the day in summer that I have to wear this. You see, I have very little melanin in my skin. I am an albino.”

“Melanin? Albino?” August shook his head. “Never mind. Let’s get going.”

“Ah, melanin is, you see—”

August cut Elyse off. “Later. For now we have to make haste.”

Elyse raised her shoulders and rolled her eyes. Then she followed August out of the cave and into the river clearing.

The two of them followed the riverbank down towards Dunhollow.

August’s greenblood sense picked up something he did not want to see. A slight fog covered the ground, and the temperature suddenly dropped ten degrees. Elyse pulled her cloak to herself.

“It’s the middle of the day in summer, right?”

“It’s supposed to be.” August took out his skysteel sword. It hummed, the sure presence of a monster. “Dangermuff.”

Elyse froze, her eyes widening. “No way!” She seemed to be much more excited then scared. “Anfalus Hypnogogus! In the flesh! A real—” Her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed to the ground.

August knelt down beside her. The fog deepened. The dangermuff was on the hunt. Elyse’s eyes opened huge. They were glazed over, showing that she was not in control of her body. She stood up like a zombie coming to life and stumbled towards the brush.

“Ah, not good, not good.” August grabbed her by the arms.

Elyse fought like a mad rabbit, scratching him with her nails and trying to bite him.

August anchored himself to a tree root and gripped Elyse. She continued to fight his embrace.

August expanded his greenblood sense and located the mind of the dangermuff.

Okay, here we go, showdown time. August leaped into the mind of the dangermuff and started smashing things. The dangermuff screamed with a psychic attack, piercing August’s ears. August couldn’t cover them because of Elyse. He fainted after a couple of seconds and everything went black.

When he woke up Elyse was still in his arms. The evening was setting in and the sun held the world in a warm orange embrace. August tapped Elyse. “Wake up.” He pushed her off his lap ad stood up, shakily.

Elyse’s eyes opened. Then she jumped up with excitement. “Holy cow! That was the first time I’ve ever been seized by Anfalus Hypnogogus!”

“You almost died.”

“It was so cool! A hallucinatory experience that rivals muskwort!”

August gripped Elyse’s arm. “You are far, far too naive to be alone in the woods.” He looked at the setting sun. “In any case, I’m taking you to apologize to the villagers and fix whatever you caused.” He paused, furrowing his brow. “Wait, dangermuffs don’t hunt during the daytime unless …” He gritted his teeth. “I have a bad feeling about this.” He started jogging towards the town, scrambling through the bush and onto the main road.

“Come on! Let’s go! We don’t have much time!”

“But I want to examine the Anfalus Hypnogogus’s body!”

“You do realize they disintegrate into thought matter when they die, right?”

Elyse caught up to August, surprising him with her speed. “Yeah! But I wanted to see it anyways!”

“Not the time.” August strapped his shield to his off hand. “The village is in trouble.”

A pillar of smoke rose in the distance, right in the direction of Dunhollow.

Elyse grimaced. “This means I don’t have to fix anything anymore, doesn’t it?”

August bit his lip. “Let’s hope you’re wrong.”

A spear whistled out of the woods. August caught it with his shield hand. He glanced at the spear, stunned.

Elyse whistled in admiration.

“That was a fluke.” August tossed the spear aside.

A monster known as a gangler emerged from the shadows. Then another, then two more. They were monkey-ish creatures, walking with their arms dangling low, wearing nothing but loincloths. They also smelled.

Elyse took something out of her cloak. “Ooh, Sarus Indictus.”

“Can you shut up about that?” August held his sword in a guarding position.

“But this is exciting!” Elyse whipped her wrist through the air and a fire began in her palm.

The fire stretched out until it formed a devilish whip. She cracked it, sending sparks through the air.

It was August’s turn to whistle. “Where’d you get a demonic artifact from?”

“Not the time, sweetie.” Elyse flicked the whip through the air menacingly.

August turned to face the ganglers. “Well, I’m glad to have you on my side.”

A gangler charged August. August stepped aside and lopped its head off. His skysteel blade shimmered, lightened by the blood. The headless gangler collapsed to the ground.

The five other ganglers formed a circle around August and Elyse.

At that moment August lost control of his own body. Or, rather, switched control of his body with the person next to him.

He was now inside Elyse’s body. The fire whip was coming towards him. Having no experience with whips, especially ones made of demonic fire, all he could do was dodge the thing and dive to the ground.

What the hell? It was Elyse’s voice, inside August’s head.

Whoah this cloak is heavy, though August. He tried standing up and caught his feet on the fabric.

A gangler’s spear came for him and he rolled, just in time to avoid it.

Elyse—in August’s body—was swinging his sword wildly and without control. She managed to clip a gangler in the arm.

You think the cloak is heavy now? Said Elyse’s voice in August’s head. Try wearing it while traveling in the middle of summer.

Now is not the time, thought August.

Yeah, no beans, said Elyse. She tripped and collided with a gangler, tangling with it.

“What happened?” said August, in Elyse’s voice.

Then their bodies switched again. August was on the ground, staring at a gangler’s face just an inch from his.

“Hya!” he stabbed the gangler and twisted away from it. The other ganglers were rushing for Elyse.

Elyse performed a twisting, twirling kick and knocked out three ganglers at one.

“A spectral tie.” She whipped the head off of the last gangler. “I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never seen one for myself.”

“What do you know of them?” August flicked his sword clean of blood.  

“Not much. Now’s not the time!”

“Ahh!” yelled August and Elyse at the same time. Their minds melded again, though this time they did not switch bodies.

Not cool, said Elyse, in August’s head. It must have been the Hypnogogus.

You mean dangermuff?

Yeah, that.

August gripped his head as a splitting headache pounded a nail into his head. He staggered. “I can’t fight like this.”

“Neither can I.”

“But the village.” August pushed the pain away. The pillar of smoke in the distance was getting larger.

Both Elyse and August looked at each other. “Not good.”

Elyse and August sprinted towards the village. They burst out of the forest and into the fields surrounding the village. The entire place was on fire. Flying alligator-like creatures called alzoths dove through the smoke. The ground rumbled. A mound of dirt popped up and started heading for them.

“A wurm,” said Elyse, flicking her demon whip.

“Yeah, no kidding.” August got into a position with his sword.

August felt a memory float into his mind. An explosion. Sadness. Lots of important people watching.

“Not now!” he said, out loud, as he waited for the wurm to arrive.

The wurm erupted from the soil and aimed its massive maw at August. August twisted, jumped, and severed the lower portion of its head. Blue blood sprayed everywhere.

Elyse leaped on top of it and wrapped her demon whip around it, the flames burning into its skin.

The wurm trembled and then came to a rest.

Three more mounds of dirt appeared and started towards August and Elyse.

“How many of these things are there?” said August. He readied for a fight.

One of the wurms disappeared, presumably to go deeper underground.

A maw opened beneath August and wet flesh surrounded him. Teeth wrenched into his armor, piercing his skin.

The wurm had got him. He was too constricted to do anything about it.

He felt the presence of Elyse, her mind’s panic, everything running through her head.

I’ll save you.