Stage 2B - Under the Farm
Between dozing in and out of consciousness, I could hear my mothers ethereal singing voice. What little I could see was the dirt ceilings and wooden supports of a tunnel network that looked quite out of place with the rest of the McGooding’s décor… Maps and flags of a nation very far from here lined the walls; photographic images of a dozen peoples family members filled the dingy bunk room I had found myself place in.
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I awoke with jolt and sat up in the dirty bunk I was laying in. “Woah, Inue, relax, its us! Thomas and my old man Tolf!” In his panic, Thomas dropped the bloodied bandages and empty bottles he was holding. “Glad you’re still with us! You know they say you shouldn’t go to sleep after a blow to the head. I ain’t no doctor, but I did the best I could to patch ye up. You’ve been lying there 10 minutes without moving since my father brought you in there, I was starting to get worried.” Studying my surroundings I gauged my heath. My head was pounding, but the pain was minimal, I reached back and fled dried blood and the quick stitching that had been applied. My leg was in a splint made from some of the wooden stakes I had brought with me.
“I thank you and your father for rescuing me. Where is he now?” “Pa’s buying us time. He told me ‘As soon as shes can walk, we gotta get the hell outta here’. So, miss Inue, can ya walk?’” I slowly swung my legs off the bed and put weight on both legs. My blood was boiling and I felt my senses heightened. I placed weight onto the leg that had been crushed and felt a sharp pain course through the area, but I did not flinch. “I wasnt sure what was wrong with ye, so I gave ye a few of my brews like Pa. They wont make the pain vanish, but they’ll help ya get through it.” I politely nodded and kept in mind the limitations. “My thanks. Where is your fa--
*BAKKKK*
The door to the dirt-dug bunk room burst open and an armored figure emerged shouting: “HES BACK SON! GET THE CROSSBOW!”
Thomas seemed to understand the situation and grabbed his weapon from a small table along with his satchel of potions. “Inue, the enemy we fight can warp reality itself! These tunnels weren’t dug by my father or granddad. This Yeung-Ho guy made them with blood and ash. I watched him make some with my own two eyes! Anyways, we collapsed the ceiling on him thought that was the end of him, but then we hear your cries and find you falling prey to his minions. Can you fight with us?”
I steeled my heart and braved my soul for the ancestors. “Let us fight together!”
---
Thomas and I crept down the lamp-lit tunnels. I readied one of the wooden stakes as a spear; I touched the hide bracelet and prayed to my brothers spirit for guidance. Dark red eyes peered from the shadows of a boarded up wall along the side of the tunnel. The stench of pestilence wafted from within the walls, and so too burst forth a dozen skeletal hands from the earth. “Watch out!” Thomas shouted for me to move before firing a blinding light from his weapon. The light flew in between the smashed planks and illuminated the warped sludge filled souls within, A moment later the light exploded in a flash and the shadowy mass within the corpsemen withered and squealed like meat on a grill.
Further down the tunnel Tolf was running at full speed towards us in his new armor. When he got to us we could see he was covered in a quartet of corpse soldiers, each skeleton wrapped in the remains of his uniform. Each one wearing different colors and flags. Each one of them mindlessly prying at the armor as Tolf grabbed one after another and slammed the skeleton into the tunnels walls until they stopped animating.
“Damned gutless bastard with no respect of the dead. I’ll wring his neck if its the last thing I do.” Tolf took a knee and caught his breath before turning to me: “Glad to see ye on yer feet Miss Inue! We’ve got the bastard cornered down here. Thomas here hit this Yeung-Ho fella leading the troops with a bolt of 110 proof from the family whiskey still. He can barely walk straight, but hes still a threat. His ability to create these shadows and warp the terrain seem to be the result of some ‘gypsy’ blood ritual. The more blood he uses for his abilities, the closer he’ll be to being too sloshed to fight us. Once we get a clean shot, we grab the family and get the hell outta here. Understood?”
Both Thomas and I nodded and prepared for battle. “Stay behind me you two! We don’t want to get---” Tolf stopped and tenses up; a raging roar beginning to well up in his throat… “THAT BASTARD! I’LL SLAUGHTER “EM!!!” Tolf stepped forward towards a faint shape in the darkness.
It was then, in the darkness that we bore witness to a sight more cruel than any mortal should be able to conjure….
The remains of the McGooding family…. Their bodies….
“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH”
Tolf fell to his knees and wailed a heartwrenching cry of agony… Against my own will, I inched closer to the wall where they were nailed… My knees gave out and I too fell down and wretched up my dinner onto the floor… Their skin was flayed open: in layers. Their eyes were placed in what was left of their mouths…. Not a single piece of their flesh was unmolested by blade….
By the strength of the gods, let there be no mercy for a soul who commits such a depraved act…
Tolfs fist were soaked red from punching the dirt until he found stone. Thomas was standing further back and for his sake I hoped he stayed away…. I let the tears flow as I steadied my breath and tried desperately to pray for their souls to find peace…. I stared at the desecrated corpse of my friend Alice and her younger siblings and her mother, at a complete loss for word or action.
“Đầu hàng và ĐỐI MẶT VỚI TA HOẶC TA SẼ GIẾT CON TRAI CỦA NGƯƠI!”
Our mourning was cut short by a strangers voice. I knew not the language but I could sense its meaning: “Surrender or I kill your son!”
Tolfs wail ceased and was replaced with a dark aura of sanguine bloodlust. The large man turned away from the soul crushing scene and pointed his weapon directly at the soldier with a blade pressed to his sons neck.
“Bạn hy vọng đạt được điều gì?” The man with knife laughed and spoke down to Tolf. I caught only the briefest glimpse of a dark will shifting around us before Tolf’s weapon morphed before our very eyes! The fired arm was covered in soot and blood; began reshaping into the form of a large red cylinder with a piece of string extruded from one end which was currently burning… “Do Yer Dinger!!” Tolf panicked and threw the cylinder as far down the tunnel behind us as he was able to. A moment later a bright flash of light begat an explosion that rocked the tunnels. The shock-wave of which knocked us to the ground and began to shake the earth above our heads. The tunnels rumbled as dirt cascaded from the roof. Out attacker smirked and pressed the knife closer to Thomas’ throat, his mouth covered with a rag and his face looked terrified. The knife wielding man, who must have been this Yeung-Ho gestured for us to raise our hands above our heads and walk slowly towards him.
I looked over to Tolf, who’s eyes were fully white with anger. I could hear him crushing his armored glove in his palm as he slowly begrudgingly raised his hands. Solemnly, I too slowly raised my hands. As I did my fingers brushed against one of the wooden stakes that was in my bag. The thought crossed my mind, but I would only have one chance and could not afford to miss… I prayed to the ancestors… I focused all my will into carrying my spear to its target… The stone relic tucked my my front pouch pocket burned warm for a moment: I recalled Nanook’s technique, his form, his experience. I bid his hand guide mine. Tolf, hands in the air, shuffled within grabbing distance of the soldier, displaying a level of restraint that bordered on indomitable. Not a world spoken but the grinding of teeth…
I must pluck this chance: These hardships are my burden to bare and I must not let others be punished in my stead. Nanook’s hand grasped my wrist, and in one swift motion I lifted the spear and let it fly. The wooded stake flew twenty feet into the shadow and pierced the knife holding hand of the soldier. The man would never grip anything with that hand again and yet his resolve held fast; he did not flinch. More surprised by my action then the pain itself, the man was quick to begin choking Thomas with his good hand. Unfortunately for the stranger, Tolf was close enough to intercede. The soldier looked like a child next to Tolf, who’s armored fist dug directly into his face. The man cried out and fell backwards into the darkness with a bloody face, cursing in his mother tongue.
“Christ above! Son are you alright?!” Thomas coughed and gasped for air. “I’m alright Pa, but I tried telling ya and Inue before that man grabbed me: Them bodies on the wall weren’t ma and the kids! I mean they sure smell like corpses and look like ‘em but they smell too foul to be fresh. Whoever these poor folks were, they’ve been dead more than a few months!”
“Ông chủ nói. Giết người phụ nữ đó. Lấy viên đá. Được. Bây giờ tôi sẽ giết tất cả mọi người.” The mans voice echoed from the very walls behind us. The flayed and mutilated corpses of the McGoodings dissolved into ash and blood. The walls began to move. Shifting and morphing as if they were but a mound of snow. The tunnel had suddenly split into two Tunnels with us at the intersection. We were at a crossroads….
Thomas and I were slow to react, but by the time we had understood the implication, Tolf grabbed each of our shoulders and pointed us back to back from each other. “EYES ALL AROUND! Call it when you see ‘em! Hold fast kids!
The air pressure dropped and a cold wind blew through the underground passages from each direction culminating with us. Each tunnel had a single dim lantern over its threshold. Down the north passage a glint of silver could be seen reflecting the lamplight. Shortly several more glints of light appeared alongside the shambling figures clutching them. “Mm…more of them cursed fellas! There must be ten down each passage!” Thomas started rummaging through his bag knocking around glass bottles and other trinkets looking for some form of salvation. “Steady son! How does a man conquer shadow?” Tolfs back was still to us clutching his hammer in both hands. His face did not show but his calm voice was smooth given the circumstances. “Uh…Fire! I’ll see what I can make!” Thomas knelt down and desperate began mixing some of his bottles together casting a foul scent through the cramped tunnels. They were nearly upon us now. I picked up the final spear I had on me and held it close to my chest and prepared myself to fight for survival.
The first group to reach us was the South tunnel, five deadmen, forms twisted in ashen corruption, charged directly at Tolf. With a mighty roar he cleaved his hammer at the soldiers. The first three to be struck had their rotted heads knocked clear, the latter two were crushed under the weight of the three bodies flying at them. Whichever of them were left to move was unclear, as their bodies were now in a pile of bone and carrion against the wall. The western tunnel moved next. All ten figures began running full speed towards Thomas. He cursed under his breath and his trembling fingers put the finishing touches on his makeshift tool. A bolt covered in white paste that looked like animal fat, was launched form his crossed bow. The bolt soared before sharply dropping and splattering on the ground just inches from the shadows advance. The animal fat burst as it landed and sprayed the corpses in a harmless thin mist of chunks and tallow. With Thomas attack ineffective I started down the hoard approaching me from the north. I silently slipped on the mask of Arctic Fox. I gathered the spirits of the land into the form of a shimmering fox made of strands of the Aurora. The beast nuzzled my leg gently before running into the crowd. She seemed to dance as she ran, puffy tail int eh air drawing a trail of light behind it. The deadmen lunged out with knives; Each blade pierced the air, slipping through the bands of dancing light that made up her form. Her tail cascaded in an arc and knocked several of them down; their frail bones cracking as the fell. The rest of the shadows kept marching, and to my dismay, the ones that had been knocked down were now crawling forward dragging their broken legs and arms along the ground. The hoard was nearly upon we three.
“Father! Try to strike their rusted weapons with your hammer!”
I turned around to see Thomas panicking as the fat covered soldiers had broken into a full spring and were about to dive at him. Tolf had already taken care of the South tunnel and was about to turn to the East when he heard his sons plea. Pivoting on the spot, Tolf broke into a run tackling the monster nearest his son to the ground and crushing its fragile head with his boot. The next was too fast to stop, its blade was already in motion towards Thomas’ heart. Tolf dropped the hammer and swing the back of his armored fist to intercept the blade.
There was a spark.
There were screams.
Then, each of the fat covered zombies burst into flames.
Everyone in the tunnels shielded their eyes from the blinding sparks. My vision was overwhelmed to the point of pain. The only sound that could be heard was the guttural screams of the corpsemen and the crackling burn of the massive flames that engulfed their bodies. The heat was getting unbearable; I could feel myself passing out. I was grabbed by the collar and dragged backwards. I was thrown to the ground next to Thomas who was clutching his foot in agony. I looked up at Tolf whose entire right arm was missing its armor and burned black. I turned back to see the hoard melting in piles as each corpsemen trying to get past the fireball at the crossroads unwittingly began spreading the flames to the corpse beside him.
The flame was dying out slowly, but had faded out enough to see without being blinded.
“Bọn nhà quê các người có thermite không?
Tiếp theo là napalm gì?
Chất độc màu da cam?”
The man-in-charge’s voice echoed through the tunnels. I couldn’t understand his words, but he was angry at us for having used such a weapon.
The north, east and western crossroads collapsed, being replaced by the large stone faces of a mystical beasts with long serpentine faces and coiled bodies clutching clouds.
“Tôi không trách bạn vì đã phản kháng.
Mục đích của chúng ta là cao cả, và để đạt được ước mơ đó, chúng ta sẽ trở thành chính ác quỷ nếu cần thiết”
He spoke of nobility in his cause. And yet I could see none of that present here today.
“Curse ye, ya daffy Fook! You wanna make a mockery of a mans family, you had better be prepared to pay!” Seething with rage, Tolf ran directly towards the sound of the voice. Thomas still had tears in his eyes and was clutching his booth which had a thumb sized hole straight through to the ground. This was the worst burn I had ever seen in my life. Not even a funeral pyre could have melted through a foot so easily. Blood and spittle flew from his mouth. He was biting down on a strip of leather. I gathered some ointment from the small medical bag and began applying it to the edges of the hole but the medicament was evaporating into steam on the burning-hot wound.
Behind us was the sound of Tolf striking something over and over and over again. Metal upon flesh, the swinging of his hammer. Something was being beaten to death and I prayed it was our attacker.
“Scott ngốc! CuCu! Không phân biệt được người với gấu.”
Suddenly from the darkened tunnel behind us Tolf cried out in pain followed by the unmistakable roar of a grizzly bear. Time was running short. With Thomas out of action and Tolf about to be mauled by a bear, the bravery I had been feigning up until now disappeared. I looked left and watched as Tolf was dragged along the ground by a great and monstrous ashen grizzly bear that took up nearly the entire size of the tunnel. With his leg in the bears mouth, Tolf kicked and punched the great ashen beast. With a single flick of the bears neck, Tolfs body was flung over my head before crashing into the muddy tunnel wall to our backs. The bears maw was covered in blood both new and old. With soulless eyes and an indifferent huff, the beast stood on its hind legs and prepared to maul me to death with its razor claws….
The world slowed and my mind was blank. The only sounds I could hear was the rushing of blood in my own hears and a soft sonata in the distance. I focused on the beautiful singing voice. She sang the songs of our people. A bright light in a sunless sky. She was gone nearly ten years now. The great mother raven sang her song. I knew her words well, as ever, I kept them close to my heart. I focused on my mothers light, and she focused on me.
Her gentle touch guided my hands to place the mask on my face. Her knowing words bid me clutch the cursed stone, reluctant as I was. I shed a single tear, for I realized that she had never once left my side.
Through the eyes of the crudely made mask, the Ravens light gathered in a magnificent ball. The spirits swirled and flew together in a sphere, occasionally giving off a timely cheerful caw. The bears claws swung downwards to gore me and dug into the sphere of light that rose slowly over my head. The shadow beast roared in pain as the Ravens light began dissolving the shade where it had made contact. Like a spreading fire, the tiny ravens of light engulfed the beast, burning clean the dark shadow until there was nothing left. The chalky ashes and dried blood fell to the ground and the beast was banished.
Still channeling the light, fist tightly clutching the half-stone in my pouch pocket, I reached out my free hand and placed it on Thomas’s foot. The thumb sized burn began to bubble and froth. With great strain I closed the wound, leaving not but an unsightly scare where the wound had been. Tolf, was crawling across the dirt towards me. As soon as he was in reach, I grabbed his wrist and channeled as much light as I could into the sphere. Screaming with agony, Tolf clutched his leg and bent his knee back in the proper direction. As the light streamed from the mask, and the power surged through the First Grain into my soul… I felt weak. My consciousness was fading. Thomas’s hand grabbed mine and yanked it out of my pocket. My body wasn’t responding. Something warm and iron-favored was dripping from my mouth and nose. My head bounced as it hit the ground hard and I was paralyzed. I could do nothing more than keep one eye open and struggle for consciousness. I was compelled to resist; I felt like if my focus waned for even a second I would never wake up again. Just like when I had first grabbed the Grain, I was trapped in a limbo separated from my body. At least, this time, I could see.. At least this time, I wasn’t alone…
The world went still and the tunnel went dark. Each lantern shattered leaving us in pitch darkness. “”
Stick close son! This is it! Stand by Inue, protect her!” Voices and footsteps rang out in my periphery, and I watched Tolf’s leg appear in the darkness just before my face. There was a rustling and a loud hissing noise as bright white light illuminated the tunnels behind my back. “Gah, that’s smarts!” “Aye, too bright son! Something else!” There was a sound of metal clicking and a light began flashing and pulsing around the tunnels emanating outwards to illuminate the darkness. Thomas stepped forward holding a metal box with a wooden wheel on the side. The box emitted a white light too bright to stare at and some guard on the front was opening and closing the light from view with each turn of the wheel.
It was then that Yeung-Ho’s cackling voice rang out again. The earth below us began to crack and fracture; Our footing was sinking…. After a moment of anticipation the ground gave way to a circular fissure which swallowed us whole. We were in free-fall, descending down a seemingly bottomless shaft of earth. Unable to move, I let the weightlessness of the fall wash over me. I accepted that whatever happened next, I had done all I could up to this moment. Should my fall be broken, I would have no regrets….
Thomas threw objects from his bag at the wall as he fell, to what end I knew not. Tolf had rotated enough to stabilize himself, falling as if he were laying on his stomach. He leaned forward and slowly began drifting in my direction eyes frenzied and looking for answers… “SHITE!” Suddenly he yelled and pitched forward crashing right into me. My ribs ached from the impact and would have cried if I could move. A split second after the impact a dark tendril, more blood than shadow, struck Tolf in the chest. He groaned, but the bloody tendril had no the power to pierce his armor. Tolf let me go, dropping me back into free-fall, spinning helplessly as the two McGoodings twisted in and out of my view. Tolf had grabbed the bloody tendril with both hands and had begun pulling whatever was on the other side towards him. Thomas suddenly righted himself and stood in place as we fell. His boots were planted on ground that wasn’t there. He took aim with his crossed bow and aimed high up to where the tendril in Tolfs hand led. A bolt was launched and a hissing gas was delivered high into the ceiling far out of sight.
Someone swore and started coughing. The illusion was suddenly broken. The world had stopped spinning and falling. I was on my back in the dirt looking up to the edges of a put twenty five feet above us. Tolf had nearly climbed up to the top using the bloody tendril as a rope. As soon as his hands reached the top ledge, he reached out and yanked something heavy down into the pit. I saw not what had fallen beside me, but I gave a knowing smile as Tolf stood triumphantly at the top of the pit arms raised in glory. Armor covered in blood, ash and sludge, Tolf extended his elbow and jumped back down into the pit, primed to crush whatever had fallen down here beside us. Thomas grabbed my shoulder and leaned me against he pits wall just in time to see Yeung-Ho laying unmoving on the ground. “Thank the lord, I manged to gas the bastard.” Thomas said clutching his wounds and holy boot.
We both watched as Tolf landed squarely ontop of the short man, squeezing the last vestiges of life from his body with one final deathcry. “CUUHHHHHHHH!--”
Instantaneously the tunnels began to dissolve and collapse. Bone-meal, blood and ash began raining down from what used to the the wooden supports and earth. High above us the ceiling collapsed to reveal the starry night heavens…
A large mass shook the ground above. The giant man who had attacked us in the barn, stumbled back teetering over the edge of the newly formed ceiling. With the whinny of a horse and a fireball, the giant suddenly fell backwards, casting a great shadow that swallowed up the entire pit we were in. Tolf had clearly broken several ribs with his reckless plummeting attack; he crawled slowly to the edge with us just as the Giant crushed to paste all that was left of the man who summoned ashen illusions.
Standing on the Giants chest, hacking and chopping away with an axe that had lost its head was the man called Edmund. He was grievously injured and was about to run out of stamina. With one final exasperated sigh he drove what remained of his axe straight into the giants left eye. The giant gave a terrible wail before he stopped moving. His lifeless body filling most of the put. The woodsman in his black and red patterned shirt took two steps along the giants chest before taking a hard fall down the floor exhausted…
My eyes were overflowing with tears… I let out an exasperated scream as we all lay there in the dirt. I prayed we had bested our foe. I prayed we would be granted a moments peace….
---
Far above us, higher than most birds, a large shape soared with an immense wingspan. It produced a rumbling cry that sounded similar to the iron beasts they drove. As it got closer, I could see the great bird was made of metal. It had something on its nose that spun rapidly like a pinwheel…. The beast roared as it made a low pass over the farmhouse…. It climbed high into the air straight upwards… And from its tail fell the shapes of men..
They fell ever closer… They wore green, just like the soldiers who we had just defeated. As they got closer, great tarps and canopies opened from the backs, catching air and slowing their fall to the pace of an autumn leaf.
-Every ounce of accomplishment we had gathered was washed away by the descent of their Colonel.-
Colonel Cartridge himself has arrived to settle the score. What chance does he stand against the might of the First Grain?
