76 To Make Clean (1/2)

I leaned over, my stare hardening. I shouted, “Who are you?”

Althea frowned, glancing around for her rifle. Unable to find it where she last left it, she reformed her hand before aiming her rifle at the thing. It tilted its head again,

“I tell you to come. You shout. Violent. I pray for Gar’s son.”

Althea and I lowered our guards. I raised an eyebrow, but no one saw it because of my helmet, “What are you talking about?”

He pointed backwards, “Gar’s son come here. He take precious item. Try to sell. Get caught. To be prosecuted by owner.”

He pointed towards himself, “Hod is here to investigate. Will get to bottom of this. Yes, Hod will.”

He leapt upwards, the hooks at his sides shooting towards the cavern’s roof. They clipped into the stone, letting Hod swing himself and use his feathered arms to guide his descent. At the edge of the swing, the clips disconnected. He finished his swing like riding a pendulum. Before he touched the ground, he sent another hook into the roof.

Using this combination of swinging and gliding, he reached us over the next thirty seconds. At seven feet tall, the thin and lithe being exuded quite an intimidating aura. That’s even with his, uh, questionable intelligence. His gas mask protruded out, like a plague doctor’s mask in medieval times. His feet were bare, the talons long and sharp.

When he reached me, he bowed, “Hod glad you both here. Do either of you own metal thing?”

We both frowned at him. Hod’s head rolled up then down in a big semi-circle. It was like he was rolling his eyes.

“The metal with carvings, like the huts here?”

Althea squinted her eyes, “You mean my rifle?”

Hod’s masked face shot back into the air, “Ah, you call it rifle then. The rifle Garb’s son took. Yours?”

She nodded. Hod pointed towards the crevice he entered from, “Come. I show you were he is. You both persecute as see fit.”

I crossed my arms, looking ever so slightly down at him, “You’re saying we have to give him a punishment or something like that?”

Hod nodded, “Yes. Part of tradition. Makes stealing hard.”

I narrowed my eyes, “Why should we trust you?”

Hod shrugged, “No reason. You shouldn’t trust Hod. Hod sneaky. Hod very clever. Hod not lie about this though.”

Althea laughed a bit before I sighed. I tilted my head, “Where are you taking us?”

Hod pointed diagonally towards the ground. I frowned, “Underground?”

Hod nodded, “Surface scary. Drikah will eat you. Can eat whole village in one bite. Nightmares given life. Hod hate them. No, we live beneath them, where it safe.”

Hod glanced around, “No idea why you two stay here. The ancients lived here long ago. They leave mess behind. No fun to enter room and vomit. Hod get nauseous in them.”

Althea spread her arms, “I know right? Tell me about it.”

Hod raised a hand, “Ok. Hod tell you story about it. One time, Hod get-“

I waved off his story, “Tell us while we’re walking where we need to go.”

Hod turned to me, pointing a three fingered hand, “Harbinger smart. Good idea.”

I frowned, “Harbinger? How do you know I’m a harbinger?”

Hod leaned back, spreading his arms, “It obvious. You not like Drikah, Hod, or girl there. You something else…A walking omen.”

I glanced at Althea then back at him, “Uh…how so?”

Hod shrugged, “Hod not know how Hod know. Hod only know that Hod know.”

Althea giggled as I face palmed. I removed my helmet, trusting that this harmless idiot wasn’t faking it. The dumbness was a bit too genuine for that. Hod shot a hook towards the roof,

“Can you two keep up with Hod?”

We nodded, each of us preparing our different methods of movement. Althea shifted herself to her stealth form. Invisibility leaked onto her skin, causing her to disappear from all my senses. My own ascendant mana flared before I sprinted in the direction Hod was grappling too. As we moved, Hod spoke,

“Anyway, Hod tell story now. Hod walk into building. Bad building. Hod fall upward, banging head. Hod Hurt his head. Moment later, pull flip again. Hod throw up. Throw up fall all over Hod.”

Althea laughed a bit as he chatted away. Hod spoke like a chatterbox, a constant stream of bullshit pouring out of his mouth. Some of it was hilarious though, so I didn’t mind. Neither Althea or I spoke that much unless we were doing something. Hod had a way of filling in the gaps, promoting a bit of pleasant chatter.

With his voice as white noise, we the edge of one of the rivers flowing downward. Hod pointed down the hole, “This is where village is. Follow Hod.”

We nodded. Hod Ran through the cavern, his talons crunching into stone as he did. He wasn’t quite as fast as Althea and I, but he kept a steady, controlled pace. Despite him sounding stupid, his eyes scanned his environment with the keenness like an eagle. I guessed that was his bird part coming through.

As we went deep into the cavern, the desert world took a different turn. Phosphorescent roots crawled around the walls, supporting the rock tunnels. Yellow sprouts grew between cracks in the ground. Tiny insects crawled in the shadows of green glowing moss. Silver scaled fish swam in packs within the crystal-clear water of the river.

The deeper we went, the richer the life became. Scaly lizards covered in heated, red scales breathed spurts of fire. Icy rodents would fight these lizards, each of them facing off against one. They huddled into crowds and watched single rodents fight the lizards, like some show of strength. Plants with sweet pools at their pits lured anything dumb enough to fall into them.

Flowers bloomed, though not quite like Earth flowers. These flowers shot out wispy tendrils, each of them fighting for mist. Little bubbles of water would collect on them, and bugs and small birds would collect these droplets of water. Pollen would catch on the insects as they did so, letting the flowers spread out.

The shift in scenery was unbelievable in comparison with the empty, dead surface. Understanding my confusion, Hod spoke,

“The ancients took life from surface. They give it to depths. The cataclysm came. It mess with the ancient’s work. Drikah cover the surface. Sand drowned the seas. Wind stole the clouds. No more rain. No more water. Only here, in the depths.”

Althea yelled as we each ran, “What’s the cataclysm?”

Hod shook his head, “Hod not know. Hod wish he did. Hod would tear. Hod would rip. Hod hate the cataclysm. Hod make it suffer.”

Despite the lack of eloquence, the hatred seethed in his words. I frowned, “Do you know anything about what it was, like who did it, anything?”

Hod stared forward, “Village know only one thing. What caused cataclysm not like Hod. It not like Drikah or girl either. It something else, like you.”

Hod turned to me, “The elders speak. They tell prophecy. They say that something not like Hod or girl or Drikah stole life from surface. They say it brought the Drikah. They say something not like Hod or girl or Drikah will give the sun back.”

Hod adjusted his movements to match mine, his speed falling in line with my own. He ran beside me,

“Hod hope it be someone like you. Did you come to take or give?”

I shook my head, “Neither. My own world’s being churned up and spit out right now. It’s not the best place either at the moment.”

Hod sighed, patting my shoulder, “Hod understand.” He pointed up, “Hod wonder. Is surface as bad as our surface?”

I shook my head, “Naw, it will be soon though.”

Hod clasped his fist, “Hod wish you good luck in journey. May Harbinger win!”

I couldn’t help but grin, “Heh, I sure as hell hope the same too.”

We reached into another cavern deep under the world. At the edge of a clifface, we saw the entirety of the cavern. A pillar stood at its center, ebbing energy outwards. That energy crawled out of the pillar, leaking into the surroundings. Dense clusters of energy ebbed from the surrounding trees, gorging the plants with life. At the center of the pillar, a red core sat spiraling energy.

Althea whispered,

“Well…there’s the dungeon core. Wow.”

I nodded, “That is unfortunate. Like chewing into a shit sandwich.”

Hod turned to me, “What is so bad? The core gives us life. So what?”

I put a hand on his shoulder, “It’s nothing Hod. Where’s Althea’s rifle?”

He pointed towards a village. They lived within huts built out of the trees near the pillar carrying the core. In a staggered fashion, the village was built in tiers that ascended the pillars edge. Hod’s people didn’t need masks down here. They didn’t have a beak like I thought. Instead, it was a plate of armor over their faces that extended out like a beak.

It encapsulated upper half of their heads, covering a bottom jaw full of long teeth. Two glowing white eyes appeared on the edges of the armor. They didn’t have eyelids, and their eyes were perfectly circular. Hod pulled off his mask, showing the same empty eyes. The aura radiating from him was far stronger than the others. A scar ran down the edges of his faceplate, right at the center of an eye. He turned to me,

“Does Hod’s face scare you?”

My armor grinned, leaking a bit of ascendant mana, “Not in the slightest.”

I pointed back at Althea, “Now her face on the other hand-“

Althea shoved me before I could finish. She ran and jumped onto the edge of the cliff face,

“Try looking at a mirror sometime.”

I reached out a hand, creating a gravity warp at her. She already pulled herself out of range though. I sighed as Hod patted my shoulder,

“Do not worry. Hod think you both are ugly. No, not ugly. Hideous.”

I rolled my eyes before he ran and jumped forward. A hook fired into the ceiling once more, letting him swing his way over to the village. I followed suit, using the telekinetic panels to help me keep pace.

Whenever I attempted using gravity, the process didn't flesh out like I thought it would. Unless I burned through an exorbitant amount of mana, I couldn't get enough pull on me to move.