Out of Uca, Page 3

  “Did you take Saca?” I yelled at the strangers.

  One of the warriors stood up and approached me. He was very muscular and rough, and war paint covered his entire body. Drawing a finger to his lips, he came in close to me. I felt his warm breath on my neck as he whispered in my ear.

  “I am Saca,” growled the deep voice of a man.

  I looked at the burly figure quizzically, not knowing whether to believe the man or not.

  “So, what is the plan?” asked the man, “this is your battle.”

  I had never imagined that a god would ask me for advice. But then I realized that it really was my battle. It was a battle for the freedom of Uca, and my father. I had planned for this moment for years, and it was almost time to carry out my scheming.

  And I told Saca my plan.

  “Lead on,” he replied.

  I called my men to keep marching. The natives fell in behind, stealthy and silent, just like the Penudos. As far as I knew, our exponential increase in members had gone undetected. Oronika was less than two miles away, and we had one advantage: a small, but nevertheless existent, element of surprise.

  Chapter 12

  Transformed and Reunited

  The sun rose up over the hills surrounding the land of Oronika. The bright light greeted my tired eyes, and I wasn’t at all thrilled to meet it. I had stayed awake most of the night refining my plans with Saca, who was still in the form of a native warrior, but he kept his true identity a secret. If it got out to the natives that he wasn’t the god-like warrior he looked to be, but only a woman, they would most likely kill everyone. I was very surprised at Saca’s determined attitude to beat the evil ones. I wondered if there was something that I was unaware of that would determine our success.

  Alone, I climbed a small bluff a short distance from our camp. In the sunlight Oronika looked nothing like the dark ominous place I had heard about. On the contrary, it was a lush valley surrounded by tall mountains. But there was an overhanging mysterious tone to the entire region, and I felt uneasy. Instead of trees and scraggly shrubs that had covered the land all the way from Uca, the valley was covered with soft green grass, freshly cut, as if someone had planned on our arrival and wished to make the place look nice.

  There appeared to be no way out of the valley but over the mountains. The overgrown trail we had traveled through the forest ended here, and there were no more roads present. I stood in the plush grass and contemplated what was about to take place. Many would die on the lush lawn, and I longed to know who: the evil or the good?

  I looked up at the sky. The sun that shone so brightly before was now covered with dark clouds. A shiver ran down my spine as a remembered the earlier consequences of the changing weather.

  Just then, I heard a man cry. I turned my head towards the sound. It had come from one of the tall peaks that surrounded the valley. I strained my eyes, trying to locate the man, but it was literally impossible to detect someone so small and so far away. Just as I was about to return to camp, my eyes froze upon the mountain side. A small stairway wound up the rocky cliff face, and disappeared into a black hole burned into the stone. I took one look over my shoulder and ran towards the base of the mountain.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  The stairs were incredibly steep, and after my race across the valley it was a challenge to climb them. I was surprised that no one had attempted to kill me as of yet, and a small glimmer of hope lit inside of me. Deep down inside me I felt that the man had called out to me to alert me of something, and I needed to find out what. But I also knew the dangers of that place, that I was a vulnerable piece of clay in the hands of evil potters.

  I finally reached the top of the stairway and entered the dark hole in the cliff face. I almost passed out; the stench of the cave was so horrible. My eyes had not yet adjusted to the light, but I noticed candles lined the walls. As I began to see clearer, I realized what the place was. It was a torture chamber. Dozens of beds lined the walls, and huge masses of metal hung above each bed, with one candle jutting out of the wall above it. Dead people lay on the beds, limbs abused and faces deformed. Sick to my stomach, I turned around and started to run down the stairs, when I heard the man cry again. I peered back inside and noticed that one man at the far end of the room was still moving on the bed. I walked over to him, stepping in pools of blood as I went.

  I stood at the foot of the man’s bed. His missing limbs, shredded face, and long matted hair almost made him unrecognizable. I stared at him for a moment, not knowing how to react. I didn’t know whether to run and get help or try and save him alone; then, he spoke.

  “Son, you must leave quickly. It isn’t safe here,” he croaked.

  “But I’ll never leave you,” I whispered to my father.

  “But you must. Even now, evil warriors are being sent out to meet your men. You must help them. If you stay here any longer, you will surely die.”

  A doorknob rattled in the corner of the room.

  I started to run outside but my father grabbed my arm.

  “Lie on a bed and stay very still.”

  In a crazed stupor, I pushed off a body to make a vacancy, and climbed atop the wooden pallet.

  An ugly beast emerged from the door, his yellow teeth jutting out of his black mouth. He creped along the stone floor like a slug, leaving behind a slimy trail mixed with blood from his prisoners. He made his way to the back of the chamber and stopped directly above my father.

  “Well, my friend. It’s been a long time, but I think your son has finally arrived. I have sent a greeting party out to summon him, but it may take some time. But soon, you will be able to be with him forever. We might even take you to a different torture chamber, you know, for a change of scenery, wouldn’t that be nice?”

  “Yes, thank you kindly, Oymrupa,” replied my father.

  “Anything for a friend,” said merciless Oymrupa.

  The evil god left the room and slammed the door behind him.

  Just then, a battle cry rose up from the valley. I rushed to the door and from my vantage point was mortified at what I saw.

  Thousands of black creatures, some large, some small, were gathered in the valley. Large, appalling, beasts also flew overhead to observe the battle and help when needed. I could not even make out our troop among the mass of enemy creatures.

  Without a word, I rushed out of the room and down the stairway. Creatures flew overhead, but were unable to catch me as I darted around the rocks, their large bodies crashing into the cliff and tumbling down the mountainside.

  When I reached the valley, I realized my position. I was behind the enemy lines, a perfect position to strike unexpectedly. I was armed with a pistol and a sword, but I would rely mostly on stealth and speed to make my attack. I crept around behind the monsters, the ground soft and moist with blood. So far, I had gone undetected.

  It appeared that my warriors were putting up a good fight, but were steadily being pushed back. I crept behind one unsuspecting monster, who continually stabbed one of my men in the back, drew my sword and pierced him through. He clawed wildly at the wound and sunk to the ground.

  I knew that as soon as my identity was found out, the entire evil army would be upon me and would kill me instantly. I needed to detect their suspicion and get out before they found me. I steadily made my way through the battle lines, disguising myself as an enemy soldier as best I could by getting into skirmishes with my allied troops. I gave them a wink and they pretended to lay dead upon the ground. Before long, my mock battle played out and the valley was strewn with “fallen” allies, except for Saca who watched me from a distance. Then, I drew out my sword and let out a yell that sounded above all the other noise.

  Immediately, all of the allied troops rose to their feet, and with a shout, grabbed whatever weapon they could find and fought back with tremendous force. The enemies, greatly surprised, were no match for my men. I looked over at Saca and smiled. The warrior smiled back, his gruff face becoming a little softer.

&nbs
p; After our celebrations, a stunned silence fell over our party. The sun, which had shone brightly throughout our endeavor, had become strangely dim. My native friends were horrified at the sudden change in the weather, and began to run back to the forest. I fired my gun in the air, its crack ringing off the mountains.

  “Halt!” I ordered. “We are not finished yet. Hold your ground and prepare for battle.”

  I acted calm, but inside I was immensely afraid of what was to come.

  The natives turned around and stood their ground, noticing my confident tone of voice. The sun became steadily darker, and the natives became steadily more afraid. Lightning streaked across the sky, and thunder echoed and boomed through the valley.

  “What’s going on, Saca?” I yelled.

  “The battle isn’t over, Clark. Oymrupa is a smart one. He knows that the natives worship the sun as a god. If the sun goes out, they won’t fight.”

  “Well, can’t you do something?” I screamed.

  “The weather is out of my control,” Saca replied, “the sun, moon, and stars are all under the power of Ikili, the evil god of weather.”

  “I’m not sure about the evil part, but the rest is entirely true,” growled a voice.

  Ikili appeared, towering above us and grinning widely.

  “Welcome to Oronika, Clark. Who is this friend of yours?” Ikili asked.

  “This is Sa….”

  Saca put a finger to his lips.

  “…m. Sam Williams.”

  Nice to meet you, Sam. You may have noticed that your native friends are bowing down to me. Why aren’t you?”

  “I will never bow to you,” said Saca defiantly.

  I was taken aback with shock that Saca would speak that way to the powerful god. But before Ikili could react, Saca began her transformation.

  I couldn’t tell at first what she was becoming. Her black, bald head, grew its beautiful black hair to its former length, but instead of stopping, it kept flowing over her body. She also became progressively taller, her hands and feet morphing into claws and padded soles, and she took on a wolf-like appearance.

  Ikili, shocked with amazement, stared at the scene that took place. The natives, no longer bowed at the evil god’s feet. Instead, they looked at Saca with curiosity like children at a toy shop. Ikili roared with rage (and possibly fright) and ran with all his might towards the staircase leading up the mountain.

  Saca had now entirely transformed herself. She stood nine feet tall, hair covering her entire body. Her face was dog-like, with a long nose and sharp teeth, but she stood upon two legs instead of four. Her features were disgusting, her teeth yellow, eyes red with fury. She was utterly hideous.

  The natives looked on with abomination upon the wild beast that had once been their invincible warrior. Looking upon this new beast, I became afraid. Not because of the horrendous appearance of the creature, but of who it reminded me of. Seaika, the dog-god, had been missing since last night. A chill ran through my body as I thought of where he might be, laying in a pool of blood upon the valley, piled atop the foul-smelling, evil black lumps that were the enemy. But there was no time to think about my carelessness, because it was then when the earth began to shake.

  The natives, now scared out of their minds, proceeded to steal away to the forest. I chased after them and called them back, but then slowed my pace and looked up at the mountain side and discovered what the natives were running from.

  The mountain side that was once intact before had now become a crumbling pile of rock. I stopped dead in my tracks, observing the strange avalanche. What I failed to observe, however, was that the avalanche was moving towards me, and that it had legs, arms, and a menacing head. The head, with its scales and yellow, flaming eyes, were looking right at me.

  Chapter 13

  Boss of the World

  I was frightened, as anyone would be considering the circumstances, but I held my ground. I would fight this monster, even if it meant the death of my own soul. I looked over my shoulder at Saca. The beast bounded towards me and came to my side.

  “What’s the plan, chief?” growled the wolf.

  I looked around wildly, the ground thumping with the advance of the hideous god. The natives had fled out of sight among the trees, it was only me and Saca left. I looked at her hairy snout with a look of disgust.

  “I have no plan,” I said flatly, “only to kill what is coming out of that mountain.”

  The woman-wolf stared at the creature, who was now brushing the boulders off his arms, preparing to face his miniscule enemy.

  “I hate to inform you, Clark,” replied Saca, “but this beast can’t be killed. His name is Oymrupa.”

  My eyes widened and I looked again at the monster, who was picking at his teeth, removing the trees that had lodged themselves in his gums.

  “But I have seen Oymrupa, and he looks nothing like that.”

  “Oymrupa can also take on many forms, just like me. But gods can never be killed. They can be locked up for a long time, but they can never die.”

  I was mortified at my situation.

  “So there’s no point in trying, is there? I would rather die than face that animal.”

  I drew my sword against my chest and proceeded to sink it into my flesh.

  Saca grabbed my sword and threw it from me, the blade piercing the ground. The monster grinned at my helplessness. It drew its ugly, black, hand out of the mountain and raised it above its head. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes, expecting a shower of rocks to fly towards me and crush my body along with Saca’s. But instead, a single rock flew from the beast’s palm, and landed with a thud a few yards away from where we were standing. Then I realized that it wasn’t a rock at all, but a man, and not just any man; my father.

  I ran over to him, and knelt down beside his crumpled body. The sun was still dark, but I could still make out the silhouette of his face. I proceeded to touch his face, but then realized with horror that it was covered with black spiders. I jerked my hand back.

  “Father, speak to me!” I screamed.

  A deep rumbling came from the monster, and he opened his mouth to speak.

  “If you want your father, you’re going to have to bind me first. That is, if you still want him. If not, I’ll take him back with me and leave you alone.”

  I looked up at the monster and back at my father.

  “You try my patience, Clark, so I have made the decision for you. Your father will not go home with you, he will die. Meriwether will also die. And you, my friend, will die as well.”

  At those words, the ground began to open up. I felt my legs being spread ever further apart. I grabbed hold of my father and held onto the edge of the cavern that was growing ever wider beneath me.

  I could see a fire raging below and hear screams rising from the flames. People, thousands of people, reached up their hands to me, some of them clambering up the walls and grabbing onto my legs trying to pull me down, their mouths wide open, eyes removed, sockets deep and black.

  A roar sounded from Oymrupa, and the cavern ceased its separation. I pulled myself up and strained to see through the blackness. With tremendous strength, I lifted my father up over my head and onto solid ground before pulling myself up on the grass. The beast’s yellow eyes narrowed, and his head thrashed from side to side as he continued to roar. That’s when I realized the reason for the monster’s actions: he was being attacked.

  Through the darkness I could make out something clinging to Oymrupa, but I could not tell who or what it was. The sun became brighter with every roar, and I knew that Ikili’s strength was weakening at seeing his strongest leader overthrown. I did not know who was attacking the behemoth, but I knew they couldn’t hold on for much longer. I grabbed my father by the arm, ignoring the spiders, slung him across my back, and ran with all my might towards the forest.

  As I ran, I felt strange creatures whiz past my head, and towards Oymrupa. It wasn’t light enough to make out what they were, but I didn’t care.
I ran hastily towards camp, but there wasn’t a trace of my party anywhere. I hid my father under a bush in the forest, and then ran back out to the valley. I could still hear the roars of Oymrupa, and creatures continued to whiz past my head. I ran with them towards the beast. If Saca was still alive, I wanted to help her. Even if it cost me my life, I knew my father still had a small chance of escaping through the forest.

  Suddenly, I felt something brush up against my leg. I stepped back in horror to find a dozen Penudos crawling through the grass. I pulled out my pistol and fired at the creatures, but they kept coming on. I managed to kill five of them, but I only had one shot left. One particularly large spider was crawling towards me. I aimed my pistol at his cluster of eyes, but a white blur crossed my vision and I looked up. Seaika had pounced upon the spider, and proceeded to devour him.

  “Seaika!” I yelled, “You’re alive!”

  But the dog ignored me. Even though there were hundreds of Penudos surrounding us, they made no move to attack. Seakia sat in the middle of them and seemed to stare each one in their many eyes. Then he got up and ran towards Oymrupa, the Penudos following close behind.

  It was all I could do to retain my composure as thousands of spiders crawled around my legs. It was still dark and Oymrupa continued to roar with anger, but I could not tell what was going on. Suddenly, the sun came out in full view, its darkness no longer sustained by Ikili.

  It took my eyes a while to adjust to the change in light, but soon I could see everything clearly. I had never known what it was like to be blind, and I was very glad the blindness I experienced was only temporary, when I observed the sight that lay before me.

  Oymrupa was no longer standing, but bound with chains to the peak of the mountain, his body hanging down to the ground. He was covered from head to toe in Penudos monsters, with Saca and Seaika looking up at their handiwork. Hundreds of flying creatures hovered around the beast, all of whom had helped with the binding of the monster. I was astounded at the sight. I had never imagined myself in this position, looking directly at the evil god Oymrupa, bound and helpless, and my own body living and breathing at the same time.