Everville: The City of Worms (12 page)

Chapter 21:

The City of Worms

Felix, Faine, and Asher looked in every direction. Miles off in the distance they saw what appeared to be a massive city, connected into one humungous structure.

Asher looked at Calvin and Mallory and said, “This would be a good time for you to do your thing so we can find out what’s going on with the armies of Them.”

Calvin started contorting his face into all different expressions and shapes, as if the exercise would somehow initiate contact with Them. Mallory gave Calvin a gentle slap on the back of his slimy, bald head.

“Quit being silly, Calvin. Let’s get this thing done,” Mallory said. He then closed his eyes in an attempt to shut out the distractions around him.

Mallory was soon successful in finding a connection with Them.

“I can see the armies of Them. They are positioned halfway between the border of The Other In Between and the entrance to the city,” Mallory said with his eyes closed.

“I also—” were the last words that escaped Mallory’s lips before he was interrupted.

“Tasty looking bone and flesh. Tasty bone and flesh,” said the five-eyed creature approaching Mallory from the west.

Felix, Faine, and Asher jumped on Calvin’s shoulders while they waited for Mallory to figure out a plan.

“We are with the armies of Them,” Mallory said.

The creature looked at Mallory in bewilderment. It had two sets of eyes with a single eye in the middle. It had four pincers for a mouth, two large horizontal pincers and a smaller vertical set. The closest approximation of the creature would be a combination of a bird and a spider.

The creature then jumped in the air and spread its massive wings, which extended several feet in each direction, and flew off in the opposite direction.

“That was close,” Faine said.

“Too close. Too close,” Felix chimed.

“We have bigger problems to worry about now,” Mallory replied.

“What do you see?” Asher asked.

“Them are planning on more than just extracting the element from the worms. Them want to control the worms and give the worms sentience.”

“Sentience. Sentience. What is sentience?” Felix asked.

“Them want to give the worms self-awareness and the ability to reason,” Mallory responded.

“Reason is good. Self-awareness is good,” replied Felix.

“I don’t think it is in this case, Felix,” Mallory said.

“What are you worried about, Mallory?” Faine said.

“Well, if Them were simply going to extract the element from the worms, there would be limitations to how much of the element Them could extract,” Mallory replied.

“So you think that Them want to use all of the element within the worms by controlling the worms after they give them sentience?” Asher said.

“Exactly. That would give Them almost unlimited power.”

“We need to let The Keeper know,” Faine said urgently.

“I think that’s probably a good idea,” Mallory replied.

“The portal to Brackenbone is a full day’s journey. We better get moving,” Asher said.

They continued walking for several hours across a barren desert, but at least the darkness from the neighboring land of The Other In Between muted the strength of the sun. During the day, the desert was in a perpetual state of twilight with just enough light to see, but not much more. The air was cool, but the smell was unpleasant. It had an acidic odor reminiscent of vomit.

“What’s that over there?”

“That’s the armies of Them, Felix,” Mallory replied.

“Can we get closer?” Asher asked.

“I don’t see why not,” Calvin responded.

The Ubaloo walked closely behind Calvin, and Mallory led the way. They continued for about twenty minutes until they reached a distance that they felt was the closest position they could get without risking being noticed, but it was still too close. A few minions of Them’s army took notice of their position and started running in their direction.

“Uh oh,” Calvin said.

“Uh oh. Uh oh,” repeated Felix in his high-pitched voice.

“I thought you had the situation under control,” Asher wailed.

“I thought so, too. Give me a minute,” Mallory said to assure him.

The small contingent of Them’s army got closer and closer. With each passing second, the Ubaloo could start to make out distinguishing features of each of the creatures. The soldiers were difficult to differentiate. They were roughly the same height and size. They were a mix of grey, brown, and green, with a shiny coating that resembled mucous. They were thin with long noses and pointy ears. Their stride was more of a lurk, and they dangled their arms near the ground as they galloped.

“I think we should get out of here,” Faine said with a squeal.

“I’m in complete agreement with you,” Asher replied.

“You won’t get any complaints from me,” Calvin said.

“I said give me a minute,” Mallory responded.

“I’m getting a little nervous guys,” Felix said.

“Now just hold on. We’re fine. We just need to appear normal and relaxed. Calvin and I still have a connection with them. If you guys don’t freak out here, they will leave us alone as soon as they get close enough to sense me,” Mallory grumbled.

Seven of the creatures had almost arrived at their position. Felix gripped Faine’s arms, and Calvin did the same to Mallory. Felix braced himself by planting a great big fake smile on his face, and then rolled around in Calvin’s slime in the hopes of appearing more like Calvin and Mallory.

“Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to work,” Faine chided.

“How do you know?” Felix said.

“Well, for starters, they just saw you spin around in Calvin’s slime. If anything, I think you just made yourself look more suspicious.”

“Okay, quiet down now. Let me handle this,” Mallory said as the creatures were only a few dozen feet away.

The small contingent of Them’s soldiers now stood just an arm’s length away from Calvin and Mallory, whom they ignored at first. One of the creatures approached the miniature-sized Ubaloo and began inspecting their features.

Felix was seized with fear and had to keep his hands in his pockets to prevent the creatures from seeing how bad his hands were shaking. Calvin did a similar thing by biting the insides of his cheeks to keep his mouth from quivering.

“What are you doing so far away from the rest of the armies?” one of the creatures said, as its long wet nose brushed up against Asher’s face, almost pushing him to the ground in the process.

“We just arrived from the land of the giants. We were with Oldrik,” Mallory replied.

Another one of the creatures invaded Mallory’s space and extended his pointy forked tongue; he then proceeded to lick Mallory’s face.

“Mmm. Tasty. I taste truth and lies at the same time. I like truth and lies. It makes it easier to deceive the enemy,” the creature said.

“The question is, who are you trying to deceive?” the creature continued as it shrank to the ground and circled Calvin and Mallory.

A third creature spoke up and said, “Come with us. You’re needed with the rest of the armies.”

Felix and Calvin weren’t sure if they had succeeded or if they had failed, but they had no choice but to follow.

Asher and Mallory paid careful attention and looked for any clue they could discern about the position, and anything else they could see, regarding the armies. They did notice that the armies were divided by land and then subdivided by species. From the looks of the soldiers they were following, the creatures hadn’t yet figured out where the Ubaloo and the former Fron belonged. After thinking about it a while longer, the soldiers grew frustrated, and the leader grunted and said, “Just stay with me.”

Felix was relieved. Some of the other species of soldiers were far more hideous than the seven they were currently following, and almost all of them had mouths that could swallow the twelve-inch tall Ubaloo whole in a single gulp. Calvin watched the soldiers who composed the armies. Their connection to Them was clear, but the different races contained within the armies were not, at least at the present moment, possessed by the souls of Them. Mallory knew that the possession would come with battle, as it took tremendous power and energy to control the armies.

Mallory waited until the soldiers gave him enough distance, and then he whispered to Calvin and the Ubaloo.

“We’ll wait until the armies are sleeping, then we’ll sneak out and make a run for the portal. We will have to travel all night if we are going to make it before the armies wake in the morning. In the meantime, we need to find out more about their intentions. If something happens and we get separated, I’ll stay back with the armies and make an excuse for your escape to help buy you some time, and then I’ll come to the portal when I can. Hopefully, though, it won’t come to that.”

Felix looked at several of the soldiers and inspected their eyes for signs of fatigue. He was hoping they would fall asleep soon. A few of them looked at him with suspicion. One of the more grotesque soldiers spat at Felix when he caught the Ubaloo spying on him. Felix wiped his face, which had been completely covered with spit.

“Quit acting so suspicious,” Asher scolded.

“Sorry,” Felix replied as he continued to wipe off the spit that had drenched his entire body.

“Hey. Look over there. What’s that?” Faine asked.

Mallory took a closer look. He could see movement at a great distance starting from the very back of the armies; it was spreading forward at a very rapid rate. As the movement neared the middle, Mallory could see dark black smoke engulfing the soldiers. Mallory could himself now sense the presence of Them possessing the bodies of the soldiers. Row by row, column by column, the races of beings that composed the soldiers were being overrun by the control and thoughts of Them.

“Let’s get out of here,” Calvin screeched.

“Don’t move or you’ll draw attention to yourself. Just be still and wait,” Mallory responded.

It wasn’t long before the last column of soldiers had been possessed. Black smoke filtered through the empty spaces between Calvin, Mallory, and the Ubaloo. The eyes of Calvin and Mallory rolled back into their heads until only the whites of their eyes were visible. Both of them started coughing and spitting, and then making hissing and groaning sounds. Felix started trembling in fear, and Faine was frozen in place, unable to move.

Asher stood still, and then with all his might, he struck both Calvin and Mallory in the face. Their eyes rolled back into position in response to the blow and they started coughing up phlegm and spitting on the ground. After a few seconds of getting their bearings, Calvin and Mallory looked at the Ubaloo, and then looked around at the army.

“I think we may be too late,” Calvin said.

As he spoke, the armies started marching forward. At first they moved only one step at a time, but soon they quickened their pace, moving in unison and marching faster and faster, almost to the point where the Calvin and Mallory couldn’t keep up. Mallory picked up the Ubaloo and placed them on Calvin’s shoulders.

“We have a problem,” Mallory said.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” Faine replied.

“No. It’s worse than that. There was something I sensed when Them took over my body,” Mallory responded.

“What is it?” Asher asked.

“Well, aside from not being able to outrun the army, Them are using the last bit of power, the last bit of energy. Them are risking everything available to Them at this very moment in an attempt to possess the entire City of Worms, including the worms themselves. That’s how they are hoping to give the worms sentience.”

“What happens if they succeed?” Asher asked.

“At first nothing, but the worms will be unpredictable and wield enormous amounts of power, perhaps enough to tear entire worlds apart. That’s not the worst part,” Mallory said.

“What’s the worst part?” Faine asked.

“Worse would be if Them succeed in taming the wild beasts and are able to make the worms do what they are told,” Mallory responded.

Felix continued to tremble as they got closer and closer to the city and its spires grew larger. The closer they came, the more the Ubaloo could make out the massive dirt structures that were intermingled with the glass shards, which extended thousands of feet into the air.

They could see movement in the ground of the city. The dirt began to swell in the shape of vertical cylinders. The dirt continued to rise, and something was seething just below the surface, ready to burst forth out of the ground. With every rumble and every inch upward, the living creatures that inhabited the subterranean realm came closer and closer to breaking free, and yet, they remained hidden.

Without warning, the armies stopped. Several contingents of soldiers split off from the main armies and headed towards the heart of the city.

“What’s going on?” Felix asked.

“It appears our chance to escape is what’s going on,” Mallory replied. “When I give you the signal, I want you to walk away from the main group, southwest of our current position,” Mallory continued.

“What’s the signal?” Felix asked.

“I’ll point my hand in the position of the southwest,” Mallory replied.