Chapter 109: Beware The Jabberwock

Chapter 109: Beware The Jabberwock

It didnt take me long to get changed. I had fallen asleep in my clothes and only needed to put my shoes on. I emerged from the tent bleary-eyed but ready for action. More or less.

Keezy was waiting for me with a small creature at his side. It came up to about my waist and had the head of a dog but with human-ish ears and eyes. It also had a tail that slapped from side to side. If it were an actual dog, I would assume it was happy, but it wasnt an actual dog so who knows?

This is May-May. He will act as our tracker.

If here were an actual dog, I would also assume hed sniff the ground and then catch Kungens scent. Its hard not to let your preconceptions inform your poor guesses, but I decided not to presume when faced with things that shouldnt really exist. Especially when the thing in question might get annoyed and eat me.

So youre working with humans now, said May-May in a yappy voice that only reinforced my presumptions. You trolls sure are hard to figure out. Still, not my concern. Im being paid to do a job, so lets get on with it. Wait here. He scampered off. Thats not me projecting, he actually scampered.

Jenny stumbled out of the tent and straightened her clothes. Should I wake the others?

No, I said, we dont want to make too much of a commotion out there.

Having more people in a search party would usually be a good thing, but in this case Id rather keep the group as small as possible. We just needed to catch up with Kungen and convince him to come back. If Keezy had really had a change of heart, then there was a good chance of a reconciliation, and then we could get out of here.

What are you paying May-May with? I asked Keezy. With most of the population of Monsterland having an aversion to one metal or another, coins didnt seem like theyd be a very popular form of legal tender.

We barter goods and services, said Keezy. Money is a sickness your people have. It makes you lazy and greedy.

Comrade Lenin had a point, but our sickness still made it easier to buy a cup of coffee.

I did a quick tour of the village, said May-May returning barely a couple of minutes after leaving. Kungen was seen heading north of the lake. Probably, hell be heading for either the road to Carlyme or into the mountains.

Whats Carlyme? I asked.

Its the main city in this region, said Keezy.

Where the Arch Where Cheng lives? I knew he resided in a castle but nobody had said where the castle was.

No, said Keezy. He didnt offer any further information.

Hell probably be headed for the city, said May-May. What reason is there to go into the mountains this time of year?

Hell definitely be headed for the mountains, I said. Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

Why do you say that? asked Keezy.

Because being around others is the last thing he wants right now. Hed prefer to be alonesomewhere he can feel sorry for himself in peace.

Keezy nodded. Very well, well go northeast and see if there are any signs of him. I only hope we get to him before he encounters any jabberwocky. Lets hurry.

Although the mission was a bit of shot in the dark, I felt confident wed be able to catch up to Kungen. Trolls werent very quick on their feet and although anger makes you move fast, self-pity makes you go slow, with numerous breaks to stare at the sky for answers. Why? Why me?

You should stay here, too, I said to Jenny. She ignored me and set off after Keezy and May-May.

We jogged through the village which displayed few signs of activity, but still managed to give off the impression it was burgeoning with life. Unattended fires burned low and the occasional shadow moved in the distance, but snuffles and snorts came from all directions.

Keezy paused when we reached the village perimeter. Ahead of us, the trees quickly receded into darkness. I created a ball of light which drew an impressed look from May-May, and one of concern from Jenny.

We left the relative safety of the village and headed into the night, May-May leading although he wasnt sniffing around like a more prejudiced person might expect.

Will this be bright enough? I asked Keezy.

He shrugged. As I told you, no one had ever run into a jabberwock and lived.

Then how do you know they dont like light?

Thats what the stories say.

Thats what I heard to, said May-May. They dont come out during the day, so sounds like it must be true! His tail wagged even harder.

Isnt it worried it might attract a jabberwock? I would have thought wild animals would have been wary of making too much noise and thats why it had been so quiet out here.

Noise does not attract them, said Keezy. I was pretty sure he was basing this off some old wives tale too.

Over here, said May-May. He was standing in clump of tall grass wagging his tail like mad. Its a footprint. By the size and shape Id say it was definitely your brothers. Looks like we got lucky. Strange how they stop here though and the ground here looks freshly tilled for some rea

The ground opened up beneath him and he dropped out of view before he had a chance to make another sound.

We all stopped where we were, staring at the hole. The ground rumbled beneath us and the hole exploded as giant worm burst through it and soared into the air high above us. More and more of it came out of the ground until its tip was higher than even Gargantua would be able to reach.

Wild guess, but this was probably a jabberwock.

I increased the intensity of my light as much as I could without popping it, but it didnt seem to have much effect on the worm. It hung there, bobbing and weaving like a fighter lining up to land a punch.

Its segmented body was slick with some kind of liquid. It smelled like a compost heap.

I released the ball of light and let it gently float upwards. An underground creature could quite easily be sensitive to bright lights, but this one didnt seem to react at all. As the light got near the top I couldnt see eyes of any kind. I think it was blind.

It didnt have many other features either. There was a ring of spikes around what you might call its neck and then a smooth, conical head with no mouth or any other opening.

What should we do? whispered Jenny.

Dont move, I said. I think it responds to vibrations. This was a guess, but based on what May-May had said about larger groups attracting it more, and every movie I had ever seen about giant worms (more than you might imagine), it seemed a strong possibility.

What about sound? said Jenny, her voice even lower now. That causes vibrations too, doesnt it?

She was right but I didnt have an explanation for her.

Do you think it got Kungen? she asked

While sounds didnt seem to affect the jabberwock, they did affect Keezy. Jennys words enraged him.

Monster! he roared. You are a monster! He started running towards the towering worm.

Im not sure what he thought he was going to do once he reached it, but it turned out to be a moot point. The movement attracted the jabberwocks attention and its head swooped down.

Keezy didnt change course or even slow down. The jabberwock fell like an arrow from the sky, and as it did, its head split into three and peeled back to reveal a dark gullet.

Keezy tried to dive out of the way but he seemed to be sucked out of the air, flying into the gaping maw.

He disappeared into the darkness and the three sections snapped shut. The serpentine body slithered back into its hole and the spikes around its neck extended into claws. They snatched at the surrounding earth and pulled it into the hole after it.

The next moment it was gone, leaving behind a flat, unbroken surface.

Jenny and I stood there, neither daring to move.

Do you think well have to stay like this until morning?

Probably, I said. If we dont make any movements, though, we should be okay.

Hey!

I turned my head at the sound. Like someone was calling.

Hey, guys!

I saw them, carrying torches and running to catch up. My teammates, rushing to help, running towards us so we could all die together.

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