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Blue Valley Underground - Part 3 - Tentacle

Abraham was the watchman now as the sun set. Glen and Evan ate their dinner around the fire pit while Isaac chose to eat bugs with Dolly. Dolly was there and saw the whole thing--an innocent woman and her child being attacked and stolen...Yet she didn't say a word about it. It was the most horrible thing Isaac had ever seen, and it wasn't being discussed at all. As if it didn't happen. As if those fauns weren't sitting in the carriage right now, waiting to become slaves. The silence was driving Isaac insane. He decided to finally say something,

"I feel sick, Dolly."

The hybrid cocked her head,

"Do you? Is it the worms?"

"I don't think so," he sighed, "I mean...Don't you? After that?"

Dolly frowned.

"It is something we should not discuss, Master Isaac."

The young soldier almost spoke, then held his tongue. What could he say that made a difference anyway? Dolly spoke in his place,

"You should not be a soldier. Your heart is too fragile."

"What else can I do?" Isaac grinned hopelessly, "I never went to school. I don't have any skills..." his voice dropped to a whisper, "I can't even read."

"No? How unfortunate. You should learn while you're still young."

"Who's gonna teach me?" asked Isaac, "The other soldiers just make fun of me for it."

"Surely not Master Evan...?" Dolly tilted her ears.

"No...I don't think he knows. I don't want him to find out I'm stupid."

"'Stupid' and 'uneducated' are two different things." Dolly smiled and gently pet his hair, "If you allow it, Master Isaac, then I shall teach you to read."

Isaac raised his eyebrows,

"You would?"

"I find that you're a kinder human than most," she said, "It would be my pleasure."

"That's...very nice of you, Dolly. I'd like that."

The hybrid playfully tapped his nose with her long, slim finger,

"See me in your free time. I will make a clever boy out of you."

            On his way back to the tower, Isaac stopped by the carriage. The cover was still up, casting a dark shadow inside. He could see the mother faun huddled in the back corner with the child curled up beside her. She narrowed her eyes at him and spit, a glob of saliva landing short of his face by just a few inches. Isaac wished it hit him. He deserved it.

"I'm so sorry." He said softly. She didn't understand his language, but the look on his face said enough. Her own expression softened a bit. Suddenly a hand clamped down on Isaac's shoulder, startling both him and the fauns. Glen was there, wearing his big dumb grin like always,

"Not bad for your first time, Barf Boy!"

"Stop calling me that!" Isaac rolled his eyes, "And I feel horrible about this. Don't you?"

            "Aww," Glen's grin softened, "Don't. They know the law--everyone does. They took the risk of crossin' this border, and..." he shrugged, "Just didn't work out for them. It's not your fault and it ain't mine either."

"I broke her arm." Said Isaac, looking disgusted.

"Oh. Well, that is your fault." Glen chuckled and slapped his back, "But don't worry about it. They'll fix her up at Kelvingyard and, hey, she might end up in a nice place! Maybe a mansion, you never know."

Isaac turned to him,

"The little girl will go with her, right?"

Glen hesitated, weighing his hands,

"She might...Might not. Maybe the little girl will end up in a mansion!"

Looking back at the woman and her child, Isaac shook his head and went inside the tower.

He could hear the carriage driver hauling them away that night.

            Just before sunrise, Glen rang the bell again. The other three soldiers awoke and listened carefully as he shouted,

"West! Solitary in the river! West!"

"Solitary..." Evan groaned and rubbed his eye, "Abe, you can stay. Isaac, suit up and come with me."

Evan and Isaac hurried out of the tower, strapping some of their armor on as they went. As they followed the river west, Isaac asked,

"Why is Abe staying?"

"It's just one immigrant. We can handle them ourselves," Evan paused and glanced at the younger soldier, "Can't we?"

"Yes, Sir."

Just a few steps later, Evan threw a hand in front of Isaac and stopped him.

"Hold on." he muttered, "See it?"

Isaac leaned forward and squinted in the darkness. He didn't see it until it moved: it was shaped kind of like a human, but it was no human at all. "Standing" half-way on the shore, its legs split into tentacles that trailed off into the water. Tentacles were hanging from its head as well. It was horrifyingly thin and tall, maybe a few inches higher than Dolly.

"What is it?!" Isaac shrieked. The creature suddenly turned to them. Its eyes were glowing yellow like a dying flame and it elevated itself even higher on its tentacles, now towering at eight feet. Isaac would have screamed if he wasn't frozen in terror.

            Evan shushed him,

"It's okay. It's just a cecaelia."

Isaac didn't know what a cecaelia was, but nothing about it looked "okay" to him. Evan started walking forward,

"Come on," he whispered, "No sudden moves. Walk by calmly and it won't bother us."

Isaac swallowed and trailed close behind Evan. His heart was hammering in his chest and he felt ill, trying not to stare back at the awful thing. It was even worse up close, with thinner tentacles hanging from its chin. Its arms and fingers were terribly, terribly long and its skin was a deep, shimmering green. It loomed over them threateningly as they neared, as if daring them to make a move.

"Easy, Buddy..." Evan told it calmly. He kept a tight grip on his sword, just in case. Isaac's quivered in his hand.

Suddenly two more sets of glowing yellow eyes rose out of the water. Slowly, they ascended to about six feet in height, staring at the humans with their taller friend.

            Evan heard Isaac gasp and quickly assured him,

"They're just curious...Keep moving."

Isaac chose not to look at them, keeping his eyes on the ground. They were a bit passed them now, but he could still feel their scrutiny. He saw a shadow by his feet. No, it was solid. A tendril. A tentacle. Creeping closer--

"Aah!" Isaac screamed and turned, whipping his sword over his head and to the ground. It sliced clean through a creeping tentacle--apparently belonging to one of the shorter cecaelia, who let out a ghastly, inhuman shriek. The other cecaelia started making similar noises and waving their tentacles wildly.

            Through all the noise and splashing, Isaac didn't notice the one wrapping around his leg. Before he knew it he was being dragged into the river right towards the tallest cecaelia. The young soldier hollered and swung his sword, but his arm was caught by another tentacle. He was then dunked in the water, desperately fighting to surface. The cecaelia's eight-armed grip was like iron. He managed to slip out briefly and steal a breath, hearing Evan shout and cecaelia shriek. He saw the dark creature above him. It bared its long, crooked teeth and covered Isaac's face with its palm, dunking him yet again. Keeping him down. Trying to drown him. Isaac wriggled and thrashed, he clawed at the creature's rubbery skin, he fought for his life and it wasn't enough.

            Isaac's limbs were getting weak. He couldn't struggle anymore. His head was spinning, nose and lungs burning. He unwillingly let out his final breath, watching it leave in a flurry of bubbles. Just as everything was growing dark, he felt the cecaelia's grip leave his face. He was roughly jerked to the surface, his head in a muddle, but he knew he was being dragged away. Now on solid land, water lapping at his legs.

Someone shouted. Evan's voice. A cecaelia screaming like a ghost train. Isaac snapped back to life, quickly scrambling to his feet. His hand was too light...his sword was gone. Still had his shield. He blinked a few times and the chaos ahead of him made sense again: Evan stood on the shore, battling the tallest cecaelia still in the water. His helmet was missing, probably pulled off by the beast. One of the smaller creatures was floating motionless in red water. The other was lying on the shore, its neck and face eviscerated.

            Isaac's jaw was hanging open as he watched the monster try to get a hold of Evan. The swordsman evaded it masterfully, blocking each attempt with his long blade and slicing when he could. A few of the cecaelia's tentacles were now just bleeding nubs. Down to four tentacles, the cecaelia had to use three to balance. It waved its fourth around, growling a terrible noise and wobbling unsteadily. Evan stood defensively on the shore, waiting for it to strike again. It was keeping its distance. If he could get a good shot at its neck--

            Evan stepped back in surprise when the monster was suddenly knocked into the river--tackled down by none other than Isaac. Isaac surfaced quickly, but with its missing arms the beast was having trouble. Evan rushed into the water and barked,

"Move!"

Isaac scrambled aside, and his marshal began stabbing madly at the splashing mass until it was splashing no more.

Dead silence.

Evan stood beside the corpse, panting hard. The river was flowing red. He slowly made his way back to shore, picking his helmet out of the water on the way. Isaac remained in the river, searching for his sword. Neither said a word for a moment. A smile crossed Isaac's face. They survived! He survived! He turned to Evan to congratulate him on the victory. When he saw Evan's face, his smile disappeared and he kept his mouth shut. The master swordsman was staring at him with such fury, such intensity, it made Isaac feel like an ant. There was a long cut on the side of Evan's face, starting on his square jaw and ending near his eyebrow. He'd come close to losing an eye.

            "Isaac!" Evan growled between heavy breaths. That was all he could manage at the moment, pausing to angrily scrub at his face. Isaac hunched, waiting for the rest of it. Oh, how he wished he'd drowned...He broke in softly,

"Sir, I w--"

"No! Shut up!" his superior pointed an accusing finger at him, "God damn it, Isaac! Do you realize how close that was?!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Yeah--you are sorry! Your idiocy almost got us both killed! Sorry little fu--" Evan bit his tongue and exhaled sharply through his nose. He turned away for a moment and took some deep breaths, clenching his shaking fist. Isaac glanced down and happened to see his sword in the water. He picked it up just as Evan turned back to him and shouted,

"You don't fucking listen, Isaac!"

            "I did listen!" The young soldier argued, "I panicked! I thought it was going to grab me!"

"You ha--Get over here!"

Isaac obeyed and slowly trudged back to shore. Evan stopped yelling, but his scolding was less than quiet as he went on,

"You have to stay calm in these situations, alright? I told you that! If everyone's first reaction to everything was to swing their weapons, we'd all be dead! Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Sir..."

"Isaac, look at me!"

The young soldier picked his gaze up off the ground, wincing as he looked into Evan's angry green eyes.

"Do you really understand me? Because you seem to have trouble following the most basic commands! Why?"

            "I'm an idiot, okay?!" Isaac suddenly shouted in his superior's face, "I don't know! I don't know anything!"

Evan took a step back and furrowed his brow. Isaac looked confident for all of two seconds, then his expression fell back to terrified. He took off his helmet and dropped it, raking his hands over his head,

"It was a mistake." He finished pathetically. Like a child, he thought, and that's very much how he felt. Evan lost the ferocity in his voice, dropping into sheer disappointment,

"There's no room for mistakes out here, Isaac." He said, "One is too many, and you've made plenty so far."

"I know!" Isaac cringed at his own whine, then tried to correct it, "I know, Sir."

"Give me your sword." Evan held out his hand. Isaac's eyes flashed up at him,

"Huh?"

"You heard me."

            Isaac hesitated, then slowly handed his blade to Evan. His superior held it up and explained,

"You don't touch this weapon again until I give you permission. Clear?"

Isaac looked crushed. He worked his ass off for a year just for the right to hold that thing,

"But what wi--"

"Isaac!" Evan roared, glaring daggers at the boy.

"Clear, Sir..."