FSE

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Zoe took the loss of Rockie rather hard considering how blase she had been about my eventual demise. Since the situation I found myself in made said demise a high possibility, I wasn't in a mourning mood about an overgrown bug. However, Zoe would not be consoled. She blubbered and wept until I had to put her in her sheath, only to continue when I pulled her back out.

"S-she was s-so full of life!" my sword bawled.

"Zoe!" I hissed. She was making far too much noise for my liking.

"She h-had so much to l-live for!"

I shook her vigorously. "Hey! Hey! Zoe!"

She made a horrendous squeal and wailed: "Why did it have t-to be herrr?"

"Will you calm down?"

"What's th-the point of i-it all?"

"Rockie is fine!" I shouted.

Her crying ceased. "W... what?"

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you. Uh, when you were in the sheath she dug her way out and climbed up the mountain." Which ignored the faint crunching that could still be heard under the ground.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. She went home and she's just fine." Presumably free to pursue a life of religious fulfillment.

"Sh... she's okay?"

"Yep. She's doing great."

Zoe sniffled. "And you didn't let me say goodbyeeeee?" With that she started up again.

Ugh! How did I find myself standing in a tentacle minefield trying to calm a sword that wouldn't get over the loss of her pet rock? Not sure how she managed to gain such affection for the bug anyway. It's not like Rockie ever beat her off. The next time she wants to name something I'm telling her no. I put her back into her sheath to deal with more pressing matters.

When the subterranean octopus had taken Rockie I had been momentarily frozen in confusion and shock. When that wore off I fought my initial instinct to flee. Partly because that was the opposite direction that I wanted to go, and partly because if I did start running in blind terror I might happen across another one of them that wasn't currently engaged in eating. This might be the only one on the side of the mountain, or there might be thousands of them and I've been lucky not to walk over a hungry one yet. The broken ground in front of me was a circular indentation about the same footprint as a modest house, and I guessed that would correspond to how large the creature underground was. I glanced around and noticed another circle not far away with a smooth and unbroken surface, although much larger. There was a smaller one in the other direction. The circles were clear of rocks, boulders and shrubbery.

Okay. I could do this.

I worked my way around the ground-topus' position, hoping the circle was an indication of its reach. It seemed solid reasoning to me that if I stayed away from the circles I should be fine. I simply had to keep my head up and plan my path. Any suspiciously open arias should be avoided.

The perfectly clear sky was starting to develop clouds from the changing temperature. The clouds sporadically passed in front of the black sun and the rave party would fade momentarily before returning to full luster. It was still hot, but more like a summer's day back home instead of the Death Valley range it had been. The intense need to get out of the sun wasn't pressing on me anymore so I could take my time and find my way.

I continued for a while without any issues, although circumventing the easy places to walk was slowing me down. The rocky ground was giving way to spongy mounds covered with knee-deep masses of some type of orange moss or lichen plant, and I found myself walking through increasingly thickening foliage and fighting thorns that I hoped weren't poisonous. The skylickers were getting fewer in number, but the ones that were there were older and taller, more like trees than bushes. The edge of the jungle proper towered before me like a cliff face. The height tricking my mind to keep thinking I was nearly there, but it just kept getting taller and not get closer. The trees along the edge stood like skyscrapers in stark contrast to all the struggling and stunted growth of what was on the mountain. The ground-topus impressions were becoming fewer, perhaps they preferred to inhabit areas where there was less root structure. Still, I kept an eye out for more. Stepping into the last one is likely just as dangerous as stepping in the first. Flying creatures were becoming prevalent as I neared the jungle. Many translucent ribbons—some type of airborne worm several feet long—fluttered above me, their flattened internal organs glowing multiple shifting colors. They appeared to stay aloft in much the same way as a kite does, catching the air to give them lift. A long filament of webbing glistened below them, attached to a bush or rock to anchor them in place. A four-legged bird landed in the high branches of a skylicker, causing it to withdraw all its leaves. The "bird" looked like a cross between a house cat and a raptor with orange and yellow wings. There was a glint of a tracker blinking in the center of its chest. Substantial owl-like eyes glared at me for a moment before the mini-griffon swooped to the ground and snatched up a small boulder bug. It carried it high into the air before dropping it to the rocks below, circling down to feast on the kill. Several small, purple and green lizard creatures with a thin beak and four wings flit between clumps of cover, feeding on large berries that grew there. Never landing, only hovering with wings that beat the air like a hummingbird and poking the berries with needle-thin beaks.

I was drawn to the berries, stopping for a moment to examine them. The bush they grew on had fine, yellow hairs instead of leaves. It had long, straight thorns and a blue-speckled bark. The berries were finger-length blue banana shapes that grew in clumps. I grabbed one and it pulled free easily. The berry had a firm skin with a waxy feel to it.

Was it edible? The wildlife was feeding on them, so... maybe? It at least looked like it could be a tasty fruit. I broke it in half and dark juice oozed out. It smelled okay and I hadn't eaten anything since before my flight so I was getting hungry. I took a tentative taste test, licking the pulp. It was mild, a flavor reminiscent of a melon mixed with sweet peppers. It was the closest thing to food I had seen thus far that I didn't have to beat to death with a rock. Eventually I'd have to eat something and the fruit was possibly that something. I pulled out my empty water bottle and found they fit neatly through the mouth. I stuffed it full of ones that didn't look like they had been poked, capped it off and put back in the bag. I bit one of the berries in half and chewed on it. If one didn't make me feel ill maybe later I'll eat the rest of them.

One of the humminglizards buzzed in. It took no notice of me, only went about its business. Likely not recognizing me as a possible threat. The unusual little reptile had two small legs and a tail that it held up in a curled position that looped several times. It poked one of the berries and probed at the pulp of the fruit. Withdrew and poked the same berry again, this time finding what it wanted. Something small and green was removed that was gulped down in a flash. I squeezed the berry I was holding and the pulp oozed out. Inside several green larva wriggled. I retched and spit, tossing the the berry away.

I wasn't that hungry yet.

There was a sudden change in the wind. It startled the humminglizards and they scattered in panic. The kiteworms dropped out of the sky and squirmed around in search of hiding places. A shadow fell over me and I expected to find the robot box hovering above, coming back to torment me again. What I saw was much, much, MUCH larger.

Gliding over the plankton glittered sky was a long, slender eel monstrosity that had a multitude of short, finned wings sprouting from its sides. It had a long and narrow head that tapered down to an upturned nose. Positioned at the rear of the head were huge, squid-like eyes. The body was striped with purple, blue, and orange colors that shifted constantly as it slithered through the clouds at the mountain's peak. It moved in slow, rolling waves of its narrow body, trailing a feathery fan of a tail that pushed it along lazily. Rows of bulbous, glowing sacks pulsated along it's body like breathing blisters. The flying eel (Snake? Dragon?) was gargantuan beyond my ability to grasp. The only thing I knew for sure was that anything of that enormity had no reasonable right to be alive, much less be able to fly. The creature banked and rolled its body around, turning its nose down the side of the mountain to descend. Staying low to the mountain's face, it quickly picked up speed, kicking up a cloud of dust in its wake.

It was heading straight for me.

"No, no, no, no..." I stumbled backwards before turning to flee. Could I make it to the safety of the thick jungle before it reached me? No way. No way in hell. Certainly not while dragging the luggage. I dropped it and kept going, aware of a steadily growing roar of rushing wind like a fleet of runaway freight trains. The monster—as wide as a battleship and ten times as long—rocketed over, angling up to avoid crashing into the tall trees of the jungle. The air it was displacing slammed into me, knocking me from my feet. I tumbled on the ground as hurricane force swept over me, stinging my eyes and choking my lungs with the dust it carried. The deafening sound of the creature continued to pass above, driving the wind to buffet me further. I scrambled on all fours under a gnarled purple-barked tree and clung to its trunk, waiting out the storm. Several curled up boulder bugs bounced by, as did my luggage. After almost a minute, the tail of the creature passed and disappeared over the forest. The wind dropped down to a mere gale as the dust settled and left behind a hazed sky. I hugged the trunk of the tree, coughing as I peeked up through branches that had most of their leaves stripped away.

That thing looked like something from a Toho film! Was it gone? Please be gone.

The howl of wind rolled around and it sailed off the canopy far to my left, sweeping a cascade of branches from the tops of trees. One massive tree slowly leaned toward the mountain, the wind being too much for it to withstand. There was a rumbling crack of splitting wood as the top attempted to outrun the bottom, the middle of the trunk exploded into fragments as it crumbled like a tower, hitting the ground with enough force that I could feel it over a mile away.

The monster climbed up the mountain, circling around when it lost momentum and careening down far to my right before rushing over the jungle again. Moments later it appeared on the left, sweeping around once more. What the hell was it doing?

Around and around it went like a roller coaster, each time it passed it was a little closer to me. The air violently changed directions in response to the beast's movement. Above me the plankton was jumbled and chaotic as the wind buffeted it to and fro. Eventually the creature had closed the distance around me so much that it's head circled all the way around to meet its tail, forming a giant eel ring. Further and further it contracted until it looped around twice, trapping a high pillar of sparkling plankton in a whirlwind within the ring.

The momentum it had gathered from diving down the mountainside was starting to wane. As it slowed so too did the wind, and the pillar threatened to collapse. The eel applied what little speed it had left to twist skyward, its head squirming up into the clouds until it stalled completely. For a moment a long corkscrew of an impossible dragon-eel shimmered in the black light, hanging motionless in the sky. Then the creature started to descend again. The head rolled over and unfolded like an inverted umbrella. A mouth large enough to swallow a baseball stadium enveloped the mass of billions of trapped plankton. As it plummeted toward me, the billowing, bottomless craw took up more and more of the sky until blocking it out entirely.

Swallowed by Godzeela? That's how I die? That's unfair! Someone started to scream like a terrified little girl, and it took me a second to realize it was me.

Before it could impact the ground the massive mouth shut, pushing a powerful gust downward. It was like getting hit by a bomb. The wind blasted up dust and shattered limbs off the tree I was under. I lost my grip and was thrown from the tree. I tumbled and landed on something thankfully soft, blinded, choking and disorientated by the concussion. I struggled to pull my shirt up to cover my mouth, gagging on dirt and likely a mouthful of plankton that the eel had missed.

And then it was quiet.

As the dust-choked air started to settle I could make out the monster still hanging over me. It hovered in place, its long body coiled through the sky like a titan's tangled garden hose. The bulbous sacks on the sides of its body continuously altered size, apparently inflating and deflating so the creature could maintain its altitude. It was taking great efforts to align its mouth, which was bulged out at the throat like a frog. Wisps of glitter would manage to escape periodically, but most was getting swallowed. The body behind the head expanded as a mass of doomed plankton, and anything else that happened to get caught, was pushed down the gullet.

"This is crazy," I muttered and spit sand and dirt from my mouth. I lay for a while watching the monster and taking a moment to catch my breath while trying to take stock of any injuries. I was hurting, but I didn't feel like anything was broken. I reached for my side to find that Zoe was still snugly in her sheath.

"—never see her again!" she cried as I drew her out. "Rockie! Wher—" Her crying abruptly ceased. "Ooh! A great big sky noodle!" And with that Rockie was forgotten.

"Yeah it's very big," I agreed.

"Is it dangerous?"

I glanced around at the damaged trees and broken skylicker shells around me. "That's a definite possibility."

"She's really pretty."

I squinted at the flying eel. "That's a female too?"

"Can't you tell?"

I looked down the creature's twisted length and eventually noticed a vent toward the tail directly above me. That didn't mean anything to me. Reptiles all have their genitalia hidden inside, so how am I supposed to know the difference? In fact, they use the same hole for all their basic functions; mating, egg laying, and...

Wait a minute...

A healthy crop of orange lichen stuff stood all around me, underneath the soft soil had an odor and warmth to it like a mound of composting manure. What happens after an animal eats?

"We have to get out of here." I quickly got to my feet, ignoring any pains in my body. I started to run down the mountain without worrying about the ground-topus' anymore. I stopped briefly to collect my baggage that had blown by, finding that one of the wheels had been destroyed. I dragged it as quickly as I could.

"Master, what's the rush?"

"We're in that thing's litter-box," I panted.

"What's a lid-or-box?"

"Someplace we don't want to be."

My escape was blocked as I ran into the first of many of the massive tree trunks that at one time stood at the edge of the jungle. Perhaps several centuries earlier it had dropped onto the mountain's foot to slowly start to decay into the ground. Even after so much decomposition it was higher than a two story house. The tree had fallen sideways and blocked my way in both directions for quite a distance, effectively creating a wall. In its shade there were a multitude of giant, red spotted mushrooms growing out of it, some of them as big as a sedan. Many blue-barked bushes had taken root in the rotting trunk and sprouted from it above me.

"What now?" Zoe asked.

I looked over the situation. I wasn't directly under the eel anymore, so that was something, but I still wanted to get as far away as I could. If I could reach the lowest bushes I could use them as handholds and climb the rest of the way up.

"I'm going to have to put you away for a bit."

"Okay, Master."

I opened the baggage and pulled out my spare belt. Lashing it through the luggage's handle and knotting the other end to the broken wheel, I created a crude shoulder-strap, then put my arm and head through it to position the bag on my back. I tested one of the mushrooms to see if it would support my weight. They were springy, like a mattress, but appeared to be sturdy enough. I clamored up on a low one and stood up. Gauging the distance to the higher one next to it, I jumped over. It flexed, but rebounded. I nearly lost my balance, but managed not to fall off.

"Just like Mario," I muttered to myself.

Three more careful jumps and I was almost high enough to reach one of the bushes, but I had run out of mushrooms. I put my hand on the fallen tree's surface. It was soft and coated with purple moss. There was nothing to hold onto that didn't simply squish through my fingers and peel away. I pulled Zoe out and reached up with her blade to try and hook one of the branches. After some effort I managed to grab one, but it was too thin and broke off.

"So close!" Zoe hummed.

I frowned. "I suppose I have to look for a better place to get past this." From the vantage point I could see that the tree was one of thousands that had fallen, which created a tangled barrier across the mountain's base. Likely there were gaps and low spots in it, but I'd have to search for them.

There was a deep, rumbling groan that shook the air. High above Godzeela shuddered and her body squirmed.

"Is she sick?" Zoe asked.

"I don't—"

Then the floodgates opened. A long stream of pale green fluid dumped out from the monster's vent, and a massive waterfall of sewage slammed down onto the mountainside with a roar.

"Oh, poor thing. She is sick."

The creature's health was not of concern to me. What did have my attention was the giant "mudslide" that was rushing down the slope, knocking over small trees and carrying everything in its wake. Finding another way over the obstacle was no longer an option, I was about to get buried by an alien's diarrhea. I reached up and jammed Zoe into the rotten trunk as high as I could, her blade sunk into the decaying material easily.

"Ow, ow, ow!" her muffled voice cried as I hoisted myself up by her hilt. I never could do a lot of chin-ups, certainly not when I was tired, sore, and had baggage weighing me down, but I never had this much motivation before either. I got my chin over her grip, using it to help keep myself in place I managed to grab the base of a bush. I withdrew and stabbed her in higher. My feet kicked at the slippery tree, trying to give me as much help as they could as I climbed up. Once I reached the first shrub the going got easier. Using the foliage and Zoe I managed to scramble up, the whole time the rush of liquid growing louder. I reached the top and my feet sank into the rotten wood, staggering me. I turned just in time to witness a wave of excrement crash into the tree and heave up against the dam it created. Everything below me shifted and I lost my balance. I tumbled off the opposite side of the tree, managing to smash into every single bush on my way down and Zoe was flung from my grasp. Before I hit the ground I landed on a huge mushroom, shattering it to pieces as it broke my fall.

Shocked I was still alive, I gasped for breath. Through dazed eyes I saw a surge of fecal matter wash over the top of the decayed trunk and realized there wasn't anything I could do to avoid it.

"Aw, fu—" I managed just before the wave of hot goop did what this world has been doing to me at every opportunity since I arrived. I was learning to hate Xog as much as it seemed to hate me.