Auroragyps vs. Angcuru
Jessen’s Tale
By Andrea Vecchione
Life was good for all that lived in The Warrens. The inhabitants that dwelled in the underground city were members of the human race, but tended to be smaller than those that resided above ground. Their ancestors had left the open skies many generations before in favor of the snug tunnels that ran underneath the land.
Jessen was one of these people. He was a boy of thirteen that lived a regular life with his regular family. They were a happy family that consisted of his three sisters, his mother and father, and himself. They were all content with their lives in the Warrens, except for Jessen. He dreamt of clear, blue skies over his head and soft, green grass under his feet… things that he’d only read about in books. No one from The Warrens had been above ground for ages and everyone Jessen told his dreams to always made sure to remind him of that fact. Still, he hoped that someday he would see the world his people had left so many years ago.
One morning, as Jessen’s family was cleaning up from breakfast, a great uproar could be heard echoing through the tunnels outside their home. His father opened the door just as one of their neighbors was passing by. She stopped and came up to the door.
“What’s going on?” his father asked. “Why is everyone making such a racket?”
The woman rung her hands in front of her. “Oh, it’s terrible. This morning, the watch was making it’s rounds of the perimeter tunnels and they ran into something… something awful!” The woman was extremely upset, nearly hysterical. “Only one man made it back to warn everyone and he was badly hurt.”
Jessen’s father stayed calm, so as not to worry his family, and asked,” What do you mean ‘something’? Didn’t the watchman say what it was?” He figured this was just one of the usual threats The Warrens occasionally faced. A raid by surface dwellers or perhaps one of the few dangerous creatures that lived below ground had crossed the perimeter and caused some trouble.
“He didn’t know what they were. ‘Monsters’ he said. At first, the men thought there had been a cave in when they saw large boulders in one of the tunnels. Then they got closer and saw that the boulders had hair! (#3) One of the men went to touch one of the things and it lurched towards him and crushed him against the tunnel wall. And the hair… it wasn’t hair, it was tentacles. They reached for the man and the blood pooling around him. They were sucking it all up.” The woman was hysterical now and she talked in a rush. “More of the monsters came at the watch and they tried to fend them off, but they couldn’t. Oh, it must have been so horrible!” The woman burst into tears.
Jessen’s mother reached past her husband to put her hand on the woman’s arm. “Come in and sit down.” She headed back into the house and the woman followed blindly.
Jessen’s father looked at his wife. “I’ll go find out more information. You will all stay here until I get back,” He stepped out the doorway and shut the door behind him.
Jessen took a few steps to follow his father, but a look from his mother changed his mind. She continued to speak with their neighbor, trying to calm her down, while they all waited nervously for Father to return.
Several hours later, Jessen’s father walked into the house. He had a concerned look on his face. His wife went to him and steered him towards his chair by the hearth. After a brief silence, he took a deep breath and began to tell his family what he’d found out.
“These things have been seen before, many years ago. The Elders found a record of the incident. Fifty watchmen were killed before they managed to dispatch just a couple of what they call spherids. These things are extremely tough with thick leathery hide and spongy interior. Hammer blows bounce off. Puncture wounds seal up quickly. Fire doesn’t seem to hurt them much except for causing the tentacles to shrivel up and those grow back almost immediately.”
“What are we going to do?” asked his wife.
Her husband rubbed his hand across his eyes. “Tonight, one hundred men are going to try and drive the spherids back out of The Warrens and we’ll go from there. The Elders are looking for more information.” He looked at his wife with tired eyes.
“You’re going with them, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” he replied simply.
Jessen stood up out of his seat. “I’m going too.”
“No, you’re not. You will stay here with your mother and sisters,” his father answered back sternly.
“But…”
“Jessen,” said his mother, “Listen to your father.”
Jessen fell back to slump in his chair. Around him, his mother and father gathered together anything that might be useful against the Spherids. His sisters and their neighbor did busy work to try and stay distracted. As for Jessen… he thought hard about what he could do to help.
The next day, silence reigned in The Warrens. All one hundred men had been lost while the spherids had only been pushed back a small distance. People everywhere were packing up whatever they might need, plus a few irreplaceable possessions, in order to move to a more defensible place.
Jessen’s family moved as if in a dream, while he sat on his bed paused in his packing a satchel. His eldest sister came over and whispered harshly, ”Jessen, now is no the time to be daydreaming. Get your things packed.”
He didn’t seem to hear her, so she grabbed the shirt he held in his hands and stuffed into the bag. “What else are you taking?”
He glanced at her. “Hmm? Oh, nothing else.”
“There’s not much in here,” she observed. “We don’t know how long we’re going to be holed up against those things.”
He let out a long sigh and looked her in the eyes. “I’m not going with the rest. I’m going above.”
Her eyes opened up wide. “What? You coward! You’re just going to run away? Now, when the family needs to stick together? Just to go off and experience you stupid dream?” Her yelling had brought the others and they stood in Jessen’s doorway.
“I’m not running away.” He sounded quiet and calm. “I’m going above to see if there’s something up there that can stop these things.”
Before she could tell him that he was crazy, their mother walked into the room. “Jessen, are you sure about this?” she asked calmly.
“Yes. One boy won’t make that big a difference down here, but maybe up there…” He looked at his mother and she returned his gaze, while his sisters looked at the both of them.
Their mother took a deep breath. “If you feel you have to do this, you should. Maybe you can find people that will help us, if anything else.”
Jessen stood and embraced her. “Thank you Mother. I promise I will do my best.”
She kissed the top of his head. “I know you will, Jessen. I know.” Her daughters joined them in the hug and they remained that way silently, for a while.
Later that day, Jessen and his family stood at the junction of three tunnels, to say good-bye. The right tunnel led to where the inhabitants of The Warrens were going to barricade themselves against the spherids. The left led up to the surface and it was illuminated to mark this fact. The family quietly hugged each other and split up. (#4)
It took several hours to get to the surface. Once there, Jessen took a moment to take in his surroundings and then headed off in the direction of the setting sun. He walked day and night, stopping for a few minutes ever once and awhile.
One day stretched into two, two turned into three, then four. Jessen kept going, thinking only of his family. He saw no one until he came upon a monastery. He wearily walked up to the door and knocked as loudly as he could. A minute later, the door was opened and a bespectacled, elderly nun looked up at him. (#1)
She grinned a warm grin at Jessen. “Hello my child. You look weary. Come in and rest.”
Jessen shook his head. “Thank you Sister, but I only seek information. I live in The Warrens and they have been invaded by boulder like creatures called spherids. Many men have been killed and more people, woman and children, may be next. I’ve come to look above to see if I can find something that will drive them back out of our home.” He leaned against the doorway and hung his head in exhaustion.
“Ah, yes… I have heard of such creatures. A great battle was fought against them many, many years ago above ground. Many good men lost their lives until a weapon was found that turned them away.”
Jessen looked up excitedly. “A weapon? What sort of weapon?”
“It was a horn. The kind that is used by huntsmen.”
“A horn? Just a horn? Do these creatures not like music? You make fun of a boy that is trying to save his people!” Jessen said angrily.
The nun placed her hand on his shoulder. “No, my son, I speak the truth. Come inside and while you rest, I will explain.” She gestured towards the doorway and they both entered the building.
The next day, Jessen stood on a hilltop overlooking the site of the battle that the Sister had mentioned.
“The call of the horn hurt the creatures,” she had said,” and they left the people alone from that time on. You will know the battle site, and the horn, by the Lattice Star. It was the emblem of the people’s Lord. Objects bearing the star lay scattered about to this day.”
Sure enough, Jessen could see several stars adorning various objects that lay about. He headed down the hill to begin his search.
Hours later, he hadn’t found the horn among what lay above ground, so he began to dig up the earth, hoping it was just hidden underneath. With shovel and pick he tore up the turf. (#2)
Jessen was getting ready to give up, thinking that time was running out and that he’d be too late, when the rising sun glinted golden upon something to his left. He scraped away the soil to reveal a golden hunting horn that was engraved with Lattice Stars all around the bell end of the instrument.
Though he was exhausted beyond belief, this discovery gave him an immense energy. He jumped to his feet and ran off towards the nearest entrance to The Warrens.
Finally Jessen was back underground and he moved quickly through the tunnels. They were eerily silent. As he got closer to the location that his people had chosen for safety, he saw scattered weapons and dark stains littering the floor.
At last, he saw a large group of spherids up ahead. The creatures turned at the sound of his quietly echoing footsteps. Jessen stood frozen as one of the creatures started to roll towards him. He suddenly came back to his senses and quickly brought the horn up his lips. The spherid that was moving stopped. Jessen took a huge breath and blew the horn as loudly and as long as he could.
At first, nothing seemed to be happening, but then the creatures started to shiver. Jessen continued to play the horn. The sound echoed and grew in the tunnels. The spherids started to shake violently and suddenly their surfaces burst apart. The spongy insides started to dissolve on contact with the outside air.
Finally, all the creatures were destroyed. Jessen stood stunned with the horn held at his side. People started to come from all directions, while carefully stepping around the remains of the spherids. His mother and sisters ran up and embraced him.
One of the Elders looked closely at what was left of the spherids. Then he looked over at Jessen. “Well done, my boy.”
Jessen looked back blankly. “But, they were just supposed to leave. I wasn’t trying to kill them. How could a horn kill them?”
The Elder walked over and took the horn into his hands. “This was used above to drive spherids away?” Jessen nodded. “Well Jessen, I would guess that the tunnels that make up our home caused the horn’s effect to be increased, by making the sound coming from it echo. Whatever the case, we are all safe now. It is unfortunate that the creatures were destroyed, but it was an unforeseen thing.”
“I guess you’re right Sir.”
The Elder nodded. “Now then, you will go back home with your family and rest. When you are recovered from your adventure, we will speak. I would also guess that there will be much celebrating done in your honor.” He smiled at Jessen who smiled back grimly.
Jessen’s mother gathered up her children and they all headed home. “What was above like dear?” she asked him while they walked.
Jessen hugged her as they walked. “It wasn’t home.”
