Soil's Story Part 5: Moonrise
I'd been expecting a dream, but none came. All I could think about was my mysterious origins, the surge of power I'd felt after Bjorn had pissed me off. Sleeping on it didn't bring me any answers though. When I woke up, I found myself exactly where I'd been when I fell asleep: In the Campgrounds.
I looked around groggily. Why hadn't I been ejected like Zephnos had? What made me any different than him?
Then my eyes passed over a shape in the Forest around the fire.
If it wasn't for the creature's glowing eyes I'd have missed it. If it wasn't for the crown of horns or the constantly writhing outline, I'd have mistaken it.
"Salamander, Dad's come to visit, and I don't think he's brought cookies."
"I know. Bjorn spotted him long before he arrived, and we heard him before that." I tore my eyes from the motionless nightmare and looked at the Salamander.
"Why haven't you done anything about it?"
The Salamander sighed. "Because he hasn't done anything yet. Since he's arrived, he's just sat there, watching."
"Can he enter the firelight? I remember he tried before, but wasn't able to."
Salamander looked at me. "So long as it remains lit, no. The Dark Forest won't let him."
I laughed. "Then I've won. He can't get to me while I'm here."
"No, you haven't. What will you eat? What will feed the fire? How will travelers escape the Forest with that guarding the only way out?" The Salamander shrank back within its fire pit, mumbling to itself. "You think you've won, but all you've done is consign yourself to death with the rest of us. I can't even send you home..."
OK, fuck that. I had no patience for the Salamander and his blame shifting. "Yeah? And let's see you survive for a day in your Forest! I didn't ask to be chased down by a shapeshifting monster wherever I went! A monster you created I might add. And another thing--"
A shock wave hit the Campgrounds. I was knocked to the ground, screaming bloody murder as my leg twisted on the log I'd been sleeping on. The Salamanders fire was, as always, unaffected by the wind, but the Salamander was pressed into the embers under his fire, squeaking in distress. Bjorn, who had been leaning in a tree watching Zephnos, barely caught himself from being tossed off like an ant.
I rolled over, and as I did, I looked up at the moon.
The moon?
But I was... I mean, Zephnos had eaten the moon. Hadn't he?
Laughter broke into my thoughts. It was his laughter. Zephnos was laughing at us. "It returns... just as I thought." His voice was chilling. A deep baritone fitting his size, mingled with the howl of a wolf and roar of a bear, and an insectoid chattering at the end of each syllable.
As I turned my head to look at him, Zephnos shifted to a new shape, his entire body struggling to unify the disparate parts of animals never meant to work together. From his armored chest, six arms sprouted, ending in gigantic crustacean claws. His head fell off, and a new, draconic one pushed from the vacant stump. His legs snapped, then reformed as new joints took their place in the reversed legs of a gargantuan grasshopper. He bent down, low to the ground, and JUMPED.
Or at least he tried, but I was pissed off.
"The boot's on the other foot, asshole. This time, you can't get me, but I can get you." I grinned. "Karma's a bitch, isn't it?" Zephnos looked down in confusion at the vines enveloping all six of his arms. He struggled to free himself, but just like Bjorn earlier, he wasn't going anywhere. The foliage grew with murderous intent, covering every part of the monster. Thorns struggled to pierce his chitinous scales.
Six seconds passed.
Vines ignited as Zephnos' internal temperature skyrocketed. Wings sprouted from his back, and his six limbs snapped off at the joint, only to reform as a singled pair of shaggy bear paws. The legs fell away, and he pulled himself forward as a snake-bear-dragon thing. He slid towards me with an intent to kill, his head sprouting fur as he roared a challenge, only to be met by a massive fireball. Screaming in pain, he was bowled over backwards, shaking the ground as he hit it. My hand was immediately on the ground again, and vines surged from the earth, as well as something new: several shoots of bamboo, a plant neither of us had ever seen, speared the creature multiple times.
"Thanks for the help Sally. I'm sorry about this, but I think I'll need more of it if we're going to get rid of him." I spared a glance at the Salamander, and was surprised to see it had grown in size, and now barely fit inside the bonfire.
"We will talk more about this later. But right now, Zephnos takes priority. I am not letting him have the moon a second time," it hissed back. Waves of heat made the hairs on my neck and legs stand on end. I hadn't even known the Salamander had this level of firepower. How had it changed so much since Zephnos had met it? The version of the Salamander he had met was timid and eager to please. How much time had really passed? Either way, I was glad it was on my side. Speaking of which...
Something was happening with Zephnos. His form crawled as muscles pushed through his form, impaled on the plants that even now continued to restrain him. Even as he shifted again, he remained pinned to the ground. The various plants began to lignify, merging into a stumpy tree as they wound tighter around the creature.
Then something happened. One of the things crawling beneath the shapeshifter's skin broke apart from the original mass. It flopped to ground, sat for a second, and then formed into a horned rabbit. It paused, looked around with glowing moonlight eyes, then began gnawing at my defensive greenery.
Vines snapped and a gigantic wolf emerged from the unstable mass, no longer constrained by the aggressive plant life. It howled to the moon, and firelight glinted off its own set of curved goat horns. It then turned and began digging at the plants, tearing them up one by one. More creatures emerged from the form, which began to shrink.
I gawked, mouth open, momentarily stunned by the sight before me. When the fuck had he learned to do that? "Salamander, explain this bullshit. I was winning! What happened to him that allowed this crap?"
"You think I understand how this works? Zephnos was an anomaly even for me. He was never intended to..." I looked sharply at the Salamander, but it has shut its mouth, and clearly had no intention to elaborate. Fine. Let him keep his secrets.
I redoubled my efforts. Plants of all species sprang up around the swarm. Gigantic venus flytraps, pitcher plants and sundews trapped and consumed the rogue beasts whole, while less predatory plants formed barriers to prevent other creatures from escaping. Then, from the writhing mass of original Zephnos, a new form rose, bigger than anything that had come before it. A horned and scaled head rode atop a long neck, connecting to a torso sporting a pair of velum bat wings.
"Salamander, when the fuck did he eat a dragon?"
A spark of understanding appeared in the Salamander's eyes. "Is that what all these creatures are? His meals?"
"I think so, yeah. The rabbit and the wolf? They were the first things he ate after he got his... condition."
Exhausted, I gave up. There was no killing this horde, and with the dragon, I doubted I could even hurt it. Somehow they kept coming as fast as I killed them. I looked around. None of them had tried to enter the firelight. All of them had the same curved ram's horns, and the same silver eyes. Silence fell across the Campgrounds. Then, the Dragon spoke.
"I have more fuel. But I need more fire. You brought me into being. I return now to take what is mine."
The Salamander shuddered at the sound of the voice: it was Zephnos' old voice. From before he became... whatever he is now. I studied the Salamander, intrigued. He had shrunk into the embers. Even in his larger size, he seemed scared. Not a word passed his throat as he tried his best to be anywhere but here. Just like I remembered from Zephnos' first memories. He wasn't going to be any help.
I guess it was my job to talk to the parents. "Look, Zephnos right? What do you want from the Salamander? What could this helpless thing have that you -- Oh. You want the Salamander fire don't you?" The beasts shifted their gaze to me. It was unsettling to be watched by so many eyes. I bit my lip, thinking. "Why do you want it? Last time you got a spark, it didn't end well for you. Don't you remember? Surely you remember how it changed you. I mean, look at you right now!"
"We are the Salamander's successor. We will have the Salamander flame -- all of it." I briefly thought about the spark hidden within the satchel. "The Salamander will die, and we will shape the Dark Forest. And you will give us what you stole. Our memories. Our powers. Give them back."
So it didn't know about the spark. Interesting... but I didn't remember it either. Where had that spark come from?
Before I could saying anything else, another creature stepped forward. A satyr. THE satyr. Zephnos' original shape. "You have a month. We have a month. Both you, little thief, and you, deadbeat creator. Say a prayer to whatever god you pray to. Just remember: the Salamander won't answer. But I might."
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the Salamander's stance change. Its spines glowed white hot. Before I could say something, someone grabbed me and shoved me to the ground.
"Go away! I tried so hard to get you back, and this is how you repay me? YOU WANT MY FIRE? THEN TAKE IT." The Salamander pulsed with heat, and a nova of purple fire radiated out from the Campgrounds. As one, the creatures of Zephnos (whatever they were called) broke ranks and ran. Those that weren't fast enough got incinerated immediately. I stared on with awe. So this is what the Salamander was capable of when pissed off? I began to smile. Maybe Zephnos had bitten off far more than he could chew.
Bjorn helped me to my feet. "I've seen him like this before. If I hadn't pushed you down, you'd have been incinerated with the rest of them." He shakes his head, then glances at the Salamander. "He's not picky about targets once something gets under his skin."
The Salamander's flame had tripled in size, and he himself had changed from his usual black-gray to a volcanic red. Spines now lined his back, and he'd grown horns and gills, along with his increased size. He hissed and turned his attention to me. I suppressed a shudder. Was I truly safe within the Campgrounds?
"Now then. I believe you and I have a lot to discuss, Soil."
Parent Plot
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