"I have problems flown in fresh daily wherever I am."
--Richard Lewis
Aiden checked his watch and frowned, coming to a stop in the middle of the road. They had walked half an hour beyond the two hours looking for any sign that Jason had passed. They found nothing—no sign of him. Clearly they had gone the wrong way—Jason had headed for Berelain, not this Tarquin, whatever it was. The forest had changed during the course of their walking, pines giving way to willows and elms, the land often forming marshy plots of ground. The path wound around the boggy areas, doggedly heading to a line of low mountains to the east.
"Jason must have gone the other way," he finally admitted. "We'd better head back."
"Bogus," Matt said. "The other guys will get to beat the crap out of him before we get there." Annie looked around at the surrounding wood, hugging herself tightly.
"This place is creepy," she said. "It feels like we're being watched."
"I feel it too," Matt admitted. Aiden scowled and looked around them.
"When you said there were things in the forest," he asked Annie, "what kind of things?"
"Just… things. I don't know what they were. Or if they were even real," she replied. Something rustled in the woods off to their right and Annie uttered a strangled scream and backed into Aiden. She looked up at him, clearly frightened, pulling one of his arms around her protectively. He shot Matt a startled look and Matt only grinned at him. He pulled the wooden mallet and axe from his belt and peered after the noise.
"I don't see—" he began as something leaped out of the brush in front of him. It was short—only four feet tall—and looked like a midget with the head of a pig. The head and thick neck were bristly and a pair of short tusks stuck out between its lips. Its eyes were black and beady and it glared at them horribly. Matt backpedaled and Annie screamed. Aiden could do nothing but gape. The thing clutched a short spear in its pudgy hand, the tip carved from some black stone. For clothes it wore what looked like animal skins sewn together over its bristly body. As they stared at it, four more stepped out behind it, all pig-like.
The creatures spaced themselves out, surrounding them, waving their short spears. Annie buried her face in Aiden's chest, holding onto him tightly. Suddenly wishing he had the sword, he glared at the pig-men. The creatures grunted and gabbled at each other in an unrecognizable language. Several more made their way out of the woods behind them, all armed.
"Jesus," Matt muttered, standing back to back with Aiden. "Pig-men!"
"No talk," the first one growled in a grunting voice. "Move." Not understanding, they blinked at the creature as it stepped aside and indicated that they should walk in the direction it had come from. One of the spears poked Aiden in the ribs and he tried to pry Annie's fingers loose from his midsection. She shook her head; tears leaking from her tightly shut eyes. "Move," the thing grunted again.
"They want us to move, Annie," he told her softly. "I can't walk with you hanging on to me." She shook her head again. The spear pressed harder into his back. The creatures had already moved Matt a few steps further on. There were spears at his back, too. Aiden glared at the creatures. "Can't you see she's scared? Back off for half a second or she won't move."
She shook her head again and the spear pushed into his back, slicing through his flesh. He gasped in surprise and pain as his blood flowed out of the wound, soaking Annie's hand. She pulled it away as he half-stumbled, trying to stop the blood flow with a hand. Annie looked at the blood on her hand and clutched at him, holding him up. Matt, seeing what was happening, snarled and tried to make his way to Aiden's side. The creatures surrounding him jabbed at him with their spears, holding him at bay.
Aiden winced and struggled to stay on his feet. The spears were back, poking at him. "Walk in front of me," he told Annie who was crying harder now. "Walk in front. I'll put my arms around you if you want. I won't let them hurt you. Can you do that?" She nodded slowly.
"Move," the pig-man grunted again.
"You just stabbed him," growled Matt. One of the creatures darted in with the spear and he cried out as blood seeped out of the shallow gash it had left.
"Move," came the grunt again. Matt shuffled a few steps clutching at his wound. Annie sniffled and turned around, pulling Aiden's arms around her middle. She walked forward and he followed. The pig-man grunted his satisfaction and moved forward to lead the way. The other creatures kept the spears at their backs.
They left the road far behind, winding their way through the forest. Annie had stopped crying but she kept her hands tightly over Aiden's around her middle. The creatures let them walk that way as they prodded Matt on before them. As they walked, rock outcroppings appeared, dotting the landscape around them. It was before one of these that they finally stopped.
Through a cleft in the rocks, they were led into darkness. The air was rank and smelled like a barnyard. Dim light shone from above through cracks in the rock, enough to see, but only just. They were led down past a large pool of some dark substance that looked considerably darker than water. The creatures avoided it and led the way to the back of the cavern where a large pit had been dug. They were just noticing its steeps edges when they were shoved roughly from behind and tossed into the pit.
They fell ten feet into the hole among the litter of bones and filth collected at the bottom. Aiden lay stunned where he landed, his wound torn open once more with the impact. Matt and Annie helped him to his feet where Annie took a look at his wound.
"It's not very deep," he said quietly. "But, man, it hurts."
"I think mine is less deep," Matt said. "They just up and stabbed us! What do they want us for?"
"God, I'm so scared," Annie said throwing her arms around Aiden once more. Matt couldn't suppress a slight smile at Aiden's discomfort as he explored the pit. It was about twenty feet square and ten feet deep. The steep edges were made up of crumbly dirt with no foot or handholds. The bottom of the pit was littered with bones from animals and a few that looked to be of human origin. Matt picked up a large femur and tried to make a step by leaning it against one wall. He managed to just reach the edge of the pit by standing on it. He tried to pull himself up but the earth just crumbled beneath his fingers.
"We've got to get out of here," he muttered. He walked to the far end of the pit and started jumping up and down, peering at the landscape above them. "I think they left us alone down here," he said after a while.
"Can't climb out of the pit and even if we did, that opening is the only way out," Aiden said. "They're probably guarding that."
"What are they?" Annie asked him.
"I don't know—some sort of pig-headed goblin, maybe," he replied. Annie looked up at him and finally seemed to realize she was hanging on to him so tightly. She smiled weakly, embarrassed, and eased up. Nearby, Matt squatted and pulled something out of the bone pile. His eyes widened as he realized what it was and he quickly put it down, wiping his hands on his shirt. It was a human skull. He wandered back over to where Aiden and Annie were.
"What was that big pool of stuff?" he wondered aloud.
"I don't know—but it wasn't water," Aiden replied. "Too dark."
"Wonder what they use it for?" He kicked a few bones aside. "You think if you stood on my shoulders you could climb out of this pit?" he asked suddenly. Aiden looked up, considering.
"Then pull you and Annie out? I think so." He looked down at Annie. "I'll pull you out next, I promise."
"God, you must think I'm such a girl," she said turning him loose.
"I think you're a hell of a girl," he grinned. Matt cleared his throat. Aiden looked at him levelly.
"The only reason you're going up on my shoulders is because you're so sickly looking still that I don't think you could hold me up," he said grinning. Aiden flipped him off as he stooped, bracing against the wall. Aiden climbed shakily on to his back. "Oof. What'd you have for breakfast? Bricks?"
"Stand up, you sissy," Aiden called down to him. Matt stood up, leaning against the wall. Above him, Aiden hopped up and scrambled, raining dirt down as he did. After a few minutes effort, Aiden's weight left his shoulders and he disappeared over the rim. They didn't see him for a handful of minutes and Annie chewed her fingernails nervously. Finally, he stuck his head over the edge. "Hand up a few big bones we can use for weapons," he whispered down. "There's a couple of pig-things up at the entrance."
Matt nodded and scrambled for a few large femur bones, including the one he had used for a step. He tossed them up hurriedly and stooped for the girl to climb onto his back. She took a deep breath and climbed shakily onto his shoulders. She struggled for a minute, then her weight was gone as Aiden pulled her up. He grinned picturing it in his head. No doubt, she was hugging Aiden close while his friend took it wide-eyed and uncomfortable. If it were a pretty girl hanging on to him, he'd play it a lot cooler, he was sure.
"Grab my hand," Aiden said above him. "And think light thoughts." He took the proffered hand and scrambled up the wall as his friend pulled. It took a few minutes, but he finally got a knee over the rim and pulled himself up. Aiden gratefully let go and slumped into Annie's arms.
Out of the pit, Matt looked around. The path up to where the most light was coming in was clear. To his left, the large pool reflected some of the light. He looked at it curiously. "What is that stuff?" he said.
"Forget it," Aiden whispered. "We got to get out of here." Matt tore his gaze from the pool and looked around the chamber. He found his wooden weapons at the bottom of the path and let them lie where they were. They would be useless to get out of there. He hefted one of the long bones. It would make a serviceable club.
"How many pig-things are at the entrance?" he asked.
"At the least, two," Aiden replied. "Wait here—I'll go have a look." Matt shook his head and pointed to Annie who was standing close to Aiden.
"I'll go," Matt told him. Aiden nodded and let Annie take his hand. Matt quietly made his way up the path, bone held out in front of him. He paused twenty feet from the entryway and tried to peer around the pair of pig-men standing there, backs toward him. Straining his ears, he heard more grunting outside. With a silent curse he made his way back down the path.
"More than two," he informed them. "Don't know how many—I couldn't see them."
"We'll have to fight them," Aiden growled.
"What about their spears?" Annie said. "Oh, no," her voice changed suddenly, looking up. "Here they come!"
"Hide!" Aiden hissed. They scrambled, looking for a place to hide. Annie ducked into the darkness near the edge of the pit as Aiden and Matt pressed themselves up against the side of the path. Above them, a group of about eight of the pig-men entered and started down the path.
As the creatures made their way down, Aiden suddenly sprang from his hiding place and dealt a savage blow to the head of the last pig-man in line. The creature crumpled, dropping its spear. Before the other creatures could react, Aiden battered another one and Matt attacked from the other side, taking out another pig-man.
Surprised, the remaining creatures fended off Aiden's attack as Matt disarmed another one. Above them, the two guards entered the cavern, trying to determine what was going on. The other pig-men did their best to press the attack, moving first toward Aiden, then toward Matt. For their part, Aiden and Matt pressed on, swinging bones like madmen. One of them delivered a glancing blow, scratching Matt's forearm. He leaped down from the path to pick up one of the discarded spears. Above him, Aiden swung and leaped down as well, pawing for a spear.
It was all the chance one of the creatures needed as it hurled a spear.
The spear caught Aiden in the chest. Annie screamed as she watched the point exit Aiden's back high, near his left shoulder blade. Aiden dropped his bone club, a surprised look on his face. He took a few steps backward, trying to pull the spear out. Then, he tripped over his own feet, toppling backwards into the pool of not-water.
Matt watched him, horrified, then rushed to see if he was still alive, wading after him at the same time Annie rushed from her hiding place, following him. Above, the creatures stopped their attack, watching. They backed slowly away, eyes on the dark pool.
Annie reached down, feeling around the area where Aiden had fallen, Matt at her side. Then, something completely and utterly unexpected happened…