By: Bryant R. Haake, Honors College, Presidential Honors Student, English Major
Jacob was not happy to be back in the bog. His adrenaline rush from earlier had faded, and so he was only left with the unpleasantness of walking through the sticky, stinky swamp, worse than any whale carcass he’d ever smelled. Before setting off, they took inventory of what they had. Sadly, it wasn’t much. Jacob still had his bolo rope, as well as a large dagger, the vial of courage elixir, the cloth-wrapped object — he wasn’t ready to see what it might be yet — and a few coins: two corals and five carp. Barely enough for a simple meal, even if they were close to an open restaurant, which they weren’t. Georgiana only had her carving knife.
Jacob was using his dagger to carve a pass forward, but the lush foliage was making it difficult. Tree pulp coated his blade, making the sharpened edge seem dull, and he had to keep stopping to wipe it off. Georgiana had offered to help a few times, but Jacob knew they needed to at least save one of their knives for carving, and it may as well be the one meant specifically for that task.
“I wish I was on the sea right now,” Jacob muttered under his breath.
You and I both.
“Okay, who was that?” Jacob exclaimed, startling Georgiana.
“Shh, you’ll alert basilisks to us, Jacob,” she warned.
Jacob didn’t listen. “No, someone keeps talking to me, and I can’t tell who it is. It’s way too clear for it to just be my imagination.”
He listened for a few moments, not moving. Georgiana watched him carefully.
“Jacob, are you okay? We can take a break, or…”
“No, no, I’m fine.” Jacob shook his head. “I’m probably just stressed or something. I don’t know. Let’s just keep moving.”
Jacob forged ahead, trying to focus but unable to keep his mind off the voice. It sounded the same every time, similar to his own voice but deeper and… older in some way. It was also slightly raspier, like whoever it came from had been gargling salt water every day for the past month.
He could still feel Georgiana’s eyes on him, but he didn’t care all that much at the moment. What was important right now was finding a good enough piece of wood. The trees here were too thick to cut through without proper equipment, so they’d have to find something already fallen, which was proving to be much more difficult than they had expected. What didn’t help was the season. Early autumn was not a good time to grow most kinds of plants without a greenhouse of some kind, but it just so happened that, according to Georgiana, it was right at the end of the best time of year for a bog’s growth, meaning that all the trees were even sturdier than normal.
“So, about what I said earlier,” Jacob began, “I’ve been hearing this voice in my head for a little while now, pretty much just today, but-”
No, that wasn’t right. This voice wasn’t new; he’d heard it before somewhere, maybe a few times, but he couldn’t remember where. He shook his head, wishing his memory would stop playing tricks on him.
“Well,” Georgiana started carefully, “do you think it could just be the stress of the day? You’ve been up a while now, and it’s been an… eventful day.”
Jacob glanced up, grateful for the only time that night for the bright red moon. It cast a bright enough glow over the bog that they didn’t need any light source of their own, though it still wasn’t a replacement for the sun.
“I don’t know, Georgie,” he said tiredly. “Let’s just find that wood and get out of here.”
They walked in silence for a few more minutes before Georgiana broke the silence again.
“Do you think those pirates are still there?”
“I don’t know, Georgie,” Jacob sighed. “Depends on what they wanted. If they just wanted to raid the place, it’s possible they’re still there, but they might be done if everyone aboard those ships was looking for loot. If they wanted people, then they’re probably either trying to find everyone, or they’re-”
“They’re what!” Georgiana exclaimed. “We need to head back to the group. They’ll need our protection if the pirates come. Oh gosh, we never should’ve left them. Hurry!”
Georgiana turned to run but Jacob caught her by the arm. “Georgie, I said they might do that. What I personally think they were there to do is just raid for wealth. Most pirates who engage in the sale of people fly different types of flags. It’s sort of like an altered Jolly Roger with a star shape in the right eye. Those pirates back there just had the basic Jolly Roger.”
“Oh.” Georgiana calmed down a little. “Well, that’s about as good of news I’ve heard all day. You’re sure?”
“I mean, not every trafficking crew does it, but-” Jacob saw Georgiana getting worried again. “Yes Georgie, I’m sure. They were just raiders. I promise.”
Georgiana nodded and turned back towards Jacob. “Okay, I trust you. Let’s keep moving.”
Jacob nodded and continued forward, cutting through more foliage. As they went deeper into the bog the trees became thicker and thicker, and their progress slowed considerably. They were able to duck around some branches and roots, but everything was too thick to warrant moving at a fast pace.
Evidently though, it was still fast enough, because after a few hours of looking, as the sun was beginning to shine and the blood moon was beginning to wane, they began to hear the sounds of more hacking and slashing up ahead, as well as an unmistakable voice cursing like a sailor.
Or, more accurately, like a pirate.
I told you you should’ve killed her, the voice said.
“Oh, shut up,” Jacob muttered back.
He slashed through another set of plants and the path opened up to the sight of Captain Crimson of the Crimson Crusaders tangled up in vines, leaves and twigs sticking out of her red hair. She struggled and pulled at the trees around her, growing teeth, fins and more all along her body to saw at the plants.
Georgiana gasped.
“Miss Crimson, you need to stop moving.”
“Captain Crimson, you brat!” Crimson spat back.
“You said your crew abandoned you, ya’ landlubber,” Jacob retorted.
“I’ll gut you both as soon as I’m down from here, squirt!”
“Captain Crimson, please stop!” Georgiana yelled. “That’s a man eater! If you keep struggling, it’ll only get tighter.”
The captain didn’t stop struggling, and as promised the vines began to tighten. As they were destroyed, more and more fell from the trees above and began wrapping around Crimson. She tried everything she could, including fully becoming a blacktip shark to squirm out of the vines. None of it worked, and the vines just tightened more and more.
Jacob looked up to where the vines were coming from. A large plant bulb grew from the treetops, similar in shape to a venus fly trap. From the middle of the “mouth” hung a sort of uvula-shaped trichome, except the swollen part of it was cupped and held a liquid. The stem of the trichome rose up directly from the middle of the cupped area.
“Wait, Georgie!” he exclaimed. “See that thing hanging down there?”
Georgiana looked up and saw the uvula-like thing, and her face brightened.
“That’s the secretion gland! We can use it as a bowl.”
“The what-gland?”
“Secretion gland. It secretes a sweet-smelling liquid to attract prey. Usually it would settle for birds, but a ship captain works, I guess.”
“I am still stuck!” Crimson yelled.
Jacob looked lackadaisical at the failed pirate captain, stuck out his tongue, then went back to his conversation.
“I can probably pull the whole plant down, but it might take awhile.”
“Didn’t your tentacles burn up during the raid?” Georgiana asked.
“They regenerate fast,” Jacob said. “We did some testing back on the ship with some small cuts and all. It takes roughly an hour for them to fully regenerate, no matter what the injury was.” He held up his hands, revealing red splotches. “They leave marks on me based on whatever the injury was, but it doesn’t affect me at all.”
Georgiana stared at the scars in awe. “That is really cool. Does it hurt when-”
“As I said, I am STILL IN THIS DAMNED PLANT!” Crimson screamed.
The two teens went deathly silent at the loud noise. Jacob glanced around, looking for signs of movement.
“Crimson, you need to stay quiet,” Georgiana said through a steely gaze. “There’s basilisks out here.”
“Pssh, who cares?” Crimson said. “And, for the last time, my name is Captain Cri-”
A shrill growl like metal scraping against vocal cords resonated through their bones, chilling the air around the trio with fear. Jacob fumbled for the vial of elixir, uncorked it and tried to hand it off to Georgiana, but as she was trying to take it, hands shaking, they both fumbled and dropped it. The elixir fell to the ground, shattering into a blue puddle of their last hopes. They looked at each other, sorrow in their eyes, and turned back to Crimson.
“Hey plant girl, what was that noise? A rose or something?” She snorted out a laugh at her own joke. “Seriously though, was that one of those basilisks? It didn’t sound too bad.”
Jacob stared at her like she was crazy.
“You’re crazy,” Georgiana said, voice shaking.
“Nah, I just don’t care,” Crimson responded. “It can’t be anything that can threaten me. I’m a motha-flippin’ Goldblood, and those things are just lizards, right?”
The growl rang again, much closer this time. Jacob instinctually reached out for Georgiana and pulled her closer, which she didn’t resist. His eyes wandered to the liquid on the floor, wishing he hadn’t dropped the vial like an idiot.
“Hey you two, cut me down! I wanna fight some lizards,” Crimson continued. “Seriously, why’re you two scared? They can’t be that big or anything.”
This time there was no growl. Instead, a hiss nearly blew out Jacob’s ears as two glaring, yellow eyes emerged from the bog behind where Crimson hung, sat upon a head similar to that of an alligator’s but much shorter and more blunt. Jagged teeth like those of a shark veered down from the upturned, scaly lip of the beast. As it moved forward, Jacob and Georgiana unconsciously backed away, unable to look away from the eyes. The rest of the beast remained hidden in the bog for now, but even just the head could’ve snapped Crimson in half with a single bite.
“J-J-Jacob, w-we can’t l-let it eat her-r, r-right?” Georgiana asked through clattering teeth.
Jacob only shook his head, trying to focus on summoning his tentacles to no avail. The basilisk’s fear was powerful and intoxicating, and refused to let the teens’ adrenaline glands flood their bodies with the hormone. Neither fight nor flight would happen, instead bringing forth a third option: freeze.
The basilisk continued moving forward slowly, not worried about having to catch its prey, getting right up next to Crimson before nudging her with its snout.
“Hey, what give!” she said as she spun around to meet the reptile’s eyes. “Ohh, this is a basilisk. Okay, I get it. How much is it worth on the market? The hide alone looks like it’d run for at least a few whales, right?”
Jacob stared at her, unable to figure out why she wasn’t shaking in fear like him and Georgiana. The basilisk looked frustrated as well. It brought forth a grotesque webbed paw, fluffy with algae and moss, and drove a gash across Crimson’s side, slowly raking it across her body.
“OW! I’ll hang ye by yer ears ’til ye rot, ye gutless, festerin’ lizard! Just wait until I’m down from here!” Crimson continued to spin, redoubling her efforts to cut herself down, shark teeth gnashing and sawing at the vines. Plant pulp flew everywhere as more and more vines tried to contain her, but her progress was actually working, if only very slowly.
The basilisk, seemingly no longer interested in Crimson, turned its attention to the two teens. Jacob glanced from its eyes to its mouth, easily big enough to swallow him in a single bite due to his own unfortunate size. He kept trying to use his tentacles, but still fear gripped his heart, disallowing him to focus.
Georgiana, on the other hand, took a shaky step forward, stomping her foot as hard as possible. The basilisk seemed generally unaffected, but stared at her oddly. After a few tense moments, it turned its attention to Jacob. A forked tongue flicked in and out of its mouth, tasting the air. It began moving forward again, slower than last time but terrifying nonetheless.
Crimson finally got a single arm free and cried, “Yes! Now I’ve got ye’, foul codpiece!”
Teeth began to pile up on her wrist, forming into a long blade that she then swung at the vines above her. They snapped as the serrated blade sawed through them all, and Crimson plopped to the ground rather ungracefully. Gathering herself, Crimson stood up and formed another blade of teeth on her other wrist.
“Alright, ye’ overgrown land crawler, now you die.”
She stabbed a blade at the basilisk, but it bounced off the thick, scaly skin. The whole body was visible now, and showed the plated, interlocking scales all along the body down to the tail, which was barbed at the end by sharpened scales. Crimson let out a guttural growl and tried again with the same effect.
“Flower girl, why isn’t this working?”
“You can’t,” Georgiana spat out in between shivers. “Y-you’ve got to g-get away from here!”
Jacob glanced up and saw the man eater already regrowing its vines, sending them down to feel for more prey. The basilisk took another step forward and a vine tried to wrap around it, but was unsuccessful as the basilisk ripped away from it with ease. Jacob glanced up again, noticing for the first time just how large the man eater was.
“G-Georgie, l-look,” he pointed from the basilisk to the plant. Georgiana followed with her gaze and looked back to him, pride on her face.
“Th-that could w-work, Jacob. G-good idea,” she forced a smile.
He nodded and tried to push the fear from his mind. He thought of everything he could to try and push out the fear: his crewmates, who needed him back, his Captain, who had given him order, Heilyn, who wouldn’t let him live it down if he died to a lizard. Nothing worked. He glanced down to his feet, head sagging, and noticed again the puddle of blue liquid.
Oh, that’s interesting. Do it. Do it. Do it.
“By Neptune’s name, shut up,” he muttered, bending down to the dirt.
With a shaking hand, Jacob grabbed a fistful of dirt and shoved it in his mouth. It tasted horrid, like moldy cheese, spoiled milk and animal feces all wrapped in a layer of mud. He fought the urge to wretch and spit it out, instead forcing himself to swallow.
Almost instantly his fear dissipated, and he was able to move freely. He shot back up and summoned a tentacle, whipping it up to the stem of the man eater above. He may not be very strong, but his tentacles had much more to them. With ease, he pulled down the man eater and guided it mid air to land right on the basilisk. Immediately the plant snapped shut, holding down the basilisk as it writhed. As Georgiana had said earlier, the more the basilisk struggled, the tighter the plant became. Soon enough, the basilisk lay still as the blood and inner juices of its scaly, meaty body were drained, until nothing but mummified remains were left.
“Woah, that plant works fast,” Jacob remarked.
Georgiana nodded, catching her breath from the now forgotten artificial fear she had been gripped by before. She panted for a few more seconds before standing up and stretching.
“That was brilliant, Jacob. Thanks for saving us there.”
“No no, I didn’t do anything,” he said, face flushed. “Honestly, as much as I hate to say it, I’ve gotta thank you, Crim- Captain Crimson.”
Crimson, who was poking around the now dead lizard corpse, perked up as she heard her name and sneered with delight.
“Eh, I won’t make you grovel or anything. But, I’m sportsmanlike, so you’re welcome, squirt, for holding its attention at least.” She sighed. “Though I’ll admit, while I was amazing there, I guess… I did kinda cause it in the first place, so… I guess what I’m tryna say is that… y’know.”
Jacob sneered back. “Yeah, I know. I won’t make you grovel, either.”
Okay, now that you’ve gotten pleasantries out of the way, kill her before she kills Heilyn.
“Shut up!” Jacob yelled, startling the other two. “Oh, uh, sorry. Not you two. Just… got a song stuck in my head. It’s really annoying and all that.”
“You were just frozen in fear for five minutes,” Crimson taunted, “and now you’re struggling with a dumb song? Wow, you really are pathetic, squid boy.”
Jacob shot her a dirty look but didn’t respond. The voice tried to say something again, but Jacob ignored whatever it was and turned back to Georgiana.
“So, about that bowl…?” he asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Georgiana said. She began to climb over the carcass of the basilisk and pry open the plant. She took a pinch of something from her pockets and sprinkled it into the “mouth” of the man eater. The grip on the basilisk loosened and she reached inside.
“Woah!” Jacob exclaimed in panic, but Georgiana held up a hand.
“Smelling salts,” she said, hand still down in the plant. “The man eaters can’t stand the taste of them, and they recoil whenever you sprinkle them in the right areas. It won’t be a threat for a few min-AH!”
Jacob summoned a tentacle at her scream but put it down as both she and Crimson began cackling. He reverted his arm back to normal and lowered it, glaring at both of them.
“Oh come on, Jacob,” Georgiana said, “that was funny, and you can’t deny it. Now, help me with this thing.”
She pulled up the bowl-like uvula thing and held out her hand. Jacob tossed her his knife and watched as she expertly severed the end from the shaft. She then took out her own carving knife and began to shave off the remaining innards, smoothing out the inside to a much more manageable degree. When she had finished, she stabbed a small hole through the edge of it, tied a small bit of string around it and hung it around her dress’ sash.
“Alright,” Georgiana said, standing up and wiping her hands off on her clothing, “that should do it. Let’s get back to camp. Captain Crimson, are you coming?”
Crimson seemed to mull it over for a moment before nodding. “Eh, sure, what the heck. I don’t gotta kill anyone too soon. Plus, it’s kinda nice not having a loud crew around all the time, needy and shouting an’ crap, y’know?”
Jacob just nodded, staring at the rising sun. He could almost feel bags beginning to form under his eyes. A bed sounded really nice right now, but he’d settle for just about any place that was at least moderately dry at this point.
Georgiana sidled over to him and hugged his arm, which felt strange due to the height difference. “We’ll get you back to them, okay? I promise.”
Jacob smiled. “Not what I was thinking of, but that is nice to hear. Thanks, Georgie.”
“You’re welcome, Jakey,” she said, returning the smile.
Jakey? Only a few people are allowed to call you that-
“-and now she’s one of ‘em, got it?” Jacob muttered.
Hmph.
The trek back to camp was a lot smoother of a journey. Jacob’s arms still ached from all the hacking and slashing he’d had to do on their way through the bog, but he was glad for it now. Crimson still had a bit of a hard time, having to squeeze through a few areas, but even she didn’t raise a blade. Jacob had seen the look about her many times with his own Captain: the sagging shoulders, drooping head and heavy gait mixed with a faked confident smile and tired eyes. She was exhausted, more so that she’d ever let on, but she hid it nearly as well as Captain Vexx had.
Finally, after around thirty minutes of walking, sloshing, and nearly swimming at one point as Jacob in his groggy state nearly slipped into the murky waters, they finally emerged back into the clearing.