Vega Jane and the Maze of Monsters Read online

  As they drew even closer, I was shocked to see that they had mats of grass growing on their exposed arms and necks and on their faces.

  I heard Delph quietly mutter, ‘What the . . . ?’

  The column of little creatures transformed into a circle and they surrounded us. I heard one of them call out in a series of grunts. When the net started to lift, I realized that he had been giving the instruction to do so.

  The weight of the ropes lessened and we all three struggled to rise.

  Quick as a flash, the creatures whipped out weapons and held them at the ready: small swords, lances, pickaxes and long, lethal-looking knives. And about a dozen of the creatures held small bows with sharpened arrows tucked on to strings ready to fire.

  We could now see our captors quite clearly. Not only was grass growing on their bodies and faces, but their hair was grass as well.

  Outnumbered as we were, I thought a friendly if direct approach best. I said, ‘Hello. I’m Vega. And this is Delph and Harry Two. Who are you?’

  They all stared blankly back at me. Their faces were small and wrinkly, but their eyes bulged and were quite painfully red. I could see now that they were dressed in a hodgepodge of dirty clothing: trousers held up by stout rope, old shirts, frayed kerchiefs, stained vests, old coats and peaked hats. Some wore dented metal breastplates. Others had metal coverings held on with leather straps over their thighs. One bloke sported a cap made of rusty iron.

  We drew back because the little creatures were moving forward, tightening the circle they had formed around us. They were jabbering and grunting, and a pair of them poked us with their little blades.

  ‘Oi!’ I cried out. ‘You can keep those to yourselves.’

  The creatures drew even closer.

  I took a sudden step, which obviously surprised them, and as a group they jumped back. The one who had spoken before grunted again to his fellows. He was taller than the others and seemed to possess an air of authority. I turned my attention to him and said, ‘Can you speak my language? Can you speak Wugish?’

  And I received another shock. One so great I thought my heart had stopped.

  Slowly walking towards us was a Wugmort from Wormwood – or at least he looked like one.

  ‘Cor blimey,’ muttered Delph, who had obviously also seen him.

  The male stopped right outside the circle of creatures, who had respectfully parted to allow him to pass.

  I said, ‘Are you a Wug?’

  He was tall and wore a green cloak. I could see pointed shoes poking out from under the hem. He was elderly; his hair was white, as was his beard. His face was lined and remarkably pale; in fact, it competed with his hair for which was whiter. Then it occurred to me that if he lived down here, the burn of the sun would never touch him.

  ‘Not any more,’ he answered in a high-pitched voice. ‘I left long ago.’ He looked at the creature that had grunted before, and started speaking to him in a fast, guttural language that was impossible to follow.

  He pointed to his right and said to us, ‘This way, if you please.’

  My heart in my throat, we headed in that direction and the creatures followed.

  We passed from the large, tall cave to a small tunnel, which was nevertheless well-lit with torches on the wall.

  When we entered a high, broad room of stone, the male stopped so abruptly I almost walked into him. He motioned Delph and me past him and into the cavernous room. Harry Two obediently followed.

  When I looked around, the breath seized in my lungs.

  There were little niches in all the walls that rose up as high as I could see. And in each of those niches was a—

  Skull.

  It was as if hundreds of sightless eyes were staring at us.

  I looked over at Delph, who was also gazing upward. Poor Harry Two started to whine. The entire space reeked of death.

  The male turned to look at me. ‘Do you know what they are?’

  I nodded, my stomach churning. Had he brought us here because our bones would soon be joining these? ‘Wug skulls,’ I said fearfully.

  ‘Look more closely,’ he said with a sweep of his hand.

  I stared fixedly at the skull closest to me and then at others. I looked back at the male.

  ‘These aren’t Wugs.’

  He said, ‘They are creatures of the Quag that seek to harm us.’

  I crept closer to another skull on a lower niche. It was undoubtedly from a frek. I recognized the jawbone and the long fangs. Next to it was an amaroc. I had seen a skull of one of those at Delph’s place in Wormwood.

  I looked back at the male. ‘Did you kill them all?’

  He chortled. ‘Not personally, no.’

  ‘How, then?’ I asked.

  The male looked me up and down. ‘Who exactly are you?’

  ‘My name is Vega. This is Delph. The canine is Harry Two. We’re from Wormwood.’ He said nothing to this. ‘Have you been here long?’ I asked.

  ‘Longer than your tally of sessions.’

  ‘You have retained your Wug speech,’ I observed.

  ‘Indeed,’ he said, staring at me.

  ‘What do you call this place?’ I asked.

  He looked around. ‘The Kingdom of Cataphile, of course.’

  Delph said, ‘What’s a c-cat-cata-whatsis? And who’s the king?’

  ‘A cataphile is a collector and keeper of bones. And as you can see, we fit that definition rather well. As for the king, here I am. At your service.’

  He gave us a sweeping bow.

  ‘You’re the king?’ I asked incredulously.

  ‘King Thorne,’ he answered with a dignified air.

  I said, ‘How do you go from being a Wugmort to being a king here?’

  He spread his hands. ‘Well, I largely fell in a hole, as did you.’ He took on a dreamy expression. ‘There is much to be said for falling in a hole. It opens up a world of possibilities.’

  Delph and I exchanged nervous glances. ‘And what are they?’ I said in a small voice, glancing towards the creatures with grass growing on them.

  ‘They are ekos. That is the Wug translation anyway. They are the highest form of life down here. Except for me, of course,’ he added with a smile.

  ‘I know there are other creatures dwelling on the surface of the Quag. But you mean there are other forms of life down here?’

  ‘Oh yes. The Quag has an abundance of life of all kinds. But come. We will give you refreshment and a place to sleep.’ He turned.

  I stood there open-mouthed. Refreshment and a place to sleep? The Kingdom of Cataphile? I had imagined the Quag to be many things, but not this. It was turning out to be, well, quite civilized. But then, I was still very much on my guard.

  ‘We ought to be going, Vega Jane,’ muttered Delph.

  The king whirled around and looked at me with a face as though I had just told him I was a garm in disguise.

  ‘Jane? That is your full name? Vega Jane?’

  I nodded. ‘Yes.’

  ‘And are you related to Virgil Jane?’

  ‘He was my grandfather. Did you know him?’

  ‘Yes indeed. Is he well?’

  ‘No. He suffered an Event.’ I now knew this to be untrue, but I decided not to share that with him.

  ‘An Event? Well, well. And Virgil too, of all Wugs.’

  He turned to one of the little ekos and grunted a few times. Several of them raced off. He turned back to us. ‘As for leaving this night, I’m afraid that is impossible. The Quag is a dangerous place even at light. At night you will not survive. Now, are you hungry?’

  He didn’t wait for an answer but headed off at a good clip, passing through another opening in the stone.

  We hurried after him, with the remaining ekos right at our heels.

  I drew close to Delph and began to whisper. ‘I don’t like this bloke. He looks like a Wug, but how can he be? A Wug who has his own kingdom of ekos with grass growing on them? None of this was in the book of the Quag that I found at
Quentin Herms’s cottage.’

  ‘Aye, which means we have no idea what’s coming, Vega Jane, once we get away from here.’

  If we get away from here, I thought miserably.

  3

  A BEASTLY MEAL

  The place we were taken was a large, low-ceilinged cave roughly forty feet long and twenty wide. Light came from smoky candles that were lined up on a table struck from solid rock, with rough-hewn wooden chairs all around.

  Thorne pointed to the seats and said, ‘Please, be comfortable. The meal will be along presently.’

  He took a seat at the head of the table. There was a large T carved in the back of his seat. Delph and I shared a contemptuous look.

  I said, ‘The grass that grows on the ekos?’

  Thorne smiled approvingly. ‘Oh, you noticed that, did you?’

  Well, I could hardly miss it, I thought. ‘So, what is its purpose?’

  ‘It helps them do what they do,’ he replied in a casual tone.

  A noise in the doorway made us turn in time to see four ekos carrying in a large platter. As they drew closer into the spread of candlelight, I could see what was on it: great clumps and claws of some beast with feather and fur still attached. My stomach gave a lurch. But around the ‘meat’ were potatoes and asparagus and beans and peppers and purple onions.

  Metal plates were thrust in front of us, with rude metal-forged forks and knives as well. One ekos, the tall one from before, served Thorne personally. Then it was up to us to do the same for ourselves.

  I avoided the clumps and claws and filled my plate with the vegetables and covered them with what I recognized as parsley and basil leaves. Delph did likewise, though I did see him tear off a chunk of meat that looked rather well smoked. An ekos placed a goblet of water next to my plate.

  I drank, and so did Delph. He let a slice of his meat fall to the floor for Harry Two.

  ‘A fine canine,’ said Thorne as he worked on what looked to be a wing, casually plucking off feathers as he did so.

  ‘So, you have water resources here?’ It was not an idle question. We needed water to survive our journey through the Quag.

  ‘An underground stream. Quite tasty.’

  Delph spat a piece of hardened skin from his mouth and muttered, ‘Unlike the food.’

  Thorne pointed to the half-eaten joint of meat in Delph’s large hand. ‘What you have there is a bit of attercop. Don’t actually care for it myself. But they are plentiful up on the surface of the Quag and quite easy to trap.’

  ‘Attercop?’ said Delph quizzically. ‘Never heard of it.’

  ‘Well, you might know it by another term: spider?’

  With an enormous cough, Delph expelled his mouthful of meat and it hit the wall opposite.

  I looked at Thorne, fearing his reaction to this.

  For a long moment, Thorne simply stared at Delph, and then he looked at the slop of spider meat sliding down the wall of his eating room. When he glanced back, he burst into a fit of laughter, which we soon both joined.

  After we had quieted, Thorne rubbed his eyes. ‘Delightful,’ he said. ‘Never cared much for spider myself, as I said. Chewy, you know. And then, of course, there is the question of the venom. Stick to the vegetables. They never lead you astray.’

  We continued to eat our meal, now chatting pleasantly.

  I said, ‘You mentioned there were other things living down here?’

  ‘Well, there are the ekos, of course. Quite civilized.’ He stroked his beard with his index finger. ‘Then there are the gnomes.’

  ‘The gnomes?’ I said. I had never heard the term.

  ‘Yes, yes. Well, sometimes I call them the unders, you know, because, well, they dig under the rock for things that we require. Quite the sharp claws they have.’

  ‘And that’s all the creatures living down here?’ I said in a prompting tone.

  He scowled. ‘Well, there are the grubbs.’

  ‘Grubbs? What do they do for you?’

  ‘Do for us?’ He bent forward and his expression became so still, it was like he had been transformed to rock. ‘They attack us,’ he said quietly.

  ‘Attack you?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said, his eyes narrowed to slits. ‘They want to kill me.’

  ‘But why?’ I asked.

  He turned back to his meal without answering. Delph and I exchanged a puzzled glance. This bloke was definitely peculiar. I felt the hairs on my neck start to tingle.

  ‘And what do the grubbs look like?’ Delph asked nervously.

  Thorne turned a very serious eye to him. ‘They look like the last thing you would ever want to see coming at you from out of the dark,’ he said in a disgusted voice.

  ‘Where are they?’ I said breathlessly. ‘Down here somewhere?’

  ‘I’ll tell you where they are. They are where you least expect them to be.’ He struck the stone table a sharp blow with his palm, which caused Delph and me to jump nearly out of our chairs. Delph accidentally spilt some of his water. Harry Two immediately started lapping it up.

  ‘Now you must give me news of good old Wormwood,’ said Thorne as he washed down a mouthful of food with the contents of his goblet. I wasn’t convinced he was drinking simply water, for he filled his goblet from time to time from a silver flask resting at his elbow. ‘For instance, who is Chief of Council now?’ he asked.

  ‘Thansius.’

  ‘Good for him. Well done, Thansius.’

  ‘So, you knew him?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes. He was a good friend of Virgil’s too.’ He took a sip from his goblet.

  ‘And Morrigone’s,’ I added.

  This had a remarkable effect on the Wug. The colour drained from his face and he choked on his draught. Regaining his breath, he said, ‘Morrigone, eh?’

  Watching him curiously, I said, ‘Morrigone is on Council now.’

  He chortled, but there was no mirth in his eyes. ‘What else?’ he asked.

  Delph said, ‘Well, we been building this—’

  I cut in. ‘I worked at Stacks, as I said. Delph was at the Mill.’

  Delph shot me an enquiring glance, but I ignored him.

  The truth was I didn’t want Thorne to know about the enormous wall that was being constructed around Wormwood to protect it.

  I decided to get to the most important issue I wanted to ask him about. ‘I never heard of any other Wug heading into the Quag. It is forbidden.’

  ‘Many things were forbidden,’ replied Thorne in a more sober tone. ‘And yet you appear on my doorstep. What cause brings you into the mysterious Quag?’

  ‘Curiosity,’ I said immediately. ‘We wanted to see what was in here.’

  ‘And beyond,’ added Delph. My kick stopped him saying more.

  ‘There is nothing beyond the Quag,’ said Thorne sharply, eyeing us warily.

  ‘So, you’ve been to the other side of the Quag?’ I asked innocently.

  ‘No, I’ve never been past here.’

  ‘Then how do you know there—’

  He rose abruptly. ‘I believe that we all are extremely tired. Now your sleeping quarters are ready.’ He grunted and the same large ekos appeared.

  ‘Luc here will show you where. Off you go and pleasant sleep to you both.’ He hurried away.

  Luc grunted once. Harry Two gave a bark in reply. Apparently satisfied that we understood, Luc turned and walked through the passageway. We hurried after the creature with grass for skin and grunts for words.

  Delph whispered, ‘Are you sure ’bout all this?’

  ‘I’m sure of nothing, Delph. Absolutely nothing.’

  I had never spoken truer words.

  4

  BARS OF BONES

  We were led to a chamber that was cold and filled with shadows that seemed to flicker and move about. There was one torch on the wall and a lit candle on a wooden box next to a hard pallet on which lay a blanket and a pillow.

  Luc indicated that these were my digs, before pulling on Delph’s arm and poi
nting further down the passage to another room.

  ‘Look, anything comes up, just give a holler,’ Delph said to me.

  ‘Brilliant, you do the same,’ I said, feeling uneasy even as I said the words.

  Delph disappeared with Luc, and Harry Two came over and settled down next to the wooden pallet. I dropped my tuck in the corner, sat on the rude bed and took off my cloak. Underneath was my chain, which I would not be taking off. In the pocket of my cloak was the Adder Stone, which magically healed pretty much anything. Along with the Stone was the glove. The shrunken Elemental was in my other pocket.

  I pulled from my cloak the ring Thansius had sent me before I escaped into the Quag. It had belonged to my grandfather. It had been found at Quentin Herms’s cottage. I was told my grandfather had suffered an Event, which basically meant that one vanished into, well, nothing. But that had been a lie. I had since learned that my grandfather had left Wormwood of his own accord.

  On the ring was the symbol of the three hooks. I had no idea what it meant. I thought I might find out in the Quag. I thought I might learn a lot in the Quag. If the place didn’t kill me first.

  I lay back on the bed and held the ring up to the flickering candle. The hooks glistened and glowed in the soft, bluish light. My grandfather had the very same symbol grafted on the back of his hand. I had also seen this exact same ring on the finger of the dying female warrior who had given me the Elemental.

  I put the ring on. It was too large for any of my fingers except my thumb, where it rode snugly.

  I felt my eyes close. I could hear Harry Two’s contented snores as he lay beside me on the floor, and I too drifted off into a deep sleep.

  My dreams were not pleasant. In every crevice of my mind, I seemed to encounter danger. Time passed and I slept on. When I finally awoke, I opened my eyes. And gasped.

  I was in a cage!

  I sat up and looked around. Delph was next to me, still asleep. Harry Two was also imprisoned with us. The bars of the cage were stark white. As I drew closer to them, I could see why. They were made of bones.

  I instantly drew back when I heard a familiar laugh. I looked to the right and there sat Thorne on a huge chair carved from still more bones. And all around the cage were ekos bearing weapons.