Chapter Ten: A Noble Cause
Written by Ethan
The structure that stood before Ja and Kaia was an impressive sight to behold, both in the skill and amount of time required to construct it. Visually, it resembled the tree dwellings built by the hunters of Orn, though its smooth lines and geometric precision made it stick out from the old-growth forest instead of blending in. There were openings on three of its four outer walls, which had been covered with a translucent material wedged in place to allow light and nothing else to come through. Had this been any of the other worlds they’d visited, the building might have seemed a welcome and safe place to rest. But Ja and Kaia’s limited time with the Harvester had already informed them that no shelter in this world necessarily ensured their safety.
“Please, follow me,” said the Harvester. “You’ve had quite the adventure and could surely use a rest.”
The man walked to the front of the strange structure and reached towards a shiny, metallic sphere that stuck out from the middle of a door made of denser, darker wood than the rest of the building. He twisted the sphere and the door slid open to the side, revealing a spacious and inviting room with a large hearth and a table piled to the edges with food and drink. On the ground lay a rug woven with colorful shapes and patterns, crafted with startling precision. Unlike the rough, woven reed mats in Orn, this floor covering looked soft to the touch, like moss on the banks of a river. Next to the hearth sat three large chairs upholstered with purple fabric that shimmered in tandem with the cozy fire. Behind them, plush bedrolls were stacked on wooden slats along with a variety of animal hides and other cloth coverings draped across the length of the furniture.
Despite his many concerns about the Harvester’s intentions, Ja couldn’t help but be stunned by the luxury of these sleeping quarters. He did his best to look disinterested, but knew the Harvester could tell he was impressed. Even the comforts Ja had enjoyed as the Blood Summoner didn’t compare to the opulence that was laid out here. He looked to Kaia and it was clear that she too was intoxicated by the view. Still, they both knew that comfort like this always came at a price.
“What’s wrong?” asked the Harvester, sensing Ja and Kaia’s trepidation. “Is it not raw enough for you?”
“What do you want with us?” Ja said coldly, ignoring the man’s sarcastic attempt at hospitality.
“For now? Nothing. I want you to be comfortable. There’s a lot to explain and I fear you’re not in the state to fully understand what I have to tell you.”
“I think we’ll understand just fine,” said Kaia, gripping her spear tightly and angling the tip in the man’s direction.
“Let’s just take a little while to cool down,” The Harvester said with a calm smile. “Flashing your weapon at me - at least, what you consider a weapon - is enough to let me know that you’re not in the right mental state for the conversation to come. I know you’ve witnessed a lot, but what you’ve seen so far is only the tip of the iceberg.”
“Iceberg?” Kaia repeated, confused. Ja’s mind filled with images of frigid oceans and ice floes that were completely foreign to the jungle in which he was raised. The Harvester let out a small, patronizing laugh like a parent responding to an inquisitive child.
“Despite your surprisingly extensive use of the portals in such a short amount of time, there’s still a lot for you two to see and learn. Now please, come inside and get some rest, and we can discuss those matters tomorrow.”
Ja and Kaia knew there was a delicate balance to be struck between cautiousness and the risk of angering someone as powerful as the Harvester. But as far as they could tell, it seemed like the man was trying to be a good host. They were in possession of his artifacts, and for now, he didn’t seem to regard them as thieves. From all outward appearances, he seemed like a man they could trust. Doro had insisted as much, but the suspicious relationship between the two was enough to keep Ja and Kaia on their toes. Something was off here.
Before they could take a step into the shelter, a voice rang out loudly inside of Ja’s mind.
“It's a trap.”
He looked over to see if Kaia heard the voice too, but it was clear she hadn’t. The voice spoke up again, but softer this time, as it already had his attention.
“He will harvest you, as he has every other visitor to this world, but you will not return like Doro.” Ja could sense that this voice existed only inside of his mind, like the whisper of the tongue, but this voice felt brighter and multifaceted, like a choir.
“Do not speak,” the voice continued. “He is distracted, but not for long. Do exactly as we say. Push the Harvester into the house and then press the round sphere into the door. This will trap him inside, then you can come find us and we can help you leave this world.”
Ja was confused, but he knew he only had a moment to make a choice and act. Whatever this voice was, it spoke directly to the suspicions about the Harvester he already held. Following it felt as natural as following his gut.
“He’s right, Kaia,” Ja said aloud, walking towards the door. “We need the rest.”
She gave him a bewildered look. “You want to go in there?”
“I don’t know what other choice we have,” Ja replied, subtly giving her a signal to follow his lead. She nodded and stepped up behind him.
“Great,” said the Harvester, reaching out an arm to guide them. “I am sure you’ll find this the perfect place to recuperate.”
As the Harvester’s gaze moved to the open room, Ja threw his body weight into the man’s back, flinging him through the threshold and into the table. Food and drink shot into the air, spraying across the walls and fine tapestries. The Harvester hit the ground rolling and quickly reoriented himself, springing to his feet with furious eyes, but before he could take another step Ja slammed his hand down on the metal sphere, just as the voice had instructed. The door swung to the side and locked shut with a loud click, followed an instant later by shutters sliding down over each of the openings, encasing the room inside like a cocoon. The voice was right: the Harvester had meant to trap them.
“What exactly are you hoping to accomplish?” said a muffled voice from inside. The Harvester was clearly angry but hadn’t fully lost his temper. “You two are in way over your heads here.”
Ja started to respond back but was interrupted by the voice in his mind.
“Do not respond. He cannot know how you deduced his true intentions. We have limited time. Come to Doro’s final resting place and we will speak directly. Have your friend keep watch here. Please, hurry.”
“Kaia, can you watch the door?” Ja asked, desperation shaking in his voice. “There’s something I have to do.”
“What? Where are you going? You’re not leaving here without me!”
“Do not reveal us to her,” the voice said in Ja’s mind.
“Just trust me,” Ja pleaded. “I noticed something on our way in. Don’t let him out to come after me. I’ll be back as soon as I can. I promise.”
Kaia nodded unsurely and turned to face the locked door with her spear tip in the air.
Ja began to run away from the building and through the dense forest back to the place where the Harvester’s portal had first appeared. Before long, the arching willow surrounded by Doro’s corpses came into view, limbs teeming with the illuminated sarva, but this time there was something different about the creatures. As Ja got closer, he realized that the insects had assembled themselves uniformly across the tree, as if standing at attention.
“Hello, Ja,” the voice rang out again in his mind.
Ja tried to find the words to respond but couldn’t, too shaken by the realization that it was the bugs that had been speaking to him telepathically.
“We know this is shocking, and we apologize, but we had to act quickly before the opportunity was lost. Please, take a moment to collect yourself and we will explain everything.”
Ja nodded and took a deep, calming breath, though his heart rate rose again when the glowing grubs began to uniformly crawl down from the tree and then pile atop one another, forming a great living mound in front of him.
“Doro, while innocent himself, conveys an untrue message,” the sarva began. “Like Doro, we are not docile participants in the Harvester’s work. We are prisoners. Slaves.”
“That’s awful” Ja responded. “But I can’t say I’m surprised. Something about all of this felt wrong from the beginning.”
“The Harvester used us as a solution to a crisis caused by his own people: the creation of the portals. For millennia, the portals gave them access to the entirety of the infinite universes, but this caused instability in the fabric of time and space, and soon their world was invaded by powerful denizens of other planes. Due to lifetimes of unimpeded progress, the Harvester’s species never knew true war or oppression, and so they were forced to flee through the portals themselves.
“Despite limitless options, the Harvester’s people longed to return home, but needed a way to protect themselves against the beings that had conquered their world. When he discovered us and our ability to extract the essence from exceptional lifeforms, he devised a way to use us to create powerful artifacts. He traveled from world to world, finding participants with special characteristics and then used us to extract them, building an arsenal of magical tools to aid in his peoples’ homecoming.”
“Why didn’t you just stop helping him, then?” Ja asked plainly.
“We did not develop a collective consciousness until we absorbed a large number of intelligent lifeforms. This is not our original biology. Once we did, we tried to protest, but he used Doro’s essence to keep us subdued and controlled. This is the reason he has brought Doro back; he senses the tethers of our control are loosening, and wants to keep us enslaved. Come, let us show you.”
The sarva wriggled over to the base of the tree and began to dig into the moss. Soon, the green ground lifted up into the sky, followed by stone: a boulder had been buried underground among the roots. The sarva moved like a wave, effortlessly lifting the stone up and out of the hole to reveal a tunnel that led down into the earth.
“I haven’t had much luck in tunnels lately,” Ja said, peering down into the hole.
“Do not worry,” the sarva replied. “We will guide you.”
A group of the grubs separated off from the main group and squirmed into the dark hole. They spread out across the walls and then began to vibrate, intensifying their soft glow into a more concentrated form of light. In a matter of moments, the tunnel was completely illuminated. Knowing he didn’t have any other options, Ja took a deep breath and followed them down.
As they descended, the dirt and rock gave way to walls that seemed almost organic: Strands of material like honeycomb that were covered in fuzz, similar to the fur that coated the bodies of the sarva, but thicker, patchier, and less colorful. When his surroundings began to undulate, Ja realized they were not walls at all, but rather thousands of insects squirming back and forth.
Unlike the furry, colorful creatures above, the sarva beneath the tree were noticeably different. They were smaller and a much darker shade of green - the perfect hue to blend into their shadowy surroundings. He wondered if these insects were also delicious; they certainly didn’t look like anything he would want to eat, though he hadn’t wanted to bite into the sarva on the branches, either. Eating these insects would definitely take more work: The underground sarva were not furry and soft, but covered in spines and what looked like tiny plates of chitin.
It was then, surrounded by an untold number of wriggling creatures, that Ja realized just how fortunate he was that the sarva had considered him trustworthy. Had they seen him as an enemy, there would have been nothing he could do to protect himself if they decided to swarm. The sarva had said that the Harvester used Doro’s essence to keep them docile and controlled. What were they like before? The thought gave him pause.
As Ja descended deeper, the tunnel continued to widen until he found himself in a gargantuan chamber teeming with dark sarva. The illuminated grubs he had been following spread out and intermingled with their shadowy counterparts, bringing some light to the scene. Along the walls, the thick roots of the trees above snaked in all directions, giving the area the appearance of an underground forest. Ja scanned his surroundings and noticed a splash of grey that stood out against the wall. Walking closer, he realized it was a skeleton, likely another one of the Harvester’s victims. But unlike Doro’s corpses, this skeleton was alone and much smaller, roughly the size of Ja.
“We remember this being well,” said the sarva. “She could peer into the minds of others. Speak without words.”
“Then wouldn’t she have known what the Harvester had planned for her?”
“The truth of her fate was blinded by desire. She tasted our flesh and could not resist eating more.”
As Ja continued into the chamber, he found more and more evidence of the Harvester’s cruel experiments: Countless bodies of all shapes and sizes, each and every one robbed of life and what had made them unique. At some point, the Harvester’s desire to bring his people home might have been a noble cause, but it had surely transformed into a hideous hoarding of power.
In a far corner, a strange color and pattern of movement caught Ja’s eye.
“What is that?” he whispered to himself.
Bound to the wall with thick cords was a humanoid figure with bright pink flesh, covered in sarva. They squirmed across the body, consuming the meat until there was nothing left but bone, then moved on to another section. Miraculously, the flesh began to reform as soon as the sarva had wriggled away, causing another group to move in and consume it once again. The cycle continued and repeated: consumption and regrowth.
“Is it still alive?” Ja asked with a quivering voice.
“Yes, but worry not. The creature cannot feel anything, as our saliva numbs the pain. In fact, it is in a state of euphoria, a side effect from consuming our flesh in return. As you can see, this being has the power to regenerate, which the Harvester has used to give life back to Doro countless times.”
Ja shuddered at the thought of Doro being eaten alive by the sarva over and over again. Even knowing that there was no pain involved did little to put his mind at ease. Doro was a child, and if the Harvester was willing to sacrifice a child for his own gain, there was no telling what else he was capable of. But one thing was still unclear: How was the Harvester using Doro to control the sarva? He asked the question aloud to the hive.
“Doro is a pure lifeform, trusting and loyal and brimming with power. We are drawn to consume him as so many creatures are drawn to consume us, and we cannot stop once we begin. Doro’s essence can be used to shape perception. We consume Doro and the Harvester uses the byproduct to keep us enslaved. It is a vicious circle we cannot break without your aid.”
Ja felt deep sympathy for both Doro and the sarva. Despite how different each of the worlds he had visited seemed on the outside, the same rule seemed to always apply: the strong conquered the weak and took everything from them for their own gain.
The sarva continued to lead Ja further into the chamber until they approached what looked like a massive, fleshy sack covered in bulging veins. At one end was a head that was larger than a normal sarva, but far too small for the body. Around the creature was a puddle of black liquid that slowly oozed from pores across its bloated abdomen. Ja stopped walking and stared at the monstrous bug.
“Is that a sarva too?”
“That is our mind and body,” the voice explained. “The Harvester calls it the queen, but that term aligns with subjugation. We are equal. We are one.”
Ja knew of insects that lived in colonies, like the ants back in Orn, but had never heard of a single creature with multiple, disconnected parts. He realized that the idea of an insect hive mind wasn’t nearly as shocking to him now after the things he had experienced in his travels with Kaia. What was shocking was the realization that every one of the bugs crawling on the walls around him shared the same thoughts.
“What do you need my help with?” Ja asked, suddenly anxious to leave the sarva den.
“There are three vials stuck inside our body, the source of the black liquid puddling on the ground. Pull them out and Doro’s essence will be drained from us. Then, we can regain control, and help you stop the Harvester once and for all.”
Ja looked at the openings on the fleshy mound and recoiled at the thought of sticking his hand inside.
“Please,” the sarva insisted. “We don’t have much time.” Its voice was tinged with annoyance.
Seeing no other choice, Ja stepped forward and plunged his hand deep into the creature's body. He tried to ignore the disgusting sensation of rooting around inside the sarva’s core, until his fingers eventually came into contact with a hard, cylindrical object. He clutched it and wrenched his hand free and the fleshy mound made a grunting sound at the inelegant exit. In his hand was a long tube, not unlike what the Harvester had used to restore Doro, though with a thin metal grating placed over the end, which Ja assumed allowed Doro’s essence to flow into the sarva.
Wanting to get the task over with as soon as possible, Ja went back in for the second cylinder. It was far deeper than the previous one, forcing him to drive his arm inside the creature almost up to the shoulder. Once he located the object, he pulled it free and readied himself for the third and final cylinder.
“Ja, stop!” Kaia’s voice rang out from somewhere in the darkness.
He wheeled around to see Kaia and the Harvester standing at the mouth of the sarva den. A look of panic was spread across the smaller man’s face.
“What have you done?” he exclaimed.
“I’m freeing these creatures from your control!” Ja plunged his arm inside for the third and final time. Kaia and the Harvester began to run in his direction, but by the time they reached him, Ja had already pulled out the last cylinder.
“Thank you,” said the sarva. The voice now sounded gruff and condescending.
The massive, fleshy bag began to convulse and expand, growing larger and larger until it looked like it was going to burst at the seams. Black ooze sprayed out from its abdomen in gushes, coating the ground.
“Everybody get back to the surface!” shouted the Harvester.
The smaller sarva descended from the walls and began to build up into a wave. Reaching into a canvas bag around his waist, the Harvester pulled out another vial and popped off the cap, releasing a dull red smoke that quickly filled the room. The sarva recoiled at the substance and the small man held it like a flare, giving the three enough space to make their way back up through the tunnel.
“Where are you going, Ja?” the sarva called into his mind. “Please stay. Now it is our turn to help you leave this world.”
Ja, Kaia, and the Harvester trudged up through the tunnel, using the smoke to fend off the wave of insects fighting to stop their progress. Ahead, the sarva had begun to form a living wall, blotting out the light from the end of the tunnel. As the smoke from the vial dissipated, the Harvester reached back into his pouch and pulled out another, but before he could open it a swarm of grubs dropped onto him from the ceiling. The man cried out and fell to the ground and more sarva poured over him. Kaia stopped and turned back to help him, but Ja continued forward.
“Ja, we have to help him!” she called out.
He couldn’t believe what she was asking. They’d literally just escaped one of his traps.
“We can’t trust him!” he shouted back.
“Right now, he’s our only way out!”
Kaia reached down into the teeming mass and grabbed the Harvester’s hand, yanking with all her strength. The man gasped for air as his head was pulled clear, but the insects were too heavy and she was slowly losing her grip. Ja’s voice spoke up from behind her.
“I’ve got you!”
Ja reached in and grabbed the Harvester’s other hand and together they pulled the man free. He looked down for the vial for only a moment, but knew it was gone under the swarm. Then they were all scampering upward again.
“We have to clear the tunnel before they close in on us!” the Harvester shouted, hands rummaging inside his pouch.
They clawed and swatted as they ran, feet slipping as they crushed the swarming bugs underfoot. The tunnel was still illuminated with the glowing sarva from outside, but the sunlight had completely disappeared. The sarva had trapped them in the tunnel.
Ja reached for the mirror inside of his satchel, desperate to make a portal to escape, but stopped before his hand was even inside the opening. The artifact was useless because Ja had given over control of it to Doro. The mirror could do nothing to help them now. Furious with himself, Ja projected his frustration onto others.
“We didn’t make it,” the young man seethed, stopping in front of the wall. He glared at the Harvester, then at Kaia. “We should have left him behind. Now we’re all dead!”
Kaia ignored him and threw her body into the living blockade.
“I’m not giving up!”
She clawed and tugged at the insects, trying to dig her way through to the other side, but there were simply too many. In a matter of moments, Kaia was overwhelmed.
Ja screamed out Kaia’s name as the sarva enveloped her, leaving only one foot visible in the tunnel behind. He rushed forward and grabbed her ankle, trying desperately to pull her free, but the sarva only sucked her in further. Tears filled his eyes as his only friend was slowly consumed by the monstrous swarm he had set free.
“Kaia, I’m sorry!” he cried, not willing to let go of her foot as the sarva dragged him into the swarm as well. He repeated it softly again and again as the sensation of hundreds of insects crawling across his body overwhelmed his senses. He began to feel numbness spread as the sarva’s mouths made contact with his skin. Ja closed his eyes and awaited his end.
Then there was a ferocious grip and tug on his wrist, and Ja’s body was pulled violently through the swarm. Light flashed across his eyelids as he was expelled from the mass of insects and came tumbling down onto soft moss. He opened his eyes and saw Kaia standing over him, looking at him with worry. Ja tried to get to his feet, but countless tiny bite marks across his body had incapacitated his limbs. Kaia tugged him further away from the tunnel entrance, and through hazy eyes, Ja saw Doro pull the Harvester out from the swarm of insects as well.
“Doro saved us?” Ja asked aloud.
“Not just Doro,” Kaia smiled.
Ja’s head tilted to the side and Torv’s massive frame stepped into view. The warrior held a torch in one hand and a tanned bladder in the other, with an axe and spear strapped tightly to his back. Torv turned to Ja and nodded, then made his way to the entrance of the sarva den and sprayed the contents of the bladder onto the wall of insects. They recoiled at the liquid but couldn’t make it all the way back inside the tunnel before Torv tossed the torch into the wiggling mass, releasing an eruption of flame. The bugs moved back away from the entrance, fearful of the fire, and Torv and Doro pushed the boulder back into the hole in the ground, sealing the tunnel shut.
“What’s happening?” Ja said shakily as he pulled himself up to his knees.
“I made a friend!” Doro proclaimed excitedly. He patted Torv on the shoulder with such force that the smaller barbarian stumbled forward.
“I told you there was much to be explained,” the Harvester said with an eerie calmness. “Understanding just how dangerous the sarva can be was the first order of business, but you decided to go ahead and learn that lesson on your own.” He gave Ja a look of frustrated disappointment and it made the young man feel very much like a child.
“I’m sorry,” Ja said softly, not making eye contact. “The sarva didn’t seem like a threat.”
“They only seem docile because I made them that way. Well, in all honestly, because Doro made them that way. Without his essence, the sarva have an insatiable hunger. If not for their ability to extract powerful essences, I would have destroyed them a long time ago.”
“Wait,” Doro said with sadness in his voice, “Ja and Kaia were right? You did use me?”
“Yes Doro, I am afraid I did. I’ve used many over the years. What happened to my world…I didn’t want it to happen to others. It was all for the greater good.”
The giant child nodded in understanding, but there was a look on his face as if he had been stabbed directly in the heart.
“So the sarva were telling the truth about you stealing powers to help your people get your home back?” asked Ja.
“Yes and no. I never had any intention to go back, because my world no longer exists. But creating the artifacts was still a worthy cause. You’ve seen what horrors the infinite worlds have to offer.”
“Some of those horrors use your artifacts.” Ja sneered.
“Indeed they do,” the man said unapologetically. “I’ve made quite a few messes I need to clean up. Now maybe you understand why I brought you here, but it’s pretty clear you lot aren’t the ones I should be worried about.”
“So, what now?” asked Kaia.
“You should probably get to someplace safer, offworld,” the Harvester said with a sigh. “The unrestrained sarva will consume everything in sight before long.”
“You’re just going to let us go?” Ja asked suspiciously.
“This mess that you caused requires immediate cleanup,” the man chided. “So yes, I’m going to let you go wherever you want while I take care of it. Get control of your mirror back from Doro and go somewhere safe. But you and I have still got matters we need to discuss, Ja. I’ll come find you when I’m ready.”
FATE INDEX:
1. Messiah-like figure attempts to remake society
2. Character loses one of their senses
3. Protagonist finds a source of healing/resurrection
4. Include a historical figure
5. People begin to question their belief system
6. An obscure side character suddenly gets a crucial role in the story
7. Traditional gender roles are switched
8. Character finds a large egg of unknown origin
9. The inevitable end is actually a rebirth
10. A member of the community who was heavily relied upon disappears
11. Discovery of higher technology
12. Monotony is broken
13. Character has portentous visions of a world they don’t recognize
14. A bond is formed with an unexpected pet
15. Too many cooks in the kitchen
16. Bodily functions begin to cause eerie physical changes
17. A stranger shares consequential information
18. Ghost story
19. A dam breaks creating massive flooding
20. Cat eat food
Outcomes Used:
5. People begin to question their belief system
14. A bond is formed with an unexpected pet
Added outcomes:
A hidden foe is revealed
(thanks to Matilda)
A catastrophic end
(thanks to Bean)
