Chapter Nine: The Harvester
Written by Jeff
There was only one way to get down from the edge of the forest. A series of switchbacks snaked down a sheer edge of clumped, wet earth and roots, descending steeply into another cloud of swirling fog deep below. Doro advised the two human followers to stick close behind and only step where the skeleton did, or else they might fall a very long way. Ja and Kaia stayed glued to Doro’s every movement, carefully inching down the steep incline like the skeleton’s shadow.
The sky was still a perfect, soft purple, never changing from the soothing hue of dawn. As the group went lower, that color seemed to leech into the fog, imbuing it with a lilac twinge. The purple light seemed so pleasant in the sky, but as they descended into the billowing clouds, it was as if the entire environment took on a more foreboding tone. Ja took Kaia’s hand and grasped onto Doro’s fibula with the other, and the skeleton slowed down its movements to let those in the back of the party move at their own pace.
They tiptoed down for an interminable length of time - long enough for Ja and Kaia to eat multiple rations from their packs - until they finally reached the bottom. There was a forest down here as well, though not nearly as verdant as the one at the top. Only a sparse purple dusk made it through the scattered evergreen canopy. As they walked away from the cliff, Ja began to speak to the tongue, asking if it could hear him, but there was no response. The group continued on, happy to be on stable ground, and before long they were comfortable enough to start talking about what was supposed to happen next.
“Where are we going?” asked Ja. “Once we’re able to use the artifacts to get there.”
“We are going to the world where I died,” said Doro. “I was placed there to look after very special creatures called sarva. The Harvester uses them to create artifacts like the ones you carry.”
Kaia had no idea what the word “Harvester” meant, but as soon as Ja heard it the concept of agriculture became clear in his mind and his legs almost gave out, causing him to trip over a root and tumble to the ground.
“The sarva are very precious,” Doro continued, not noticing the effect of the previous statement. “They are the most delicious animal that exists. It is said that if you eat one, it will be the greatest food you have ever tasted, every bite, for every person. That is why Doro was charged with guarding the sarva. Only I could be trusted not to eat them.”
As Ja pulled himself up from the ground and continued walking, a whisper began to grow in volume inside of his mind.
“Hello? Human? Are you there?”
“Yes!” Ja called back, bringing the necklace up to his mouth. “I can hear you, finally. Is the mirror ready to create another portal?”
“It is ready. Simply tell it where you would like to go.”
Ja looked to Doro. “Where are we going?”
“We are going to Doro’s body.”
Ja reached inside of his satchel and pulled out the jawbone mirror. “Take us to Doro’s body, please.”
The mirror whirred to life and Ja looked at Kaia expectantly, but after only a few moments it sputtered and came to a stop.
“Again, you are too vague,” said the mirror. “This person has bodies on many worlds.”
“Can you be more specific?” Ja asked the skeleton. “Do you know the name of the world?”
“I do not know its name,” said Doro sadly. “There were many worlds, and the sarva forests all look the same.”
“You died over and over again in the same place on different worlds?” Kaia asked. The skeleton nodded, and Ja began to wonder if they were ever going to be able to give a specific enough request to get to the world they needed.
“I know which world it is,” Doro proclaimed confidently. “If you let me use your tongue and mirror, I can make the portal to get us there.”
Ja and Kaia looked at each other skeptically.
“Just a moment,” said Ja, holding up a finger before turning and pacing away from the skeleton. With his back turned, he spoke to the tongue. Kaia came and huddled nearby.
“Can Doro be trusted?” Ja asked in a hushed tone.
“You will not find a more honest creature in the infinite worlds,” said the tongue. “But the mirror is attuned to you. The bond was broken with its previous owner when they died, allowing you to take control. You must give that control to Doro for the skeleton to use the mirror.”
“Does that mean Doro will have to give control back to me after?” Ja asked suspiciously.
“Yes. But Doro will return control of the mirror to you if you ask. There is no doubt in that. Doro is an extremely rare specimen. Entirely pure. Incapable of deceit.”
“Will Doro even be able to use it?”
“Yes,” responded the mirror. “Doro is also a Jaw. Doro is many, many things.”
Ja relayed the message to Kaia and they pondered the implications. Rightfully, Ja was hesitant to hand over his artifacts to anyone, even someone as “pure” as Doro.
“I don’t think the tongue would lie to you,” mused Kaia. “I think we should do it. We weren’t able to use any of the power you got in Orn to help anyone but ourselves. Now we can use these artifacts to help someone who really deserves it. Think about it: if someone is so pure, yet has died so many times on so many worlds, it means they’ve been taken advantage of. Like we were.”
Kaia was right and the connection was clear: Whatever happened to Doro probably wasn’t too different from what the Blood Summoner had done to the people in the compound, but on a much grander scale. Who was he to refuse help to someone else who had been subjected to such injustice? Ja walked back over to the skeleton.
“If I give you control of my artifacts, do you promise to give them back to me as soon as we’re in the right world?”
“Of course!” exclaimed the skeleton.
Ja knew Doro was telling the truth, but he still hesitated handing over the tongue and the mirror. As he did, Ja stated aloud, “I give control of the mirror to Doro,” and expected to sense some kind of physical transference of power. But he didn’t feel anything except the large, bony fingers making contact as they removed the tongue and mirror from his hands.
The skeleton took the necklace in one hand and the mirror in the other and began to speak to it, but it didn’t sound anything like words. Instead, a low, tonal humming came from the skull’s mouth, teeth still and un-clattering. Doro waved the mirror in the sky and a portal begin to appear, painting a new existence over the current reality. Ja and Kaia let Doro step through first and the skeleton politely waved them on from the other side. Once everyone had gone through, Doro hummed at the mirror again and painted the hole shut.
“Please give control of the mirror back to me now,” Ja said, trying and failing to mask his angst and impatience.
“I give control of the mirror to Ja,” said the skeleton, handing the items back to the young man. Ja fought the urge to snatch the artifacts back too hastily, slipping the tongue back around his neck and stuffing the mirror back in his hide satchel. Once the artifacts were safe and secure, Ja looked up to find that Kaia had already wandered off to explore their new environment.
Sharp streams of green light broke through the dense, leafy canopy. Ja was used to huge palms in his jungle, but these leaves were soft and delicate and only the size of clovers, extending thickly from every branch. The ground was completely covered in moss and lichens, soft and squishy beneath his feet. The forest was thick with undergrowth; damp piles of fallen leaves and wood that crumbled away painlessly beneath each step. Kaia smelled a patch of wildflowers growing from a decaying stump and lingered in its fragrance. She turned to Ja and beamed at him.
“I like this place.”
“It is hard not to love a sarva forest,” said Doro. “But most people love it a little too much. Like I said before, the sarva are very special creatures, and just about everything wants to eat them. That’s why Doro was tasked with their protection.”
“Where are the sarva?” Kaia asked.
“I can take you to them, if you promise not to eat them.”
The two gave Doro their word and the skeleton began to stomp through the forest on no discernable path. Before long, it became clear that they were headed towards a massive weeping willow in the distance that stood significantly taller than all of the surrounding trees. As they approached, strings of illuminated clumps made it appear that the drooping branches were glowing. It wasn’t until they were practically beneath the willow that Ja and Kaia could see the glowing lumps were actually living, wriggling creatures.
“These are the sarva,” Doro said, pointing to one. Each sarva was about the size of the humans’ forearms, covered in plushy fur that radiated an eye-catching yellow hue. There were no caterpillars in the jungles that surrounded Orn for reference, but Ja and Kaia could see that the sarva were some kind of insect, undulating lazily on the willow branches. Doro reached up a skeletal hand to meet one and several hundred fuzzy feet moved in a wave to carry the docile creature onto an extended finger. As it crawled up onto the arm, Ja noticed a bouquet of floral tendrils come out of the sarva’s mouth and latch onto the bone, sucking. Kaia didn’t notice, instead looking up at the enormous, sprawling tree.
“So, what happens now?” asked Ja. “Is this where one of your bodies is?”
“Yes, this is where my final body lies. I can feel it.”
“Your final body?” asked Ja. “You needed to come to a certain one?”
“Yes. I could only become whole again if I returned here.”
“You could have told me that before,” Ja huffed. “I could have used the mirror to get us here if you would have been more specific.”
Doro pondered this piece of information.
“I suppose that is true. Next time, Doro will be more specific.”
“When will you be made whole again?” asked Kaia.
“I do not know. I suppose we will just have to wait.”
“Is it safe to wait here?” Ja asked, peering into the dense forest.
“You are safe with Doro! I will protect us, just as I protected the sarva before.”
At the base of the tree, stretching out from the center in all directions were elevated root mounds covered in thick moss and flowers. Ja and Kaia crawled up and took a seat on one of them, unsure what else to do but sit and wait patiently. For the first hour or so the group was mostly silent, with the skeleton moving from branch to branch, allowing the bulbous grubs to crawl and suck on its bones. Eventually, the humans became bored and asked Doro to tell them more about the sarva and the forests. The skeleton was happy to regale them with its tale.
Doro had been chosen to guard the sarva from a young age. In those times, Doro was a flesh-and-bone boy, not exactly the same as the Descendants, but similar in size and appearance. Even as a child, Doro was larger and more imposing than most intelligent lifeforms, so he was a good choice to keep the precious insects from harm. Doro was proud that he had always successfully protected the creatures from threats; no sarva had even been eaten on his watch. Learning that Doro had never died from intruders, Ja and Kaia were curious to know what had killed him so many times in so many similar forests.
Surprisingly, Doro had no idea how he had died, because he had done such a good job making sure no one ever got close to the sarva. He would stand guard for long periods of time, but Doro insisted it wasn’t lonely work. The sarva were always there to keep him company. They loved to crawl on him and kiss him with their furry little mouths. Sometimes, he would get very tired after playing with the sarva, and then he would wake up inside the hut of the Harvester. The man would tell him that he had died doing his duty and then would send him to a new forest to protect the sarva again.
Doro didn’t really think dying over and over again was much of a problem, because he never actually felt dead. He would just fall asleep guarding the sarva and then wake up and look after a different group. It only became a problem the last time that Doro died and didn’t wake up inside the Harvester’s hut. After Doro’s final passing, he ended up in the realm of the Descendants, a place known as a plateau. It was there that Doro discovered his path of life, death, and rebirth had ended, and that he had entered the final stage of his journey wholly unprepared.
Ja and Kaia listened on attentively, eager to learn more about the realm of the Descendants, even though they had just been expelled from that fascinating place. Doro explained that those who could no longer continue along life’s path were called true dead. Normally, one who has died and been reborn as many times as Doro has lived countless full, rich lives, but Doro had not. Spiritually, Doro was still just a child. The other skeletons Ja and Kaia had met at the top of the stairs were also people whose myriad existences had been cut prematurely short. Some were destined to be failed warriors, while others were just perpetually unlucky. If one entered the realm of the Descendants as a skeleton, it was because that person had reached the plateau without acquiring their final form.
But there was still a chance for Doro to live again. The Harvester had told Doro that if he was able to get back to the last living version of his body, he would be able to restart his journey through life. Doro would be truly alive once more and able to gain the experience that would allow him to complete his path and eventually join the Descendants.
The realization that Doro’s rebirth was controlled by a powerful, mysterious man called “the Harvester” broke Ja’s mind away from Doro’s entrancing tale and filled him with a sense of dread. He slid down the mossy hillock and walked towards the skeleton, and as he did the spongy, green surface beneath him broke away and slid down too.
“Doro, how exactly are you going to get your body back?” Ja asked. “Is the Harvester going to give it to you?”
“Yes!” the skeleton exclaimed proudly. “He told me that if I returned to my final body, he would reunite my spirit and give me new life.”
Ja looked at the skeleton with furious indignation. “Why didn’t you tell us before that you were bringing us to meet up with another Warp Walker?”
“I did,” Doro said plainly. “It was the first thing I said to you when we joined up for this trip. I said we were going to the world of the one who took my flesh. This is the Harvester’s forest.”
Kaia interjected from the hillock behind them: “Ja, I think you should take a look at this.”
The young man turned and saw that she had broken away most of the moss that covered the raised area where she sat. Beneath the green overgrowth was dirty white bone. Ja could make out the indentations of teeth and an empty nose cavity by Kaia’s hands. She was crouched on top of a giant skull, the same size as Doro’s.
It was then that Ja could see that it was not elevated, moss-covered roots that extended from the willow tree, but hulking skeletons laid concentrically around its trunk.
“Doro, look at how many skeletons are under this tree. It seems like the Harvester took more flesh than just yours.”
“No, those are all Doros. My work for the Harvester resulted in many deaths in this world.”
Ja remembered what Ony had said back on the stairs, after Doro had carried them up: Few harness the power you have with that mirror, and those who do almost always use it for their own gain. Doro’s rebirth in death was a result of such an individual. Doro was far too young to endure the path so early. The one-sided relationship between Doro and the Harvester became clear in Ja’s mind.
“Do you really think you can trust this person?” he asked.
“Of course! Doro is a very good judge of character. That is one of my many strengths. The Harvester is a great man. Like I said before, he uses the sarva to create important artifacts, like your mirror. He would have nothing to harvest if Doro did not protect his crop.”
“Doro, I don’t know how to tell you this, but I think the Harvester was taking advantage of you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t think you were put here just to protect the sarva; I think you were also here to feed them. I think they fed on you.”
Doro was silent for a moment as he mulled this over.
“The Harvester did say that the sarva needed me to grow and survive. If that is true, then I am happy to have been of help. I love these creatures.”
“The tongue said that people like you are extremely rare and have unique abilities,” Ja continued. “It’s nice that you were happy to help the sarva, but it sounds like the Harvester was using these creatures to harvest what’s special about you. Aren’t you upset that someone would do that to you?”
“I trust him,” the skeleton said without hesitation.
“Well I’m sorry, but we don’t,” said Kaia, climbing down from the mossy skull. “So far, Ja is the only person who can control these powerful artifacts that I’ve been able to trust. The man with powers like that in our world is a monster.”
“Yes, those sort of powerful people do exist,” explained Doro. “They are the ones I throw from the cliffs when they arrive on the plateau. But not the Harvester. You can trust me.”
“If the Harvester does try and attack us,” Ja asked, “or tries to take our items, will you protect us?”
“Doro can see that you do not deserve to be attacked. I would protect you.” The skeleton seemed to beam with noble pride.
“That’s very nice of you,” said Kaia, “and I don’t want to be rude, but how? This Harvester will probably have more power than anyone we’ve met so far.”
“If it will ease your mind, you can lend me your artifacts again. With that power, I could make sure there is nothing he could do to harm you. But I do not think that it is necessary.”
Ja and Kaia convened and talked it over. They both felt that they could trust Doro unconditionally - the mirror had even assured them of that - but there was no way they could take the skeleton’s word on the Harvester. It was possible that Ja could use the artifacts to protect them if things went bad, but he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t freeze up again at the first sign of danger and miss his chance to act. If magical protection was necessary, Ja and Kaia both agreed that the artifacts were better off in the hands of an actual protector.
“If I give you the artifacts again,” Ja said to the skeleton, “do you promise to give them back as soon as I ask?”
“Of course!” Doro assured. “They belong to you. I will return them as you wish.”
“Ok. I trust you. I give the mirror to Doro.”
As soon as the tongue and mirror left Ja’s hands and entered those of the skeleton, a whirring noise ripped through the pleasant din of the forest and a portal began to appear beneath the arching willow. Ja thought to pull the artifacts back from Doro’s hands, but when he found himself once again incapacitated by fear, he was glad he had relinquished the power to someone more capable of using it. The skeleton perked up and stood straight, eager to meet the traveler on the other side of the doorway.
A sleekly-fashioned leather boot emerged through the shimmering circle of light and stepped down onto the mossy forest floor. The man who followed wore a genuine smile, arms outstretched to greet Doro like a loving parent. Doro rushed forward and gently lowered its arms around the man, who stood only slightly above the skeleton’s knee. The Harvester was noticeably short; Ja was shocked to see that he towered over the man like an Ulvson. It gave him a sense of superiority he knew was unearned.
The first thing Kaia noticed about the man was not his height, but how handsome he was. Until this point, Kaia hadn’t thought of anyone in her life as handsome; that word wasn’t even in her lexicon. Seeing the Harvester emerge from the portal hit Kaia like a stinging glimpse into life better lived. The man’s hair was not matted and caked like people from Orn, but so clean she could see each individual chestnut strand, hanging loose and free, trimmed at the shoulders. And there was strangely no hair on his face at all, only clean, taut, olive skin and a strong chin. His clothing covered all of his arms and legs and fit snugly like a second skin, chiseled physique clearly accented by tight-fitting hide. It was only after noticing all of these other physical traits that Kaia saw the man only stood up to her chest. But he wasn’t small - at least not in a way that would make him weak - that much was clear.
“Master!” Doro exclaimed. “I have made it back to my final body. I have completed your challenge!”
“You did a wonderful job, Doro,” the man praised. “I always knew you would be able to find your way back here. You have earned your reward.”
The man opened his hand to reveal a vial filled with an oily pink liquid. To Ja and Kaia, the glass container was a baffling sight, as if an invisible spirit were holding the serum in a confined space in the palm of his gloved hand. The Harvester removed the cap and Doro plucked the glass between bony thumb and forefinger, raising the minuscule vial to its mouth and then emptying it down the spine. The viscous pink liquid coated the bones and began to unnaturally spread to the legs and across the ribcage. The liquid began to bubble and spit and then puff out and expand, filling the negative space with organ meat and strands of muscle. Eyes formed in the sockets and shining blue gems fell onto the moss and went dull. In the course of only a minute, the skeleton was replaced with a fully-fleshed and enormous humanoid child, naked and beaming with an ecstatic smile.
“Doro is alive!” the boy exclaimed. “I am on the path again!”
The Harvester smiled back at him and crossed his arms contentedly.
“Use your life well.”
Doro stuck out his right foot and wiggled his toes in the air, delighting in the sensation. His head darted from side to side, taking in the world around him with newfound senses. He took one step and nearly stumbled, but righted himself. Then, in an instant, he was off sprinting into the trees, arms triumphantly raised to the sky.
The running child was almost to the edge of the great willow when Ja finally snapped to and shouted, “Doro! Give me back my artifacts!”
He saw the giant’s arms fall to the sides and hands open, dropping the mirror and necklace onto the ground without breaking stride. Ja jerked towards them but stopped, turning his gaze to the Harvester instead. The man gave him a placid, non-threatening look, as if to say he couldn’t care at all what Ja did next. With eyes still trained on the Harvester, Ja broke off in Doro’s direction, ready to change course if the man charged. But he didn’t move, and didn’t seem to notice - or care - that Kaia had snuck around behind him with her spear drawn. The Harvester was still standing there silently when Ja reached his artifacts and hurriedly put on the necklace.
“Kaia! Get over here. We’re leaving.”
She circled around the man and began to sprint over to Ja, who busy was making uncomfortable eye contact with the prim and well-dressed traveler. He could sense that they were both getting a read on each other, though for all the information Ja was taking in, he was having a hard time deducing much of anything. The man just stood there, arms crossed with a wry smile, but it didn’t feel to Ja like he was taunting. He was simply self-assured. Ja held up the mirror and spoke.
“Take us to a place where the Harvester can’t find us.”
This time, the mirror didn’t even sputter before stopping. It didn’t start at all. Ja said the same thing in his mind as the mirror, but slightly delayed, like an echo:
“Doro has control of the mirror.”
The Harvester looked to where the child had run, and seeing that he was long gone, reached up into the tree and plucked off one of the sarva. Dust sprinkled from the grub’s fur and stained the man’s glove with incandescent light. He admired it for a second and then sank his teeth into its side as if he were taking a bite out of an apple. The creature let out a wheezing sound and the man’s eyes rolled back into his head in delight. He began to walk towards Ja and Kaia and held out the wriggling insect.
“They’re never as good as straight off the tree. Would you like a bite?”
Though his actions were disconcerting, his mannerisms and speech were docile and inviting. Kaia lifted and lowered her spear multiple times as he approached, unsure whether to see this man as a threat or a savior; possibly both. Ja looked off into the trees, trying to spot Doro, but the enormous child was far off now, bumbling free in his reborn body. When Ja looked back over at the Harvester, the man was practically upon him.
“The first rule of owning and operating powerful artifacts,” the Harvester began, “is not loaning them out to other people.” In a blur, his hand swooped in and pulled the mirror from Ja’s. The Harvester lifted it up and inspected it. “Even someone as trustworthy as Doro. I knew you’d come eventually, but I never figured you’d relinquish your power as soon as you got here.” He casually handed the mirror to Ja, who gracelessly snatched it back.
“Do you mean us harm?” asked Kaia. Her spear tip was pressed into the moss.
“I suppose that depends,” the man smiled. He took another bite of the sarva and his face convulsed with pleasure. “I don’t know you as people; only as the owners of my artifacts.” He looked over to Ja and gave him a cloying, sympathetic nod. “Excuse me. Artifact. But I always knew we would meet. I had no doubt Doro would step foot on his path once again.”
“So you drew us here?” Ja said it as an insult, as if to wound the man’s fine sensibilities, but the words didn’t faze him.
“In the simplest terms, yes. I could have found you anywhere, at any point, but where’s the fun in that? It was much more satisfying to have Doro bring you directly to me.”
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. Acquiring a new object has catastrophic consequences
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. The call is coming from inside the house
18. Ghost story
19. A dam breaks creating massive flooding
20. Cat eat food
Outcomes Used:
4. Acquiring a new object has catastrophic consequences
17. The call is coming from inside the house
Added outcomes:
Include a historical figure
(thanks to Jesse)
A stranger shares consequential information
(thanks to Rachael)
