"Underdawn"
Ogar's Redemption, Part 3
by Edward Bolme
Read Part 2 "Cry for Help"

On a rugged ledge high in the peaks of Kybar's Teeth, Grej sat, dangling her legs in the empty air. Her brows were furrowed with thought, and she absently pulled her thick, shaggy hair out of her eyes as she stared into space.

She didn't notice as a shadow eclipsed the sun briefly, nor did she hear the whisper of approaching wings.

"Think fast!" yelled Kazm, swooping low over her and shoving her on the shoulders. In an instant, her center of gravity was over the edge of the huge cliff, with no place to go but down.

She instinctively arced her back, snatching up her two climbing hooks from where they sat beside her. She twisted her body around, digging one of her carved-stone hooks hard into the granite of the ledge. Hanging by a pinpoint of rock on rock, her body swung like a pendulum. She hooked an outcropping with her free hand to stop her swinging.

She scrabbled with her feet, but found no good purchase, so with all the effort she could muster, she strong-armed herself back up on top of the ledge.

"Stupid jerk!" she yelled at Kazm, who circled on the thermals with his homemade wings.

"I would have dived and caught you before you hit," he said.

"I know that," she said, "but you interrupted my thinking."

"You mean about that fungus-head?" Kazm asked as he swooped low over Grej.

Grej flicked up one hand and snagged Kazm's ankle neatly with her climbing hook. Suddenly the Kybarite aviator lost all his speed, and he belly-flopped painfully to the ground.

"She's not a fungus-head," growled Grej. "She's my crèche sister."

"Okay," protested Kazm from the ground, "but she's still a fungus-head."

Grej had no reply for that, so she simply released Kazm's ankle.

"So what did she have to say?" Kazm asked, as he stood and shook the dust from his leather-and-wood wings.

"She says this nasty, dark geyser has erupted in the Underneath, spreading nightmares and shadows and evil."

"Yeah, well," said Kazm, shading his eyes as he looked over the vast, rugged panorama of Kybar's Teeth, "it's the Underneath. It's always dark down there. Not like up here, where we're close to the sun."

"It's more than that, Kazm," said Grej. "It's the Core. I think something terrible is coming."

"Why?"

"They got Ogar. I grew up with her and Ulk. We explored together, played together, learned to dream together. She gave us korrit rings, you know, when we came of age. It's been years since I took mine out, but maybe it's time.

"I've spent the last--how many years now?--learning the ways of my people. In all that time, I never went back underground."

Kazm leaned against the rocky wall and looked at Grej. The Kybarite orphan sighed and sat back down on the ledge, banging her heels on the mountain. After a long pause, Kazm finally broke the silence.

"Well," he said, "they found you as a baby and raised you as one of theirs. I'd say you owe them your life."

"Yeah," said Grej.

"Me, I owe Prek for these wings, without which I wouldn't have much of a life myself, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah," said Grej.

"Right, I'll leave you to it, then," said Kazm, as he jumped from the ledge and glided away.

Grej walked slowly back to her little hut where Ulk still lay sleeping. The poor exhausted Underling had slept for hours, kicking and whimpering in her sleep. Grej had dreamed up a xamf to sit at the head of her bed and watch over her, just in case.

Grej entered the hut and sat by her bedside, watching her former crèche sister as she slept. Hours later, as dawn was beginning to creep into the sky, Ulk's eyes finally fluttered open.

"We'll help get Ogar back," said Grej softly.

Ulk reached up and poked one of the triangular birthmarks near Grej's right eye. "I've missed seeing those," she said with a relieved smile.

* * *

They hiked their way into the bowels of the moon, and Ulk led them at last to the fringes of the Mushroom Jungle.

Even from here they could tell that something was grossly wrong. Ordinarily, the Mushroom Jungle was humid, but in a fresh sort of way, like the air in a hot bath. Now the air itself was sticky, and thick oozing drops dripped from the caps of the various fungi. Nasty, stinking liquid trickled down the stalks of the giant mushrooms, leaving traces of slime that tore at the flesh of the funguses as it dried. A hissing undercurrent of sound made the normally quiet Mushroom Jungle seem somehow sinister, even though the mushrooms were suffering as much as anything else.

The trio started to move through the towering stalks toward the place where Ulk thought the geyser could be found. They hunched their shoulders and moved carefully, cringing as thick, cold, gooey, brackish droplets dripped on them from above.

"We must be on the right track," said Kazm, as brambles started to appear, wrapping around the bases of the mushrooms. Unseen creatures skittered and hissed at them as they continued, following alongside, always lurking at the edge of their vision.

The closer the threesome drew to the geyser, the higher and thicker the brambles grew, until at last the way became impassable. The dim phosphorescence of the mushrooms cast unnerving shadows through the twisted thorny growths.

"I'm not sure we can go on," said Ulk.

"That's okay," said Kazm, looking at the shadows. "I'm not sure I want to."

"Good to hear you say that," said Grej. "'Cause from here, the only way to go is up." She looked meaningfully at Kazm.

"No way," he said. "Go up there, with all those big mushroom caps and brambles and dripping ooze and be away from you two? Not a chance."

"Why not?" asked Grej. "You fly alone all the time back home."

"Our sky doesn't have a ceiling," said Kazm.

"Or a geyser of shadows," snapped Grej. "Get to it."

"All right," said Kazm. He chanted a spell to give himself a little extra lift by stirring the fetid airs of the shadow-tainted jungle, and began to flap his wings.

Slowly Kazm gained speed and altitude, hampered by his claustrophobia and the ever-present obstacles in the overgrown Mushroom Jungle. At last he cleared the taller mushrooms, and was able to build up speed more easily in the wide-open spaces between the most massive mushroom heads.

"This is actually rather pretty," Kazm said to himself as he soared. He bathed in the soft glow of the giant mushrooms and marveled at the soft colors of the great jungle beneath him. Up here, right below the mushroom canopy, the air was almost as open as it was up in the Teeth, and no sign of the brambles could be seen this high. In fact, he began to feel downright hopeful...

Until he passed above the tallest mushrooms and saw the shadow geyser in the distance, spewing its filth, polluting the air and contaminating the land. The geyser reached to the ceiling of the vast, yawning cavern. Rivulets of tainted sludge dribbled along the ceiling, writhing like worms and dribbling grimy globules into the jungle below. Black grimy spatters marred the faint pastel colors of the mushroom caps, and Kazm knew that the effects were even worse below.

He stared hard at the geyser. It was a solid, streaming mass of shadows, flowing upward like a reverse waterfall, oily and unnaturally slow. Its movement was compelling, almost hypnotic... Kazm turned toward the geyser, began flying closer...

* * *

"I wonder what's taking him so long?" muttered Grej impatiently as she paced.

"I wonder where Ogar is," mumbled Ulk sadly. She fingered her rings, unsure whether she would be able to do anything to help her friend.

"You scared?" asked Grej.

Ulk nodded.

"Yeah," said Grej, "so am I. Scared more for Ogar, though. I hope we can help her."

"I hope we can stop her," said Ulk. "She has new powers, and her dream creatures are more like nightmares."

Grej stopped her pacing and looked Ulk in the eyes. "You find her," she said. "Kazm and I, we'll make sure she doesn't harm you."

Suddenly a flash of light burst through the jungle, then another, then a burst of darkness.

"What's going on?" asked Grej.

"I have no idea," said Ulk. "Maybe--"

At that moment, the jungle itself seemed to crash down upon them. "Thunderquake!" yelled Ulk. She grabbed Grej and threw the both of them against the bole of a giant mushroom. There were shadow brambles there, but a few scratches, even deep ones from a shadow bramble, were inconsequential compared to the chance of being smashed flat by a falling mushroom or swallowed by a sudden rift in the stone.

The earth bucked and heaved beneath them. The great Mushroom Jungle shuddered, the thorns tore new scars into the fungus, and clouds of spores abruptly filled the air. Beneath the cracking, shaking sound, there was a groan and a shriek, cries of pain and frustration.

It seemed like it lasted forever, though Ulk, having been through these before knew that they only lasted a few seconds.

Normally.

But this one...

Ulk began to count out loud, using a childhood method of pacing the count. "One crunchy korrit cake, two crunchy korrit cake, three crunchy korrit cake..." She reached twelve before the quake finally stopped.

"I've decided the top of the mountain is a lot safer," said Grej.

"Don't worry," said Ulk. "That was no normal thunderquake. That was something else."

"Oh, great," replied Grej. "That's supposed to make me not worry?"

The two Magi stood, tentatively testing their limbs for injury. Aside from some scratches and a dusting of spores and dirt, they seemed fine.

"So, um, what do you think that was?" asked Grej.

At that moment, a great brown shadow appeared in the air above their heads, swooping down on batlike wings. "You're not going to believe this," shouted Kazm from his vantage high in the air. "The geyser--it's gone!"

But even as he said this, an unnatural cloud of darkness spread throughout the huge cavern, and the glowing mushrooms closed their caps, bringing an early undernight.

* * *

The three Magi huddled together in the darkness, too fearful to move. About them in the spiky shadowy thickets, horrid creatures screamed and roared. A great wind was rushing toward the place where the geyser had been, as if the vanishing of the geyser had created a leak in the Underneath.

"What do you think is causing this?" shouted Kazm. "Something good, or something bad?" The others shrugged. Kazm looked annoyed, but there was nothing more to be said and done while the storm raged. They hunkered down and waited for a long time.

After several hours, the wind lessened. Ulk sniffed. "Hey, you two," she said, "does the air smell fresher to you?"

"Yeah, the stink's about gone.," said Grej.

"How niccccce of you to ssssay, sssisssterr..." hissed a voice in the darkness.

"Ogar?" gulped Grej.

"Yesssssssss, sssssisssssterrrr..." came the reply. "Night isss herrre, time to pay for the attack of Kyrrrrusssss..."

The Magi could see almost nothing in the darkness. Ulk desperately felt around with her hands, crawling in the dirt as the threesome heard Ogar's shuffling footsteps draw closer.

At last Ulk found what she was looking for: glow-puffs. She grabbed a double handful, cracked the shells lightly, then flung them at the sound of the noise.

The puffs flew through the air, striking mushroom stems, hitting Ogar, landing on the ground. Wherever they hit, they puffed a small cloud of glowing mites, outlining the terrain as well as Ogar in a soft, sparkling light.

Ogar hissed, drawing back her lips to reveal yellowed, pointy teeth.

"I'm your sister, Ogar," said Ulk. "You don't want to harm me."

"Oh, I don't have to," said Ogar, twisting the rings on her fingers. "Heeeerrre, kitty kitty kitty!" she sang sluggishly. Two misshapen jiles the color of night stalked forward to stand by her side, their very essence eaten partially away by the nightmare energy that gave them existence.

Kazm stepped forward, trying to free his arms from his wings. It was rare indeed that he ever fought someone on the ground. He brought his baldar into existence. It roared its defiance, but the chaos jiles were quicker. They rapidly overwhelmed the baldar while Ogar sent a blast of corrupted energy wracking Kazm's bones, sending him to the ground.

"Ogar, what are you doing?" cried Ulk. "You don't want to hurt anybody, do you?"

"Everrrrybodyyy gets my pretty dreammms..." came the reply.

The jiles moved in on Kazm's limp form. Grej leaped forward, using her ring to bring a vogo into being. The bird swooped upon the jiles, distracting them while Grej pulled Kazm back and tapped another of her rings.

The air began to chill as Grej's xamf popped into existence. Ogar's jiles were temporarily flustered; they circled among the thorn-wrapped fungus and growled.

Then Ogar moved her hands, gesturing with arcane symbols, and a bolt of dark purple, nearly invisible in the dim light, shot forth and struck the vogo. The dream creature began to unravel, but then abruptly stopped, changing from a dream creature to a beast of nightmare, partially undone, entirely twisted.

Seeing the jiles and the nightmare vogo moving in, Grej's xamf stepped in the way to buy her some time. The jiles pounced, shredding the xamf into a cloud of dreamstuff floating away.

Grej backpedaled and desperately looked up. The Underneath sprawled at the roots of Kybar's Teeth, and she hoped her magic would still work here. She called out for Kybar's aid, and a veritable rain of sharp stones began to fall from the ceiling of the vast cavern. They punched holes clean through the mushrooms as they fell, falling like hammers onto the cavern floor.

Grej saw the jiles closing, Ogar behind them using some sort of magical shield to protect her from the hard rain. Grej backed up. A large stone struck one of the jiles and it disappeared with a flash of utter blackness. The other suffered a similar fate, but just as it happened, Grej caught her heel on Kazm's unconscious form and fell flat on her back.

Ulk, cowering under the dubious protection of a mushroom, saw Ogar approach her crèche sister. The vile vogo circled above, crowing raucously.

As Ogar approached Grej, Ulk saw a dark shadow peel itself apart from the jungle and swirl around Ogar. "Finish it," the shadow whispered. "Finish them all, and I shall give you even greater dreams!"

Ogar stepped forward to stand over Grej. She cocked her head to one side, as if studying her. Then she reached down and picked up a very large rock with sharp edges from where it had fallen. She raised it over her head and looked at Grej emotionlessly.

"NO!" yelled Ulk. She leaped from her spot and dived on top of Grej, shielding the weakened Kybarite with her own body.

"Yesss!" whispered the shadow, curling over Ogar's head.

Ulk turned her head to look up into Ogar's burning, empty eyes. "Please, Ogar, you don't want to kill your sister" she said imploringly.

"Sssstrike!" hissed the shadow.

Ulk saw Ogar's arms flex, then pause, then flex again. "The dreamsssss," she said. "The dreamssss are all filled with red."

"Then wake up," yelled Ulk. "You didn't like them when they started, so quit already! Dream something better!"

"Nooo," whispered the shadow, "jusssst my dreamssss!"

Ogar lifted the stone as high as she could.

"We shared dreams, Ogar," said Ulk. "You and I. They were our dreams, no one else told us to have them."

Ogar lurched heavily to one side, then slumped slowly to one knee, letting the stone drop harmlessly to the ground. "But the dreamssss are ssssoo... very pretty..." she said, her head swaying side to side.

"Yesss, pretty," said the shadow.

Ulk quickly tapped her ring to bring Kyug back into existence. "Are they as pretty as this?" she asked, pointing to the short little korrit. "Well, okay, so maybe Kyug's a little pudgy, but isn't it cute?" She gave the little korrit a squeeze.

"You gave this ring to me, Ogar, don't you remember? Here, Kyug, give Ogar a hug." She handed the korrit to Ogar, who took the little creature clumsily into her hands. Kyug gave a small nervous whistle, tooting out a few hopeful spores, while keeping a wary eye on Ogar's yellowed teeth.

This close, Ulk finally had a chance to get a good look at Ogar. Her eyes were half-lidded, never quite seeming to look directly at anything. Her hair hung in her face, unnoticed. She stroked the little korrit absently, but the grace was gone from her movements, and she swayed slightly. She looked for all the moon like she was asleep.

The shadow moved closer to her ears and whispered, "My pretty dreamsss, come back to them..."

Then Ulk remembered how hard it had been to get Ogar out of bed when they were kids; she slept like an ormagon on a full stomach. And Ulk remembered her solution.

"Tickle attack!" yelled Ulk and mercilessly pounced on Ogar, wriggling fingers digging under her armpits. Surprised, Ogar dropped Kyug, who tooted and began assaulting her feet.

For a moment, Ogar's eyes went wide with hate, surprise and fear, but then she fell to the ground laughing helplessly and begging for mercy. At once, the nightmare vogo circling overhead winked out of existence.

"No mercy!" laughed Ulk, "not until you surrender! You know the sign!" Whistle like a korrit!"

Ogar, fighting against the impulse to laugh, pursed her lips, but only made a raspberry sound. Ulk dug in again, wriggling fingers pushing Ogar back into a fit of laughter. Finally, after several tries, Ogar squeezed out a weak whistle.

Satisfied, Ulk sat back, giggling, leaving Ogar lying on the ground, still laughing.

Ogar rolled on her back and rubbed her eyes. "Oh, Ulk, I had the strangest dream last night," she said. "It was--" She stopped abruptly as she opened her eyes.

"It was real," said Ulk. "And it lasted for weeks and weeks."

"Oh my," said Ogar. "Oh no."

"It's okay, sister," said Ulk. Let's get you back home, and then we can talk about it. C'mon, Grej," she said, nudging her friend with her toe, "you tend to Kazm, and let's get moving."

The foursome rose unsteadily to their feet and began to move away as the underdawn began to unfold, the wounded mushrooms once more shedding their glow upon the region.

Unnoticed behind them, the shadow retreated into the lingering darkness and watched their departure, then faded back into the dream realm, bearing its message back to its masters.