Gift of Gold (The Year of Churning Bloods) (28 page)

“Well as you’re no doubt aware, dilladum leaves are good for sore backs and achy stomachs. I happen to have both.”

“Very well,” Professor Grunge said before sighing and handing Wenchenberg the bottle. Rounding on the spot for the second time, he left for the other room and quickly shut the door behind him.

“You must be Preston,” Professor Wenchenberg stated while holding out a hand in greeting. Preston timidly took it with three fingers and shook slightly. “Jacob’s had nothing but good things to say about you, don’t worry,” The professor assured him cheerily. Wenchenberg turned his attention to me.

“Well done Jacob, very well done indeed. I’d like to see you tomorrow at around about five in the evening for a cup of tea in my office.” Before I had time to respond, the professor had paced over to a nearby bookshelf and began to mumble to himself as he looked through the various titles. Taking a single bright green book from the top of the case, he began to deliberately thumb through each page. The professor dabbed his finger to his tongue, and folded a page back, making a sharp crease  about a third of the way through. He quickly shut the book and winked at me as he carefully put the book in in the spot it once was before leaving rather suddenly.

“What in the world was that?” Preston wondered, standing up to retreive the very same book. I glanced at the vivid green cover and grimaced. “
Creature identification
by Talia Tallkins,
” was the title emblazoned with bright flamboyant lettering on every inch of the cover.

“I think I have an idea...” I said, hesitantly reaching out to open it. Preston snatched it out of my hands and flipped it open to the page folded. He paled slightly and let the text fall from his fingers and into my lap. Illustrated directly on the page was a
strange looking humanoid creature,
with a face like a fish. The thing was wearing
something that resembled a poorly made bard’s outfit, grossly colourful to the extent where spots began to dance in my vision.
I counted four arms,
protruding from its torso yet instead of legs, it seemed to be floating on a cloud of fine
golden mist.

             
“
The Penelopi
s:

              The Penelopis
is a particularly territorial
member
of the Imp family and easily the most dangerous. M
ost penelopi have an intense fascination with human culture and because of this, they will often times try to make clothes out of the scraps of their prey, fashion odd instruments, or on rare occasion, try to mimic speech. Surprisingly enough, they dislike the company of the other members of their species, and will gladly migrate in solitude, usually traveling within proximity to major city settlements.

              The Penelopis' lower body
secretes a
dense
yellow fog
, which the entire being
floats
on.
Depending on the size and age of the penelopis, the mist
can spread anywhere from one to thirty four meters in diameter. When one breathes in the mist, it is reported strong hallucinations follow
with
possible
mental harm following if
overexposed
.
The most famous penelopis story to date
, is from the
treasure hunter, Dakker
Thurman
, who reported his experience as follows.”

             
‘
This
h
ere weird mist came over the wood, as me and my companions were hunt
i
ng
. Before I had time to ask what in the world happened
, all five of them suddenly turned into my mother
-
in
-
law, who all started
screaming
at me. I was about ready to cut them to pieces, when I saw this funny looking creature thing
off in the distance with a knife
.
Maneuvering
real quick, I dodged my mother-in-laws, and
sliced that other thing clean in half
, My friends resumed their original form, and I s
aw
all of
them
with theirs swords out pointin
g
at one another. If it
w
eren't f
o
r me killing that thing, we would
’ve
killed
each other
.
’

              As described by Dakk
er
, we learn that the mist itself is not in any way lethal, but it could in fact, trick one into believing what they
think
i
s real
. It is also widely rumored that Dakkok could see past the gas mainly because of his general stupidity.
When fighting Penelopis one must adopt a similar strategy, and simply try not to think.
With any luck, the gas of the Penelopis will rhetorically be unable to affect the fighter’s mindset.
This is all however hypothetical, as Dakk
er
remains the only known person to have actually killed
a penelopis
.

             
Preston slowly traced his gaze from the book to me, taking especial care to stare at me as fiercely as he could. “Don’t do it Jacob. That thing looks ridiculously dangerous!” He proclaimed, standing up suddenly.

              “I am more than capable of handling this,” I assured the both of us in a hollow voice. Preston bit his lower lip and scrunched his entire brow.

              “Whatever was in the Winston classroom put up enough of a fight to the point where you needed medical attention. What makes you think a Penelopis is honestly going to be any easier?” 

              “I don’t think fighting this creature is going to be any easier,” I admitted wearily. “And I don’t blame you for being worried.” I straightened myself up slightly and took another tentative sip of the medicine. “But I made a promise to professor Wenchenberg, and I can’t break it.”

“There are dreams yeah, but this is impossible!” Preston grabbed a fistful of his hair and shook it viciously. “Everyone wants to leave Jacob. Everyone wants to live normal lives. But you just can’t stop tthe tools needed to stop the Grimlars!”

“Preston listen to me,” I growled through clenched teeth. “You said it yourself in the forest, you remember that?” I let loose with a wheezy chuckle and slumped back in my seat. “You said that one day, there would be someone who would be able to stop all this death and blood and war and mage killing. Remember that?”

Preston’s lips withered on the spot as he puckered his mouth. “Well, maybe this guy isn’t even alive yet,” Preston suggested carefully. “Maybe it’s just not the time for the.”

For a while all I could do was drink in deep sobering breaths. “You don’t think I can do it,” I choked, feeling pins and needles prick my entire face. A single laugh, indistinguishable from a sob escaped into the air.

Preston put a hand on my shoulder but I swatted it away almost immediately. “That’s wrong,” he insisted.

“
Then why are you scared?”

Preston sighed and looked up to the ceiling as if it could rain. “I’m scared cause I know you’ll do anything to make this dream happen. You’re going to hurt yourself Jacob, I just know it.

I peered into his deep eyes and lifted my lips into a heavy smile. “Please let me do this Preston. I need help. This isn’t something I can face on my own.”

Preston said nothing, and just looked down at his boots in deep thought. Almost unconsciously, he jutted his head forward in a quick nod, before quietly strolling out of the building and carefully closing the door behind him.

“He’s right you know,” Umber called out from behind me. “The fights will only get harder from here on out.”

“Well at least I’ll have you to help me,” I replied, blandly finishing the remainder of the medicine. Umber leered at me.

“Trust me, It’s just as fun for me as it is for you,” he countered sarcastically. “Now when is dinner? I don’t know if you know this mortal, but you are absolutely famished.

             
Chapter eleven

             
The Professor’s Plan

Brainthink, Legrun,

             
Toungetaste,

             
Heartspeak,

             
Bodiesdie,

             
and

Eyecry.

              “What did you want me for sir?”

The Professor had cleaned himself up quite a bit within the last few days. His clothes were fresh, his facial hair was trimmed and his smile was beginning to warm. He still had a cold distracted look in his eyes, however today it was hardly visible.

              “Keep quiet, and close the door
,
”
h
e commanded in a soft voice. Moving swiftly within the room, he shut all of the blinds, and pulled out a thick
platter
,
carrying a couple of
empty mugs and
a bowl of sugar
.

              “Tea
Jacob?”
h
e
asked, carefully removing a stunted kettle from the fireplace.

              “Yes please.” I sat myself down
,
accepted a lukewarm mug of
flavourless liquid and found myself staring directly into the eyes of professor Wenchenberg. I imagined that I could have gazed at them for hours without being able to properly tell anyone what colour they were. Not quite green but not quite blue, and certainly not brown. It was like they were once colorful ponds that slowly evaporated away, leaving an indescribable shade of who-knows-what.

              “Now as you know, we have two days until you compete in semi-finals. What happens during this spare two day gap is the next part of my plan.” The professor quivered slightly and took a small sip of his tea through the small of his teeth. “I will not exaggerate Jacob; this is likely be one of the more dangerous aspects of my little project. So for the sake of your safety we must be prepared.”

              “Umber claims he has complete confidence in our abilities,” I murmured without a great deal of enthusiasm. The professor’s face split into a wide smile. He nodded in agreement, before producing a large scroll of parchment from his inner coat pocket.

              “I am about to confide
seven years worth of heavy research with you. I do this
in the hope that you will one day free us both from this place.
All I ask of you is that you tell no one.”
The yellowed musty
paper
in his hand was
trembling
slightly. I could see the wrinkled hand struggling to keep the secret,
whatever it was, safeguarded any longer.

              “I swear.” I whispered
under my breath
.
The Professor’s
grip eased
and the paper unrolled into a detailed map of the entire concentration camp. Various illegible notes and shapes were scribbled here and there in dark black ink, however the most prominent of these was a large circle around the entire elder quarters. Castle Lambalatrate was the formal name given to the massive structure which housed the highest members of Grimlar society. Nearly eight stories tall, all of the castle was contained within a large reinforced wall, which obscured about a quarter of the lavish palace. Aside from an occasional whiff from within the kitchens, I knew nothing of what could possible be inside.

              “Jacob t
his camp has been around
for a little
under a thousand years.
H
as it ever crossed your mind that these grounds could be hiding something?”
P
rofessor
W
enchenber
g asked while drumming his fingers along the side of the table.