Blithe Bereavement CH 5

Chapter 5

In which Ebony tries not to die (again).

The first thing that Ebony noticed when she awoke was that the floor on which she lay was wet. Why was it that most underground rooms were damp? It seemed almost as if that were a certain rule - dungeons, underground caves, or other things of the like must be dark, damp and cold. Just once Ebony would like to see a cell that was warm, dry and smelled of cinnamon.

Groaning, Ebony sat up, her cheek sticking to the stone floor for a moment before peeling off with a slurping sound. Her head pounded, causing colorful dots to dance across her vision for an agonizing second. As they faded, she began to look around cautiously, trying to quell the shivers that wracked her slender frame.

The grim cell had three solid stone walls, and one that was made of iron bars. A pale, yellow light reached in from the through the bars, the only illumination the dismal place offered. As Ebony shakily stood and walked to press her hands on the freezing bars, she saw that it led to a large pit of some kind. With a sinking feeling, Ebony realized that it reminded her slightly of the Roman coliseums. She winced - this would not likely end well.

Almost immediately after this thought surfaced, an ugly, twisted face appeared in front of hers through the bars. Ebony yelled loudly, jerking painfully backward and falling onto her behind. She scrambled back, shaking harder and struggling to swallow back the whimper that ached in the back of her throat.

“Why, looky whose finally awake!” the mans words were mocking, his grin slightly impaired by a scar that wrenched a corner of his mouth in almost a ninety degree angle. Before Ebony could respond, the man gave a dry laugh and left. She rushed to the iron bars, gathering her wits at last.

“W-wait! What am I doing here?” she yelled furiously, pressing her face against the bars to try and see where the man had gone. No response came - just the sudden roar of a crowd. It rose, sounding not unlike the chorus of ocean waves on a stormy night. After a moment, it subsided, and Muscle Man’s voice boomed across the pit to where Ebony stood in her cage.

“And now! Ladies and Gents,” Muscle Man smirked, twisting so his back was to Ebony, “It is time at last for another show! Bargosia is eager to perform!” The audience roared like a wild animal, “For the first time in three months, I give you…The Defender!” With a screech that was not unlike that the disgruntled cat had made when Ebony had first arrived to this godforsaken place, the iron bars began to rise. Ebony stepped back, weighing her options. To go out in the crude makeshift coliseum was almost certainly suicide. However, she was none too eager to remain here until Bargosia - whoever he was - came to find her. With a shaky attempt to take a deep breath, Ebony stepped out onto the sandy earth of the pit.

For a second the bright lights blinded her, and she raised a twitchy hand to cast some shade on her eyes. As she adjusted, Ebony bit back a gasp. The crowd had risen to an almost deafening roar, and it was no wonder why, as the walls above the pit was lined with row upon row of smelly, filthy, terrifying howling people. Though Ebony could not get a good look, their stench preceded them, and nearly was enough to distract the girl from the huge iron bars on the opposite side. But not quite. Her legs nearly gave out, and Ebony found herself realizing that Bargosia was not a who, but a what. A very large what, from the looks of it.

“Aaaaaand now!” trilled Muscle Man gleefully, having safely moved up into the lower stands, “I give you…..Bargosia!”

Instead of screaming even louder, the crowd fell to a deadly quiet. All that could be heard was the cry of rusty iron bars raising. Ebony squinted, not even trying to run, for she could simply see that there was no where to run to. She did, on the other hand, try to gaze into the depths of the cage, hoping to get a glimpse of what beast she would be pitted against. However, nothing could be seen through the thick, inky blackness that seemed to writher in the cage.

Then, as if on cue, a roar erupted, the crowd standing and cheering in response. Ebony’s legs finally buckled, her heart quite close to doing the same. As she kneeled on the sandy earth, Bargosia showed himself. He slithered out of the cage, taking up the whole space just to squeeze through. Pale and fleshy, he resembled a tape worm or something of the sort, save for the large and round mouth that was perched on the end of what could be called his head. Rows upon rows of teeth could be seen, clattering and clicking like a cloud of locusts. Ebony attempted several times to stand, finally succeeding and wheeling backward. After a few moments of simple, raw panic, she realized that the beast was not yet attacking her. Instead it appeared to be chained in place, a large metal collar on its segmented neck.

“The Defender will now choose her weapon - not that it will do her much good…”

The Muscle Man’s cry rose above all the other noise, and Ebony allowed herself a slight bit of relief. Weapons were good. Better then nothing, anyway. A table was wheeled out by the man with the odd scar, though he was no longer smiling. Instead his eyes fluttered nervously toward Bargosia.

‘It’s alright,’ Ebony thought simply, ignoring him, ‘If you have a weapon, you may be able to do this. You don’t have to die here. You can do this.”

Her heart fell, however, as she gazed upon the tools she was to choose from. Most were staffs or spears - nothing that could be used against such a huge creature. No arrows. No darts. Certainly not a gun of any sort. Most of the swords that lined the table were much too heavy for her. Several of the blades were wider then she was, and one was at least as tall. The only thing that looked even remotely useable was a light looking saber. It also appeared the newest of the bunch, and Ebony took this as a sign of luck. She grabbed it lightly. The moment that she touched its hilt, the table was hurried away at a frantic trot.

Turning amidst the cheerful encouraging of the crowd, Ebony weighed the sword in her hand. She knew absolutely nothing about how to fight with one. The closest she had ever gotten to even learning about the art of the swordfight was when she and Finch used to spar with each other with sticks that were lying around. Ebony swallowed.

Bargosia was beginning to get impatient. He swung his giant head left and right in an attempt to break free, no doubt having caught scent of Ebony’s fear and sweat. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins, keeping her from bursting out in tears like a child. She held the sword in front of her with two hands, her legs spread out apart mimicking a stance she had seen in old kung fu movies. Beyond that, there was little she could do to prepare.

With a screeching roar that sounded chillingly human, Bargosia was released. He shot toward Ebony, kicking up sand in his wake. His teeth spun in his mouth, not unlike a morbid blender of sorts. Though Ebony told her legs to move, they did not obey, and Bargosia crashed into her with the force of a semi-truck. Luckily, his squishy skin saved her life, so it was perhaps more comparable to crashing into a semi-truck made of jello. Still, she was flung back, crashing into the floor with a thud that knocked the breath from her lungs.

Ebony scrambled gasping to her feet. By some miracle she still gripped the saber, it’s silver blade proving a comfort regardless of her ignorance with it. This time when Bargosia came at her, she was ready. Ebony slashed twice with her sword, but missed by a mile. Bargosia knocked her back again, screeching joyfully.

‘He’s playing with me,’ Ebony thought with a sinking heart, as she landed again on the unforgiving earth, ‘Like a cat with a songbird…’

She stood slower this time, her thoughts fluttering for the first time to Death. Where was he? Shouldn’t he be here by her side helping her out? Unless…perhaps he had already faced Bargosia. The thought made Ebony sick to her stomach. She shoved the idea back - fear would do nothing for her now. She glanced up to see Bargosia coming at her for a third time.

Ebony dodged to the left, avoiding a head on collision, but as a result ending up right next to the beast. Bargosia curled around her, blocking her view of the stand with his fleshy body. His head came at her, and a black tongue flicked out. Ebony screamed shrilly as it wrapped around her leg, the wrenched upward, tossing her up in the air. She flailed, her arms pin wheeling and her legs kicking against nothing but air. Thankfully (and probably due in part to Bargosia’s lack of eyes), his aim was off and Ebony landed bouncing on his head, instead of the noisy mouth just several feet away. She yelped, almost poking her own eye out with the saber. Upon realizing she still gripped it in her hand, Ebony jammed it as hard as she could into the beast’s head.

The effect was immediate - blood pulsed out from around the sword, spurting like Old Faithful on a good day. It splashed against Ebony, the warmth and smell of it making her gag. Bargosia screamed - apparently his skin was as sensitive as it looked. He began thrashing about, nearly flinging Ebony from his head. Too terrified to even scream, Ebony gripped the hilt of the saber with all she had, the blade refusing to be departed from its victim. The room spun around her as Ebony was jerked from one way to the other, until at last the saber had enough. It released its quarry, and both it and Ebony went sailing yet again into the air. This time, Bargosia’s aim was considerably better, and she found herself falling directly into the mouth of the beast himself.

Ebony fell past the rows of teeth, the black tongue curled up like a snake, and the twin Uvula that dangled from its mouth. She slid down Bargosia’s throat, saliva soaking her in disgusting globs. She dared not open her eyes, and was barely able to breath out her nose. Taking a gasping breath, Ebony stabbed her sword with all her strength into the soft esophagus that she was being shoved down. Instantaneously a shriek of unbridled pain emitted from the monster’s vocal cords. Being so close, Ebony found herself slightly deaf for a moment, her ears ringing. The walls of the throat still pressed against her, trying to coax the girl down into the stomach. She refused to move, hanging on to the saber for dear life. It was becoming hard to breath, as little oxygen was available in the contracting muscle. Though it seemed as though Ebony had been clinging there for hours, it couldn’t have been more then a few minutes. She could feel Bargosia moving, but other then that Ebony was blissfully ignorant to the happenings outside the body of the beast.

Just as consciousness was fading, Bargosia heaved, vomiting Ebony and the contents of his stomach onto green grass. Ebony coughed, too intent on breathing to be disgusted. She gasped for air, wiping a slimy mixture of saliva and puke from her eyes. Glancing up shakily, she saw Bargosia mere feet from her head, gasping similarly. Ebony fell silent, hoping that Bargosia’s lack of eyes would once again work for her. From not far away, the shouts of Muscle Man and his Merry Crew of Morons could be heard. Bargosia heard too, and turned his blind head in the direction of the noise. At his feet he could smell or hear nothing but the vomit he had just expelled. Ignoring Ebony completely, Bargosia turned on more available prey. Within moments, nothing could be seen of the horrid worm.