The Vile (6) (The Underground Kingdom) Read online

  The Vile (6)

  Steve Elliott

  Copyright Steve Elliott 2012.

  All rights reserved

  This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  Life is funny, isn't it? Here I was, a respectable, if totally unknown, human being – not prone to social changing events or history revising acts – and yet, here I also was, living a secret second life as a fairy. And not just one fairy either, mind you, but two of them at the same time. I mean to say, how bizarre can you get? Can you imagine a human being whose personality gets downloaded into two fairy clones? Come on now, you have to admit that goes way beyond normal and strays into Twilight Zone territory. Even I think it's impossible, and I'm the one doing it. Of course, I can't tell anyone about it because I value my freedom and have no wish to be locked up in an insane asylum, thank you very much. I'm writing this strictly for my own benefit. Sort of a diary, really. Just a simple series of reminders, in case I ever forget. Not that it’s likely to happen, because the events are permanently engraved on my consciousness. However, naturally enough, certain memories stand out more than others. Surely you can understand that? For instance, I have two fairy lovers – one for each clone – so it balances out nicely. Lucky, eh? And these two fairies …….. well, they’re gorgeous, and that’s understating the case. They’re sisters, and I know I don't deserve either of them, but who said that life was fair. Thorn is one, and she's beautiful, brave and fiery – the quintessential warrior. Tracey is the other one, and she's stunning. Unbelievably so. My luck cup overfloweth, but hey! I'm not about to question my good fortune. I'll simply enjoy it while I can.

  To complete the weirdness, living with Tracey (Traculimna) and Thorn (Arugohumna) – I can't pronounce their proper names – is Trix, an orphaned elf whom Tracey took into the family and adopted as her daughter. * Trix somehow acquired a pet wolf, called Zenith, who would be the equivalent of an Einstein among the animal classes. He’s so clever I’m surprised he can’t talk. Anyway, he’s certainly a lot smarter than some people I know and, (to use a cooking metaphor from shows which seem to be all the rage on TV these days), he's pulled our bacon out of the fire on more than one occasion. He can sense traps and hidden passageways, almost as if he has Superman x-ray vision. And talk about cunning! He's as cunning as a ……. a fox, if a fox was a wolf. Something like that anyway.

  That's enough of the introductions. If my stories were read in the order they were supposed to be read, I wouldn't have to do this, you know. The other characters of interest are Phil (Phillymunna), the engineering genius behind the clone transfer machine, and Nix (Forscewnix), a goblin whose sarcasm quotient is apparently limitless. The last fairy of concern would be Fink (Fringapellumna), who passes for the Law around the town. And that's the cast of main characters who inhabit the underground world that I call a second home. It's wildly different to what I know as a human, and it’s this disparity of lifestyles that makes it exciting. Everything I see and experience is new and unusual and fascinating. Fairy art, architecture and music are extraordinary – so unlike my usual human encounters. ‘Elegant’, ‘harmonious’ and ‘graceful’ are only a few of the words I could apply to what I saw and heard as I strolled around the fairy settlement, most of the time hand-in-hand with the loves of my life (Thorn and Tracey). It's difficult to describe what existing in two bodies feels like. Everything is doubled (duh!) and that includes the delectable sensation of occasionally rubbing shoulders with those two captivating companions of mine as we walked. Fairies are mostly exotically beautiful. There's no other way to express it. Their slightly slanted eyes are enormous and beguiling. Their ears are pointed like a Vulcan’s and their wings, ah! ……. so delicate, shimmering and dainty. Iridescently colored and butterfly-like, those fluttering appendages were a constant delight to my bedazzled vision. Being a fairy clone, I had them as well, of course, but I couldn't see mine. But wings weren't just for adornment or to attract mates. They were used for flight as well. I could fly and that fact alone was enough to justify my visiting this world.

  Of course, my life underground wasn't all sightseeing and the erotic rubbing of shoulders. I found myself beset by various adventures during my stay. There always seemed to be a problem to be solved or a murder to investigate, or a ferocious beast to be fought. As I said, life down here was certainly exciting, exhilarating to some degree, and downright terrifying at other times. A mixed bag, in other words. But, riding above the waves of all that, was Thorn and Tracey – my paramours, my lovers, my friends. I know this duality sounds unusual but I loved them both in different ways, and I honestly couldn't choose one over the other, and so our solution, as bizarre as it may seem, ended up by satisfying everyone. I couldn't be happier with my two sweethearts and, as far as I could tell, Thorn and Tracey were delighted to each have one of me to themselves. Okay, I know it's weird, but it did seem to work. One thing’s for sure. I wasn't complaining. Well, I’d mad to, wouldn’t I?

  * See ‘Trix (3)

  Chapter 2

  This clone thing worked for only short periods of time because, every now and again, I had to return to my human body before it starved to death back in my apartment on the surface world. Plus, I had to occasionally go to work in order to pay the rent and to afford food. It was a damned nuisance, because I hated being away from Tracey and Thorn for any length of time, but it had to be done. I came from a poor, middle class working family and so, after house payments, insurance payments, medical costs, a staggering list of various government taxes and other associated deductions from my father’s weekly pay, there wasn’t much to spare, which meant there was no inheritance to be inherited, so I had to work to support myself. Well, most people were in the same boat, so I didn’t feel oppressed about it or anything, but it was still a pain in the behind. I’d much prefer to be cavorting in the bedroom with Tracey and Thorn which, I suppose, typified me as a mainstream male chauvinist pig, but I didn’t much care. My two fairy companions didn’t seem to mind this, so why should I? In fact, Thorn became downright passionate, dragging me up to her bedroom on every possible occasion, which was rather strange because she had been initially so shy and inhibited. Tracey was the opposite, starting off all wanton and promiscuous, but now settling down to domestic simplicity and conservatism.

  But all of this isn’t starting the sequence of what happened on my latest adventure, so I’ll do that now. It all began after I’d finished a week of practically non-stop computer networking for a company and prepared to depart for my alternate home. I locked the door, after putting a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the doorknob, fastened the windows, left a ‘I’ll phone you later’ message on the answering machine, switched off all unnecessary electrical appliances, made sure my body was comfortable on the bed and then activated Phil’s transfer machine.

  I awoke as a fairy (fairies) and carefully looked around. No one else was present in the room which wasn’t all that surprising because I’d told Thorn and Tracey before I left that I wasn’t exactly sure of my return schedule because, at the time, I had no idea how long the computer job was going to take.

  I took a few minutes to acclimatise myself to my surroundings and to the inevitable double vision (or, should I say, quadruple vision – four eyes, you see), and then carefully stood on my feet. I began walking around the room, my two clones supporting each other – handy that – until I'd regained sufficient stability to walk individually. Once this level of mobility had been achieved, I set off for Thorn and Tracey's house. Even after all the time I'd been here, I was still mesmerised by the sight of the architectural beauty around me. Every single
building looked graceful and harmonious, flashing multiple rainbow colors from various crystal chips embedded in the framework. I would have loved to invite a few of these fairy architects to the surface world and let them loose. The human landscape would have been changed forever.

  I entered my second home to the delighted squeals of joyful welcome from Tracey and Thorn. We hugged and kissed rapturously but, once that was over, I couldn't help but notice that Trix sat alone in a corner, sadly hugging herself.

  I went over to her and asked, “What's the matter, sweetie? Aren't you glad to see me?”

  For an answer, she burst into tears. “Zenith’s gone!” she wailed.

  “What do you mean?” I wanted to know. “Gone? Gone where?”

  Trix couldn't answer, being too upset, so I turned to Thorn and Tracey for an explanation. “We don't know,” Thorn commented, solemnly. “He simply disappeared. He was here one day and missing the next. We can't find him anywhere.”

  “I can't believe he’d simply run away and leave Trix for no reason,” I commented. “Those two were as thick as thieves. What happened before that? Was he acting strange in any way?”

  “Now that you come to mention it,” Tracey said thoughtfully, “he did seem awfully jumpy for about a week prior to that.”

  “Jumpy?” I enquired, curiously.

  Tracey spread her hands in a totally non-descriptive manner. “Yeah, you know, jumpy!”

  “No,” I contradicted, “I don't know. Perhaps you could paint in a few more parts of the picture for me?”

  “Well, he became …….. a little ….. aggressive,” Thorn supplied, flushing a little. “He began attacking the furniture.”

  “Attacking?” I patiently probed. “In what way? Was he chewing on it or something?”

  “I caught him a couple of times trying to, um …….. father some ….. ah, progeny with the furniture,” Thorn went on, turning red with embarrassment.

  “Oh, I see,” I commented, understandingly. “Say no more. He’s sowing his wild oats.”

  “What?” Tracey asked. “No, he wasn't. What do you mean, Stephen? What’s farming got to do with anything? And anyway, what would be the point of stitching cereal grains together?”

  “It's just a saying,” I hastened to explain.

  “A pretty weird one, if you don't mind my saying so,” Thorn grumbled. “What has all of this to do with Zenith?”

  “If I was going to hazard a guess,” I told everyone, “I'd say that he's gone off to find a girlfriend. I would have thought that’d be obvious. After all, he’s a young male wolf with normal urges. What did you expect? It was bound to happen sooner or later. He’s simply following his instincts to perpetuate his race as Nature intended.” I glanced slyly at Thorn and Tracey. “I can think of at least two other examples that prove my theory.” To my amusement, both sisters blushed furiously at my remark.

  “Stop that, Stephen!” Tracey remonstrated. “Behave yourself.”

  I chuckled. “If you insist,” I said.

  “Are you telling me that Zenith ran off to be with some girl?” Trix demanded. “Why wouldn’t he stay here with me?”

  “You might be the local alpha pack leader, Trix, my dear,” I explained, “but I don’t think you’re quite what he was after. The mating urge is rather overpowering for young males,” I told her, sympathetically. “Don't worry, he'll be back once he's found what he’s looking for.”

  “Are you sure about all this, Stephen?” Tracey asked.

  “It's simply a guess,” I admitted, “although, going on what you’ve told me, it's a fairly good one. If you like, we could try to find him.”

  “And how are we going to do that?” Thorn asked, sarcastically. “He could be anywhere.”

  “True,” I acknowledged. “What we need to do is to find the nearest pack of wolves and, if my theory is correct, we'll probably find Zenith in the middle of them.”

  “And just how are we going to find the wolves?” Thorn challenged.

  “It won't be easy,” I confessed. “Wolves are masters at hiding, but we have one huge advantage.”

  “And that is?” Tracey enquired.

  “We can fly,” I pointed out. “It's much easier to find things from above. We'll simply scout around from the air. A wolf pack can't hide forever. They’ll have to come out to forage for food sooner or later.”

  “Hey, what about me?” Trix cried. “I can't fly! And I’m certainly not staying here!”

  “Yes, that's a bit of a problem,” I acknowledged. “We'll take turns carrying you, that's all.”

  “Oh, that's all right then,” Trix said, mollified. “Are we going to visit Nix?”

  “I don't think so,” I said, thoughtfully. “We don't really need him on this occasion. It'll be a simple observation quest.”

  “And besides,” Thorn maliciously broke in, “he's too fat to carry.” An oppressive silence greeted her remark. “It just isn't the same when he's not around to answer back,” she sighed sadly. “It takes all the fun out of it.”

  Chapter 3

  With Trix eager to depart to find her beloved Zenith, we quickly organised our expedition. As is usual in these cases, Tracey and her Stephen elected to stay behind while Thorn and I headed the search. We packed supplies for a few days and started off. Thorn carried Trix with hardly any effort. Trix wasn’t a burden, being so small and light, and her presence didn’t slow us down at all. We covered the surrounding rocky countryside in wide sweeps but found no sign of any wolves at all for the first three or four hours. Luckily, the cavernous tunnels were huge and we could fly without hindrance. We alighted for a quick midday meal, and then continued our aerial observation. I was scanning the countryside to my left when a sudden shout from Trix alerted me to something she’d seen. I flew closer to her and Thorn and looked down to where she was pointing. I could see a group of about six small grey shapes below, all moving purposefully towards some predetermined destination.

  “Can you see him?” I shouted across at Trix.

  “Not from this distance,” she grimaced in frustration. “They all look alike from up here.”

  “I don’t think Zenith would be hunting anyway,” I commented. “I would have thought he’d be more likely to be back at the wolf den with his girlfriend. If he’s found one by now, that is. Let’s follow the pack and see if they’re heading for home.”

  Thorn nodded agreement and we trailed the wolves for the next half hour or so. Fortunately for us, the wolves were returning from whatever they’d been doing and not setting out to go somewhere, because we subsequently found their den. It comprised a small cave in a cliff face and, with a cursory look around for intruders, the wolves disappeared inside. We grouped back on the ground at a safe distance from the cave entrance to decide what to do next.

  “We can’t just walk right in,” Thorn protested against Trix’s urging to immediately rush into the cave. “The wolves might take exception to our being there. Besides, we don’t even know that Zenith is in there.”

  “And that’s why we have to go in and find out,” Trix stubbornly argued.

  “I agree with Thorn,” I commented, much to Trix’s disappointment. “While wolves aren’t particularly aggressive by nature, they might think differently to an invasion of their home turf. We could wait until they all come out again, but that might take ages. Hmmm, it’s a tricky one.”

  “We have to do something!” Trix fretted.

  “Okay,” I continued, “how about you try to call him? If he’s in there and he hears you, he’s sure to come out. That way we won’t have to go into the cave at all.”

  “It’s worth a try,” Trix agreed. “But what if all the other wolves come out as well? To attack us, I mean.”

  “They’re not likely to do that,” I reassured her. “Wolves are cautious, because they’re clever. They don’t rush into danger or unknown situations without thinking it through first. Besides, we can always fly out of their reach.”

  “Good point,” Trix said.
“Okay, let’s try it.”

  We moved as close to the cave entrance as we dared and Trix called for Zenith. After about half a dozen tries, a cautious Zenith appeared, peering out from the darkness and, upon seeing us, gave a joyful bark and bounded our way. He bowled Trix over and began exuberantly licking her.

  “Get off me, you big ninny!” Trix cried, laughing and hugging Zenith at the same time. “Don’t you ever run away from me again!”

  After his initial reunion with Trix had run its course, Zenith greeted Thorn and me in a more dignified manner. Then he looked at Trix enquiringly, and trotted back into the cave.

  “Where’s he going now?” Thorn asked curiously.

  “I’m not sure,” I replied, scratching my head. “He obviously feels there’s something inside he has to do, but I can’t imagine what.” Our questions were answered soon after when Zenith returned, shepherding a smaller version of himself to meet us.

  “His girlfriend, I presume?” Thorn commented.

  “I’d say so,” I agreed. “I think he wants to introduce us.”

  Zenith’s girlfriend was understandably a little skittish around us but, under Zenith’s urging, she sniffed us all and bonded to our group by licking Trix’s hand. We all sat down and Thorn, Trix and I took turns patting the newest member of our pack. She must have enjoyed our caresses because she complained whenever we stopped. Zenith was noticeably smitten with her. He placed a paw possessively across her flank, announcing to the world that they were together and nobody had better argue about it. This was rather radical behaviour for a wolf, but I suppose that Zenith had never really acted in a normal way.

  Once all the introductions had finished, Zenith’s girlfriend sauntered back into the cave. Zenith jogged after her but then changed his mind and came back to us. He carefully captured Trix’s hand in his mouth and tugged her towards the cave.