We found a place deep in the thickest part of the jungle to set up a camp. Tall black coral trees and deep green colored vines surrounded it. The vines looked more like long strands of kelp than any vine I had ever seen back on earth. Duncan collected more ingredients for his drinks and showed me which of the strange plants in the area were edible. A fire was absolutely out of the question for the first couple of nights. It felt like we had to hide from one of Aqua’s patrols every ten minutes. Luckily for us, the Hags, while deadly and dangerous, were not well-versed in stealth. We would hear them coming long before we saw them, allowing us to drop whatever we were doing and find cover. Between foraging and dodging patrols, I did what I could to train my new powers.
A few days after our escape, the patrols seemed to die down, and there were fewer Hags in the woods. There was no doubt in my mind that Aqua hadn’t given up on finding me; she still wanted me dead, but for the time being, her troops had eased up. On the fourth day, Duncan decided to light a fire and find us something of substance to eat.
I crouched behind Duncan, watching the ground as I walked to avoid stepping on any dead coral lying on the jungle floor. In front of us, approximately one hundred yards out, there was a small creature grazing on some of the kelp vines. The short, round creature resembled a pig, but it was a deep purple color and covered with scales. The face of the beast still contained a pig-like snout and large sharp tusks I was sure could skewer me with ease, given the opportunity.
“Now, keep quiet and take it down with one of your golf balls. Make sure to control the power of the swing so you don’t blow a hole through our dinner.” Duncan instructed me. He had decided to take the hunting trip as an opportunity for me to do some more training with the club.
I felt my hand warm as I conjured the ball into it. I stood slowly as I set the ball on the wet ground. The creature had no idea I was there as I lined my shot up. Taking a breath, I swung back with the club. I found that while I could swing the club around like a bat, and it was effective enough, I had much better control if I took the time to swing it like a proper golf club. My mind was focused on controlling the strength of the shot as the club connected with the ball, sending it flying towards my target. The ball impacted the pig-like creature’s head with a sickening crack. The animal let out a squeal and fell to the ground, silent.
The chunks of meat crackled on the spit over the fire. Duncan had shown me how to dress and butcher the animal we had hunted earlier, and now we all sat around the fire, drooling over the meat with anticipation.
“Tomorrow morning, we head back to the village,” Duncan said, around a mouthful of food.
“Why?” I asked.
“We have to see if there are any survivors now that the patrols have died down. Aqua Marine was after you, and I’m wagering once she realized you were not there, she had her forces stop attacking the village. There may be people left there that need my help.”
“There may also be supplies there we can use.” Tee chimed in
“If there are still people in the village, I will do everything I can to help them. After all, this whole mess is my fault.” I said.
When I was hiding in the jungle for my life or smacking golf balls around, I had had time to think about all the events that had occurred since I arrived in the Caddyverse. It really did seem as if everything wrong that happened here was my fault. Sure, Duncan had his rebellion, but it was rather evident that neither he nor Aqua Marine had any intention of full-blown war until I showed up. I still didn’t know why I could create this magic with something as mundane as a golf club. That ability, however, had led to me killing people and a whole lot of innocent people losing their lives within a very short time frame. Duncan acted like I was some hero who would change the universe. The reality was I felt this power was more of a curse than a blessing. The guilt of everything I had seen and done weighed heavy on me as I quietly cried myself to sleep.
We awoke at dawn the following day, Duncan preparing some of his coffee with the Zoombeans. The plan was to return to the village above ground instead of using the tunnel system we had used to escape. Duncan was worried that the tree that the entrance to the underground was in might have been destroyed in the fighting, and we would have no way to get out of the tunnels once we arrived in the village. We packed up what little items we had with us and set out.
The journey to the village took only a couple of hours of hiking through the woods. We did have to hide from a patrol or two of Hags, but it was apparent that either they had given up looking for us or Aqua had ordered them to look elsewhere. As we walked, the jungle around us grew less dense until it disappeared entirely and was replaced by the serene forest. As we approached the village, wisps of smoke could be seen coming from the clearing where Duncan's home once stood. That’s when the smell hit me: no matter what world, dimension, or universe, the scent of death is always the same.
Duncan took off running towards the village as he saw the smoke and the smell of rot hit his nostrils. I ran behind, struggling to keep up with the older, more athletic man. Tee buzzed beside me as we raced after Duncan. “ This isn’t good, this isn’t good.” He muttered.
I caught up to Duncan a few moments later. He was on his knees, hands covering his face. I could see the tears streaming between his fingers. The sight before us made me instantly ill and forced me to choke back the vomit and bile forming in my throat. The corpses of the villages lay piled on top of each other in a pit. Everyone, every man, woman, and child in the village was in that hole. They had rounded them all up and killed every single living thing in the village, dug a hole, and threw them all in like trash. I put my head down. I couldn’t look at this. It was a horror, unlike anything I had ever seen in real life. As I averted my eyes, I noticed two more bodies lying on the ground outside of the pit, Carmel and Mocha Duncans, shark-like dogs.
“Get away,” Duncan said as he stood and looked at me.
“I’m so sorry, Dun-“Duncan cut me off before the sentence left my lips.
“You don’t get it. This isn’t about you.” Tears streaming freely down his cheeks. “This is on m. These people followed me, they believed me, they trusted me, and this is what they got for their faith. Everyone I’ve ever tried to protect ends up worse off for having known me. Anyone I have ever cared about or tried to build up ends up either dead or gone. Leave, or you’ll end up just like them. I saw your power, and I wanted so badly to change things to make a better life for everyone here, and I thought with your help, we could do that, but now everyone I care about is dead. It was a mistake I should have learned a long time ago that I need to do things on my own anyone I try to involve. I need to do things on my own.”
“Look, I'm not going anywhere; I know we haven’t known each other long, but aside from Tee, you and your village are the only people in this fucked up world that aren’t constantly trying to kill me.” Duncan didn’t smack me when I swore.
“Fuck You.” Duncan sobbed, tears staining his face and snot running from his nose. Then he punched me hard.
The world went black.
