Chapter V: Hide and Seek With Rhinos

Simon plays a little hide and seek with rhino-dudes

“I can’t believe you don’t know where to go!” Rachel huffed and stomped along with me and Dylan. I didn’t have the patience for her attitude right now, so I ignored her. “How do we even know if the contract exists?” I groaned. I could tell Dylan was deep in thought. Then I remembered what I said. “Listen, Dylan. About what I said-...” I started.

“Simon!” Rachel interrupted my apology.

“What?!” I turned to her, “What do you want?!”

“We need to stop and figure out a plan.”

We were walking to nowhere. And as much as I hated to say it...well...I said, “You’re right. Lets stop at a cafe or something. Anyone got money?”

“Yeah, in my bag.” Dylan said.

We walked over to a Starbucks, ordered some drinks and sat outside. I had an iced-mocha-who-what and a scone. Rachel pulled a book out of her backpack. It said Artifacts of the Gods Volume 33. “Must be a lot of artifacts.” I said and sipped my iced-mocha-whosawhatsit. Rachel rolled her eyes, “Um..duh. The gods are ancient. They’ve been through a lot.”

“Yes, since I’m new to this, that must’ve slipped by me. Just show us what you need to show us.”

She flipped through the pages and found on, ironically, page three-hundred-thirty-three. She skimmed through the extraordinarily small print of enormous words. It was enough to make a dyslexic kid cry. I wasn’t even dyslexic. I just hated reading. “Are there any pictures in that book?” I asked, impatiently. Jean rolled her eyes and sighed, “No, Simon. I try to use my brain. Look it says that the last time the scroll was seen was in the Palace of the Gods-...”

“Then, lets go!” I exclaimed, probably startling other customers.

Dylan grabbed my shoulder. “In the old world, Si. And no one’s been there since the gods moved here. It’s probably a giant crator by now.”

I blew bubbles in my ice-mocha-whatchamacallit. “Awesome. Is there any good news?”

Jean study the book. “Mmmm...nope.”

I didn’t have the emotional energy to call her any names or insult her. Besides what good would that do? Girls hated me for less anyways. I thought for a while and then felt a tingle on my neck as two customers entered the cafe. Instinctively, my hand shot up to where my hilt would be. Dylan grabbed my arm. “Monsters”, he hissed. The two customers were tall, bulky men with big dusters, bald heads, sunglasses, and tan skin. They spoke in gruff voices, ordering large coffees, donuts, and scones. “Hungry guys, huh?” I said. They sat a table, not to far from us, so we heard their conversation.

“After our coffee, we will take the shipment back to the storehouse.” The first one said. He had a weird tattoo of a rhinoceros on his neck.

“The shipment of-...?” The second was a little smaller with no tattoo.

“Quiet, Bonehead. I smell hero.”

I looked at Jean and then at Dylan. “Yeah, he’s not talking about us.” I said dryly. The conversation continued:

“Perhaps your senses have dulled, Therios. I sense nothing.” I guess Bonehead was the guy’s name. Unlucky.

“Do not insult my senses, young one. In the old days, the Riinok respected their elders!” Therios snorted. “And we didn’t have idiotic names!”

I got a tingling sensation on my neck. Something was tugging at me to do something. “We should follow them.” I said. What? I thought.

“What?!” Dylan and Jean hissed simultaneously. I didn’t have time to explain. I grabbed my backpack and hopped over the waist-high fence that blocked off Starbucks from the sidewalk. I saw a U-Haul truck with a picture of a dinosaur on the side. That had to be their vehicle. I started for it, while Jean and Dylan chased after me. “Si, are you insane?” Dylan said.

“Look, something’s telling me that the answer to our problems is in this truck! So, come on!” I ran up to the back of the truck. The trunk was held closed by one of those pole-locks. I pulled it up and crawled in. The trunk was full of weird, metal boxes. They all had chains over them. I helped Dylan and Jean in and closed the trunk. We sat in silence and I finally got a good long look at her. Her hair looked a mix of curly and straight and her eyes were a weird pool of green...well...magic. She was wearing black Converse-boots, tattered blue jeans, a red t-shirt that said “I Believe It’s Magic” with gold letters. She was wearing a gray hoodie with little black stripes on it and a necklace with some sort of symbol. Like the one on her hand and Asmias’s door.

I must’ve been staring, because she said, “See something you like, airhead?”

I hoped the darkness was hiding my blushing face. Sitting in the silence of the room gave me time to think. And that was something I really didn’t want to do. How am I supposed to get the contract? How many days to get it to Alex? Is Kelly really okay? What if it’s a trap? How can I trust anyone on this “task”? Is Mom alright? All these questions were buzzing in my head. “Shut up.” I hissed to myself.

“What?” Dylan was looking at me like I was going crazy.

“Nothing.” I sighed. He was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the gruff voices of the bald-body-build-beasts. “Bonehead!” That was most likely Therios growling, “You left the trunk unlocked, fool! Go lock it before I-...”

Bonehead cut him off, “Yes, yes! Before you bash my boneheaded brains in! I know!” That didn’t really make sense because the lock had clearly been pulled off. Were these guys just not smart?

I held my breath as I heard the monster’s colossal footsteps draw near. Maybe he’d check if somebody stole something. I felt Jean’s hand touch my shoulder and she squeaked. I wondered what was bothering her and I tried to ask. I almost yelped when I saw she wasn’t there. Then I felt something cup over my mouth. Her hand. “Touch Dylan!” She hissed. Not really in control of my motions, I reached for Dylan’s shoulder. I couldn’t see my hand and almost yelped again. Jean tightened her grip over my mouth. I touched Dylan’s shoulder and he vanished too. “Invisibility spell.” Jean whispered. I heard Bonehead put the lock back on and the truck shifted as both monsters climbed in. Jean took her hands off me and I let go of Dylan. The spell wore off and the truck began to move. I fell forward with an “Oof!”

“Quite graceful.” Jean laughed.

“Ssshhh!” Dylan shushed her and me before I could come back with an insult. He thought for a moment. Then he sighed, “This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Yeah, what kinda monster goes to Starbucks?” I said.

Jean rolled her eyes. “The Riinok were endangered in the ancient times. You’d think they’d be extinct by now.”

“The ri-who?” I butted in.

Dylan answered before Jean could retort. “Short answer: Rhino-men. They were created by the blacksmithing god, Haiseus. They forged weapons and stuff. They got a little out of hand, so the gods tried to wipe them out. But just as the gods moved to different civilizations, so can monsters. If they’re powerful enough.”

That made me shudder. You always hear in the stories and myths about how gods are stronger than the things that they create. But a monster to be just under a god? Now that’s scary. “What happened after the rhino-dudes...left?” I asked.

“Haiseus switched them out for dwarves.” Jean said like everyone knew that. “The dwarves were and are smarter and better craftsmen. Dwarven bronze, iron, and gold is a lot better than Riinok-made items.”

I thought about that for a second. “Okay, so why base your blacksmithing monsters on rhinos and not something that has to do with fire?”

Jean sighed. I’d learn later that this was an I-don’t-know-and-don’t-ask-why-I-don’t-know-sigh. “I don’t know, they’re gods. Why give humans two eyes? Or one brain?”

“Makes sense, I guess. But still-...”

“I’d do my best not to question the gods, Si.” Dylan cut in. “Some of them don’t take constructive criticism very well.”

Jean nodded. Apparently, I had a lot to learn about this “world”.

Dylan willed his sword to appear and unsheathed it. “That’s dwarven iron” He handed it to me. It was light as a feather, with a shiny blade. Like Dylan had never used it. I willed my sword to appear and drew it. The blade was a little beaten up. It felt a bit heavier and uncomfortable in my hand. “Not dwarven iron, huh?” I said, a little dismayed.

Dylan didn’t even need to hold it to figure that out. “Nope. Normal iron. Crafted with magic, though. It’s a strong blade.”

“How’d you know it was crafted with magic?” My question was answered as I noticed the faint glow my blade was giving off. There were little symbols around the edge. A language I could barely make out.

“It’s a strengthening spell.” Dylan said.

“How’d you know all that?” I asked.

“Studied lots of magic stuff.” He shrugged.

“Failed to mention that too?” I blurted, instantly feeling like a jerk.

Dylan sighed. I’d ruined the moment. There was no more talking. We sat in the truck and waited for our destination. I started humming a little song, but Jean glared at me to stop. What’s her problem? I thought. She didn’t like me, that’s for sure. She didn’t really express anything towards Dylan or Kane. But why’d she detest me so much? What’d I do? I thought about that wink Kane gave me. What’s that supposed mean? Good luck! or She grows on you, dude! or maybe...the other kind of wink? I shivered at the thought. No thanks, I thought.

***

It was a while before we stopped, but we finally did. It hadn’t occurred to me, but now it was happening. Therios or Bonehead would open the trunk and find all of us chilling out with their boxes. Maybe I could pull a Jedi-mind trick on them or something. Jean grabbed my hand and we turned in visible. Good thing I was invisible because my face felt hot and I didn’t want Jean to make fun of me for that too. I grabbed Dylan’s arm and we tiptoed to the door of the trunk. Bonehead opened the trunk and sniffed the air.

“Wait a second...” He growled. We jumped into the ground and looked at our surroundings. We’d gone through a gate, onto a gravelly area. The road was a little busted up. There were plains and fields surrounding us. In front of us was a giant storehouse, doors opened for the two Riinok to haul the metal boxes in. “In there!” I said. Bonehead started looking around to see where that sound came from.

“Are you insane?” Jean quietly yelped.

“Maybe.” I dragged us towards the storehouse. They both struggled, but I got them in. Bonehead was heading our way and I could hear the sound of more Riinok stomping towards us. Jean and Dylan pulled out of my grip.

“Si!” Dylan whimpered.

“How dumb are you?!” Jean’s voice was a bit louder, but she didn’t care. The color in her eyes had dimmed again.

“My stupidity knows no bounds.” I could hear the steps getting closer. I looked around. The shelves were stocked with metal boxes and wooden crates. The ground was concrete and the roof was lined with long, tubular light bulbs. Some were flickering but others were shining almost too bright. “Climb!” I said and started up a shelf. Jean and Dylan did the same on a shelf of their own. We looked down and saw two Riinok, in monster form. They were hideous. Around nine-feet tall, they were like monstrous, humanoid TV wrestlers with gray, sagging skin around their thigh area. Their arms were muscular, with tattoos of a triangle on their right shoulders, at the end of their arms were big, beefy, four fingered hands. Their bellies were slightly round but it looked like if you were to punch them, your wrist would snap and your knuckles would break.

The worst part was their faces. If you can, try to imagine a human-rhino mashup with stubby, barely sharpened horn coming out of the nose area. The only bit of clothing they were wearing were loincloths. I knew we wouldn’t be able to face four of these guys. Still, I willed my sword to appear on my back. One of them sniffed the air and said in a low growl, “I smell something. Mage.”

I uneasily looked over to Jean, who was pale with fear. She didn’t dare use any spells. She looked over to me as if to say, We’re so dead!

The second growled. “I smell godling...and...” He took a big whiff. “Chosen. I have not smelled that in a long time.”

There we were. Right above them. Frozen in fear. Didn’t they think to look up? Were they really this dumb? Bonehead came in, still in human form, carrying twelve metal boxes. “This is the latest shipment of raw, liquidated dark-magic.” He said and began stocking the shelves. You can liquify magic? I thought.

I turned to Dylan, who mouthed, I’ll explain it later.

“Bonehead.” One of the monster-formed ones said.

“What is it, Brainmeal?”

The heck? Brainmeal? I looked at Dylan again, who shrugged.

Brainmeal replied. “We smell something. Heroes maybe. If you capture them, kill them. Me and Tork will take the next run for shipments.”

I guessed Tork was the other monster-formed one. They stomped outside, and I heard a hissing sound. I didn’t care what that was. I just knew I made a terrible mistake. Therios came in with more boxes. “Stock these”, he said, “I will go keep an eye on the key-piece.”

“When will we find the other two?” Bonehead groaned.

“I do not know. But we will find them quicker than those pesky Drauci. The contract will be ours and the Riikon will be a powerful race as they were in the ancient times!”

Bonehead looked like I probably did. Confused that a contract could raise a race of humanoid zoo-beasts. But then it hit me the contract! The Contract of Dead Souls! Jean looked at me like she knew something, but she didn’t dare speak. I crawled over to her, making sure that I didn’t shake the shelf. “One of the legends about the contract is that it’s locked away in an ancient temple!” She whispered. “If they have a piece of a key, we’ll be closer to getting it!”

“Ugh, I’m shedding off the disguise, now.” Therios ground.

I can’t express how grotesque this image was. Therios, grew huge, his duster ripping along with his skin. Green blood oozed through the cracks in his skin and he finally tore through his disguise, revealing his loinclothed, rhino-man body. His head was more rhino-looking than Brainmeal’s and Tork’s. His bottom teeth were a little more like tusks and he was easily eleven feet. Bonehead shed his disguise. He was only seven feet and looked like a mix between Tork or Brainmeal and Therios. Maybe he was an underdeveloped Riikon or something. He continued to stock shelves.

Therios walked down the aisle, towards an enormous door with a big window next to it. I guessed the key-piece was in there. I started to follow Therios, treading lightly over metal boxes and wooden crates. “Hey!” Jean hissed.

“What?” I turned back and almost fell.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Dylan whispered as loud as he could. His expression was of pure worry.

“Getting the key-piece so we can get outta here!”

“That’s your plan?” Jean asked.

“You got a better one?” I looked at the both of them.

Dylan was silent and shook his head sadly.

Jean kept opening her mouth, trying for an insult, but all she said was “Be careful, moron.”

I smiled. “Don’t feed the animals.” And at that I began to climb down the shelf.

I was almost down when my foot slipped. I fell about six feet and landed with a SMACK! I groaned, but got up. Bonehead was coming around the corner. I flopped back onto the ground and rolled under a shelf, just as he came around the aisle. “Therios, was that you?” His voice was a lot deeper out of man-form and he definitely smelled like a rhinoceros. I mean there’s the zoo smell and then there’s this guy. Leroy Berwick had nothing on Bonehead. He sniffed again and growled. Can a rhinoceros growl? The noise made me shake a little. And believe me, I’ve heard some animalistic growls. Ask my stomach.

I stayed under the shelf for a few minutes, then rolled out to the next aisle. I started to walk down the aisle and then heard a low snort. Slowly, I turned around. Bonehead was stocking shelves, completely unaware that was sneaking around. He sniffed the air again and I ducked under another shelf, my sword hilt hitting the ground with a CLANG! I held my breath as Bonehead stomped over. “I know you are here, hero!” He bellowed, “Reveal yourself.”

There was that word again. Hero. I wanted to blurt out, I’m not a hero! but the smart half of me knew that I’d be eaten within seconds. Wait. Weren’t rhinos vegetarian? Oh, so I wouldn’t be eaten. That’s good! I was so caught up in my thoughts, I almost didn’t realize that Bonehead was getting on his knees to look at where my “smell” was coming from. I rolled to the other side and climbed on another shelf, behind a long wooden crate, hand cupped over mouth. Bonehead snorted, “I’ll find you, puny hero.” Then he said something in a softer voice that made me feel bad for him, “Then Therios and the others will be proud of me.”

That hit me hard. Bonehead was a lot smaller than the others. Probably the runt of his group. Then I noticed something else. Bonehead was the only one stocking the shelves. Therios went into that room to do God...or gods...knows what and the other two had left him to do all the shelf stocking. Moving boxes to fit more boxes on boxes. Busy work. Now, even for monsters that cruel. Even for not-so-smart monsters, that’s cruel. I climbed down the shelf and said, quite audibly, “Poor guy.”

Realizing, what I’d just done, I shut my eyes and facepalmed.

“Ah-ha!” Bonehead bounded around a corner.

Dylan, Jean, and I had exchanged words in soft, hushed hisses and whispers. I had just said my words in a low voice. Probably not audible for a human, but I guess for a rhinoceros-human, it was enough.

I opened my eyes and removed my hand. My lie-for-your-life senses were tingling. I came up with the absolute greatest lie in my life. With the voice of a thousand liars, I said, “H-house...keeping...?”

He looked confused (I mean for a rhino he did), and for a second I thought I’d fooled him. He then roared. “You cannot fool me, hero!”

“I’m not a hero.” I glared and drew my sword. All my sympathy had vanished. I felt my eyes start glowing blue with energy. He held out his palms and fire erupted from them. He saw my eyes widen with fear. That’s not fair! I thought.

“Choose your stance!” He roared.

It was quiet for a moment. I cleared my throat. “I-I dunno...I sorta...I thought...you’d pulverize or something by now.”

He snarled animalistically and pointed his palms out at me. A jet of silver flames shot out and I ducked. The feeling of Riinok-flames was quite nice for a split second. Then I was sweating like I’d done the greatest work out of my life. Something about the fire...it was hot...but even without touching me, it seemed to drain my energy. I was rapidly becoming tired. I felt my eyes flicker between amber and blue. His flames started to fade from silver to white. Bonehead bellowed with laughter and started pushing the flames lower, towards me. I rolled under another shelf and out the other way. My blue eyes were regaining energy again. I used my sword to balance myself. Apparently, Bonehead hadn’t noticed that I rolled away from his rhino-fire because he was still shooting flames like a madman. Or...mad rhino. Madman-rhino? Mad-rhino...it doesn’t matter.

Wait, can rhinos shoot fire in the godly world or something? I get too caught up in my thoughts a lot. Bonehead realized he wasn’t there anymore and met me on the next aisle. He decided not to go with the jet of flames thing again. He held out his palms and it looked like two molten-lava cannon balls just...kind of...formed in his hands. “You die now, chosen.” He growled.

Do chosen just have a distinct smell or something? Maybe I just hadn’t showered or something. He raised his left arm, ready to throw a ball of lava. I sighed and prayed to any god that was listening. I even made it up as I went along, Dear Asmias, Lord of the Sky, Vulentes, God of the Underworld, Ligeia, Goddess of the sea, and possibly Somebody, god-of-don’t-let-me-die, please don’t let me die!

Bonehead threw the lava ball at such a fast spad, I wouldn’t be able to dodge. A sphere of sparkly, blue magic collided with it. The lava-ball froze and slowed down. I had enough time to dodge. I rolled out of the way and it shattered where I was standing. Bonehead didn’t like that. He let out a huge roar of disapproval, “Surely one chosen cannot do that!”

I thought about Jean. She probably shot some ice hoodoo, magic, voodoo-spell thing at the lava-ball. Then a small thought crossed my mind. Maybe she wanted to freeze me in my place, but missed.

“Well”, I heard Dylan’s voice come from behind a shelf, “that one chosen’s got a friend.” He came around the shelf, his sword drawn. The dwarven iron shone brilliantly. Bonehead bellowed with laughter, “Just two?”

“Two friends actually.” I heard Jean from behind me. She had a golden spear in her right hand (shining brighter than Dylan’s sword) and her left was glowing frosty blue. She kept her eyes fixed on Bonehead, her glare even more furious than ever. Probably because my look spelled out, Did you just call me friend?

Bonehead officially was pissed. He raised his other hand, ready to throw the lava-ball, but Jean cast her spell and his palm froze along with the ball. “Dylan, now!” She commanded. I had no idea what “now” meant, but I knew that these would be a heck of a fight.

Reviews

[Arrinae]

Pretty good so far, but it reminds me alot of the Percy Jackson Series.

[Kevin Manson]

Yeah, I'm working on that. It sucks because I had this idea before I read the series, but I'm trying REALLY hard to keep it far away from sounding too much like it...it isn't going so well, but I guess it'll be heavily edited later.

[Arrinae]

Hey, as long as it isn't anything like 'Twilight' I'm happy. The books and movies should burn in the hottest pits of fire ever forged.