Twinks in Space: Fantastic Voyage - Part Two - 49. Chapter 49 - Ugmugg

Lyoth and Stawren were on a stealth reconnaissance mission, when an ominous booming through the trees caused them both to freeze and drop to the forest floor. They were close to where the farmers had told them the godstrolls were seen heading, after raiding the livestock, and the two warriors stared with wide eyes, as a truly gargantuan godstroll went stomping past their hiding place toward the city.

As it made its way farther, Stawren asked at barely a breath, “Have you ever seen one so big?”

Lyoth shook his head that he had not. “That was the female.”

“It was? So that was Ugmugg,” Stawren whispered.

Lyoth motioned that the two of them should continue more cautiously. The pair moved from tree to tree until Stawren pointed ahead at a large stone that was cracked down the middle into two matching sides.

“This must be the broken boulder the farmers told us about, so the ravine is just ahead.”

The pair of godstrolls had made a nest for themselves in a narrow gap between two rises in the land a few miles beyond the farms, at the outskirts of the city of Tuzu. Atop the adjacent summits sat the twin ruins of an ancient fort.

As Lyoth and Stawren drew closer to the mouth of the valley, their senses were assaulted. They were first hit by a stench that was like a gut punch, but then they noticed a low-frequency humming from ahead of them, and they saw the source of everything. Pieces of uneaten animals lay rotting before them. Hog hoofs and steer limbs were swarming with flies beyond counting, and the putrefying flesh was squirming with maggots. The flying insects caused a reverberation in the air that was oppressive in Lyoth and Stawren’s ears, and the bugs began to buzz against their skin and pester them.

Lyoth scowled at the swarm and pointed away from where they were heading. Stawren nodded to him in agreement. They approached one of the hills and began to climb. It was not a very high elevation, and after only a few minutes of silent hiking, they reached the top.

Although Lyoth and Stawren had never seen these ruins before, they could tell that the old stones had recently shifted, and much of what remained at the tops of the hills seemed unstable. Huge ancient pieces of masonry that appeared to have sat unmoving for ages were now freshly flipped on their sides, and patches of fresh dark soil were visible all around the ruins.

“What happened?” Stawren asked. “Did the godstrolls climb up here and smash the old fort for some reason?”

“It doesn’t look like there are any tracks,” Lyoth replied. “I haven’t got a clue what caused these ruins to be turned so recently.”

Their answer was not long in coming.

Ugmugg had returned.

Lyoth and Stawren heard her before they saw her, and the two of them fell still and silent.

The giantess’ footfalls were a march of doom, and her appearance between the trees was like oncoming death. She entered the lair that she had made with her mate, and the two began to fight.

Stawren and Lyoth were shocked by what they witnessed.

The male was smaller than the female, but he was still easily three times the height of a normal person. The two giants collided. Ugmugg punched him in the stomach as he bit her in the shoulder. She clawed his back and he head-butted her. The monsters fell away from each other, but Ugmugg instantly launched herself, slamming her companion’s massive body into the side of the rise that led to the ruins above, and the stones wobbled.

“Oh, gods,” Lyoth whispered, looking around at the precarious boulders surrounding them. “We need to go.”

Ugmugg grabbed the male by one arm and one leg, and she slammed him against the hillside again. A huge piece of ancient masonry was rocked loose and went tumbling down toward the mouth of the ravine.

“It’s not safe up here,” Lyoth breathed.

“What are they doing?” Stawren asked.

Lyoth shook his head.

They had not moved yet from their position above.

Suddenly, Ugmugg’s ankle was caught in her mate’s grip, and he ripped her foot from the ground, knocking her back against the opposite side of the valley. The two giants rushed and plowed into each other again. They started punching, one and then the other, a punch to the face, to the gut, to the groin.

“Why are they beating…” Stawren began, but both she and Lyoth were startled to realize that right before their eyes, the violence had morphed into something else. “Wait, are they fucking?” she hissed through her teeth.

“Let’s get out of here!” Lyoth insisted at barely a whisper. He began to slink down the far side of the hill and Stawren followed. When they were far enough away from the ravine that they could no longer hear the noises being made by the godstrolls, Lyoth said quietly, “Well that was surprising.”

“Think the others’ll believe us?” Stawren asked with a snicker.

Lyoth smothered a laugh. “I don’t think I’ll ever get that visual out of my head.”

The two were still joking together, when they came upon the bloody stump of a human foot. It was in a work boot, and jagged bones were sticking out of the flesh.

“What the… it’s fresh!” Stawren began looking around for other body parts.

Lyoth took her hand. “Let’s go.”

They talked on their way back to old man Drishia’s farm, where the mood was somber. Captain Suoki had an arm around the farmer, Rugon. He was crying.

“What happened?” Stawren asked.

Captain Suoki answered quietly. “One of the godstrolls just attacked a nearby farm, and the monster took the farmer. We saw it happen. It was awful.”

Lyoth and Stawren did not mention the foot they found.

“So what’s the plan?” Captain Suoki asked. “How are we going to deal with these things?”

Stawren looked at Lyoth, who nodded, and she replied, “I think we have it figured out.”