Oakaigus #1: Red Bloom (2 page)

CHAPTER 3

After
a long, quiet ride through the countryside, Jogen and Lilah arrived at Badigeon
Fields. The Fields were filled with stubby, old trees and tall, thick grass.

Jogen
and Lilah slowed their pace to scan the whole area.

“...Wait,”
Lilah said, “I see ‘em!”

Across
the field, they gazed at the bushes with spiky leaves around pink & yellow
berries.

Jogen
and Lilah hopped off their carts and dug through their toolboxes. They each
pulled out a thick saw.

When
they walked over to the bushes, they went straight to chopping the thick roots
of two bushes.

“Why
are these leaves so damn sharp,” Lilah said with a grunt.

As
they continued chopping, Lilah paused for a minute to rise to her feet. When
she rose up, the skin of her ankle scraped against the hard, sharp tip of a
leaf.

“Ow,”
she yelled.

She
looked down at the small line of blood slowly leaking from her wound. “Well,”
she said, “it doesn’t look
too
bad.”

As
Lilah searched through her sidepouch, Jogen heard quick, pattering steps in the
grass. He looked down and saw nothing, but he could still hear the steps.

After
staring down at the grass for a while, Jogen could finally see a red silhouette
shifting through the grass.

Popping
out from the grass was a white, eight-legged insect with red spots that was the
size of Lilah’s hand.

“W-WHAT
THE—“Jogen stuttered as he pointed to the insect. Lilah looked up at Jogen’s
widened eyes. “What are you doi—AH!”

Lilah
felt her heart skip a beat the instant she saw the insect pounce towards her
leg. She squirmed as she felt the insect’s moist shell pressed against her
skin.

The
insect opened its mouth, revealing four rows of tiny, sharp teeth. It sunk its fangs
into Lilah’s cut, swishing around its rows of teeth and drinking her blood.

A
shocking sting coursed through Lilah’s leg as the pain made her muscles lose
strength.

Jogen
sat frozen in place with his jaw dropped and his heart pounding.

The
insect pulled its bloody teeth out from her wound and it let out a high-pitched
screech, echoing through the fields.

Jogen
looked up at the grass as he listened to the screech fade into the distance.

Soon,
silence.

It
wasn’t long after that when Jogen heard grass shuffling again, faster and
heavier than last time.

A
large colony of the insect’s babies erupted through the grass, shrieking over
top one another.

The
baby insects swarmed Lilah’s ankle and immediately sunk their fangs into her
veins.

“I…c-can’t,
move…” Lilah said in a cracking grumble.

The
smacking of ripped, wet flesh, along with Lilah’s gasps for air haunted Jogen’s
ears.

“
Why
,”
Jogen thought in his head, “
why can’t I move? MOVE!!!
”

His
legs trembled as he fought to get up, but his feet stayed locked to the ground.
He dug his fingers through the dirt. With each deep breath, he tried to force
his body forward, but his legs failed him.

Jogen
watched as Lilah’s skin was devoured into the belly of the insects. They
chomped through as the stench of dirt and blood slithered down his throat.

Lilah
strained to speak, but she felt her lungs lock up every time she took a breath.
“He-…Help…”

Jogen
closed his eyes as tears rose up under his eyes.

After
many minutes, the insects’ bellies were finally fully. Dozen by dozen, the
insects crawled away and disappeared into the grass.

Jogen
gulped deeply while taking slow breaths. He slowly opened his eyes, only to see
the sight of Lilah’s leg shredded wide open, revealing bite marks down to her
ankle bone marrow.

“Li…”
Jogen mumbled under his breath.

As
he stared longer, he felt a hot sensation rising in his chest.

“….
FUUUUUUUUUUCK
,”
he cried out, “I’M SO FUCKING
WEAK
!”

He
clenched his fingernails deep into his palms, forming a tight fist that he
punched himself in his cheekbone with.

Over,
and over, over, Jogen rocked his skull with the brunt of his own fist.

“FUCK!
FUCK, FUCK,
FUCK
!!! I’M SORRY!”

Jogen
soon found the strength to rise to his feet. With tears streaming down his
face, he picked Lilah up, resting her in his forearms.

Lilah
tried to speak, but she could only hiccup gasps. She tried to move, but aches
gripped her muscles with every contraction.

“Gotta
find a clinic,” Jogen said while panting, “but where?!”

Jogen
forced his eyes shut, digging through his memory. “What’s that place,” he says
while snapping, “uhhh...Needlot Town! That’s it!”

Jogen
ran to his cart, heaving Lilah along. He stepped to the back of the cart and
gently placed her flat down. He ripped off his shirt and wrapped it around her
leg. “It’s all I’ve got.”

Jogen
leaped to the front of the cart, whipped his safety belt on, and pushed down on
the pedals as hard as he could, taking heavy breaths as he sped up his pace
down the dusty road.

“
Why
,”
he thought to himself, “
why am I so weak? I couldn’t even help my little
sister
…”

Jogen
felt the force of gusts blowing against his body as he trucked through.

His mind flashed grey images of Lilah’s
leg bleeding, making him cringe every time. “
It’s all my fault
,” he
thought as he slapped himself in the face, “
I’m so useless. I promise, I
WON’T let this happen again.
”

CHAPTER 4

Jogen arrived at a town with a sign that
said, “
Welcome to Needlot Town! Home of the Merry-Merry Steak!
” The
town’s buildings were carved in light-grey marble with accents of silver on
them, shimmering in the sunlight.

Jogen stared at the townspeople dressed
in white robes, carrying sacks of books and pots of clean water.

He rode past a man surrounded by a small
crowd, flailing paper slips in his hand, yelling, “Felorra lottery tickets!
Your chance to win free resort passes!”

“Must be nice,” Jogen mumbled to
himself.

Jogen stopped by a town map plastered on
a stone board. “Let’s see…Inppo’s Steakhouse…Hub Galleria—blah blah blah…Oh!
Found it!”

Jogen forced his feet down on his pedals
and sped down the street.

Jogen pedaled until his eye caught a
sign that said “Needlot Care Center” in front of a large, white building upheld
by four pillars.

Jogen parked the cart and hopped out as
quickly as he could. He ran to the back to carefully pick Lilah up. When he
positioned her comfortably in his arms, he sprinted up the marble stairs.

Inside the care center, draped with
silk, violet fabrics around the windows, Jogen came storming through the
mahogany doors. He ran straight towards the front desk, occupied by a
fawn-skinned woman with sandy-brown hair.

“Welcome,” the receptionist said, “how
can I-“

“SHE’S DYING,” Jogen yelled, breathing
hard, “These things attacked her and now she can’t move!”

The receptionist caught a tiny glimpse
of the gashes in Lilah’s flesh underneath the bloodied shirt-wrapping.

“I’m very sorry,” she said softly, “we
should have an emergency room open. Let me check.”

The receptionist flipped through the
thick stack of canvas paper on her wooden desk.

“Perfect,” she said, “two rooms are open
in the back. Just let me get your names first.”

“I’m Jogen Yemo, she’s Lilah Yemo.”

The receptionist wrote their names in
the book. “Alright,” she said, “follow me.”

“THANK YOU!”

The receptionist lifted the draping
behind her to the emergency hall entryway. Jogen followed in after her.

In the hallway, illuminated by blue
crystals, chattering men and women in red robes were reading stacks of paper
while transferring carts of supplies in droves. Jogen looked up at the glowing
crystals embedded in the walls, raising his eyebrow.

“Are these crystals really glowing on
their own?” he said.

“Yes,” the receptionist said, “they’re
rare finds from Kengongbo. These possess piezoluminescence.”

“Piezolumi-what?”

“Piezoluminescence, meaning if you apply
enough pressure to it, it lights up on its own. How strong the light is depends
on the crystal.”

“Ohhh. Never knew about that.”

“It’s a rare sight, but Kengongbo’s said
to have crystals like these all around there. Only problem is, no one wants to
go there ‘cause of all the big beasts running around.”

“Really? Huh…”

The receptionist led Jogen through all
the commotion as he kept Lilah steady in his arms. Jogen could feel Lilah’s
breathing slowing down. “
Hang on
,” he thought in his head.

The receptionist stopped at a wooden
door at the end of the hallway, knocking three times.

“Come in,” said a high-pitched voice
inside.

Jogen and the receptionist stepped in
the room occupied by three physicians. Their nametags read: “
Dr. Eslia
,”
“
Dr. Ghrebor
,” and “
Dr. Teli
.”

“Good morning,” the receptionist said,
“this girl really needs your help. She was attacked and seems to be paralyzed.”

Dr. Eslia wrapped her long, black hair
into a ponytail. “Lay her on the table,” she said.

Jogen took a couple steps forward and
gently placed Lilah down.

All three physicians put rubber gloves
on. Dr. Eslia removed the shirt wrapped around Lilah’s leg, revealing her
ripped wound.

Dr. Ghrebor closed his eyes for a moment
and took a deep breath.

“What happened,” Dr. Eslia asked.

“Well,” Jogen replied, “we were out
picking berries, and then she got a small cut. Next thing I knew, these
eight-legged bugs jumped on her and started eating her.”

“
Eight
legs?” Dr. Ghrebor asked,
“What color were they?”

“Ummm…red, I think? Wait—no, they were
white
with
red spots.”

“Hmmm,” Dr. Teli said as she rubbed her
chin, “white with red spots…”

Silence swept the room.

“Wait,” Dr. Eslia shouted, “you mean
rhokuji
?”

“Rhokuji?” Jogen asked.

“From what you described, they
have
to be rhokuji. They’re some of the few carnivorous insects, and the only ones
with those colors.”

“Hold on,” Dr. Teli said, “I’m confused.
I thought they--…you know what, never mind. We have to get started.
Now
.”

“Right,” Dr. Eslia said, “since rhokuji
are poisonous, that’s probably why she’s paralyzed. We’re gonna’ have to use
the laser treatment.”

“
Aye aye, Doctor
,” Dr. Teli and
Dr. Ghrebor said in unison.

“This may take a few hours,” the
receptionist said to Jogen, “are you going to wait in the lobby?”

“Actually, there’s something I gotta’
do. Can I come back?”

“Of course!”

“Got it!”

Before Jogen left the room, he stopped
to take another look at Lilah. “…I’ll be back,” he said. He sprinted back down
the hall and stormed through the front doors.