Algernon Black

(Chapter 2) A Castle of Mud and Poop

"Quiet now. Be very quiet," The tall lanky boy said as the only one making any noise.

"I mean it, not a single sound," he kept muttering. The young girl by his side would have laughed at the irony...if she didn't have to be quiet.

"Oh, this is splendid," Jared said with so much excitement his little sister couldn't help a smile of her own. "After days of searching the Wugernice is within our sights. Isn't he just the most beautiful magolarian bufonidae you've ever seen?"

"Yes?" the girl replied with her forehead rumpled. What Lucy saw was a lumpy frog with bark horns that would move up and down its fat slimy face to stare at them from his throne of mud and poop.

"Ok, now to make our move." Jared suddenly turned to her. "Lucy, grab me the ultra-luminescent flies."

"Oh no, I think we only packed the mildly luminescent ones," Lucy said jokingly, though her brother's concentration made him deft to the playful sarcasm.

"In the name of the last good king," Jared cursed in the politest fashion possible.

Lucy silently laughed at the way he made sure to use the respectable way to address the long-dead monarch and handed over the buzzing insects.

Jared placed the jar down and hovered his hand over the metal top. The lid rose to meet his palm as the flies flew out before using his other hand to direct the insects toward the frumpy creature.

The horns on the frog started to frantically move and point to the food in front of them and from the brown horns shot two discolored sticky yellow tongues. Jared waited for the pair of tongues to attach to one of the flies before yanking his hand back. The tongues that had latched onto the bugs weren't able to pull away as Jared possessed the flies with his magic and fought against them.

"Lucy," Jared called, "Take over for me."

Lucy knelt closer and concentrated on controlling the flies with the magic her brother had taught her. As soon as Jared let go of his hold on the flies, the tongues gained some ground, but Lucy was quick and potent enough with her skills to tug back.

Jared beamed at his sister's success and pulled from his bag a pair of pliers. "I would say you've all but mastered that one."

Lucy grinned but kept her focus on the tongues.

With the pliers and the empty jar wedged between his arm, stepped into the swamp. The thick brown goo reached his waist and Lucy prayed that it was mostly mud, but by the smell, doubted it. Jared crossed to the frog and got to quick work yanking off the extra tongues and dropping them into his jar. With the parasites safely packed away, Jared nodded to the toad as if to dismiss him. The unfazed king of the swamp glared deadpan back before it let out a single groggy croak and hopped away.

"You are welcome, sir!" Jared held up the jar triumphantly, and waved it goodbye to their slimy friend.

"Zagabots," Jared said, as he trekked back to Lucy. "Parasites that cling to the faces of their hosts, eating all their food sources and slowly starving them to death."

Lucy grabbed the jar as Jared needed all his strength to free himself from the swamp. "Interesting." She looked over the insects. The tongues made a constant ringing as their bodies thrashed against the glass.

"However, they are unparalleled when it comes to detecting malicious intent. That's why they're used in sensory stones." Jared sat back, breathing ragged from the effort. "And why we had to be so careful with our approach. Some use them to tell their friends from enemies, but often don't like what they find out." He outstretched his hands in an ask for the parasites back.

Lucy handed them over. The rumbling didn't increase but it didn't slow down either. "Is that so."