Chapter 3 – In the Woods Where the Action Is
The next afternoon Hellboy sat on a log just outside his tent eating from his large vat of chili. The cool mountain air stung his skin so he crowded in closer over the small campfire that he had constructed to warm his food. He had begun his morning with pancakes for breakfast, walking through the woods and near the river, trying to find any sign of the stone woman known as Spearfinger. He had found nothing. Was she hiding? Now, only five hours later, he was studying the literature that Kate had compiled into a large red book. As he stirred the beans in his chili bowl, he spooned the thick chili into his mouth and continued reading.
From out of the corner of his eye Hellboy suddenly noticed what appeared to be heavy brown smoke in the sky. He glanced around frantically until finally noticing that it's point of origin was just up the mountain. Suddenly the raven flew overhead and Hellboy swore that he heard whispers in the lush forest that surrounded him.
"Well, guess lunch is over. " Hellboy threw down his bowl, rose to his feet and quickly yanked his trademark weapon from its holster. It was the oversized gunmetal gray revolver that was given to him by the Torch of Liberty when he was twelve. Hellboy had heard once that someone apparently dubbed the weapon The Good Samaritan, but Hellboy didn't care about what it was called as long as it didn't jam and could save his ass. He held it in an upright position, just as he held the red book up and began reading a cherokee incantation:
Nu'na La Uwa Sa'we
Bring U'tlun'ta from down the mountain
Nu'na La Uwa Sa'we
Let her dwell here no more
Nu'na La Uwa Sa'we
Take away her power from this land
Nu'na La Uwa Sa'we
Starve her spirit and banish her forever
At those words a woman, in what appeared to be a stone dress, appeared from out of the trees. Hellboy jumped back and glanced at her. The old hag stood at least seven feet tall, with grey rock-like skin, almost resembling a statue. Her long hair was scraggly and untamed. The robe-like stone dress she wore was craggy and reached to her ankles. The hulking stone sandals that adorned her feet made grinding, crunching noises as she moved. Her blue-grey eyes, lacking irises or pupils, suddenly turned midnight black. Finally she pointed her grotesque stone finger at Hellboy. It was at least eight inches long and extremely thick with a point as a knife.
"Damn, you're ugly, lady," Hellboy provoked her. "Aren't you supposed to sneak up on me dressed like an old grandmother or something?" There was no response. "No? You wanna get right to it then? Fine by me. Let's do this!"
Standing frozen for a brief moment, the statueesque witch suddenly began to sing:
Uwe la na tsiku. Su sa sai.
Liver, I eat it. Su sa sai.
Uwe la na tsiku. Su sa sai.
"Shut up, witch!" Hellboy bellowed, aiming his gun at her head and firing. The bullet ricocheted loudly off of her cheek. In frustration, Hellboy threw his gun to the ground.
Spearfinger smiled and laughed. "You cannot harm me, demon. I am of the Earth, a goddess of stone. I am immortal."
"We'll see about that!" Hellboy hurtled towards her.
His stone hand crashed fiercely into the hag's head, knocking Hellboy back near the campfire where he was previously studying. He grabbed the book and was flipping pages to find her weakness when a small woodpecker landed on the log.
"Her hand. You must injure her hand. Shoot it. Tear it off. Remove her finger. It will destroy her heart and she will die."
"Thanks Woody," Hellboy smiled as the bird flew away.
Hellboy threw down the book and lunged for his gun, aiming it at Spearfinger's right hand and pulling the trigger. He missed as the stone woman raised her right hand and stones of all shapes and sizes, from all around the forest began to levitate.
"Oh crap!" Hellboy's eyes widened with apprehension.
Suddenly rocks started flying at him. Hellboy darted left and right, deflecting them with his stone hand, avoiding most, until he got close enough to the old crone to tackle her. The demon jumped on the stone woman, punching her in the face with his stone hand as hard as he could. The two tumbled over each other in a fury until Hellboy was on top of her, trying to tear her right hand off. From out of nowhere Spearfinger's pet raven appeared, attempting to knock Hellboy off of her master.
"Get away from me, you goddamned bird," Hellboy swiped at the bird, punching it with his left hand and knocking it violently into a tree.
Spearfinger saw that Hellboy was distracted by her pet so she pushed as savagely as she could to get him to release her. Hellboy's right hand held a furious grip to the spear finger itself and with great resistance, as the old hag pushed him off of her, her finger was dicerped from her hand.
Hellboy fell on his back, unaware at first of what had happened. When Spearfinger rose to her knees, the earth trembled slightly as she unleashed a maddening howl of pain and began clutching her chest. Hellboy stood up, looking at the old witch and then at the sharp finger he held in his hand.
"I'll be back, you fool. I'll return and have my revenge," Spearfinger managed to cry out before her body exploded into a pile of dust and rubble.
"You guys always say that. And it rarely happens. Goodbye Spearfinger. Thanks for the souvenir." Hellboy held the finger up to the sunlight and examined it. "Now, to get to that village and get the hell home."
