Chapter 8
Jack
Beowulf prayed.
But not to God. He prayed to a deity which true name could not be pronounced by human tongue. The closest thing that we can pronounce is 'Cthulhu'.
He had seen Gene's defeat at the hands of Grendel. Although he had expected this, and had knowingly sent him to die, Beowulf was still worried.
And so he prayed to his ancient god, begging for assistance. As a gift, he took out his small crucifix-dagger (the same one he used to impale Gene onto the tree) and cut off his pinky finger.
He rolled it in front of him and waited. The severed digit disappeared in a puff of smoke. Beowulf patiently waited.
A burst of fire appeared in the center of the floor, and out of the flames emerged a crimson sword that was as red as blood.
Beowulf took the sword and held it.
On the other side of Spauldingopolis, Grendel and Iago walked grimly down the road. They were bitter, weary and wounded.
After being encountered by Scout and Jem, the two had fled from the house. Grendel couldn't believe how out of control he had gotten until it had been too late. He would never forget the look in Scout's eyes as she came inside the room and witnessed the carnage.
It wasn't long before they came upon the woods that Iago had found Grendel's cave. "What are we to do now?" Iago asked.
"We wait." Grendel grumbled.
The two walked on until a severed pig's head on a stick greeted them. It was bloated and foul smelling. It seemed to be grinning at them. The sound of flies buzzing around it could be heard.
"And people say I have issues." Iago said.
"Quiet." Grendel hissed. "I can hear something. We're not alone." A pause. "When I count to three…run as fast as you can back to where we came from."
"Why?"
"Just do it!" Grendel said. "Now!"
It was too late. All around them they could hear hoots and hollers and cries. They were surrounded.
"The Beast!" One voice said. "It's the Beast!"
Out of every direction came boys no older than twelve. They wore nothing but rags that worked as loincloths. Paint was smeared over their faces. They were all brandishing spears and other weapons. "It's the Beast!" They chanted. "Kill it!"
Grendel growled. "I can tear all of you to ribbons before any of you so much as blink. I would, too. Do not doubt me."
This seemed to anger the boys even more. One of them, the leader presumably and the oldest of the group, jabbed his spear out. "You shut it!"
Not wanting to see Grendel go crazy again, Iago stepped in between the two. "Listen here, kids. Grendel here is not a beast. Okay, maybe he is, but he's not the one that you speak."
"He's not?" A little boy no more than five said.
Ignoring him, the leader said. "Who are you and what are you doing on our island?"
"I am Iago and this here is Grendel." Iago said. "We mean you no harm. We were just looking for a place to hide. Who are you, if I may ask, and how did you get here?"
"I am Jack Merridew." The leader said. "Our plane crashed here several months ago and we've had to survive all on our own. The pig's head is a gift to the Beast that stalks the forest. We've never left the forest because of the screams that we heard."
He must have heard the executions going on. Iago thought.
"Hate to break it to you, but there's been civilization here for at least a couple of months." Iago said. "It's not exactly a democracy, but its not all-out anarchy." He paused and thought for a second. "Actually, come to think of it, worshipping a rotting animal head is a better route than serving Beowulf."
Grendel snorted.
Jack paused. "Civilization? People? Do you think…we could come?"
Iago shrugged. "Why not?"
They heard a series of footsteps coming from the far side of the forest. Beowulf's men again. They were being ambushed.
"This is not good." Iago said. "Not good at all."
"What's going on?" A fat boy with glasses said.
"You all have to hide." Grendel said. "Now!"
The boys ran through the bushes. Grendel and Iago followed.
When the soldiers finally came into the clearing, Grendel and the rest were well hidden.
"Christ, what is that?" One of the soldiers said looking at the grinning pig's head. "It smells awful."
The leader (probably Beowulf's second in command) stepped forward. "We're know you're here. Come out on the count of the three or it isn't going to be pretty."
The kids began brandishing the spears.
"One!"
"Ready?" Jack hissed.
The other boys nodded.
"Two!"
The boys ran out screaming and hollering. The men were caught off guard. A couple got stabbed by the spears.
"They're just children!" Spat Beowulf's second in command.
Roger, a dark-skinned boy, threw a rock at the man. The soldier let out a cry and fell back. Roger leapt into the fray, screaming and biting and tearing. He was quick and agile, while some of the soldiers were slow and dumb.
But when all was said and done, they were merely boys with sticks fighting men with swords. Beowulf's men fought back harder and many of the boys were killed. Roger managed to jam his spear inside the second in command before getting impaled by another's sword.
Grendel and Iago managed to kill a couple of men, but they couldn't do much without risk of harming the kids.
Many of the boys were dragged away kicking and screaming by the soldiers. Jack tried running after them, but Iago stopped him. "They're being taken away alive. That's better than dead."
"Why?"
"Because they want us to follow them into a trap." Grendel said. "If we went after them now, they'd be killed. We have to wait until later."
Jack spat at Iago's feet. "Curse you! You disrupted our way of life, you brought these men here and now you took away my friends!"
Grendel grabbed Jack and slammed him against the tree. "I advise you to watch your manners, you little whelp."
"Stop it right now." Iago said. "This is exactly what Beowulf wants. We have to work together if we want to stop him."
"How?" Grendel asked. "How are we going to do that? We've done nothing but play in his hands so far. What have we accomplished?"
"Beowulf's a desperate man." Iago said. "If we work our cards right, we can get him to fall into our trap."
"What are we going to do?"
Iago smiled. "You'll see."