Jason Jones Finds Monsters

"Here," said the black-winged centaur to Jason Jones. "There," pointing to the distance beyond the next rise, "is Great One. Go."

Jason stopped, panting for breath. It had been a long bike ride. His water bottle was quite empty now, and had been (Jason estimated) for the last mile. Still panting, he asked the centaur, "What will happen if I just walk up to him?'

The centaur shrugged. "Don't know. Probably he prison you. Maybe not. If he wanted kill... easier ways, yes?"

Jason thought of the slicers, and nodded. "Well, then." He got back on his bike, pedaling for a few feet; then he stopped as he noticed the centaur standing still. "Aren't you coming with me?" he asked.

The centaur shook his head. "No. Great One is... dangerous. I take you to him free... he may kill me."

Jason thought about this. "Well... I'm still with you, right?" he asked. "You were just supposed to get me to this guy. Wouldn't he reward you anyway?" Looking at the harsh landscape around them - they were near the mountains now, and the cold was getting harsher - Jason said, "Besides, I think I'd like someone to come with me - just in case."

The centaur frowned dourly. Jason waited for a full minute for him to decide, growing increasingly impatient; then, shrugging, he cycled off. Not long after, the centaur caught up to him, jogging easily beside Jason. The centaur asked, slowly, "Why you want this so bad?"

Jason answered, "Back home, you centaurs and some other creatures were killing people. It seemed to have something to do with me. And so I came here, to try to stop it. This guy seems pretty important, and involved with all this... so I'm going to deal with him."

The centaur made no comment. They were entering rocky land now, full of crevices and boulders. Trees rose crookedly upwards, devoid of foilage. Jason was forced to dismount his bike, using a tree for support as he got off. To his great surprise, it collapsed into a pile of bark and dust at his touch, sending Jason into an awkward sprawl. Recovering himself, Jason cursed and walked his bike to another tree. He tapped it lightly, and it, too, collapsed. It was completely hollow.

Jason shivered. As he walked, he monologued to the centaur, "Harsh and desolate landscape, weird hollow trees, dark crevasses that make the whole thing even spookier... I feel like I'm walking into some evil villain's lair. And look at that, that weird rock on the wall. It looks like it has three eyes on this weird stalk... it just scuttled off. What was that?" he asked the centaur.

"That was... looker," the centaur fumbled to explain. "It is first of Great One's defense. Looks, tells Great One we coming."

"So there'll be company soon?" Jason asked.

The centaur looked at him blankly.

"The Great One will send someone out to us?" Jason rephrased.

The centaur nodded, and they continued.

Soon Jason saw what he first thought were strange, blue mineral veins along the tops of the crevasses, but soon recognized for what they were: strange, alien plants, like vines with completely flat hexagonal leaves. At first they were thin veins, but as Jason walked, they thickened and multiplied. Jason finally stopped when they were so numerous as to blot out the sun. He lay his bicycle on the wall in the crevasse where he and the centaur stood, lit only by thin slits of light uncovered by vegetation; and this was when the Great One's escorts finally arrived.

Jason noticed two of them first; they were about seven feet tall, a dull brown (so far as he could see them in the darkness), round, and covered with short spikes. They seemed wet. They pulsed toward Jason, moving in a series of contractions and expansions like an ooze - Jason took an involuntary step back. It was only as they came to a stop, one on each side of him (the centaur having retreated further) did Jason notice the third of the Great One's escorts: a man.

The man walked toward Jason, advancing at a slower pace than his companions. In the darkness, Jason could see no more than his outline. In faultless English, he said, "Ah, Jason Jones. You have arrived at last. Come with me, please?"

Jason took a moment to recover his composure. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I am the emissary of the Great One," the man said. "Would you please follow me, please?"

Jason, flanked by the spiked balls, nodded and agreed. They walked a short while longer, then arrived in a large room, walled and floored in rock and roofed in the everpresent blue vines. Tendrils from them ran down to a point at the back of the room, concealed by a giant painting of some abstract symbol. Floodlights were moored to the ceiling and floor, blinding Jason - the man was still no more than an outline, though, glancing sideways, he could see that his ball-escorts were rather more reddish in hue than the brown he'd suspected before.

The man turned and bowed deeply to the painting, then turned to face Jason Jones once more. "I will be speaking on behalf of the Great One today. It is a great honor to have you with us at last, Jason Jeremiah Jones."

Jason's eyes, slowly adjusting, had noted something on the back of the envoy's neck when he turned. If he had to guess, he would say that it was a sort of triangle, or wedge pointing upwards.

He was certain he'd seen that before somewhere - but there was no more time to think. Jason had found the Great One. Now he had to deal with him.