Tall Tale TV!
SciFi and Fantasy Short Story Audiobooks.
Of Monsters and Mushrooms by Lesley Herron
Chapter 9, Entoloma
Attila pointed his jaw up and to the side, doing his best to appear somewhere between
pensive and triumphant.
He adjusted his feet, squared off his shoulders, and tried to puff his chest out.
Attila wasn't sure how much longer he could this heroic pose.
His legs were trembling with aches from running and a single bead of sweat threatened to roll
over the bridge of his brow and into his good eye.
But he was desperate to make certain that everyone had time to see him this way.
"Knock it off, you idiot.," Vel grumbled as he gave his duster a hearty shake, releasing
the dirt into the air in thick plumes.
The merc didn't even have a chance to respond when Errik's hand shot out and shoved Attila's
mask, forcefully, on his face.
He stumbled back, tripping over Evan, and landed in a heap at the bottom of the rubble
pile.
"What do you mean by idiot?,"Attila asked, his voice a little waspish.
Not even a thank you!
That ungrateful cyborg!
Attila had found the way out, saved Vel, -and- still had time to kill the worm.
What more did he want?
"I'm not the one who was running the wrong way in the tunnels."
Vel could feel a vein tighten in his forehead, and that all too familiar throb of a migraine.
He shoved his arms back into his duster and reached down to wrench Attila off the ground.
He set him down roughly, and continued to glare at him from behind his mask.
"Yeah, but only an idiot would endanger, not only himself, but those around him in
a vain attempt to show off.
Because...," Vel paused, gesturing at the pile of rubble behind him.
"...only an idiot would block our only way home and think that it's something to celebrate."
Errik moved between the two, trying to save Attila from his brother's murderous wrath.
"Hey!
Stop.
It's fine.," he began, his voice reflecting the unseen smile he was offering to Vel.
"It's not that far back to your place from here.
And, at least now we don't have to worry about Madam Whisper coming after us."
Errik hoped some of these truths would convince his brother to back down.
"Not that far back!?," Vel snapped.
Errik dropped his arms back to his side, and took a step back.
Nope.
It hadn't worked.
"It wouldn't be that far back if we could -fly-!
But hacking through that forest, it'll take days!
And, correct me if I'm wrong, but -somebody- left all of our provisions behind!"
Errik made a noise of surprise and indignation.
He was affronted that Vel could even throw that in his face.
"You told me to!"
"And since when have you -ever- listened to me?
Between you and the witless wonder here, it's a miracle we've made it this far!"
Attila felt something snap within.
You can only be pushed so far before you just can't take it anymore.
He threw his hands up in frustration.
He'd had enough.
"Fine!," he shouted, picking up his hat.
He gave it a good thumping, fixed the brim, and shoved it on his dust covered head.
"This -idiot- will find his own way to the gate!"
He gave an all mighty huff through his mask and swiveled on his heel.
He stomped off down a broken alleyway before disappearing out of sight.
Errik shot an unseen look at Vel, and crossed his arms in disappointment.
Evan added to the guilt by offering up his own disapproving stare.
Attila tried to rub the granules of dirt from his mechanical eye, but stopped when his finger
hit the glass lens of his mask.
He gave another indignant huff as he rounded the corner.
He certainly was -not- an idiot.
He was the most intelligent, the most talented, and positively the most handsome of all the
citizens in Three Hub.
He had managed to make a working carburetor out of a stick of gum, a tin can, and a broken
inhaler.
Okay, so it didn't run for long, but it had worked!
He kicked a rock angrily and looked up.
The way Errik had described it, they would be marching through the heart of the mushroom
forest.
But the end of the alleyway opened up onto a wide street, littered with abandoned vehicles
that were more rust than metal.
Dead trees lined the sidewalks along the pavement like the ribs of a long deceased behemoth,
and just beyond was the remains of a sprawling, prewar metropolis.
The remains of Harmony Valley.
Attila stepped over the withered fiberglass skeleton of along abandoned baby stroller,
and into the open.
Great fissures had fractured the street, leaving one side of the city a foot higher than the
other.
The parts of the streets, walkways, and alleys that weren't filled with debris were covered
in the same red spongy moss that blanketed the mushroom forest.
He followed one the moss filled fissures to an intersection.
Towering structures, steel buildings, and toppled sky scrapers were spread out before
him, slowly being consumed by a wide variety of giant mushrooms he hadn't seen before.
There were large umbrella shaped mushrooms that blocked out huge swathes of sunlight,
ones that formed thick hexagonal netting between the gaps in the buildings, and mushrooms with
long sweeping tendrils that looked like phosphorescent creeping vines.
They crawled up the sides of the prewar monoliths, using the skyscrapers to reach ever higher
where the wind was the strongest to carry their spores.
Through all of the vines, moss, and oddly shaped mushroom protrusions, Attila could
recognize an old faded store sign.
"Ooohooohooo."
He jogged through the street, jumping over moss filled apertures.
He was unable to contain his glee.
His anger towards Vel was forgotten as he pushed against the remnants of a glass door.
"I don't understand why you have to be so crass all the time.," Errik shot, unwavering
from his stance.
"He -did- save us from the worm."
"Yeah and almost killed all of us in the process."
Errik tapped his foot angrily.
Vel snorted.
"Even if he did, everything we've endured, up to now, is -his- fault.
And here we are, stuck in the one place we don't want to be stuck in."
"The tunnel would have collapsed anyways, and one or all of us might not have made it
out.
Say what you will, but he did stare down a borer worm while we ran away!
I just...," Errik paused, dropping his hands finally.
"I just don't understand why you have to be so hard on him, or so resistant to this
expedition."
"Because you know how I feel about this place.," Vel muttered, shoving his hands
into the pockets of his coat.
A flicker of movement beyond his brother's shoulder caught his attention.
There, scurrying among the rabble of a desiccated building, was a warbling mass of black inky
goo.
It shifted and swirled, as if it were trying to figure out what would be the best body
shape to move around in.
Vel watched as it sprouted an odd number of animal like legs and began to wobble about.
He turned his attention back to his brother.
"I hate it here, and if you could see these little parasites running around you would
too.," he mumbled, his eyes flickering back to the Unseen.
"Look.
I get it.
This place sucks.
For a lot of reasons.
But I needed more information on the gate anyways.
I wouldn't have even suggested it if I didn't have my own agenda.," Errik said, his hand
gesturing lazily in the direction of the gateway.
"You said you wanted to go home.
Well, this is how I figure that out."
Vel was only half listening now, as the lone Unseen was joined by several others.
They were spawning and swarming in a small group of twisted and horrific looking monstrosities.
They chittered and clicked at one another.
They were harmless in small numbers, but that didn't stop him from shuddering at the sight
of them.
"I'm just saying that perhaps Attila's not really a complete moron.
And that maybe, if you apologize we can all go through the gate together.
We could use his help!," Errik pointed out.
Vel nodded slowly in agreement, even though he hadn't heard a word his brother had just
said.
The swarm of Unseen had just noticed them, and was slowly advancing on them.
Evan, who was the furthest from the group, was idly examining a filth covered forgotten
doll.
He lifted it up by it's arm, watching the dirt cascade off it.
"What happened here?," he asked, turning the doll in his hands.
Vel moved over and plucked Evan off the ground, tucking him under his arm like one would a
wayward child.
One of the uglier Unseen, in the form of a seven legged misshapen rat, lunged at Evan.
Vel gave it a heft kick, sending it flying back into a pile of debris.
"Let's go find the idiot and get out of here."
"Hey!
I know how to walk you overgrown can opener!," Evan snorted, as he jabbed a tiny fist into
his captor's ribs.
Vel dropped him, wincing.
Errik clapped his hands together, happily.
He spun around for a moment, as if to gather his bearings.
"Um.
Do we have any idea which direction he took off in?"
One of the buildings in the distance collapsed in a small explosion, sending up a cloud of
dust and smoke like a beacon.
Vel sighed, and pointed in the direction of the plumes of black haze billowing out from
the skyline.
Hopefully, he thought, as they took off in a run, Attila's actions hadn't caught the
attention of any of the nastier Unseen.
"Attila!," Errik called out, looking at the destroyed building in despair.
He heard only his own voice backing back at him, echoing off the narrow alleyways.
Vel began pulling out chunks of concrete and drywall, tossing them behind him.
He couldn't be sure what he was doing, or why, as he heaved another hunk of debris behind
him.
The building was completely demolished.
No one could survive this kind of damage.
"Oh, hey guys!"
Vel froze, his hand still gripped around a sizable piece of concrete.
He turned slowly around to see Attila standing, unharmed, in the parking lot of an abandoned
sporting goods store.
He was cranking back on the winch of a makeshift catapult, a bundle of propane bottles loaded
into it's business end.
"What in the hell...," Vel said, dropping the chunk of concrete back into the pile.
He stepped closer to Attila, staring up at the giant machine.
"...is that?"
Attila slapped the side of the siege weapon.
"Nice, right?
I call her Bessie!
She's a bit hard to aim, but packs a wallop!
I'm still working out how to carry her though..."
Evan let out a maniacal cackle of delight as he circled the catapult.
He placed his tiny hands on the frame, and gave it a loving stroke.
"The damage I could do with one of these!," he chuckled, as if speaking to only himself.
"I think...," Errik said, cutting in before Vel could fly off the handle again.
"...what he meant, is -why- did you build a catapult?"
"How else am I going to rescue Brig?
I needed some hardware!
Wanna see the rest?"
Before they could answer Attila was heading for the front of the shop, beckoning them
to follow.
He stepped through the broken display window, and pulled something out from behind the register.
He turned with a smile, brandishing a rocket propelled grappling hook, made from a boating
anchor, some rope, and a modified scuba tank.
"For if we fall down one of those buildings!"
Vel followed the others slowly, careful to step over a spring loaded crossbow.
It wasn't filled with arrows, but pocket tasers strapped to tent stakes.
He could feel a muscle spasm under his eye.
Errik grabbed Vel by the arm, stopping him.
"Remember, you said you would apologize so he'd go with us."
"I did what?"
Vel certainly didn't recall agreeing to any such thing.
Errik gave a visible huff, and folded his arms in front of himself again.
"Fine.," Vel replied through grit teeth.
Evan pointed at one of the more unique contraptions.
"What's that for?"
"This one's for if we run into those pesky Un-visibles that Errik told me about!,"
Attila said, almost beaming with pride as he picked up a hair trigger weapon that was
loaded with twenty different colors of spray paint cans.
Vel couldn't do it.
Even on his best days, he could never apologize to someone like Attila.
"Leave that piece of junk here and let's go!," he barked, trying to keep his temper.
Attila turned his back on the group and walked inside the building, stepping over a broken
mannequin defiantly, muttering under his breath.
"You're the piece of junk..."
Vel whirled around, his hand gesturing angrily as Attila stomped off into the store.
"I can't do it!"
Errik shook his head and only made to shoo his brother off, who after a minute of coercing
begrudgingly relented.
Vel followed Attila into the store, and immediately wished he hadn't.
Filling every corner and rafter of the building was trembling masses of the same black inky
goo.
They pulsed and throbbed, as they began to separate.
"Attila...we need to go.
Now.," Vel said, trying to keep his voice calm but urgent.
"Why?
So you can boss me around some more!?
Who made you the boss, anyway!?," Attila replied simply, his voice uneven.
He was busy digging through a pile of bungee cords, measuring them against his spray can
contraption, and didn't seem to notice the look of panic on Vel's face.
The Unseen were separating from the masses, and began to take on individual forms.
They fell to the floor like giant drops of tar, and began to pry themselves up into twisted
animals.
Vel, more urgently this time, pleaded with Attila.
"Look.
We -really- need to go.
Now.
It's not safe here."
Attila stopped foraging, dropping his packs of cords in favor of the conveyor belt off
the register.
"You know, now that I think about it.," he started, ripping the band of rubber up
with great effort, keeping his back turned on Vel.
"I've done all the work.
Who sweet talked Lola into helping?
Me!
Who seduced the rule of the Under Well?
Me!"
The louder Attila's voice got, the more active the masses of Unseen became.
"And who killed a giant worm that was about to eat everyone?
Oh yeah.
ME!"
He finally managed to pry up the belt and stumbled back.
"All you've done is get us all tossed in jail!"
Vel raised his hands, desperately trying to calm Attila.
"Lower your voice!"
"No!
You've been a negative Nancy since we first met!
I don't understand why.
Okay, so Trash-bot demolished some of your home.
But that wasn't my fault!"
He examined the belt, shrugged, and threw it over his shoulder.
"Okay, so it wasn't -completely- my fault.
But, you should be nicer to me!
Like your brother!"
Attila finally looked up at Vel to thrust an accusing finger at him.
The Unseen were now amassed in an impressive army of countless twisted rats and birds,
crawling and screeching towards them slowly.
Vel could handle the small ones, they would scatter once you've killed a few and showed
them you weren't spineless.
But it was what was creeping out from between a rack of dusty overcoats that worried him.
It had the overall shape of a large cat, with a long tail and four large pawed feet.
But the bones of the spine stuck out of it's gooey back, and it's head was on upside down.
Goo poured form it's mouth, nose, and it's eye sockets landing in puddles beneath it,
only to be absorbed back into it's body as it stepped in them.
It opened it's jaws, and began to flatten itself to the ground, circling them.
Hunting them.
Sheer panic over took him, and before he could stop himself, Vel blurted out a hasty apology.
"Okay, I get it.
I'm an ass.
I'm sorry.
Can we go now?"
Attila contemplated Vel's apology for a moment, weighing it's sincerity, before finally conceding.
"Fine, but first you have to admit my inventions aren't junk."
Vel felt that muscle spasm under his eye again.
"They're awesome and wonderful.
You're the frigging Tesla of our age.
Now lets go!," Vel urged in a whisper.
"What's taking so long!?," Errik asked, pushing his way past a beheaded mannequin.
"We really need to try and get to the gate before it gets-"
Vel silenced his brother by clamping his mechanical hand over his mouth.
They exchanged a look in silence, and Vel nodded slowly.
He gestured towards the register Attila was standing by.
Mistaking Vel's actions for a hug towards his brother, Attila abandoned his quest for
springy cord and was ready to bring it in.
his arms opened to embrace them.
Evan peered out from behind Errik, looking around at just what Vel was pointing to.
He couldn't see anything, but Vel was clearly stressed out about something.
Then he saw it.
An unmistakable paw print in a thick layer of dust.
And then another.
And then another and they were headed their way.
"Uh.
Guys...?"
"Run.," Vel urged, giving Errik and Evan a shove as he grabbed Attila by the poncho
and yanked him out the door as the inky jaguar pounced.
The spray can ballista fell to the ground and misfired, sending gouts of blue, green,
pink and orange in all direction.
The cat took a face full of teal and roared.
There was a sudden clamorous sound that rent the silence of the city.
The creatures gave way to the chase, scrambling over anything in their path, and bursting
out from the broken windows.
They spilled out into the streets, piling on top of one another in their attempts to
follow.
"What the heck is that!?," Attila called out, breaking into a run.
They clambered over bent street lights and broken vehicles trying to outrun the swarm
of brightly colored Unseen behind them.
They turned down a darkened alley, dodging a crumbled wall and ducking beneath a rusted
ladder before exiting out the other side.
Tucked away, safe from the collapsed buildings and showing only a few signs of damage, was
a grand structure built to last.
Stone construction, four stories high with the front engulfed by a giant plexiglass atrium.
The skull of a long forgotten reptile peered out at them from behind the grime covered
windows.
"Go!
In there!
Now!," Vel ordered, looking over his shoulder to see the inky cat prowling after them, the
swarm of Unseen following on it's heels.
They ran into museum, slamming the doors closed behind them.
Attila and Errik wedged a stone slab, covered in hieroglyphs, in front of the door.
They took an unsteady step back as the door gave a heavy shudder beneath the force of
the Unseen slamming themselves into it.
The weight of the slab held the door shut and the creature tried again, to no avail.
Evan slid a dusty mop through the door handles for good measure.
The whole first level had been entirely devoted to the atrium.
It was spacious, with what was once a gleaming tiles of sparkling granite.
The lobby had, at one time, housed a forest of trees.
They were now dead and rotted away from years of neglect, creating a cemetery of towering
ghosts.
Mingling among the ghosts, were the towering skeletons of long extinct animals, including
the large dinosaur dominating the room.
The atrium rose up two stories before curving back in, creating a half dome where the trees,
and the exhibit, would have gotten the most sun.
What little light could get through the dirt stained windows was suddenly blocked out as
swarms of Unseen began crawling and sliding around on the glass.
Bright streaks of paint cut across the panes as they tried desperately to get in, unable
to break through the barricade.
But the safety glass proved no easier.
They slid off the slick surface, piling on top of one another at the base of the atrium.
"Are we safe here?," Evan asked, his tiny hands fidgeting nervously over the handles
of his knives.
" 'cause I think there's more of 'em showin' up!
Look!"
Intermingled with the lines of color, claw marks and smudged grime were appearing out
of nowhere.
Vel could see hordes of Unseen starting to fall into the existing pool of creatures.
Some of the approaching forms dwarfed the feline.
"Sure...," Vel lied, looking around nervously.
"But, we should move further inside just in case."
Even if the front of the building held, it wouldn't take the Unseen long to find the
vents or any cracked windows or broken doors.
Hopefully they would give up before then.
The barricade gave another resounding thud.
"Whew.
Well, it could be worse!," Attila said, his voice showing no signs of panic.
He had his hands on his hips, looking up at the dinosaur like it was any other day at
a museum.
Vel watched a stream of dust drift down from the ceiling as the building gave an ominous
shudder.
He turned to glare at Attila, as the ground beneath them gave another unsettling rumble.
"I hate you, so much."
This has been chapter 9 of Monsters and Mushrooms, an ongoing series by Lesley Herron.
Of Monsters to Mushrooms is a crossover fanfiction mixing her own characters and settings with
a few of those created by Author J.D. Wiley.
What started as a four chapter short story has now evolved into a full length novel with
over 20 chapters planned out already.
When Lesley isn't torturing poor Attila, or subjecting Vel to mental anguish, she loves
to draw, craft, and binge watch Netflix.
(sigh.
. .) You want ME to do the outro?
Seriously?
You know I hate everything, right?
Fine, uh.
. . Subscribe, Newsletter, blah blah blah.
. . Tall Tale TV.
There, happy?
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