Short Story : The Underworld

This short 'meditale' explores the interaction between our world and the unseen underworld. This was written in lockdown about how COVID was finally banished in 2039. If you see something fleeting in your peripheral vision, it might just be a faerie trying to get your attention.

Transcript

Elves were easy prey for trolls at dusk.

Trolls had much better eyesight,

As they lived in caves for most of the time.

Trolls were gluttons,

And too stupid to stop killing off all of their favourite food sources.

It was this stupidity that led to the elves coming up with a plan to stop the trolls quite literally in their tracks.

The elves,

Trolls,

Goblins and fairy folks lived in the dimensions between the void and the density.

This used to be known as the Underworld.

In the modern overworld,

People have forgotten about what lay between the above and below.

This ignorance of humanity went unnoticed by the goblins and trolls,

But the fairies and elves felt it,

As they were still very active in the earth plane.

Indeed,

They were often used by the councillors as unseen agents of change in the density from time to time.

Their influence was subtle and often fleeting.

Unbeknownst even to the fairies and elves,

It was from the above that councillor eleven pulled their strings in the below.

Her role was singularly focused,

And that was to manage replication in all lifeforms in order to create a stable biosphere and a thriving noosphere.

From time to time,

This meant some species that were upsetting the balance would be made extinct.

Even the fairies did not know the myths were conscious and watching them.

Replication is a balancing act.

Replicate too fast and too often and it runs out of control.

Replicate sporadically and infrequently and the species dies.

If a predator replicates at a faster rate than its prey,

It goes hungry.

If a host-killing virus infects too many hosts that pass the infection on,

Then it can run out of transmitters.

In 2039,

The human population on earth was grappling with its 19th successive year of global pandemic.

Covid-38 was particularly rampant and virulent.

None of the previous vaccines seemed to have any effect on it.

As soon as one was developed,

The virus mutated yet again over every winter season.

It was clever and the world was in a lockdown like it had never seen.

Villages,

Towns,

Cities and countries had become islands.

Nobody shopped and drones had replaced delivery drivers.

At least population growth had flattened out,

Which meant food production and general planetary decimation was on the wane.

The ever-mutating Covid virus had been the death knell for the deeply suffering airline industry in the 20s.

Over the course of the 30s,

The development of new land-spanning maglevs and ocean-crossing tubeways were the final nail in the coffin for air travel.

Individual pods at least meant people could be kept apart while travelling.

It was the elves who were responsible for the particularly nastiness of Covid-38.

They had tinkered with some of its DNA strands,

From in-between the dimensions,

To make something to take out even the biggest and most ravenous troll.

Antibodies in the 3D world are a mere tip of a multidimensional iceberg.

In 5D,

Their true potency is clear to see.

From a 7D perspective,

You can see the whole evolutionary vector of a virus.

In the 1.

5D underworld,

They are a mere shadow,

But no less lethal in a host with none of the right antibodies.

So the trolls got sick and retreated to their caves.

What the elves had not considered was that the mountain goblins,

Who shared some of the same caves,

Would also be infected by the virus.

The mountain goblins traded with the forest goblins and the forest goblins with the elves.

Each time the virus jumped species,

It mutated and the version carried by the forest goblins found a way to infect the elves.

The fairies were,

Of course,

Immune to anything vibrating at the frequency of a mere virus.

What did it for them was when nobody believed in them.

Then they tended to fade out of existence.

The virus came home with a bang to the elf-king Eldric,

When Soana,

His queen,

Became ill.

He knew he would have to ask the fairies for assistance,

After even his master alchemist,

Saurad,

Threw in the towel.

Half the elf population was sick and quite a few had gone to the world under the underworld already.

The fairies knew that the only way to take the virus out of circulation was to tackle it from a higher dimensional perspective.

Their magic could only slow it down.

Fortunately,

The fairies also knew the location,

Age and talents of every single one of the few Wu left in the density.

The reason for this is that the fairies were present at the conception of every single new sorceress and sorcerer.

The Wu were mostly based in China these days,

Although some operated in Mongolia,

Russia and Nepal.

They liked to live in thin places.

Their magic was largely ignored and derided by the general populace,

But not by the ruling elite in China and several billionaires.

This was why a young girl called Jia was growing up in the Fragrant Hills Park,

North-west of Beijing.

This was the enclaved home of the elite classes.

The fairies were present when her father Sperm entered Jia's mother's egg back in 2028.

An extra dose of fairy dust entered the egg too.

Jia's mother was a powerful Wu and the resident healer.

She was called Mia.

Her spells created an impenetrable wall around the park for both potential intruders and especially for viruses.

The community who lived there had been on lockdown and lock-in from 2018,

A year before Covid-19 hit the streets.

Jia's mother had married a non-Wu,

As was the way,

Who happened to be high up in the treasury.

The reason the fairies chose Jia,

And not her mother,

Was because of her innocence and her power.

Jia was used to seeing the fairies floating around ahead since she first opened her eyes.

She was a quick learner and from the age of three she began attending the traditional school mainly to learn language and maths.

The real teaching she required could only be dispensed by her mother and her grandmother Mei.

You are an old soul,

Mei said to her when she rocked the baby in her arms.

By the time Jia had reached eleven,

She had become a free spirit and her powers of sorcery were astounding other Wu.

As she played alone near the smoke trees,

All manner of animals would come her way,

Sometimes bringing their young.

She healed foxes,

Martens,

Caterpillars,

Spiders and the odd leaf monkey,

All with the briefest of touches.

At home she had also taken over many of the cooking duties.

Her food was imbued with healing energies and the emperor had an order in each week for a large batch of one of her soups.

She made it with ingredients she found in the forest.

His favourite was made from burdock and daikon roots,

Shimeji and shiitake mushrooms,

Topped with wild garlic and sorrel.

At dawn and dusk,

Jia liked to sit on the edge of the spectacle lakes.

She created a safe space for the odd-shaped muntjac to drink water along with the normally ravenous wolverine.

The water came alive and was always boiling when she turned up.

Carp,

Newts and frogs similarly felt safe in the company of otters when Jia was around.

They were all attracted by her energy.

When she left,

Prey made themselves scarce.

The reason Jia loved it by the lake is that when she was five,

It is where she first remembered seeing fairies in the reflection of the still waters.

At first they appeared at the corner of her eye,

As they were shy and careful beings.

It took her until the age of seven before she could see them in the reflection right in the centre of her gaze.

She was as surprised as anyone when two weeks after her eleventh birthday,

Two fairies appeared right in front of her eyes on the stone bridge connecting the two lakes.

Her surprise was augmented when the male spoke and knew her name.

We need your help,

Jia.

But of course,

How?

Jia asked.

She was always willing.

You must come with us,

Said the female.

Their lips didn't move,

So Jia was hearing this inside her head.

Let me ask my mother if that is okay.

There is no time,

Said both the male and female in unison.

She will be okay with that,

We will tell her.

Before Jia had any time to respond,

The two fairies flew to her side and the male took her left hand and the female her right.

Jia was transported to a pair of lakes in a forest that looked nearly the same but not quite as the one she knew.

Everything was shimmery and smelt of moss.

The most odd thing was that her feet didn't touch the ground.

She was floating just above the forest canopy and being propelled at some speed by the two fairies.

Where are we going?

Asked Jia calmly.

And by the way,

You haven't even told me your names.

I am Alana and my brother is Onoa,

Said the female.

And you are off to see the Elf King.

Jia wasn't phased by any of this and now she was positively excited.

It felt like the best of her best dreams and she was not sure if it was real or not.

When you arrive in the underworld from the density,

This is normal.

After just a few minutes that didn't feel like minutes,

They arrived at a large clearing with the biggest tree Jia had ever seen in the centre of it.

The bark peeled itself back and they floated into a space much bigger than the trunk allowed.

They had entered the Elf King's palace.

King Eldrick wasted no time and said,

Welcome Jia,

Can you save my wife?

What's wrong with her exactly?

Asked Jia confidently.

Alana filled the gaps in her knowledge as this was more comfortable for Eldrick.

So up to now,

The Covid viruses have not affected us here.

Last year,

The Elf Alchemist Sorad transmuted your Covid-37 with a spell so that it would infect the trolls,

She said.

Now it has come back to bite us,

Interjected Eldrick.

Okay,

Let me see what I can do,

Said Jia.

But first let me speak with Sorad to learn of the spell.

The fairies took her hand so they could escort her,

But she shunned them away and said,

I must do this alone.

Jia was amazed she could float unaided and that she could sense Sorad's power and knew exactly where to find him in the palace.

Everything felt strangely familiar.

She entered what looked like and smelt more like a dungeon than a magical study.

In a dishevelled armchair,

She saw a wizened old man with his head in his hands,

Sobbing.

The walls around him were crammed with vials,

Jars and books that were fizzing and crackling and seemed to be watching her.

She floated over and took his hand.

Don't cry.

Nothing conjured cannot be unconjured.

Tell me about your spell.

Even Jia was surprised at herself.

She didn't usually speak like this or use these words.

It must be a dream,

She thought.

Sorad told Jia exactly what he did to get the virus to mutate.

The rules of Dissemination of Magic do not allow this author to share this process here,

Just the resolution that Jia applied to Queen Solana.

Jia asked him if he had any potions that could enhance the qualities of love,

Thanks and respect.

He stood up and Jia was surprised how tall he was.

He reached to the very top shelf and gave her three vials,

One green,

One blue and one red.

Jia grabbed a goblet and a spoon and poured and mixed them together before Sorad could stop her.

The explosion he was expecting didn't happen.

Jia left Sorad in a much better state than when she met him,

Saying,

I know you don't have the virus,

But take a sip of this for your own benefit.

Sorad nearly gagged as he did,

But felt so much better and even smiled for the first time in weeks.

He had never met anyone who was evidently more accomplished at sorcery than him.

Jia knew full well of the Covid virus,

But had never been exposed to it,

Nor it to her.

Her mother and grandmother would have been horrified at what she was embarking upon,

As residents of the fragrant hills only had immunity to the previous year's viruses.

Yet she had no fear as she found her own way to the bedchamber of Queen Solana.

Jia could tell she was truly beautiful,

Although she was as pale as the damp sheets she lay on.

Jia asked the two handmaidens to leave,

And she sat on the end of the bed and placed her hands on Solana's feet.

She could feel her life energy was weak and decreasing.

She spent a few minutes stabilising the Queen's qi,

And then poured a spoonful of the liquid out for the Queen.

Solana had trouble getting it down,

But immediately felt better.

Jia left her side and went back to her feet.

She took a sip of the liquid herself,

And said to the Queen,

Give all the virus to me.

Jia immediately convulsed and the Queen regained her palar immediately.

Jia then emptied the contents of her stomach,

Along with the cells of the virus,

Into a washbowl,

And then poured some of the liquid into the bowl.

Queen Solana didn't hear a whisper to the virus.

Thank you for the learning.

Things will now change.

I love you.

When she reunited Solana with Eldrick,

He could not stop thanking her.

Take this liquid and dilute it so there is enough to give every elf and goblin in these lands a teaspoon each,

Said Jia,

Who still didn't know where all of this was coming from.

She then said to Alana and Enoa,

Now please take me to the trolls,

But we must stop on the way.

Eldrick slipped a small leather pouch,

Full of elf gold,

Into her hand,

Bowed and bade her farewell.

I hope we meet again.

Me too,

Said Jia,

Not knowing this was just the start of a long relationship,

And be careful with the trolls,

He warned.

As she left with the fairies,

Eldrick could see,

By Jia's demeanour,

That fear was not part of her make-up.

Jia insisted on walking for some of the way to the caves,

And picked up all manner of strange plants,

Fern and lichen.

The fairies lifted her to the opening quite a way up the side of a mountain,

Whose summit was lost in the clouds.

Alana wrapped a scarf over Jia's mouth and nose,

Not so much to protect her from the virus.

Troll caves don't smell great at the best of times,

But when you have to float past putrefying troll corpses,

It's several levels worse than Hakarl,

Icelandic fermented shark.

The central hall was less grand than the inside of the Elf Palace,

By some way.

Enoa introduced Jia to a veritable giant of a troll,

Called Migor.

I thought you were bringing me a powerful sorcerer,

He bellowed,

Before coughing painfully,

Obviously short of breath.

Migor's cough triggered a cacophony,

As several trolls she'd not seen in the shadows started coughing too.

Jia answered for Enoa,

And surprised herself again.

There was a cauldron full of water in the centre of the hall.

She pointed at it,

And flame shot out from her index finger,

And set the kindling and logs below alight.

Is that powerful enough for you,

She said,

Calmly?

Now let me make you some soup.

The pot came to the boil quickly,

As the air was dense in the underworld,

And even denser in the middle of a mountain.

The smell of the simmering soup at least counteracted the stench of the cave.

After half an hour she asked for some bowls,

And one of the trolls in the shadows came forward with a large tray.

Migor went first,

And just like Soana,

The virus left him within seconds.

His fellow trolls followed,

And were all quickly healed.

Jia removed her scarf,

And now the smell went down to the usual troll level,

And said,

Keep making this soup for a week,

And you will get your strength back.

She told them what the ingredients were,

And where she had found them.

Time to take you back,

Alana said to Jia.

The strongest magic is the kind where one simple spell or potion has a knock-on effect.

This is true alchemical transmutation.

After a week on a soup-only diet,

The trolls found their taste buds had changed,

And they lost a taste for meat.

There was no need to kill any more elves.

A meeting was arranged between Migor,

Eldrit and the goblins,

To discuss how to bring peace to a previously troubled underworld.

When the 1.

5D shadow of COVID-38 was eradicated,

The foundations for its 3D manifestation crumbled,

And all incidences of the virus disappeared from the earth plane within weeks.

Number 11 could see the termination of these particular viral strains from its 7D vector.

Her job was done for now.

What's more,

The taste buds of humans also changed,

So they went off meat too.

The meat markets,

Which had been generating and maintaining the viral load,

Went out of business within a year.

Worm burger restaurants popped up everywhere,

With not a franchise in sight.

Jia was formally initiated as a Wu when she reached the age of 12.

There was no COVID-39.

Reviews

Loved this story! Looking forward to listening to more short stories like these!

Excellent story. Well told. Thank you very much. Namaste 🙏