Cherreads

Chapter 56 - Jungle

I crouched in the bushes with an arrow nocked, scanning for threats in all directions. 

Caleb boy, listen, and ya listen good. If ya ever find yourself in the woods wit sumfin stalking atcha, a cougar, pack of wolves, bear what-have-ya, here's whatcha do…

Chief Dugan of the high mountain clans. The same man who gave that bow to Father Yewan.

… they gonna follow your scent. Ya can't stop it. We're human; we smell bad. It's what we do. So, ya give 'em sumfin to follow. Run around in a circle a few times. Take an area, thirty to fifty yards, and run around in there. Saturate the whole area in your scent. Then ya sit back and get that bow ready.

The vita'o half of a sekiwa could follow a scent as well as any hound. Their eyes, however, like a lot of reptiles, struggled to track what didn't move. The human half, on the other hand, had the most efficient eyes of any creature in the jungle, able to negate even the best camouflage, and trained to follow trails of snapped twigs and molested branches. A tuft of leaves moving without wind. Run, and that lizard will carry her through the forest faster than you would think possible. Try to fight, but it had reflexes like a cat with serrated teeth that will rip your throat out in under a second. Climb higher than it can climb, and its human will simply shoot you.

And I had three of those after me.

Never forget who you are, never forget what you are, and never forget where you are.

Who I was, was an orphaned peasant who grew up in a safe little corner of the Empire. The forests in the mountains around Gath were vastly different from where I was currently, but the same basic principles applied. Hopefully.

What I was, was a human in this hot, humid wilderness. According to Ahmi, there were a few things that every animal understood about humans. We're extremely dangerous in large groups but vulnerable alone. Our wonderful eyes don't work after dark, and we're made of meat like everyone else.

Where I was, was the Jungle. Twenty-foot alligators, thirty-foot snakes, jaguars that moved like lightning, weird monkey-looking things that screamed at you and gave you vertigo, big red-and-white birds that ate you alive, carnivorous ants, that yellow vine. Apparently there were packs of wild dogs out here. Apparently, some of them would pin your arms and legs in place while the others ate your soft parts, starting with your genitals.

Borel forgot where he was, and the Jungle reminded him.

The clouds broke overhead, and my well-scented area was blasted with sunlight and a heat I wouldn't have imagined possible. I sweat profusely just sitting there, waiting for someone to pass through. Anyone. Someone else from my unit, or an enemy.

The siren bird overhead announced human. One chirp. I chose this spot for that reason—should an enemy sekiwa hear her and come to me, I would hear that call and be ready to strike while the lizard was busy trying to figure out where my scent was leading them. 

Take out the lizard, you can nock a second shot by the time the rider realizes what's happened. Take out the rider, you have a pissed-off lizard on you before you can blink.

I sat, and I waited, and I heard nothing.

Noon brought a dark mist from the west. 

I needed to make it back to the tower, and by the look of it, I would have to make it back alone. I had no idea which of my friends were still alive.

Worse, those enemy sekiwa knew that. They didn't have to stalk me. They didn't have to chase me down and risk walking within range of my bow. All they had to do was patrol the area between me and the tower, and wait. 

The coming rain was my best chance. I could move quickly while the torrent of water washed away my scent trail before it settled in the ground. 

Hopefully. 

And then, as I watched the storm come, an idea came to me. Instead of going back to the tower and walking right into their trap, I could do something truly insane. I could do something so mind-numbingly stupid that no one would ever think of it. 

I could go to Carthia instead. 

Three enemy sekiwa hunting me down, or ten miles of the most savage, unforgiving wilderness there was. As long as I made it before dark, it wouldn't be that bad. It was southwest, generally, and if I found a creek, that would lead me to the River of Unending Torment, which would take me directly to Carthia. I'd have to be careful if I crossed the main road; more than likely it was being watched. 

My strides were almost bird-like, stepping straight down between leaves and branches with a torrent of rain splashing all around me.

I still had to move quickly. 

The downpour clattered against the leaves of the upper canopy and drowned my ears of everything but. I wiped my brow, only for my face to get drenched once more. My boots were soaked through. My hair glued to my back and drained all the way down my legs. Waterfalls fell from leaves all around and crashed to the ground. 

I'd gone maybe two-hundred yards through thick bush by the time the storm abated, leaving hot, sticky air behind.

A few more paces led me beneath a small tree amid tufts of grass and rotting leaves. There, I took off my boots and allowed my feet to dry. I didn't hear that bird overhead but I had good cover, a solid view, and I couldn't make out my own trail at all. 

In my pack I had some rope, a small sheet of canvas, what sliver of mosquito ward I had left (I applied that) a miniature whetstone, a tiny vial of oil, a piece of flint, a waxed bag with some dried leaves, fishing thread, some bread crisps, dried fruits and nuts, and a water skin. My knife still held a sheen of oil, but my sword had a few dots of rust on the blade. I counted twenty arrows—fifteen broadheads, four piercers, and one angler.

I was hungry. The bread crisps were mush from the rain but still edible. But, I figured with the sweltering heat of the jungle, any energy I took in would raise my temperature and generate more sweat and a louder scent trail. I decided to go hungry until I reached Carthia. 

The symphony of the forest returned to its usual chirps, whistles, and the steady grinding of insects. 

Inches from my face was a spider the size of a fist with long, spindly legs reaching out farther than my fingers could spread. Its body was black with hundreds of tiny brown stripes, and it crept down a little. 

At the bottom where its web met a leaf, a small, green anole lizard struggled against the silk. With the spider approaching fast, I pulled on the strand and released the web from that spot, then picked up the lizard and brought it safely to my other side. 

There, I set it down and pulled at the silk from its tiny legs. When it was mostly free, it scampered off and disappeared down the stem of a plant with long, purple and green leaves. 

Far in the distance, that up-down-up-down-warble call for vita'o. 

A jolt of terror shot through me. I raised my bow and crouched low. 

I waited.

From the distance, I guessed that the call came from the area I'd scented. In a short time, I'd learn how effectively the rain had covered my trail. 

Miyani had told me that a good sekiwa would never follow a man on foot in a straight line. She would zigzag across his scent trail to avoid walking into a trap.

I waited. 

I heard that call again. Same distance. I think.

I returned my attention to the field of grasses and shrubs all around me, watching for any sign of something and silently daydreaming that my pursuer was some novice who hadn't spent her whole life studying how to track down people like me. 

My heart thundered. My fingers pressed into the taut bowstring. If I saw her, I wouldn't have more than a second to loose. 

Assuming she didn't see me first. 

Beside me, that spider worked at cleaning up the mess of its web; it would go hungry because of me. A mercy to the lizard, a cruelty to the spider. 

I waited. I didn't hear that call anymore.

The clock ticked.

I needed to move.

I carefully stepped out of my hiding place; my boots were as dry as they were going to get. Far, far away to my right, the bird called out alligator. There was probably a swamp or a lake in that direction. I didn't want to get stuck behind an impassable waterway, so I veered to my left, bringing me further west along a low ridge. Trees were dense as everywhere else, and I didn't hear any sign of those sekiwa. 

Up ahead, I saw an outcropping of rock that sloped upwards on one side. If I climbed up there, I should be able to see the Terbulin Ridge and use that to gauge my position.

I followed the forest as it sloped upwards, then gently dropped into a basin, like a miniature canopy filled with bright green plants with tiny red flowers that filled the air with sweet perfume.

A host of butterflies took flight. The whole area was filled with a dense cloud of yellow-and-black fluttering wings. One of them landed on my hand. Another on my shoulder, tickling my skin. I'd never imagined anything so beautiful in all my life. 

I heard the siren bird again, but it wasn't vita'o. It was something else. Something I couldn't remember. It chirped like a low whistle followed by a high flip downwards, several flips in succession. 

What is that?

Ahmi showed it to me. I had no excuse—I should have known what it meant. I searched my mind to go back to that moment when she pointed it out to me. We were on our way back when Thunder had tagged me in my side. I turned to face him, only for Lazybum to tag my back. Ahmi doubled over laughing and settled on me with a warm smile. 

Listen. Do you hear that one? That is a python. One flip means small, two for medium, three is large. 

It was directly overhead. 

Flip—flip—flip—flip—flip—flip—flip.

I scanned the trees. That bird swooped down and snatched one of the butterflies in its beak while the rest fluttered off. It swallowed its snack, perched on a branch not two yards above me, and tilted its head to fix one eye on me directly. 

Flip—flip—flip—flip—flip—flip—flip.

I didn't see it. It had to be somewhere in the tall plants that surrounded me. It was close. My heart started racing, and my skin crawled.

I dropped the bow and pulled my knife.

Something heavy smashed into my face.

I fell back. 

By the time I hit the ground, thick coils of muscle wrapped around my body, around my legs, around my neck, and around my wrist. 

Needles dug into my face from beneath my chin all the way up to my hair.

Panic roiled in my gut. I couldn't breathe. 

My chest was being squeezed so hard I couldn't force my lungs open. My heart raced.

I tried to twist to one side, but my legs were trapped. I kicked at the ground, desperately trying to gain some footing, but got nowhere. I clung to the knife and tried to wiggle my wrist, but my arm was trapped.

Pain crashed throughout my body. I was being crushed. I tried desperately to force my lungs open, but with every push the snake crushed harder and harder. Those teeth worked back over my face some more, and something soft like a void opened up in front of me. Everything was dark. 

Every beat of my rushing heart stabbed me as if it had no more room to pump.

I grew dizzy. There was a ringing in my ears, and I couldn't see.

My pathetic hand wiggled the knife in the air helplessly as life drained from my head, pulling my mind with it. 

Something tore into my calf, like being stabbed with a dozen knives. Like my flesh was being ripped apart. Yet the terror of being squeezed to death muted the pain. 

Something shook my leg roughly, twisting at my knee as if trying to rip it from its socket.

I probably should have gone back to the tower. 

Then it jerked. I was about done. With one final, desperate pull, my arm found a stick in the ground. It snagged on the coil that held my wrist, and I was able to wrench my hand; the knife found meat on its way through. Immediately, a shock of movement rippled all over my skin.

My arm was free. I reached up and stabbed. The knife entered flesh, and the whole thing that bound me shuttered violently in every direction at once. 

The snake released my leg. 

I carved straight through a section of meat, severing the spine and cleaving the thing in two.

My chest was free. 

I still couldn't breathe for its mouth wrapped over my face, so I grabbed it behind the neck with one hand and carved its head off completely. Through its now gaping throat, with its jaws still buried in my face, I sucked in as much breath as my traumatized lungs would allow and collapsed onto my back while thick worms of terrible muscle thrashed about.

I tried to sit up. With the rush to my head, everything went dark. It took far too long to get my vision back. 

Some creature like a large dog with short, black hair had a chunk of the snake in its mouth. No sooner than I sat up, it dropped its meal and snarled at me, barking violently and baring spiked teeth. 

I coughed. "You want the snake, man, you can have it."

The dog growled at me again, then eyed me wearily while dragging off a generous length of meat. 

My leg was covered in warm blood all the way down to my boot, and a splash of water showed a nasty gash where that dog tried to rip it off. My face bled from what felt like thousands of needly teeth. I had a sharp, stabbing in my side where the thing had cracked a rib. 

My heart was tired. I was exhausted. I was dizzy. Every muscle in my body was spent, and with every breath, the echo of that snake crushing me pulled at my skin. 

And the clock ticked. I lost a lot of time trying to recover, and I needed to keep moving. 

I thanked Davod for the knife and stood. Immediately, my body punished me for that, and I needed another minute to stave off the dizziness. On top of that, every step was an agonizing endeavor that left a trail of blood that anyone or anything could have followed in their sleep. 

From the top of the rock, Uhui opened up to my eyes for miles all around. 

The gray-purple wall of the Terbulin mountains wrapped around to my right, cradling Jungle in her loving arms. 

Back home, you can tell where you are by looking at the mountains. You know what they look like from your home angle, and you use that to determine how far and what direction you need to go. Here was no different. I'd spent enough time looking at the mountains from Carthia to know that I still had several miles to go.

By the angle of the sunlight shooting through the clouds, I hadn't more than a few hours of daylight left. I wouldn't make it, and I was closer to Carthia than the tower. 

Without the wound, I could get maybe three-quarters of the way there if nothing else barred my path. With the wound, there was no hope. 

The snake consumed my time, and I was going to be stranded in the Jungle after dark.

I was dead, and there was nothing to do about it.

But for a moment, I accepted the majesty of what unfurled before me.

I breathed.

Hills rose and fell, everything covered in trees. Some of them reached branches into the sky like fingers grasping at infinity. A tall waterfall disappeared behind more trees in the distance, and lances of yellow sunlight broke through the clouds all around. 

The incessant call of chirps and whistles, and the symphony of insects filled my ears in all directions. The hot, muggy air felt like heaven to my lungs. A chorus of flowers massaged my thoughts, and I knew at that moment I had experienced it. I knew it.

I felt it. 

Jungle was here. 

I was here. And here I would rest. 

Something dove from high above. Like a blur, it zoomed down from the sky and vanished into the trees. I couldn't believe what my eyes were telling me; I only knew of one bird capable of diving so fast. And as I watched, a gorgeous white-and-gray falcon erupted from the Jungle carrying dinner in its talons. 

I needed to get to Carthia. I had to make it through this. Somehow.

I had to try. Maybe God would work something out, and I needed to keep trying. 

The siren bird said human. Only one of me. 

And the clock ticked. 

I trekked through a narrow trough on a downward slope like a gash in the forest had been carved out by a giant hand only for the forest to reclaim it. High trees graced both sides of a relatively easy passage. 

I heard a caw. The same one I'd heard earlier that day. Like a low gargle of gears that broke against one another. I'd probably heard it lots of times before, but hearing it from those birds as they tore Borel apart forever cemented that horrible sound in my mind. High in the trees, two of those red-and-white birds perched. 

I readied my bow. 

Another one cawed on my right. When I turned to look, something smashed into my left knee where that dog had tried to rip my leg off. 

It dug its talons into my boot and stabbed the bloody wound with its beak, clinging to my flesh. 

My arrow ripped through its body and nailed it to the ground. I nocked another. 

One swooped down behind me. I turned and shot that fucker right out of the sky. "WHO'S NEXT!"

Several other caws erupted around me.

I nocked another arrow and raised my bow again. "COME ON! YOU WANT SOME? LET'S GO!"

They cawed some more and still they looked at me. 

The searing pain in my rib from drawing my bow warred with the ripping pain in my leg, yet I had to keep fighting. Push through. I picked out another bird and shot it. Its body fell from the perch and crashed to the trees below as the rest of them flew off. 

"ANYONE ELSE?"

No answer. Chirps, whistles, and the grinding of insects blended with the wind in the trees all around me. 

The sky had begun to turn, and I was still too far. I learned to ignore my body and push.

I climbed down a gully and crossed over a small creek. I was about to climb up the other side when I saw a patch of that same yellow vine Davod fell into, with some creature smothered in its tendrils. I went around. 

I lost even more time, and my leg reminded me that I couldn't keep this up. 

Something scurried up a tree beside me. I turned and drew but saw nothing. I was prepared to shoot. Every fiber of my being was on high alert. Every sound, every hint that something was about to attack. With the sky dimmed, the forest started to feel hungry all around me, and my heart panicked. 

Then the siren bird called out from behind me once more. 

Vita'o. 

They'd tracked me. All this way, and they tracked me down. 

I was at a cliff overlooking dense trees below, beyond a pile of broken boulders covered in ferns. The drop was at least fifty yards. The rocks were wet, but it was covered in pocket holes.

The rope might have gotten me down faster, which I badly needed, but I had to hope that if my scent trail ended here, she might finally go home and leave me to Jungle. 

In the distance, the Terbulin mountains told me I was still miles away, and evening encroached. The thought of climbing down with a wounded leg and a cracked rib made me wince, but I didn't have time to philosophize over it. Judging from the rise of the carpet of forest stretched out before me, this was the quickest way back. 

And so, I descended. 

Rocks were wet and covered in moss. Pain screamed through my body, and I felt dizzy, but I had to keep moving. 

Chirps and clicks that filled the forest materialized into my ears, and my hand slipped. I nearly fell, desperately clung to the rock face, and winced from exertion in my twice-wounded leg.

On the next step down, something struck my boot. A small, bright green snake hissed and snapped at my boot again.

The venomous kind.

The kind that bites you, giving your friends twenty minutes to find an antidote for you while every muscle in your body seizes up. 

I moved to the side and away from the thing. 

I got down a little further, and in another pocket hole right in front of my face, another small green snake hissed at me and coiled tight around her eggs. Leaning back, there were hundreds of holes all up and down the cliff side that were home to those snakes. 

I thought to climb back up, when that siren bird made the call for vita'o once more, and it was close. 

I really should have gone back to the tower. What kind of idiot thought this was a good idea?

I was going to die once darkness fell, so I didn't see the harm in getting bitten by a few venomous snakes. I climbed down a few more feet. I was about to put my hand into a hole when I heard a peculiar chirp behind me. Snake!

I jerked my hand away in time for a tiny green head to lash out and hiss at me. 

I turned my neck around and surveyed the forest below me. Chirps, clicks, and whistles filled the trees to the accompaniment of insects. Caws echoed across the distance, carried by the wind in the trees, and the coming night brought strange hoots and groans. 

What's wrong with snake venom, mama? I thought it tenderized the meat. 

Clicks and crisp squawks responded. Yeah, but it leaves an aftertaste that… I don't like it.

I was losing my mind. 

Above me, more clicks and chirps. Why don't we just go to that feast this evening?

Below, a sharp hiss followed by more clicks and a gargle. Because my sister will be there. This one will feed us just fine. Snake!

I pulled my hand back and froze. I tried to shake the delirium and focus on the climb. 

Why is it stopping?

More chirps and clicks filled the trees below me. Tiffany, see if there are some rocks or branches up there you can knock it down with. 

A few seconds later, some heavy, waterlogged branch crashed down the cliff and smashed to pieces on the rocks below. 

More to the left. No, sorry, my left; your right. 

I'd lost my mind. Maybe that snake did eat me, and this was a dream.

Why is its stick weapon so much longer and funny-looking than the others, mama?

Those ones are very, very dangerous. They can shoot farther than you can see. This is why we stay hidden.

A rock tumbled down the cliff from above. It bounced off the cliff above my head; splinters peppered my face as the rest of it fell into the forest.

I shouted at the clifftop. "That's rude!" I honestly couldn't think of anything better to say. 

Right away, a small, green-striped vita'o lizard rushed out from the trees—couldn't have been hip-high—and tilted his long face up at me, clicking and chirping. You can hear us?

More squawks and a hiss came from behind the trees. Benu! Don't talk to your food!

Another branch fell from above, only this one came right at me. I clung to the rock face as one end of the branch smacked into my shoulder. My wounded leg gave, but I held on tight. The whole thing tilted and fell away, but now I had an ache in my shoulder, and I was bleeding again. 

Almost! 

I spoke to the trees below. "Have you at least tried to smooth things over with your sister?"

At that, a large brown lizard with a green diamond pattern on her scales jumped from the trees and hissed fiercely. You don't know anything about my situation, Food! Don't talk to me!

Clinging to her back was another small one, not much older than Chirpy. 

Another rock tumbled down the cliff directly above me, then bounced off one of the pocket holes and flew past. A small, green snake thrust its head out and hissed.

"Well, why don't you tell me, then? I actually am curious."

Mom hissed at that. Be quiet, human.

I looked down at the little one who'd first come out. "That's your auntie, right? Benu is it?"

Mom hissed again. I said be quiet! Do NOT talk to my hatchlings!

"Why? What are you going to do, eat me?"

Yes!

"If you're going to eat me either way, why should I abide?"

The large one on the ground carrying the baby on her back hissed. Above me, more clicks and whistles. It does have a point, Mom. 

If I went down, I'd get eaten. If I went up, I'd get eaten. If I stayed on the cliff, I'd get exhausted, fall to my doom, and then get eaten. Making Carthia before nightfall was completely futile. And my leg hurt like hell. And I had a cracked rib. And that branch hit my shoulder harder than I'd thought. There was no reason not to get creative. "I have an idea. Suppose you allow me to get to Carthia, and I give you a goat for your trouble."

Eww!

Mom chirped and squawked. Why would I feed my hatchlings a goat when they can have you?

"Well… how about a bison?"

Right away, Benu, the young boy lizard who'd first come out, hopped back and forth and chirped excitedly. A bison! A bison! OMG a bison!

Above me, a female lizard face peeked over the cliff. You'll give us a bison?

The little one riding on Mom's back chirped, what's a bison?

Mom craned her long neck around. It's those large pack animals with the wooly hair around their heads. But this human can't—

I leaned into it. "They're so delicious! Nice and tender, the meat is so rich!"

Mom hissed at me, but the one on top of the cliff chirped down. Please, Mom? I haven't had one in soooo long!

The little one kept at it. Please, Mom?

"You know what's the best part?"

Benu looked up at me.

"The tenderloin. That's that long muscle in the back by the spine, it's so rich. And juicy!"

Mom lowered her head to the ground and sat down with a grumble.

Above me, she chirped again. Have you tried the liver? That's what I remember the most. 

"Oh, yeah!" I looked up. "We slice it super thin, and it just melts on your tongue. Soooo good!"

Down below. Please Mom? Please please please please please?

Even the little one clinging to her back joined in. I want to try it. 

She groaned and lay still while Benu poked her side. Please?

Above me. Please?

Fine!

Yay!

I resumed my descent. A small part of me dared let slip a pang of hope. Then I remembered that I didn't own any bison and couldn't afford one—if there were any for sale.

Snake!

"Thank you!"

It didn't help that I had no idea where they were penned for the night. Then, after stealing one, I'd have to open the gate by myself.

Snake! If you move to your left, there are fewer of them on that side.

"Thank you!"

And no one would see me the whole time. It wasn't the perfect plan, but it was somewhat preferable to getting eaten. 

When I made it to the forest floor, dusk had begun to settle. After her whole family took turns sniffing my body, the mother tilted her head to one side. This way.

'Luck' did not suffice for the scale of what I'd come into. I couldn't believe it worked. I couldn't believe I had an escort who would lead me back to Carthia, who had an incentive to keep me alive. Now, if only I could figure out the logistics of paying her when I got there. 

The hour grew exceedingly late, and the darkness of night shrouded everything around me. Sounds changed. As if waking from sleep, Jungle growled with an insatiable hunger unlike what it had been before. Heavy clicks clattered in unison overhead, and hundreds of flapping wings echoed through the trees. Hoots and caws of the unseen surrounded me.

I'd stopped hearing the siren bird with the sunset. 

Something brushed against my leg. I couldn't tell if it was a leaf or a cat's tail. I jumped, punctuating the stabbing in my ribs.

What's wrong with the human, Mommy?

They can't see at night.

Sticky air clung to my eyes, bulged wide, but aside from tiny islands of stars that graced the sky when the trees broke overhead, I saw nothing but darkness. I tried to walk but tripped on something and nearly fell over. The shock of pain shooting up my leg gave me pause. 

Something jumped and scurried past me.

Far in the distance, terrible howls filled the forest. 

We have to move. Grab hold of my tail. 

I groped around with my fingers splayed for far too long until the lizard brought her tail to me. I wanted to be gentle. I didn't know how sensitive they were, so I was afraid of squeezing too much, but my grip was terror.

Something crunched.

Watch your step.

I tried to probe around with every step and managed to kick something solid before stepping over it.

After a few minutes, the howls grew in number, accompanied by yips and barks. 

Mom clicked rapidly. Dogs! Benu, take your brother and get in the trees. Don't come down until I tell you. Tiffany, stay close. Human, kneel. 

"Kneel?"

And close your eyes. 

I did as instructed. Something warm and fluid sprayed over my skin, in my hair, across my chest, and down my back. Some of her urine seeped into that wound on my leg and stung. The chorus of howls, yips and barks crescendoed into an army.

I couldn't see shit. 

We need to move a lot faster. Now. And get ready with that knife. 

As if my leg would allow it. As if my broken ribs would allow it.

I tripped on something else and nearly fell over but for my tightening grip on her scaly skin.

They were getting closer. And there were a lot of them. Yipping and barking, howling and growling, the sound of their approach sent my heart racing. I squeezed, and she raced ahead. I tried desperately to keep up while that wound in my leg punished my every stride. 

Step down.

I hadn't time to adjust, and ended up tripping forward. I slashed at the air trying to steady myself with my knife hand, only to tug hard on the mother with my left. 

And still they grew louder.

Suddenly, Mom jerked her tail from my hand and hissed. She was answered by a high-pitched growl of a wildcat that couldn't have been two yards from me.

Twigs snapped. Mom hissed again, and something padded away in the darkness. Its footfalls were drowned by those yips and howls 

We had dogs back home in Gath. The kind that lay down on your toes beside the hearth while you read a book and licked your fingers and let you scratch them behind the ears. The kind that would face off against a bear ten times their size and trap a cougar capable of shredding them with a swipe of its paw. And if you thought you could scare them away by growling and beating your chest, that's when they got aggressive. 

They did not back down. 

From above, Benu chirped quietly. There's only forty of them.

I had nothing. "What if we throw them a stick?"

Be quiet. Put the knife away and reach up.

I raised my hands and felt something like the side of her head pushing me towards a tree branch. 

Climb.

I pulled myself up and took hold of whatever I felt in the blackness of night. 

Tiffany, it can't see anything. You'll have to guide it to a higher branch. Quickly. And keep it quiet until I get back.

One by one, I reached, and felt a lizard face guide my hand to the next branch as I climbed higher and higher. 

Suddenly, in unison, the barks and howls fell silent.

I still couldn't see anything, but things moved around in the grassy underbrush. Some were behind us, some moved to my right, and some to my left. 

They were quiet, but twigs snapped and grass rustled somewhere beneath me. 

Then off to the side, "yip yap!"

A whole host of rustling in the grass below, and the entire pack erupted in a chorus of barks, yips, and howls as they trailed off into the distance. 

I tried to steady my nerves and found I was nearly spent. I didn't know how much farther it would be. I had nothing left, and ended up dropping my head back onto the branch and closing my eyes. My body shifted, and something punched into my side, directly in that cracked rib. I winced, trying to contain it.

She chirped quietly.  Don't fall asleep.

It was a good while, I couldn't tell how long, when Mom clicked up at us from the forest below. Let's go!

We rushed through more Jungle, myself desperately clinging to Mom's tail as she led me over rocks, roots, whatever the hell that was, and a low branch scratched my arm. Blood drizzled down and warmed my skin, but I kept moving. 

Then two small trees opened up, and there across a thousand yards of open field, light filled the misty sky above a black stone wall. 

Carthia. 

I made it. 

You'll wait here. Tiffany, if it tries to escape, kill it. 

"Huh?"

A silhouette of a lizard face crept between me and safety.

"I need to get you that bison."

I thought you'd be done lying by now. 

"What?" My heart thundered. "I didn't lie—"

She clicked. Are you going to tell me you can walk into Carthia and just grab a bison? Do you think I'm stupid?

"No, I…"

How did you plan to pay us?"

"I…" I needed to think. This was bad. 

You lied, didn't you?

"I mean to make good on it. Trust me—"

Humans are notoriously dishonest, why would I trust you?

"I promised—" So close. My heart broke. My spirit failed. I really should have gone back to the tower.

You promised something you knew you couldn't deliver. Admit you lied.

The gate was closed. So close. So close. "I… I will find a way. I promise…"

Say it so my hatchlings can hear you, or we'll eat you right here and now.

In the faint light from the distant city, the outline of the young male, his big sister, and the baby clinging to Mom's back, and they were all looking at me. I swallowed. I had nothing left. "I don't know how to get you a bison. I promised you, hoping to figure it out along the way. I don't actually know where they're penned for the night."

Benu chirped. Wow. You were right, Mom. 

"I'm sorry."

Is alligator sorry for her teeth?

"I don't understand?"

Humans lie.

Tiffany chirped in. It truly is impressive to see it in action. 

"This is not a betrayal, I swear. Look, if I double-cross you, then I'm a dead man if I ever come out here again, and you'd be well within your right. I will figure it out."

Wait here. You promised us a bison, and that is the truth. My family eats either way.

I understood. "You're holding me for ransom?"

Mom chirped. You're not a dumb animal after all!

With that, she raced toward the black line above which dim lights drifted towards the misty sky.

I watched as she croaked loud before the thing, biting my nails on the question of what would happen if they didn't open it for her. 

Mom says humans can't survive without those metal circle things. Is that true?

That took me a minute. "Money? I wouldn't say survive; I don't have any, and I'm still breathing."

How does it work?

I tried not to pay attention to the city. If anything, talking with the female distracted me from the very real possibility that the powers at Carthia would decide I wasn't worth one of their heavy pack animals. "Well, you do some work, you're supposed to get some. Then you trade it for the things you want. The thing is, food costs money, a place to sleep costs money, and so yeah. You do need it to survive. Then some people hoard it all. They take, take, take, way more than they need, then they start making all the decisions. Those decisions usually hurt everyone."

Do you eat them when they do that?

"Sadly, no."

A low, grinding noise echoed across the field. Lumbering through the gate was the silhouette of a large, hairy beast with several lizards snapping at its feet. 

Benu chirped at his sister. Come on!

Tiffany hopped back and forth nervously between her two feet and turned, only to crane her neck at me one last time. Is Blue seeing anyone?

"What?"

Sorry, uh… pretend I didn't ask. And she darted off to join her family for the feast. 

I started walking. Father in heaven, look out for my friends back at the tower. Oh… uh, and thank you. 

Racing up to me was a woman riding another vita'o accompanied by several other lizards. Ahmi's voice called out from the dark silhouette. "Caleb!"

She probed my face with her fingers, and her eyes gaped. She breathed heavily and gasped. "Mother in Heaven!"

My leg hurt, my rib hurt, my shoulder hurt, my face hurt, it hurt to breathe, it hurt to exist. I was starving, exhausted, and covered in piss.

But I made it. 

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