Ava sat in her spot by the stream with a look of confusion. The only sounds that could be heard was the trickling of the stream and Cree's soft guitar. It had been a couple of minutes since Nathaniel abruptly walked away. Jay sighed, plopping down next to Ava. He leaned in on the book she showed Nathaniel.
The Great Tree.
Ava looked to see Jay's face wrinkle in wonder. He scratched his head, his hand disappearing into his thick afro as he stared at the cover of the book. Behind them Cree had walked up behind Ava.
"What book is it?", asked Cree. "Was it that bad?"
"The Great Tree," replied Jay.
Alex had appeared on the opposite side of Jay, sticking his face past Ava's shoulder to inspect the book.
"It's just paper," chimed Alex. "Did he get scared by those scribbles on the page?"
Cree groaned in exasperation. "Those are 'words', Alex. Learn to read."
Ava sighed a smile from their banter before addressing the curious trio.
"This is my favorite adventure from Ulysses Bosh. It's about the time he traveled all the way to Theri and helped save The Great Tree."
"I remember that day."
Everyone turned around to see Hoga, arms crossed. Ava's eyes shone like stars upon hearing this information. She clutched the book to her chest in delight while she interrogated Hoga.
"What was he like?"
"Is it true he climbed to the top?"
"Did he really meet Lee? Did he meet Yve'Nago too?"
"And what about-"
Hoga raised a hand. Ava fell silent as she stared into Hoga's eyes, eager for answers. He stroked the feathers on his beard in meditation before responding.
"Ulysses was…convenient to be around. Every problem seemed to be solved by his arrival. A most prepared man indeed, if I remember correctly."
Ava squealed in joy. It was not every day someone could offer true insight on her favorite adventurer. Another barrage of questions escaped her lips before the feeling of eyes set in on her.
She was doing it again.
Ava sat up straight and relaxed her shoulders the best she could upon her rock. After clearing her throat, she spoke with a controlled enthusiasm.
"Sorry about that," she stated. "Thank you, Hoga, for your insight. I would love to hear more."
Ava saw the group look between themselves in response to her regained composure. Hoga took a moment to look her up and down before continuing.
"I was a younger man when I first saw him running for his life in the north valleys. Even bloodied, stumbling, and falling on his face he swore he had control of the -"
Hoga cocked his head.
He squinted, focusing his eyes on something from behind Ava. The group turned around, hearing nothing but the impending rustle of bushes. Hoga stepped past Ava, placing himself between her and the sound.
"What do you think it is?" asked Jay.
"Whatever it is, we can take it!" Alex postured. He knocked his one good horn and jumped beside Hoga.
"Whatever it is, I hope it takes your other horn," sighed Cree.
"Hush."
At Hoga's word, all fell silent. Ava slowly put her book back into her bag without deviating her eyes from where Hoga stared. His feathers puffed sharply as Nathaniel came into view. His clothes were in tatters, his skin marred with blood, and his hair full of foliage from his sprint. Hoga stepped forward to receive him, letting Nathaniel fall into his arms sputtering out a warning:
"Rapid skewers! A swarm!"
Ava saw Hoga put himself between Nathaniel and the swarm. Violent, deafening buzzing emerged from the forest. Hoga blasted at the edges of the swarm. Not striking at the mass–shaping it. His last volley caused the swarm to split into three bodies, now surrounding the perimeter.
"Creedence, protect Alex! Jayce, help Ava, now!"
Jay swiveled around and whistled for JJ, who trotted over from the creak.
"Ava, hug the ground! You'll be safer under JJ than trying to find cover out here!" Jay commanded.
Ava didn't move. Her head drifted up at the cloud of feathers that darted out of the woods and covered them all in shadow.
Swarming.
Swirling.
Surging.
Toward her.
The swarm dove at Ava, stunned by the vicious display of green and blue.
Suddenly, she found herself in the air. She turned to see a hand shoved her out of the way.
Nathaniel.
As soon as she hit the ground, JJ ran into position to cover her. She turned to see the spike of verdancy hone in on Nathaniel. He raised a hand from his spot on the ground to construct a barrier that met the swarm at the last second. Violently, they repeatedly beat on the shield. Ripples and cracks appeared in response to the fierce vibrations of their strikes. Nathaniel's hand trembled from inside the barrier as he fought to keep it sturdy.
The swarm targeting Nathaniel rose higher. They looped in the air sporadically before coming back down, intent on breaking the wall.
It all happened in slow motion for Ava.
She saw Cree protecting Alex with her hardened Capridae back.
She saw JJ running over, trying to make it in time.
She saw Hoga firing at the swarm, hoping to make a difference.
And a difference he did make.
Hoga's shot deterred a majority of the diving swarm, leaving Jay to throw himself on top of the barrier and block the stragglers from penetrating. More shots from Hoga dissipated that third of the swarm, leaving the remaining two. Ava saw his shots come out slower, less intense. Drops of dark liquid wicked from his feathers when he spun around to face the remaining two swarms.
Nathaniel dropped his barrier and Jay fell on top of him, shielding him from the threats above. Ava reached out her hand as Jay crawled with Nathaniel towards JJ, who grunted wearily when swarm outliers gave him a prick.
Something fell onto the ground in front of her face. She looked down to see a twitching blue bird no bigger than her hand. Its narrow black beak was longer than its body. It lay completely still save for its tiny chest beating rapidly. This was the first time she had seen one so close, save for behind the safety of glass.
The stomping of hooves broke her focus from the wounded rapid skewer. Jay ran toward Hoga and placed a hand on his shoulder. A shine of bright blue emanated from his hands and into Hoga, whose volleys gained more volume. With the assistance of Jay, Hoga was able to dissipate another swarm until there was one left. After another round of shots, they fled back into the forest.
The sounds of violent swarming had stopped. Except for the one rapid skewer on the ground near Ava. She climbed from under JJ and peered at the little bird. Ava kept her face and hands a respectable distance away while studying it. A pair of speckled hands came along and scooped it up by the belly.
It was Hoga. The red speckle on his feathers seemed heavier than before. He cupped the rapid skewer in his hands and with an exhale light came from his palms.
"There we are," Hoga said. "Credence, Jayce–it's alright now. The only casualty here were the shot quails we were going to eat."
"Another win for the capridae!" said Jay. "JJ, you have any on your back?"
JJ groaned and fell onto his belly. Ava saw clumps of stuck skewers failing to free themselves. With every pluck from Jay and Cree, JJ seemed to relax just a little more.
"Ava, look."
Hoga's words pulled her back. In his hands was the passed out rapid skewer. Its tiny chest rapidly expanded and contracted with each breath. Alex skipped over and leaned his face in, getting a closer look. Nathaniel stumbled next to him, adjusting his glasses on his final step. Nathaniel stared at the small bird for a moment with no tells of emotion on his face. Ava watched Nathaniel wobble toward the stream, remove his shirt and shoes, placing them neatly on a rock. He stepped in and worked on cleaning the blood from his body.
Ava turned back to the rapid skewer in Hoga's hand. She leaned over, tantalized by the small bird. Ava reached out and put a finger on its beating chest.
Warm.
Rapid.
Alive.
She became aware of her own pulse accelerating in response. Ava removed her finger, still enthralled with the bird. After a moment it snapped awake. She recoiled, but did not take a step back. The rapid skewer cocked its head at Ava and Hoga before flying off to join the rest of the swarm.
Vae chirped, demanding attention. She was at Ava's feet staring up at her, on edge from all of the recent commotion. Ava picked her up and draped her on her shoulders. Ava turned to thank Hoga for the experience but saw him staring at the river. She followed his eyes to see–
…
Those scars were not new, and they had not healed well. Centered along the middle of Nathaniel's spine was a collection of scars knitted together to create a mangled section of skin.
Ava covered her mouth to stifle a gasp. She looked to the rest of the group for any reaction. Hoga held Alex's mouth shut, much to his dismay. Cree and Jay turned around, pretending that they had not seen anything. Ava turned away and focused on petting Vae, opting to do the same.
A minute later, a flare streaked into view from the direction of camp. Ava's brow knitted in confusion. Everyone accounted for was here by the stream.
"Either bandits found our stuff," said Nathaniel, "Or Chrissy and Travlack beat us back to camp."
Ava heard a series of soggy steps approach and pass her. Dripping from the stream, Nathaniel marched toward where he had laid his map and retrieved it. He went to put it in his pocket, but opted to carry it in his hand. Turning back to face the group, Nathaniel spoke with a weary face.
"Let's go find out which."
Nathaniel led the way back to camp in silence. After a while Ava saw Cree took out her guitar but was stopped by Hoga. Cree rolled her eyes and strapped it onto her back, pouting in silence. Hoga cleared his throat before addressing Nathaniel.
"Nathaniel, what caused you to bleed? Rapid skewers hardly draw first blood."
Nathaniel walked without a response for a while. Finally after an exhale, he spoke back to Hoga.
"I stumbled into something. The anti coagulant they use is why the bleeding didn't stop. I'm fine."
Ava saw visible confusion from Alex. He tilted his head at the words.
"Anti coagula? Coagila?"
"Anti coagulant," Cree corrected. "Means blood won't stop bleeding. A word you would know if you ever learned to read."
Ava chuckled.
Alex snorted.
The rest of the trip was spent in silence until coming upon the camp. It was there that Ava spied Chrissy, Travlack, and Neville all resting by the previous night's campfire.
"Hoga! An igosi!" marveled Alex. "I've never seen one so close!"
Even from across the camp, Travlack's ears drooped. He stood up, curious to all of the new faces they had brought back. Jay jogged in between them and made introductions.
"Travvy, Chrissy, this is Hoga, Cree, and Alex. They were just passing through and joined us while we waited to find you guys. Hoga, Cree, Alex, this is Chrissy and Travvy. Trav here is a part of the DLF."
Ava watched Hoga and Travlack stare at each other. Short as Hoga was, Travlack was just a hair shorter. They continued gazing in silence until Travlack extended his hand to Hoga. Hoga reached for it, but instead of a handshake he turned Travlack's hand over and examined the palm.
"He was here…," Hoga said in a deep tone.
Jay, towering over the two, looked back and forth. He spoke with obvious confusion.
"What's happening now, Hoga?"
Hoga did not look up to address Jay. He stared right into Travlack's eyes and spoke firmly.
"Lanon. You met him, right?"
Ava watched as Travlack's ears perked up. Before he could speak, Chrissy dragged her way into the conversation, tugging on Hoga's pants.
"Hey–Chrissy by the way, I'm fine, thanks for asking. Lanon helped us escape the cave."
Unfazed, Hoga kept his interrogation going.
"Where is this cave?"
"Not at the cave," stated Travlack. "Got busy. Needed to go. North east."
"Jayce, I will leave your party now. I trust you will handle what comes next."
"Of course!" replied Jay. "It was nice seeing you again, Cree. A pleasure meeting you, Alex."
Cree and Alex gave a polite bow before returning to Hoga's side. Ava tilted her head and looked at them longingly.
"Cree, Alex, it was delightful to get to know you both."
"Likewise," said Cree. "Jay, the capridae festival is a string and a half away. Bring them by, I'll be there."
"We'll see! The DLF is counting on me to do my job still, but no promises!" Jay grinned.
Ava shook Hoga's hand delicately. He turned to Nathaniel, who wearily reciprocated his handshake.
"Rest, Nathaniel. May the rest of your survey be favorable."
With that, Hoga, Cree, and Alex walked off. Before going out of sight, Cree took out her guitar and played the same tune that had sounded when they had met by the river. Until all that could be heard was silence.
Chrissy inched past Ava on the ground and rolled herself face up.
"Miss Sinclair, good to see you," smiled Chrissy. "You look like hell, Nathaniel. How was your day?"
"Rapid skewers."
"Enough said," Chrissy rolled to Jay next. "Hey, Jay! Can you help me out?"
Ava chuckled as Jay effortlessly hoisted Chrissy over his shoulder and sprawled her like cargo on JJ. Jay patted Chrissy on the back twice while laughing with Ava.
"Burn your stim sacs? What caused you to do that?"
"Goliath beetle. Big one." said Travlack.
Ava, Nathaniel, and Jay all widened their eyes. Nathaniel spoke first.
"A fully grown goliath beetle? Tell me you didn't–"
"It's ok! Travlack almost did, but he didn't," assured Chrissy. "But it knocked him off a wall and I had to use his mace–which is heavy by the way. Just smacked it on the belly, it'll be fine. Also found Neville, he went missing for an entire night down there."
Neville landed on Chrissy's back at the sound of his name. He squeaked triumphantly as he paced on Chrissy's back.
Jay spoke up next.
"Nice. What was Hoga talking about? Who's Lanon?"
"Funny enough, a rapid skewer Therian who helped me not become fish food. Also, did you know Travlack can glow in the dark? He ate a glow grub. He can do that."
Ava looked at Travlack. Everyone looked to Travlack, who kept his gaze on the tree line.
"Well yeah," said Nathaniel. "He's an Igosi. They're insectivores. You didn't know?"
"I don't see many! Anyways, Lanon helped us out and we brought fish for everyone. Now what happened to you guys? Who were those Therians?"
"Hoga, Alex, and Cree. We stumbled across their path looking for you guys," Jay explained.
"They were also invaluable in repelling the rapid skewers," Nathaniel sighed. "I'm sorry, Miss Sinclair, I put us in danger."
Ava waved a hand dismissively.
"I urge you not to think of it, Mr. Bosh, it's quite alright. To experience nature like this is…exhilarating."
Ava's fingers remembered the pulse of the rapid skewer. Her heart rate started to increase from the sensation.
"I was raised aboard an airship," Ava said. "Nature was something I could only observe through glass."
With a slow exhale, she dismissed the excitement in order to produce a soft smile before continuing.
"Again, Mr. Bosh, don't trouble yourself over it. I'm glad we're alright."
Nathaniel took off his glasses and sighed, looking up to the sky. After rubbing his eyes looked down and addressed the group.
"Alright. This was a detour but as long as Miss Sinclair says her time wasn't wasted, then I won't have to log it on the pocket vinyl. Chrissy, I will look over this stint of yours as an 'emergency ranger study', nothing more. Travlack, I'm sorry you had to contain her."
"I mean," Chrissy started, "I mean–technically–it was Travlack's fault we got stuck in the cave–"
Nathaniel shot her a glare. Ava's eyes dropped before she realized she'd done it.
"Continuing–we cannot afford any more detours until we find the noko."
"The what–oh!" snapped Jay. "I forgot we were supposed to be looking for it. Excellent call, Boshy."
Ava witnessed the return of a vein on Bosh's forehead.
"Wasn't counting on it. Chrissy, how long until you can walk again?"
"Just have to be off my feet for the rest of the day."
"Good. By that time Vae should be back to her normal size. Travlack, are you well enough to guard the camp?"
Ava turned to see Travlack give a nod.
"Then we relax, clean up, and kill time until we can track the noko. If you all will excuse me."
Nathaniel turned and walked toward his capastra. Chrissy remained on top of JJ, who settled into the dirt. Jay sat on a rock and played his piccolo mindlessly, lost in the melody. Ava walked to her capastra and carefully stowed The Great Tree back into the saddle bag. She instead took out the Resonant Ecology Almanac and a marker.
She opened the hefty book and flipped to the page titled Rapid Skewers. With her marker she wrote her notes in the margins:
Tiny. The swarm must have been enormous to cast that much shadow. The one I touched was so alive. By itself, it seemed to have no interest in me. Marvelous creature.
After finishing her note she flipped over to the page titled Feral Serpifeli, and wrote another note:
Huge. Disturbingly so. Reminder: do not let Vae over eat. Beautiful scales, but terrible appetite.
Satisfied with her notes, she put the pen back into the bag and kept flipping through the page.
The next few days put the group back on track, intently tracking the noko. Only stopping for rest and brief appreciations of nature, Jay translated JJ's grunts as progress towards their target. Vae had returned to her normal size and normal spot around Ava's neck, who made extra effort to not over feed her.
JJ led them into massive pastures of rolling hills and sparse forests. Ava observed herd animals in the distance, grazing without a care in the world. Sounds of far off impacts rustled the trees in the valleys. Off in the distance behind a cluster of trees, something leapt. The silhouette of a giant grasshopper came into view before the sound of the boom reached them. It reached an impossible distance, then shook the excess resonance from its wiry legs. Ava and Vae witnessed it deploy its wings when it started to come down, gliding out of sight into the horizon. Vae chirped in curiosity, keeping her eyes on the gliding insect.
"Grand Striders…," Nathaniel murmured, "They were put on the endangered list just last cycle. Chrissy, we're not on conserved grounds, are we?"
"Shouldn't be. Grand Striders cover too much distance to really have a dedicated land patch."
Ava reached into her saddle back and took out the Resonant Ecology Almanac. Fervently, she flipped to the page and circled the name of the animal Nathaniel mentioned.
Grand Striders.
Her finger followed the sunlit paragraph detailing all it could do. Their capastra line entered into a forest patch, reducing her vision on the next paragraph. A stray ray of sunlight highlighted two words that made her furrow her brow.
"...highly endangered…"
"How could anyone hunt something so grand…," Ava muttered. "They're marvelous…"
Vae suddenly perked up with raised ears. Ava followed her gaze into the tree line, but Vae's stare already moved.
A figure dropped beside them, stirring a cloud of dust with a familiar boom.
"I'm inclined to agree," they said.
Tck.
Tck.
Tck.
Tck.
"Hands up. Whoever you are, you better have a good reason for trespassing on this reserve."