Chapter Six
The teens continued west through the forest, on their desperate hunt for any sign of humanity. Their hike took them through the huge rainforest trees. Andrew saw flocks of green and peach colored birds, and groups of black and silver monkeys. The forest noises enveloped him.
"We better get out of here soon," said Katy. "This place is terrifying."
Andrew took her hand. "Let's hope so. But first, we need to take out the one who brought us here. It's the reason we're here."
"I don't know about that," said Katy. "It may have been by chance that you picked up the book. I just want to go home."
A few hours later they reached a narrow river which meandered its way through the rainforest. Andrew estimated it to be about twelve feet wide. On the other side was what was unmistakably a dirt road, which ran along the riverbank for a bit before turning back into the forest.
"If we follow the road, it will surely lead us to a town or village. Then we can find out where we are and how to get back home! All we need to do is swim across," said Andrew.
Katy started towards the riverbank, Bella perched on her shoulder. "Okay, great, let's go."
But it seemed that once again, nothing would come easy for the young travelers in the forest.
"Wait, look at that monkey..... Oh!" exclaimed Andrew.
"Oh my gosh, the poor monkey! Eaten alive. Horrible."
Vines stretched from one side of the river to the other, suspended about three feet above the water. Every so often, a small brown and gold monkey would attempt to swing across the vines to the other side. When the monkey would reach the middle of the river, a large black fish with purple fins and eyes would leap out of the water and take a big chomp out of the monkey's flesh with its long, sharp teeth and powerful jaws. The injured monkey would subsequently fall into the water, where it would be devoured by a school of the black-and-purple mammal-eating fish.
"Hmm..." said Andrew. "Carnivorous jumping fish. I guess swimming is out of the question, if we don't want to be eaten alive like the monkeys. So now what do we do? We have to make it to that road as soon as we can. It will lead us out. The longer we stay here, the higher our chances of getting attacked."
"Aww," Katy sighed. "And I was looking forward to a nice swim in this heat. Maybe we can cross the stream at night, when the hungry fish are sleeping."
They sat by the riverbank for several minutes, trying to think of a solution, when a man materialized out of the forest behind them. He was tall and slightly bent over, with brown hair and grey eyes. He was clad all in green, old fashioned clothing. The sort of clothing that one might see at a medieval museum. He carried a felling axe on his shoulder, and a small pack at his side. He was the first person the teens had seen in days.
Andrew and Katy ran over to him. "Where are we?"
"How do we get back home?"
"What country is this?"
"How did a book turn into a robe?"
"Are we on Earth?"
"Why do the wolves have ten legs? Was there ever a nuclear explosion near here?"
The tall man just pointed to himself in response, and tried to speak. His face screwed in concentration. "Dh-di-de- Delvish."
It took him about thirty seconds just to say that one word. He obviously suffered from a severe stutter.
He pointed at the road. "Rih-ra-road."
"I think he means that we should go to the road where we will meet somebody more articulate, and ask that person our questions." said Andrew.
"But how will we cross the river?" asked Katy. "It's infested with hungry fish that will eat us."
Delvish pointed at a tree close to the riverbank. "T-Tree, b-b-bridge."
Andrew understood. They would chop down the tree and it would fall across the river, creating a bridge over the infested waters. "But what about the flying tree-guardians? Won't they attack us if we cut down a tree?"
Delvish nodded. He pulled an unlit torch from his sack, and handed it to Katy. "F-f-fire," Then he pointed to Andrew, and indicated his back. "B-Back."
"Katy, I think what Delvish is trying to say is this: He will start to chop the tree, at which point the tree-guardians will attack him. I will cover him on one side with the sword, and you on the other with the torch. Then, when the tree falls, you will hand him back the torch. It will be mainly him that the guardians will want to attack, since he actually chopped down the tree. I will stand back to back with Delvish, covering him from behind with my sword, and together, we will try and fend off the tree-guardians."
Delvish nodded his head; that was indeed what he had meant.
"Sounds like a plan." Katy took the torch from Delvish, who promptly lit it.
They walked over to the tree that was close to the bank. Delvish readied his ax, and struck. At the first thud of the ax, there was a loud "ka-keeeeer!" from the top of the tree, and the odd looking scarlet, tree-guardian avians swooped down from their nest. Their tree is under attack! The creatures mostly glided, circling the tall tree in a downward spiral, without flapping their wings much. Five or six of the avians swooped in at the attackers, circular mouths wide open, exposing row after row of sharp, black teeth. Their wings outstretched, their small bodies tensed. Their black eyes full of anger and indignation.
They soared in straight at Katy and Andrew. Andrew flinched, but stood strong. Katy though, faltered, and screamed. She seemed ready to run from the red bat-like avians.
"Hold steady!" Andrew roared. "They'll want to avoid the fire."
"You're right. They just remind me of bats. Sorry." Katy resumed her position. Together, the teens warded off the creatures. The avians swooped in close, but veered out of the way of the weapons at the last second.
After several more minutes of chopping, the tree fell with a great crash. Its top landed on target on the opposite bank. It bounced, then rolled a couple of feet before coming to a rest. A giant chorus of 'ka-keeeer's!' was heard. The guardians' dismay. The dead tree created a bridge several feet wide over the piranha-like-fish infested waters to the other side of the river, and the road.
"Okay Katy, hand the torch to Delvish now. He's the target," said Andrew.
"Sure thing." Katy handed the torch over, and moved to the side, out of harm's way. She wasn't in danger of a guardian bite like Delvish was. Unlike the wolf monsters and the eaguars, these creatures only attacked for specific reasons, not out of hunger. Reasons such as tree killings. They were probably plant eaters by nature, Andrew thought. But when they attacked, attack they did. And with a fearsome determination.
Andrew and Delvish stood firm, back to back, defending themselves against the fierce assault of the guardians. Andrew detected a shift in their strategy. Before the tree fell, the guardians had only circled the teens, being careful to stay out of range of the weapons. But that all changed with the tree's death. Apparently, now that the tree had been killed, its zealous guardians were ready to lay down their lives to fight its killers, to avenge its blood, or rather, sap. Or perhaps they were willing die to prevent them from killing more trees. Whatever the reason, the guardians no longer cared for the weapons that Andrew and Delvish wielded, and attacked regardless.
The first attacker came swooping in at Andrew at high speed, screaming, with its main weapon, its mouth, wide open for the assault. Andrew slashed quickly, severing the avian's left wing. With a weak 'keer' it spiraled to the ground, where it flopped around on remaining wing. Green blood seeped from the disabled avian's wound.
But more came, thick and fast. There were six guardians nesting in the tree that they had cut down, and now many more from the surrounding trees emerged to swarm the tree cutters.
The red guardians worked as a team, with one or two assaulting Andrew from one side, distracting him, while three more snuck up on him from the other. But Andrew found that he was a natural with the katana. He slashed and hacked at the birds with lightning speed, the blade no more than a
blur. Some he sliced in half, others he chopped off their cylindrical heads, and still others their wings, depending on the angle of attack.
The creatures were relentless, and kept coming, mouths wide open towards their targets. It took Andrew's every ounce of concentration and focus to time his hits right so that none of the vicious creatures got through his defenses. Those sharp teeth would rip his flesh apart with ease.
Andrew felt a twinge of sadness for killing these beautiful creatures, who were only doing their job to protect the wonderful forest. But he had no choice. If the teens didn't make it to civilization soon, it was likely that they would be killed by one of the many fearsome beasts that roamed the rainforest. They had already had some close shaves. They might not be so lucky next time. They had to make it to the road as quick as possible. So he fought on.
Delvish wielded the torch like a pro. He swung it in long, wide arcs, usually catching two or three of the guardians in its path. The avians appeared to be highly flammable, and caught fire at the slightest touch of the flame. They obviously had an interesting physiology, and Delvish had evidently known about it beforehand, or he would never have suggested the plan. But there was no time to dwell on it now.
Andrew and Delvish stood their ground, backs pressed against each other, steadfastly, and fought feverishly for about forty-five minutes. It was quite a sight. Andrew battled with the shining sword, Delvish with the flaming torch. The fierce guardians swarmed them, and soared around them, like so many giant, scarlet bees whose hive has been kicked.
Andrew fought magnificently, swiping and slashing with a vengeance. He cut so fast that there was a constant whistling sound in the air as the blade cut through it. Scarlet guardian after scarlet guardian was cut out of the sky.
At last, with one final slash, the last of the avians fell out of the air. Andrew looked around at the holocaust he had just caused. The ground next to the riverbank was littered with the carcasses of eighty or more of the beautiful guardians. Green blood oozed from their gaping wounds and into the ground.
Andrew dropped his sword and slumped to the floor, utterly exhausted.
Katy rushed over. "Andrew, are you okay? Oh, look at your hand! You've been bitten!"
With an almighty effort, Andrew lifted his hand to his eyes. He could barely focus. He was bitten in three places. The punctures were tiny, but the wounds were a ghastly yellow-green, and his hand was swelling rapidly.
"How does it feel?"
"Tired," croaked Andrew.
The only thing in the world that Andrew wanted right then was to sleep. He closed his eyes, and got ready to drift off into a peaceful slumber…
But then Andrew was being shaken awake. Annoyed, he opened his eyes to see Delvish standing over him, shaking him, and preventing him from getting the sleep he so desired.
"Nuh-no, s-s-sleep!" shouted Delvish, shaking his head. "Puh-pe-poison,"
It was the longest sentence Delvish had uttered since they met him, and must have taken a huge effort on his part.
But the words barely even registered in the thick haze that had taken hold of Andrew's brain. It was like he was underwater, and Delvish was out of it, trying to talk to him.
'Why?' was all Andrew could think. 'Why not just drift off to sleep? It would be so easy, and so pleasant…'
Delvish, who was experienced in dealing with the red guardians, knew that there was no time to waste. In fact, it may already be too late. If Andrew fell asleep now, the poison would set in, and he would never wake up again.
Delvish pulled a small, purple bottle out of his sack and opened it. It was filled with a thick, grey liquid. Then he broke a twig off from the tree they had cut down.
He quickly stirred the contents of the bottle with the twig seven times to the left, then seven times to the right. He muttered an incantation and poured the contents of the bottle, which by now had turned a deep forest green, onto Andrew's wounds.
Nothing happened. A minute passed, then two, and still there was no sign of life from Andrew. It seemed that after all they had been through together, Katy would continue the journey alone. Andrew was a casualty to the forest.
But Katy wouldn't accept it. She willed Andrew to live, to breathe again.
Then Andrew's eyes fluttered open.
"You're alive!" cried Katy. She hugged him tightly. "I knew you would pull through."
Andrew felt a cooling sensation on his hand, as Delvish's balm took hold. The swelling stopped, and began to recede. His head cleared. The bleeding ceased, and the wounds gradually closed.
"Thanks, Delvish," was all he could manage.
"Yes, thanks so very much!" said Katy, and she hugged him.
Delvish smiled, a beautiful, radiant smile that said more than any words ever could. And then with a bow and a wave, he passed over the fallen tree to the other side of the river, into the forest beyond.
'There goes a good friend,' thought Andrew.
He tried to get up.
"No, no, you rest," said Katy firmly. "You fought like a warrior back there. Now you need rest."
"Okay, but only for a couple of minutes." Andrew closed his eyes and dozed off instantly.