Leven had no idea what was happening, but he found himself unable to stand still. He picked up a large, dead tree limb. As he gripped the end of it, the bark seemed to mold around his fist.
“What are you doing?” Clover asked.
“I’m not sure,” Leven answered.
Leven held the stick above his head and ran toward the shaft of light and the circling cloud of insects. Before he could reach the man, the dream apparently ended and the shaft of light dissolved, leaving Albert free to be attacked.
Being a nit, Albert was blessed with the gift to be able to see below the surface. He fell to his knees and pressed his face into the soil, looking for any cave or underground spot where he could hide and be protected. His gift did him little good. The sarus swarmed beneath him and began to lift him off the ground.
Leven hollered and shouted. He waved his stick and swatted at the cloud of sarus. The sarus dropped Albert and turned all their attention to Leven.
The sarus clicked and moaned even louder as they turned. Leven waved his stick at them and tumbled onto his back. The tiny, buglike animals buzzed in chaotic victory. They poured down upon Leven like a thick wave of fleshy pebbles, clicking and moaning.
Flapping their dusty wings in unison, the bugs crawled up under Leven’s shirt and penetrated his nose and ears. Leven was instantly unrecognizable. In only a moment, the swarming sarus covered him completely and were piling on top of each other, causing Leven to look like a lumpy green mummy.
Then the biting began.
The sarus bit down on any spot they could find. Their dull teeth pinched Leven like tightly wired clothespins. When Leven screamed, the sarus entered his mouth, muffled his cry, and streamed like beads down Leven’s throat and into his lungs.
He began retching and choking, spitting out sarus by the hundreds. He could feel their tiny mouths clamping down on his hair and his clothes and on any exposed skin. The pain was intense, but Leven didn’t dare open his mouth to holler again.
With a hold on him, the sarus began to lift Leven from the ground. Their wings beating in a whir, the sarus climbed into the air, carrying Leven back toward the shelter of the forest. Leven kicked and struggled, but the sarus had him and were not about to let go.
ii
Albert quickly got to his feet and hid himself behind a bush that looked like a large rock. As he peered over the top of the bush, Albert felt something sharp jab him in the ankle. The stabbing sensation then moved up his right arm, and before he could swat away whatever it was, Albert saw a toothpick standing on his shoulder.
The toothpick cried, “Hold on, Leven!” and jumped from Albert’s shoulder, running after the swarm of sarus.
Albert rubbed his eyes. He bent over and picked up a handful of stones. From behind the bush, Albert began throwing the stones at the sarus. His sycophant, Delphinium, reappeared.
“What are you doing?” Delphinium screamed.
“Helping,” Albert argued.
“Well, knock it off,” Delphinium insisted. “How am I to keep you safe if you keep trying to help people?”
“Good point,” Albert said, dropping his stones and running for safety. “I’m far too important for this.”
iii
Geth followed the swarm as fast as he could. He gasped at the number of sarus covering Leven—there were millions. He knew fate would not be as kind to Leven here in Foo as it had been in Reality, but fate had helped Geth find Leven again. That had to be a good sign.
What wasn’t a good sign was that Geth could feel his feet and legs hardening, and the hardening was making it difficult to run.
Geth hopped onto a tree stump and gazed into the distance toward where Leven was now being levitated by the sarus higher and farther away. Geth whistled, just as a large single sarus was flying past him. The sarus immediately turned and attacked Geth, knocking him from the stump. The two of them rolled across the ground, Geth administering blows with his small sliver arms, and the sarus trying desperately to take a bite out of Geth. Finally, the sarus used its pincers to grab Geth’s toothpick head. The agitated bug then shot up into the air holding Geth. Geth twisted and tried to pull free, but the sarus wouldn’t have it, flying even faster and higher. Geth thrust the top of his sharpened head into the belly of the sarus, and the bug exploded in a puff of dust, leaving Geth alone in the sky.
Screaming like a teakettle venting its frustration, Geth tucked his arms in and dove directly toward Leven. He aimed for a fistful of sarus covering Leven’s right shoulder. Geth’s sharp head skewered three of them perfectly, and they were pulverized, evaporating in a puff of dust that drifted toward the ground. The sarus could be caught, or smashed, or stabbed, but they would always just turn to dust, which pollinated the other sarus and kept their kind multiplying by the hundreds.
Geth threw out his right arm and grabbed hold of Leven’s left shoulder. The sarus swarmed, and Geth began going at them with his legs and arms. They squealed like tiny winged pigs as he punctured one after another, each victim turning to dust.
Leven was struggling as hard as he could, swinging and kicking as he was lifted higher into the air. The sarus continued to fill his mouth. Gasping for breath, Leven retched and bucked wildly in the air.
A thick, dirty sarus buzzed in as Geth lost his grip and fell to the ground. Geth stood quickly and tilted his head toward the flapping menace. The sarus flew into the tip of Geth, cutting its wing and slapping down against the ground like a hand against water. Ten more flew down into Geth. He fought them off with the tip of his head and twisted, throwing himself onto the back of a particularly large one. The sarus he was straddling rocked and twisted upside down in an attempt to throw Geth. But Geth grabbed hold of the two thick strands of hair that grew out of the sarus’s head like antennas. Gripping them tightly, he was able to control the sarus he was now riding. He pulled the hairs back, and the sarus raced straight toward Leven. Hundreds of other sarus saw what was happening and swooped in to knock Geth off the back of their comrade. Geth wouldn’t have it, and by pulling and pushing the two hairs he maneuvered brilliantly around all the incoming sarus and back to Leven.
Geth flew around Leven’s head, down the length of his body, and beneath him as Leven floated in midair. There were very few exposed spots on Leven. The sarus had their mouths clamped down on his skin and clothing and were lifting and flying Leven as a team.
A huge sarus flew directly into Geth’s path, causing a miniature head-on collision. Geth flew off the back of the sarus he was on and shot down the length of Leven and up against Leven’s ankle, where he blew through some biting sarus and scratched up against the skin. The tip of his head twisted just a bit, and Geth became caught in Leven’s sock.
The sarus didn’t notice. They just shifted and continued to bite down on Leven, their wings beating, lifting him higher and higher.
The swarm finally began to descend into the forest and beneath the trees. There the sarus on Leven thinned just a bit, and he could see out of his right eye again. The air was dark and smelled of wet, musty wood.
As they descended farther, Leven was suddenly plunged into water. The swarm was lowering him into a huge vat that had been fashioned from the hollowed-out trunk of a very large tree. The water pushed up past his waist and chest. The sarus who had been biting onto his lower half released their hold and spread across the top of the water like a thick oil slick. It was nice to have them off him, but being lowered down into water was not exactly something that Leven liked. He was not a strong swimmer, as he had proven when it came time to dive to the gateway.
As Leven’s chin hit the water, the remaining sarus on him released their mouths. Leven bobbed almost softly in the sarus-covered water; he spat a few stray sarus from his mouth and wiped his brown eyes with his hands while dog-paddling to stay afloat. The entire watery surface was covered in millions of moss-looking sarus, dipping themselves in the water and washing the taste of Leven from their mouths.
Leven didn’t feel sorry for th
em in the least.
The vat was round and about twenty feet in diameter. Leven had no idea how deep it was, but he couldn’t feel the bottom. All around the vat were gigantic trees with thick trunks, many as big around as the vat he was in.
Very little light fell from above, due to the canopy of trees, but the rim of the vat glowed as if painted fluorescent. The glow was strong and lit up everything in the area. Leven had no idea what the sarus wanted from him or what he should do. He could see over the rim of the vat and into the trees. In front of a few trees were tall piles of thin sticks, stacked like teepees without material covering them.
Something poked Leven on the ankle, and he kicked frantically to defend himself. As he flailed in the water, the sarus moved back, creating a clear circle around him. Leven was making so much noise that he barely heard Geth whisper into his ear.
“Don’t say anything, but I’m right here.”
“G—” Leven stopped himself from saying Geth’s name, but nothing could have prevented his smile or held back the wave of relief Leven felt just knowing Geth was around. “How did you—?”
“Don’t let them know I’m here,” Geth whispered. “They have excellent hearing. You need to talk to them.”
“To the bugs?”
“Shhh,” Geth warned.
Leven could feel Geth slide back behind his right ear.
“Talk to them?” Leven said to himself, looking at the thick, fuzzy patches of sarus that covered every bit of water except for the small circle around him.
Leven cleared his throat.
“Hello?” he called out.
The sarus seemed to collectively shiver in the water.
“Who are you?” Leven asked.
They were silent. In fact, the entire forest seemed silent. Leven had not seen too terribly much of Foo, but so far what he had seen had either been deathly still or deathly loud. Leven wasn’t sure which he preferred.
“Where am I?”
The sarus vibrated, making the water shimmy. It took a second, but Leven began to realize that the vibration was actually sounding something out.
“We have you, Leven,” the water vibrated, sounding like a shaky train whistle with a deep echo. “The water has you.”
“Who’s we? And how do you know my name?” Leven asked.
“The sarus,” they vibrated. “We have you. That is enough.”
The vibration stopped, and in a couple of moments it was completely quiet again. Leven turned himself in the water. His head bobbed just a bit and water entered his mouth and nose. Leven blew out and looked over the rim of the vat and into the forest.
“What now?” Leven whispered to Geth. “Are they going to just leave me here?”
“Who are you talking to?” the sarus vibrated.
“No one,” Leven lied. “I was just thinking.”
“Thinking?” the sarus questioned. “You have nothing to think about. We have you, and you will remain here forever.”
“Forever?” Leven asked, slightly panicked.
“Not forever,” the water vibrated. “Eventually, the seed will swell and you will die.”
“Seed?” Leven asked.
“Your death will have purpose beyond the reward,” was their only reply, and as far as replies go it wasn’t terribly comforting.
“I don’t understand,” Leven said, scared.
“You are Leven?”
“Yes,” Leven answered hesitantly.
“Then Jamoon will reward us for your demise,” the sarus vibrated. “And this seed shall grow strong from your gifts.”
Leven’s legs and arms were growing tired from treading water. His thighs burned so badly he was surprised to look down and see that they weren’t actually on fire.
“I can’t swim forever,” Leven complained. “Can’t you just let me lie on the ground forever? I’ll hold the seed or whatever.”
The water vibrated madly. “We know what you nits are capable of if you lie on the ground.”
Leven thought of his Grandfather Hector. He had lain on the ground of Foo and eventually, thanks to his brain chemistry and his willpower, had convinced himself to disbelieve in Foo and return to Reality.
“The water is a constant reminder that you are still here,” the sarus buzzed. “No more questions.”
The sarus vibrated and began to lift off the water’s surface. They swarmed and moved out from over the water and above the piles of dry sticks stacked in front of the trees. They dropped onto the sticks, buzzing around them. The sticks began to click and rise, the sarus swarming on each piece of wood. Leven could see that the piles of wood were actually pieces hooked together. The sarus perched and clustered on the wood, standing it up and creating what looked to be a disjointed stick man that stood about five feet high. They walked stiffly toward the vat, clicking and spitting.
A fist-sized cluster of sarus zoomed through the air and swooped to the ground. They picked up a small object and flew over Leven’s head. They dropped the object, and Leven heard the tiny splash.
The sarus stick man bent over and picked up a long pole.
He . . . it . . . they . . . whatever . . . lifted the stick up above the vat and brought it down, whacking Leven on the head. It was so sudden and unexpected that Leven didn’t have time to react.
Leven saw stars swirling around his head, and his eyes were white with pain. He reached to the top of his head and felt the gigantic goose egg that was already beginning to grow.
“What was that?” Leven said loudly.
“They can’t answer you,” Geth whispered back, still behind Leven’s right ear. “They can only speak with the water. They probably didn’t mean to hit you; they’re just incredibly clumsy on their sticks.”
Geth was right. The stick came down toward Leven two more times, but it looked more like they were trying to knock something other than Leven with it. Eventually, after Leven had been smacked two more times and the sarus had thrown the pole down at least two dozen times, the stick connected with a notch in the rim of the vat. The second it connected there was a great whooshing sound as a massive, circular wood cover clamped shut over the top of the vat.
Leven and Geth were trapped.
With the cover closed, the vat resembled a giant wooden egg. The sarus danced clumsily around the container, hitting it with sticks. The sticks caused the water inside to swish and splash around.
“What do we do?” Leven asked Geth, swimming from the center of the vat to one of its sides.
Though the vat was closed, there was still enough fluorescent green light to make it perfectly clear just how doomed they were.
“This is interesting,” Geth said, sounding a bit less optimistic than he usually did.
“What’ll they do to us?” Leven asked.
“Nothing,” Geth answered. “We’re in a gaze. The sarus use them to nourish fantrum seeds. That was a seed they dropped in here. Eventually it will swell so large it will crush you and use your body and soul as nutrients. With your gifts you could help create a gigantic tree. When the seed cracks the gaze, it then drops down into the hole beneath, and a tree grows.” Geth moved from Leven’s right ear over to his left.
“Of course, we won’t last more than a couple of days in here,” he went on. “You’ll drown, and I’ll harden to the point of death long before the seed swells. It’s only a matter of days before I’m done.”
“If we do get out, do we have time to get you to the turrets?”
Geth was silent.
Leven wouldn’t have it. He found a small ridge where the top and bottom halves of the gaze met. It was enough of a ridge that he could hold on and not have to keep treading. Water continued to slosh as the sarus outside pounded the gaze.
“What are they doing?” Leven asked.
“Keeping the water moving,” Geth answered. “They don’t want you to forget you are experiencing this. They’ll stop in a moment, but they’ll come back and beat it at least once a day for as long as you live.”
&nbs
p; “We have to find a way out,” Leven said with determination. “Where’s Winter?”
Geth considered telling Leven she was just fine, but he knew they needed to deal in truth, not lies. “They’ve captured her.”
“What?” Leven asked, losing his grip and splashing in the water. He grabbed the ridge again and steadied himself. “Who captured her?”
“Jamoon,” Geth said solemnly.
“And you just left her?” Leven accused Geth.
“I am no good to anyone if I don’t get to the turrets,” Geth explained softly.
“Clover!” Leven said, remembering his sycophant. “Clover can help get us out of here. Clover!” His voice sounded hollow in the closed vat.
There was no answer.
“Was he with you near the trail?” Geth asked.
Leven nodded, and Geth wiggled with the movement of his head.
“He would have known to stay quiet and get out,” Geth said, still trying to sound hopeful. “I’m sure he’s working from the outside right now, trying to get to us.”
The beating of the sticks against the gaze stopped. The sarus were done for the day. After the echoes of the beating faded it was shockingly quiet once again.
Leven began to search the gaze for any possible way out.
iv
There were a few things about Reality that Clover was beginning to miss—the casual pace of life being one of the biggest. It just seemed as if he’d had so much more free time in Reality. Leven’s entire life had been slow, and Clover had needed to do very little to keep up with him. But ever since the day Clover had revealed himself to Leven, it had been almost nonstop running and rescuing.
Clover missed his “me time.”
It used to be that he could watch Leven fall asleep and then spend the night out in Burnt Culvert, looking for rocks or interesting trash. He would always know that when he returned to the porch, Leven would still be there asleep. Now, however, it seemed that every time they turned around, something huge happened. Clover didn’t mind the adventure, but he was looking forward to the day when things would settle down a bit.