Chapter 3: Toxes
Holly and Tebo continued to coast along the stream. It was very silent, as Holly had finally put the Dictionary back into her rucksack. There was no practical reason why, she just wanted to give her hands a rest.
However, it was also silent between Holly and Tebo because Holly needed to think. Even if she had figured out where she was going, how was she going to get the Cure and come back in one piece? The thought of being ripped to shreds by locans didn't exactly hold much appeal. Lync was probably depending on that box to save Holly, but that couldn't do anything now that it was locked for good.
And what was with Lync's final words? "Do you know why the bridge is painted?" Holly couldn't figure that out. He had to have been referring to the Painted Bridge that led into the Forest, but it was painted for the same reason anything else was painted.
"The bridge was painted so that it would have color and look good," Holly thought. "That's the reason why anything is painted. Isn't it?"
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden stop. Holly got out the Dictionary as Tebo started humming in a restrained volume.
"Sorry, what?"
"Ya hear that?" Tebo asked.
Holly heard it, all right. Like everything else in the Forest, this new, bizarre sound had a rhythm to it, like some sort of music. It was like the sound of two handfuls of mud being squashed together, except higher-pitched and completely unnatural.
"Toxes are nearby," Tebo whispered. "Don't make any sudden moves, or they'll know where to aim."
"Aim?" Holly asked.
"You'll see."
As the squelching sound continued, Holly made it a point to stay silent. It was easy for her to do so, as Lync had trained Holly to only speak when spoken to.
But as Holly looked upstream, she clearly saw a problem about ten feet away and closing. About five vites were drifting down the stream. Looking at Tebo, Holly knew that it could smell the approaching delicacies.
Holly did everything she could. She wrapped her arms around Tebo's snout. She whispered to Tebo to remind it to be quiet. Unfortunately, a pair of Tebo jaws is powerful enough to crush rocks. It easily broke free of Holly's grip and proceeded to splash around, noisily gulping up every single vite.
When Tebo had finally calmed down, and its human companion had recovered from hanging on for dear life, Holly had tried to look for where the sound been earlier. But before she could find it, a burning heat had passed over her ear. Holly felt to see if she was all right, and then cast her lantern around randomly.
She came across what appeared to be a slender little man waist-deep in dirt. This, however, was clearly no human. Humans don't usually have bright crimson skin or milky-white eyes, and no human has two mouths, pointy ears, or a nose that was about eight inches long and pointed.
Holly stared at the thing for a couple of seconds until two more toxes surfaced. All three of them threw back their heads, opened their lower mouths wide, and threw out a stream of some bizarre kind of liquid. Holly didn't know what the stuff was, but judging from its feverish heat and acidic green color, the stuff was not friendly.
Luckily, Tebo had finally recovered. "Hang on, Holly!" And Tebo was off like a shot.
The toxes, however, were following just as quickly. The toxes were jumping in wide arcs above the ground, submerging for a split-second only to sail through the air again. The sight of three toxes making choreographed leaps through the air would have been quite captivating; the sort of thing that one could watch for hours. Unfortunately, the show was punctured by the acidic spit sent by the toxes in mid-leap.
Even more disturbing was that despite going at high speeds, despite going up and down, despite the moving targets, the creatures' aim was incredible.
Holly kept feeling like she was going to faint from the heat at any moment. Tebo, meanwhile, was working itself harder than ever before. Tebo could have fired a few shots from its shell, except that firing required a midair flip, which was very difficult to do with a passenger. So, Tebo was forced to keep moving, never slowing down, weaving from side to side within the stream, hoping that it left the toxes' territory before it or Holly were burned.
However, Tebo and Holly had another problem. Tebo was starting to slow down.
Tebo was trying to say something to Holly. She couldn't hear anything other than a gasp that sounded like "poison."
Holly had heard enough. They needed a diversion. As soon as Tebo had slowed down enough, Holly jumped ashore. She started running away from Tebo, and sure enough, she started drawing fire from the toxes.
Finally, Tebo was able to take action. It flipped in midair, firing two spikes. Two toxes went down, flapping hopelessly on the ground like fishes out of water. Holly couldn't help but admire the sight.
FSSSSS!
"What the heck was that?" thought Holly. And then the lantern was cast on Tebo. Its blubber was melted on both sides. An arc of green acid was arching through Holly's friend. The other tox had hit its mark.
"Tebo!" Holly shouted. She ran over to her friend and tried to push it back in the water. It was no use. Tebo was dead weight. Literally, dead weight.
FSSSSS!
Holly screamed. The acid had hit her left forearm. She smelled burning flesh and almost threw up when she saw what was on the ground.
It was her left arm.
She had stayed in one place for too long. She had to run and she did. She followed the creek, still racing the tox on the other side. The tox was as relentless as ever. Holly kept running, trying hard to ignore the fires in her left shoulder. Trying to ignore the feverish heat spreading throughout her body.
The tox jumped. It fired. Holly dodged. She ran. "The pain, the pain..." she couldn't help thinking.
Holly was getting tired. She kept running. The tox fired again. It hit Holly's ankle. She didn't have to look down to know that she had lost a foot.
The pain again. She kept going.
The burning was fueled.
Holly couldn't run anymore
The tox could.
Holly heard a crystalline music.
It grew steadily louder as the tox gained.
Holly's world became a blur of pain and music and burning and darkness and the tox...
And that burst of bright light....
Holly and Tebo continued to coast along the stream. It was very silent, as Holly had finally put the Dictionary back into her rucksack. There was no practical reason why, she just wanted to give her hands a rest.
However, it was also silent between Holly and Tebo because Holly needed to think. Even if she had figured out where she was going, how was she going to get the Cure and come back in one piece? The thought of being ripped to shreds by locans didn't exactly hold much appeal. Lync was probably depending on that box to save Holly, but that couldn't do anything now that it was locked for good.
And what was with Lync's final words? "Do you know why the bridge is painted?" Holly couldn't figure that out. He had to have been referring to the Painted Bridge that led into the Forest, but it was painted for the same reason anything else was painted.
"The bridge was painted so that it would have color and look good," Holly thought. "That's the reason why anything is painted. Isn't it?"
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden stop. Holly got out the Dictionary as Tebo started humming in a restrained volume.
"Sorry, what?"
"Ya hear that?" Tebo asked.
Holly heard it, all right. Like everything else in the Forest, this new, bizarre sound had a rhythm to it, like some sort of music. It was like the sound of two handfuls of mud being squashed together, except higher-pitched and completely unnatural.
"Toxes are nearby," Tebo whispered. "Don't make any sudden moves, or they'll know where to aim."
"Aim?" Holly asked.
"You'll see."
As the squelching sound continued, Holly made it a point to stay silent. It was easy for her to do so, as Lync had trained Holly to only speak when spoken to.
But as Holly looked upstream, she clearly saw a problem about ten feet away and closing. About five vites were drifting down the stream. Looking at Tebo, Holly knew that it could smell the approaching delicacies.
Holly did everything she could. She wrapped her arms around Tebo's snout. She whispered to Tebo to remind it to be quiet. Unfortunately, a pair of Tebo jaws is powerful enough to crush rocks. It easily broke free of Holly's grip and proceeded to splash around, noisily gulping up every single vite.
When Tebo had finally calmed down, and its human companion had recovered from hanging on for dear life, Holly had tried to look for where the sound been earlier. But before she could find it, a burning heat had passed over her ear. Holly felt to see if she was all right, and then cast her lantern around randomly.
She came across what appeared to be a slender little man waist-deep in dirt. This, however, was clearly no human. Humans don't usually have bright crimson skin or milky-white eyes, and no human has two mouths, pointy ears, or a nose that was about eight inches long and pointed.
Holly stared at the thing for a couple of seconds until two more toxes surfaced. All three of them threw back their heads, opened their lower mouths wide, and threw out a stream of some bizarre kind of liquid. Holly didn't know what the stuff was, but judging from its feverish heat and acidic green color, the stuff was not friendly.
Luckily, Tebo had finally recovered. "Hang on, Holly!" And Tebo was off like a shot.
The toxes, however, were following just as quickly. The toxes were jumping in wide arcs above the ground, submerging for a split-second only to sail through the air again. The sight of three toxes making choreographed leaps through the air would have been quite captivating; the sort of thing that one could watch for hours. Unfortunately, the show was punctured by the acidic spit sent by the toxes in mid-leap.
Even more disturbing was that despite going at high speeds, despite going up and down, despite the moving targets, the creatures' aim was incredible.
Holly kept feeling like she was going to faint from the heat at any moment. Tebo, meanwhile, was working itself harder than ever before. Tebo could have fired a few shots from its shell, except that firing required a midair flip, which was very difficult to do with a passenger. So, Tebo was forced to keep moving, never slowing down, weaving from side to side within the stream, hoping that it left the toxes' territory before it or Holly were burned.
However, Tebo and Holly had another problem. Tebo was starting to slow down.
Tebo was trying to say something to Holly. She couldn't hear anything other than a gasp that sounded like "poison."
Holly had heard enough. They needed a diversion. As soon as Tebo had slowed down enough, Holly jumped ashore. She started running away from Tebo, and sure enough, she started drawing fire from the toxes.
Finally, Tebo was able to take action. It flipped in midair, firing two spikes. Two toxes went down, flapping hopelessly on the ground like fishes out of water. Holly couldn't help but admire the sight.
FSSSSS!
"What the heck was that?" thought Holly. And then the lantern was cast on Tebo. Its blubber was melted on both sides. An arc of green acid was arching through Holly's friend. The other tox had hit its mark.
"Tebo!" Holly shouted. She ran over to her friend and tried to push it back in the water. It was no use. Tebo was dead weight. Literally, dead weight.
FSSSSS!
Holly screamed. The acid had hit her left forearm. She smelled burning flesh and almost threw up when she saw what was on the ground.
It was her left arm.
She had stayed in one place for too long. She had to run and she did. She followed the creek, still racing the tox on the other side. The tox was as relentless as ever. Holly kept running, trying hard to ignore the fires in her left shoulder. Trying to ignore the feverish heat spreading throughout her body.
The tox jumped. It fired. Holly dodged. She ran. "The pain, the pain..." she couldn't help thinking.
Holly was getting tired. She kept running. The tox fired again. It hit Holly's ankle. She didn't have to look down to know that she had lost a foot.
The pain again. She kept going.
The burning was fueled.
Holly couldn't run anymore
The tox could.
Holly heard a crystalline music.
It grew steadily louder as the tox gained.
Holly's world became a blur of pain and music and burning and darkness and the tox...
And that burst of bright light....