Luke yawned, wiping the sleep out of his eyes, and blinked lazily
around. The sun looked like it had just come up over the edge of the
forest, and the threatening clouds from yesterday were had passed over. He
looked outside their tent, realizing that the ground was soaked and that it
must have rained last night. He rolled over to tell Devic, but found an
empty spot where his brother used to be. Frowning, his small face scrunched
up with confusion, he looked outside again, this time searching for Devic,
"Devic? Devic! Are you out there?"
He started as a loud cry rang out from the edge of camp and a man came racing towards the center tent, yelling something in that strange language. The man with the scar on his cheek stuck his head out, his hair all mussed, scowled, and said something curtly to the man who had come running, who in turn quickly muttered something to the Scarman. Instantly, the Scarman leapt out of his tent and hurried after the other man.
Curious about what all the commotion was, Luke carefully crawled out of his makeshift shelter and padded over in his bare feet to a tent that had been set up next to the Scarman's, where the Archer was sleeping. Before entering, he thought carefully if the Archer would really help him find Devic. After all, he had given them bread, shoes, and kept them away from the bad guys during the battle, so Luke figured it would be all right. Slipping inside, he walked over to Archer's sleeping mat and prodded his side softly, "Hey mister...Are you awake?"
Archer twitched his nose and rolled over, his curly dark brown hair falling into his eyes, and murmured something in their language. Luke frowned and poked him again, this time a little harder, "Hey! Wake up!"
Archer sat up, stretching, then noticed Luke staring at him and jumped a little. Luke pulled on the sleeve of his shirt, "Devic's gone...Do you know where he is?"
The man stared at him and shook his head, saying something else. Luke pulled on his shirt again, "Devic! My brother! He's gone!"
Archer seemed to recognize the general idea of what Luke had said this time and he stood up and peered outside his tent. Hearing the other men talking, he reached back to grab his tunic before clamoring outside. Scarman caught sight of him and grabbed his arm, and before Luke knew it, they were deep in conversation about something or another. Whatever it was, it would have to wait; he needed to find Devic now.
Following the two men closely, Luke had to jog to keep up and they strode to the edge of the camp into a smaller, adjacent clearing, and suddenly stopped. Luke gazed around; there was a small pile of rope lying on the ground and an old burnt out campfire.
Impatient and tired of waiting, Luke ran up and tugged on the Archer's pant leg, "What about my brother?"
Scarman looked surprised, but Archer just sighed, pointed down at Luke and said something quickly to Scarman, who nodded and replied back. Archer reached down and grabbed Luke's hand, then crouched down so his eyes were level with the six-year-old's saying something very calmly to him. Luke frowned, but nodded, not understanding, but hoping that it meant that they knew where Devic was, and allowed the Archer to tow him around as he walked back to camp.
***
Devic (y) awoke to the sound of boisterous laughter and the sound of a crackling fire. He lifted his head off of a patch of ground and remembered that he had fallen asleep in the middle of a small thicket after following the Scans farther into the woods. Devic squatted down and peered through the thorny branches of his hiding spot, thankful that the rain had stopped coming down.
The men were sitting around a small fire, warming their hands, and laughing about their escape. Devic held back a small whimper as he remembered how they had come across their confused guard, who had gotten lost in the rain on his way back to the main camp, and how they could kill him before he sounded the alarm. And now they were bragging about it, one of them swinging the dead man's sword around him as if fighting off invisible attackers. They kept switching languages, hopping back and forth from Tortallan and some other, gruffer language that sounded rough on his ears.
The five men had finally settled down last night after the rain began to let up. Devic remembered vaguely that when they took a break, he had only had the strength and energy left to crawl underneath a bush for shelter and then sleep overtook him. They must have traveled a total of about thirty miles through the downpour, and Devic was thankful that he had worn his boots. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to keep up and would have gotten lost. Of course, he still was lost. He had figured that the guard would have come back, found the Scans were gone, and the Tortallans would come to find them and then he could go with them, but since the guard was dead, there wasn't much chance of that happening anymore.
Pulling his knees up to his chest, trying to keep out the damp cold, Devic couldn't stop himself from wishing that his Dad and Mom were with him, and wondered if Luke was worried about him and how he would be able to get by without him there to translate for him.
Devic was staring blankly at the bushes on the opposite side of the Scan's small thicket from his own space and almost didn't notice when he saw branches tremble. He only realized what he was looking at when the soft contour of a boot appeared near the shaking branch and his brain kicked in. Someone was watching them. But who?
Suddenly, one of the five Scans began to scream something inaudible, grabbing his head in his hands and doubling over as if some sound was hurting his ears. The others leapt to their feet and stared at him with confused and terrified expressions, demanding to know what was wrong. Devic looked on, horrified, his mouth agape, as the man in pain fell to his knees and his screams grew louder. One of the others reached down to him, but soon he too had collapsed and was writhing in pain on the forest floor. The other three Scans yelled and shouted at them, ordering them to be quiet, but getting no response, one of them finally picked up a nearby tree branch and swung it at their heads, knocking them unconscious. One of the remaining three, a skinny, mousy man dressed in thin furs, glanced around nervously, "What do you think made them howl like that?"
A larger one, the one who had picked up the branch, growled as he threw his temporary weapon aside, "I do not know, or care, as long as they have shut their mouths and stopped their shrieking..."
However, the skinny man wouldn't give up his questioning, "They acted mad. Surely they would not act thus for no reason?"
"They were probably imagining things; like my fist in you face if you do not be quiet and sit still..."
This finally shut the smaller man up and he shrunk back, gazing, paranoid, around the outskirts of their thicket. Devic had to flatten himself against the ground to avoid being seen and held his breath as the Scan passed by, afraid that he would breathe too loudly and been heard.
Eventually, the mousy man gave up and the remaining three men were almost having another conversation when a soft chuckle drifted through the trees and the skinny man fell to his knees and began to cry out in pain, his tortured screams ringing in Devic's ears. Almost eagerly, the larger man took up his stick again, but hesitated as his other companion began to go into convulsions, twitching in the dead, wet leaves on the ground. Looking around helplessly lost, the large Scan was about to take the branch to their skulls when he suddenly whipped around and faced the direction where Devic had seen the boot earlier and let out a horrific cry, then slumped to the ground, his eyes rolled back into his head.
That was too much for Devic. In sheer panic, he broke through his bramble shelter and ran as fast as his legs would carry him away from the thicket as a deep laugh rose up from behind him. As he tore through and trees and branches whipped at his face, Devic's only thoughts were to escape from whatever or whoever had driven those men insane.
***
Alex, his blood frozen, found his eyes adjusting to the darkness and made out the shape of five or six other spider creatures deeper in the cavern, all emerging from the shadows to catch a glimpse of their new prey. The one that hovered above them was slowly descending, her many legs waving in the air as she cackled again in her awful, scratched voice, "Yes, there is only one way out for you...death..."
He felt Phi's grip tighten on his arm and her face pressing into his back, trying desperately to keep herself from opening her eyes, trusting that if Alex didn't want her to see it, she shouldn't see it. The feel of her touch quickly brought back his senses, and he thought frantically, searching with his eyes for a way out of the nest they seemed to have landed in. There was no way he was going to let Phi become their next meal...
Suddenly an idea popped into his mind. Focusing his mind on Tom, he screamed into his mind, 'Tom! We need help!'
Tom seemed to be exhausted, for when he replied his very thoughts sounded stretched and tired, 'What is it?'
'Remember that spider things we met on our first trip to Tortall?'
'Yes...'
'Well we just fell into a whole nest of them!'
Alex heard Tom swear and could practically feel his mind buzzing as his friend searched for a solution, 'Is there anyway out?'
'Only one. A small hole about eight feet up, but one of the spider things is right next to it an—Oh shit! It just got a lot closer!'
'Okay...Listen carefully Alex. Distract the spider guarding the exit, and draw it away. Have Phi stand at the bottom of the opening and then you run over and lift her up. She probably wouldn't be able to support your weight, but she'll be able to help you climb up to the hole.'
'Phi's scared of spiders! She has arachnophobia or something, you know that...'
'She can do this Alex! Trust me...'
Something caught Alex's eye and he realized that the spider was almost on top of them. Crying out, he grabbed Phi and rolled away as the Spider slammed to the ground where they had been lying only seconds ago, making that hissing noise that had frightened them when they were in the cave. Alex managed to scramble to a wall and grabbed Phi's shoulders, "Phi! I need you to open your eyes now, all right...I'm going to distract them, and you get back to the opening, and I'll meet you there."
Phi nodded, and her eyelids fluttered open just as the Spider came scuttling towards them, her teeth bared. Alex felt her body go limp and the color faded drained from her face. Panicking, he kissed her and shoved her towards the hole in the wall, then leapt in the middle of the cavern, hoping that Phi would be able to make it. The Spider turned towards her and Alex swallowed, his fists clenched. If he didn't keep that monster's attention, it would go after Phi.
Thankful that the other Spider creatures seemed to be staying out of it, he yelled out at their attacker, "Hey ugly! Ya, that's right gruesome, I'm talking to you...Why don't you show me what you got, huh? Bring it on!" There was a long hiss and the Spider lunged at him, her agility surprising Alex and catching him off guard as he flung himself to the side and barely escaped getting torn to shreds by her teeth.
Phi leaned against the side of the wall, gasping for breath, her entire being trembling. She needed to get to the hole in the wall...She had to move. She screamed in her mind at her feet to move but they seemed to have grown roots, cementing themselves in the bone-covered earth. Phi watched horrified as Alex narrowly dodged being eaten and found the strength somewhere to tear away from the cave wall and scramble over to their only exit, guided by a soft shaft of light that drifted down from it.
Alex saw her making a break for it and smiled. She was strong enough after all...he should have guessed that. The Spider, making a quick change of plans, leapt onto the web-covered walls of the cavern and scurried up to the ceiling, hissing and screeching down at her formidable prey. Alex took that as the opportune moment and raced across the floor of the nest to where Phi was waiting for him. She grabbed his wrist as her eyes trailing the Spider's path as it dashed across the ceiling, trailing bits of web behind, "What do we do now?!"
In response, he kneeled down and cupped his hands to make a foothold for her. Getting the gist of his plan, Phi set her foot in his palms and tried to keep steady as he raised her up to the hole. Finding a small outcrop that could serve as a handhold, she gripped either side of the opening and hoisted herself up. Phi turned around and was about to reach down to help Alex up when a piece of web shot down from the ceiling, sticking to his jacket. He yelled out in surprise and was just able to manage to get his coat off before it was yanked up to the ceiling and into the waiting jaws of the Spider.
As he stared up in shock as the monster shrieked down, he felt something wrap around his wrist and was about to cry out again and pull away when he felt himself being slowly pulled up towards the hole in the wall. He gazed up and discovered that Phi had gotten a firm grip on his hand and was hauling him to safety. Quickly, he began to assist her the best he could by using his feet to climb up the slippery side of the cavern and he just managed to scramble inside before the Spider landed on the ground and dove for the hole, trying to reach them.
Phi screamed as one of the Spider's oversized eight legs stretched inside, searching for a leg or a foot while the woman's head screeched and cursed. The sound was terrible and Alex fought the urge to cover his ears to try and block it as he and Phi ran up the steep incline that led away from the nest, back to the opening of the cave.
When they reached the spot where they had spent half the night before, they kept running, not stopping until they were far past the small hill that the cave was perched on and they were safely tucked away in the lush undergrowth of the untamed forest. Phi collapsed and fell into a sitting position near a thick tree trunk and Alex tumbled down beside her. Phi gave a little shriek and looked away as Alex noticed that there was still a small piece of cobweb hanging from his shirt and pulled it off, wiping his hand on a nearby leaf. Trying the get his breathing to steady, Alex leaned back against the tree trunk and closed his eyes as Phi turned back to face him. Her face still extremely pale and her hands trembling, she leaned up against him, resting her head on his chest as he put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. He opened his eyes slightly and gazed down at her, "You did very good in there..."
He felt her shiver and he heard her laugh nervously, and with a strained voice murmur, "I'm going to have nightmares for weeks..."
He sighed, finally able to catch his breath and nestle back against the tree, "...Ya, me too..."
Phi nuzzled closer and wrapped her arms around his arm, and they both drifted off to sleep.
A/N: Sorry for taking a little longer than usual, but I had a whole lota' stuff due for school and I had no time to finish this, well, until now that is... PS: Yes, I suppose I was slightly influenced by Shelob from the movie ROTK in this scene...I couldn't help it.
He started as a loud cry rang out from the edge of camp and a man came racing towards the center tent, yelling something in that strange language. The man with the scar on his cheek stuck his head out, his hair all mussed, scowled, and said something curtly to the man who had come running, who in turn quickly muttered something to the Scarman. Instantly, the Scarman leapt out of his tent and hurried after the other man.
Curious about what all the commotion was, Luke carefully crawled out of his makeshift shelter and padded over in his bare feet to a tent that had been set up next to the Scarman's, where the Archer was sleeping. Before entering, he thought carefully if the Archer would really help him find Devic. After all, he had given them bread, shoes, and kept them away from the bad guys during the battle, so Luke figured it would be all right. Slipping inside, he walked over to Archer's sleeping mat and prodded his side softly, "Hey mister...Are you awake?"
Archer twitched his nose and rolled over, his curly dark brown hair falling into his eyes, and murmured something in their language. Luke frowned and poked him again, this time a little harder, "Hey! Wake up!"
Archer sat up, stretching, then noticed Luke staring at him and jumped a little. Luke pulled on the sleeve of his shirt, "Devic's gone...Do you know where he is?"
The man stared at him and shook his head, saying something else. Luke pulled on his shirt again, "Devic! My brother! He's gone!"
Archer seemed to recognize the general idea of what Luke had said this time and he stood up and peered outside his tent. Hearing the other men talking, he reached back to grab his tunic before clamoring outside. Scarman caught sight of him and grabbed his arm, and before Luke knew it, they were deep in conversation about something or another. Whatever it was, it would have to wait; he needed to find Devic now.
Following the two men closely, Luke had to jog to keep up and they strode to the edge of the camp into a smaller, adjacent clearing, and suddenly stopped. Luke gazed around; there was a small pile of rope lying on the ground and an old burnt out campfire.
Impatient and tired of waiting, Luke ran up and tugged on the Archer's pant leg, "What about my brother?"
Scarman looked surprised, but Archer just sighed, pointed down at Luke and said something quickly to Scarman, who nodded and replied back. Archer reached down and grabbed Luke's hand, then crouched down so his eyes were level with the six-year-old's saying something very calmly to him. Luke frowned, but nodded, not understanding, but hoping that it meant that they knew where Devic was, and allowed the Archer to tow him around as he walked back to camp.
***
Devic (y) awoke to the sound of boisterous laughter and the sound of a crackling fire. He lifted his head off of a patch of ground and remembered that he had fallen asleep in the middle of a small thicket after following the Scans farther into the woods. Devic squatted down and peered through the thorny branches of his hiding spot, thankful that the rain had stopped coming down.
The men were sitting around a small fire, warming their hands, and laughing about their escape. Devic held back a small whimper as he remembered how they had come across their confused guard, who had gotten lost in the rain on his way back to the main camp, and how they could kill him before he sounded the alarm. And now they were bragging about it, one of them swinging the dead man's sword around him as if fighting off invisible attackers. They kept switching languages, hopping back and forth from Tortallan and some other, gruffer language that sounded rough on his ears.
The five men had finally settled down last night after the rain began to let up. Devic remembered vaguely that when they took a break, he had only had the strength and energy left to crawl underneath a bush for shelter and then sleep overtook him. They must have traveled a total of about thirty miles through the downpour, and Devic was thankful that he had worn his boots. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to keep up and would have gotten lost. Of course, he still was lost. He had figured that the guard would have come back, found the Scans were gone, and the Tortallans would come to find them and then he could go with them, but since the guard was dead, there wasn't much chance of that happening anymore.
Pulling his knees up to his chest, trying to keep out the damp cold, Devic couldn't stop himself from wishing that his Dad and Mom were with him, and wondered if Luke was worried about him and how he would be able to get by without him there to translate for him.
Devic was staring blankly at the bushes on the opposite side of the Scan's small thicket from his own space and almost didn't notice when he saw branches tremble. He only realized what he was looking at when the soft contour of a boot appeared near the shaking branch and his brain kicked in. Someone was watching them. But who?
Suddenly, one of the five Scans began to scream something inaudible, grabbing his head in his hands and doubling over as if some sound was hurting his ears. The others leapt to their feet and stared at him with confused and terrified expressions, demanding to know what was wrong. Devic looked on, horrified, his mouth agape, as the man in pain fell to his knees and his screams grew louder. One of the others reached down to him, but soon he too had collapsed and was writhing in pain on the forest floor. The other three Scans yelled and shouted at them, ordering them to be quiet, but getting no response, one of them finally picked up a nearby tree branch and swung it at their heads, knocking them unconscious. One of the remaining three, a skinny, mousy man dressed in thin furs, glanced around nervously, "What do you think made them howl like that?"
A larger one, the one who had picked up the branch, growled as he threw his temporary weapon aside, "I do not know, or care, as long as they have shut their mouths and stopped their shrieking..."
However, the skinny man wouldn't give up his questioning, "They acted mad. Surely they would not act thus for no reason?"
"They were probably imagining things; like my fist in you face if you do not be quiet and sit still..."
This finally shut the smaller man up and he shrunk back, gazing, paranoid, around the outskirts of their thicket. Devic had to flatten himself against the ground to avoid being seen and held his breath as the Scan passed by, afraid that he would breathe too loudly and been heard.
Eventually, the mousy man gave up and the remaining three men were almost having another conversation when a soft chuckle drifted through the trees and the skinny man fell to his knees and began to cry out in pain, his tortured screams ringing in Devic's ears. Almost eagerly, the larger man took up his stick again, but hesitated as his other companion began to go into convulsions, twitching in the dead, wet leaves on the ground. Looking around helplessly lost, the large Scan was about to take the branch to their skulls when he suddenly whipped around and faced the direction where Devic had seen the boot earlier and let out a horrific cry, then slumped to the ground, his eyes rolled back into his head.
That was too much for Devic. In sheer panic, he broke through his bramble shelter and ran as fast as his legs would carry him away from the thicket as a deep laugh rose up from behind him. As he tore through and trees and branches whipped at his face, Devic's only thoughts were to escape from whatever or whoever had driven those men insane.
***
Alex, his blood frozen, found his eyes adjusting to the darkness and made out the shape of five or six other spider creatures deeper in the cavern, all emerging from the shadows to catch a glimpse of their new prey. The one that hovered above them was slowly descending, her many legs waving in the air as she cackled again in her awful, scratched voice, "Yes, there is only one way out for you...death..."
He felt Phi's grip tighten on his arm and her face pressing into his back, trying desperately to keep herself from opening her eyes, trusting that if Alex didn't want her to see it, she shouldn't see it. The feel of her touch quickly brought back his senses, and he thought frantically, searching with his eyes for a way out of the nest they seemed to have landed in. There was no way he was going to let Phi become their next meal...
Suddenly an idea popped into his mind. Focusing his mind on Tom, he screamed into his mind, 'Tom! We need help!'
Tom seemed to be exhausted, for when he replied his very thoughts sounded stretched and tired, 'What is it?'
'Remember that spider things we met on our first trip to Tortall?'
'Yes...'
'Well we just fell into a whole nest of them!'
Alex heard Tom swear and could practically feel his mind buzzing as his friend searched for a solution, 'Is there anyway out?'
'Only one. A small hole about eight feet up, but one of the spider things is right next to it an—Oh shit! It just got a lot closer!'
'Okay...Listen carefully Alex. Distract the spider guarding the exit, and draw it away. Have Phi stand at the bottom of the opening and then you run over and lift her up. She probably wouldn't be able to support your weight, but she'll be able to help you climb up to the hole.'
'Phi's scared of spiders! She has arachnophobia or something, you know that...'
'She can do this Alex! Trust me...'
Something caught Alex's eye and he realized that the spider was almost on top of them. Crying out, he grabbed Phi and rolled away as the Spider slammed to the ground where they had been lying only seconds ago, making that hissing noise that had frightened them when they were in the cave. Alex managed to scramble to a wall and grabbed Phi's shoulders, "Phi! I need you to open your eyes now, all right...I'm going to distract them, and you get back to the opening, and I'll meet you there."
Phi nodded, and her eyelids fluttered open just as the Spider came scuttling towards them, her teeth bared. Alex felt her body go limp and the color faded drained from her face. Panicking, he kissed her and shoved her towards the hole in the wall, then leapt in the middle of the cavern, hoping that Phi would be able to make it. The Spider turned towards her and Alex swallowed, his fists clenched. If he didn't keep that monster's attention, it would go after Phi.
Thankful that the other Spider creatures seemed to be staying out of it, he yelled out at their attacker, "Hey ugly! Ya, that's right gruesome, I'm talking to you...Why don't you show me what you got, huh? Bring it on!" There was a long hiss and the Spider lunged at him, her agility surprising Alex and catching him off guard as he flung himself to the side and barely escaped getting torn to shreds by her teeth.
Phi leaned against the side of the wall, gasping for breath, her entire being trembling. She needed to get to the hole in the wall...She had to move. She screamed in her mind at her feet to move but they seemed to have grown roots, cementing themselves in the bone-covered earth. Phi watched horrified as Alex narrowly dodged being eaten and found the strength somewhere to tear away from the cave wall and scramble over to their only exit, guided by a soft shaft of light that drifted down from it.
Alex saw her making a break for it and smiled. She was strong enough after all...he should have guessed that. The Spider, making a quick change of plans, leapt onto the web-covered walls of the cavern and scurried up to the ceiling, hissing and screeching down at her formidable prey. Alex took that as the opportune moment and raced across the floor of the nest to where Phi was waiting for him. She grabbed his wrist as her eyes trailing the Spider's path as it dashed across the ceiling, trailing bits of web behind, "What do we do now?!"
In response, he kneeled down and cupped his hands to make a foothold for her. Getting the gist of his plan, Phi set her foot in his palms and tried to keep steady as he raised her up to the hole. Finding a small outcrop that could serve as a handhold, she gripped either side of the opening and hoisted herself up. Phi turned around and was about to reach down to help Alex up when a piece of web shot down from the ceiling, sticking to his jacket. He yelled out in surprise and was just able to manage to get his coat off before it was yanked up to the ceiling and into the waiting jaws of the Spider.
As he stared up in shock as the monster shrieked down, he felt something wrap around his wrist and was about to cry out again and pull away when he felt himself being slowly pulled up towards the hole in the wall. He gazed up and discovered that Phi had gotten a firm grip on his hand and was hauling him to safety. Quickly, he began to assist her the best he could by using his feet to climb up the slippery side of the cavern and he just managed to scramble inside before the Spider landed on the ground and dove for the hole, trying to reach them.
Phi screamed as one of the Spider's oversized eight legs stretched inside, searching for a leg or a foot while the woman's head screeched and cursed. The sound was terrible and Alex fought the urge to cover his ears to try and block it as he and Phi ran up the steep incline that led away from the nest, back to the opening of the cave.
When they reached the spot where they had spent half the night before, they kept running, not stopping until they were far past the small hill that the cave was perched on and they were safely tucked away in the lush undergrowth of the untamed forest. Phi collapsed and fell into a sitting position near a thick tree trunk and Alex tumbled down beside her. Phi gave a little shriek and looked away as Alex noticed that there was still a small piece of cobweb hanging from his shirt and pulled it off, wiping his hand on a nearby leaf. Trying the get his breathing to steady, Alex leaned back against the tree trunk and closed his eyes as Phi turned back to face him. Her face still extremely pale and her hands trembling, she leaned up against him, resting her head on his chest as he put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. He opened his eyes slightly and gazed down at her, "You did very good in there..."
He felt her shiver and he heard her laugh nervously, and with a strained voice murmur, "I'm going to have nightmares for weeks..."
He sighed, finally able to catch his breath and nestle back against the tree, "...Ya, me too..."
Phi nuzzled closer and wrapped her arms around his arm, and they both drifted off to sleep.
A/N: Sorry for taking a little longer than usual, but I had a whole lota' stuff due for school and I had no time to finish this, well, until now that is... PS: Yes, I suppose I was slightly influenced by Shelob from the movie ROTK in this scene...I couldn't help it.