More Alone! What dangers will the twins face in the forest as they collect pine needles? Who is this mysterious white rider? One of these, you will find out in this chapter!
Gave up on the French version after two lines. Heh.
I'm not going to reply to all of your reviews; sorry, I just don't have the time (and there's so many of them to reply too!). All I'm going to say is this: It's not a god, sorcerer or magician, just a normal person, but if I tell you any more, I'm going to give it away! As well as this, thank you for all of your kind reviews, I have read them all and they're very nice and encouraging. I will try to write a good storm for you all.
Tuffnut casually stooped down and began to gather up the top, dried layer of pine needles and slip them carefully into his bag. The cloth shirt was working surprisingly well as a bag for the fire material. However, the needles were deceptively sharp, and more than once he had pricked his fingers scooping them in handfuls. Around him, the forest had thinned slightly, letting more of the soft, dappled light through that illuminated shifting patches on the forest floor.
He stopped for a moment to look around himself. There were more bushes here than where they had started, and these were lush and greener, with little cotton soft flowers peppering them. Around, the smell of damp earth lingered, refreshing and cool. Tuffnut stooped by a bush to smell the little buds. He could almost taste their rich, sweet scent.
Near him lay a long, smooth tree trunk, lying on its side among the other plants. Thinking he could just sit down for a while, he approached and lowered himself none too softly onto the surprisingly comfortable seat. He was about to inspect the contents of his almost-full bag when a deathly shudder ran up the log he was sitting on. He frowned, uncomprehending, until he heard a soft growl humming through the still air.
Ruffnut smiled, straightening up, her own bag full to the brim with jagged, brown needles. She sighed and wiped her brow softly, casting a glance over her shoulder to the dragon lazing in a patch of shifting sunlight nearby. One head chirruped and moved slightly, but did not venture to open its weary eyes.
All of a sudden, she heard pounding footsteps close by. Someone was running towards her, and fast. Barf and Belch's heads jerked up in surprise, looking this way and that, trying to locate the source. All of a sudden, Tuffnut burst from the shadows with a cry of fear, stumbling and flying, uncoordinated into his sister. The twins fell in a heap before their dragon's feet, limbs flailing as they tried to untangle themselves. Their dragon whined, shrinking away from sounds only they could hear.
"What are you doing? Get off me!" Ruffnut snarled, shoving her brother roughly aside. He tried to give a stammering reply, fear plain in his wide eyes. She frowned. "What?"
"T-T-T-Timberjack!" He wailed, scrambling to his feet, full of horror. There was an ear-splitting roar from the depths of the forest and the rush of leathery wings. The light above the trees was suddenly and inexplicably blocked out. Dimly, they could see a creature of wooden-brown colour hanging in the sky above them. Its long, fanged snout peered at them through the trees, head lowering to see them better.
Its eyes were piercing yellow, pupils thin slits as it observed the teens frozen below. The horns that curled up from the back of it's skull were like tree branches, twisting and deadly. The Timberjack had no legs; instead, it hung in the air, beating its enormous wings only slightly to stay aloft. They had read about those wings, so sharp they could slice through fully grown trees as though they were nothing more than a block of yak butter. It gave them the chills.
Slowly, its grand maw opened and released a yowling roar that brought them back to their senses. They could see straight down the dragon's throat and were intent on not seeing it at any closer distance. Ruffnut grabbed her brother's wrist and tugged.
"Run!" She cried. The creature gave another roar as the twins dashed out of sight through the trees, their dragon following on behind. Running again, Ruffnut thought grudgingly, I thought we'd done this already? Her heart was hammering in her chest, her breath coming in short gasps. Her brother looked at her, exchanging a look of fear.
"The up side is, I'm going to lose a lot of weight from this!" She joked between gasps. Tuffnut chuckled. All of a sudden, the shape was above them again. Around them began to fall the tops of the trees that became the Timberjack's victims. One landed between Barf and Belch's heads, another threatened to crush Tuffnut, its branches giving him a hearty smack as they came.
Another piercing roar brought then stumbling to a halt. They were stuck on a ledge, the bottom disappearing into the depths of the forest far below. The lower levels of this hill were stepped as well, it seemed, but they were hidden in the thick forest. However, this step was like two combined; far too steep and long to jump off. The twins were trapped against it.
The Timberjack half-crawled, half-slithered towards them, its long, scythe-like claws gripping the tops of the pines. It was using them to hold it above the level of the forest so that it could better concentrate on its prey. Its long, serpentine body weaved in an out of the branches as it came ever closer, its deadly jaws snapping.
Barf and Belch gave a warning growl, trying to dissuade the enormous creature, but it suddenly shot into the air, its tail lashing out and knocking them back. Ruffnut glanced at her brother, seeing no way out. Her twin shared her same look of terror, pale and shaking. The jaws snapped closer. Tuffnut threw himself aside as the tail swiped for him. Ruffnut inched back, but suddenly, her foot disappeared into a void of open space. She screamed as she fell against the cliff-face, just managing to grab onto the edge with the fingers of one hand, the other grasping her bag in a white-knuckled grip.
A wing came slicing through the air towards him, and Tuffnut barely managed to avoid it as it scored a nasty wound across his bare arm. Blood instantly began to boil up from within it. He slapped a hand over the cut to try to stop the bleeding. Screeching, the creature came shooting across the edge, narrowly missing the top of the brother's helmet and shooting straight across the sister. It turned and hung in mid-air, observing its prey, considering its strike.
"Come on! We have to get out of here while we have a chance!" Tuffnut cried, searching for his sister. "Sis?"
"Tuffnut! Help me!" Came her scream. His eyes found her fingers clasping the rocky edge. "Tuffnut!" She called again, feeling her fingers slipping away. She tried to reach up with the other hand, but only succeeded in making it worse. Her muscles burned, fingers shook.
In a second, Tuffnut had thrown himself to the ground and grabbed her arm, trying to haul her up. However, the Timberjack wasn't going to wait for them to be safe. It gathered itself, ready to strike...
There was a loud explosion, rippling through the air, and a blanket of thick, smothering smoke wrapped around them, shielding them from view. They could hear the Timberjack yowling in anger, unable to find its target. Barf and Belch's heads came snaking through the smoke, just like when they first saw the Zippleback, and their teeth closed around the scruffs of their necks, hauling them to safety and then tossing them up onto their necks.
As they galloped for the safety of the forest, Belch gathered up Tuffnut's needle bag, knowing that the twins would soon need it, and, with their attacker left confused on the step-edge, they made well and true their escape.
Whew! All these deadlines are really hard to keep up with! Do forgive me for not focusing on this story, I have my last deadline tomorrow (Tuesday) and after that, tons of exams. With any luck, I might get a few chances during study leave to relax and write, but do be patient with me, I can't go faster than my work will allow. Thank you all!