CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Friends in Strange Places
Moon Mountain Pass, Planet Sauria
Marcus and Coyote swerved down into the atmosphere above the surface. Below them was a dark canyon structured completely out of violet-hued rock. There didn't seem to be much vegetation. The smoky clouds given off from a dormant volcano nearby covered up Solar's light, drenching the whole area in twilight.
"A little barren, don't you think?" Coyote said.
"This is only one area. The other locations have gotta be flourishing if they aren't close to that volcano." Marcus replied.
Suddenly, the Arwing III's engine sputtered. So did the Iron Maiden's.
"Whoa! What's going on?" Coyote asked in a panicked tone.
"I dunno. Let's get to the ground and we'll check it out." Marcus answered.
They piloted their ships to the ground and landed in front of what looked a lot like a wooden fort that divided one half of the canyon from the other. Marcus powered down the engine and checked the fuel meter on his ship. It was beeping and the gauge was empty.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me! Come on!" he angrily growled.
"What's wrong?" Coyote asked.
"My ship's fuel tank is empty! And I don't have any fuel cells left for it!"
"Hey, I'm out, too!"
The teens opened the cockpits of their ships and hopped out. Marcus looked around the terrain. He wasn't exactly sure that leaving their ships out there in the open was a good idea, but then again, they had no other choice.
"Damn! I guess we're stuck here 'til we get more cells." Marcus grumbled.
"No sense standing here whining about it." Coyote said, stepping up next to him. "Where should we start looking for the Keys?"
"How the hell would I know? It's not like I live here!"
Coyote heard footsteps. She looked toward the fort.
"Maybe not, but I'm pretty sure that HE does." she said, pointing forward.
Marcus looked at the fort. A creature about their size with a long tail, yellow scales, a leather vest and leather shorts was running toward them.
It was a Sharpclaw.
"Looks like that guy needs help." Coyote said.
"Probably. C'mon. Let's see what he wants." Marcus replied.
Marcus and Coyote ran toward the Sharpclaw. When they reached him, he doubled over, panting.
"You OK, buddy?" Marcus asked.
The Sharpclaw took in a few deep breathes, then stood up. Just then, the worst case scenario happened: he started speaking to them in Saurian language.
"Kxo Earthwalkers doot 0eih xocf! Kxo RedEye uho ukkusbadw kxo Walled City!"
"Wait, WHAT?" Marcus exclaimed.
The Sharpclaw got a confused look on his face, wondering why this strange visitor hadn't understood him. Perhaps he had spoken a little too fast. So he said the same thing, only slower.
"I can't understand you! Don't you speak English?" Marcus replied.
Coyote groaned in disgust, pulled out a pint-sized speaker and handed it to Marcus.
"Put that in your ear." she instructed.
He did. The Sharpclaw spoke again, but this time the speaker translated his words into English.
"How am I not being clear here? Are you deaf or something?" he asked, crossing his arms.
"No, we just don't speak Saurian." Coyote replied. "Now, what's wrong?"
"I said, the Earthwalkers need your help! The RedEye are attacking the Walled City!"
"Hey, my dad's friend Tricky is an Earthwalker!" Marcus said to Coyote.
"Maybe he knows where the Krazoa Keys are." Coyote replied.
She turned back to the Sharpclaw.
"Is there a quick way we can get to the Walled City from here?"
"There's a shortcut through the Volcano Force Point Temple that you can use. If you like, I can take you there."
"Uhh…OK, thanks." Marcus said.
"Come on! Follow me!" the Sharpclaw called turning and running back the way he came. Coyote and Marcus sprinted after him.
"What do you call yourselves?" the Sharpclaw asked.
"I'm Marcus McCloud." Marcus answered. "This is Coyote O'Donnell. Yourself?"
"My name is Damalgo. Just Damalgo. Why are you guys here?"
"What, are you interrogating us or something?"
"No. I'm just curious. We rarely ever have visitors on our planet."
"We…actually I was assigned to find out what on this planet is assisting in the creation of nuclear weaponry."
"Well, it ain't me. I don't even know what 'nuclear' means."
"That's why we're looking for the Krazoa Keys. The Krazoa Master may be able to tell us what we need to know."
Damalgo stopped.
"Hang on. If only you we're assigned to come here," (Here he pointed at Coyote.) "What's she doing here?"
"Just tagging along, really." Coyote answered. "What's it to you?"
"Hey, take it easy. I'm just askin', that's all."
"Why exactly did you come to us for help?" asked Marcus. "Can't the Earthwalkers handle the RedEye?"
"Are you kidding? Those monsters are vicious! I swear that those bastards live for little more than to make small creatures' lives a living hell! And I came to you because I figured you'd be able to shoot 'em dead with those spaceship…things."
"Fat chance. They're out of fuel. They're useless like that."
"…Well, that sucks."
Damalgo looked ahead.
"We're here." he said.
The three stood in front of a massive stone arch that led into a hallway that seemed to be wavering.
"Let's head in, then." Marcus said.
"Watch your step." Damalgo warned. "This temple is full of lava and some pretty dangerous pests."
Coyote pulled out two full-auto pistols. Marcus unsheathed his staff and extended it.
"Oh, I think we're good." Coyote replied.
Damalgo grinned and pulled out a spiked, iron mace.
"I like the way you guys think."
The three ran into the temple. That's when Marcus figured out why the room was wavering: it had to be at least 40 degrees Celsius in there! All three of them immediately started sweating.
"As if Solar wasn't enough…"
The three walked into the next room. A pit with lava at the bottom lay in front of them. Three platforms stuck out of the wall.
Marcus looked at Coyote. She looked at him. He smirked and stepped back.
"Ladies first." he said.
Coyote scowled.
"Wuss." she said.
Still, she sucked in a deep breath and proceeded to hop from platform to platform. Damalgo followed her, and Marcus followed him. When Marcus reached the last platform his foot slipped. He let out a shout of surprise as he nearly fell. Suddenly, Coyote grabbed his wrist and hauled him up.
"No need to thank me…but do it, anyway." she said smugly.
"Don't push your luck, kid." Marcus replied, raising one eyebrow.
Usually Marcus was the rescuer. Now Coyote had rescued him twice! Now they were even…or was there something more that Coyote wanted from him?
The three continued down the hall. They came across a hole that dropped into another hallway and led elsewhere, but getting in seemed impossible as the entrance was blocked by a raging flame. Marcus felt his staff rumbling in his hand. He looked at it. It was essentially telling him "Concentrate and let me handle this."
Marcus aimed the staff at the fire and concentrated. Suddenly, a thin sheet of ice flew from the tip of the staff and doused the flame.
"First the rocket thing and now that?" Coyote said in a flabbergasted tone. "Is your mother a witch or something?"
"Believe me; I have no idea." Marcus answered.
"I gotta get me one of those." Damalgo said, ogling the staff.
The three jumped down the chute and continued up the path. Up ahead of them lay a rocky wall that one could easily climb if they got a good enough grip on it. Marcus turned to Coyote.
"If you say 'Ladies first' again, I'll kick your ass." she said.
"Alright, I'm goin'. Jeez!"
Marcus sheathed his staff, got a good grip on the wall and proceeded to hoist himself up. He stopped when he suddenly heard a loud shrieking noise echo through the air.
"Watch out!" Damalgo shouted. "It's a Shriekbat!"
"Nice name." Marcus jokingly thought, but he looked behind him just the same.
A large creature with spiked wings that were as long as Marcus' legs was flying straight at him with its talons reached out.
"I don't think so!" Coyote shouted.
She flipped out her guns, aimed them at the Shriekbat and pulled the triggers. The bullets quickly soared through the air and hit the ugly creature square in the chest. It shrieked in pain and fell into the pool of lava below.
Coyote holstered her guns.
"No sweat." she said, crossing her arms. "Now move your ass, buster."
"Well I never!" Marcus thought as he continued climbing with Coyote and Damalgo following him.
20 minutes later
Damalgo held up a torch as he led Marcus and Coyote through a dark tunnel in the temple. The three had been hopping platforms, swinging over pits of lava and crawling through tunnels like this for what felt like hours, and now all three of them were covered from head to tail in dirt, grime and sweat.
"We're almost there." Damalgo said.
"Certainly took us long enough." Coyote groaned.
They crawled out of the dark tunnel and into a dimly lit grass path. The trees up above blocked out most of the sunlight with their extremely fat leaves, but up ahead they could see a gigantic wall with suns and crescent moons carved into it. Damalgo threw the torch into a puddle of water, where it instantly fizzled out, then ran with Marcus and Coyote to the giant wall. They stopped at what appeared to be a door.
"So this is the Walled City?" Coyote asked.
"What was your first clue?" asked Damalgo, rolling his eyes.
"I guess even dinosaurs know how to be rude!"
Marcus pressed his ear to the wall. He heard a heavy stomping noise from inside…as though some gigantic monster were walking around inside, waiting for them to come in so it could tear them limb from limb.
He stepped back and looked up at the wall. It looked at least fifteen feet high.
"Walking through the front door is DEFINETLY out of the question. It's gotta be locked." he thought.
He looked at Coyote and Damalgo. From what Marcus gathered, they were both 5'7, with Damalgo being lighter. Marcus himself was about 5'8", thus making him the heaviest. And if he knew anything, it was that five times three equaled fifteen.
Just like that, a light bulb went on in his head. He stood next to the wall and crouched down.
"Coyote, get on my shoulders." he said.
"Uhh…OK. I don't see where this going, but alright."
She struggled to get on Marcus' back, accidentally Charlie-horsing him while she was at it, but she managed to get up with both feet on his shoulders.
"Now Damalgo…ow…you get on Coyote's shoulders." Marcus instructed.
He did.
"OK. Now…damn, you guys are heavy…I'm gonna stand up. When I'm up all the way, Coyote stands up. When she's all the way up, Damalgo climbs over the wall and opens the gate. Ready?"
"Go for it." Coyote said.
"Check and mate." Damalgo said.
"One…two…three!"
Marcus slowly unbent his knees under the heavy strain. When his legs were straight, Coyote stood up. When her legs were straight, Damalgo grabbed the wall and hoisted himself over.
Coyote hopped down from Marcus' back.
"Good idea, Mark." she said.
"Thanks….wow, you really Charlie-horsed me back there."
"Hey, look on the bright side. It could have been your cro…"
Before Coyote could finish her sentence, a loud snap came from inside.
"I got it, you guys!" Damalgo called from the other side.
Using all of his strength, Damalgo pushed the great stone gate open. Marcus and Coyote dashed inside. The three hid behind a large stone slab and carefully peeked around it. About fifteen massive, twenty-foot tall dinosaurs with red eyes were walking around, almost as though they were guarding something. In the center of the city, there was a grand temple. Along the outer edges, several moderately sized dinosaurs with shield-like heads and horns (Earthwalkers, but we call them Triceratops) were standing well away from the RedEye.
"What now?" Damalgo asked in a whisper. "If one of them sees us, we'll have the whole pack on our tails!"
"We've gotta take down those RedEye so the Earthwalkers can come down from the temple." Marcus replied.
"And how do we do that, smart one?" Coyote asked sarcastically.
"I don't know. I'm makin' this up as I go along. All I know is that the Earthwalkers must know something about the Krazoa Keys so…guys?"
He stopped his sentence when both Coyote and Damalgo began staring behind him with wide eyes.
All at once, Marcus got the gist.
"There's something bad behind me, isn't there?"
The RedEye behind him let out a loud roar. Marcus didn't waste any time. He flipped over the RedEye, unsheathed his staff and impaled the giant reptile's head with the spear end. The massive beast fell dead on the ground.
"Pardon my French, but now you've done it!" Coyote said angrily.
And so he had. The other RedEye heard their comrade's loud roar and were now walking toward the group's hiding place to investigate.
"Split up and find shelter!" Marcus screamed.
The three sprinted away from the slab as quickly as their legs could carry them. Two RedEye immediately spotted Marcus, roared and began running after.
"CRAP, CRAP, CRAPPITY, CRAP, CRAP!" he screamed as he picked up his pace.
He saw a tree just a few feet from the wall of the temple. With the proper leverage, one could easily propel themselves up onto the wall. That's when Marcus remembered the last attempt at his Mom's trick six years ago. He had….epically failed, but he had longer legs now that he was sixteen, obviously meaning he could propel himself further. Besides, last time he wasn't being chased by a RedEye, so now he had actual motivation.
He had no choice. He sped up, jumped at the tree and kicked himself off it. He reached his hands up and just barely caught the edge of the stone wall.
"Yes!" he thought relieved.
He pulled himself away from the RedEyes' snapping jaws and took in a few deep breathes.
"Who are you?" asked the Earthwalker standing behind him.
Marcus turned. The Earthwalker had purple and yellow scales, and he had several odd jewels fixed to his head.
"Wait…King Tricky?" Marcus asked.
"Yes, that's me."
"I'm…"
Suddenly, the two RedEye that were chasing Marcus roared again.
"Could you excuse me for a second?" Marcus said to Tricky.
Marcus pulled out his staff as it began to rumble again. He held it high over his head, and then slammed the tip into the ground. The impact caused a small earthquake that was enough to knock the two RedEye over.
"Here!" Tricky called, throwing Marcus a glittering sword with his mouth. "Use that!"
"Alright! Now we're talkin'!" Marcus cheered.
He took a flying leap off the stone ledge with the sword in his right hand, the staff in his right. When he landed, he ran up to the fallen RedEye and impaled them one by one through the head.
Coyote back-flipped through the jaws of one of the vicious dinosaurs, then as it came after her, she turned around, whipped out her pistols and blasted the RedEye's throat. The beast fell dead with a loud crash.
She turned and saw two more charging towards her.
"One, two, unpin and BOOM!" she thought smugly.
She pulled a grenade out of her pocket. As soon as the closest RedEye roared at her, she pulled out the pin and threw it into the beast's mouth. Being as dumb as a rock, the RedEye swallowed the bomb. The explosive detonated inside it, and it fell on top of its partner, who bucked its back and sent the corpse flying off of it.
"Oh, you want some, too, do ya?" Coyote mocked. "Alright. Catch me if you can!"
With that, she turned and continued to sprint forward.
Damalgo took in a deep breath, dove into the blue water of a deep stream and pulled out his crossbow. When one of the RedEye passed above on a stone bridge, Damalgo shot a poisoned arrow from his underwater hiding place. The arrow soared into the beast's right nostril. It looked around for where the projectile might have come from. Was it over here, or was it over there? Suddenly, it inhaled the toxin. It felt woozy, then its eyes rolled back into its head. Finally, it fell into the stream and sank to the bottom.
"Ruthless, but sometimes, that is what's necessary." Damalgo thought.
Even though he was a Sharpclaw, and his father had served General Scales, Damalgo hated violence. He was one to realize, however, that violence was sometimes necessary for justice. Acts like execution of aggressive species were one such example.
"Forgive me, RedEye brother." He whispered as he pulled himself out of the water. "You left me no choice."
Another RedEye roared at the young Sharpclaw and immediately started running at him. Damalgo pulled out his spiked mace. The RedEye snapped its powerful jaws at Damalgo, who nimbly sidestepped and leaped onto the beast's head. The carnivorous dinosaur stood up and began violently throwing its head back and forth, trying to buck Damalgo off of its back. Damalgo himself held on with the grip of a crocodile's maw. After getting a firm hold on the RedEye's head, he brought the spikes on his mace flat down onto the beast's scaly cranium. It flinched, then tripped over its own feet and fell into the water, but not before Damalgo took a flying leap off of its head.
Marcus meanwhile steadily pooled over any possible strategy in his head. From what he had seen so far, the RedEye had horrible footing and could easily be knocked over with the "Ground Quake". When he did that, he would have a few moments to finish them off before they got up and started their rampage all over again.
"Tricky must have known that, too." he thought. "Otherwise, why would he throw me the sword?"
A sudden snort behind him made Marcus freeze in his tracks. He quickly whipped out his staff and slammed the tip into the ground. The RedEye behind him fell over onto its back, giving Marcus enough time to run up and impale the gigantic reptile's head.
Marcus' tail and ears twitched when he heard Coyote screaming. A RedEye had caught her tail and flung her straight at the temple wall.
"And now I gotta save her ass AGAIN!" Marcus grumbled.
He broke into a sprint towards Coyote and, with a flying dive, caught her. The two tumbled to the ground. Marcus shook the stars out of his eyes.
"Are you OK?" he asked.
Coyote looked at him with wide eyes.
"Y-yes…" she stammered. "Phew….that was a little scary."
"OK. Watch your ass from now on. I can't keep having close calls like this."
Coyote moved her head forward, taking a shot a kiss on Marcus' cheek, but he ran toward the RedEye that attacked her before she got the chance.
"Dammit!" she grumbled. "So close!"
The RedEye ran at Marcus with its mouth wide open.
"Hungry for some sharp steel?" Marcus mocked. "Then come get some!"
Shooting his arm up with the sword in hand, Marcus sent the blade through the roof of the RedEye's maw.
Marcus pulled the blade back. The RedEye's crimson blood ran down his arm. The RedEye itself fell backwards, dead.
The remaining RedEye began running toward the three infiltrators, when suddenly the ground quaked. The RedEye looked around for the source, thinking that these three intruders might have had something to do with it.
The ground quaked again. This time, the RedEye knew that something was wrong. They ran away as fast as they could.
"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Marcus grumbled.
The ground quaked for a third time this time even more violently than before.
"I think…we're in trouble." Coyote said.
Suddenly, the ground in front of the temple went flying in all directions. Another RedEye bounded out. This one, however, was far different from the ones they had faced already. The scales on this RedEye were dark green instead of a mottled grayish-brown. But the most noticeable feature was that the beast was as tall as the temple in the centre of the city, and its feet were as big as the Landmaster!
"OH MY GOD!" Coyote shrieked.
"IT'S KING REDEYE! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" Damalgo hollered.
Their screams instantly drew King RedEye's attention. He swerved his head around and caught sight of the three morsels running away from him as fast as they could. He let out a loud roar and ran after them, making a huge quake with every step he took.
Marcus looked back for a quick second.
"I thought Dad killed that monster!" he screamed in his head. "Now it's back from the dead?"
A gleam on King RedEye's head quickly caught Marcus' attention. Instead of a right eye, the massive lizard had a gemstone stuck in his eye socket. An oddly shaped stone that looked like a small bust. It was a Krazoa Key!
The three hid behind another stone slab, their hearts pounding like hammers in their chests.
"OK…" Marcus breathed. "For the record…I think I just wet myself."
"Let's get out of here!" Coyote said. "We won't last much longer with that…that…THING chasing after us!"
"You're right." Damalgo panted. "King RedEye has killed everyone that encounters him…well, except Fox McCloud."
"Who cares? Let's just get out of here before we get torn to shreds!"
"No!" Marcus replied. "He's got a Krazoa Key! If we're gonna figure out what's going on down here, we need to get it! Besides, we gotta help those Earthwalkers!"
Coyote groaned in disgust. For a cute guy, Marcus sure was stubborn. But she knew that he was right.
"Alright, fine! You win. But you can't fight that colossus with that staff OR that sword. He's got skin like a tank!"
Marcus smirked,
"A tank, eh?"
He spoke into his comm.
"ROB, it's Landmaster time!"
Within seconds, the Landmaster was beamed down onto the ground, but unfortunately, it was on the other side of the temple. The three would have to run past King RedEye to get to it.
"Not too good with coordinating, is he?" Coyote asked.
"I heard that!" ROB blared.
"Well, excuse me!"
"OK….ready…GO!" Marcus screamed.
The three sprinted out from behind the stone slab and ran for the Landmaster. King RedEye caught sight of them and immediately gave chase.
"Watch out!" Damalgo shouted as King RedEye brought his tail down.
The three rolled away from the massive tree-like tail. The intense quake that resulted nearly threw them off their feet, but they regained their balance and kept running. After what seemed like an hour, they reached the Landmaster. Marcus remotely opened the cockpit and they all leaped inside.
Marcus shut the hatch door and swerved around to face their giant reptilian adversary.
"All systems go! Engage!"
The tank rolled toward King RedEye at top speed. The King roared and began running toward it. As soon as the Landmaster was about fifty feet away from the gargantuan RedEye, Marcus fired the cannon at the King's head. He cocked his head and deflected the attack.
"Try a charged shot!" Anna shouted through the comm.
Marcus quickly charged the cannon, locked onto King RedEye's head, and fired. The King stumbled backwards, but quickly recovered from the blow and fired a laser from his maw.
"Incoming!" Damalgo shouted.
Marcus groaned, but performed a barrel-roll just the same. Anna's voice crackled on the comm.
"It looks like severe blows to the head will temporarily stun him." she said. "Shoot him again. When, or if, you hit him, hop out and use the Ground Quake to knock him over."
"Shoot the head, shake the ground, Big Cheese falls over. Got it." Marcus responded. "And what do mean 'if'?"
"Just…y'know…if."
Marcus floored the boost pedal and rocketed toward King RedEye. The King fired another laser from his mouth. The Landmaster barrel-rolled again.
"Could you please stop doing that?" Coyote said in a dazed tone. "I'm gonna puke all over you two if you do that again."
"Thanks for being so reassuring." Damalgo said sarcastically.
"Oh great! Dinosaurs can be sarcastic, too!"
"Yeah, we can. I suggest you get used to it."
"Hey, no fighting back there!" Marcus said, just before retching and nearly hurling. "But I really need to get Chase to fix that before it gives me brain trauma."
Suddenly, King RedEye seized the Landmaster in his massive jaws and threw it halfway across the courtyard.
"Brace for impact!" Marcus screamed.
The tank slammed into the ground, sending its passengers hurled around on the inside like rag dolls.
"Thanks for the tip…oh, God…" Coyote groaned.
Marcus swerved out of the carter made from the impact. King RedEye roared at the Landmaster again.
"OK, this is the last straw!" Marcus shouted. "I'm sending this guy straight to hell when I'm done with him!"
He floored the boost pedal and immediately sped toward King RedEye. He locked onto the King's head.
"Try this one on for size, big boy." he grumbled, slamming the bomb button.
A smart bomb went soaring through the air and slammed into the King's head. The resulting explosion sent him into an even bigger dizzy spell than before.
"Now, Mark!" Coyote shouted. "Finish him off!"
Marcus ejected from the Landmaster and sprinted toward King RedEye. He quickly unsheathed his staff and the Earthwalker Blade. As soon as he stooped at the King's giant foot, he slammed the staff into the ground with all his strength. The King tripped over his own feet and hit the ground with a bigger quake than the one Marcus had just made.
Marcus placed his foot on the King's head and raised the sword over his head.
"Trust me; you don't know what you're dealing with."
Using all of his strength, Marcus slammed the blade into King RedEye's head. The King himself let out one last pained shriek before the last of his strength faded away. His one eye closed, and finally, he died. Marcus jumped off the dead King's head, pulling the blade out with him.
Coyote and Damalgo came up behind him. He took in a few deep breathes.
"Phew. I guess that's that."
"Oh, yeah. You are DEFINITELY Fox McCloud's son." Damalgo said, glancing in disbelief at the gigantic dead reptile.
Suddenly, the three were surrounded by hundreds of cheering Earthwalkers. Tricky made his way through them and walked toward Marcus.
"So you're Fox's son." he said.
"Yeah."
"I must say, it took a lot of courage to defeat a creature as fearsome as the RedEye King. Then again, I should expect nothing less from you."
Marcus planed the sword into the ground in front of him.
"You don't wanna touch that after where it's been." he said.
Tricky cocked his head toward the dead King RedEye.
"Rest assured, I don't think you're quite finished with him yet."
Marcus looked at the Krazoa Key stuck firmly into King RedEye's eye socket. He walked over to it, took his staff in hand, and plunged the spear end into the socket.
"Oh, gross!" Coyote exclaimed.
"You think THAT'S gross? You should've seen what Fox and I had to go through." Tricky replied.
With a little leverage, the Key popped out into Marcus' open hand.
"Two down, one to go." he muttered.
"I see you're looking for the Krazoa Keys." Tricky said.
"Yes." Marcus answered. "You wouldn't happen to know where the last one is, would you?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. The third Krazoa Key lies deep within Krazoa Palace. An obvious hiding place, but getting there is certainly more of a challenge than it's worth. If you go to the Thorntail Hollow, I'm sure that the Warpstone will gladly get you there without much hassle."
"Wow. You really know this planet well."
Tricky smirked and rolled his eyes.
"That's kind of my job as king around here. But I strongly suggest that you three rest here for the night. Thorntail Hollow is very far away from here, and you all look exhausted."
Just then, Marcus' stomach growled, and he immediately became aware of just how hungry he really was.
"Uhh… yeah. It also looks like I forgot something in my so-called foolproof plan: food!"
Damalgo handed both Marcus and Coyote a spherical yellow object.
"Umm…are we supposed to EAT this? I mean…what is it?" Coyote asked in disbelief.
"It's called a PukPuk Egg." Damalgo answered.
Both Marcus and Coyote winced.
"Did you just say 'egg'?" Marcus asked, his face going a little green. "I'm not eating this if there's something LIVING inside it!"
"Don't worry; it's not really an egg. You crack it open and drink the stuff inside it. It's kinda like a coconut."
Marcus and Coyote hesitated, then cracked the PukPuk Egg open on a rock. They took in a deep breath before drinking the warm, white liquid inside. Believe it or not, it tasted very sweet.
"Hey, this stuff ain't half bad!" Coyote said with a big grin across her face.
"Damalgo?" Tricky asked.
Damalgo turned to Tricky.
"Yes, sir?"
"I'm going to have to ask you to go with them. They could use a guide."
"Not a problem, sir. Anything to help 'em out. Besides, I think today might be the start of a beautiful friendship."
"Great." Coyote said, rolling her eyes. "Another little companion."
"Hey, trust me; you NEED help if you're gonna get off of here alive."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. But you don't know what you're getting yourself into, believe me!"
"Alright." Marcus said, clapping his hands together. "We're headin' out in the morning."