Chapter 7

Joshua and Emmet walked for what seemed like hours. However, Emmet felt much safer. Joshua, despite not how Emmet pictured him as, was very knowledgeable about survival and camping.

"We are about to step on the marshes. Keep your shoes on and follow my lead." said Joshua as soon as they came upon a swampy area. Joshua stepped on something hard that was floating in the dirty puddles, and he slowly walked towards another floating platform that looked like a lily pad.

"This swamp is well known for its treacherous lily pads. You don't know which one is hard as stone to walk upon. Luckily, I studied maps of this damn place and I know where to stand." said Joshua.

Emmet followed his steps and cautiously walked upon the hard lilly pads. When they crossed the marsh, they found themselves now deeper into a swampy area.

"This area is off limits. Imani made it into a law the year I became captain. This swamp is utterly dangerous." said Joshua.

"Then why are we stepping through?" asked Emmet.

"If we go across this swamp, we'll arrive at your flower fields much sooner." said Joshua.

"Okay." said Emmet, looking all around him.

"Good. You're looking at your surroundings. I like that. Keep at it. Don't let your guard down. This swamp can be deadly." said Joshua.

Within a second, once Joshua said that, the two of them heard a growl coming from behind them. Joshua pulled Emmet and ran towards a tree. The minute he did that, jaws were snapped right behind them. Emmet turned to see a large dinosaur like crocodile, scowling at the both of them.

"What the what?!" cried Emmet.

Joshua pulled out his sword. "My toothpick of a sword can't pierce the thick hide of this mother fudging reptile. But I do have something that can give this guy a one way ticket to dreamland." said Joshua.

He pulled out a vial from his pocket, which was skinny and had a purple liquid inside. He threw it at the face of the crocodile and the vial broke into a few pieces. The chemical in the vial spread all over the crocodile's face and closed its eyes.

Emmet looked at Joshua puzzled.

"Relax kid. I put him to sleep. Right about now, he's flying into the clouds in his mind." said Joshua. He got down from the tree and helped Emmet down.

"Is there more danger?" he asked.

"Yes. This crocodile doesn't compare too…. Oh shoot." Joshua said.

Emmet turned around to see two large ogres running up to them, holding large hammers.

"You hide behind the tree. I got this." said Joshua. As the ogres arrived, Joshua pulled out his sword and got into an elegant fighting stance. Within seconds, Joshua slid through the ground in between one of the ogre's legs, and quickly got on his feet to slice his sword against one of the ogre's back.

The large creature squealed in pain while the other one tried to hit Joshua. However, Joshua was quick on his feet. As the ogre swung his giant hammer, Joshua ran around the creature, jumped high into the air by jumping on the belly of the other fallen ogre and using his sword, he sliced on the top of the ogre's belly. The ogre squealed as well and fell. Joshua landed on his feet and then he told Emmet to stay put.

"Don't move." he commanded.

Emmet wanted to ask why until he felt a hot breath on his neck. Standing next to Emmet was a giant bat like creature. It had long fangs, giant wings and pointy ears. It was panting very fast, making Emmet freeze in fear.

"Don't move. Any sudden movement can make this thing bite your neck and drain you of your essence." said Joshua.

The bat-like monster then licked Emmet's face and turned to Joshua.

Joshua pulled out a vial and dipped some of its substance on his sword. He pulled out a lighter from his jacket and set his sword on fire.

Joshua pointed the sword directly at the bat's face. The bat sneered and growled and got off Emmet's side. He was now on the floor, ready to attack at any time. Joshua still kept his sword pointed at the bat and Emmet closed his eyes.

"It's okay kid. Giant bats are scared of fire. You see, sunlight scares the hell out of them." said Joshua.

Emmet still kept his eyes closed. He didn't want to move. All Emmet could hear was Joshua, making taunting noises at the bat.

"No. Hey. Watch it. Nope. Don't do that. HEY! HEY! BACK. OOOh. Okay." Joshua was saying.

Emmet didn't know what to do. He kept his eyes closed and his body frozen in place. Then he felt a hot breath against his face. And the panting got a lot faster. Emmet could smell the breath of the bat. Emmet opened his eyes slowly, only to see the crazed look of the bat staring at him. They were large yellow eyes with small black pupils. He looked like he was having a staring contest with Emmet.

Emmet closed his eyes again. The look of the bat scared him deeply.

"Open them. He's gone." said Joshua.

Emmet opened his eyes and indeed the bat was gone.

"Fire scares them. And as I got closer and it felt the heat, it ran away." said Joshua.

Emmet nodded. "You see? Why on Earth did Imani sent you alone in the wilds of Rood Bridge Park? She's crazier than I am. And it's a miracle you survived on your own the first few days. But now you're with me. And you'll be safe as long as I don't get eaten or anything." said Joshua.

He pulled Emmet's arm and they started to walk until they heard more noises. They both turned to see a giant octopod creature rise from a gooey puddle of mud. It was large, had a million looking ghastly eyes, and on its mouth, chewing ever so loudly was a large insect.

"Run." said Joshua.

Emmet ran. He didn't ask why. He kind of why that reason was. The octopod creature had tentacles on its feet and it crawled into the muddy swamp right after them!

Joshua caught up with Emmet and they kept on running while the creature was hot on their tail. And then, Emmet saw a cave.

"Let's go in there!" cried Emmet.

"NO! DON'T!" cried Joshua. Emmet ran towards the cave and then stopped. Coming out of the cave were large furry bats, the same kind that just stalked Emmet earlier and their yellow eyes were much larger and they had blue pupils instead of black.

"You idiot kid! You just unleashed a horde of Vampire bats!" cried Joshua.

Emmet ran back to him while the bats flew up into the sky and the octopod was still after them.

"Stupid kid! Look what you've done! Now we're going to be dinner!" cried Joshua.

Emmet ignored him while Joshua pulled out a vial from his pocket.

"Eat this you savages!" he cried. He threw the vial towards them, and it broke, unleashing a large blue smoke. The octopod stopped on its tracks and roared uncontrollably. The bats also were stopping and flying around in circles.

"What was that?!' cried Emmet.

"A substance that will make them feel itchy all over their body. It will last about two minutes." said Joshua.

"That's awful!" cried Emmet.

"What's more awful? Getting eaten and not arriving to save the kids in the village? Or having this things feel itchy bodies until they are relieved." said Joshua.

As they ran, they finally got out of the swampy area and into a forest clearing.

"Okay. We're safe for now. But keep your guard up still. We are now in bear country." said Joshua.

"Black bears live in Oregon only right? So we're fine." said Emmet.

"Nope. A bear is dangerous, regardless of where they are from." said Joshua as he pulled out his water bottle and drank some water. He then offered some to Emmet and they sat on a log.

"Jesus, I'm glad that swamp is closed to people. We wouldn't want unsuspecting explorers to be killed by those things." said Joshua.

"I don't understand. Why are there monsters like that out there? Isn't there a bat-like village in Rood Bridge Park?" asked Emmet.

"These creatures you saw were a result of the Dark Impulse. Long ago, Dark Impulse users created monstrosities to scare people out. And sadly, those things came to life." said Joshua.

"That doesn't make sense." said Emmet.

"No. Most of the things in our world don't." said Joshua.