“You can be that precise?” Shou was amazed.
“I can do better than that,” said Mica. “I’m pretty sure these trees are from an area close to Omzimza.”
“That’s crazy,” said Shou.
“Crazy, but true,” added Robin.
They were hot and sweaty in no time and making little headway. Half a mile was feeling more like ten miles and if things weren’t bad enough, Mica was concerned about a sound she kept hearing and discreetly mentioned it to Robin. The idea that she might be right sent shivers down his spine and brought back an unpleasant memory.
Above the sound of the wildlife and the chatter of insects, came a sound like a chainsaw and for anyone not familiar with what this was, it really did sound like a lumberjack gone crazy. The occasional falling tree only added weight to the illusion, but this was no chainsaw and from out of the canopy, or what was left of it, came an object moving at high speed. The object was difficult to track due to its rapid changes of direction, but there was no mistaking what it was and Robin froze.
No one had actually said anything, but Robin’s reaction spoke volumes and one object suddenly became five. These things were Scavanzars and they had teamed up to take advantage of the situation and darted noisily above the fleeing animals. Dropping in like fighter pilots and picking off the weakest and easiest targets.
“Opportunists,” grumbled Mica.
Robin knew they would be seen as easy targets. What they needed was to find some cover and quickly.
Directly ahead of their position, a fallen Jucker blocked their path, but at the same time, it could be just what they needed. Once up alongside it, the trunk of this mighty tree offered them some protection and they began running along its length, heading towards its basin-like top, which had stopped it from completely flattening against the ground.
The buzzing sound of the Scavanzars rose and fell and the trunk of the tree muffled the sound, making it difficult to keep track of them, but at least they were out of their line of sight. Ahead of them now, just fifty feet away, was the top of the Jucker. The water from its basin had left the ground very wet, but the heat was rapidly drying the forest out and in a few days all life here would be reduced to dust.
Somewhat relieved, they slipped into the cool shade beneath the Jucker’s huge basin and stood there gasping and looking like they’d just run a marathon. All they had to do now was wait for the Scavanzars to leave the area.
If Robin had been wearing a watch, he would have been glancing at it worrying about the time, but they were stuck here for the moment.
At one point the buzzing intensified and they feared the Scavanzars had found their hiding place. Mica confirmed there were five of them. Five Scavanzars! One Scavanzar would have been bad enough.
Mica had once seen two Scavanzars take down a Matac in a matter of seconds, only this was probably not the time to share that information.
Perhaps there was enough excitement going on to keep the Scavanzars busy because their buzzing gradually faded and Robin eased himself out from under the Jucker and took a look around. Satisfied, they were off again, moving quickly, but still not getting anywhere fast and up ahead was their biggest obstacle yet, a fallen Laski Lassie tree and it was a monster.
“That’s a whopper,” said Shou.
This fallen giant blocked their path like a forty storey building and its bulk had taken a number of smaller trees with it, flattening a swath of undergrowth in the process. It looked as if they would have to find another way, but Robin suggested they climb up onto one of the smaller trees. By doing so they could walk along its trunk, which would save them a lengthy detour, for sure.
Even the smaller trees of the forest were quite large, but without too much trouble they clambered up the seriously rough bark of one of fallen and began working their way along its length. Up here they could see a whole lot further, but it also made them more visible.
The direct sunlight zapped their energy, a taste of what was to come once they’d reached the desert and Robin had already started to worry about how they would cope. Due to a lapse of concentration, he was not the first to see the group of Scavanzars that had congregated on the exposed roots of the tree. This rabble was currently preoccupied with a fresh kill and squabbled noisily over the best bits.
Their snapping jaws and stripy black and yellow bodies screamed keep your distance and here they were, practically on top of them. They backed up and might have gone unnoticed, except Shou slipped and the sudden movement drew the Scavanzars attention.
Having been disturbed, the Scavanzars scurried up the roots of the tree and onto the trunk. Their talons tearing at the bark and their stubby wings vibrating vigorously, creating their signature buzz sound and any minute now they would execute their well-practiced, vertical take-off.
At launch the wings of the Scavanzars vibrated at such rate that they became invisible, propelling these ill-tempered predators into the air like a squadron of jump jets. Their speed and agility meant they were upon the group in a matter of seconds and without the means to defend themselves, they began running back along the trunk.
Fleeing prey only excited the Scavanzars further and in their heightened state, they swept in and Mica was sure she felt the air displacement of their wingbeats. The only thing that saved them was the Scavanzars battle to be the first, which led them to collide and this sent the pack into turmoil.
A fight ensued, which gave the group some breathing space, but the Scavengers were soon back, although their behaviour was just as unruly.
“Look out,” shouted Mica, just in time as one of the Scavanzars dived at them. Thankfully it missed its target and hit the trunk instead, sending the animal into a frenzy. Its talons and teeth ripping into the tree and showering them in bits of bark.
Their chances of escape had looked incredibly slim, but as they dived into the broad leafy canopy of this fallen giant, they realised how lucky they’d been. They also knew that a few leaves wouldn’t stop the Scavanzars, so they pushed their way deeper into the tree’s foliage.
Exhausted and shaking from their experience, they stopped and listened out for the buzz that would feature in a few nightmares to come. For the moment they could only hear their own rasping breaths, so perhaps they’d done enough.
They picked their way through a tangle of branches and lowered themselves to the forest floor. Here they recovered, bathed in the green light of the tree’s canopy.
“That was close,” gasped Sie.
They were all covered in scratches from their charge through the foliage and Mica looked at Shou’s arm, which was still in a sling from the train crash.
“How is it?” asked Mica.
“Feels okay. In fact, I can’t say it’s really given me any problems since we arrived.”
Mica looked at Robin. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Robin moved closer and laid his hands on Shou’s broken arm. “You’re right.”
Shou’s arm was no longer broken. Having teleported here, the reassembling of Shou’s molecules had cancelled out the imperfections of his broken arm and it was fixed. Other cases had been recorded, but there were no guarantees, so Shou had just been lucky.
Shou removed the sling and flexed his arm. It was a little stiff but otherwise felt fine.
They waited a good hour before a thirst for water forced them to emerge from their hiding place. Mica was able to locate a few small reservoirs, where water had collected into leaves and after checking its purity, she gave them the thumbs up.
Not surprisingly, their encounter with the Scavanzars had left them feeling a bit unsettled. Robin’s senses were working overtime to be sure their paths wouldn’t cross again, but his heightened and somewhat agitated mood prompted Mica to think about arming themselves, just in case.
She was on the lookout for suitable lengths of wood that she could fashion into something resembling a Jimbo. The wood from a woody creeper was a close substitute and Mica collected what she needed and woul
d begin turning these into Jimbo sticks when she got the chance.
An hour or so later and they finally reach the edge of the forest and although they had expected to see a desert, it still came as a bit of a shock. Sie and Shou had never seen so much sand.
“We’re in the middle of nowhere,” said Sie.
They soon found out that that wasn’t entirely true, as the Ammarla knew exactly where they were.
“We should head west,” said Robin.
“You’re confident that David is travelling in that direction?” asked Sie.
“Yes, since that is the direction of the human settlement. My only concern is the distance we are from that settlement. A journey that would be difficult enough with supplies, but near impossible without.”
“I can’t help wondering what the Harmonics Ones were thinking when they deposited David here,” said Shou.
“Is this some kind of test?” asked Sie.
“No, not a test. His test would have come long before he was chosen. It’s a risky strategy, but I can see the logic.”
“You can?” said Sie, sounding a bit surprised.
“Yes. David was too exposed on Earth. Far too visible. He had become a target.”
“Are the Hidden Ones expecting him to reach the settlement?” asked Shou.
“I believe so, but I imagine he will be guided to one the outposts first. The nearest is only a few days walk. Roughly fifty miles.”
“Are we to assume that the Formless Ones now know the location of this settlement?” asked Sie.
“Yes, I think we can be sure of that.”
“So you are confident that David is going to make it to one of these outposts before he gets picked up by the Formless Ones?”
“The details are in the hands of the Harmonic Ones and we have to hope that is enough.” “There is, of course, a plan B.”
“Plan B?” repeated Shou.
Robin confessed that he had no idea what this was because Clom’s mind had been pretty jumbled when he extracted the information.
They’d deliberated for long enough and stepped out of the forest and onto the sand.
It was late afternoon, but still incredibly hot, so it was lucky that the edge of the forest ran parallel to the direction they were travelling, providing them with a shaded path to follow. They may have been out of direct sunlight, but staying close to the tree line came with its own risks, either from an opportunistic predator or a falling tree.
Robin estimated that the forest had arrived here sometime last night, judging by its state of decay.
Since they weren’t being pursued by Scavanzars now, they turned their attention to something else and Robin and Mica began collecting edible fruit that had fallen onto the sand. It didn’t take long before they amassed quite a collection of different types of fruit, of all shapes and sizes. They ate their fill and saved the rest because there was no telling when food would be this plentiful again.
It was during their fruit gathering that Robin suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and brought everyone’s attention to a set of footprints that disappeared into the forest. On close inspection there was no denying that these were human footprints, but could David have made them? And if he had, did this mean he was lost, somewhere in the forest?
Their answer came soon enough. A bit further along there were more footprints coming out of the forest and that would have been good news, except they had been slightly obscured by another set of prints and these belonged to a Shamozolt.
“Shamozolts! What are they doing here?” asked Shou.
There was only one set of Shamozolt prints and Mica explained that this individual could have arrived here with the forest. Of course, these were only footprints, they didn’t tell them very much.
A fallen tree forced them away from the forest and gave them an uninterrupted view of an Awang and the carnage that surrounded it.
“Oh my god. What happened here?” asked Sie.
“Those look like dead bodies,” said Mica.
Bodies littered the sand, which from this distance, Shou mistook for Shamozolts.
“They aren’t Shamozolts,” said Robin. The headless corpses were the remains of Squalvolvans.
“Squalvolvans? What are they?” asked Sie.
Mica explained and added that they didn’t belong here in the desert. The truth was, they didn’t really belong anywhere, since they were the creation of the Shamozolts.
“There seems to be quite a lot out of place,” added Shou.
The question was how to make sense of it?
“If you ask me, someone’s beaten us to it and David is already in the hands of the Formless Ones,” said Sie.
“As bad as it looks, we shouldn’t jump to that conclusion,” said Robin.
Mica’s attention was drawn to the Awang and the slight discolouration of the sun-bleached rocks on its peak. “There appears to have been a fire up there.”
These artificial mounds had been constructed long ago and in most cases, they marked the entrances to passages that led down to an underground river or lake. The Awangs had stood the test of time, but it was soon apparent that this one had been damaged. Part of its roof had caved in and this could have been a deliberate act to stop anyone from entering.
“We’re missing something,” said Robin.
“I’d say, we’re missing a whole lot,” said Shou.
They picked their way around the scattered bodies and headed over to the remains of a broken cart. One of its wheels was busted and it was only when they got closer, that they realised its scattered load was actually body parts and the rotting flesh had attracted a horde of insects. Sie stopped dead in her tracks and held her hand over her nose and was reluctant to get any closer.
Robin and Shou ventured forward to investigate, but could not identify the flesh as it was so badly decomposed; however, Robin was inclined to think the remains were that of butchered animals.
The cart was a bit of a mystery because Robin would not have thought the Squalvolvans capable of this level of ingenuity.
Puzzled by what they were seeing, Robin wanted to take a closer look at the Squalvolvan bodies and Shou accompanied him. Most of them had lost limbs, but all were missing their heads. The weapon used had inflicted a huge amount of damage.
“Where do you think their heads went?” asked Shou.
“Judging by the damage left on the bodies, they may have exploded.”
“Exploded! Christ, what a way to go.”
The Squalvolvans had been killed without remorse, quite literally, slaughtered and Robin was noticeably unsettled by it.
“What are we looking for?”
“Answers.”
“You think this is the work of the Shamozolts?”
“I believe it could be, but the bigger mystery is why the Squalvolvans are here, unless.”
“Unless?”
“Unless they are being controlled by the Formless Ones.”
“Them as well?”
Perhaps it wasn’t so unbelievable, considering everything they’d experienced.
“You think a load of them got transported here with that forest?”
“I don’t think so. The evidence suggests that they walked in on foot.”
“And the fire?”
Robin looked up at the mound and pictured the blazing fire and tried to visualise what had happened here.
While they had been looking over the remains of the Squalvolvans, Mica and Sie had been searching for clues themselves and were now waving at them from the top of the Awang.
“Come on, it looks like they may have found something.”
Sure enough, Sie and Mica had made a discovery of their own. They had found some coins and no ordinary coins. This was the currency of the inhabitants of Earth.
“David was here, these coins confirm it,” said Robin.
“You think the people out here came to his aid?” asked Sie.
“I don’t know, we’re still a little too far east, I think. The wounds
on the fallen suggest an advanced weapon and not something the humans have access to.”
There was still a lot they didn’t know, but they all looked drained and Robin suggested they make this their final stop of the day. They had food and an abundance of wood within easy reach, so they could construct a basic shelter and have a fire going in no time. The idea didn’t take much selling and within an hour they had gathered all the materials they needed.
The Awang would have provided them with access to an unlimited supply of water, but the damage it had sustained meant that they had to find an alternative source. Mica made this her priority and discovered a wooden barrel almost full of water.
By sunset, they’d built a basic weatherproof shelter around a jumble of boulders and a fire was lit, which was taking the chill off. They could do no more today and hoped David had been as fortunate and was as comfortable as they were.
They slept well and the Ammarla were up early and while Robin was busy collecting fruit for their journey, Mica had been putting the finishing touches to a couple of makeshift Jimbo sticks.
Shou stretched and shivered, the cold night-time temperature had chilled him to the bone and the sun was yet to rise. Sie tossed him one of the fruits from their collection and he turned it over in his hand suspiciously, but he was so hungry he would have probably eaten anything. Thankfully it tasted a lot better than it looked.
In one direction was a dying forest, while in the other an endless expanse of sand and the Ammarla were eager to leave and capitalise on the cool predawn walking conditions.
With their provisions packed, they drank their fill from the barrel and Mica produced four gourds that she had collected, which meant they would be able to carry some water with them. Essential because of the distance to the next Awang.
The Awangs had been conveniently spaced about twenty-five miles apart. Convenient for what? A camel! There were no camels on Shalasing and originally just natural faults in the bedrock, they had been excavated and enlarged by the Shamozolts to allow easy access to subsurface water. It was during the Shamozolts excavations that they discovered the area was rich in ore.
“Were the Shamozolts mining out here before the people arrived?” asked Shou.
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