Once dry, James reclothed himself, running his fingers through his wet hair to neaten it. He eyed the fruit, and felt his tongue caressing his lips. The fruit was definitely a climb away, and he fancied the challenge. With a sudden rush of energy, James ran at the tree, gripping onto its lowermost branch.
With a few more swipes of his arm, James had already climbed several feet. As he made one daring reach for the next branch, James felt his hands clasping around the rubbery stick, and then all too suddenly, he heard the thing snap as it disintegrated away in his hand. On his tumbling journey towards the forest floor, James felt the sudden searing laceration in his left arm.
In a momentary daze, James rolled himself into a sitting up position, clutching onto his left arm. His arm felt warm, wet, dripping. Horrified, he looked down at his arm, immediately seeing the bright red blood spreading all over his inner forearm.
“Arrggghhh!” He groaned, feeling the excruciating agony of his wound. His arm felt hot, burning hot, as if it were on fire, melting away under such an intense flame. James’ eyes began to water, scanning his surroundings in search of the culprit. His eyes paused on the star-shaped plant, noticing now how sharp those points were. The stunning pulsating plant was the perp all right.
James felt his heart muscles constricting. What if this plant was poisonous? The pain was too much, like nothing he had ever felt before. A scratch wouldn’t do that, surely? There had to be some kind of venom, some kind of potent poison involved, surely?
Feeling suddenly panicky, James got back up onto his feet, trying to squeeze the blood back into his arm as he made his way back to camp.
As soon as he rejoined the others, James was mortified to see that everyone was awake, and to make matters even worse, Phil had spotted him. James watched as his captain’s face paled, turning completely white, as he ran towards him.
“James!” He yelled, alerting everyone’s attentions to the injured space warrior. “James! What happened? You’re bleeding!” Instinctively, Phil extended his arm out to James, trying to get a look at his blooded arm.
“Let go of me!” James shouted, his voice hoarse from his restrained tears.
“James, I need to see! What have you done?”
“No you don’t!” James swiped his arm free from his captain’s grasp. “Just get away from me!”
Zach gripped onto Phil, trying to pull the heavy man away from James. Crystaline was not far behind him, standing in front of James with a reduction of colour in even her own pale cheeks.
“What’s going on?” She asked, her voice strong.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out!” Phil growled, annoyed by Crystaline’s interfering presence.
Ignoring Phil, Crystaline turned to James, her gaze was soft, tender, inviting. It calmed James a little, enabling his trembling lips to weakly explain how he got his injury.
“I cut myself on a plant.”
More colour in Phil’s face drained,
“A plant? What plant? James? Have you any idea? A plant? It could be poisonous!”
“You think I don’t know that?” James yelled back at him, fighting with all his might to keep those tears in, and to not crumble under this agonising pain.
Crystaline made a swift run for both of the supply bags, instructing Zach and her brother to take Phil away as she returned to James. Phil wasn’t having any of it.
“You can’t send me away! I’m his captain!”
“He doesn’t want you anywhere near him! Look at him! The last thing he needs is you hovering over him. Trust me, I’ll sort this! Crystos, I won’t ask you twice!”
With no hesitation at all, Crystos dragged Phil away from James, with Zach clutching onto Phil’s other arm.
Crystaline turned to James, her breaths shallow and quick as her eyes comforted his. The princess appeared unsure, uncomfortable, like a teacher in the care of an injured child. Eventually, her lips parted, easing out her soft silky voice.
“Sit.” she instructed, kneeling down opposite James so that her knees were touching his.
James watched as Crystaline removed a water cylinder, pouring some of its contents onto a clean white cloth. Ever so gently, she took his wrist, and began to softly caress his wound. James groaned, the pain was too much.
Crystaline appeared not to notice James’ discomfort, her attentions intently focusing on his wound.
“What did the plant look like?” she mumbled.
“I dunno,” James panted, disorientated by his pain. “It was green, really big, really bright.”
“Were there two of them? By the river?”
“Yeah!” James gasped, “those were the ones. Am I in danger?”
Crystaline’s lips curled into a soft smile.
“No, you’ll be fine. Skripta plants do secrete a poison, but it’s not a life threatening poison.” Crystaline showed James the soiled cleaning cloth. It had a load of florescent green substance mixed in with his very own blood.
“What is that?” James winced, still feeling the torture in his arm.
“The poison. The poison which has gained such a terrible reputation among my people. Skripta plant poison has made some of the toughest, most strongest grown men crumple up in an agonising heap of tears. You’re doing well, Joyce, very well.”
James gulped. So it was okay to cry? He wouldn’t look like such a tit if he cried right now? James still didn’t fancy his chances, not when Crystaline was the one tending to his wounds, and Phil was stood only a short distance away, watching his every move like a hawk.
“I mean, there’s no point in crying now,” Crystaline continued, appearing to have read James’ thoughts. “The pain will be over very shortly.”
Almost smugly, the princess removed a familiar florescent blue bottle, emptying some of its bright blue liquid onto her forefinger.
“No more pain.” she whispered, staring intently into James’ eyes.
Once her eyes broke contact with his, Crystaline began to work the healing fluid into James’ injured forearm, gently trailing her finger over the wound. Immediately, James’ body was met with relief, relief and something else? As he continued to watch the princess literally working her magic, James felt the little prickles of electricity after each and every one of the princess’ soft healing touches. Were these little impulses just in his arm? Or did they travel deeper, further into his body?
“There, all done.” Crystaline stated, admiring her own handiwork as she returned the blue bottle of healing fluid to it’s appropriate bag. “Out of interest, how did you come into contact with the skripta plant? Obtaining a gash like that must have taken quite some force?”
James rolled his eyes in self mockery.
“I was er... I was trying to get us some fruit, and my tree climb didn’t quite go according to plan.”
Crystaline grinned, her eyes meeting her smile. A rare sight!
“You should leave that kind of stuff to my brother and I. Crystos and I are skilled climbers, great at collecting all the food we need.”
James grinned shyly back at the princess, his body still tingling after its contact with the healing fluid. Or was it Crystaline’s touch?
“Believe me, I won’t be climbing any trees around any skripta plants for a long time, hopefully ever.”
Crystaline grinned once again, captivating James this time. He felt a lump forming in his throat, strangling him, weakening his gentle voice.
“I er, thank you.” James blushed, shaking his head disbelievingly, at his fully healed arm.
Crystaline’s eyes widened, bemused.
“Thank you? What for?”
“What for?” James chuckled, “for healing me...again! You didn’t have to.”
“I didn’t have to?” Crystaline’s tone was cynical this time. “Tell me, Joyce, what use would you be to me if you could barely move? Completely immobilised by your own physical agony?”
James shook his head, gazing softly into the eyes of the stunning princess.
“Yo
u know, something tells me that you don’t really need my help anyway. I bet you could retrieve this stone single handedly if you really wanted to.”
Crystaline raised her left eyebrow confidently, unable to completely mask her smile.
“You’re not wrong,” she responded, raising to her feet. “But I don’t like to see any grown man look how you looked back then.”
“How do you mean?”
“In pain, in agony, completely and utterly lost in a never ending darkness.”
James’ lips parted, wanting to say something in response to the princess’ desolate words. Crystaline walked away before he even had the chance.
***
James had little time to stew over Crystaline’s depressing words and his mortifying injury. He’d eaten one more piece of fruit for breakfast, whilst having to endure Phil’s smothering relief. The man was overbearing, too much. James was relieved when travel had finally resumed. At least he could distance himself from Phil.
Like yesterday, the travel was running surprisingly smoothly. Crystaline and her brother had once again managed to locate food, bruc this time, as well as the usual fruit. The princess had never strayed far from the river’s path, following it faithfully, believing that it would eventually lead the group out of the forest and on their way to the healing stone.
Similarly to yesterday, James had encountered more awe-inspiring creatures, most of them, Urashan insects which glimmered against the dark forest. Only the moonkas had been different, resembling white, fluffy round mammals. The moonkas roamed the trees, reminding James of a monkey. Only their eyes were big, bulgy, and red, resting on top of their fuzzy white bodies. Their limbs were pink, thin and bony. Crystaline had stated that the moonkas were well known amongst the people of Urasha, occasionally causing mischief to those who dared to travel underneath their trees. As the day soon turned to night, James felt lucky to have avoided such an onslaught from the moonkas. Though seeing fruit being hurtled Phil’s way was not such an undesirable thought. If anything, it was quite the opposite!
As James worked his way through the Urashan forest, he took note of the plants in particular, watching as they appeared to grow brighter and brighter against their darkening surroundings. The Urashan sun had turned in for the night, giving way for its brothers and its sisters. Sadly, James still could not see the stars very clearly, for the tall, looming trees still obstructed his vision of the skies up above him.
As he stared longingly upwards, James felt his body crashing into Phil’s. The man was stood, paralysed on the spot, watching Crystaline with caution. The Urashan princess had spotted something, and this time, it was definitely not just a bunch of furleaves. She had spotted something a lot more sinister.
“What is it, sister?” Crystos’ voice sounded.
Crystaline’s face was ashen,
“Can’t you see it?” She whispered, pointing to a spot beyond two trees. “That baby chugga there, it’s injured.”
“Baby chugga?” James whispered, his curiosity piqued. Slowly, the young space warrior joined Crystaline, immediately spotting the chugga that she was referring to.
Sat on the forest floor was a creature, the biggest Urashan creature that James had seen so far. The toddler sized animal was baby blue in colour, mixed in with a series of red wounds scattered all over its rubbery body. James felt his heart scrunching up into a tiny little ball when he stared into the chugga’s black bulging eyes. The poor thing was trembling, and James could even hear its rapid breathing from this safe distance. What had inflicted such terrible injuries? The young space warrior’s heart plummeted at the very thought.
“Can we do anything to help it?” James whispered, noting the creature’s four limbs. It reminded him of a wingless baby dragon.
Crystaline’s mouth slowly opened, her eyes never leaving the chugga as she prepared her response. The princess’ mouth slammed shut before she even had the chance to speak, hearing the deathly howls ripping their way through the forest.
“What was that?” Zach panted, nervously shuffling on the spot as he scanned the trees all around him.
HAAOOUUUL!
There it was again. Closer this time.
James turned to Crystaline, watching as her ominous eyes nervously searched the forest for the source of the howling. Her eyes eventually paused, widening in terror as she spotted something several trees away.
“Oh no!” Crystaline whispered, shaking her head as her breathing increased. “Feroshie!”
“Feroshie?” Phil repeated, the concern etched all over his voice.
As James followed Crystaline’s gaze, he spotted several luminous streaks of red in amongst the forest foliage. His heartbeat spiked, emphasising each and every rapid thud in his chest. James’ breathing hitched, feeling the uncomfortable vibrating sensation reverberating its way through his heart. Was this it? Was he having a heart attack? James’ ears told him otherwise, reluctantly soaking up the deep growls around him. The animals, the feroshie, they were the cause of the vibrations.
James felt his eyes zooming in on one of the creatures, watching as it crawled closer into view. The thing looked vicious, dog-like, with the red streaks embellishing its evil black body. As he noticed the glowing green horns on top of the feroshie’s head, and the long wiry tail with a spade shaped tip, James couldn’t help but liken this creature to a devil. Maybe they were the devil’s dogs, camouflaging themselves in amongst the trees, ready and waiting for their perfect moment to strike. Their target: the poor quivering chugga.
James felt a hand on his shoulder. He immediately shuddered when he heard Phil’s grating voice sounding out directly behind him.
“We need to get out of here.” the man whispered.
Morcees agreed, his eyes silver and laced with fear, as he began to drag Borcees away from the scene.
“No.” Crystaline whispered, deeply encased within her own little bubble of torture as she watched the trembling, and now squealing chugga.
“Crystaline!” Crystos’ voice was sudden, broken. “They’re right, we need to leave, now!”
Crystaline shook her head, her eyes completely stormy as she watched the injured chugga, as it became surrounded by the ravenous pack of feroshie. There were four of them, four feroshie all waiting in ambush to rip apart this innocent creature. No, no she could not, she could not do nothing, she could not watch this creature die. Slowly, Crystaline turned to her brother, her eyes locking into his, shaking her head apologetically.
“I’m sorry, brother.” she whispered, skilfully avoiding his reflexive grasp as she ran straight to the chugga’s aid.
Chapter 11
James felt Phil’s strong arms enveloping his entire body, preventing him from following Crystaline. It took Zach, Morcees and Borcees to restrain Crystos. Everyone was paralysed, completely and utterly immobilised as they watched Crystaline intercept the attack of the feroshie.
James felt his heart palpitating itself into a horrific frenzy. He watched as Crystaline’s purple sworsha and her delicate womanly body fended off the feroshie. It was hard to tell who had the upper hand. All James could see was the purple, the reds and the greens, all merging together to form one chaotic turbulent clump.
The howls were gut wrenching, and the crackles of electricity were deafening. In one swift movement, James saw Crystaline free herself from the chaotic clump, springing several metres straight up into the air as her sworsha turned blue. In less than a second, the princess returned to the ground, creating a huge sonic-boom as her sworsha collided with the forest floor.
James had to fight to stay on his feet, his body struggling against the aftershock of Crystaline’s hit. The feroshie were all over the place, thrust away from Crystaline as she remained crouched in front of the baby chugga. The little thing had surprisingly managed to hold its balance as well.
As the feroshie lay on the ground, whimpering, and trying to summon the strength back into their bodies, Crystaline raised to her feet, her stance completely empowered an
d protective as she shielded the baby chugga. The princess’ sworsha remained blue, raised ready for action as the feroshie rolled back onto their four limbs.
For a while, the pack stood there, snarling at Crystaline as they weighed up their next move. The princess’ golden irises locked onto the bright red eyes of the central feroshie. She was not going to give up the chugga, not now, not ever. Understanding Crystaline’s refusal to back down, the lead feroshie gave one last howl, and then it scampered away with the rest of its pack, completely lost from view.
James felt his chest raising, as he breathed out such a euphoric sigh of relief. It was over. The feroshie were gone. The chugga was okay, and Crystaline, she was alive, still in one piece.
As he felt Phil’s grip loosening, James sprung forwards, with Crystos by his side. He had to check that Crystaline was okay, that she hadn’t been seriously hurt.
“Crystaline!” Crystos’ voice was all trembly. “Crystaline, are you okay?”
Crystaline did not answer her brother. Instead she switched off her sworsha, placing it back into her pocket as she stared off into the distance.
“Crystaline! Are you hurt? Tell me!”
Absentmindedly, Crystaline turned to her brother, her expression hollow as she failed to fathom her brother’s concern. For a while, she just looked into his concerned eyes, her expression softening as her brother brought her mind back to reality.
“I’m fine.” she whispered, remembering the injured chugga behind her. In one rapid movement, Crystaline turned around, eyeing the chugga with a tender caution.
The chugga gave a few feeble little whimpers as it watched Crystaline, its eyes glazed with tears. James immediately felt his heart weeping. Animals could cry too?
Crystaline’s own expression grew even softer, with a few unshed tears managing to creep into her eyes.
Diversion To Urasha (Space Era Book 1) Page 12