They were only seventy yards away from their destination when Tular gasped and bent down to examine the earth. He looked even more panic-stricken than he had been while hanging from the branch.
“What is it, Tular?” asked Jenna in concern.
Tular was shaking as he rose. “I can't believe it,” he said. “A Grull track. A Grull is in the area. Worse still, it appears from these tracks that he’s heading in the general direction of our encampment. If my people are surprised he could wipe out the entire camp singlehandedly. I have to go back immediately and warn them.”
“A Grull?” said Jenna.
“Yes. The other intelligent species on our planet and our mortal enemy. They’re the ultimate hunting machines: intelligent, cunning, and powerful. They’re almost impossible to stop and unimaginably cruel. They love to terrorize others. To torture them and watch them suffer. They’re pure evil.”
Zachary gulped loudly. That didn’t sound good. “But if they’re so unstoppable, why aren’t they running the planet?”
“There are very, very few of them anymore. They hate all life, even their own kind. They war with themselves continually and almost never have children. Their own evil and hatred will soon make them extinct. I haven’t seen one in my entire life, but we’re taught how to look out for them from early childhood and this is definitely one of their tracks.”
Tular looked at them apologetically. “I'm so sorry, but I have to leave you. Just pass this tree trunk and make a hard left, and the portal should appear about forty yards in front of you. I'm sorry that I can't wait to see you through it and make sure you’re safe.”
“We understand,” Jenna assured him. “Go back and warn your people.”
“We'll be fine,” added Zachary. “You've taught us enough that we should be able to survive for a few minutes until the portal comes. Thanks for everything.”
“Thank you,” said Tular gratefully as he began sprinting back the way they had come. “I will never forget you two.”
Zachary and Jenna smiled and began walking the short distance to where the portal would appear. They passed the tree trunk and turned left, carefully avoiding a grove of Harpoon Tulips, and made it to the spot Tular had specified. And then two things happened at the same time.
The portal suddenly appeared from out of nowhere in front of them.
And they heard a booming growl, so fierce and thunderous, so terrible and hatred-filled, that it could only have come from one creature.
The Grull.
They sprinted back to the edge of the tree trunk forty yards from the portal and peered around it. Less than sixty yards away through the forest, Tular was flat on his back on the ground. And towering over him was the most terrible predator of all. The Grull bristled with raw strength and ferocity. It was ten feet tall and had the effortless strength of a Polar Bear. It was armored from head to toe and had dagger-like spikes protruding from its elbows and forehead. It had two mouths, one on top of the other, each filled with jagged, razor-sharp teeth, and also two sets of arms. One set of its arms ended in large, human-like hands, with lethal retractable claws. The other in sharp pincers, like the claws of a lobster, capable of cutting through bone and cartilage.
The monster stood calmly over a cowering Tular, cruel laughter booming from one of its mouths. “Going somewhere?” it taunted their friend, its voice so deep and loud that the words reverberated throughout the forest. “What's the rush? Stick around and let's have some fun.”
Tular was no match for the Grull. He was clearly doomed, and with him his entire village.
“Scream at the top of your lungs,” said Zachary to his sister. “We have to create a diversion. The Grull likes causing terror, so if we act terrified, it might leave Tular and come after us.”
“If we act terrified,” said Jenna. “It’s not gonna take any acting on my part,” she added as they left the cover provided by the tree trunk and began screaming as loudly as they could.
The Grull looked behind it and smiled with both mouths. “What in the world are these things?” it said to itself. It looked at Tular and then back at the softbody people. It had tortured plenty of Krug in its lifetime, but these creatures were something totally new. Its decision was obvious.
Moving with surprising quickness for a being so large it raced off after the softbodies, leaving Tular unattended.
“Go!” Zachary shouted to Tular at the top of his lungs just as the Grull took its first step away from him. “Warn your people. We'll be gone before it catches us,” he finished, turning with Jenna and sprinting for the portal.
Tular sprang to his feet. He took one last look at his fleeing softbody friends before turning and running at full speed back to warn the encampment. These frail softbodies weren't even adults and they didn't have armor or great strength, but there was no questioning their bravery. Remarkable. They had earned an honored place in Krug history.
The humans continued their race to the portal, relieved that Tular was now running to safety. They had done it. The Grull had taken the bait and Tular had escaped. Now all they had to do was put a world between the Grull and themselves. They sprinted faster than they ever had in their lives.
Zachary threw a quick glance behind him as they ran. The Grull was rapidly gaining on them. Its speed was incredible. But it would still not catch them in time. Zachary concentrated on his running. The portal was only twenty-five yards ahead.
Twenty yards.
Fifteen.
The portal began to shrink.
No. Impossible. It couldn't close now.
Zachary was ten yards away. He was going to make it. It was shrinking but there would still be just enough of it present for them to dive through.
As he prepared to dive a horrible realization hit him: Jenna was three yards behind him. Because she was smaller and younger she wasn't as fast as he was. He would make it, but she would definitely not.
Zachary made his decision instantly. He could not go through without her. He slowed as the portal shrank into a single point and then disappeared, not to return for five full minutes. Five minutes they didn't have.
Their escape route gone, the faster Grull was on them in an instant, knocking them painfully to the ground with one of its mighty arms.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
More Terrifying Than a Grull?
The Grull reached down and lifted both kids effortlessly into the air, one in each hand. It held them up to its face to inspect. They hung high above the ground, facing the monster, like dolls in the giant's awesome grip.
The Grull was holding a large, half eaten animal in one of its two massive claws. It had carried this bloody carcass effortlessly while it had tackled Tular and then chased them. It snarled as it buried the bottom part of its face, with its lower, eating mouth, into the carcass and tore pieces off savagely. “What do I have here?” it barked at Zachary, using its other mouth to speak while it continued eating.
Zachary didn't think this was a real question and was too petrified to speak in any case. Worse still, the putrid stench of the Grull’s breath was making him sick. He forced himself to calm down and concentrate. There would be no escaping this monster.
But even as he thought this an idea began forming in his mind. The Krug elder had said the portal came back every five minutes. If they could just keep the Grull in this exact spot long enough, the portal would reappear underneath them. If the Grull, like the fungus on the world before, was unable to make the trip through with them, they would be free.
“Answer me!” thundered the Grull. “Are you two some kind of mutant Krug?”
“No,” said Zachary finally, getting his fear under control. Both he and Jenna were now breathing exclusively through their mouths, trying not to suffocate from the stench that surrounded the towering beast like a toxic cloud. “We aren't from this world. We're softbody people.”
“Never heard of such a thing,” said the Grull with its speaking mouth, while at the same time using its eating mouth to rip a
nother large piece of flesh from its kill. It turned its attention to Jenna. “You're even punier than this one,” it said. “You two are the most pathetic creatures I have ever seen. Slow and weak. You're more helpless than a newborn baby Krug.”
“Exactly,” agreed Zachary. “We're certainly not worth your time. We couldn't give you any sport at all.”
The Grull laughed and spittle and bits of food flew from its mouth. “You're new here or a Krug would have told you that the only sport I enjoy is inflicting terror and suffering on others. I've never tortured a softbody person before. I'm looking forward to it.”
The spiked monstrosity paused in thought, continuing to hold the two humans in midair as though it could easily do so forever. Although it was totally alien, there was something about its cruel expression that made it clear to the siblings that it was imagining creative ways to inflict as much pain on them as it could, for as long as it could.
“Wait a minute,” said the Grull suddenly, its eyes widening. “What am I thinking? I’ve never tasted a softbody person before either.”
Zachary shrank back, knowing this was no idle threat. The Grull was the ultimate predator, and it was clearly intrigued with the idea of expanding its culinary horizons.
“I wonder how much of you I can eat and still keep you alive,” said the Grull. “I guess there’s only one way to find out,” it finished icily.
The blood drained from Zachary’s face. Of all the ways to die, being eaten alive was one of the most horrific. He shot a panicked look at his sister, and was astonished to find that her eyes were blazing purposefully. “Go for it,” she said defiantly to the Grull. “Take a bite. And then see how long you live afterwards.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What do you think? It means we’re the most poisonous species there is.”
Zachary’s eyes widened. Jenna had come up with a great strategy that just might work.
“Do you think I'm stupid!” roared the Grull.
“Well,” said Jenna, “I don’t think you’re as stupid as you are ugly and smelly.”
The Grull blinked rapidly in confusion. “That’s better,” it said finally, proving its own stupidity. “Poison. Hah. You really expect me to fall for that?”
“Tell me this,” said Zachary. “Since we’re so slow and weak and helpless, how have we possibly survived here?”
The Grull looked completely blank.
“Because every creature knows we’re poisonous and leaves us alone.”
The Grull thought about this for a few seconds. “You could be right,” it allowed with a deep frown. “Too bad. I guess I’ll just have to be satisfied with torturing you to death.”
Zachary had been keeping mental track of the time. He guessed that the portal was due to reappear directly under them at any moment. If they could stall just a little longer they were home free.
The Grull took a few steps forward . . . and just as he did so the portal appeared, right on schedule, exactly where he had just been.
Noooo, thought Zachary miserably. They had been so close.
The Grull continued walking, still holding them like dolls in front of its face. It was leaving the portal behind.
“No!” screamed Zachary. “Stop!”
The Grull laughed and continued walking. “Save your pathetic pleas for mercy, they won’t do you any good.”
Zachary began to panic as they continued to move farther from the portal.
He had to think of something! And fast.
But what? The Grull was pure cruelty, pure evil, and they couldn’t possibly escape its iron grasp. And they had nothing to bargain with. The only way they were going through the portal was if the Grull put them there itself.
Yeah, like that’s going to happen, thought Zachary in frustration and despair.
Wait a minute! He thought excitedly. Maybe that isn’t such a crazy idea after all.
Zachary screamed. He screamed louder and longer than he ever had in his life. He recoiled backwards against the Grull's hand as if he had seen the most terrifying thing in the universe.
The Grull stopped, wondering what was going on.
Zachary turned pale and cowered. He began to whimper as if nearly insane with fear, looking and pointing over the Grull's shoulder.
As the Grull turned to look, Zachary shot a quick look at his sister. Play along, he mouthed.
To her credit, Jenna did so without stopping first to wonder why. She began screaming uncontrollably and pointing past the Grull, acting as insanely horrified as her brother.
The Grull studied the forest behind it in confusion. It was empty of animals, since every last creature had long since fled from the vicinity of the world’s top predator. So what were they pointing at that scared them so much? And what could possibly scare anyone more than being the prisoner of a Grull, anyway? The Grull was considering these questions when it saw a strange-looking shimmering circle on the ground.
“What is that?” it demanded.
Zachary continued his whimpering. “N-n-n-nothing,” he stuttered.
The Grull scratched its head with its free claw, with the only one of its four arms not carrying a human or a carcass. “You're terrified—of that?” it said in disbelief.
“No. N-not at all,” said Zachary, cringing in fear. “Come on. Weren't you going somewhere to torture us? W-w-what are we waiting for?”
“You're lying to me. You are terrified of that thing.”
“No we're not,” insisted Jenna weakly as she shuddered uncontrollably, displaying acting skills of her own.
“Okay,” spat the Grull. “You're not. Then I guess in that case you won't mind if I drop you in that thing?”
“No!” screamed Zachary in horror. “Please! Do whatever you want. Torture us. Eat us. We lied about being poisonous. But you can't be completely evil. If you have any mercy at all, don't drop us in that thing.”
The Grull was intrigued. “What would happen if I did?”
Zachary's face turned pure white. “It . . . it . . . it . . . h-holds you,” he stuttered. “For five or ten minutes. I don't know what it does but it’s the most agonizing thing in the universe. I was in it only once. I lost my voice from screaming and I f-f-finally passed out from the pain.”
“Really,” said the Grull in delight. “That sounds like fun.”
“No! You can't be that cruel.”
The Grull laughed. “You really don't know anything about the Grull, do you?”
The towering, armored monster walked to the edge of the portal and extended his human captives over its center. They both closed their eyes and screamed insanely for all they were worth.
Come on, come on, come on, thought Zachary with all of his might as he continued screaming. Come on! Drop us in. DO IT!
The Grull took extreme pleasure in their screams and struggles. “Enjoy yourselves,” it said happily. “And if you can't, maybe it will make you feel better to know that when you've passed out from the pain, I'll be here to greet you when you wake up.”
Wearing a cruel expression on its face and with a maniacal gleam in its eye, the Grull dropped them in the center of the portal.
They felt a minor disorientation and then, once again, they were on firm ground. A world away from the Grull.
They had done it again. They had found a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. If only they could have seen the stupefied look on the Grull’s hideous face as they vanished from its world.
Elated, they opened their eyes to see what world they would find themselves on this time.
And what they saw made them almost wish they were back with the Grull.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Trespass
Jenna saw it first and shrieked again. Zachary opened his mouth to scream but was so paralyzed by fear that no sound would come out.
It was a giant wasp.
It was about the length of a long car, and it stood on six thin legs watching them through huge compound eyes that bulg
ed out from its face like two black mesh domes. Its red, sweptback body tapered in at the middle and then flared out again toward the back. Its thin wings were pitch black, matching its eyes and the two antennae protruding from its head. Its sleek body made it clear to all observers that this was a creature built for only one purpose: killing.
And it was twenty feet away.
Jenna’s knees became weak and she barely managed to remain standing. In escaping the Grull they had jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
The wasp’s head darted around and surveyed the area behind itself. “What?” it said in obvious alarm. “What's back there?”
The wasp could talk? Apparently so. In fact, its voice, at least as it was interpreted by the language transformer, was soft and feminine.
It continued to look behind it and backtracked a few steps toward the dumbstruck humans. “I don't see anything. What is it that you're so afraid of?” it asked in confusion.
Zachary tried to speak, but nothing came out. He finally found his voice, but it was thin and high pitched. “You can talk?”
The wasp pivoted its head to face Zachary. “Of course I can talk. Is the danger gone?” it asked worriedly.
“Uhhh . . . yeah,” answered Zachary thinly. “False alarm.”
The wasp turned its head one last time, just to be sure. It turned back again to face the two humans. “Well that’s a relief,” it said. “Can you two tell me where I am?”
Jenna exchanged a puzzled look with her brother. “You don't know?” she squeaked, regaining her voice also.
The wasp frowned. “I wouldn't ask you if I knew,” it pointed out. “As you can probably tell from my appearance, I'm not from here. I know it's hard to believe, but I think I might be from an entirely different world even.”
“It’s easier to believe than you’d think,” said Zachary. “We're not from this world either.”
“How remarkable,” said the wasp.
“How did you get here?” asked Zachary.
“It was the strangest thing. I was with my husband and seven children in my home when the air started shimmering strangely. The next thing I knew I was standing here. About one minute later you two appeared from nowhere and started screaming.” The wasp paused. “Frankly, my nerves are shot,” she continued, her voice breaking as though she was about to cry. “And I'm so worried about my babies. I hope they're okay.” She visibly struggled to bring her emotions under control. “How did you two get here?”
Out of This World Page 8