Black Water tpa-5

by D. J. MacHale

  The beast locked its red eyes on me and drew back its lips, revealing yet another row of pointed teeth. Swell. Its long green hair spiked out, like an angry cat. It hissed, and I got a whiff of something nasty. It was sending out a disgusting scent that smelled like rotten fish. This thing was going to pounce, and it was going to hurt. I was totally defenseless. Worse, the giant tree was behind me. It was like being trapped in a dead end. I took a tentative step to my right. The beast mirrored my move. I took a step back to my left. So did the beast. I felt like I was playing basketball and this monster was playing defense. Only it didn’t want to steal the ball. It wanted to steal my head.

  That’s when I saw a flicker of movement to my left. I looked quickly, afraid that another quig might be circling in. But what I saw was my salvation. Poking its head out from the hole at the base of the tree was a person! At least I thought it was a person. The guy had straggly hair and a long beard. I only saw him for an instant, because he popped his head back into the hole like a scared turtle. He must have poked his nose out, saw the quig, and changed his mind about coming out. Good thinking. I wished I had done the same. But seeing him reminded me that I had an escape route. The trick would be to get to the hole before the quig got to me.

  The two of us stood facing each other like gunslingers. I hoped he didn’t realize that I didn’t have a gun and wasn’t prepared to sling anything. I knew that if I bolted for the hole, the thing would leap at me and it would be all over except for the chewing. All I needed was a couple of seconds for a head start. But how?

  An idea came to me. A hideous idea. If I hadn’t been so desperate, there was no way I would have been able to pull it off. But if there is one thing I’ve learned since becoming a Traveler, self-preservation is a pretty strong motivator. Without taking another second to talk myself out of it, I slowly bent my knees and reached for the ground. I saw the hair on the back of the beast grow higher. It was waiting to see what I was going to do. I cautiously picked up the bloody arm that lay at my feet. I know, how gross can you get? I grabbed it by the elbow trying not to think about what it was. When I touched it, I almost gagged, because it was still warm. Whoever it belonged to had been using it not long before. I had to push that thought away or I’d have lost my lunch…and probably my life along with it. As soon as I picked up the arm, the rotten smell from the beast grew stronger. I think the sight of the bloody arm was getting it psyched, like blood in the water to a shark. That was okay. It meant I had a chance. I slowly stood back up and held the dismembered arm out to my side. The beast’s red eyes followed it like it was some tasty morsel. Gross.

  The next few seconds were critical. It was going to mean the difference between buying me the time I’d need to get to safety, and total failure, which meant it would eat me and then get the arm anyway. It all depended on how stupid this quig was. I waved the arm, tantalizing it. The beast stayed focused on it. The horrible smell grew stronger. Oh yeah, it wanted the arm, all right. I reared back and flung it off to my right.

  The beast went for it. The instant it moved, I bolted for the hole like a base runner stealing second when the pitcher went into his windup. I could only hope the quig would keep going for the arm and not decide I was more interesting. I didn’t stop to look back because every second counted. I ran for the hole and dove inside headfirst. I hit the ground and scrambled to crawl inside. I thought I had made it, when I heard a bellowing howl from outside and felt a burning sensation on my leg. The beast was back and it had me by the ankle! It was too big to follow me inside, but that wouldn’t matter if it pulled me back out. I kicked for all I was worth and felt its sharp talons rake across my skin. But there was no way I was giving up. He was going to have to work for his supper. With one hard kick, I yanked my leg free of its grip. I was loose! I tried to bend my leg and get it inside, but couldn’t. A quick look back showed me that one of the quig’s talons had caught in the braided twine that held my cloth boot on. It still had me!

  I frantically wriggled my foot, trying to pull it out of the boot. I actually cursed myself for doing such a good job tying the twine with half hitches and square knots I learned in Boy Scouts. Why did I have to do such a good job? I expected to feel the pain of the monster’s jaws clamp down on my leg at any second, biting me like some giant Buffalo wing. But that didn’t stop me from squirming to get away. Then suddenly I felt something snap. It wasn’t my leg, I’m glad to say. The beast’s claw must have severed the twine because my foot slipped out of the cloth shoe. I quickly tucked my knees up to my chest to keep my feet out of reach. Looking back, I saw the long, green scaly arm of the monster reaching inside the hole, groping to get at me. His sharp talons whipped back and forth blindly, finding nothing but air and a few dangling vines. He was pretty charged up. The rotten-fish smell got so bad it made me gag. But he had lost. With a final bellow of frustration, the beast pulled his arm out and gave up. I suppose he went back and got the bloody arm as a consolation prize.

  I lay inside the dark space, breathing hard, trying to get my head back together. Now that I was safe, the reality of what had happened finally hit me. I had picked up a human arm and used it as bait to save me from getting eaten. How disgusting was that? I looked down at my leg and saw three long scrapes that ran from my knee to my ankle. I gingerly touched them and found that, luckily, they weren’t very deep. They would just sting for a while. Eelong was shaping up to be a nasty place.

  I had to figure another way out of this tree. I wasn’t about to stick my head out of that hole. For all I knew, Little Godzilla was waiting outside, munching his arm snack and waiting me out. As much as I wanted to flume out of there, that wasn’t an option either. I had to get away from this tree, away from the quigs, and find Gunny. So I got on my hands and knees and started to crawl around, pushing my way through the dangling vines, looking for another escape route. I figured there had to be one. If not, where did the guy come from who poked his head out of the hole? He hadn’t been down in the flume cavern when I was there. And for that matter, whowasthat guy?

  I passed by the hole that led down to the flume and continued crawling with one hand out in front in case I hit a dead end. But that dead end never came. I kept crawling deeper and deeper into the tree. What I first thought was a small space was actually a tunnel that brought me into the very core of this behemoth tree. As I crawled along, I saw that it was actually getting lighter. Of course, that didn’t make sense, but when did something silly like “making sense” matter? I soon felt confident enough that I no longer held my hand out in front of me. Up ahead I saw light at the end of the tunnel. Literally. I hadn’t been crawling for that long, so there was no way I had gone all the way through to the other side of the tree. It was way too big for that. But I didn’t stop to wonder what to expect; I’d see for myself soon enough.

  When I reached the mouth of the tunnel, I crawled out and stood up to view an incredible sight. The tree was hollow. Or at least, this part of it was. I found myself in a huge space that had been carved out of the core of the immense tree. I was kidding before about being able to live in this tree along with cookie-making elves, but this room proved it was possible. The walls were made of, well, of wood. Duh. Light came in through cracks that ran up and down and all around, like veins. I’m not sure if the hollowing out was natural, or done by hand. If it was by hand, then it had to have been done a long time ago, because everything looked aged, with bits of green moss growing everywhere. Looking straight up was like looking into the mouth of the flume. There was no ceiling. For all I knew, this tree was hollow all the way to the top. I saw multiple levels and ledges that led to other tunnels, like the one I just crawled out of. I wasn’t sure how you got from one level to the next. I suppose you could climb the vines that clung to the walls… if you were Spider-Man.

  Now that I was safe from the quig outside, I began to wonder who the people of Eelong were. Going by the look of that hairy guy who poked his head out of the hole, they didn’t exactly seem to be a race of adv
anced mathematicians. I figured they were a primitive, tribal society who lived in these incredible trees. If they were more advanced than that, they certainly didn’t prove it with the clothes they made. Besides, I had yet to see any sign of tools or buildings or anything else you’d expect to see from a society that had advanced beyond the Stone Age. I was beginning to think I would have to deal with cavemen. Or treemen.

  “Hello?” I called out, my voice echoing. “Anybody here?” All I got back was the gentle groaning of the tree. I glanced around, trying to figure which tunnel I’d take to find another way out…when I was shoved from behind with such force, it nearly knocked me off my feet.

  I spun quickly and came face-to-face with the guy who’d peeked out of the hole before. He was short, probably no more than five feet tall. His hair was long and tangled. So was his beard. In fact, I think his head hair was tangled up in his beard hair. Not a good look. His skin was white and filthy, and he wore the same kind of rags that I had on. The guy was crouched down low and breathing heavily. A line of drool ran from his mouth and through his gnarly beard. He may have looked human, but he was acting more like a wild animal.

  “H-Hello,” I said, trying to calm him. Iheld my hand out the way you hold your hand out to a dog that you want to show you’re not a threat. “My name is-“

  BeforeIcould say another word, my arm was grabbed and yanked to the side. Ilooked in surprise to see that a vine had been thrown around my arm like a lasso. Holding the other end was another person, looking just as hairy and gnarly as the first. Iopened my mouth to say something, when another lasso of vine was thrown around my shoulders from behind. It pulled snug around me, locking my arms onto my sides. I looked back to see a third guy yanking it tight. Another vine whipped around my ankles. This one was pulled so hard it yanked my feet out from under me. I hit the ground square on my back. Ooof.

  “Wait…wait…” I gasped, trying to get air. I wanted to use my powers of Traveler mind persuasion, but things were happening so fast, I couldn’t think straight. “I’m a friend!” was all I could get out. I know, not exactly convincing, but what else could I say? A second later it didn’t matter, because one of the guys leaped at me and jammed a fistful of cloth into my mouth, making me gag. Not good. I didn’t think any of these dudes knew the Heimlich maneuver. I figured they must have seen me as a threat. An invader. I needed to show them I meant no harm, because they seemed ready to put some serious hurt on me.

  The guy who jammed the cloth in my mouth sat on my chest, staring down at me. I was pinned, unable to move. I looked up into his eyes and saw something that made any hope I had of reasoning with these people fly out the window. I don’t know why I didn’t realize it before, but I didn’t. Now it was too late. The lizard beast that attacked me outside may have been deadly. It may have been trying to eat me. But there was one thing that it wasn’t. Its eyes should have told me. Its eyes were red. Quigs didn’t have red eyes. Quigs had yellow eyes. And as I looked up at the guy who was sitting on my chest, I saw that his eyes were yellow. And vicious. He opened his mouth into a grotesque smile to reveal rows of sharp, blood-stained teeth. A thin line of drool ran from his lips and fell onto my cheek.

  In that one instant, the horrible truth hit me: The quigs on Eelong were human.

  JOURNAL #16

  (CONTINUED)

  EELONG

  Iwas pinned to the floor with this foul-smelling quig-human sitting on my chest. He leaned down, inches from my nose, and I got a good look into thedark, soulless depths of his yellow eyes.

  “I…won’t hurt you,” I stammered out weakly.

  Yeah right. I thought maybe I could use some reverse psychology and not let him know that I was totally at his mercy. His answer was a steady stream of drool that fell onto my cheek. My bluff didn’t work, no big surprise. I ignored the vile spittle and asked, “Do you understand me?”

  The quig shrieked something that sounded like a monkey screaming in pain. I guessed that meant “no.” These quigs may have been human, but there was no sign of intelligent life lurking between those hairy ears. These were Saint Dane’s animals, and they only knew one thing: killing. My mind groped to come up with a way out. I thought maybe I would be okay, because I was a human too. But then a quick, unpleasant memory of the quigs on Denduron shot to mind. When one went down, the others ate it alive. Quigs were cannibals. That meant here on Eelong, being human didn’t even come close to getting me off the hook. It probably made things worse.

  The other two quigs held down my arms. They sniffed at me like, well, like animals. I actually hoped they’d be grossed out by the smelly rags I had on. It was a totally idiotic thought, but hey, I was desperate. I kicked my legs and tried to pull away, but the quigs held me tight and laughed. At least I thought it was a laugh. It sounded somewhere between a hyena howl and a pig grunt. It made my skin crawl. The quig on my chest raised his head and let out a horrifying howl. When he looked back down at me, his eyes were sparked with an insane fury. He was firing up for the kill. I feared my strange life was going to end right then and there. In that horrifying moment, I did the only thing left to do: I closed my eyes.

  I heard another shriek. It didn’t sound as if it came from the quigs, though. It sounded more like an animal roar. I opened my eyes in time to see the quig on my chest turn quickly to look behind himself. The other two quigs fled in fear. I was still flat on my back and didn’t dare look up because I was sure another horrifying beastie had decided to drop in on our party. The quig on my chest tried to stand up, but suddenly whipped back around to face me, as if he had been spun by a powerful force. The look on his face had gone from one of bloodlust to terror. I quickly saw why. Across his chest were four deep slashes. Something had just attacked him. The wounds didn’t kill him, though. The quig dove over my head and ran away. Whatever new monster had come into this hollow tree was capable of doing some serious damage, and these quigs knew it. But what was it? Was there an uber-quig dwelling in this giant tree? Or had one of those lizard thingies found a way to crawl inside?

  Still on my back, I glanced up to see one of the quigs scramble up a vine as easily as if he were running across the floor. He made it up to an overhead ledge and disappeared into a tunnel. The quig was terrified, and no wonder. I saw what was chasing him.

  Climbing the vine behind him, was a big jungle cat. It was a powerful thing, maybe six feet long from head to butt. Its fur was mottled red and black, kind of like a tiger. Because it was moving so fast, I couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked like most of its body was covered with some kind of cloth. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was wearing clothes. But that made no sense. The only kitty outfit I’d ever seen before was that cute pink sweater your mother, Mark, put on your cat, Dusty. But this beast wasn’t a cute kitty; it was a predator, hot after its prey. It climbed the curtain of vines and darted into the tunnel after the quig. I had no doubt that the quig wouldn’t be long for this territory.

  Wow. I put my head back down on the floor and took my first breath in about a minute. I hadn’t been on Eelong for an hour and I’d already come across a man-eating lizard, a quig-human, and a jungle cat that had a taste for quig-humans. Bottom line was, everything on Eelong was capable of eating me. But who was in charge? Where were the people? I was about to sit up when I heard a low, guttural growl. Uh-oh. I wasn’t alone. Anothergrowlmade me realize the worst:

  There was another cat in the room.

  I slowly lifted my head and looked between my legs. Across the cavern I saw it, hunched low, stalking me. This one was a light brown color, like a mountain lion. It was big, too. Bigger than the one I saw chase the quig up the vines. Its large, brown cat eyes were fixed on me as it lurked closer. What did the Boy Scout Field Guide say to do in times like this? Should I stare at the beast? Should I play dead? Should I jump up and pretend to be really big and scare it? I sure remembered how to tie knots, but when it came to something useful like saving my butt from a monster, my Boy Scout training fell woefully sh
ort. While my mind clicked through these choices, the cat crept closer. Soon, it wouldn’t matter what my plan was. It would be all about the cat’s plan, and I didn’t think I was going to like it.

  The cat grumbled and bared its teeth. Oh yeah, there were a couple of long fangs in there. It crept closer until its nose was nearly at my feet. I saw its big brown nose working, sniffing me. I thought maybe I should give it a quick kick in the head and take off, but figured that would only get it mad. Mad and hungry weren’t a good combination. At least now I had a faint hope that it would think I smelled foul, and leave me alone. I didn’t move. I stopped breathing again. The cat took a few more steps, stood still for a second, and opened its mouth. This was it. It was going to attack. I was actually beginning to hope one of these Eelong beasts would finally get me and put me out of my misery. If this kept up, chances are I’d die of a heart attack anyway.

  The big cat kept its eyes on me, opened its mouth wider, and said, “Are you Pendragon?”

  Huh? Let me write that again. Huh? I went into brain lock. As hairy as everything had been so far, at least it made sense. The hanging roots, the jungle, the band of sun, the big tree, the scary lizard and the quig-humans. All fantastic, but all within my brain’s ability to compute. This new development…wasn’t. I searched for an explanation. I figured maybe when the lizard scratched my leg it released some kind of hallucinatory venom into my system that made me think I was seeing a jungle cat who not only talked, but knew my name. Or maybe this was like the Cheshire Cat inAlice in Wonderland, which meant he’d smile and disappear and this would all turn out to be a dream. That would be cool, too.