Earning My Spots

by Eastburn, Mark;

  Paulo added, “You can live forever down here.”

  With a sneer, I glanced over at Thiago and asked, “Is that true?”

  “It is,” Thiago said with a nod.

  Now what could I say? I wondered. Rosa might’ve agreed to go with me, but Paulo just offered her eternal life. I had nothing to compete with that.

  Thankfully, Rosa’s thoughts were clearer than mine. “I cannot stay here,” she said to Paulo. “I need to help the creatures above. It is something El Código says I must do.”

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “The Code,” said Flavio.

  Phew. I secretly blew a sigh of relief, and earned a whole new respect for Rosa, even though I liked her plenty anyway. Wait—did I just say that I liked her? Well … there are different kinds of “like,” aren’t there? I liked Manny, too, and I liked my family. That’s the whole reason I was on this quest. But whatever kind of “like” this was, I was glad for Rosa’s company, especially since Manny was gone.

  I scanned the scenery, wondering if I’d ever see it again. To live forever in this place might not be such a bad thing, even though it wasn’t for me. My time in El Encante made me feel braver and more confident, which was all the more reason that I needed to leave.

  I had a mission to complete.

  Drawing in breath through my nose, and savoring the sweet scents one last time, I asked Thiago, “How do we get back aboveground?”

  “Follow me,” whispered a low voice that came out through a hiss.

  I noticed an enormous snake with olive-green scales and black spots that had slithered beside me.

  “Who are you?” I asked, trying to hide my shock. This snake was easily thirty feet long.

  “Call me Guardian,” it said.

  “Guardian protects El Encante from invaders,” said Thiago.

  “I will take you where the birds make trouble,” the snake said. Pointing its triangular head at an underground stream, Guardian said, “Come with me.”

  Like the sky, the stream was awash in light. Fish of every color frolicked in the current, along with snakes and frogs. Farther off, where the water looked deeper, I also saw pink dolphins.

  Guardian slithered into the water and said, “If you wish to reach Kunturi’s realm, you must grab onto me.”

  “In the water?” I hesitated—and suddenly didn’t feel so brave. Truth was, I wasn’t much of a swimmer. I’d flunked out of classes at the YMCA by the time I was eight.

  “Let’s go, Sam,” Rosa urged. “There is work we need to do.”

  She was right, of course. I hadn’t made this journey just to give up now. Lots of creatures were counting on me, especially my family. Manny and Balam, too.

  Following Rosa’s lead, I stepped into the water. It was warm and smelled like roses.

  Three dolphins surfaced once the water reached my hips, and the wave they sent soaked the rest of me.

  I recognized Thiago by his toothy smile, which looked the same in dolphin form.

  “We have one final message for you,” he said. This time when he spoke, the words came through his blowhole.

  “A message from who?” I asked.

  “From Curupira, who protects the forests. You will meet him soon. He says you will face three dangers before you reach Kunturi.”

  “Three dangers?” I didn’t like the sound of that.

  Thiago continued, “In the first danger, you will have to show your strength. In the second, you will have to show your bravery. And in the third, you will need to use your intelligence.”

  After a moment of consideration, I said, “So I’m supposed to be strong, be brave … and be smart?”

  “Yes,” all three dolphins clicked at once.

  Well, I thought, this might actually be a job for me. Those were the three virtues Madame Chauvet had mentioned that a hyena should possess.

  The stream rose and the dolphins disappeared, and pretty soon I could tread water. That was as far as I’d ever gotten with the YMCA.

  “Take hold of me,” the snake ordered. His tube-like body writhed on the water’s surface, and Rosa was already clinging to his scaly skin. I linked my arms around his body, and moments later, he was carrying us into the current, which ran strong and fast.

  “This water runs opposite to the Amazon,” Guardian told me. “That way, we can travel anywhere we please.”

  After what seemed like hours of my sputtering and coughing out mouthfuls of water, Guardian dragged us to a riverbank.

  “That tunnel will lead you to the forest,” he said.

  Squinting my eyes, I could see an opening in what appeared to be a towering tree. The tree didn’t have any branches, and its bare trunk pointed straight into the sky.

  The snake said, “Here you will rise to the borders of Kunturi’s kingdom, where your first danger is waiting.”

  A hole opened at the base of the tree. Here goes nothing, I thought, and I gave Rosa a weak smile of encouragement. I considered whether we should shift form before leaving El Encante, but Guardian appeared to read my thoughts.

  “Do not release your animal natures until you reach the surface,” he said.

  The tunnel we crawled into was definitely living, kind of like a muscular intestine. Maybe that’s why Guardian told us not to transform, because our human forms were a lot less pointy—claws and a beak might cause damage. Once we’d entered, the bottom closed and pushed us to the surface, where we tumbled through another hole. It was like we’d passed through the body of some enormous worm, and he’d just pooped us out. Not the most pleasant feeling, in my opinion.

  “If you want to return,” called Guardian’s voice. “Come back to this tree.”

  I checked on Rosa, who was lying on the ground, and asked her, “Are you okay?”

  “I did not like that,” she said.

  An instant later, a black bird with an orange head and shoulders started making a wee-aaaah! shriek over and over again.

  The call was answered by howls in the distance. Wolves? I was worried that this was some sort of a signal that new creatures had entered Kunturi’s realm.

  Soaring high, hawk-like birds began whistling in excitement. The way they circled announced our presence. The howls and yips grew louder.

  They were alerting the dogs to us, no doubt.

  I positioned myself between Rosa and the oncoming canines, figuring this had to be the first danger we’d encounter.

  Stay strong, I reminded myself over and over again.

  The approaching pack sounded large, probably more than fifty wolves in total. With a quick check of the scenery, I could tell we were in a forest, although it hadn’t rained for a while. The tree where the orange-and-black bird sat didn’t have any leaves, and sunlight filtered between bare branches. In the distance, I could see brown hills rising, which gave way to mountains farther on.

  That must be where the condor king rules, I thought.

  The wolves kept coming. Shifting would probably be the best strategy to face them, but before I could do anything, Rosa let out a squawk.

  “What is it?” I asked, spinning toward her.

  “My shoes,” she gasped. “Yours, too!”

  I glanced down and sucked in a breath. What had once been a soggy pair of wraparound shoes were now flopping fish. I leaped out of them in one hop, and Rosa did the same. She shifted into a macaw before her feet touched the ground again and said, “Look at your belt!”

  Except it wasn’t a belt anymore. A snake was wrapped around my hips. And since I didn’t want to see what my tunic might become if I waited any longer, I knew it was the time to transform. As I shifted, the snake and the tunic fell to the ground.

  On four paws, I prepared for what was coming.

  The first wolf that came around a clump of dry bushes was one I’d recognize anywhere.

  I was staring straight at Joe Loup.

  He squinted at me, as if he couldn’t believe his yellow eyes. “Hyena boy? Is that you?”

  The secon
d wolf who appeared was Will Andris. Flashing a toothy sneer, he said, “What are you doing here, booty-itch?”

  “What are you doing here?” I shot back, hoping that Rosa’s English wasn’t good enough to understand the whole “booty-itch” thing. It was pretty embarrassing.

  “We’re here to protect our leader,” Will said.

  “Your leader?”

  “King Kunturi will guide us to a better future,” said Will. Joe nodded in agreement.

  They must be brainwashed, I thought. Or slaves to some powerful magic.

  With a snarl, Joe bared his teeth. “Join us, or we’ll kill you,” he warned.

  Other wolves gathered behind them, and the air rumbled with growls. There definitely had to be some sort of spell over them, because they’d never wanted me to join in anything with them before.

  “I’m here to speak with Kunturi,” I said.

  Joe cut a glance at Will and asked, “Is that even allowed?”

  “Of course it isn’t,” Will answered. “We’re supposed to make sure that nobody gets through.”

  “You want to try and stop me?” I giggled.

  Will’s lips curled back. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  This was the moment I’d been waiting for my entire life—a chance to take down Will Andris. It was a scene I’d played over and over in my mind, and now it was going to become reality. I just hoped I would be strong enough to survive the battle ahead.

  With one last giggle, I said, “You might regret this.” It was his final chance to back out.

  “Scavengers don’t scare me,” he spat.

  “I’m a hunter,” I whooped, charging straight at him with my fur raised and muscles strengthened from my journey. There was no reason to fear wolf bites, since my jaws had twice their force. The whole pack could surely pull me to pieces, so I needed to act against their leader before anybody else got involved.

  My boldness surprised Will, and he did nothing. As soon as I was close enough, I thrust my head into his chest.

  Will let out a panicked whimper and flew backward, then Joe clamped his teeth down on my shoulder.

  I didn’t even flinch. It was time to show these two mutts what a hyena could do. Even if all fifty wolves jumped me at once, I’d take them on. That was the only way I’d survive. Opening my mouth wide, I swung my head at Joe and bit into his fur. He whined and released my shoulder, obviously unprepared for the pain I inflicted. Next, I yanked him straight off his feet and flung him toward the others. He fell to the ground with a hard thump.

  Spitting out a few hairs, I turned back to face Will.

  “Get him!” he ordered his companions.

  But none of them moved an inch.

  Will seemed stunned, so I took the opportunity to grab his side in my jaws and shook hard.

  Will howled in agony. I twisted and tossed him down, then lunged at him again.

  This time, I got my teeth around the back of his neck.

  “Let go of him!” Joe shouted, scrambling to his feet.

  If I pressed down just a little more, I’d end all my troubles with Will Andris. The bones of his neck were no match for my bite.

  “No!” Rosa squawked from above. “Don’t do it, Sam. You will kill him!”

  My repressed hunter instincts told me to crush his spine, as I’d wanted to do a thousand times over. Part of me wanted to show these wolves what a true predator I was.

  My eyes shot to Joe, who shifted weight from one paw to another, clueless about how he might stop me.

  Rosa fluttered down and landed on Will’s back. He was too petrified to make the slightest move.

  “Please, Sam,” she begged me. “Just let go.”

  Somewhere inside of me, I wondered what killing him would accomplish? What would it prove? That I was better than him?

  No, I’d already proved that.

  Gripping Will’s fur in her claws, Rosa sidestepped toward me. Once she was close enough, she stretched out her wing and placed it on my head.

  “Please,” she pleaded. “Do not give in to your anger. You need to be strong, remember?”

  Wait a second—did Rosa have a point? Killing Will would be easy, while not killing him would take some serious strength. There was also The Code to consider, since it prohibited this sort of action.

  “All right,” I said, releasing my teeth from Will’s neck. “I don’t like the taste of wolf anyway.”

  Will didn’t move for a moment, and even after I’d stepped back, his tail remained between his trembling limbs. He’d even peed after I grabbed hold of him—I could see a dark stain on the dried soil.

  Rosa pushed off and took flight, which snapped Will out of his trance. His eyes darted down in shame. As far as I knew, this was the first fight he’d ever lost.

  He said meekly, “I’m … uh … still not supposed to let you in.”

  “But you’ll have to,” I insisted.

  “Just let him through,” whimpered Joe.

  “What about King Kunturi?” countered another wolf. “What’ll he do to us if we let this hyena through?”

  “I will try to speak with him,” said Rosa, who’d found a perch among the twigs of a bush.

  “What?” My face snapped to her.

  “I am a bird, am I not?” she said. “Maybe Kunturi will listen to me.”

  “You can’t go,” I told her.

  “Why not?” she asked.

  Truth was, I couldn’t think of good reason.

  When Rosa realized I wasn’t going to answer, she spread her wings and flapped off. I watched until she became a reddish speck against the mountainous backdrop.

  My fixation prompted Will to ask, “What? Do you like her or something?”

  “Huh?” I kept watching her go.

  “You like her, don’t you?” he asked.

  “No way,” I insisted. “She’s just helping me out, that’s all.” To end the conversation, I giggled, which totally shut Will up.

  Joe still looked worried. “What are we going to do now?”

  “Head for the forest behind me,” I told them, “and try to sniff out the river.” Maybe the dolphins would give them safe refuge, though I don’t know why I was offering to help them.

  The wolves slinked off one by one. Will was the last to leave, with Joe immediately in front of him. They both peered back in my direction once, and I held my stance. The balance of power between us had completely shifted—they wouldn’t be calling me a “filthy scavenger” ever again.

  I turned back to face the mountains. With the wolves behind me, and Rosa gone, I was on my own.

  I was left to face the two remaining dangers by myself.

  THE LANDSCAPE BEGAN INCLINING, WHICH MEANT I’D reached the hills. They were mostly covered with trees, although their leafless branches let through plenty of light.

  If all forests could be like this, I thought, maybe I wouldn’t mind them so much.

  Boulders appeared at intervals the higher I climbed, and that’s where I found the second danger. Unlike the wolves, this one approached with greater stealth.

  It began with a snarl that sounded like it came through someone’s nose, followed by a noise that wasn’t exactly a growl, because it was too high-pitched. When I glanced up to see what was making the fuss, I spotted a large, brown cat crouching on one of the boulders.

  It was a puma. As soon as our eyes met, the big cat hissed. From what I’d remembered, this second danger was where I was supposed to be brave. That should be easy, I thought, since just one puma wasn’t very intimidating.

  I’d thought too soon. Seconds later, more cats showed up, threading their way soundlessly between the rocks and trees. Along with the pumas, there were several lions, some with thick manes, and there were leopards, and tigers. …

  And then I saw them: Manny and Balam.

  “Turn around, Sam,” Manny warned.

  Balam didn’t even speak. He just bared his teeth and made a rumbling noise in his throat. At least he didn’t look like he’d
been hurt too badly—just some scratches and scrapes. But his mannerisms were as scary as the first time we’d met him.

  “What’s gotten into you guys?” I asked.

  No answer. They must’ve been under a spell. Great.

  A large lion pushed his way to the front.

  “You must leave now, hyena.” I recognized his voice instantly. It was King Subu.

  “I don’t take orders from lions,” I said, giggling while I spoke.

  King Subu growled, while the other lions advanced. I then remembered the scenes Queen Ayaba showed me—how lions cornered hyenas and tore them to shreds.

  Yet even with my life at risk, I refused to back down. I wanted to find Rosa and my family, which meant I’d have to get through the cats to do so. Defiant and determined, I met King Subu halfway. When our noses were within inches of each other, he let out a mighty roar.

  I whooped in response, surprising myself that I felt no fear.

  Another sound came from behind me—a clack-clack.

  “Be careful,” Manny warned. When I shifted my eyes from King Subu, I noted Manny was creeping back carefully.

  As for King Subu, his attention had drifted away from me. He was watching whatever showed up outside my field of vision.

  Clack-clack. The sound came again. And again. And again. Within a second, I heard the noise more than a dozen times. I considered turning so I could look, but just as I was about to, I noted the silhouette of a herd of pigs coming from both the left and right of me.

  Well, they weren’t pigs, exactly—they were javelinas, those same animals Manny’s mom hunted in Texas, the ones with fearsome teeth.

  “There are lots of them,” said a leopard.

  At least a hundred had gathered near me. Their fur was spiky and grayish-black, with a lighter collar ringing their throats.

  King Subu began laughing. “We will not be scared by swine.”

  “Those aren’t ordinary pigs,” said Manny, continuing his slow retreat to the rear of the group of cats.

  “They are plant eaters,” scoffed King Subu. “What do we have to fear?”

  Just then one of the javelinas let out a bloodcurdling squeal. Many of the big cats leaped backward in fright. When I checked over my shoulder, I saw a pig-like creature flash its teeth, which looked nearly as threatening as King Subu’s fangs.