There was a soft plopping sound as the thin leathery skin split open and a mixture of red fluid and brown lumps of something a little more solid spilled out onto the tunnel floor. Kel jumped back in surprise, tripped over the end of his stave and came crashing down between the next two eggs in the line.
The speed with which he regained his feet surprised them all, and he stood there shaking for a while before slashing the next egg, this time standing well back as the turgid contents surged out.
All went well, until the last egg in the line before the four which looked as if they were going to spew forth their living monsters.
As Kel drove in the stave, the egg almost exploded as the addled contents propelled themselves out in a fountain of foulness. The stench was overpowering, and they all fled to the main chamber to get some fresh air, which by the time they got there, falling over each other in the process, wasn’t as fresh as they would have wished.
‘Someone else can finish off the last four.’ said Kel, his eyes streaming tears from exposure to the pungent reek of the rotten egg.
‘All right, Moss and I will destroy the last ones. Moss, you slash the egg open, and I’ll use the knife to finish off whatever we find inside it.’
There was no great rush to complete the job, but they were spurred on in their endeavours by the increasing stench which Kel had released upon them.
Moss split open the first of the wriggling eggs, and as he did so, the ugly head of a miniature version of the creature they had disposed of earlier reared up from the torn casing, complete with a vicious set of teeth, and looking for something to set them in.
Mec jumped forward and with one swing of the long blade, severed the head of the hideous creature from the body which was struggling to enter their world.
As Moss lifted the stave to make the opening incision in the last egg, it egg split open of it’s own accord and a snapping head took the end of his stave off, leaving him with the shortened stump which he instinctively thrust into the gaping jaws and then jumped back, all in one fluid motion, knocking Mec flying in his efforts to reach safety.
By the time Mec had scrambled to his feet and joined the now shaking Moss, the creature had released itself from the confines of the egg case and was writhing about on the floor of the tunnel, trying to make sense of its new surroundings and bite anything within range.
Mec ran forward, grabbing a bladed stave from Kel as he passed, and began taunting the creature with it. At just the right moment when the tooth-laden head was about to strike, Mec thrust the stave into its mouth and then put all his weight behind the next thrust, driving the sharp end straight through the back of the creatures neck and pinning it to the wall of the tunnel, the claw tipped arms desperately trying to reach its tormentor.
‘Pass my long knife!’ Mec called, a touch of panic in his voice. ‘Quickly!’
It took two swings of the razor sharp knife to sever the gyrating head from its body, which lay snapping its teeth on the floor of the passage.
‘There’s nothing more to do here now,’ Mec gasped, trying to get his breath back, ‘I’ll come down here again tomorrow when the smell has gone to see if there are any more egg piles, but I don’t think there will be.’
‘I wonder if these creatures have a mate as we do?’ asked Kel, but before he could get an answer, Mec was already making a fast and undignified exit from the chamber, climbing hand over hand up the vine as fast as he could, followed by the others as the import of Kel’s question went home.
Having retreated to the safety of the open trackway and snatched a few lungs full of fresh air, the troop relaxed a little, exchanging nervous giggles and comments on the operation they had just completed.
‘That’s something I wouldn’t like to have to do every day.’ Kel said, wiping their weapons on a convenient patch of moss at the side of the path.
‘But it looks as if we shall have to get used to doing it a few more times before we can be sure we are free of these creatures.’
‘That won’t be your problem, it’s now up to the rest of the groups to defend themselves, you two have a much more important task ahead.’ Mec made it a statement rather than a comment by his tone of voice.
‘Do you really think the others will be able to do what we have just done?’ asked Moss.
‘They’ll have to, if they want to survive.’ Mec turned to the two supernumeraries,
‘How do you two feel about taking on the job of ridding us of these pests?’
‘I think we could, if you’re there to guide us.’ one of them replied, but without much conviction in his trembling voice.
‘Hmmm.’ was all Mec said.
They all stood around in silence for a while, perhaps a little annoyed at the lack of response from the supernumeraries or just because there was little else to say of any great significance after what they had been through.
‘I think we all deserve a little something special after that escapade.’ Mec said as he gathered up his equipment, ‘Come on back to my place and I’ll see what I can find.’
The little gang of monster killers trooped off behind him feeling satisfied with their day’s work, and wondering just what the morrow would bring.
Arriving back at the tree cave, there was a definite taint in the air, and Mec tracked it down to a small hole in one of the side rooms.
‘I think it must connect up with the tunnel in the main branch,’ he said, wrinkling his nose, ‘and I don’t like the sound of that one bit.’ The others crowded in to see what all the fuss was about, and they too agreed that the room didn’t smell as sweet as it should.
‘You’ll have to plug it up or you’ll lose all your friends.’ said Moss, ever the jolly one, ‘Or move home,’ he added as an after thought.
Mec brought out some of the special wrinkled black berries he had offered to Kel on an earlier visit, and was much amused at the look on the faces of his guests as they saw the strange fruit swell up in the water to form a plumptious deep purple sphere, and the look of astonishment when they actually bit into them.
‘The Greater Sun will be fading soon, so I think you should all be going back to your own groups before long as I have a few things to do before I retire for the day.’ It was a command rather than a suggestion from Mec, and as they all respected his authority the party broke up, but not before Mec had told Moss and Kel to return on the morrow.
The journey back to the group was uneventful and they hadn’t been missed. When Kel tried to tell some of them of the days exploits, there was little interest shown, his companion saying very little to back up the tale.
During the time of the Lesser Sun another member of the little group disappeared without trace or explanation, and no one seemed to care. Next day, as the Greater Sun broke through the green canopy above, two more youngsters were born, and so the group’s numbers were sustained.
Kel found it hard to come to terms with this uncaring attitude of his group, to his way of thinking, they were in a permanent daze or stupor and wondered why he wasn’t.
On his way back to Mec’s tree cave, Kel stopped to look down into the hole left in the main branch after yesterday’s removal of the creature and the egg destruction. The stench was just as bad, and a large amount of the trackway bark had been ripped away exposing the bare wood underneath. The tree would repair itself in time, but he wondered what horror would occupy the hole left in it.
Mec seemed his old self again after the trauma of yesterday, and they soon got down to the questions and story answers of old, which as usual, prompted even more questions from Kel.
When Moss joined them a little later, Mec sat them both down to impart a little more of his knowledge and said,
‘There are one or two more tales I think you should hear before you set off on your adventure, the first being about the forest we live in. As far as we know, that is all there is, just forest for as far as anyone has ever gone, with of course the areas of the Death Sands, but according to legend, it wasn’t always so as
I shall relate to you.’ He paused, as if wondering if he should go on, settled back on his gourd stool, took a deep breath, and continued,
‘The old legends tell of great areas of coldness, where water goes hard at certain times, and others where it is hard all the time, a bit like the hard water pellets which occasionally fall from the forest top.’
‘What I don’t understand about that story is how could anyone live there if they couldn’t drink because all the water is hard, and therefore how could such a place become known about. But it is only a story, and maybe not all true. If you should come across such a place and have to go into it for any reason, then you will find that the fine fur covering you have will not be enough to keep you warm. One possible thing you could do is to kill a creature which has a thick fur covering, skin it, and make yourselves a covering to keep you warm, it’s only an idea, but may come in useful, should the need arise.
‘And then there is the legend of the lands of fire, what ever that is. It is said to be very hot there, like it is when you go to the top of the forest when the Greater Sun is high in the sky, but even more so. It is said that it is so hot that nothing grows, and there are no trees or even remains of them, just sand and lots of stones. An even more preposterous tale is that in some places the very stones are so hot that they are in a liquid state, like thick water, and flow along the ground.
‘Then there is the tale of great pools of water so big that you can’t see the other side of them, and it is said that the giants travelled over these huge pools to visit other lands, in things called bots or boots, I’m not sure which. These are only legends, but there must be some truth in them, if only a little, so it is important that you should remember them in case you come across these strange things, and you will then know what dangers to expect.
‘I have made up a little collection of things which I think will be of help to you on your journey of discovery, and you should take great care of them, for once lost, they can’t be replaced. Do not be afraid to try out new ideas, but be careful, and observe all the effects caused by trying out something new, for from such things new ideas are born.’
Mec passed around the bowl of food things, giving the two listeners a chance to digest a little of what he had said.
While they were eating, Mec went into one of his smaller rooms, returning with armfuls of equipment he had collected and made, and laid them down on the floor of the main cave.
‘I have made new belts for you to hang your equipment on, and now I’ll go through the items I have collected for you, explaining what they are for.
‘First, you have the new Greater Cutting Knives, these are very sharp and should last you a lifetime if taken care of. Next there is the light making thing. All you have to do is add a little of each powder to the water in the container, and stir it up. When the light fades a little, just stir it again and it will brighten. Only use it when really necessary as there is no way the powders can be replaced, unless you come back here!’ The two lads looked at each other, the idea of not returning hadn’t occurred to them.
‘There is a good supply of the black berries which swell up when placed in water. Only use them when you can find no other food to eat, and then only one, or two at the most, at any one time. I have tried your suggestion of making a transparent cover for the direction indicating bowl, and it works very well. There is only one of these, so take very good care of it, as it is the only means you have of knowing that you are travelling in a straight line. A small selection of Lesser Cutting Blades without their handles are included for you to make your own weapons should you need to.’
Reaching down to the pile of artefacts Mec withdrew a wrinkled skin-like thing, and held it up.
‘This is made from the skin of one of the creatures from the levels above us, and is intended to be filled with water if you think you may have to go through an area where there is none, and I suspect you may. All you do is open this end.’
With a twist and some effort he pulled a small well fitting wooden plug out of the neck-like end of the bag.
‘And then push the whole thing into the water, keeping the opening near the surface. It will fill up with water and then you push the wooden plug back in. When not in use, it folds up quite small and goes into this little pouch on your belt. You may never need it, but I have tried to think of everything which might come in useful, based on what I know of the legends.
You will, of course, have the blade tipped staves, and should you break or lose them, you can make more from the spare blades in this pocket,’ He indicated a bulging little bag attached to the belt.
‘How long it will take you to find the edge of the forest, that’s if there is an edge, and go into other lands, I don’t know. But if you can return here one day and relate your adventures, it will greatly help me to bring some of the old stories up to date and make them a little more accurate for the future.’
Kel and Moss were quite overcome by all the attention which Mec had paid to their survival equipment, and didn’t quite know what to say for a moment.
‘Of course we will come back to tell you how we got on, and of any discoveries we make, that’s if we survive the journey in the first place.’ Kel said at last.
‘There are two other things on your survival belt, as I now like to think of it. One is a small bag containing several smaller bags made from the thin skins of snapper bags, which may come in useful if you have to collect things. The other is a bag containing lots of little odds and ends, the sort of things I would like to have with me if I was going on such a journey. They may be helpful to you, and as they take up so little room, I would suggest that you accept them.’
‘Do you have one more spare bag I could have, Mec?’ asked Kel, and then proceeded to tell him of the ‘Tinkle Stones’ he had made and what they were for.
‘I’m sure I have, where did you get them?’
‘I twisted the fibrous threads from a plant stem, letting it dry in the sun so that it kept the twist in, and then hung from it at intervals, using the fluid from the Stave Plant, pairs of little stones and shells. The shells I found in the bottom of one of the larger Water Plants. They belong to a little creature which crawls about at the bottom of the pool, and some must have died or been eaten, for I found the shells empty. I don’t know where the stones came from originally, I found them in a hollow recess in a tree near our group. No one seemed to know who they belonged to, so I took them.’
Mec stroked his chin thoughtfully, as if trying to remember.
‘The stones must have come from the forest floor, it’s the only place I know of where they can be found. Someone at some time must have brought them up here, and either forgotten about them, or died. I expect they would be pleased to learn of the good use you have put them to. I think I shall make a string for myself, it could guard the cave entrance for me at the time of the Lesser Sun.’
It was decided that on the morrow, the two travellers would set out on their adventure, first telling their friends in their respective groups what they were going to do. Kel said he didn’t think there was much point in doing that, as no one seemed to care what anyone did in his group, and Moss added that it was much the same in his.
‘Why do you think they are like that?’ asked Kel.
‘It has always been so, at least as far as I know, but every now and then, people like you two turn up and they have a different attitude to life, and that is what makes them special and able to go on the journey I have suggested.’
‘I do wish more people were like you two, we could all survive far better then. The forest is changing and new life forms are appearing, you may not notice it, but I am much older, and I have seen the changes. I can see a time, when as a people, our groups will not be able to take care of themselves, and then they will be no more, and that is sad.’ There was a note of deep sorrowfulness in Mec’s voice.
‘Well, let’s see what we can find,’ said Moss, ‘there may be something out there which will change things. Who knows what
we’ll discover. There could be another race of people like us but with a bit more interest in life, and if we can bring the two groups together, it may well benefit us all.’
Mec looked thoughtful for a few moments, and they waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts, and tell them more.
‘According to the old legends, and they are very, very old, there used to be many different races of people in this world, and the differences you would find hard to believe. It is said that they had different coloured skins, some were very tall, while others were short, but I don’t know how their sizes related to ours. It would seem that some were very clever, and they were responsible for all the wondrous things that were made, and we think this lead to their consequent downfall. The clever ones appeared to control the less clever ones, who were quite content to just live a simple life, rather like your own groups, I would think. A lot of the stories were so unbelievable that over time, they were not told any more, at least, that’s what my Story Teller told me.’
Mec paused, as if deciding whether to say any more.
‘There is one story I heard from a Story Teller from another group, when I was young like you, but I find it hard to believe. Long long ago, the clever people made a travelling device which would take them up to the Lesser Sun and they were able to get out and walk about on it!’
‘I know, it’s hard to believe, and I for one think that the story may have been added to over the years in the telling of it, and something else really happened which has been totally forgotten. But then again, it could well be true, as may some of the other seemingly impossible stories. Perhaps you might come across another Story Teller from another group, and then you could get him to relate some of the stories he has.’
‘But if they were so clever, why did they destroy themselves and everything they had made?’ asked a baffled Moss,
‘You are more clever than us, and we are more clever than the other members of our groups, but we wouldn’t destroy what we have, let alone ourselves.’ Kel too, could make little sense of what appeared to have happened so long ago.
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