“Take your time, guys, Mist isn’t following anytime soon,” Gogi calls as he puts the pebble back in the bag, relieved that he hadn’t had to use up any of his precious twelve. Although there are plenty of ants on this side of the bridge, like anywhere in the rainforest, they don’t seem to be under anyone’s direct control. Even if there was immediate danger, Gogi would rather not see his panther friends rush across the bridge only to plummet into the canyon.
Eventually Mez and Chumba help each other onto solid ground beside Gogi. Lima struggles out of the sack and hops to the earth, sputtering. “What was that?”
“I have no idea what just happened to me, either,” Chumba says, shaking the water from her fur.
“Could you try not to spray everyone when you do that?” Gogi asks, wiping his eyes. “Anyway, we have Banu to thank.”
“Banu the sloth is here?” Mez asks. “Where?”
“Here . . . I am,” Banu says, wheezing. He appears over the lip of the canyon, dragging himself to the stones, where he lies on his back. He wipes his claw across his brow and takes in deep breaths. “Wow. That was a lot of work . . . for a sloth . . . I’m going to need a few days . . . to sleep this one off.”
“Banu!” Lima says, wrapping her leathery wings around his neck. “I’ve missed you, handsome guy!”
“Nice work with that water magic,” Mez says.
“I know!” Banu says. “Isn’t it great? . . . Wish I had figured it out . . . back when we were fighting Auriel and the Ant Queen . . . but I guess you can’t speed . . . these things along. We find out our . . . true selves whenever we’re . . . meant to. I guess.”
“We’ll be fighting the Ant Queen again soon enough, I’m afraid,” Mez says.
“Is she back?” Banu asks.
“What do you mean, ‘Is she back’? Don’t you know you’re heading right to her?!” Lima squeaks.
“I was making my way to the ziggurat . . . for our meeting . . . but travel can take . . . a lot longer . . . when you’re a sloth. . . . I got your rock arrow message . . . and started over this way, following the horde. . . . So you’re saying . . . that those ants . . . crawling over you guys . . . weren’t an accident?”
“No,” Mez says darkly. “They were set on us by our cousin Mist. He’s collaborating with the Ant Queen. A lot of animals are.”
“I . . . didn’t know that. . . . I thought he was on . . . your side. Otherwise, I . . . wouldn’t have suggested we . . . wait until the Veil dropped. . . . That was for Chumba and Mist.”
“Well, it all worked out for the best,” Gogi says, scanning the far bank. “Though Mist will go back on the attack the moment he has the chance, I’m sure.”
“I think we should go hunt him down,” Lima says.
Mez shakes her head. “I don’t want to go back across that rock bridge anytime soon. And if we waste time tracking down Mist, we’re just giving the Ant Queen more time to prepare for us. We might still have the advantage of surprise. I say we press forward.”
“Mez hasn’t said it, but I’d rather not have to kill my cousin, either,” Chumba adds wearily.
Gogi lays a hand on her neck. “Of course not.”
“So you’re not going to be inviting . . . that white panther . . . to join you all . . . anytime soon?” Banu asks.
“No, definitely not,” Mez says, “and we’ll want to get gone before he can rally the ants against us.”
“I’m afraid I’ll only . . . slow you all,” Banu says, face stretching into a sad, sweet smile. “You should go on . . . without me.”
“No way are we leaving you,” Gogi says, shaking his head.
“Agreed,” Mez says.
“That water power you’ve got, you think we’d give something like that up so easily?” Chumba says.
“Oh!” Banu says. “That’s very nice. . . . Thank you.”
“You set the pace,” Gogi says. “We’ll go only as fast as you can.”
“Okay . . . just give me a day or two . . . to catch my breath,” Banu says.
They wait in silence.
“Did you really mean to say ‘a day or two’?” Lima asks.
Then Banu moves one clawed hand forward, followed by another. “That was a joke,” he says. He moves some more. He takes a break again.
“Oh,” Lima says, a little awkwardly, “good joke.”
Mez shoots Gogi a look. Do we ask him to speed up?
Gogi shakes his head severely. Absolutely not.
Hands behind his back, whistling, Gogi tiptoes forward, pauses, tiptoes again. Lima makes a hop here and there, experimenting with walking along the ground, then crab-walking on her back. Mez and Chumba creep forward shoulder to shoulder, eyes alert to any unexpected dangers in the forest before them—or any white panthers following behind.
Gogi looks back frequently, flames licking from his fingernails, to see if Mist has followed them. But, each time, he sees only the unbroken forest canopy, cicadas droning behind it. No hoots of owls, no howler monkeys, no snuffling peccaries. No panther hisses. Just the flying insects, and the nighttime glimmer of the ants everywhere, lining every branch and every leaf. Like they’re watching.
One Night Until the Eclipse
THE BALD MOUNTAINTOP doesn’t look like it would be too far from the stone bridge. Well, not far if you don’t have a sloth with you. Dawn arrives while they’re still on their way. Gogi’s teeth gnash when he sees Chumba’s eyelids lower, despite the panther’s best efforts to keep moving forward.
As they make camp, Gogi finds himself whistling a little too cheerily, pretending it’s not frustrating to travel toward an epic showdown with the slowest creature in the rainforest along for the ride.
“What if Banu rode on Mez’s back?” Gogi proposes. Maybe a little too loudly.
“Gogi,” Mez says, “Banu weighs, like, twice what I do.”
“He does?” Gogi says, whistling. “Oh! He, um, carries it well.”
“Sorry to keep holding everyone up,” Banu says as he crawls into view, looking at the companions with wide and watery eyes. “Really . . . you should all consider—”
“No,” Mez says.
“Nope,” Lima says.
“—sticking together,” Chumba says, yawning. “Don’t give it another thought. I’m the one whose daycoma keeps delaying everyone.”
“None of you need to apologize for anything,” Gogi says, gulping down his frustration. “Chumba can’t prevent her daycoma, and you’re a sloth, Banu, so you’re supposed to be . . . slothful.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop apologizing,” Banu says, nodding. “But really . . . you guys should think about—”
“No,” Mez says.
“Nope,” Lima says.
“—sticking together,” Chumba says.
“Getting awkward. To change the topic, um, let me echolocate and see what I can scout ahead,” Lima says. She closes her eyes and opens her mouth, making soft clicking sounds.
They all lean forward, listening.
Lima opens her eyes. “There are a lot of ants up there,” she reports.
“Uh-huh,” Gogi says encouragingly, “and . . . ?”
Lima shrugs her wings. “And that’s it!”
“Oh.”
“Well, there’s also something really big rumbling around at the top of the mountain,” she continues. “Like maybe the Ant Queen’s found some giant creature to serve her, bigger than anything we’ve ever had to fight before? Maybe something like that?”
“That’s also useful information, Lima,” Gogi says. “I’m glad you mentioned that part, too.”
“So what do we do now?” Chumba asks. “Do we just march up to her?”
“We need to bide time until Rumi and Sky return with the lens,” Mez says. “We can harass the Ant Queen, maybe, to keep her off-center until they get here. And we have the last stick with the fungus, of course.”
Chumba growls, even though she’s mid-yawn. “I’d love to look in her eyes while we give it to her.”
&n
bsp; Gogi casts a nervous look to the sky, where the moon is nearly full, only a small crescent missing. “The lunar eclipse is tomorrow night. We should rest as best we can. We’ll need our sleep so we can really let her have it.”
“I don’t know if I can sleep with all these ants around me,” Lima says, hunkering down, wings wrapped around herself. “It’s like sleeping with the enemy.”
“I can help . . . with that,” Banu says. He lifts his shaggy head, then extends the claws of one hand. The water in the trees around them begins to coalesce, forming a shimmering curtain that rings them in a dewy cylinder.
“Ooh!” Lima says. “That’s way pretty.”
“Thanks,” Banu says. “I can even . . . keep it up while . . . I’m asleep. This sort of thing isn’t tiring at all . . . as long as you have . . . magical powers over water . . . of course.”
“Of course, that,” Lima says, nodding knowingly.
Banu intensifies the water until it creates a moat, dividing the mud and roots immediately around them from their ant-covered surroundings. Gogi’s feet are soon clammy from the spray, but he draws them close under him to warm them. Mez nestles in right beside him, and her soft panther fur does a lot to lessen the chill. “That’s a pretty nifty trick, Banu,” Gogi says. “I just might sleep. I like how it’s open at the top, so we can see the sky.”
Banu nods. “That’s for air flow, actually. This is the only way I was able . . . to travel through hostile territory. . . . It’s not like sloths have many natural defenses . . . against the likes of ants. . . . Sorry about the dampness. Maybe your . . . fire can warm you up?”
“That’s okay. I should save my magic for the upcoming battle.”
“Say,” Banu continues, “I was meaning to ask you all . . . have you seen Sorella?”
Gogi shudders, eyes going to Mez and then back to the sloth. “I’m sorry, Banu. Mist told us that Sorella refused the Ant Queen, and that she . . . that the ants killed her,” Gogi says.
Banu shakes his head. “I can’t believe it. . . . She’s so strong . . . so powerful.”
“If even she couldn’t fight off the Ant Queen . . . ,” Mez says, letting her voice trail off.
“Then we won’t let her death be in vain,” Gogi says resolutely. “We’ll fight even harder.”
They stare out at the shimmering curtain of water surrounding them. A long time goes by while Gogi gazes into the changing patterns, a set of blues and whites as chaotic and compelling as the reds of fire. “Anyone else think they’re too tense to sleep?” Gogi eventually says.
He’s greeted by snores.
“Okay, great. Guess I’m on my own here.”
“I’m awake, Gogi,” Lima whispers.
“I’m scared, Lima,” Gogi whispers.
“Me too.”
“I hope Rumi and Sky come through,” Gogi says. “Otherwise we’re probably sunk.”
“Gogi?”
“Yes, Lima?”
“I’m glad we’re here together.”
“Yeah, me too. Having Lima the Healing Bat along makes everything easier.”
“You have to admit,” Lima says sleepily, “it really does have a good ring.”
As soon as the Veil drops and they’ve gotten Chumba awake, the companions try the tail feather directive—but it comes up with just the muffled roar of wind and a close-up view of Sky’s red feathers. No chance of any communication there.
They head out again up the misty mountain. The ascent becomes steeper and steeper, and as it does the usual concentration of ants thickens into torrents. Banu keeps a stream of water at their feet to prevent the ants from accumulating enough to be dangerous, but it slows their progress more.
Even so, it’s soon evident that they’re nearing the bald plain at the top of the mountain. The sounds of forest life, already muted, disappear entirely. The trees are sparse, furred over by the bodies of ants. Ahead is a space with no trees in it, just a gap outlined by stars. Gogi cranes his neck, hoping to see some clue of what lies before them. But there is only the sight of the marching ants, and an eerie skittering noise that is next to silence.
“The source of the ants,” Mez says. “And probably the queen herself. We’re nearly there. I’ll go invisible and scout it out.”
Gogi lays a furry hand on her back. “No, Mez. It’s clear by now that, once the ants are climbing on you, you’re as visible as any of us out there. And when we face the Ant Queen, it has to be together. That’s the only way we stand a chance.”
“Besides, isn’t everything better . . . when you have a water shield surrounding you?” Banu adds. “Especially when ants . . . are concerned?”
Mez nods. “It’s true, I’d definitely rather have you all at my side.”
“So we go on together,” Gogi says.
As they approach the last of the rainforest’s shrouding vegetation, the tight jungle pathway broadens into a clearing. When Chumba makes a clicking sound, the companions know to halt where they are and melt as deeply as they can into the shadows. Gogi, trusting the panthers’ ambush reflexes more than his own, positions himself behind Mez in a thicket of ferns.
“Look,” Chumba whispers. “There, at the edge.”
The trees give way to bald earth, torn up and covered with an unsettling sheen, like a fresh wound. It continues up and up, until the summit disappears before the night sky, impossible to make out despite Gogi’s attempts to illuminate it. But Chumba’s pointing to a nearer spot. No more than a dozen monkeylengths along the edge of the clearing, the trees shake and part. Ants roll out in a wave, falling to either side with a roaring sound.
Fear seizes Gogi’s stomach. With this many ants in one place, the queen is probably not far away.
With another crashing sound, a large shape emerges from the trees. It’s not the Ant Queen, but an iguana, a muscular and broad-shouldered specimen whose scales shimmer gold in the light of the full moon. It pauses and raises its head, flicking its tongue in and out, tasting the night air.
“That’s a lizard I’d rather not meet up close,” Lima whispers.
Gogi trains his focus on the branches behind the iguana, but the next creature to arrive comes from above. Treetops sway, until one of them bends entirely, raining seeds and leaves on the clearing. A harpy eagle plummets from the sky. Perching on a low branch, it peers out along a wickedly sharp beak. Gogi shudders—he’d take the iguana over this raptor, any day. Harpy eagles are as bad as it gets when it comes to capuchin eaters.
The iguana and eagle wait among the ants, scanning about them. It’s like they’re waiting for something else to arrive. Maybe they’re wondering where Mist is?
While he watches, swallowing against the fear in his throat, Gogi notices the circlet of ants marching around the head of each animal. He tries to read emotions into their faces, but even though reading emotions is a strength of monkeys, he’s unable to see any. It’s like they’re past feeling, like the iguana and the harpy eagle have resigned themselves to their fate, and there’s nothing left in their hearts to change it.
Desperation will make them dangerous enemies.
“Do we try to say anything to the henchmen?” Gogi whispers to Chumba. “Or is it not worth the risk of revealing our position?”
“It’s not worth it,” Chumba whispers back. “I say we try to sneak past.”
“Um, that sounds difficult,” Gogi says.
“We’d be totally exposed out there,” Mez says. “The ant armies have ripped down everything that would have provided cover.”
They hold still, scarcely daring to breathe, while their enemies survey the clearing. The iguana and eagle confer, their words too quiet to make out. All the while, the ants continue their march around their heads.
Gogi keeps flame licking from his fingertips, in case the queen’s henchmen—and the swarming ants—suddenly attack. But they don’t. They hold steady, staring down the mountain’s slope, in the direction the companions came from.
“What are they waiting for?” Lima
asks.
“For Mist to arrive with us, I bet,” Mez says.
“That seems like as good an argument as any to get out of here,” Gogi says.
“Right, right,” Mez says. “Panther instinct is always to stay hidden in the shadows, but I’m learning that sometimes panther instinct is not the way to go.”
“I’m thinking that we’ve got the best chance of not being noticed if we go left; then we can stay on the far side of that pile of rubble—”
“—which will block most of the moonlight, stopping us from casting shadows,” Chumba finishes. “I like your plan.”
“Guys? Do you hear that?” Lima asks, tilting her head. “No, of course you don’t, you’re not bats. There’s someone approaching behind us. They think they’re being stealthy, but—”
“Intruders!” comes Mist’s shrieking voice. “Alert! The shadowwalkers are hiding right before you! In the fern!”
“Oh poop,” Gogi says, springing to his feet.
The iguana goes rigid, teeth bared while it tastes the air, head wagging back and forth. The harpy eagle takes to the sky, the sight of its muscular wings in motion seizing Gogi’s heart.
They don’t head toward the companions.
The eagle lifts out of view as the iguana races up toward the mountain’s bald summit, feet flailing as it builds up impossible speed. The ant horde sweeps along with it, the reptile passing right through the midst of the insects, trampling them indiscriminately.
“They’re off to warn the queen!” Lima shrieks.
“Where is Mist?” Chumba asks, whirling. “We should have finished our cousin off when we had the chance.”
Mez sets her teeth, her tail thrashing behind her. “He retreated back into the jungle. No time, we move now, we have to get ahead of the henchmen. Go!” She races through the open clearing, tailing the iguana.
Gogi’s mouth drops open at the thought that they might soon be facing the Ant Queen. “Are we really . . . ?”
“Move, Gogi,” Chumba cries as she streaks after her sister.
The Lost Rainforest #2 Page 17