StoryPaws: A Mystical Story: Toxics Episode 17

CHAPTER XVII.

THE PASS Felicity looked up at the towering chasm.

The walls of the pass were sheer cliffs of stone.

There were a few dry plants clinging bravely to their hostile surfaces,

But their main faces were smooth.

As they stood,

Exhausted and silent,

A low familiar shape scuttled across one of the higher slopes.

Reuben gasped.

Gus stepped forward beside him.

"'Is it him,

Then?

' he asked,

As if continuing their silent conversation.

"'Yes,

' said Reuben.

He turned to the troupe.

"'George will join us to-morrow.

He uses to-day to seek his torel.

His urge is strong,

And we must honour him this time.

We'll make camp once through the pass.

The walking will be cooler now.

' He handed round some strape that they had brought with them for lunch.

No one had been able to eat much at their midday meal in the explosive heat.

Felicity wondered how long Reuben thought it would take them to reach camp.

"'A couple of hours,

' he replied,

His mouth lifted at one corner with amusement.

He knew how it annoyed her when he jumped without permission into her head.

She felt a yearning for something unnamed as she looked at him.

He was unfairly good-looking.

Even now,

Covered in the day's dust and with cracked lips,

His hazel-brown eyes glowed a pale amber as they looked directly at her.

Gus and Reuben led the way.

The Toxics should not be here,

She knew,

As they were all heading to the gathering in the south,

But the quest party had been surprised once.

The Toxics' behaviour was unpredictable,

And this pass was narrow.

Felicity found that even the sound of her breath felt too loud,

As they turned the first narrow bend within this stony tunnel.

Looking up,

She tried to glimpse the scuttling creature on the higher walls,

But the overhang prevented any vision apart from chinks of fading light as darkness descended.

Reuben now asked Little Green to walk with him.

She failed to reach him,

So narrow was the passage.

Eventually Wolfgang had taken her gently in his huge jaws and lifted her over Felicity.

Gus helped her settle just behind Reuben,

Who needed her phosphorescence.

But the oppressive atmosphere and her own exhaustion affected her aura,

And she was only able to push out a small green light.

This was enough,

However,

For them to move slowly ahead.

Felicity was quiet.

From the original crowd with whom she had begun this journey in the eastern wastes,

They were now down to just seven.

She missed George,

Even his awful smell,

She thought.

And still no one mentioned Sib.

He's here,

Felicity.

Scrap's voice entered her head.

Felicity peered at his outline in the gloom,

Surprised.

He'd never intruded into her mind like this before.

Beginning to understand the rules of this world,

She realised he must feel adult to take this liberty.

He towered over her now,

A fine,

Tall,

Young thorn.

His branches had strengthened over the days,

And she could imagine him at the Lupata mating ceremonies,

Providing a wonderful shield alongside the strongest and tallest of the young male thorns.

Thank you,

Little Felicity,

He said aloud now,

In his deepening voice.

Hey,

You might have grown up,

But you're still chirpy little thorn to me,

So don't you dare call me little Felicity,

She replied,

Laughing.

Then she remembered what he'd said.

Whose hair?

She asked.

Sib,

He replied quietly.

At that moment,

There was a distant sound.

It began like the sound of huge waves crashing on a sandy shore.

Felicity was delighted,

The sea and fresh air tomorrow,

She thought.

But it changed.

The rolling sound became more fractured.

The waves changed,

It became a tapping rumbling now.

The knocks and tapping crescendoed.

The approaching noise clarified.

It was rocks,

Not water,

She realised with terror.

She felt Scrap grab her arm.

They were all running now.

Running in the darkness and hitting their sides on the sharp walls.

Little Green's light glimmered erratically as she ran.

Felicity didn't want to see this noise,

She didn't want to see this terrible thing.

Just let it be over.

Let me wake up at home,

In my bed,

She thought as she ran.

Teeth crashing together,

She gasped for breath.

She could smell the dust of the falling rocks now.

The wind of the avalanche tossed it along their narrow gorge.

She could hear nothing but the roaring,

Thunderous sound of mighty rocks tumbling and smashing.

She screamed MUMMY!

But her cries were swallowed by the roar.

A firm grip snatched her sideways and she fell winded on the damp ground.

Orcadia had found a hidden cave and they were safe.

The sound was still tumultuous,

But it passed outside the solid cave entrance.

They could still be blocked in,

Thought Felicity as her heaving chest began to find air.

We could still be blocked in and die in this cave,

Only to be found in thousands of years a pile of bones and fossils.

She turned over and lay on her back,

Her chest still laboured,

But the spots had stopped in front of her eyes.

She rolled her head to one side,

Feeling the hard ground pressing against it.

Reuben sat,

His head in his hands.

His breath was steady,

But he would not look up.

Gus stood by Thorn,

Both still.

Little Green had her eyes closed and her graceful arms wide as she murmured thanks and peace to the spiritual place she seemed to reach so easily.

Finally Felicity looked at Orcadia.

It was Orcadia who had saved them,

Orcadia who had pulled her out of danger.

She would have run on,

Oblivious,

Straight into a stony death.

Orcadia turned her petalled face quietly to Felicity.

They looked at each other.

Blue-green eyes met green-blue.

Pippi sat by Wolfgang and watched intently.

Felicity knew something was expected of her.

She felt strange inside.

She recalled the words of her mother.

Never be a coward,

Felicity.

Never be afraid to say sorry.

Felicity looked at Orcadia again.

Sorry,

She said.

She couldn't phrase the rest,

But she hoped that was enough.

Orcadia smiled,

And it was the sunshine rising after a storm.

The cave felt full of lightness as the two faced each other.

The lemony-pink petals framing Orcadia's face trembled slightly.

Pippi came over and nuzzled Felicity.

Her breath was warm.

Felicity didn't look at Reuben,

But she felt him stand.

He went to the entrance of their sanctuary and looked outside.

The avalanche was over.

He could hear a few small pebbles rolling intermittently down the steep sides of the chasm a little further ahead.

But the roaring had stopped,

And the dust clouds were settling.

It was time to move.

They must not stay here.

It could become their cage.

He thought of the sighting of Sib.

He was determined not to jump to conclusions.

Unreliable and secretive yes.

Killer no,

He sighed.

Let's be clear of the past before we make camp,

He said,

Turning to the others.

We'll discover soon enough any obstacles left by the avalanche,

But we must not stay here.

Everyone got out,

Brushing off the thick dust and coughing.

Reuben led them outside.

With Orcadia smoothly following,

Wolfgang and Pippi yawned in unison and quietly padded behind Pippi,

And they stumbled into the dark pass once more.

They'd been travelling for a couple of hours now.

The stars shone high above them.

As they scrambled over fallen rocks,

Felicity heard a tired shout ahead.

We're out!

She staggered round the corner with scrat,

Wolfgang and Pippi.

Wonderful,

Fresh air flooded her nose and mouth even before her eyes captured the panorama below.

They had exited the narrow pass,

But with the view now lit up by the full moon,

Felicity realised the land in front of them had dropped away.

They were standing on a high ledge,

And the path fell steeply to the dark prairie below.

Felicity could see a tiny reflection at the bottom of the valley,

And realised it must be water.

Reuben,

She called,

Excited,

Look,

A river!

Telling everyone to stand carefully,

Reuben edged back to Felicity,

And as they looked down together to the glinting ribbon of water,

He reached out to hold her hand and squeezed it tightly.

My lovely Felicity,

He said,

And she felt the effort it took him to speak as exhaustion claimed him.

Well done,

Reuben.

We're all safe.

No one was hurt.

She lifted their entwined hands to her cheek and held them there a moment.

There was a wider point on the ledge with just room enough for the entire troop to huddle together and rest.

No one could eat,

But they shared the amber nectar juice from Gus's flask.

Felicity was sure they'd already drained it in the forest.

We'll eat well with the first light,

Said Reuben,

And they all agreed.

He came and lay close to her,

And Orcadia gracefully elongated on his other side.

Scrat and Little Green rustled off to a corner,

And Gus stood behind them,

Protecting them from the drop.

Felicity could hear Wolfgang and Pippi quietly grooming each other,

But they had moved out of her vision.

They seemed to need privacy tonight.

There was no need for fire,

And it would have been a beacon to unwelcome guests.

As the quest pack fell silent preparing to sleep,

A slithering and scuffling noise approached.

Reuben tensed,

And Felicity felt her heart bang.

She was almost too tired to care,

But Reuben stood stealthily.

Wolfgang and Pippi came to his side.

Welcome,

Quest members,

Said a familiar voice,

Loud in the darkness.

The scuffling stopped,

And in the light of the moon Felicity saw the silhouette of Sib.

Head raised,

Feet out,

He stood boldly facing them.

Welcome,

Sibling Sixteen Thousandth,

Said Reuben,

As he left Felicity's side to approach the interloper of the night.