Chapter 39
Trees - Brina
As soon as I landed on the departure tree, Barque started waving at me and motioning for me to come. He had obviously been looking for me. I felt guilty about not making more of an honest effort to let him know what I was doing, but he would not have let me go if I had. He had promised my family that he would not let me out of his sight, and I knew he would feel badly that he had failed before we even crossed the waterfall. He had sacrificed a lot to come with me. The least I could do was appreciate it. I did appreciate it, but that could not curb my curiosity and independence.
“Am I ever relieved to see you!” Barque said with a welcoming smile, as I landed on the tree trunk. Not, “Where have you been”, or “What’s wrong with you?” or any sign of anger, just concern for me. That was Barque: always looking out for me.
“I was watching that lion,” I said.
I was glad for the sound of the waterfall, as it kept me from offering more of an explanation, which I wasn’t sure how to give. Barque shook his head and pointed to the launching branch.
“Ready?” he asked. We were the last ones on the tree, and the last few supplies were being loaded on the pulleys at the other departure tree. I nodded my head yes, and followed him to the platform, where he politely let me go first. I knew he would follow right behind. Searching for a last look at my family, I looked back through the trees. It wasn’t difficult to find them. They were all waving, making long arcs with their arms, their glides following. I froze the picture in my mind. Fighting back tears, I waved back, then forced myself to turn away.
I readjusted Eej on my back one last time. Then I moved my head from side to side, up and down, and triangulated the distance as best I could, but beyond that I knew it was best not to think any further. It was time to go. I went running across the platform and leaped into the air. The sound was deafening, the cool mist soaked my skin, and soon I was enveloped in the white fog, headed down at a sharper angle than I had ever flown. I had to figure the angle in my head and then be ready to parachute once I saw the far bank. Like a cool rain on a warm day, it was exhilarating. At one point the water was getting too close, so I turned my arms at an angle and then straightened and resumed my flight downward. I willed the power of the nearby waterfall to imbue me with strength instead of fear. The same Creator that held me in His destiny had created this waterfall and could control it. I only had to make it through the mist. In an instant, I could see the mesmeringa tree on the far side, and Sir Garwin beckoning me toward its trunk. I lifted my arms to parachute and pulled up, hitting the trunk with no more force than usual. I did it! I moved out of the way and waited with breathless anticipation as I tried to look through the mist for Barque’s arrival.
From this spot, I could hear the rumbling of the powerful water, and could still feel the cooling mist of its spray. That’s when I saw it: the now wispy clouds in the sky above the waterfall had turned blue on the bottom. It was as if someone had pulled at various spots across the blue cloud, stretching it upwards with stripes of beautiful colors, the blue turning to green, then yellow, then orange, with red painted across the pointed tips at the top. In an instant, Barque glided out of the mist, unaware of the colorful clouds that formed a crown in the sky above him. He parachuted and then landed. As he joined me, I greeted him with a hug and then pointed back at the painted clouds. We stood for a moment and gazed at it together. It was so beautiful that at first it seemed like a good omen, and gave me much hope. But as we stood and watched, I couldn’t help but feel that somehow I was now on the other side of paradise, as I watched the colors fade and disappear along with the life I had known.
I turned to face the new forest. Although I was perched on a mesmeringa branch, I saw that these woods were crowded with numerous varieties of trees whose branches cluttered the air pathways and prevented me from seeing very deep into the forest. Far below, the forest floor was carpeted in lovely green ferns, with fairy fronds that looked like feathery wings. I tried to process my surroundings without wasting too much time, since the plan was for us to move through the forest as quickly as possible.
The last of the supplies had been lifted high up a nearby tree and a steady train of our goods were sliding along a rope in a path through the trees. This path seemed to crisscross above a small stream. Sir Garwin motioned for Barque and me to follow him. Although my little side adventure had made us late, Garwin had waited for us, while his family must have gone ahead with the other families. It felt good to have our troop leader with us. We flew to the next tree, which was not a mesmeringa, but a large oak that grew tall and straight. Branches had been trimmed to provide a clear path for us. We landed and climbed to begin the next flight. Behind us, a lone archer flew at the tail end of our column.
We moved through the forest as noiselessly as possible, although as we approached, birds fluttered away and sometimes squirrels stopped and chattered at us angrily for disturbing their peace. The thickness of this forest was unnerving, yet it also provided us with covering to hide us from what lurked beyond. We travelled for a while in silence before the comfort of nighttime darkness approached. Many of the animals crept near the stream for an evening drink or to prey upon smaller creatures. A herd of deer looked up and froze. As we loomed overhead they dashed off, their white tails bouncing up and down into the woods.
As darkness settled in, all of my senses were alert. I adjusted my eyes, which were well suited for seeing in the dark, and listened carefully with my well trained ears. Distinguishing noises had become more difficult because there were new sounds in this forest. We were moving as quickly as we could, and it wasn’t long before we caught up with our group of colonists. Nobody stopped for small talk. I knew the older colonists and the mothers with young children would be somewhere ahead of us in the center of the procession along the ropes. Sir Garwin was probably anxious to join his family, but that would not happen until everyone stopped to rest at the meeting place.
After a while, I got into the rhythm of our climbs and glides and realized I was almost starting to enjoy it. The evening was cool and quiet, with a light breeze, and I was flying with Barque at my side above a clear stream that meandered across stones. I noticed that the rocks were rough on top but had grown smooth along their sides from the repeated stroking of the water. The stream flowed through a blanket of ferns underneath a canopy of trees with strange new barks, leaves, and smells. At first, Barque had flown behind me, but we soon began to leap at the same moment, and glide together. It was familiar and comforting to have him by my side in this strange new land.
Just as I was starting to relax a bit, I heard it. A terrifyingly loud whooping began from the west, although it seemed to be from a long way off. Even more unnerving, in a few moments another booming whoop seemed to answer it, this one from the northwest. I looked at Barque and he soundlessly nodded in acknowledgement of the sound. Our only adjustment was to start climbing faster each time we landed, without stopping to rest on tree trunks. Fortunately years of archery practice had strengthened my arms, but the climbing between leaps without pausing was tiring. It was unnerving to think that the night had just begun.
At last we came to a spot where an archer was posted. He directed us to climb along some large branches off to the side, where we were forced to make small leaps from tree to tree, since the side branches had not been cleared. He led us to a grove of mesmeringas where a simple platform had been built between four trees.
I was so happy to be back among some mesmeringa trees, no matter how few, with the sweet fragrant smell of the flowers and the rich earthiness of the bark. There were about thirty people gathered on the platform, not including the archer guards who had climbed to the tops of the trees to scan the canopy for danger. It was strange to worry about danger in the treetops rather than on the ground, since we had always felt so safe in the trees.
Near one edge of the platform was a brazier in which a small fire burned. I guess they thought the fire was more l
ikely to drive the lormonkeys away than to bring them to us. Having been raised in the forest all their lives, even the children, except infants, knew how to stay silent. Nobody spoke a word. Instead, simple hand signs were used to communicate. Sir Garwin rushed over to his wife, Slinga, who had their three children gathered around her. They were delighted to see him and joined in a group hug as he lifted the youngest into his arms.
Barque led me to a quiet edge of the platform and we both drank deeply from the water skins slung around our necks. I shared a bit of my bread with him, and he shared some mesmeringa salad with me. We both began to study the group in front of us, since these would be the people with whom we would share the next part of our lives. I noticed that Marjan and Planta and their two children had joined Garwin’s family, and sat eating with them. The children seemed to be having fun, and after gobbling down their food, Garwin’s oldest boy, Oaken, produced small wooden dice. The older kids went to the edges of the platform, fetched some baby mesmeringa pods, and played Poddin. Their parents were signing. I looked away so as not to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Then with a jolt, I noticed the cat rider, whose net cage had been lowered to about a foot above the platform, near one corner. One of the men was handing him what appeared to be bread. I wondered if the cat rider even knew about lormonkeys at all.
Brantan walked up and greeted us silently. He too seemed to be enjoying the adventure. He signed that he was glad the rain had stopped. We continued to exchange small signing, until suddenly we heard a spine tingling cry:
WHOOOOOOOP, WHOOOOOOP, WHOO..!
Twang, thud!
This time the whooping had been close by, but was ended mid-whoop by the release of an archer’s arrow. The entire group spread to alert. In an instant, the scene had changed. The adults and teens all went to the edge of the platform, each with an arrow strung on their bow, while the children stayed in the middle, also with their bows readied.
WHOOP, WHOOP, WHOOP!
It was so loud, it sounded like numerous lormonkeys, but it could have been just a few. The calls started near but seemed to be getting further and further away. Still, nobody relaxed their bows. We had trained all our lives to wait in silence with our arrows ready. I was glad for the elite archers higher up in the treetops who had risked their lives to come to guard us.
I feared that the lormonkeys might be intelligent enough to circle back in silence and attack again. None of us would move until the archer guards signaled that all was safe, or to move on. Four of these archer guards left their posts and leapt out into the forest, while others spread around to fill in where they had been. The guards seemed to be following the monkeys to see where they had gone. I prayed that the men would not fall into a lormonkey ambush.
The children did well staying still and quiet. We had not seen the monkeys, but we had heard their blood chilling cries. They were creatures of the forest just like us. I found myself wondering why they would be so noisy if they were stalking us. Predators knew to be quiet around their prey. The more I thought, the more I believed that the archers were being lured into a trap.
WHOOP, WHOOP, WHOOP, WHOOP, WHOOP!
This time there was no mistaking that there were many voices joined together. They were all coming from the direction the archers had gone. I heard a whistle like a bird call, which I knew to be a sound of distress and warning from one of the archers in the distance. In a few minutes, a guard glided unsteadily toward us. He missed the tree trunk he was aiming for, glided on over the platform, and then fell. Most of the people below quickly moved out of the way, but Barque and Brantan rushed toward him to try to catch him to break his fall. As they grabbed him, all three fell over in a heap. The man was bleeding from a gash where the flesh was torn from one of his legs. It appeared that he had been bitten by one of the lormonkeys. The leg was already starting to swell. Barque poured water on the leg and a woman I recognized as Beechala rushed to his side, bent over him, and applied ointment to the wound. The man twisted and writhed with pain but did not call out. After a few moments, he calmed, lay still, and began to sign with his hands.
“Lormonkeys. About twenty. It was a trap.”
Oh no! I turned away to scan the forest for incoming danger, my arrow ready. Just then, a man appeared at my side. It was the man that had been with the cat rider’s net. I had seen him around Kalpok before. He was short and stocky with a rather large nose. His name was something like Sprucer. He motioned to me to come with him. Reluctantly, but quickly, I followed him silently to the net.
At first, Metlan did not seem to notice us. I realized with a start that he could not see in the dark like we could. The deep silence, the whoops, and then the sudden commotion on the platform must have terrified him since he could not see much of what was happening, except near the fire.
I put my hand up to the net and jiggled it. The cat rider looked down at my face with his piercing gaze, and whispered in his tongue, “If they let me out of here, I will help defend the group.”
Several people nearby turned from watching the forest and glared at him for breaking the silence. Without thinking, I put my finger to my mouth in a sign of quiet to the cat rider, and then signed to Sprucer what Metlan had said to me. Sprucer seemed to consider, then left to find Elmtor who was the eldest person on our journey. I turned again to the forest, and once again readied my bow. Sprucer returned quickly and shook his head no. I turned to shake my head no to Metlan, but caught myself since I wasn’t sure what he could see in the dark, and instead I whispered as quietly as I possibly could, one word in his language, “No.” I could see by his face that he had heard. He shook his head angrily and pulled both hands up with bent elbows and open flat palms in exasperation.
I could see that Metlan was not taking this well, and worried that he might make a lot of noise to try and get his way. But instead he settled back in his net quietly. I wasn’t sure what to do. I shifted my weight nervously, but I stayed by the net. I did not want the cat rider to get it in his head to make a ruckus. I kept scanning the forest and then looking over my shoulder to the center of the platform, to try to take in everything that was happening.
In a few seconds, Barque came over. I saw him frown for an instant as he noticed that I was by the captive’s net, but he did not mention it. Instead, he tried to cover his displeasure with an uneasy smile, as he signed to me that the elders were deciding if we should stay or move on. It seemed strange that there was a new set of elders who were not so very old at all. In spite of our traditions, I felt like it would almost be better to have one leader in charge. Our dilemma was a grave one. We needed to get to the boat where we could escape on the water. On the other hand, to spread out in a flying column would be dangerous, stretch our guards thin, and leave us vulnerable. Plus, we needed rest.
Barque took his place beside me, gazing into the forest for any movement. We heard some leaves rustle and both turned our heads toward the sound. We waited, our muscles taut as a bowstring.
HOO, HOO!
We relaxed as we heard the familiar hoot of an owl.
I looked over the edge of the platform to the forest floor below. There it was. The lion had found us, and was crouching silently far below, staring up at the tree where his master hung in his net. I glanced at the cat rider, but his eyes were closed. I knew he could not be sleeping, and wondered if he might be praying, and if so, to what sort of god?
I wanted to turn back, to go home to our peaceful Mesmeringa Forest. All I could feel in these woods was agitation. I began to pray silently.
“I am in the midst of lormonkeys and lions, but I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings, oh Great Creator, until the disaster has passed. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens, your faithfulness reaches to the stars.”
I lifted my eyes to the sky, where I saw the new star shining brightly in the Magpie Constellation, just as Baskrod had always predicted. There was no going back. I gripped my bow, determined to survive my journey through these woods
and beyond to somehow find Baskrod and reach Tzoladia.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Map West
Map East
Character List
(Alphabetical by group)
Webbies
Agga – Amanki’s brother
Amanki – son of Allalu of Arvuk
Anana – Amanki’s mother
Daqqara – woman in village of Porvak
Jartav – husband of Daqqara, village of Porvak
Manhera – Webby – Healer of Porvak
Rigiluk – Webby – ancestor of Daqqara, Council of Ten
Simak – Webby - young son of Daqqara in Porvak
Gliders
Barque – Brina’s friend
Beechala – healer
Brantan – colonist
Brina – daughter of Palana and Rowan of Kalpok
Ceila – Glider – Brina’s littlest sister
Elder Soartu – Elder man
Elder Lepton – Elder woman
Elmtor – elder – Colonist
Frutana and Layna – Glider girls, Glorna’s friends
Garwin – archery troop leader – father of Oaken
Glorna – Brina’s younger sister
Jackan – colonist
Klala – Brina’s best friend
Leifen – Brina’s older brother
Marjan and Planta – colonists, husband and wife
Oaken – son of Sir Garwin and Slinga
Palana – Brina’s Mama
Rowan – Brina’s Papa
Slinga – wife of Garwin, mother of Oaken
Sprucer – colonist
Brank, Grala, Sabra, and Taber – archers
Stikale – guard
Humans
Baskrod – old fisherman
Bazamod – aka Baskrod
Bladar – Leader of Sparaggi horse tribes
Breyjak – cat rider - Samalitan Tribe – Bodyguard of King Maltan
Carvor – cat rider – Samalitan Tribe – leader of scouts – father of Sholfo
Dazbun – former Emperor of Tzoladia, brother of Zoltov
Getaroz – first emperor of the house of Z to rule Tzoladia
Jortan - cat rider - Samalitan served King Maltan
Leipold - cat rider - Samalitan Priest of Phix, the cat god
Maltan – cat rider - King of Samalitans – Metlan’s father
Metlan – cat rider – Prince of Samalitan Tribe
Rhabdom – wise man of the mountain
Serpotia – Mother of Emperor Zoltov, Widow of Wazador the Great
Sholfo – cat rider – Samalitan Tribe – son of Carvor
Vlabrez and Pazker his son – living along the Lanaduk River
Wazador the Great – former Emperor of Tzoladia, father of Dazbun and Zoltov
Zoltov – Emperor of Tzoladia, son of Wazador the Great
Armored
Lasulla – Moshoi’s hometown girlfriend
Lubar – Watcher – Sapalume Tribe
Moshoi – Hattusa Tribe – son of Mursilis – brother of Tuka of Hattom
Mursilis – Moshoi and Tuka’s father - Hattusa Tribe
Obsider – Lasulla’s brother
Telepinus – Armored Watcher, Sapalume Tribe
Tuka – Armored – Hattusa Tribe, son of Mursilis, younger brother of Moshoi
Animals
Pergassi – Metlan’s lion
Telski – Sholfo’s lion
Star – Rhabdom’s yakama
Gods and Goddesses
Adon – one god of the People of the Word
Ansul – Webby River god
Berserker – Webby Storm god
Great Creator – Glider name for Adon
Kalibel – Webby Mother goddess
Phix – Cat god of the Samalitans
Read More
What happens next? The story continues in Seekers.
Seekers (Mud, Rocks, and Trees Book 2)
Coming soon!
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Also by R.A. Denny
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Mud, Rocks, and Trees Series
Refugees (Book 1)
Seekers (Book 2)
Captives (Book 3)
Coming Soon
Warriors (Book 4)
Dreamers (Book 5)
Deliverers (Book 6)
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Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is purely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system without the express written permission of R.A. Denny.
Cover art copyright © 2017 by R.A. Denny
Cover photos:
Flames photo by fluke samed/Shutterstock.com
Cracked texture by Ursa Major/Shutterstock.com
Boat photo by Nejron Photo/Shutterstock.com
2017 ebook Edition
Copyright © 2017 by R.A. Denny
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