Ocean of Dust (30 page)

In the cool of the evening, small,
hard-shelled scavengers crawled out of the trees to burrow in the
sand. As fast as Coy collected them, Jancid pried their shells open
and skewered the tiny gobbet of meat inside onto sticks. Before
long, dozens of them spat and sizzled on the edge of the fire.

"I'll cut the fruit," she said, groaning with
the strain of sitting up. All she wanted to do was sleep. Using a
knife, she pried open large Jherodan nuts to reveal their succulent
yellow flesh. She took great care to peel every scrap of
green-blotched rind from the Pwam fruit, since the tiniest amount
gave you the runs, but the pale, chewy interior was delicious.

"Sawall and Grad not back yet?" the captain
asked.

Jancid shook his head. "We been 'ere since
Eldrar-set. No sign of 'em."

"I didn't want anyone in the forest after
dark. This island is considerably larger than it looks."

They gathered around the fire for a welcome
meal of fruit and cooked shell creatures. Even cooked, the meat was
slimy with a gritty crunch in the middle that made her shudder. She
handed hers to Coy and made do with the fruit. Jancid wolfed his
share, making loud slurping noises.

Her eyes could remain open no longer, so she
lay back in the warm sand and thought of the ship. It would be far
away by now. Was Branda all right? Was she lying in her scheepa and
thinking of her too?

A series of growls from the forest startled
her. What if something had happened to Grad and Sawall? Hopefully,
they had found water and would return triumphant in the morning
with a full bucket.

* * *

The next morning it was clear from Jancid and
the captain’s grim expressions that the missing men had not
returned. She stretched the cramps from her legs, and spent ages
shaking the sand out from inside her clothes.

"Maybe they'll return now that it's light,"
she said.

"Aye." The captain nodded, absent-mindedly
dragging his fingers through the tangles in his dark hair. "They're
good men. They wouldn't give up, but we need to keep searching for
water. I hope we'll come across the pair of them. No time for
breakfast, we've a long day."

Jancid winked at her. "You did good getting
us 'ere, missy. We'll find water, you'll see."

They decided to head into the forest and
remain as a group. She peered into the trees but it didn't look as
sinister by daylight. At least its shady interior would be easier
than trudging along the beach in the full heat of the day. They
took knives, barely a mug of water each, and several empty
buckets.

Immediately, insects swarmed around them,
buzzing, humming, and screeching. The whirling tentacle creatures
ignored them and whizzed up into the branches, but soon she spotted
a new bug. Resembling a stick, it was the length of her longest
finger, with drooping antennae and wide, gossamer wings. It made a
loud scree-pop noise each time it dive-bombed them. The men waved
their arms frantically, ducking and weaving, and uttering a string
of curses. She smiled and chuckled, more so when Coy tried
desperately not to flinch, obviously seeking to impress her, but he
jumped every few feet.

"Stand still," she whispered. "They're just
curious. Stop cringing like a baby."

His face turned bright red, but two of the
insects flew into her peripheral vision. She cried out, and
ducked.

He laughed. "Now who's the baby?"

They passed the time having a quiet
competition to see who could go the longest without flinching. She
was certain she could claim victory.

Bushes clustered at the base of the trees,
but passage was easy. What large creature had made the trail they
followed? Their boots crunched on twigs and leaves, and the noise
sent birds flapping and squawking into the brightly colored canopy
above. Suns-light filtered unevenly through the foliage of green,
yellow and purple leaves, creating an irregular pattern of light
and dark. Most of the trees shot straight upward, while others bent
and twisted around one another. Vines draped across their lower
branches or wrapped snake-like around the trunks. Small animals
leaped from branch to branch, following them as they penetrated
further into the jungle.

The ground sloped endlessly upward, and after
a while, the insects left them alone. The group walked for most of
the morning, and then stopped to eat a snack of fruit and berries.
Her throat was parched and her lips cracked and swollen. If only
there were a cool forest pool to leap into. She'd settle for a
muddy puddle. When the men fell silent, she was sure of a bubbling
sound not far away.

"Did you hear that?" she said.

"I hear lots of things," Jancid moaned.
"Insects. Beetles. Stupid apes. Coy's grumbling stomach."

"It sounded like a stream," she
continued.

"Are you sure?" the captain said.

"No."

"Which way?" he said.

They continued uphill until she was certain
the chattering, tinkling sound ahead of them was real and not a
lustful hallucination. It sounded like the streams in the hills
above her home.

"There it is again," she said. "It's
definitely water."

"I hear it too," Coy cried.

"Aye," the captain replied with a smile. "We
could be in luck."

Coy bounded forward and she ran after him,
expecting to find Sawall and Grad lying by a stream, bathed and
their bellies full of fresh, cool and delicious water.

"Sawall," she called. "Grad."

They came around a dense tangle of trunks and
vines into the first clearing they had seen in the forest. A thick
carpet of green and orange speckled moss covered the ground. It
undulated, obviously floating atop the pool that bubbled beneath.
The aroma of sweet herbs filled her nostrils. She tensed, ready to
leap onto the moss.

The captain grabbed her shoulders and yanked
her back. For a moment, they teetered on the spongy edge, about to
fall together on to the moss, until Jancid pulled them to
safety.

"By the Gods, look," he muttered.

Then she saw what lay in the center of the
mossy clearing, and screamed.

Chapter 26 - Flight

Flocks of birds crashed upward through the
tree canopy. Animals scattered, swinging from branch to branch,
hooting and howling, mocking her scream. A deep, menacing roar
emanated from the depths of the forest.

The skeletons of Sawall and Grad lay in the
center of the moss bed, their bones picked clean of organs and
skin. All that remained were half-digested muscles and tendons
glistening with a film of saliva. Their clothes hung loosely around
them, undamaged by whatever had eaten the men. It looked as if
their flesh had melted away. Lissa recoiled, but incapable of
tearing her eyes from the grisly sight. She clung to the
captain.

"What could do such a thing?" she
whispered.

He pointed out orange flowers embedded in the
moss, and larger ones on vines hanging from branches above the
clearing. The pretty plants had wide, pink tipped petals. How could
flowers harm anyone?

"Carnivorous plants," he said. The moss
wobbled when he tapped it with his foot. "There's no water under
there. They mimic the sound to lure in prey."

She glanced up at him. "You're saying the
flowers and moss work together? But they’re just dumb plants."

She glanced at the vines, expecting them to
lunge at her at any moment.

"There are many dangerous things in the
world, girl."

"Did... did they feel anything?" she
asked.

He shrugged.

Jancid stepped forward, brandishing his
knife. "Let's hack down the plants, and take Sawall 'n' Grad back
for a decent burial."

"It's too risky," the captain replied.

"We can't leave 'em here. Not like that."
Jancid scanned the clearing. "I bet I can fashion a lasso and pull
'em out."

"Be quick. We've got to find water before
dark."

The captain ran his hands through his long,
matted hair and swept it from his face. Then he knelt and muttered
what sounded to Lissa like a prayer. Farq wouldn't have bothered,
she was sure. She nodded to herself, knelt beside him and listened
intently to his words.

Jancid returned and cast a rope made from
harmless vines, attempting to snag the skeletons. He tried
repeatedly, his jaw set and a determined frown on his face. The
noose landed around Grad's neck, and Jancid slowly dragged the body
toward him.

"Stand clear," the captain shouted, and
everyone retreated to the edge of the clearing.

Vines slithered from the trees and snaked
eerily down, wrapping themselves around and around the two
skeletons. Jancid tugged and the vines pulled against him. Lissa
gasped and hid behind a tree.

"Give up," the captain said. "They'll have to
stay here. There's nothing more we can do."

He led them into the trees. The ground
continued to slope upward. Would they ever reach the meadow they
had seen from the boat? The light-hearted banter with Coy and the
peculiar, curious animals seemed like a world away. The forest
appeared to close in around them and she jumped with every
movement. All she wanted to do was find water and get back to the
safety of the beach.

The captain raised his hand. "Quiet."

A rustling sound came from a dense patch of
undergrowth, followed by a menacing snarl. Jancid pulled her away,
and they all silently and carefully retraced their steps.

Then Coy sneezed.

Two large animals exploded from the bushes,
their roars deafening.

"Run," the captain yelled.

She sprinted into the trees. Over her
shoulder, she witnessed a pair of short-furred felines race after
the other men. Fangs and saw-edged teeth filled the animals’
mouths. One bite would be fatal. Forgetting the trail, she jumped a
fallen tree, darted between two trunks and hurtled headlong through
the forest, listening to the sounds of confused shouting and things
crashing through the undergrowth.

One of the felines had her scent. The animal
bounded along behind her as she dodged this way and that, trying to
evade it. Spindly branches whacked her in the face but she
concentrated on the roots and fallen branches at her feet. If she
tripped, the creature would pounce and tear her to pieces, yet
there was no way she had the strength to outrun it.

Out of her eye-corner, she spotted a brown
conical shape lodged on a fallen stump between a pair of trees.
Dozens of bugs with red striped abdomens swarmed above it -
War-blits. She couldn’t keep up the pace for much longer, and her
lungs felt ready to burst. Her hastily formed plan might be her
only chance to escape the feline snapping at her heels. She sucked
in air and urged her aching body forward. Up close, the bugs were
as large as her thumb, with wicked, black stingers on their
rear-ends.

Now she was caught between a swarm of
spiteful bugs and an animal about to bite her in half. It was now
or never. Screaming for courage, she launched herself at the
War-blit mound, praying her timing was right. She clenched every
muscle, waiting for the stings to stab all over her body. The
furious buzzing engulfed her as she flew through the air and over
the mound.

Her shoulders hit the ground on the other
side, and she tumbled over and over, smashing into a tree.
Something stabbed her leg. Agony ripped through her body. Then a
sharp pain on her right arm. She flailed her limbs in all
directions trying to keep the bugs from her face.

The feline had landed atop the stump and
crushed the mound. The air turned black as a cloud of War-blits
sprayed from a hole in the stump, buzzing angrily and covering the
creature like a cloak. It roared and roared, swiping them from the
air with its gigantic paws, sending their crushed bodies
splattering against the tree trunks.

She edged backward on her butt, putting
distance between herself and the raging War-blits. With only two
stings, she had gotten off lightly, but itching purple lumps were
already forming on her skin. She clenched her teeth against the
throbbing pain, scrambled to her feet and hurtled back into the
trees before the bugs found her again. The feline’s cries grew
desperate behind her. She ran long and hard, panting and clutching
at the stitch in her side. Eventually, she collapsed onto a log,
and sat on her hands to resist the urge to scratch the inflamed,
swollen bumps.

Someone called her name.

"Over here," she shouted.

Jancid came out of the trees, red-faced and
wheezing, and collapsed beside her. Sweat poured from his face.

"I thought you were done for," he said
between sucking in deep breaths.

"Me too," she replied.

"I saw what you did with the War-blit nest.
That were quick thinking." He peered longingly into his bucket. "No
more water."

"What're we going to do?"

She was sick and tired of the island, and the
forest in particular. It had appeared so innocent at first, with
the whirling insects and cute monkeys. What else was lurking behind
the next tree, waiting to try and kill them?

"I caught a glimpse of the meadow up there,"
he continued, pointing up the steep slope. "After all we've been
through, Anjan owes us. Maybe we’ll find a whole lake. Let's go and
look while it's still light."

"Shouldn't we search for the captain and Coy?
Make sure they're safe?"

He shrugged. "I ain't going back in case
there are more Tagraks. We'll meet them at the beach. Come on."

They scrambled around huge boulders. She
grabbed a low branch to pull herself up, but it snapped and she
tumbled down, head over heels, crashing against a tree. Maybe she
should have stayed on the ship. Farq would probably have sent her
back to the galley. Things couldn't have gotten any worse, and she
would be with Branda now.

Jancid slid down beside her and helped her
up. She gave him a small smile. He'd been mean on her first day
aboard, when he wouldn't tell her how to find the galley, but had
become much friendlier here on the island.