Web of Deceit (27 page)

“How are we going to cross it?” questioned Rejji. “Those fish will eat through to our bones.”

Bakhai tore a strip of cloth off of his food sack and wound it around his hand. Mistake reached into her sack and cut off a sliver of pig meat. She tossed it into the middle of the stream and it exuded an oily slick as it hit the surface. The school of fish darted to it in seconds.

“Get my flask and let’s cross quickly,” ordered Bakhai. “The meat will carry them downstream a bit, but I think they will be back for more.”

Rejji hurled his stick farther downstream and grabbed Bakhai’s flask. Together, the Fakarans dashed across the stream.

“That was quick thinking, Mistake,” Rejji said.

“I am just glad I didn’t decide to bathe in that stream,” she replied. “No wonder nobody ever leaves this place alive. There are so many things waiting to kill you.”

“Well they haven’t gotten us yet,” responded Rejji. “Let’s keep being cautious and maybe we can get through it.”

They continued along the trail, but Rejji noticed that the animals were not giving them as wide a berth as before. They seemed more curious and less fearful the longer they were on the trail.

“You should change that cloth,” Mistake said to Bakhai.

Rejji stopped and turned. The strip of cloth around Bakhai’s hand was soaked with blood. Bakhai ripped another strip of cloth off his food sack. When he removed the old one, Rejji saw Bakhai’s hand. Each of the bites was oozing blood and the sores appeared larger than they were originally. Bakhai’s hand was also swelling. Bakhai wrapped the hand with the new strip of cloth and was about to put the old one in his sack.

“Don’t do that,” Rejji said. “Throw it away.”

“I can clean it when we stop,” protested Bakhai. “We should not waste anything. We will find no cloth in this jungle and I can clean the old and reuse it.”

“I have been noticing the animals coming closer to inspect us as we pass them,” Rejji informed his friend. “I wasn’t sure why before, but now I realize that they smell the blood.”

“Of course,” nodded Bakhai. “You are right. I did not notice them coming closer. In fact, I have been feeling quite drowsy. My mind feels foggy and thoughts are not coming clearly to me.”

“Poison?” queried Mistake, her face a mask of concern.

“I don’t know,” admitted Rejji. “Whatever it is, I don’t like it. You stay behind him and keep an eye on him. Maybe we can find a stream without those fish and we can clean his wounds.”

Mistake nodded and Rejji led the group forward. He started paying more attention to the animals as they passed them. The creatures did not openly confront them, but rather followed them a bit before losing interest. After an hour, Rejji had the disturbing feeling that they were being watched. He caught flickers of movement out of the corners of his eyes, but every time he swiveled his head to look, nothing was there. At first he wrote it off as just being jittery, but the longer they walked, the more certain he became that something was stalking them. Several things, he corrected himself, because he caught the motions on both sides of the trail.

Rejji halted the group to check on Bakhai who was sweating profusely. The new cloth was again soaked with blood and his eyes were so puffed up that Rejji thought they would close entirely if the swelling didn’t stop. Mistake came alongside him and whispered in his ear.

“I sensed them too,” he replied. “Both sides of the trail. We may not make it out of this, Mistake. Bakhai is in bad shape.”

“I am alright,” argued Bakhai. “It is just a little hard to see. Let’s keep going.”

Rejji was torn between stopping for the night and trying to comfort Bakhai or trudging onward in hope of finding a clear stream. The watchers along the trail decided for him. They could not afford to camp where they were being watched. Rejji tore another strip off Bakhai’s food sack and changed the bandage. The hand was a mess of blood and open sores. Bakhai grimaced as Rejji tightened the strip in hopes of reducing the blood loss. He tossed the old bandage into the jungle and started marching along the trail again. Mistake put her arm around Bakhai and helped guide him so he didn’t have to keep his eyes open.

The jungle started to darken as the day drew towards night. Rejji knew they could only proceed for another hour or two at most before it was too dark to see. The creatures shadowing them alongside the trail grew more numerous and Rejji’s nerves began to fray. He began to hear sounds behind him in the jungle as if a large number of creatures were following them, just waiting for Bakhai to drop so they could pounce upon him.

As they rounded a bend in the trail, Rejji halted and stared into the distance. He saw a huge black cloud several feet over the trail ahead of them. He shook his head, trying to make sense out of what he was seeing, but he could not. He blinked his eyes several times, but the black cloud remained.

“What is it?” asked Mistake.

“I guess my eyes are tired,” Rejji said. “It looks like a black cloud over the trail. Maybe you should lead and I will help Bakhai along.”

“There is nothing wrong with your eyes,” declared Mistake. “I see it too. I was just asking what it was.”

Suddenly, the black cloud moved slightly and Rejji saw the long, hairy legs attached to it.

“Tyrik,” swallowed Rejji.

“Mercy,” exhaled Mistake. “That can’t be real. It can’t be. I am not going anywhere near that thing.”

“Well there are some kind of creatures behind us too,” Rejji said softly.

“They haven’t attacked us yet,” responded Mistake. “No wonder the trolls were afraid of these things. What about the narrow trail on your left? Can we duck down that and hide maybe?”

“We don’t know what is down there,” protested Rejji.

“Rejji!” exclaimed Mistake as her voice started quaking, “I don’t care if there is cliff and a bottomless pit down that trail. If that spider thing sees us we are dead. I am taking Bakhai down that trail and running as fast as I can carry him. Are you coming?”

“Alright,” agreed Rejji as he grabbed one of Bakhai’s arms and draped it over his shoulder.

Rejji heard noises behind them as he helped support Bakhai, but he ignored them. He kept his eyes on the tyrik as they pivoted towards the narrow trail and started running. The trail was barely wide enough for the three of them and Rejji felt the plants ripping at his arms, but he ignored them and raced to keep even with Mistake. Bakhai’s feet were dragging along the ground now as the trio sped along the animal trail. Rejji broke out in a sweat as fear rippled through his body. He felt shivers course through his body and each step seemed to reverberate throughout his body. He could hear Mistake gasping for breath and his own breathing sounded like thunder in his ears.

They rounded a bend at full speed and slammed into an invisible wall. The collision bounced them back, but strangely, they did not fall. Instead they sort of swayed like a tall tree in a high wind. Rejji tried to shake his head, but it wouldn’t move. He tried to remove his arm from Bakhai, but it refused to yield to his demands. His feet likewise would not obey the commands his mind was sending them. His vision swirled and stars winked on and off. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to relax his mind. He opened his eyes and saw the trail ahead of him, but also sensed something closer. His eyes finally focused on the invisible wall and he gasped in horror.

“Mistake,” he shouted urgently, “can you get free? Can you reach your daggers?”

“No,” cried Mistake. “I can’t move. I can’t move at all.”

“What is it?” murmured Bakhai. “I can’t see it and I can’t move.”

“We are stuck, quivered Rejji. “We have been captured in a tyrik’s web.”

“Keep trying, Mistake,” shouted Rejji. “If you can reach one of your daggers, you might be able to cut us free from this tyrik’s web.”

“No,” gasped Bakhai. “Stop. If it is like a spider, it reacts to vibrations. If you struggle it will come to us and we don’t want that until I can figure out how to communicate with it.”

“Can you communicate with it?” ask Rejji.

“I don’t know,” admitted Bakhai. “Spiders have a crude sense of communications. Mostly they sense vibrations, but I think that includes air vibrations, which might work like speech. I tried imitating their clicks one time and thought I was getting through, but I couldn’t be sure. They have a short attention span. A better approach might be to make it think we are one of its predators.”

“So it will stay away?” queried Mistake.

“Yes, at least until we can figure a way out of this,” answered Bakhai.

“Try communicating with it first,” reasoned Rejji. “I don’t see how we will get free even if it leaves, so I think we will need its help. If that doesn’t work then imitate its enemy.”

“That is reasonable,” agreed Bakhai.

Rejji listened intently as Bakhai made a series of clicks with his mouth. He felt the web moving above him and sweat formed on his brow as he wondered if Bakhai was making the right sounds to speak to the tyrik or merely drawing attention to themselves. Suddenly, sounds of movement came from behind the Fakarans. Rejji fought the natural instinct to turn his head, as he knew it would just create vibrations in the web and would not enable him to see anyway. Still, he prepared himself for the jaws he knew were behind him.

“Maybe you should try the predator,” he said softly. “I think one is coming up behind us.”

“I think I am getting through,” whispered Bakhai. “I am not sure. but let me try a bit longer.”

Bakhai started making clicks again and Mistake screamed as the web surged like an ocean wave. Rejji heard clicks similar to Bakhai’s coming from above his head as the web swayed with the movement of something very large. More clicks came from behind the Fakarans and Rejji closed his eyes as he thought about the painful death the trolls had described. He could picture the two tyriks closing in on them, one from above and one from behind. His body started shaking uncontrollably and he bit his lip helplessly.

Rejji screamed as he felt the first touch from behind him as the thing seized his arms. He heard a hysterical scream from Mistake and a groan from Bakhai. Something tore his sword out of its sheath and his teeth drew blood from his lower lip as his body shuddered uncontrollably. He felt things roaming all over his body, from his feet to his head. The next instant, he was pulled back and felt his head moved freely. His arms were held fast from behind, but he could now see the web a pace in front of him.

“Do not seek to fight us or we will leave you to the tyriks,” a deep voice said from behind him.

Rejji almost swooned at the sound of a human voice, as his body fell limp and was only supported by whoever was holding him. His head spun for a moment and he exhaled a long held breath in a sigh. Slowly his body stopped quaking, although tremors still raced through it. It seemed like a great effort for Rejji to turn his head, but he saw that Bakhai and Mistake were still beside him and he could see hands holding them up, human hands. He tried to move and realized that his legs were like rubber, incapable of supporting his body.

The people holding the Fakarans dragged them several dozen paces away from the web and Rejji tried to focus on the sticky trap that had snared them. It was monstrous in size and Rejji could not see the top of it, but he saw part of the massive tyrik that called it home. The people who had dragged them away from the web gently lowered the Fakarans to the trail and Rejji stared upwards at them. He was somewhat relieved to see that they were human. In fact, they looked little different than any other person, except they were dressed only in loincloths and carried spears.

He watched as two men reached down and lifted Bakhai, who appeared to be unconscious. The men carried Bakhai and disappeared down the trail. Rejji tried to rise and object, but his muscles refused to obey and one of the men held a spear to Rejji’s chest and shook his head. One of the jungle dwellers approached Rejji and stared down at him. He was taller than the others and appeared to be dwelling on some issue as he gazed at Rejji.

“I am Mobi,” the man said. “You two will be coming to our village. If you try to fight, you will be killed. If you try to flee, you will be killed. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” Rejji and Mistake said in unison.

“What have you done with Bakhai?” continued Rejji. “He is not well.”

“You will not speak unless told to,” Mobi commanded. “Stand up.”

Rejji tested his rubber legs and found them capable of standing. He rose and extended a hand to Mistake to help her rise. Both of the Fakarans were wobbly on their feet and the group of jungle dwellers stood and stared at them.

“Follow,” Mobi said bluntly as he turned to follow the path Bakhai had disappeared down.

Rejji took Mistake’s hand and they followed Mobi. The rest of the jungle dwellers fell in behind the Fakarans. Mobi walked slowly at first, constantly looking over his shoulder at the Fakarans. When Rejji’s legs felt stronger and less wobbly, Mobi increased his speed as if he had sensed the Fakarans’ regenerated use of their limbs. Gradually, Mobi increased speed until the group was moving at a rather swift pace down the trail. The jungle darkened as night claimed the land, but the group continued walking. They walked for hours and Rejji felt the weariness of the day setting in as his feet scuffed along the trail. Mistake almost tripped twice, but Rejji had been able to help her keep her balance. Finally, Rejji’s arm tugged as Mistake halted in the trail.

“I cannot continue,” she complained. “I need rest.”

Rejji turned his head and saw that the group following them had spread across the trail and had their spears lowered. Mobi stopped and returned to stare at Mistake.

“Why do you stop?” frowned Mobi.

“We have traveled far this day,” answered Rejji. “Our bodies have no more to give. We stumble and will fall soon. We need rest.”

“There is no resting here,” scowled Mobi as he waved forward one of the rear guards. “Lygrim quickly,” he ordered.

The jungle warrior nodded and dashed into the foliage as Mobi scanned the towering trees around the party. Within moments, the jungle warrior returned with two large purple fruits and handed one to each of the Fakarans.