The Zafara Assassin 3: Swamplands of Tisitan - Part Two by meratocat |  |
Everything was a swirling cloud of pain. My head, my
body, my beak, my wings, my tail! All full of pain. There was also that sound...
that constant buzzing which wouldn't leave my mind.
I opened my eyes, and saw the whole world as
a blur for several seconds before my vision cleared up. It was night, or so
I thought. Either that, or I had lost my sight, but then I saw the moon, and
that was proof enough for me.
It was then that I realised that I was on my
back, and more then that, I was laying upon my wing which now, as feeling started
to re-enter my body, was filled with a searing pain, and all went black once
more.
I woke up several hours later, or so I guessed
by the fact that the moon was so low in the sky. The buzzing in my ears had
stopped, but the pain in my body was still just as bad. I slowly stood up, wincing
as a bolt of hurt passed through me once more. I would be lucky if my wing was
anything less then broken.
Suddenly, a deep realisation of what had happened
sank into me. I thought back to the night before, and how Zana Taru fell from
my back as I plummeted. Right then, to me, all hope of her living ceased. I
looked down towards the ground, smelling the wet dirt as I walked. I never should
have let her come with me. Now because of that folly, she was no more but a
memory, lost in the twilights of the world. Now I had to continue the journey...
but this time alone.
I slowly walked across the ground, still mushy
from the nights rain. As I walked I tried to concentrate upon the squish squashing
of my paws in the mud, and tried to ignore the pain of my wing, which I was
slightly dragging, for to fold it against my side was quite painful. There were
still many clouds above my head, but as I walked, I was glad for the fact that
the rain had stopped, and then I continued to walk in what I guessed was North.
I walked on through the swampy lands, the trees
above my head becoming more twisted with each step, and my sword became a heavy
burden at my side. With each steep, I told myself that the flower of Trinifucus
could just be over the nest hill, or past the next tree, as to keep myself from
giving up. I walked until my feet were brown from muck, and my wing ached with
pain. Then I gave up. I fell to the ground, and gave up hope of ever finding
the flower, and of saving Zarrel.
I placed my head under my large paws, as if
it could hide the many tears that threatened to come. Tears for Zana, tears
for Zarrel, and even tears for myself. However, a rumble saved me from those
tears. I looked up into the sky, at the many gray and black clouds, and then
upon hearing another rumble, stood up. Soon it would rain.
As another rumble sounded, I quickened my search
for some shelter from the incoming rain. I strongly doubted the existence of
any caves in that area of Neopia, and none of the trees looked as if they could
keep me even moderately dry. All of them were shaped so strangely that the water
would all end up on my head, and the most normal of them all seemed to be leafless,
leaving me coverless.
By mere luck I managed to find a safe haven
to go to. A large, exceptionally twisted tree had become hallowed out over time,
by what I could only guess at, but as a raindrop spattered upon my beak, all
I could care about was shelter, so I jumped right in, and tried to get into
a comfortable position, and then I slept.
I woke up to the sound of scuffling. Outside
if still was night, and the rain was coming down harder then ever, making visibility
around zero. I looked out into the night, trying to see what had made the sound,
but could find noting, so scouting back farther into the hallow, I tried to
keep awake, but fell victim to my weariness and let sleep take over me.
I awoke once more that night, and that time
managed to catch the glimpse of a large yellowish eye, before it blinked out
with a hiss at my stare. That time I managed to stay awake a little longer,
but sure enough I fell asleep, but that time it was peaceful, and uninterrupted.
The morning came, and as it happened to be,
I was positioned perfectly to get the first of the sun's light directly in my
eyes. I groaned at this, and with a failing attempt to cover my eyes, remembered
the night before, and quickly decided that it would be best to get a safe distance
from where I was. Whatever it was that was out there may not be friendly at
all, so I stood up, and started walking away.
As I walked, I noticed something, my wing felt
a lot better from the night before, though it still hurt a great deal, and I
managed to fold it up against my side with hardly a grimace. With a smile from
this, I looked around at my surrounding. The whole of Tisitan actually looked
quite peaceful in the morning with the light shimmering through the thin cloud
of mist which hung over the swamp from the rain of the night. Small puddles
littered the ground, making some areas even mushier then was usual for a swamp,
and all the trees seemed to turn upwards to catch the mornings light, or perhaps
the last few droplets of dew. Also there was the sound of peace, here and there
a late bug would let loose a chirrup, and the morning birds which let out their
happy chirps at the ending of the rain, and the face of the sun.
I smiled up at a Whoot, which flew into a nest
full of little Whootlings which creed at their mothers return. Looking up at
all of this, though, I failed to see the gray shadow which passed behind me,
one bright big glowing yellow eye staring at me trying to decipher the intruder,
but as I stepped upon a stick, jumped into the thickets with less sound then
the beats of an owl's wings.
As I walked, I became so engrossed with my surroundings
that I failed to notice that I was walking into a trap until it was too late.
I was walking soundly when suddenly, I was lifted off the ground, and with a
large yelp-like sound, realised that I was hanging upside-down by my back legs.
I tried to shake myself free from the entanglement,
but it seemed that with each shake of my leg, I only became more entangled.
Soon I stopped trying to free myself by wiggling around, for it did no help
to me, and then tried to think of a way out.
I thought of my sword, and how it could cut
the rope from my feet, but upon reaching to my side for it, found it to be gone.
I looked down at the ground, and then let out a cry of dismay, for it had fallen
from its scabbard when I had been yanked up by my feet. But then, with a crafty
smile, remembered my natural weapon, my claws. On my right paw, I let them all
out, and then with much effort, began to pull myself up towards my hind feet.
I reached up my paw as close as it would go, and still was off by a few mere
inches, so then after dropping back down to catch my breath, tried once more.
That time I made it, scarcely, but I still made it. I slashed the vine rope
with my claws, and upon its breaking, fell down to the ground with a crash.
I was dazed by the sudden crash to the ground,
so as it took a few seconds of staggering around before I noticed something.
I looked around, and saw several eyes watching me intently. I started to back
up slowly, remembering my sword, which still lay point down, embedded in the
ground behind me. If I were to face a danger, I would want a weapon to protect
myself.
Slowly, I backed towards where my sword lay,
keeping my eyes upon the ones staring directly at me, sure that I would sooner
or later come close enough to my weapon to pick it up. As I backed up, I did
not however come to my sword, but instead I ran into something hard and smooth
at eh same time.
With a start, I turned my head to see a large
Krawk standing there, mouth half open revealing a long row of teeth, all sharpened
to a pinpoint. Where I could see his scales I saw them to be green in colour,
but most of him was covered with a greenish sort of mud, and small leaves, probably
why I hadn't seen him before. Though under his eyes, there were three lines
of orange paint, but the worst thing was that in his hand, he held my sword.
I let out a growl, "Give that back," I said
slowly, drawing out each word to try and emphasis my anger. "Or else I will
take it from you."
The Krawk smiled an evil grin, and then put
his claws to his lips, and made a strange call which sounded like that of a
Whoots, and then took a few steps back. I had hardly even taken a single step
towards him when I found myself surrounded by around ten more of the Krawks,
all of which seemed to materialise from the ground due to the strange coverings
they had on, and each with a spear in his hand.
The first Krawk with the orange face paint stepped
up to me once more. "You are impossibly outnumbered. With just another call
I can have another score of my people upon your back. I would suggest that you
just give in quietly, and answer any questions that we ask," I growled
towards them, but inside I knew, there was no other choice for me but to go
along. I could not fight them off, and even if I could, I was too weak to do
so.
To be continued... |
