(Previous)
I
remembered hearing about a book where this guy went hunting for a lost
tribe He had no idea what he was really
doing, I don't think. Oh, he knew
basics, but when it came to culture beliefs, he didn't have a clue. Didn't seem to take it seriously.
It didn't
end well.
Oh,
he got out -- and that gave me some hope for my own current troubles -- but he
stumbled around and got into a lot of trouble because he just didn't know what
to look for or what to ask. The people
he lived with didn't know what to tell him, either. Assumptions on all sides are very dangerous.
May your sacrifice be worth the gift.
I
should be asking questions, I thought.
Should really be asking things . . . But I hadn't a clue what those
questions should be. Was it too late to
turn back? I stopped and turned to see
where we had already passed. The odd
mist wasn't as thick that way. I could
see the little guys still lined up and the rest of those following me trudging
along the path.
"I
fear I may have done something stupid," I said to Edmond and Lord Snow.
"I
can't decide," Lord Snow said. He
lifted his head and sniffed at the air ahead of us. "I can't sense anything at all that way,
so whatever is out there, it's a long ways off, Mark."
"And
what do we do when we get there?"
"Whatever
we have to," Edmond replied. He
jumped out of my arms and trotted ahead a few steps. "I don't much like what they said about
sacrifice either, but I got the feeling that maybe they're a little
insular. They don't leave their little
place in the world. I've known cats like
that. They guard their turf as though it was the most important place in the
world, and have no idea that there's a better place just a couple blocks
away. They're totally disconnected with
anything but where they stand."
"I
suppose I've known people like that too," I admitted. "But it's not like anything has gone
really good since I arrived, you know.
From the moment you started talking to me, Edmond, it's been one form of
insanity after another."
"It
has been exciting," he admitted with a flick of his tail. "More exciting than I've liked at
times. But we can't go back, Mark. We
can't even go back along this bridge, at least not until we find out there
really is a danger up ahead that we can't deal with because we know what kind
of trouble we face behind us."
That
sounded reasonable.
"I
don't like this mist," Lord Snow admitted.
He swatted at one patch and it glided out of his way rather than let him
hit. "I would almost rather be
walking down in that jungle than up here."
Mark
looked over the edge of the bridge to the bright green world below. Birds flew and animals gave distant
shouts. Trees rose up and tangled with
ivy. Bright flowers dotted the canopy
and though he couldn't see much below it, I still expected to see dinosaurs.
And
while I looked over, one of the misty shapes drifted closer to me. When I
swatted at it, the thing didn't retreat in haste like it had from Lord
Snow. Maybe I simply wasn't scary
enough.
"You
know, I can understand the little guys living in the middle of the bridge and
never going any farther." I patted
a vine that grew up on the edge of the bridge, laden with fruit. "Safe here, really, compared to what we
went through and what's below. I don't
know what's ahead. Above --"
I
looked up for the first time in a while and could see distant sky through
openings in the rock and dark sky above.
No way to get there, though.
"Above
is a long ways off," Edmond said.
"And probably less safe than down below. Haven't seen any griffins down here."
"I'd
rather know what enemies we do fight," Lord Snow snarled and took another
swat at one of the creatures. It did
retreat again. "And I am getting
annoyed with these filmy things. I hope
we don't have to deal with them the entire rest of the way."
Another
came at me. I swatted at it with a
little snarl of my own, and felt a rubbery surface where my finger's
touched. That seemed odd for a
mist. I batted when it came closer
again. Maybe they were balloon-like, and
I could simply shove the thing --
It
caught hold of my arm.
"Let
go!" I ordered and jerked away again.
It
didn't let go. The creature elongated,
grabbed more of my arm, grew more limbs and grabbed my legs. Or maybe more of them came. Lord Snow let out a roar and leapt in, using
claws this time. It worked. Once the creature had been punctured, it
disappeared in a flash of mist.
"Claws,"
I said. "Good. We need to warn the others to keep something
sharp and ready."
I
rubbed at my arm and turned to look back at the others. I could see Maggie in the lead, still holding
the symbol of her status in Elsewhere so that the staff rose above the others
and the emblem glowed. It probably
helped them to know she was there --
Something
caught my leg. I snarled and
kicked. Lord Snow had moved a head,
swiping at more of the creatures.
Edmond, though, had turned back and came at a leaping bound, biting at
the creature.
But
another came behind me and grabbed so fast that I hadn't even a chance to yell
as it pulled me off the side of the bridge.
"No!"
Edmond yelled and leapt, latching onto my leg.
I
would have ordered him back if there had been time.
The
thing let go.
We
were falling.
To Be Continued. . . .
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