Colin all but spun around, looking --
"Not here," the leader said with a note of disbelief. He mumbled something about stupid giants. "It's far away. It will be a long journey, even for giants."
Great.
We had a destination and guides, though. The purple grass wasn't so bad, but the orange flowers had spikes at the ends of the petals. I quickly learned to watch out for those.
We walked and walked and walked. I noticed that the sunlight never changed. Colin glanced upward a few times, too, so I knew he had noticed. He said nothing, so neither did I.
The terrain changed from hour to hour, though, so at least we were not marching in place. I wondered if our new companions ever got tired or hungry. I was about ready to beg for food from Colin or Luna. All that stopped me was the idea of trying to hurry to catch up with them. My legs ached. Wasn't there a magical way to travel in this realm? Was there no magic here? There were many things I wanted to ask Colin, but it didn't seem like a good time. My questions might indicate weakness, and though I didn't worry about going up against the small army, I did worry about what else might be out there.
There had been other giants that came into this area. Had they all left by these gates we were heading towards? And what were the gates, anyway?
The little guys looked exhausted when their leader suggested we stop for the night. Colin shook his head.
"The sooner my group gets to the gates, the better it will be for everyone. Why don't you ride on the elephants?"
The troops discussed it and decided riding on an elephant would be better than sleeping and walking again tomorrow. At least one of the elephants didn't seem to find this objectionable and was probably as tired as everybody else from the slow pace they'd been forced to keep. Colin suggested I get up with them, but that didn't seem like a good idea. The chipmunks went up as well, though. I was glad when Luna scooped me up, and I could ride in her arms for a while. We were already moving faster than we had for the whole day.
"Why didn't you want to ride with them?" Luna asked.
"I am hungry," I mumbled.
"I'm sure we can find some food for you, and you could eat it up there," she replied.
"No, that is not the problem. I am hungry and the little guys were starting to look like mice in uniforms."
I could tell she was starting to laugh and fought the emotion back. However, she did glance up at the soldiers and gave a nod of her head. She also found me a piece of cheese from her purse. I almost asked how she happened to have it there, but then I thought about her power and realized it was probably inevitable that she would have just what I needed to stop me from going berserk and devouring our allies.
We kept going for a few miles before Colin finally called a break. Only the elephants hadn't been complaining, but even they looked ready to rest for a while.
"I miss the car," I admitted. The chipmunk nestled by me gave a sound of agreement. "I thought I was just getting the knack of those windshield wiper things. And now here we are about to get rained on again."
Everyone stopped and looked up at the sky as though no one had noticed it before. I was beginning to think there was something strange about this realm, and I wanted to talk to Colin about it, but he was now talking with the general. That was not a conversation I wanted to get involved in.
Besides, they were still looking like tasty little mice to me -- which was strange because I never really did like mice for dinner. Or breakfast and lunch. I sniffed the air and swore that I could smell mice...
Something very odd was going on, and I began to suspect that I was the only one not taken in by some magical vision surrounding us. Even the chipmunk seemed blissfully unaware. I looked over at Colin again, but he was deep in conversation. Maybe it was time that I did a little exploration of my own. I did have my own powers, though they were nothing compared to the Fae.
Maybe being someone of lesser power was why I wasn't affected like the others. Maybe I had just enough magic to protect myself, unlike the chipmunks, but not enough power to be targeted by whatever spell laid over this place.
Or perhaps I was just going a little stir-crazy and seeing trouble where there was none.
I could still smell mice, though.
Being down on the ground felt odd at first. I had not been walking much lately, and the ground felt mushy beneath my paws. The purple grass was not as thick here but seemed to have a different scent. There were none of the enormous orange flowers, either. The elephants sniffed at the plants and then began to nibble them again.
I would never be that trusting of this place.
I could feel more magic as I moved away from the others. The area had a few low hills and a small stream with pink water and rainbow fish swimming. I watched and then realized I still couldn't judge the passage of time. I didn't want to miss lunch or have Colin come hunting for the lost cat.
I retraced my steps up over the small mounds and ridges. The golden butterflies were back, and I thought there might be more flowers, including a few of the huge orange ones.
When I got back to the camp, the others were gone.
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