Chapter 7
“Mwaaaph!.... Get off…. Stop poking me…. I’m trying to sleep.” moaned Amanie, who was still groggy from the poison.
“Come on! It's time to get up. You’ve slept long enough.” said Telimo, who wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“That goes for you too fur ball.” he added, poking Meo in the ribs, who poked her again when she didn’t respond.
“Eurgh leave me alone.” she mumbled, after about the third time of being nudged in the ribs.
“Nuh
uh! Sorry no can do, just
count yourself lucky, I don’t
jump on you.” frowned
Telimo, who
hadn’t forgotten about yesterday
or how
he’d been so
rudely awakened.
“Come on! You too Botog. This is no place to be lazing around.”
Botog gurgled, but managed little else in way of a reply. Telimo reached over and shook him until he eventually came too. Botog appeared confused, as if he couldn’t quite understand where he was or how he'd got there. A look of bewilderment plastered across his face.
“Come on, you have to get up now. It’s time to go home.” explained Telimo.
“No
leave us alone.” groaned
Amanie. “We’re tired...
It’s not even
light yet.” she
whined, who
hadn't yet
fully grasped
the situation.
“I don’t care! You’ve slept long enough! And besides what do you expect? It’s the dark forest! It never gets light here.”
There was a short pause, as everyone recounted the events of the day before and it all came flooding back to them. Their eyes widened and their anxiety was renewed... A shiver ran down their spines, as an all too familiar feeling washed over them… had they not still been drowsy from the poison, they probably would’ve bolted upright like Jack in the boxes... Fearing Nala was still on the loose, their eyes flitted warily back and forth. She was a rather worrying prospect after all. All teeth and claws, not to mention her rather nasty habit of sucking out souls.
“Where’s Nala? That monster I mean.” asked Amanie, her eyes were like saucers.
“She’s over there.” answered Telimo, pointing at Nala’s deflated remains.
The others felt their hearts seize up in their chests like frightened clams, amazed that Telimo could be so nonchalant. Peeping into the shadows, Telimo’s finger guided the way. Fear threatening to overwhelm them, as their eyes searched in vain, unable to find her.
“Where I can’t see?” inquired Amanie, her chest welling up with anxiety.
“Down
there on the floor... See.”
There was a brief pause, as she examined the area in question.
“What? That pile of rubbish you mean!” exclaimed Amanie.
“Yep that’s the one.”
“But… what happened to her?”
“I killed her.”
“You killed her!” Amanie and the others exclaimed, baffled as to how someone of Telimo’s stature could slay such a monster. Not to mention struck by his bravery. It was an extraordinary feat after all.
“Yeah something like that.” replied Telimo, acting as if it were a mere walk in the park.
“But she was like ten times your size?”
“Yeah I know.” answered Telimo, casually lifting his eyebrows.
“What are you doing here anyway? I thought you said you weren’t coming.” inquired Amanie, gradually coming to her senses.
“Well I suppose I had a change of heart, didn’t I. I knew you guys couldn’t stay out of trouble for more than five minutes at a time, so I thought I’d better watch your backs. Besides I’d be bored out of my brains, if anything ever happened to you... And I'd hate for some poor monster to get a belly ache on your account.”
“But
how did you manage
to kill that
thing?” asked
Meo, who couldn’t quite
get her head around it.
“It was easy.”
“Easy!” exclaimed Amanie, gob smacked at the very suggestion.
“Ai easy! She was a spirit sap. I just had to wait for the opportune moment and KAPOW!!!”
“So what? You like rammed a stick up her bum, when she wasn’t looking or something?” suggested Meo.
“No! Geese Meo! what’s wrong with you? Didn’t you pay attention to grandpa Coble’s stories?”
“Erm sometimes.”
“Well then you should know that Glubs are extremely vulnerable when they feed. It doesn’t matter how big they are, how strong they are, how horrible they are, once they expose their internal organ to leech off your soul, they’re at risk. Why do you think she took you somewhere quiet and paralysed you first? Their soul sucking apparatus contains their life force, their very essence. If you damage it in any way they're screwed. Therefore all I had to do was wait for her to expose herself and make sure I delivered a fatal blow.
“But how did you know she was a spirit sap?” asked Amanie, who knew relatively little about spirit saps, other than the obvious and what Telimo had just told them. “I mean... I guess you figured it out after she tried to suck out our souls.” guessed Amanie, giving a little thought.
“Actually, I figured it out way before that.”
“Really but how?”
“Yeah how could you know that? I mean I couldn't tell.” said Meo.
“Well first thing was the eyes… The eyes are always a tell tale sign. Glubs have no pupils to speak of. It's a dead give away. Also that monster that wanted to eat you backed off, as soon as she showed up, even though it was like four times her size. So I knew something was up. What really sealed the deal though was when her clothes changed colour. Glubs have a tendency to lose track of their appearance you see, especially if they have to hold onto their disguise for too long.”
“I can’t believe how stupid we were. I mean talk about gullible, we believed everything she told us.” replied Amanie, disappointed in herself.
“Well if anything I hope you’ve learnt a valuable lesson.”
“Yeah keep well away from attractive looking blondes with big boobs, chances are they're just gonna suck out your soul.” frowned Botog.
“How long were you following us for anyway? It must’ve been a while.”
“Yeah kind of… After we had our little bust up and you went storming off. I started having second thoughts about letting you guys wander off on your own. After all, I’d never forgive myself if anything ever happened to you, even if you did kinda deserve it. So I pegged it all the way to the dark forest, hoping to catch you up and talk you out of it, but as it turned out, I was too late. I had hoped you might've come to your senses, but I think that was just wishful thinking on my part. Because no sooner had the idea occurred to me, than I heard you guys screaming up ahead. I came as fast as I could, but by the time I got there that hideous bird monster was eyeing you all up. Anyway while I was trying to figure out what to do next, that soul sucker there pops up out of nowhere, masquerading as a woman and plonks itself between you and that thing, dishing out the evils like it was going out of business. Now the fact that that bird monster backed off and scarpered, immediately set alarm bells ringing in my head. However rather than reveal myself then and there, I decided to follow you guys and figure out what she was up to. Better to know what you’re up against after all. Plus if that thing wasn’t willing to tangle with her, I didn’t think I should either. So I waited, bided my time and observed from the treetops. She nearly caught me once, trying to break off a tree branch. After that I kept a safe distance. Of course by then I already knew she wasn’t who she said she was, because I’d seen her clothes change colour.
“I
can’t believe we were so
gullible. I suspected
something was off, but nothing like that.
She was so
convincing.” said Amanie.
“She knew how to spin a lie, that’s for sure.” agreed Meo.
“Guess she must have had lots of practice.” added Botog.
“Plus you guys were so hell bent on finding the magic fairy ring, I think you would have believed her if she’d told you the moon was made of cheese and the sun was a giant fondue pot.”
“Shut up! No way!”
“Yes way! Hell! I reckon if she’d told you she could blast monkey’s out of her butt, you would’ve gone and gotten her a banana.”
“I’ll let that one slide since you just saved our lives, but don’t be cheeky.” warned Amanie.
“I can blast monkey’s out of my butt. Do you want to have a look?” grinned Meo.
“Yeah, yeah, like I’m gonna fall for that one. Come on, lets get out of here. It’s time we got a move on.”
“I think your right.” agreed Amanie. “Come on Tidimew, it’s time to wake up.” she said coaxingly, stroking Tidimew’s fur and attempting to rouse her.
Tidimew didn't respond.
“Come on… time to wake up now sweetheart.” she reiterated, poking Tidimew in the ribs.
Amanie
repeated her name.
This time with
a little more
concern, as a
look of consternation washed
over her face and
grew noticeably
more anxious.
“I think something’s wrong with her, she’s not waking up.”
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