Hannke snapped awake. As water splashed over him, Hannke sat up to see Wren grasping a large cavefish between her claws. The look on her face was far too smug for Hannke to bear, and her feathers were drenched.
“Wren!” He cried, rushing over. “Are you okay?!?”
“I did it,” She told him matter-of-factly. “I caught a fish. Like you told me not to.”
“Wreeen!!” Hannke cried in exasperation. “You can be so . . . so STUBBORN sometimes! You realized you could have been hurt very badly!”
“Yes,” Wren said, growing smugger and smugger by the minute. “At least now we have something to eat.” She smiled proudly. “Admit it. You are hungry.”
When his face didn’t change, she looked worried.
“You are hungry, right?” She asked, and Hannke’s anger melted away. It didn’t matter if she was too smug. She was just trying to look after them.
“Yes, I am.” He told her softly, and her face brightened.
“Good! ‘Cause I can’t eat this all by myself!”
She tossed the cavefish over, and Hannke wrinkled his nose at it before cautiously taking a bite. It tasted . . . not the most enjoyable. He tried not to make a face as he chewed and swallowed.
“Uh, no thank you,” He said, tossing the fish over. “I . . . don’t like fish.”
Wren let out a snort. “Then why do I see you hogging the carp at home?”
Hannke smiled good-naturedly, but at the same time he felt a pang of homesickness. He missed Guardian, Lavi, Coldstone, and all the others. He missed splashing in the creek and rock climbing with Rowen and Wren. He even missed King’s frightening red stare. Well, not really.
“Is there anything else to eat?” He asked, half-jokingly.
“No,” Wren said, and then glanced at a small object behind her. “Well . . . not unless you want to eat a slug . . .”
Hannke licked his lips.
“Wait-no, you’re seriously going to eat that?” Wren asked, surprised. “I was only joking!”
Hannke leaned down and grasped the slug gently inside his mouth.
“Don’t!” Wren gasped. “What if it’s poisonous?”
Too late.
Hannke had already swallowed the slug whole. It tasted considerably better than the cavefish. He hardly paid attention to Wren.
“Oh no.” Wren groaned. “If it kills you, it’s all my fault.”
“It was good.” Hannke said quietly.
“Moonray!” Wren gasped dramatically. “I promised to make you proud, but instead I killed Hannke by making him eat a slug!”
Hannke snorted. “Really?” He asked. “If I die, it’s really my fault.”
“No! It’s mine!” Wren exclaimed.
“No, mine!”
“Mine!”
“Mine!”
“You don’t have to believe me, but it’s really mine!”
Hannke waited for Guardian or Lavi to say ‘Shut up, you two’, but then he remembered. He was a long, long, way from home. He slumped as another pang of homesickness hit him.
“Hannke!” Wren cried. “Are you okay?” She rushed over to him. “Was I too harsh?”
“It’s fine.” Hannke said quietly, feeling exhausted. “I’m fine.” However hard he tried to convince himself, he couldn’t believe that it was true.
. . .
You need to go . . . get out now . . . seek the way that no one seeks.
Amandi alesquis niax dose vaaeto.
. . .
Hannke woke up abruptly the next day. “Wren!” He hissed. “Wake up. We need to go!”
Wren sat up, looking sleepy. “Wha . . .?”
Hannke slithered over and shook her. “We need to go!” He repeated.
Suddenly Wren looked alert. “Where? Why?”
“Back,” Hannke said. “And . . . I don’t know. I just have this feeling. Like destiny depends on it.”
“‘Destiny?’” Wren looked amused. “Since when did the mighty sands of fate speak to you?”
Hannke frowned. “Now’s not the time to make jokes.” He said. “We need to go back.”
“Alright,” Wren said. She walked to the canal, back the way they came.
“No, no, not that way.” Hannke said.
“So . . . down the canal the other way?” Wren asked.
“No!” Hannke sighed in frustration. “If you would just let me finish-” He took a deep breath. “We need to find another way out. A clever way.”
“Are you suggesting we go face the mongoose again?” Wren asked.
Hannke swallowed a lump in his throat. “We might.” He said meekly.
“I can’t believe you’re putting us in danger, just because of this feeling you’ve got!” Wren cried.
Amandi . . .
Hannke swallowed again, feeling a tingling coursing through him. “You’re right. I never should’ve-”
Amandi alesqu . . .
“Hannke?” Wren asked. “Are you alright?”
Hannke shook himself. “I’m certain.” He said. “We need to go back. We might have to risk it.”
Amandi alesquis niax . . .
Amandi alesquis niax dose vaae . . .
Hannke’s mind was burning. “We’ll do it.” He said. “Right?”
Wren gulped. “Right.”
“Then we'd better go now,” Hannke said. “Are sure you can do this?” He asked Wren, looking down.
“If destiny wants us to, of course.” Wren replied. “We can do it.”
With that, they set off for the tunnel.
Amandi alesquis niax dose vaaeto.
Amandi alesquis niax dose vaaeto.
Amandi alesquis niax dose vaaeto.
Amandi alesquis niax dose vaaeto.
You are gifted.
. . .
As they moved through the tunnel, Hannke felt a growing sense of dread. What if they didn’t make it? Would they be doomed to stay here forever?
Light began to pour in. “We’re here,” Hannke said, and they moved into the sun. The cave seemed smaller than he remembered, as if the walls were going to crash down at him at any moment.
He took another huge gulp, and hoped that Wren didn’t notice how pathetic he looked.
Growls sounded from around, and the female mongoose moved out from behind the rocks. “You’re back,” She hissed. “Prepare to die.”
“Yikes,” Wren said. “She looks scary.”
“Attack!” The mongoose shrieked, and her fellow mongoose lunged for Hannke and Wren. Knowing that his friend was around to help him this time gave Hannke strength.
Suddenly, a hiss sounded from above and cobras slid out from behind the rocks. Their eyes glinted in satisfaction.
“Halt!” The leader cried, and lifted her sleek head to stare at their ambushers. Then she lowered her head and stared straight at Hannke with furious yellow eyes. “It was a trap!” She screeched, her claws digging into the dirt. “You filthy cobra scum!”
“We need to get out of here, Pamela!” One of the mongoose cried. “But—there’s no way out!”
“Yes there is!” Hannke said, confused. “What about that hole?”
“What hole?” The mongoose asked.
“The one in the ceiling!” Hannke said, and the attacking cobras drew closer.
“Liar!” spat Pamela. “There is no ‘hole’!”
Hannke grew more and more confused. “Bu--but-” He spluttered. “Can’t you see it? The one with more rock behind it, and light streaming in?”
“He might be right,” muttered the male mongoose. “I mean, the light is coming from somewhere.”
“How dare you even suggest that, Speckle!” Pamela shrieked, her pale yellow eyes narrowed dangerously. The cobras reached the ground and slowly approached their prey. Then she paused. “It might be a trap! More cobras might be waiting to ambush us somewhere!”
“But if it isn’t?” Speckle asked nervously. Clearly, he was willing to risk anything just to get out of there.
“Fine!” Pamela spat. “Swift, Windy, Haleo, guard the cobra and the egret while I check.” She looked at Hannke again. “Where is that hole, cobra filth?” She asked.
“It’s up there, between those two sandstone boulders,” Hannke tried to say helpfully. He gestured with his tail.
Pamela scanned the towering cave ceiling until her eyes met roughly the same spot that Hannke had described. Then she began to climb. The cobras were now close enough to reach out and strike a young mongoose. But they didn’t. They seemed interested in watching.
“Hurry!” Cried Speckle, and Swift shot him a glare.
“She needs to take her time,” He growled. “You realize she might die.” Hannke realized how much the banded black mongoose looked like Guardian. Perhaps he was her father? Guardian had mentioned being separated from her parents when she was young.
And then the cobras attacked.
One of the cobras reared up with his hood spread and struck down on Windy. The wispy gray banded mongoose dodged just in time, and then spun around, sinking her teeth into his tail. Another cobra went for Wren, and Hannke rushed to her defense, whipping his tail over the cobra’s head, sending her veering off course.
As the cobra fell into the sand and coughed up dirt, Hannke glanced up at Pamela. She was about halfway up the wall, but was being slowed down by cobras snapping at her tail. She was a good climber, bounding from rocks and ledges with grace and accuracy.
Wren was fighting a cobra, Swift and Haleo were back to back, swiping out at anyone who dared go too near, and Speckle was cowering behind a rock with Windy and another mongoose defending him.
“Got it!” Cried Pamela, reaching the hole. She stuck a dark brown paw through, and drew back in surprise. “He speaks the truth!” She cried. Then she poked her head out. “It leads to an above ground cave, which leads out! Everyone, get up here now! We can lose them in the woods!”
Speckle immediately darted out from behind his rock and dashed up the wall with surprising skill. More of the mongoose scrambled after him.
“We have to go back through the tunnel!” Hannke cried suddenly, and Wren looked up in surprise.
“What?” She cried. “We came all this way for nothing?”
“We came all this way to save Pamela and her mongoose group from an opposing threat!”Hannke replied. “We need to get out!”
“Wha-” Wren tried to protest, but Hannke shoved towards the wall and then quickly pushed her into the tunnel. Then he wrapped his tail around her leg and dragged her all the way back to the cave. They dropped down a small drop and landed with a splash in the dark pool.
Hannke began to inflate his insides as well as he could as the icy water parted and he sunk deep into the pool. The cold turned his scales icy and numb. He wrapped his tail around his eyes so as to not let the murky water in. Suddenly he realized that sitting in the middle of a dark pool was not going to help anything. He removed his tail and thrashed it through the water, sending bubbles spraying and sending Hannke to the surface.
As he dragged himself out of the water and collapsed onto the rocky ground, Wren gave him a glare. “Care to explain what that was for?” She asked, spitting water out onto the stone.
“I-I just had another--well, I had another feeling.” Hannke mumbled, feeling incrediblely stupid. “Uh . . .”
“Another feeling?!” Wren cried, exasperated. “Why do we keep risking our lives for feelings? Huh?” Her sharp blue eyes glinted angrily.
Hannke lowered his head in shame. “I’m sorry, really,” He said softly, guilt building up inside him. Sure, he had helped save a lot of mongooses, but they could have saved themselves, right? Right?
“Well, I should hope so!” Wren cried, and stomped away to a dark corner of the cave.
Hannke sadly watched her go. Then he slithered to the exact opposite of the cave and lay down. Oh, why had he ever decided to come down the canal? Now he was away from his family, and Wren hated him. It was stupid.
Why had he ever risked his life—and Wren’s—for a feeling? Why was he such an idiot?
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