The members of the bird base had just reached the halfway point of their journey. They were at the base that was located in Duméril village, which was the capital of the Land of Amphibians. The amphibian base was a little smaller than the bird base, but they had roughly the same amount of members. A couple of thousand spora roamed around the swampy and humid base.
The place was filled with frogs, dragonflies, and mosquitos. Mory even spotted a few alligators hiding out in the murky ponds. Many small patches of dry land were connected by a network of wooden bridges. They also contained flimsy-looking wooden shacks, which looked nothing like the huts in the Land of Birds. Mory and a few of his group mates were housed in a shack that looked like it would topple over if the wind gave it a good push.
The inside was just one room. Beds were placed in all four corners. Cobwebs were strung along most of the ceiling. There was one window with shutter doors hinged at the sides of it. The air was filled with dust, yet the walls were damp from the humidity. It smelled like a forest in the rain–a scent that reminded Mory of the woods back in Stork Village. The wooden floor creaked loudly under his feet as he walked to his bed and sat down. He wasn’t sure what it was made out of, but it was about as hard and firm as his favorite bench in the yard back at home.
With the time approaching mid-afternoon, and the weather being swelteringly hot, all of the guys in the shack decided to take a nap. They had been walking for the entire day, so they needed to rest. By the time that Mory woke up, the sun still had a lot of life left, but the temperature had dropped to a much more bearable level of warmth. His three roommates were still sleeping. He decided to go outside and get some fresh air. As soon as he opened the shack door, he was surprised to see Rubi sitting on a fallen tree right in front of the shack.
“Good, you’re up. Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“We gotta do some recruiting. I’ll explain more on the way there.”
Mory stretched his arms and yawned, and the two crossed a bridge to begin their expedition. Just as Rubi said she would, she gave Mory more details about their task as they walked through the areas of dry land. Mory was a bit confused and asked her a question.
“If it’s just one girl that you’re recruiting, why are you bringing me along?”
“I need some backup in case things get ugly. Around here she’s known as the Demon of Duméril.”
“Demon? Why is she called that?”
“Apparently, for years she’s been terrorizing the local village by stealing and vandalizing their property. Anyone that’s tried to put a stop to her actions either couldn’t catch her or got roughed up pretty bad.”
“If she’s this dangerous, wouldn’t it be better if you took more than one person? Of all the people why choose me?”
“One is enough. Any more than that could be intimidating to her. To be honest, I was just gonna take the first guy who walked out of that shack.”
They continued to loop around ponds and messy vegetation for a few kilometers. Mory noticed something peculiar about Rubi. Her stomach had grown quite a bit since he had first met her. He wondered if she was pregnant, but he thought it would be best to not ask her about it. They continued to navigate through the territory of mud and mess. Rubi slid off her craftsack from her back and pulled out something that was wrapped in cloth.
“Would you like a snack, Mory?”
“That depends. What is it?”
Rubi pulled back the wrap which covered what looked like pieces of meat.
“It’s grilled frog legs, a specialty of the amphibian base. You’ve got to try some.”
Mory made a “why not” face and picked up one of the legs. He turned it over and examined the piece thoroughly before he took a small bite out of it.
“So, how is it?”
“It’s pretty good. Tastes like chicken.”
“You can have some more if you want.”
Mory nodded as he finished the first leg and then tossed the stripped bones aside before grabbing another one. Both of them kept munching on them until there were none left. Their walk took just a few more minutes. They stopped when they reached a wall of extremely tall grass. Mory never knew that grass could grow so high and thick. Each blade was about twice his height. Rubi kept her voice at a low volume as she spoke to Mory.
“She stays on the other side of this grass. We have to pass through about twenty meters of it. Stay quiet and follow me. There’s a one hundred percent chance that you will get bitten by looter bugs. You won’t feel the bites that much but it’ll be itchy as hell by night time.”
“Why did I even agree to this?”
“Because you’re awesome,” Rubi said with a teasing smile.
Rubi parted the giant grass blades with her hands and they entered the zone of untamed wilderness. The looter bugs attacked as soon as they stepped in. Tiny green bug pelted their skin like grains of sand in the wind. If Mory was being bitten, he couldn’t tell. They merely tickled the skin of his arms, neck, and face. Rubi didn’t seem to be bothered by them at all as she continued to pass through the grass. It was a bit dark as the low evening sun could barely shine its light through the dense growth.
For Mory, the feeling of being surrounded by the grass was disorienting. If Rubi wasn’t there with him, he might have ended up losing his sense of direction and getting lost. They traveled along a fairly straight path until they saw the light from the area beyond the grass. Slowly, they crept up to the outskirts of the grass. When they reached the very end, Rubi held her hand up signaling for them to stop.
They stuck their faces outside of the grass to see if the girl was there. All that they saw was the simple setup that served as her home. A tattered tarp was draped across a couple of short trees, forming a small cave.
“She could be in there or she might be out somewhere nearby. We’ll wait here and see if-“
Before Rubi could finish, a frog popped up from behind some trees and then the girl that they were looking for busted out into the open and dove for the frog. She rolled in the grass as she caught the frog with her bare hands.
“Gotcha! You sure can hop.”
She rose to her feet while keeping both hands wrapped around the frog. Rubi stepped out of the grass.
“Hello,” said Rubi.
The girl jerked back at the sound of Rubi’s voice and the frog slipped out of her hands and bounced away. She watched it bounce away, with evident disdain on her face.
“Dammit. My dinner.” She quickly turned to Rubi, mean-mugging her. “Who are you?”
“I’m a spora from the Land of Mammals. We’re not here to fight you or anything. We just wanna talk.”
“How do I know you’re not one of those amphibians trying to capture me? I’m not falling for some cheap trick.”
“Please, Sylo. Just hear me out.”
The girl suddenly seemed to be calmer and less defensive.
“My name. Only one person knew my name. Ma . . . How do you know my name?”
“You’re mother, Sylver–she was my big sister.”
The look on Sylo’s face showed just how stunned she was by those words.
“Wait. That means you’re . . . Rubi?”
Rubi nodded. Sylo stood there with wide eyes. Mory, who was still in the grass was also surprised about what he just heard. If she was really Rubi’s niece, Mory couldn’t tell by looking at her. He couldn’t spot any sort of resemblance between them. The girl’s skin and eyes were brown. Her hair was a darker brown color and it was contained in long box braids. The clothes that she wore left much of her body uncovered. Her shorts ran to mid-thigh level and she wore a crop top that was frayed all along the bottom trim. To Mory, she appeared to be around the same age as him.
“Why did you come here?” Sylo asked.
“Right before Sylver died, she told me to come and get you out of this place. I know how the people around here treat you. They see you as an outsider. They pushed you away and think of you as an enemy. You deserve better than that. Your mother’s final wish was for you to get out of here and experience a life beyond the swamps.”
“Ma used to always talk about us leaving Dumberville someday. She had dreams of traveling all over Keanos and finding new adventures. I thought that when she died, her dreams died with her. This is the only place that I’ve called home. The only place where I’ve ever felt loved. If I leave with you, where will we go? What will we do?”
“You see, there’s more that I have to tell you.”
Rubi told Sylo everything about the Second Phylo War and Sporadical. She included details about the group’s plan to fight in both continents and their final goal to end manek-based segregation.
“So you want me to join your group and fight in the war?”
“I want you to join the group so I know that you’ll be safe with me. The decision to fight will entirely be up to you. I know this is a lot, but what are your thoughts on this?”
“Hmm . . .” She looked around as she thought about Rubi’s offer, but then she spotted Mory. She pointed at him and asked, “Who’s that guy in the grass over there?”
Rubi turned to look at Mory and waved for him to come over.
“Mory, get out here and say hi.”
Mory stumbled out of the grass and walked over to them. Sylo looked at Mory with a kind and gentle smile on her face.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mory . . . Now, fight me.”
Mory and Rubi looked at each other, both bewildered. Mory turned back to Sylo who was still smiling.
“Fight you?”
Sylo looked at Rubi.
“If I think your sidekick is good enough, then I’ll go with you.”
“I ain’t no sidekick. Rubi, this is crazy. I can’t just-“
“Deal,” said Rubi.
“You really want us to fight?” Mory asked.
“I need her to come with me. So Mory, please try to kick her ass for me.”
Mory just gave her a look of disbelief.
“Then it’s settled,” said Sylo. “Let’s get ready to rumble. But one more thing before we start. We can’t use weapons so drop the sword, dude.”
He sighed and then unraveled the ribbon that held the sword sheath to his waist. He took one good glance at his sentimental weapon before handing it to Rubi.
Why did I have to be the first one to step out of that shack?
“Rubi, can you let us know when to start?” Sylo asked.
“Yeah, sure. Maneks on!”
Soon Mory saw why the local villagers called her the Demon of Duméril. Her transformation was horrifying. Her mouth became elongated and her teeth sharpened up like flint spearheads. Her hazlenut skin complexion turned green like swamp water. Thick and sharp claws grew on the ends of her fingers. Her eyes were like emeralds with long and narrow slit pupils in the centers of them. She was a cold-blooded crocodile monster from head to toe. Mory stood there in awe as she went from a beauty to a beast; a damsel to a demon.
Rubi took notice and said, “Uh, Mory? You gonna fight her like that?”
Mory looked down at himself and remembered that he hadn’t transformed yet. He quickly changed into his squirrel form. Sylo was unphased by his change of appearance and kept her spirit slicing eyes on Mory. Rubi got their bout underway.
“Fighters ready? Begin!”
Sylo immediately sprinted towards Mory. She opened her mouth wide and revealed a complete set of flesh shearing teeth. Mory was able to slide to the left as she tried to bite him. Her jaws had clamped down with so much force, it sounded like a tree branch being snapped in half. The bite could have easily ripped his arm off, or worse. Mory ran over to a nearby bald cypress tree and hopped on it. In just a few seconds, he was able to climb to the top.
“Get down here and fight me you coward!” Sylo yelled.
Mory stayed in a crouched position, trying to steady his breathing. He was in no hurry to face the freakish girl below. He thought about quitting then and there. He wondered why he needed to sacrifice himself to the girl, for the girl. Mory opened his mouth to surrender, but he kept quiet as he heard Rubi speak.
“It’s okay, Mory. I shouldn’t have pressured you to fight. I’m sure Sylo and I can work something out. Please come down here.”
Rubi was still holding the sword his father’s sword. If Mory couldn’t handle the young crocodile girl, how would he fare against experienced warriors like Felix and Teraphon? Mory looked down at Sylo. Even from way up there, her reptilian eyes looked relentless. Earlier, those fear-inducing eyes kept him frozen, but this time he jumped.
For the first time, he saw a look of uncertainty on the girl’s face as he plummeted towards her. She seemed worried as she held her arms out as if she wanted to catch him. It certainly wasn’t the response that a demon would have. As Mory reached the point when a collision between them was seemingly inevitable, his glider membranes suddenly appeared. He slowed his fall down just enough to set up for a surprise attack.
It was all a blur to Mory, but he was able to position himself upright and drive the bottom of his foot into Sylo’s left shoulder. The drop kick from heaven knocked her about a meter away from where she stood and sent her rolling in the grass. Mory lost his balance before reaching the ground, and he too rolled like a tumbleweed.
The fall didn’t hurt much but it sure did make him dizzy. He managed to get up, but before the world could stop spinning, Sylo came out of nowhere and tackled him unto his back. Mory was defenseless with his arms pinned to his sides as she laid on top of him. Sylo opened her mouth and leaned in to finish him off. Mory squirmed in a desperate attempt to free himself as he got a close look at her sharp, hooked teeth and felt the warmth of her breath on his face. His hopes of escaping rapidly diminished and he expected her to chomp down on his face at any moment.
Unexpectedly, Mory saw a flash of red from the corner of his eye. In an instant, Sylo’s mouth was being held shut by what looked like a red rope. Mory lifted his head and discovered that it was the tail of a crimson woman. It was Rubi. She had wrapped her salamander tail around Sylo’s mouth, stopping her from taking a bite out of Mory.
“I think that’s enough fighting for today.”
Mory and Sylo looked into each other’s eyes. He could sense that the hostility between them was now gone. Sylo returned to her human form which caused Rubi’s tail to lose its grip. Mory changed back as well. Now he could see her sweet, brown eyes again. She slowly leaned in again, this time giving him a kiss on the cheek. The feeling on her soft human lips gently pressing against his face felt unreal to him, considering that she was just about to sink her crocodile teeth into his throat a few moments before.
“That was a prize for being able to knock me down. We should fight again sometime.”
Fantasy