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46 - You Have A Better Plan?

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Senesio

She had shot him. Easy as that. An arrow to the shoulder and another to the neck, just like it was nothing. We’d been walking back toward the river for over an hour, the sky was bright with morning light now, but still, I couldn’t stop thinking about what I’d seen.

There was no denying it any longer, Suni was changing. Something was happening to her. Something profound. Something life-altering. It was as if the woman she’d once been was gone—or, not gone, but grown. Grown into something fiercer. Bolder. Something that could only be explained with one answer.

I was finally rubbing off on her.

I looked back to Suni, then fought the smile stretching across my face. Of course, that was the answer. After all, who could spend so much time with Senesio Suleiman Nicolaou and not become a hero?

It all made sense now, and I couldn’t believe it’d taken so long for me to see it.

I smiled back at the burgeoning hero again.

“What are you smiling about?”

“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.”

“If you two are done making eyes at each other, we’re here,” Elpida said with a hiss, one hand clamped to her busted rib as she pushed aside a wide, waxy taro leaf.

And she was right. There was the riverbank, and the canoes, too. Except, they were in the water. And everyone was in them. And waving frantically.

“Come on, come on! Now!” Theo shouted. She and Maritza were in one canoe, while Gabar was in the other. Both were out toward the middle of the river. Demetrias was waiting on the shore, waving us over.

“What’s wrong?” Elpida asked, rushing to him.

Theo and Maritza inched their canoe closer with branches they’d fashioned into makeshift paddles. They worked about as well as expected.

“Komodo! On the far shore!” Maritza said.

My eyes locked onto the foliage there. I peered closely, searching for any sign of movement.

“You saw it?” Elpida asked.

“No, heard it. Moving through the trees.”

“There’s no way it’s followed us this far,” I said, crossing my arms but still watching for any sign of movement. “All the way to the outpost, then through the Evergrass and up the river?” I shook my head. “There’s only one creature in this world that could track a man so far, and that’s a debt collector.”

“Could be, komodos are trackers,” Elpida said, still scrutinizing the far shore. She stared a moment longer, then shrugged. “Either way, bring those canoes in. We’re going on foot from here.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“On foot?” Gabar shouted from out near the middle of the river. “Are you daft, woman? There’s a bloody massive komodo chasing us.”

“It’s not the only thing looking for us,” she fired back. “Before the swallowing plant got Agostos he near flagged down a skyship.”

“What in the name of the ancestors is a swallowing plant?” Demetrias asked, but Elpida waved away the question.

“The—”

“The Bospurian skyships are searching near here,” Suni cut her off. “If we’re on the river we’ll be far too easy to spot. We need to stay hidden and make our way on foot.”

I put my hands on his hips and smiled. Good thinking from the up-and-coming hero-to-be.

Suni turned to the nearest tree, then jumped and pulled herself up on to the lowest branch. She kept talking as she climbed higher.

“The prisoner said we could reach their camp if we followed the river, but if that’s no longer an option, we’ll have to walk.” She swung from one branch to another, then shimmied up the tree’s trunk several paces. “Correct me if I’m wrong, Elpida, but he said the jungle would give way to a banyan grove as we neared their camp, right?”

Elpida nodded. “That’s right.”

Suni was near to the top of the tree now and still going higher. The branches swayed beneath her weight with each step. Finally, she stopped, halfway out on a small limb, and pointed to the south.

“Banyan grove that way. I can see it from here. We’re a day away, maybe a bit more.”

Maybe Suni was becoming a hero thanks to my example, but that didn’t mean she didn’t make mistakes. Someone with vision sharp as a hawk’s needed to double check what she was seeing. And besides, Suni looked quite heroic up there, scouting from the treetops. I could only imagine how much better I’d look.

I heaved myself into the tree as well and followed Suni’s route up to the top—diverging here and there to take a more optimal path. I had never had much occasion to climb trees, but as with everything, I was practically a master at it. Which made the fact that Suni had climbed this with such ease all the more impressive. When had she gotten so confident?

I reached the base of the limb Suni was on and peered out toward the south.

“What, we all going to climb our way to the Bospurian camp?” Gabar said from below, but I wasn’t listening. I was looking to the south and, ancestors above, Suni had been right.

“Banyan grove, indeed. It’s right there, clear as day.” The jungle continued for some distance, but slowly, transitioned from jungle into an intertwined, twisting sea of shadows and gray-white bark. And beyond that, maybe—just maybe—I could make out the shining waters of a river delta.

“Oh, well great. We’re a day or so away from a bunch of blasted trees,” Gabar said. “Then all we have to do is find the Bospurian camp. Then get into it unnoticed and rescue the prisoners. Then steal a skyship without getting killed. It’s all so simple. I’ll just come ashore now, and we can start our hike over. Maybe we’ll make it in time for the Bospurians to prepare a welcome meal before they give us one of their skyships and send us on our merry way.”

“You have a better plan?” Elpida asked. She nodded to the canoe he was in. “Got enough food in there to last us downriver to the coast? Or maybe the spare parts to build a skyship?” She pulled out her flask and took a long swig. “It’s a piss poor plan, I’ll be the first to admit it. But it’s the only plan we have.” She turned her eyes toward the south where I could see the banyan grove. “I don’t know how we’re going to get into the camp. Nor how we’re going to steal a skyship. Not to mention, the groves will likely be terror bird territory. All I know is we have to take this one step at a time and the first step is getting out of that bleeding river before someone sees you.”

“Not happening,” Maritza said, then began backpaddling. “I’m not going through terror bird territory and I’m not waiting around here to get eaten by that monster of a lizard.”

Their canoe started to move backward, toward the middle of the river. Elpida growled and set off after them, wading into the water.

“Ladies, ladies!” I shouted down. “There’s no need to fight about this.”

“Ain’t gonna be much of a fight,” Elpida snapped back.

“Who’s your money on?” I asked, lowering my voice and elbowing Suni in the side. “The pissed-off guidemaster or the frightened old helmswoman? I mean, Maritza’s not much of a fighter but she has the height advantage in the canoe and that’s no small branch she’s holding... ” I trailed off as something caught my eye. Something big and moving toward us. The komodo, my mind immediately thought. But, no. That was illogical, just fear trying to get the better of me. The shape wasn’t even in the jungle, it was above it. And flying closer by the moment.

A Bospurian skyship.