Huh…who’s screaming? Where am I? Opening my eyes, I was greeted with the view of a lush jungle canopy. Ah, that’s right, we were passing home. As my brain started to work again, the world came into focus and somehow the world seemed…brighter…no clearer. It was already night, and both moons were up, yet the world seemed so much more vibrant and sharp. I couldn’t help but observe the machinations of horned ants crawling along the foliage, their bodies reflecting the pale blue moonlight. Their orderly march created blue simmering streams crossing the branches. Perhaps it was my imagination, but I felt I could almost hear the tiny tittering from their feet.
I shifted my head subtlety, tilting it to get a better view of the Shiara. Again I couldn’t help but feel as if the world around me was moving slower than before. I felt completely refreshed from my nap, as if I had just finished submerging in a warm bath. Marvelling at this newfound feeling, I put these revelations into the back of my mind as I stood up. Shiara had her back to me and was too focused on wildly waving her arms around, but Sarra noticed my movements immediately.
“She’s awake-“
“Vixen, what do I do? I-“
“STOP! Don’t wave your hands around.” This is bad. Hanging from her forearm was a banded blood red leech…an explosive leech, and judging from its size, it was nearing the end of its life. “Do either of you two have salt?”
“Salt?! Why would-”
“-Well no…but there was some back in my carriage…normally you would carry salt or spices when you travel-“
Right! “You’re a genius Sarra!” I quickly grabbed my sack, sifting through its contents. Where was it, where did I leave it…there! I picked out a small pouch, loosening its drawstrings. It was the pouch that we had pilfered off the dead assailants. None of us had been able to identify the powder inside, but hopefully this does the trick. Grabbing a handful of the powder, I stood up, and…tossed it at Shiara.
“Wah?! Achoo-” The cloud of fine powder scattered, drifting pass Shiara, covering both her and Shiara in a fine layer. Shiara in particular seemed to be watery eyed, but I was more worried about the leech. Please, please, please…
PLOPWHOOO!
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
As if answering my prayers, the leech fell off her arm. The leech curled up and seemed to shrivel, as it rapidly shrunk.
“Run!”
Without wasting a single moment, I grabbed both of their powdery arms and started pulling them away. The three of us quickly ran as I felt my heart beat accelerate. One…two…three…I pulled the two down with me as I ducked behind the roots of the nearest tree.
KA-BOOOM!!
Holding down the head of the curious Sarra, I waited till I heard the pitter patter of liquid hitting the ground before releasing my grip and slowly rising. The clearing we had been in was covered with a red shiny viscous liquid in which little tiny worms were wriggling about.
“Hahhhh….”
“Phew…can this jungle just give us a period of peace. And Shiara, this is all because you decided to go out exploring. You nearly got us –ACHOO! Damn nose! And Vixen, can you explain why the hell you decided to throw that-this on us?! And what the hell was that monster?! Since when did-“
“Sarratina! Calm down....take a deep breath and-“
“Right-sorry hehe haha haaaaa…..stress is just getting to me. Sorry.” I couldn’t help but smile at her reaction. Well, smiling internally of course.
“Ok. Well try not to get too worked up, or you’ll start tripping up. That was an explosive leech, a pregnant explosive leech-“
“So it explodes. But how does it even survive and reproduce more monsters if the species keep’s self destructing?-” I gave Shiara an annoyed glare. I was mildly surprised at her intelligent question, but more annoyed at the interruption. Why did the two always feel the need to interrupt my explanations?!
“I was getting to that, and yes Sarra, I will answer your questions as well, can you two just wait, please. That species of leech is mostly harmless until they reach adulthood. There, they attempt to attach onto a host to suck both blood and mana. They balloon in size and concentrate magic in their core region before exploding themselves killing themselves and their host potentially. The unfortunate victim or victims caught in the blast are than a feeding bed for the new offspring. Even if the blast doesn’t kill you, the baby worms will eat you alive from the inside.” *1
The two showed disgusted expressions at the thought of that. I remember nearly puking when I first saw a wild monster getting eaten from the inside by them. Luckily Dad was there to carry me back…
“While they are ballooning in size, they are highly volatile, and if you are not careful, they can explode prematurely. If you pull it out, they will explode. If you use an open flame like you would for regular leeches, they will explode. If you kill it, they will explode. There is only one way to safely remove them, which is to use salt-“
“-But you didn’t use salt. That was some weird powder that-”
“I see! So you just need something that can irritate it to make it drop. Then you run and hide as fast as you can!” …Exactly what I was thinking Sarra, but could the two of you not INTERUPT ME ALL THE TIME! Hahhh… “Oh yeah, I know it’s a bit late, but are you ok Vixen? How you feeling?”
“Ah, thanks for looking after me…and sorry for showing such an unsightly side of me-“
“No, don’t worry about a thing. In fact, seeing you like that just made me feel closer to you, right Sarra?
“Yeah, it did. But Shiara, I don’t think that is a good way to phrase it, misunderstanding-“
“Ah who cares about that? Vixen, you should have a lot to tell us right?”
“Yeah, I sure do. But let’s not hand around too long. I’ll tell you as we walk. It’s the fourth day already, and we’re nearly halfway through. So, where do I start?”
Picking up the pieces, we slowly, but surely continued our journey.