As we headed towards the river, I scanned the ground carefully before treading forwards. The dense jungle undergrowth along with the overlapping canopy made it very easy to accidently lose our bearings and the sun was nearing its zenith making it a poor indicator. In order to avoid walking off a cliff again, I decided to travel slightly slower and visually confirm the footing ahead. The detour would cost us, but there would be no point rushing the journey only to have our lives tragically taken.
However I wasn’t only checking for solid ground. Toxic-fireflies were nocturnal and could often be found resting on the sunny side of a leaf or mushroom during the day- it would be best not to disturb them. Meanwhile, I was also checking for any animal or monster tracks. Bellowers were destructive in nature so most creatures had an aversion to them, but then again, the jungle had changed.
“Uh Sarratina, do you know what these monsters she just mentioned are meant to um…well look like?
“Well, I’m not really sure, but I assume a Toxic-firefly would look like, well, a firefly? But Vixen, could you please explain what these Bellowers are? I’ve never heard of them before.”
“-That’s surprising because they are the ones you tend to hear.”
“Uh what?”
“…Sorry?”
I mentally hit myself for responding to her with that line. It had been a joke of the past and I had reflexively blurted it out. “Forget it. I haven’t heard about them outside the jungle so they might not exist anywhere else in Fei. From what I’ve seen-“
“-wait, seen?” *1
“…I was curious after I overheard the other kids so I secretly followed my father and some other villagers when they went out hunting.”
“Wow, so not only are you sly, you use to be quite mischievous eh…”
“…I’m more in awe that you managed to stealthily follow them without being found out!”
“No Shiara, looking back, it’s quite likely they knew I was there, but decided to let my transgression pass.”
“Do you have any evidence?”
“…Not really, but there is no way I could tail them without them noticing.”
“…” “…” We stared at each other without blinking away until Sarra moved between us.
“Ok, enough about the past. Just tell me! What are these Bellowers?!”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“…Bellowers are a type of four-legged monster. They are quite big and have a thick fur coat on the outside- we use to use their fur for bedding. They walk on all four legs and are very robust. Their skin and fur are very hard to penetrate and together, they are stronger than steel. Just like Shiara, they have a habit of smashing through the jungle, often overturning entire regions of trees. They often do this with their two giant tusks. These are curved, jagged, hardened bones that are attached to their head. They also have an arm like snout attached to their face that can be used to both suck in prey as well as launched compressed blasts of air capable of demolishing trees.” *2
“…That sounds very scary…”
“Yeah…we are dead if we ever meet one right? That’s why you said they don’t corner prey- they don’t even need to.”
“Exactly, luckily, because of how destructive they are, the signs that you are entering Bellower territory is very obvious…” My voice died off as I brushed away a few branches catching sight of the area lying ahead of us. As if to provide an example, a region of roughly toppled and splinted trees stood in front of us. The other two catching up to me stopped to observe it as well.
“…Um, Vixen, is there anyway we can uh…avoid this area.” Shiara’s voice was gradually becoming smaller and smaller as she realised the obvious answer to her question. I heard Sarra nervously gulp next to me.
“C’mon, no time to be dawdling here. Walk quietly and talk softly from here on.” Feeling my dry mouth, I continued heading deeper into Bellower territory. Why did this fissure have to suddenly appear?!
…
Avoiding another piece of splintered wood, I jumped on top of some fallen logs. Standing up I gave a once over in all directions. Since entering the Bellower territory, we hadn’t met any monsters. The chasm size had significantly decreased and the other edge was now visible from the ground. The sun had also stopped glaring at us from above and was now tinging the sky in an orange glow.
“Hah…hahhh, how much further Vixen?”
“It should be Bellower territory all the way till the river, but we are more than halfway there. But it would seem we have slowed down, we didn’t go as far as I had planned.”
“That’s because you keep looking around so much. How do you have the energy?”
“Well Sarra, at least we haven’t met any beasts yet.” Thank you for the support Shiara, but please don’t say that.
“The sun’s setting, what are we doing tonight?”
“We’ll keep walking until we reach the river.”
“ “ WHAT?!” “ I turned around to be greeted by too annoyed faces.
“Look, this is really not a safe place, we should keep moving.” Ignoring the rest of their complaints, I kept walking. Suticat was softly treading right next to me and I could feel his anxiety as well. Normally, he would have never entered such a dangerous area. He had stuck right next to me ever since we first encountered the chasm and clearly felt threatened.
“Hey wait, is it really wise to walk continuously for so long, shouldn’t we at least stop for a bit.”
“No once we stop, it will be harder to continue again. Oh and I will just mention it to you two now. Other than Bellowers, there are still Toxic-fireflies who should be waking up around now. They naturally release a sleep inducing odour before poisoning and feeding on you during your sleep so please don’t stop moving.” Seeing the two’s pale faces, I continued walking. I had withheld the information about the flies previously partly due to not being asked, but more importantly so that it could be used as a shock factor to keep them energised. Shiara and Sarratina had settled in a bit too much again and forgotten how problematic this unexpected chasm or how precarious our current situation was, so this would be just a gentle reminder.
“Please, I don’t want to get eaten-“
HASNICH! *3
A few leaves suddenly scattered into the air as I felt a blast of wind fly past my left side. Hearing Shiara’s voice die off, I immediately realised she must have been hit. I quickly glanced towards the source of the noise, before finally spotting it. A dark brown Bellower’s snout trapped beneath a fallen tree.