by C J Benjamin
62
I barely heard my friends screaming my name behind me as I charged into the thick brush. I headed in the last direction I’d seen a glimpse of Jovi. I tried calling her name but it was useless. My voice was drowned out by the deafening hum of the civer ants. I kept low, trying to stay out of sight.
Although they were small and looked deceptively harmless, civer ants were notoriously vicious. They were the buzzards of our island, and a swarm of them could strip a carcass to the bone faster than you could blink. As long as you didn’t aggravate them, they were quite useful, scavenging the island and riding it of sick or deceased creatures. I didn’t know what drew them to our area, but I was pretty sure that Quin’s incessant howling might qualify as a source of aggravation.
I noticed they were no longer traveling, but rather hovering above us. Their wings beat so furiously they created a biting wind. The swarm stopped just ahead of me, their dense mass blotting out the sun. I was terrified they’d found Quin or worse, Jovi. The only thing we had going for us was that the civer ants had horrible eyesight. They used their sense of smell to locate their prey, which was usually something already dead, but they’d make exceptions if they were particularly hungry. And by the way they were swarming, it seemed like they were targeting something.
Suddenly, the wind parted the ferns just right and I spotted Jovi. She was huddled under a palm frond, clutching Quin in her arms. Her brown eyes were wild with fear. I was afraid that the civer ants were onto them. Perhaps they had locked onto Quin’s heady smell. They continued to hover. If they didn’t suspect us, they should have moved on by now. I couldn’t chance waiting any longer. If I didn’t get to Jovi before the civer ants did, there would be nothing left of her and Quin, but a pile of clean, white bones. I shook the acrid taste the image created out of my mouth and darted straight for them.
When I reached Jovi she wrapped her thin limbs around me instantly and buried her face into my neck, sobbing uncontrollably. I wanted nothing more than to comfort her, but there wasn’t any time. The flying ants spotted us. All at once they changed course, moving into position with deadly precision.
I didn’t have a plan and it was too late to formulate one. My instincts kicked in. Before I knew it I was running, bobbing and weaving through the thick forest, carrying Jovi, with Quin on my heels. Palmetto’s slashed at our skin, ripping bloody ribbons into us with their serrated leaves. I knew I was no match for the speed of the civer ants, even without carrying a little girl. This fight was useless and would soon be over. I heard Jovi gasp with fear and call my name.
“Geneva! They’re going to catch us!” she cried looking over my shoulder.
“Don’t watch, Jovi. Close your eyes!” I called to her. “Think of your favorite memory.”
I didn’t want her last image to be of a swarm of killer ants descending upon us. I had to do something but I didn’t know what to do and I was out of time. I closed my eyes and took my own advice. The image of Nova and I atop the Bellamorf tree popped into my mind. That was it! The wind! Jovi had controlled the wind in the Bellamorf tree so we could play that magical game of morf tag. If she could do it here—if she could control the wind—maybe she could blow the civer ants away from us long enough to escape.
“Jovi! I need you to call the wind, just like you do for morf tag.”
“But . . .” she started.
“Do it now, Jovi!”
I felt her hands untwist from my neck and suddenly the wind picked up. The trees and leaves swirled around us. I chanced a glance over my shoulder and saw that the civer ants were fighting a head wind that was slowing them down. I stopped running, long enough to put Jovi down and grab her free hand, sharing in her power to control the wind. It felt like lightning surging between us and it was hard to hold onto her tiny hand, but it was working. I held my other hand up mirroring her. I could feel the air responding to me. It swirled in powerful gusts, howling with fury and pushing the civer ants away from us in a cyclone of chaos.
“It’s working, Jovi!” I called to her over the roar of the wind, but she didn’t respond. I looked at her, expecting to see her giving me one of her dazzling smiles, but instead was shocked to see her nose was bleeding and her eyes were rolled back in her head.
“Oh my gods! Jovi!” I called, releasing my grasp on her hand. The wind died down instantly and the forest fell silent as Jovi’s tiny body collapsed into my arms.
I shook her and called her name over and over to no avail. Suddenly, Quin growled. I followed her gaze to the black cloud that was reforming and swarming back toward us. The civer ants weren’t giving up so easily. They were back for revenge. Our momentary reprieve came to an abrupt halt as the angry, dark mass was upon us before I had time to do anything but throw my body over Jovi’s.
A blinding light blazed behind my closed eyelids and there was a buzzing that was growing incessantly louder. Was this heaven? Or were the civer ants striping away my senses with their overpowering swarm? When I opened my eyes I found it was a little of both.
In the final seconds before the civer ants closed in on us, I must have created some sort of fissure-like orb. I remember looking up to see the terrifying black mass about to engulf us and the only thing I could think of was “light!” I knew I had cast an orb, hoping it would throw them off course as a last ditch effort, but I knew deep down it would only momentarily delay the inevitable. I was bewildered to see that I’d done much more than that! I must have created a fissure as well. I shouldn’t be surprised, really. It always seemed to happen when I was scared or my emotions were extremely heightened. Getting eaten by a swarm of vicious civer ants certainly seemed to do the trick.
Quin, Jovi and I were in the protected bubble of one of my fissures, but what was strange was that it was glowing with the light of one of my orbs. Outside the bright shielding membrane, I could see and hear the civer ants angrily testing the boundaries of the barrier, which was keeping them from their prey. I turned to comfort Jovi and tell her not to worry, that my fissures were very strong and I could hold it until the civer ants lost interest in us, but she still didn’t respond. I swept her tangled brown hair from her unconscious face and called her name.
“Jovi! Jovi! Wake up! Please wake up.”
Quin cowered and let out a sullen whimper.
“I know, Quin. It’s okay. She’ll be okay.”
I tried to wake Jovi, but she didn’t respond. I could see her eyelids flickering, her nose bloodied and her face pinched, as if she were in pain. It seemed like she was stuck inside a nightmare that I couldn’t wake her from. I wanted to use my healing power to fix whatever was causing it, but I was frightened after my last attempt on Journey had gone so wrong. Jovi was just a little girl. I doubted she’d recover from a mistake as easily as Journey had. Plus, I would need all my strength and concentration to heal her, and that meant I couldn’t keep the fissure up. I looked out at the swarm of civer ants surrounding us. Giving up the fissure didn’t seem to be an option.
“Persistent buggers, aren’t you?” I called angrily at them.
Quin howled and whimpered again.
“Quin, shhh. I’m trying to think.”
She crawled over to me and laid her head on my crossed legs where Jovi was resting. She put her paws over her ears and I stopped to listen to the wex. Really listen to her. She was trying to tell me something. I could speak to animals. Maybe Quin could help me.
“What is it, girl? What are you trying to tell me?”
Quin whined again, but I heard her this time. “It’s too much. It hurts. She’s not strong enough.”
“Oh no!” Eja’s words instantly popped into my mind, haunting me as I remember him telling me the dangers of being an Echo and sharing powers. Perhaps I had transferred some of my power to Jovi and it was too much for her. She was just a little girl. And now to make matters worse, I had trapped her inside a fissure with me. Time slowed inside fissures and they could become too powerful, possibly trapping us forever. Plus, this fissur
e was different than anything I’d ever done before. I could feel it pulsing with power and heat from the bright glow of blue orb light that surged around us. I had to get Jovi out of here. But how?
“I want to help! I can help!”
I looked into the eager black eyes of the wex. She really did love Jovi. I could feel how much she wanted to help her. Quin was on her feet now, muscles coiled under her curly coat of russet fur, as she bounced from side to side with excitement.
“You’re right, Quin. You can help us. But you’re going to have to be really fast. Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
She answered me with an enthusiastic howl.
Quin burrowed out of the protective bubble of the fissure in seconds. She emerged on the other side and took off without hesitation. Within three strides she was up to full speed. She howled as she ran to get the civer ants’ attention. A streak of screaming chestnut fur was all I saw as she disappeared into the forest, drawing the civer ants with her.
I dropped the fissure as soon as it was safe. The orb light dissipated instantly and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dim forest. I scooped Jovi up. She gasped for breath, but didn’t open her eyes. I had to get her somewhere flat where I could lay her down and try to heal her. I frantically scanned the horizon—nothing but trees and thick underbrush. But then I saw a large boulder. It was smooth and had a sloped top, spotted here and there with moss. It looked like the perfect place to lay Jovi’s tiny body.
I cradled her as I jogged to the huge rock and awkwardly placed her atop it as gently as I could.
“You’re going to be okay, Jovi. It’s okay. You just need to wake up. Quin is leading the civer ants away from us and I’m going to fix you. Everything’s going to be okay.”
I kept murmuring soothing words of assurance to Jovi as I prepared to heal her. I wiped the blood from her nose with the sleeve of my shirt and then laid my trembling hands on her forehead and chest and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and said a silent prayer that my powers would obey me. I did my best to push the thought of my past healing mishap from my memory. I cleared my mind and concentrated on sending my healing essence to her. I felt a warm energy surge from within me and suddenly Jovi shuddered and swayed under my touch. That wasn’t right. My eyes flew open, but what I saw was so unexpected I screamed and jumped back.
The huge boulder was moving! And it wasn’t a boulder at all!
Four thick, scaly legs sprouted from the rock, lifting it from the forest floor where it had been sitting moments ago. It trembled, dislodging bits of dirt and moss as it moved. I leapt up and grabbed Jovi from atop the moving boulder just as a head uncoiled itself from somewhere within the massive rock.
“What is the meaning of this?” growled its voice.
The rock was talking to me! I couldn’t believe my eyes or ears. Its neck continued to uncoil, stretching longer and closer to me. The creature blinked its hooded yellow eyes as if it was waking from a long slumber. When they focused on me, they narrowed to angry slits as its neck stretched impossibly longer. I backed away as far as I could, but now I was cornered against a hammock of tree trunks and vines. I pressed my back into the sharp bark and tried to turn Jovi away from the beast, sheltering her with my arms.
I gasped as it unleashed a blue forked tongue. It tasted the air over and over as it took a thunderous step closer.
“I asked you a question, child!” it bellowed.
“How do you know I can hear you?” I asked in shock.
“I know a great many things,” it replied.
“What are you?”
“I’m a rover tortoise. Now answer my question, child. Why did you wake me?”
“I’m sorry, uh Sir. I didn’t mean to wake you. I didn’t know you were . . . Well, I thought you were a rock! My friend is hurt and I’m trying to help her. I needed somewhere safe to lay her while I tried to heal her.”
“Ah, so you’re a Truiet healer? Why didn’t you say so? We rovers are friends of the Truiets. We’re just as ancient too, you know. We natives need to stick together. Come inside. I’ll help you heal the child.”
His head retreated back into his massive shell and I was left with my mouth gaping, Jovi listless in my arms.
Had a giant turtle just invited me into his shell? Was he crazy or was I? I felt like one of us was a bit mad and my money was on the old tortoise as I heard a racket of chaos coming from within his shell. It sounded like dishes smashing. I was starting to back away from him when he called to me again.
“Are you coming, child?”
“Um, thank you, sir, but I don’t think there’s room in there for all of us,” I said cautiously peering into the hole at the front of his shell.
“Nonsense!” he said popping his head out so rapidly I squeaked, unable to completely stifle my shock.
“Follow me this instant. From the looks of that girl there isn’t time to spare.” Then he retreated inside again.
I looked down at Jovi and swallowed hard. He was right. She was getting paler and her nose was still bleeding, soaking through the front of her shirt and mine as well.
“Well, here goes nothing,” I thought as I edged us closer to the opening in the tortoise’s shell.
It was dark inside. The opening looked large enough for my head, but I still didn’t see how or where we were supposed to go.
“Jovi, I hope this works,” I whispered as I laid her at the edge of the opening.
I felt a magical force take hold of us and whisk me off my feet.
63
I looked around the interior of the shell in complete wonder. It was amazing! Its vastness was incredible and completely impossible. I was sitting where I’d landed on a beautiful Persian rug, woven in hues of reds and golds, in a large room littered haphazardly with too much furniture and glowing lamps. I knew I was inside of the strange rover tortoise, but I didn’t understand how it was possible that his interior was so expansive. It resembled a cozy home! There was obviously magic at work here.
Despite the dozens of lamps in what appeared to be a sitting room, it was dark inside. I was waiting for my eyes to dilate, while I clutched Jovi when the tortoise’s voice bellowed around me. “Bring her in here.”
“In where?”
“The kitchen. The table should be cleared off. You can lay her there.”
“Where are you,” I called to the tortoise’s echoing voice as I stood in the vast belly of the beast. “How did we get in here?”
“You really don’t know anything about rovers, do you? There’s no time for a history lesson now, dearie. Put the child on the table and heal her. Once you’re done I’ll give you some special tea that will help her sleep so she can recover faster.”
“Okay,” I said, sprung to action by Jovi’s ragged breathing.
I made my way through the maze of furniture and found the small cluttered kitchen. The table was cleared off as promised and I laid Jovi upon it, picking up where I’d left off. I sent my healing powers to her and was relieved that they responded flawlessly. It seemed I had enough strength to control them after all. When I finished, I found Jovi’s color restored and her breathing returned to normal. If it weren’t for the dried blood on her face, she looked like she might just be sleeping.
“All right . . . Sir, I’m finished. Where’s that tea?”
“Isby! Tea!” The room shook as the tortoise bellowed. “And stop calling me, Sir. The name’s Hollis.”
Before I could ask who Isby was, I saw a blur of black and white feathers wiz by me, squawking with discontent. The large bird slammed to a halt on the cluttered kitchen counter, sending a shower of dishes cascading onto the floor. It flitted around the kitchen, occasionally stopping to drop different ingredients into a battered teacup. He ruffled his feathers grumpily while he worked, knocking things out of his way and making an even bigger mess of the already disastrous kitchen. Finally, he flew over to me with the teacup clutched in his large, clawed feet and dropped it unceremoniously, without warning
. Luckily, I’d been watching him like a hawk and was fast enough to catch it without spilling most of its contents.
“What is this?” I asked.
Isby just kept on flying out of the room without an answer. I peered at the sluggish gray liquid and shuddered when I caught a whiff.
“Make sure your friend drinks it all,” thundered Hollis’s voice, startling me.
“What is it again?” I asked while cautiously sniffing its familiar sulfuric scent.
“You sure do ask a lot of questions, don’t you? I told you, it’ll help her rest and heal faster. It’s an old Truiet recipe. Make sure she drinks it slowly, it should be rather thick.”
The strange, giant tortoise had been helpful so far and he seemed to be a friend of the Truiets, so I took a deep breath and lifted Jovi’s head, tilting the teacup slowly to meet her lips.
“Please work,” I whispered.
After I finished getting Jovi to drink the healing potion Isby made I felt relieved. Her cheeks pinked up and her lips were the color of over ripe grapefruit flesh. Jovi smiled in her sleep when I brushed her hair from her face and washed the dried blood from her nose. Her eyes still didn’t open but Hollis assured me that it was the desired effect of the potion and it would wear off when she was fully rejuvenated.
“So, how did you know how to make this potion?”
“I told you, the Truiets are friends of the rovers. We look out for each other.”
“How did you know I was a Truiet?”
“I could feel your power when you were trying to heal your friend. You have extraordinary strength for a child.”
“Thanks,” I said warily.
I was glad that he didn’t seem to know I was the Eva, but I had a feeling he might soon find out. My friends were still out there and would be looking for us once they felt the threat of civer ants was gone. Hopefully Hollis would be willing to help me with one more thing.
