Final Quest

by B. C. Harris

  Glancing at the backpack, I wonder if there is some device inside that will track our journey to Tamor and then on to Drapesia. Will someone be attempting to listen to everything that we say, or watch everything that we do?

  “Everything okay?” Jamie asks, sensing my discomfort.

  “Yes,” I say. “I guess I didn’t realize that Michael knew what we were going to be doing.”

  “Actually, he doesn’t. I told him that you needed to talk to Capurni about something, but I didn’t add any other details.”

  “Didn’t he want to come with us?”

  “Absolutely,” Jamie replies, “but I convinced him that you planned on going alone and I had to twist your arm to even let me come along.”

  I smile at Jamie’s response. I don’t think he would lie to me. But I still can’t help but wonder if there’s something in the backpack that’s going to be spying on us.

  “Nervous about going?” Jamie asks.

  “Yes, I think I would like to get back to living a normal life again, but as long as I have the emerald I don’t think this is ever going to happen.”

  Jamie looks at me as though he understands what I am going through.

  “After what you’ve been through over the past year, I can’t imagine that there could be anything more dangerous than our expedition to the Land of Shade or what we experienced in Rome.”

  “That’s what worries me. What if this is something even more dangerous? I have a feeling in my gut that this is going to be a huge mistake.”

  “If it’s any help, you should know that all the members of our S O S are going to want to help you.”

  “Thanks. I must admit I’m not sure about Drew being involved.”

  Jamie looks at me as though he’s trying to decipher the real meaning of what I said.

  “Perhaps,” he begins, “you are beginning to see Drew the way he really is, the way most other people see him.”

  I don’t immediately respond. There’s something in his words and in the tone of his voice that suggests I have been blind to the true nature of Drew. Is Jamie suggesting that I failed to see a streak of evil in Drew because I was attracted to him?

  “Let’s get going,” I say, eager to change the topic and get to Tamor. Perhaps, by the end of the day I will be laughing at my irrational fears about going to Drapesia.

  “I’m ready whenever,” Jamie says.

  “Take my hand.”

  Jamie’s hand feels strong and warm, very different than the first time he touched me a year ago on our journey to Shade.

  Taking the emerald in my other hand, I say, “Sandarium, Capurni.”

  I feel the massaging action of the celleria on a couch where I’m sitting.

  “Welcome.”

  It’s Capurni.

  Jamie stands to give Capurni a hug.

  Turning to me, Capurni says, “I must admit that I was a little worried that you might shy away from another adventure.”

  “Can you tell us a little more about what we might expect?” Jamie says as he sits down beside me.

  Capurni pulls a chair closer to where we’re sitting.

  “Actually,” Capurni begins, “I’m not sure what we are going to find. When my ancestors fled Drapesia, the planet was being destroyed by pollution and war. I’m hoping that these problems no longer exist.”

  The Hunger Games. Divergent. I think to myself. I’m about to enter a novel.

  Capurni smiles at me. He must have sensed my fear?

  “How many countries were there before your ancestors fled to Tamor?” Jamie asks.

  “There were seven countries in Drapesia. Actually seven islands of various size.”

  “One island for each of the seven tribes,” Jamie says.

  “Yes, that’s correct. Each country had its own island.”

  “Were these countries always at war with each other?” I ask.

  “Oh no,” Capurni answers. “Drapesia was once a wonderful world where the seven tribes lived in harmony. Sure, there were some minor problems here and there, but for the most part Drapesia was a peaceful world. There was no poverty or starvation. Everyone had everything that they needed.”

  “Just pollution,” Jamie adds.

  Capurni looks thoughtfully at each of us before continuing.

  “Yes, just pollution. The pollution accumulated in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. This trapped the heat from the sun. The temperature on Drapesia began to rise. At first, it seemed like a minor problem. Our history records tell us that some Drapesians even liked the warmer climate. But things rapidly deteriorated. As the temperatures in our oceans increased, much of the life in the oceans, food that my ancestors depended on, perished. Incredible storms and unusual weather began to disrupt the planet. Four of the seven islands encountered such drought that they ran out of water. This is what started the wars. People began to fight over fresh water. Then they began to fight for the emerald, believing that it could save them.”

  “Couldn’t someone use the emerald to solve the problems?” I ask as I touch my emerald.

  “Yes, that was certainly a possibility. Unfortunately, instead of using the emerald to try to solve the problems, Kienda, as the Keeper of the Emerald, used it to defeat anyone who threatened his tribe. When the time came when pollution and war were spiraling out of control, Kienda used the emerald to flee Drapesia with eleven of his most devoted followers.”

  “That’s when he came to Tamor,” Jamie says.

  “Exactly,” Capurni says. “His intention was to start a new civilization on Tamor. Unfortunately that did not work out the way he planned.”

  “So he ended up on my planet and changed his name to Santtonnice,” Jamie says.

  Capurni shrugs as though he’s apologizing to us.

  “What if there is still a war happening when we arrive on Drapesia?” I ask.

  Capurni leans closer to me.

  “Emily, I don’t know what we are going to find when we get there.”

  Capurni’s words are not very reassuring.

  “But, if there is still a war, we will immediately return back here and forget about this mission.”

  “Have you chosen a place on Drapesia for us to travel to, a place that has the best chance of being safe?” Jamie asks.

  “A good question. First of all, let me say that Drapesia is a small planet, much smaller than Tamor and I am guessing that it is likely smaller than your planet Earth. As I said before, there are seven islands on Drapesia. Four of them are small. Two of them are medium sized, and one is much larger. I have decided that we will first of all travel to an island called Elpis. This is the smallest of all the islands. It is also the island where the fewest number of Drapesians lived because much of it was a desert and rugged barren hills. I think this will be a safe place for us to begin our journey.”

  - 15 -

  AN INCREDIBLE WORLD

  We have dropped into a jungle, certainly not the barren island that Capurni described moments ago. Loud cries from animals that we can’t see reverberate through the twisted maze of vegetation.

  Capurni is the first to speak.

  “This isn’t possible,” he says. “The island of Elpis is supposed to have no, or very little, vegetation. How could it have possibly turned into this luxurious paradise?

  Out of nowhere, a large butterfly-like creature, with alternating fluorescent bands of purple and neon green screaming out for attention, flies to a nearby tree. The butterfly, or whatever it is, is as big as me. The oddly shaped tree, with massive leaves as big as the butterfly, sways as though a gust of wind hit it as the butterfly settles on a smooth velvety branch.

  As I look closer, the face of the butterfly is almost human-like, most definitely like a monkey with huge brown eyes that seem to be filled with intelligence. The butterfly rips a reddish fruit that is hiding under the massive leaves of the tree. It begins to eat the fruit that oozes a pink colored juice.

  The butterfly stops eating.

  Have we frighte
ned it?

  Its head swivels as though it has sensed danger. Its eyes seem to penetrate the swirling jungle around us.

  I hear a whimper like a baby.

  I look in the direction of the noise.

  A small creature, about the size of my hand and reminding me of a frog, appears. The frog, or whatever it is, changes its color from a bright green which closely resembles a nearby leaf to a sandy brown color like the ground. If I hadn’t caught a glimpse of it before it changed color, I would not be able to see it now.

  The animal that at first reminded me of a frog is more like a beetle with four heads. It is circular with a head poking out from its body every ninety degrees.

  The small creature is frozen. I glance at the butterfly that is fixated on it.

  A small paw on the belly of the butterfly unravels and shoots through the space between it and the small creature on the ground.

  In an instant the small creature is snatched and brought back to the mouth of the animal that resembles a butterfly.

  The paw from the butterfly reminds me of the long tongues that some animals have on my planet. It was like the extended tongue of a frog or lizard shooting out to catch a fly. Only in this case, it was a paw instead of a tongue.

  “How amazing,” Capurni says.

  As I look at Capurni, I see the wonder in his eyes. At the same moment, I catch a look of amazement on Jamie’s face.

  It’s as though we have stepped into the proverbial Garden of Eden, although I expected that such a place would be a world of complete peace and harmony, not a place where one creature devoured another.

  “Survival of the fittest,” Jamie exclaims as though he read my thoughts.

  “How can these creatures be similar in some ways to animals on my planet, yet they are also so different?”

  Nearby, a dull brown bush unexpectedly moves and transforms into a bright blue cat-like creature with six legs. It reminds me of a cat, but moves like a spider. Before I can inspect it further, it’s gone.

  “People,” Capurni says, “tend to believe that the way evolution occurs on their planet must also be the way evolution should occur on all other planets. In reality, evolution can occur in completely different ways on different planets. What we perceive as plants on one planet might be animals on another, while what we perceive as intelligent life on one planet might be the complete opposite on another.”

  “You’re saying that life evolves different on each planet,” Jamie says.

  “Yes, that’s correct,” Capurni says as he walks towards the space where the cat-like creature was standing a minute ago. “Most people don’t understand that evolution is not a step-by-step process.”

  “It isn’t?” I say.

  “No. Evolution sometimes takes giant leaps.”

  “Like mutations,” Jamie says.

  “Exactly. Sometimes mutations result in a creature or even a plant that is quite different than its parents.”

  As I think about what Capurni is saying, I hear a strange new noise, something like a bark.

  Turning in the direction of the sound, there’s a little man perched on his hind legs. He looks at me, his tongue wagging like a dog and his tail swaying back and forth.

  As I step towards him, he jumps away like a rabbit, disappearing into the dense jungle.

  If I thought the Land of Limnits was peculiar, then what I’m now seeing makes that place seem normal.

  Jamie touches a massive leaf on a tree. As he does this, the leaf curls up, hisses, and suddenly crawls like a snake to another branch.

  “Amazing,” Capurni says. “This island has blossomed from being a barren place into a magnificent world of diverse creatures.”

  I think of the dystopian novels I studied at school where civilizations that survived various forms of holocausts lived in barren worlds. None of the authors ever suggested that a world disaster might cause evolution to move in new creative directions.

  I watch a bird flying overhead. Then I realize its face is on its underside, almost like the face of a stingray back in my world, except that the face is not at the front of the creature, but underneath where normally its belly would be. The weird bird-like creature has a flowing multi-colored tail that is two or three times longer than its body. At the head of the body where one would expect its face is a plume of feathers like a headdress. As I look closer, I notice two large black dots, resembling eyes, at the end of its long tail. Immediately I think of a butterfly fish in our ocean back home. Some butterfly fish have a large black dot on their tails that resembles an eye. This often allows the butterfly fish to escape as an attacking fish grabs for its tail instead of its head.

  I try to peer through the thick vegetation.

  Capurni, like Jamie and I, is inspecting everything he can see around him. It’s as though we’re standing in a Disney fantasyland.

  “Listen,” Jamie says abruptly.

  I freeze.

  “What is it?” I say in a loud whisper.

  “I think I hear running water,” Jamie says. “It sounds like it could be a waterfall.”

  Attempting to listen for the sound of running water, I think I hear it as well.

  “Yes, I hear something like water rushing in a stream,” I say.

  “Over here,” Jamie says, as he begins to push himself through a maze of branches, leaves, and vines.

  “Be careful,” Capurni says.

  No sooner have the words left Capurni’s mouth, than a huge bush pounces on Jamie.

  Instantly, Jamie is caught in the arms of the bush as though a dozen snakes have curled around him.

  “Help me!” Jamie shouts.

  I point my emerald at the creature that is beginning to crush Jamie, and shout, “Abruella!”

  A bolt of lightning strikes part of the plant-like creature, leaving one of its arms smoldering.

  Jamie is turning blue. The bush is choking him.

  Unfortunately, Jamie is so entangled in the bush that I’m not sure I can continue to use my emerald. One of the lightning bolts might hit him.

  Another scream erupts.

  A few steps away from me is a creature that has a large flat tail like a beaver, except that the creature looks like a sheep dog. As hard as I look, I can’t see the face of the creature. It’s buried beneath a thick coat of grey and white fur. It’s as though a sheep dog and a beaver transformed into a new creature.

  The creature screams again as it spins towards the bush that is strangling Jamie.

  The furry creature spins at the base of the bush. Its large flat tail smashes against the bush like an axe.

  I hear a sorrowful groan. It’s from the bush that is attacking Jamie. Its arms begin to fall away from him.

  Like a lumberjack chopping down a tree, the furry creature swings its tail again and again into the branches of the bush.

  Jamie leaps free. I rush to him. Although he’s gasping for breath, I wrap my arms tightly around him.

  “Please don’t die,” I say. “You’re the one person I can’t live without.”

  Jamie’s eyes flicker. He coughs. His arms and legs jerk involuntarily.

  “Jamie, I’m here. You can do it.”

  Jamie sucks a huge breath of air as though he’s a baby taking his first breath.

  His eyes open.

  I feel his arms tighten around me.

  I know he’s going to be okay.

  “Thank you, thank you,” Jamie utters, his breaths coming in huge gulps.

  “Don’t thank me,” I say. “It was that furry creature over there that saved you.”

  “Where?” Jamie asks.

  The creature that saved Jamie has vanished.

  - 16 -

  THE WATERFALL

  After Jamie’s incident with the bush that was more like a Venus fly trap, we are fearful of taking another step.

  I find myself wondering why the strange creature saved Jamie and then disappeared.

  “Was that thing a Drapesian?” I ask Capurni.

  �
��Never saw anything like it before. Everything around us is completely different than any of our history books about Drapesia. It’s as though some strange new world has enveloped this island that was once barren.”

  Constant shrieks and cries fill the air. There’s even a voice that appears to be singing.

  “Listen for the water again,” Capurni suggests.

  I strain to hear the running water.

  There are so many other loud noises around us that it’s difficult to hear the water. I feel like we’re in a room with a thousand birds chirping, singing, crying, and sometimes making other noises that are beyond description.

  “I think I hear the water,” Jamie says as he takes a step towards the thick jungle.

  “Jamie…” I say, not even finishing my sentence. The last time he took a few steps towards the jungle, he was almost strangled by a bush that acted like an anaconda. I’m terrified that another creature might attack him.

  “I hear it too. It’s coming from over there,” Capurni says as he takes a tentative step to the right of Jamie.

  I jump in behind my two friends, not wanting to be left alone.

  The jungle is so thick and tangled that it’s difficult to see in any direction.

  Jamie takes another step in the same direction as Capurni.

  I shudder. At any moment, I expect that we are all going to be pounced on by a terrible creature.

  Soon we’re absorbed by the twisted growth around us. It’s as though we have become part of the jungle, although I’m pretty sure that I hear the sound of running water. Perhaps it’s a river, or maybe even a waterfall.

  Jamie is leading us with Capurni and me close behind him. I wonder how Jamie suddenly got to be so brave, but perhaps he was always like this and I missed it because I tended to pay more attention in the past to Drew’s heroics.

  As a branch touches my arm I panic, expecting it to twist around my body. My imagination is running rampant.

  “Look,” Jamie says in a loud whisper.

  My eyes follow his outstretched arm. At first I don’t see anything, but then I realize that on the massive red and green leaves of a plant in front of us are hundreds of eyes.