The water was murky and dark as Oua evaporated and became one with the overshadowing clouds constantly ripe with rain. She found it much too difficult to collect her thoughts when harbored in a body as vast as the swamps.
Slithering down the trunk of one of the protruding treetops to look out over the water, Oua wished fervently that Whisp was still himself. If only...
Then she was saliva making a guttural quacking noise. It took Oua a while to get used to this. Then she realized that she must have somehow been swallowed. Whisking herself out of another opening, Oua discovered that this accident had been due to the frantic perambulating of one of the tsibirds.
Or at least, that was the best name she could give them. With slightly ruffled feathers, hyena-like backs, curious puffin beaks and big shiny eyes, the creature's call of "TCEE!!! TCEE!!!" might not actually have been its name, but more likely something that meant "WATCH OUT THERE'S A TREE ALLIGATOR COMING AFTER ME AND I HOPE YOU STAY STILL SO IT'LL STOP TO MAKE MINCEMEAT OUT OF YOU BEFORE IT HAS TIME TO CATCH ME!!!"
The tree alligator itself, indeed, was of no harm to Oua, but the sight of the swim-paddle-gliding tsibird being chased by the maniacal alligator was the first laugh she'd had in days. With a slightly rueful, slightly goodnatured, maybe-a-bit-clownish feeling, she spurted herself into the gleaming red eyes of the tree alligator just to see the reaction. After all, if it wasn't a magical creature, it couldn't hurt her.
If.
What she hadn't expected was a magic-tipped spear, lethal to her and any other spirits, to come hurtling out of the air and bury itself in the stomach of the tree alligator.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment