Chapter 6: Ichneumon
1475 Words
Jamie walked through the Chaos gate with Fluff onto the wooden bridge. The chaos gate slammed behind them and disappeared.
“I suppose there is no turning back now!” Jamie muttered as she heard the bridge creek under her weight.
“Just to let you know, I cast a glamour spell!” Vanth mind linked.
“Thanks, are you looking forward to returning home?” Jamie asked.
“Yes! Adenaphia is a beautiful place!” Vanth said in a wondrous tone.
“For Demons maybe!” Fluff quipped. Suddenly, the bridge started shaking and groaning.
“What the chaos?” Jamie shouted.
“Chaos, I forgot...run! You can't use your wings or magic here! ” Vanth screamed and Jamie ran as fast as she could. The bridge was suddenly collapsing and falling into the dark bottomless ravine below. Jamie could see solid land, but part of the bridge collapsed in front of her. But, there was a problem..
“Don’t even..” Fluff began to say, but it was too late, Jamie grabbed him and threw him as hard as she could. Fluff went flying through the air and Jamie jumped after him. They both landed on hard ground as the last of the bridge collapsed into the darkness.
“Chaos! That was close!” Jamie puffed.
“Yes…….so, I may have forgotten to warn you about the disappearing bridge!” Vanth mind linked.
“No, s**t!” Jamie replied.
“Look on the bright side, at least we got to see the rare flight of a flying cat!” Vanth said wickedly.
“No one….and I mean no one, will ever speak of this indignity again!” Fluff said hauntingly.
“Yeah, can't guarantee that my furry little friend. It is forever ingrained in my mind!” Vanth said.
Fluff was about to reply when Jamie interrupted then and said, “Can we please try and concentrate, just a little? We are in the chaos realm and if we get caught, the Empress will kill us, very slowly!”
“She has a point!” Fluff admitted.
“Good, now which way is Adenaphia?” Jamie said, looking around. It was night in this realm too, but the stars were completely different. The moon also kept changing, colour and shape so often, if she stared at it too long she felt queasy.
“Well, to be honest in this realm, Adenaphia finds you when the time is right!!” Vanth said.
“What?” Jamie asked, confused. “How could a city find someone?” Jamie thought.
“The city will find you when the time is right!” Vanth repeated.
“Right, Ok. I guess we just should walk around!” Jamie suggested. She needed to do something, Eric needed her!
“Sounds good!” Vanth said.
Jamie got up and brushed herself down and spotted a path. She walked down it for a bit and realised she was surrounded by strange-looking stone statues. Jamie stopped and took a closer look and realised they looked like trees.
“What is this place?” Jamie asked curiously.
“It was the hunting tree forest.” Vanth explained.
“Hunting Tree?” Jamie asked
“Yes, you know the trees who hunts and kills unsuspecting creatures. It was quite a sight and they used to bring school groups here. A demonet or two got eaten but serves them right, I say, for not listening to their elders!” Vanth said with a mental shrug.
“Right!” Jamie said stepping back from the tree whilst trying to think of what a baby demon would look like.
“Oh, I would not worry they turned to stone a while back! A symptom of the unbalance between the forces of Chaos and Light.” Vanth explained sadly.
“That is sad!” Jamie commented. No being should be turned to stone and live out their lives in complete misery.
“Shouldn't we keep moving?” Fluff asked in a tone that let Jamie know that he still not quite forgiven her for the throw.
Jamie nodded and continued walking into the forest.
“Avoid the shadows, you don't want to step on a shadow Pixes’ home. They are nasty buggers and will happily curse you!” Fluff advised. Jamie quickly sidestepped a shadow, not sure if Fluff was joking or not.
After a couple of hours, Jamie sighed. They did not seem to make any progress and they also seemed to be completely lost. They had left the stone forest and were now in a bog that stunk. The water kept changing colour and consistency. One minute it was a black thick glue and then the next it was pink, glittery bubbles. The creatures were even stranger. Birds kept flapping then tumbling out of the air, the inspects walked backwards and the animals were a mixture of creatures. Jamie saw one creature with a foxtail, a bat's face and the body of a frog. When it spoke, it meowed like a cat, making Fluff very uncomfortable.
Jamie felt completely confused, her wild magic was excited and her elements could not make sense of it. “Maybe, we should have a break?” Jamie suggested.
“I would not have a break here if I were you! The carnivorous rabbits are particularly active at night!” An unfamiliar voice said.
Jamie turned and scanned the area, she could not see anyone or anything.
“I am up here!” the voice said and Jamie looked up into the branches of an old tree that looked like it was growing buttons instead of leaves. There she was a creature that could only be described as a mongoose. It had a long sleek body, that was light brown. Its head was narrow, like an otter with long whiskers. The creature's eyes were black and Jamie could see they held intelligence. The creature also has sharp claws and small needle-like teeth. It looked like it had just finished a snake-like creature.
“Hello?” Jamie said unsure. She had learned that nothing was as it seemed in this place.
“Hello?” the creature mimicked as it twisted its head upside down to take a better look at Jamie.
“Can you help us?” Jamie asked.
“I don't know, can I?” the creature asked.
“We are looking for the way to Adenaphia, do you know the way?” Jamie asked.
The creature laughed as it began to scratch its back against the tree trunk.
“Oh, so you are them! I should not be surprised….you smell positively revolting...so..full of goodness!” the creature said disapprovingly.
“You were waiting for us?” Jamie asked.
“By Chaos, you are a quick one, aren't you? Tell me do they write books about your intellectual prowess?” The creature retorted.
Jamie felt Vanth’s anger and let her take over. Jamie’s eyes turned back as Vanth’s voice said, “Enough! How dare you disrespect a Daughter of Light and a Lady of Chaos? You owe us your allegiance, you cretinous creature!”
The creature bowed its head and said, “Apologies Lady of Chaos, I did not realise I was in your presence! Of course, you have my allegiance!”
“And what is your name?” Vanth/Jamie asked.
“I am Rullarr Clurreek the third of Dragonstorm of the Ichneumon, but you may call me Tracker!” Tracker said.
“You're an Ichneumon?” Vanth said surprised. They were a rare race.
“For my sins!” Tracker said.
“Which I am sure there are many! Why are you here?” Vanth commented.
“Isn’t it obvious? I am here as your guide!” Tracker said.
Vanth grumbled as she let Jamie take over.
“A daughter of light and a Lady of chaos sharing a body! Who would have thought?” Tracker commented.
“No one asked for your insights! Now how do we get to that dam city!” Fluff snapped.
“Oh that is simple, if you want to get to Adenaphia you never will. The moment you don't, she will appear!” Tracker revealed.
“What?” Jamie asked
Jamie could almost hear the creature sigh before saying, “close your eyes and think of home!”
“Ok!” Jamie said as she closed her eyes. Her mind was instantly filled with memories of the Cat’s claw. Jamie saw Eric and Richard in her mind's eye and her heart filled with longing. Jamie didn't want to go to Adenaphia, she wanted to go home!
“Now, open!” Tracker said.
Jamie opened her eyes and gasped as she saw the outskirts of a city, brightly lit with lights.
“Welcome to Adenaphia!” Trackers said.
- Writer
