Pursuer (Alwahi Series) (3 page)

Zanas was taking another cool drink of water, when she heard the scream, and immediately knew that it was the woman that had come with them. She scolded herself for not keeping a better eye on her, as they rushed back the way they had come.

The woman was standing in the middle of the crop of plants. One of the open mouths, for it was now clear that the flower
was
an open mouth, had closed on her body, the long razor ends piercing into her chest. As they watched, the top of the plant closed, joining together, entombing a pair of terrified eyes, and a mouth that gurgled blood.

Zanas sprang into action, picking up a jagged rock lying nearby, and hacking the thick stem of the plant until she severed its hold on the earth. The woman and plant collapsed, and in death, the plant slowly wilted and released its hold. They stared down in horror. The woman had been stabbed numerous times by the barbed ends, piercing her fragile body in critical areas. From the paralyzed response of its prey, Zanas would guess that the plant released some kind of neurotoxin into its victims to keep them from escaping. She also hoped that it numbed the pain, as the young woman’s eyes glazed over, and faded out.

She remembered now where she had seen a plant like this before. In her science class, a small predator that survived off flesh,
Dionaea muscipula
, also known as the Venus Fly Trap. This seemed like some sort of mutation of that plant.

Thomas stood off to the side, his eyes wide and frozen. Zanas could read the panic on his face. She noticed one of the plants behind him start to slowly descend its mouth, the sharp thorny teeth reaching forward. Zanas grabbed Thomas and yanked him out of the center, trying to make their way out of the gathering of flesh eaters, Asenya following closely behind. They broke through the perimeter, and Thomas collapsed to the ground panting and gasping for air. As they turned back, they watched as the plants gave one last shudder, before returning to their immobile pose, forever reaching.

Zanas felt a soft misty vapor that quickly turned to a pouring torrent of rain. They were immediately soaking wet and found it hard to breathe with so much water floating around them. Through the haze, Zanas noticed a hollowed tree. She pulled her companions into the empty giant, and they huddled together, shivering.

“
What just happened?” Thomas stammered. Both Zanas and Asenya shook their heads, neither had an answer for the frightened boy.

… … …

The rain continued for what seemed like hours. Zanas sat watching the deluge of water as it poured past the entranceway to the tree. Thankfully, it was placed on an angle, or they would be soaking in water by now. She glanced at Asenya and Thomas, who were both asleep. Lightning flashed in the center of the sky, illuminating the tree and sending a brilliant bolt of excitement through Zanas. The smell of wet earth entered her nostrils, and she felt as though she could smell the very essence of the forest, alive with pure freedom, as though it were calling to her. She took one last look at Asenya and Thomas, and she sprinted out into the forest.

Zanas ran as though she was in the forest of her home. However, this was not her home. The trees there had been tame, shadows of their former selves, molded to the interpretation of man. No such thing had been done here. This was a wild and unaltered land Zanas pounded her bare feet into. She did not know where she was running, only that she moved and streamed along the green leafy paths. Zanas came into a meadow and came to a halt, scanning her surroundings. And then she saw it.

Its small head resembled a deer. She noted that it had no horns or sharp weapons of any kind. Only soft flesh, as it nibbled at the soaking grass. It took deep breaths, breathing out in a cloudy fog. The animal stamped one hooved foot into the ground, catching sight of her. Zanas felt a spring unwind inside her, and she sprang at the animal, her body stretching forward, landing on the creatures back. She wrapped her arms around the animal’s neck and squeezed with all her might. They lay there in the mud, the pouring rain bouncing all around them. A low growl erupted from Zanas’s throat and with one final jerk, she snapped the creature’s neck.

Zanas sat there stunned for a moment, her hands in her lap, small drops of blood staining them. She had never killed anything in her life, she had never even intended to hurt the deer like creature, it had been
uncontrollable
. Zanas didn’t know how she felt about this. Part of her was horrified; she had killed an animal with her bare hands. Yet, another part of her was still filled with the adrenaline that coursed through the veins of a predator stalking prey.

She picked up the animal, heading towards Thomas and her sister. Yet again, she had no way of explaining how she knew she was going the right way, she just
knew
. Before long, Zanas could see the hollowed tree in the distance. Thomas and Asenya were talking as she walked in, their words coming to an abrupt halt as they saw the animal.

“
It’s not very big,” Zanas explained. “But it’s something.” She placed the animal inside and sat down. She was wet, but her body was burning up from the inside out, as if she were getting sick. But she didn’t feel sick. In fact, she felt wonderful, strong, and full of life.

Zanas dozed off when a sound startled her. She immediately noticed the rain had stopped, and it was late into the night. Then she heard it again, a soft echoing sound, a seeking voice answered by others. She stepped out of the tree and into the forest.

At first, Zanas thought she was imagining it. Purple lights floating and dipping in the air, a beautiful airborne ballet. The purple was so vibrant it seemed almost to be neon colored. In the pitch black of the night the color made her eyes ache. She stared at this floating vision with eyes wide. The center light came into view.

A soft buzzing filled the air, as its paper-thin wings flapped rapidly. The body of the creature was sparkling incandescently, as it hovered near her face. She leaned forward to view its shimmering body, and with one fierce dive, it jabbed her in the arm with a sharp barb. Zanas let out a small cry and smacked it into her arm, its juices squishing, leaving an opalescent trail. She heard stirring behind her and knew that she had awoken Asenya and Thomas. Zanas was extremely glad for this, as the rest of the purple darts came heading their way.

For all their beauty, the insects were not very smart or very coordinated. They were able to smack them inflight easily, and were only stung a handful of times. They stood there staring at each other, the bugs splattered everywhere, like a gory battlefield. But instead of blood, a purple incandescent fluid had scattered ubiquitously. All three of them were covered, streaks and splatters across their clothes, every one a star filled lightshow, floating in the canvas of the night.

Pieces of the insects had exploded on anything close by; the leafy trees surrounding them had splashes of color strewn across their bodies. They had moved along the ground, creating streaked trails of neon. However, these were not the only things that were beginning to glow. What had looked like sticks moments before, began to uncurl into luminous colored flowers. Their shades colored the forest with their beauty; dark burgundy, deep hunter green, and sapphire blues. The flowers gently opened and closed their petals, as if drinking in the night. Before the flying insects, the night had been filled with darkness. Now, it was lit up with a thousand twinkling lights.

No one dared go near the flowers to get a closer look at their beauty; they all remembered the plant that had tried to eat the woman earlier. There seemed something sinister in the way the petals opened and closed in a tantalizing way. They took turns sleeping, each one of them staring out in awe at the glorious world they had been dropped into from the heavens.

They left immediately at first light, and had no problem finding their way, once the rain had stopped. Before long, they could smell the sweet ocean breeze and then they saw the beach. A small hut had been built near the edge of the trees, and a fire was blazing in a bed of rocks. The small group of survivors was happy to see the meat that Zanas brought and they immediately set to deciding how best to cook it.

Zanas took a seat near the fire. Thomas described the night’s episodes relaying the gloomy news of the death of the woman. It seemed sad that no one could recall her name, and that she died on this mysterious island, nameless and unburied. Those in the hut described similar sightings from the sea. They claimed they had never seen so many aquatic creatures, illuminated beneath the waters. None of them had dared to enter into the depths. After the scene from the woods, Zanas was thankful they had not.

The deer like creature had rather tasty meat, and they were all thankful for food in their bellies. After they had finished eating, they decided that Zanas would lead them to the cove so that they could collect water. Some of them had had nothing to drink since the day before.

They followed quietly through the forest as Zanas led them. She kept her ears out for movement in the forest, scanning constantly for any sign of danger ahead. Although the survivors found the forest beautiful, they walked through it solemnly, reminded of the life it had already claimed.

They made it to the crop of flesh eaters, Zanas pointing them out, as they passed them by in silence. It was almost as though they felt that any slightest sound they made would bring the deadly foliage to life, but the plants remained in their still poses. The group ventured farther, until they were within view of the misty waterfall.

The waterfall was just as beautiful as it had been when Zanas had first seen it, the cascading water flowing down the turns of rock. The group let out a collective sigh, water had never looked more inviting, and they rushed out into the serene pool.

Zanas watched as the survivors swam around, a soft laughter echoing back towards her. She could almost believe that she was on vacation, and her parents were just around the corner, perhaps trying to get signals for their electronic devices.

The thought of her parents brought a lump to her throat that she felt unable to swallow. A burning started behind her eyes and she shook her head, there was no room for weakness right now; she had to focus on keeping herself and Asenya alive. Her parents would want that most of all. They had never done anything but try to make sure the girls had the best lives possible. In their memory, Zanas would keep them alive.

She searched for her sister and found Asenya’s eyes staring back at her. Asenya was seated on a rock, her long flowing hair trailing in the water. She was still beautiful, even with her makeup long since washed off, her black dress torn. If anything, the wild look made her seem even more beautiful. Asenya gave her a slight smile, trailing the surface of the water with her hands.

Zanas narrowed her eyes at the forest around her. She heard something.
No
, she thought,
that was not possible.
The waterfall was making far too much noise for her to hear anything. But there it was again. She “heard” the soft swishing of a foot stepping through a leafy bush, bare toes squishing in the mud. Zanas concentrated, her brow wrinkling, as she heard others moving almost silently through the forest. She glanced back at the trail leading to the cove and saw them coming, two by two.

They were fierce and tall, their muscular bodies stretching and tensing as they walked. She watched as a woman approached, her hair braided in multiple black ropes, twisting and turning as she moved. They wore very little clothing, the men simply wore a breechcloth, and the women a short, form fitting dress that hung over one shoulder.

The strange woman stood in front of Zanas, wearing a necklace of small bones, and she found herself wondering what animal they had come from. She also found herself staring at the woman’s face, tracing the outline of the tattooed pattern with her eyes. A bow was slung over the woman’s shoulder and she held a small staff in her hand, a razor sharp blade erupting from the top. Zanas could imagine this weapon smashing into its prey. She had never seen such a wild, fierce looking woman.

The woman began to speak a strange language that none of them had ever heard before. They replied by shaking their heads, waiting for the woman to understand that they did not comprehend what she was saying. The woman spoke to her companions for a moment, the rapid purring nature of the words soothing to Zanas’s ears. The natives appeared to come to some sort of conclusion, and the black haired woman, who seemed to be their leader, motioned that they were to follow.

The survivors looked at each other. They were in a strange new world, surrounded by fierce looking warriors with barbaric looking weapons, and they were being told to follow. Where, they did not know, but deep down they all knew that in reality, they had no choice but to comply. Therefore, they matched their steps to those of the warriors.