The Cinders of Dezu

10th: Firus the Great (4)

Julian nodded very very slowly. Talia backed up and followed Cairo up the tree. He was in the canopy now hugging the trunk of the upright tree blocked by branches and leaves but he could still see his friend sitting on the stone, stiff as a board. Talia came up silently and crouched on the branch next to him.

"What's going-"

She shot him a look again with her fingers to her lips. He could tell her teeth were gritted through her closed mouth. He couldn't imagine what could be so wrong.

It wasn't long before Firus came through the trees. He stopped with a skid due to his superior speed, clearly caught off guard by his quarry simply sitting in front of him. Julian looked into his wary eyes but said nothing. Firus smiled.

"A trap? How'd she pull that off? There was no time."

He spun around as he looked up into the trees.

"You here, Tally?!" he called out, "You didn't have time! It can't be very good!"

Julian's mind was racing. What was her plan here? He was looking around at the trees and the clearing, trying to see what she'd seemed so concerned about. He looked at the floor and saw a slight indentation right in front of him that he had not yet noticed. From the trees, Cairo watched Firus pace. At the same moment as Julian, Cairo noticed the same indentation. From his higher vantage point, it looked like the roots of a tree. But they were...  different somehow. They were shaped oddly. Two were right next to each other, almost like... lips.

Cairo's eyes widened as he started make out a shape on the ground he hadn't seen before. Julian saw two thin holes in the ground. It looked like there was movement there. Ever so slight. Maybe his eyes were deceiving him. Were they widening?

Firus scoffed as he continued to look around.

"You know I'm not falling for this..."

He spun around with a stomp of his foot as if to catch someone coming up behind him.

"Right, little girl?!"

Julian slowly moved his gaze over to the other boulder to his right. It methodically began to peel. Cairo could see it all from his spot in the tree. That was no boulder. Julian watched as it snapped open to reveal a veiny eyeball with a neon yellow iris and a deep black pupil roll around like a giant wet marble. It suddenly stopped, its focus narrowly on Julian.

Branches cracked as Talia emerged from the canopy. Firus turned around and looked up to see her tightly gripping a vine with her other hand outstretched as she fell from the trees. Julian leapt to his feet as his seat transformed into another blazing yellow marble. His arm caught hers as she hoisted him up in the air. Firus noticed too late what was happening. He looked down at his feet to see that what had looked like tree roots before, sprouted teeth. In an instant, massive jaws had engulfed him in darkness.