Angelsson

Chapter: XVII

I looked back. The men weren't very far behind, but they were still on our trail.

"When are they going to give up?" I said under my breath.

The mountain looked like it was as big as a hill, which meant we were far from the mountain. The sand was still red, but it looked like it was going to get a yellow tint soon. That meant we were maybe 10 miles from the mountain. Thankfully, the desert was only 400 miles. That meant that at the speed we were going, we would get to the end of the desert in a few more days. If we survive.

The desert was filled with many poisonous animals, snakes mostly. And there also were many robbers. If we didn't get hit by the robbers, we will most likely be hit by the animals. There also were many random sinkholes, which can kill you more easily than the snakes. They pop up at random moments, making them almost impossible to escape.

I saw it before it saw me. I jumped up, willed myself to crash into the ground, and killed the snake. A small hiss escaped the moment I hit it.

"And a horrible day to you too." I said back to it.

"What?"

"Just playing with a snake." I said to Penelope.

"Men." she muttered.

I pretended not to hear her.

Soon, we got to the rocky part of the desert. The rocks are from what remained from a huge explosion that happened long ago. It tore up the ground, pushing rocks to the surface. Where the rocks once were, were empty spaces. The empty spaces have to be filled, so rocks and sand will randomly fill in the spaces. That is what causes the sinkholes. But, yet again, they are random.

I jumped over a rock, and did a handspring over another. I scampered up a rock, the slid down the other side of it. When I was about halfway down the side of the rock, I pushed myself off the side. I flew through the air, and landed on another snake. I did a frog leap over another rock, grunting when I hit the ground.

I spun around, and I looked over to Penelope. She was faring...quite well. She was not doing parkour, but she was getting over the rocks. She flew over a rock, and landed right next to a snake.

"Ekans eht llik." I muttered.

The snake went limp. I did a quick nod, then continued.

When the sun was almost down, we stopped. I looked around, and noticed that the demons that were chasing us were gone. I nodded, and sat down. I noticed that Penelope was breathing hard.

"What, never ran 50 miles nonstop?" I asked her.

"No." she said, wheezing.

"Ah. Well, get used to it, because we will be going through the same routine for a few days." I said, getting up, and dusting myself off.

"What, have you done it?" asked Penelope.

"Yea. Twice," I said, looking around. "But never mind that, we need to make camp."

Penelope nodded, and crouched down. She dug a small hole in the ground, and muttered a something in the forgotten language. The small dip in the ground began to fill up with water. Penelope cupped her hands, and began to drink the water.

"Hold it, hold it. We're not going to waste water." I said, walking over to her.

"What?"

"I said that we're not going to waste it. We only drink before we sleep, because you just used up all the water for a mile around."

"Oh...uh...I didn't know that." She said, hesitating to take another drink.

"Yea. Now, fill that pool up, and start looking for a place to make camp. If we don't make camp soon, we never will."

She nodded, filled the hole in the ground back up with sand, and stood. I turned around, and I started to look around. I was looking for a place where the rocks formed a bowl, and dead grass might be. If there wasn't any dead grass around, I would just gather some while I looked. It took a while, but I found a good spot. I put the dead grass down, and I sat down. I started to make the fire.

When I finished with the fire, I noticed that Penelope wasn't around. I sighed, and muttered something in the forgotten language. A frame in the ground appeared, and the ground inside the frame started to wave like water. It soon became solid, and showed Penelope. I spun around, and muttered, "My god."

"WHAT THE HELL????" yelled Penelope at me.

She was doing her business in a bush.

Not turning around, I said, "Well, how would I know that you were doing your business? Where the heck are you anyways?"

"If you stop the spell, I could tell you!"

"How would that help?"

"DO IT!"

I muttered something, then stopped the spell. The frame in the ground dissolved, along with the image of Penelope. I turned around, and waited. I heard a yell, which sounded like Penelope.

"So there you are." I said.

I got up, and yelled into the sky. "I'M RIGHT HERE!"

I heard a response, which sounded like Penelope. Again. I waited, and soon, Penelope's shape formed in the darkness. She dropped down into the campsite, not saying a word.

"Sorry." I said with a little bit of attitude.

"It's ok." muttered Penelope.

"So...did you find anything?" I asked.

"Yea. There is a camp of robbers a mile north from here."

I nodded, and said, "Wait here, I'm got to get something for us to eat."

"Na-ah, mister Angelsson. I know what you're going to do. And I won't allow it."

"Oh? And what exactly am I going to do?"

"You're going to go south, then when I can't see you, you're going to go around the camp, and go and fetch us some food from the robbers." said Penelope, with her hands on her hips.

"I'm not going to do that!" I paused, the said, "Ok, maybe, but still, we need food."

"Why don't you just hunt?"

I turned my back to her, and thought. She obviously doesn't want me to go over there for a reason, so I will just have to wait until morning. Or, I could just tell Penelope to go get fire wood, and while she is gone, I could go to the place. But then again, she might follow me.

Without turning around, I said, "Ok, fine, I'll hunt, but don't try to follow me."

She nodded, and I set off.