When Given a Lemon

Part 33

It’s a fair few minutes before I can conjure the strength needed to stand myself back up and brush the muck off. Lemon stands far away from me as they do the same, probably realizing any closer might be dangerous for them.

We take a little more time here to recover and have a few sips from our canteens while the others explore along the slippery bank. I haven’t seen very many fish yet but supposedly as the late winter finally thaws, the melting snow will fill the river then the fish will also return. I wonder if we will still be here to see it when it comes time.

When Merryl signals for us to move on, Denyel offers a hand to help me back up the slope, after noting my slow hobbling. Entirely grateful, I accept it before stepping up onto a strangely striated rock that reminds me more of driftwood than stone. As I put my weight on it I can tell even through my boot that it is also softer than the other stones in the area, giving a little under my weight. Before I have a chance to take another step forward or backward, I feel it start to shift then I plummet down through many layers of papery grey material, pulling Denyel part way in after me.

Screaming as I fall through the first few layers, the drop continually becomes more hampered by each following layer until my descent makes me feel like a giant smashing through a hundred-story fortress in slow motion. Which is still mildly horrifying since I have no idea what is below me or how far I will descend.

Denyel was somehow able to catch himself on something part way down, making my landing a little softer than it would have been, a fair ways below. I thank all the powers that be; getting squished by Lemon was more than enough. When I finally stop sinking I reach out to try and grab hold of something but the paper thin walls only crumble in my hands.

Climbing out does not seem to be an option it seems.

Any attempt I make only clogs up the air with more grey flakes and chalky powder no matter where I try to grab, which of course only sends me into coughing fits. The others, twice my height above us, call down to see if we are okay. I can’t see them through the grey plume, giving me the sense that I am trapped inside an angry cloud.

I hear Denyel shifting somewhere above and feel particles of grey matter sprinkling on me a moment later.

“Hey! Keenah?!” I can hear Merryl's voice, “are you down there? Can you hear me?”

“I think so?” I yell back up to them which sends me into another coughing fit.

“Can you see Denyel?” He yells down.

“No, -cough, cough- but I can hear him, above me!” Denyel only grunts as his hold on the papery wall disintegrates and he falls flat on top of me, destroying any chance of any of my replies still being true. I choke on air and paper dust that burns eyes and throats as it floats around us until it finally settles back down again. There’s no time for any reprieve though. The half destroyed walls surrounding us are starting to light up with the thrumming vibrations of many buzzing sounds.

A buzzball appears next to my ear, barely visible in my periphery. That's when I finally realize where we are.

We’ve fallen into one of their damn nests! 

In a moment like this, during the few seconds we have before the buzzing swarm will completely engulf us, -and really, it's amazing that it hasn't already- I wonder if playing dead will lessen the chances of my getting bitten or stung a million and a half times for crashing through and ruining their home. What a pathetic way to go after everything I have been through! To survive the attack of a titanic monster only to be done in by a swarm of puffballs just sounds so unfair!