Disarm Evil

Chapter 6: Caution

Miya sets us down in the spot least plagued with hazardous foliage. While most plants cannot live at these depths, given the minimal sunlight and polluted water, the mutant plantlife of wormwood islands eerily thrives. If they were the sort of plant life to spread, no place would be safe. Fortunately, the plants cannot survive apart from the islands on which they grow. The island is their source of life, and they defend it viciously.

I remove my mask so that I can see a bit better and fetch a brown knit cap I knitted from the bag buckled to my upper leg. I have a great multitude of caps like it. Knitting is one of the many crafty hobbies I circulate between as a way to distract my mind when my thoughts get too negative or intimidating.

I use the cap to further contain my near-black curly hair, which had already been tied behind my head. Wormwood islands are no place for long hair or loose clothing. Miya folds up ver wings into tight packages close to ver back as best ve can. Fortunately, a yetu can fold their wings down to about the size of an adult's back, which is bigger than my back. Despite being twenty-six salaries old, I measure in at four ingots and a purse and weigh ninety purses, which would be annoyingly small if it were not necessary for my role as a Rirmevu. Where most atu or bitu average six ingots in height and weigh an average of one hundred and eighty purses, those bipeds who work as part of a Rirmevu duo must be of small stature for the average-sized yetu to lift their weight. If I were much bigger, Miya wouldn't be able to fly very well while holding me. Still, being short comes with its challenges.

"Alright, duck into this small pathway. I think it's a path cleared out by foselitu. But don't worry. They are not between us and our prize. Just keep straight, and I'll tell you when to stop."

I crawl along this narrow path, occasionally raising my body ever so slightly to avoid the deadly shock of a scarlet root.

Suddenly, my hand grasps something soft... with fur and feathers.

A shiver shoots through my body as I fight the urge to jerk my hand away and recklessly crawl back.

Initial panic gives way to anger at Miya for not telling me I was about to grab a foselitu, which quickly fades as it dawns on me that the foselitu is not trying to bite me or fly away. I peer closer at the small creature, barely visible against the charred ground. Striking blue feathers cling loosely to its wings, and the black fur along its body is patchy. Its mouth hangs open, fangs lifelessly bared, and eyes staring widely at nothing. While yetu have an uncanny ability to tap into the fabric of creation to detect and assess life forms from great distances, their ability to detect non-living things is very "nearsighted," so to speak, given that they don't have eyes.

There, shriveled up on the foselitu's back, a mere finger width from my hand, a blue flower petal.

"Why the sudden stop?" Miya asks nervously. "You feel tense... Are you ok?"

"Yeah," I squeak out as I slowly retract my hand from the dead foselitu and turn my gaze upward.

There, maybe a hand above us, I catch sight of some dreaded little flowers.

"Why didn't you tell me about the blulips?" I ask.

"They are like a hand above us," ve responds defensively. "There are two dozen hazards just over a hand from us. I cannot tell you about every one of them; it wouldn't be practical. The best I can do for you is tell you where to go."

"I know." I take a deep breath to calm down. "In the future, if there are any hazards above us that might drop, say, a lung-collapsing flower petal down on my head or your back, tell me."

Silence hangs in the air for a moment while Miya processes. "Oh... Ohhh..." ver grip on me tightens as I imagine the dread of realization is washing over ver. "Sorry."