Chosen: The Legend of Saqui

BOOK II CHAPTER III

CHAPTER III - THE FOREST OF ISTU

As dawn broke, they left Sayarumi. They crossed the Llanqui Bridge over the Sinche River.

As they were traveling, however, there was tension among the group.

Sapay held a grudge against Maicu. While Maicu was not the one who did it, the Tobbi killed Sapay's brother as the Patamon retook their city. In fact, he was nowhere near Yottoko.

Sapay did not trust anyone from the Tobbi. If one would kill his family, he thought, all of them would. He kept his distance from Maicu and refused to even make eye contact with him.

A few hours later, they reached the Forest of Istu. The trees seemed to reach as high as the sky. In any direction you looked, all you saw were trees.

"Be careful," Saqui reminded them. "We do not know what lies ahead of us. Kayode, keep alert."

Just a few steps into the forest and it was hard to see. Even at noon, it was as black as night. You could barely see your hand in front of your face.

There was no trail forged for them. This forest had seen very few visitors in its days.

They knew the forest would take at least a day to cross, so they were in no hurry to get to the end.

Suddenly, one of them heard a rustling in the bushes. Kayode had already been sensing the area, but Saqui also started sensing.

They were able to tell it was a pack of hungry naimu, an animal similar to a wild Rottweiler. They were vicious when they smelled blood.

When Saqui told the others, they got their weapons ready in case they pounced.

They kept walking through the forest. The naimu followed but did not attack. Out of nowhere, a bird flew by. Ayme panicked and killed it with the face of her ax.

That was all the naimu needed. Five of them leapt from the bushes. Ayme killed one with her ax. Gosheven killed another with an arrow in the head. Saqui killed one with her dagger. The other two ran off scared.

Since it was close to dinner, they set up camp there for the night and would finish their crossing in the morning. Sapay used a knife to skin one of the naimu. They built a fire and cooked it for dinner.

As they were eating, they started sharing stories about some of their attributes.

"I am the fastest one in my tribe," Utatci said. "We had a race to the Grand Central Palace and back. I won by several minutes."

"I once killed a black kosot with but a single swing of my mighty hammer," Maicu said. "That is the biggest, toughest beast in our region. No one had ever done that before."

A kosot is an animal similar to a bear, only bigger. The black kosot is like the grizzly bear, the most ferocious of the species. It stood thirteen feet tall on its hind legs. Its teeth were like four-inch spikes, and its claws were like six-inch hooks.

Ayme shared some memories of the Chosen One's home village, including some of her as a child.

Rather than brag about his exploits, Gosheven shared the story about how he fought alongside Saqui as they reclaimed Olujimi from Prince Amaru. Sapay told a similar story about fighting with Saqui to rid Yottoko of the Tobbi.

For the first time since the quest began, he stared directly at Maicu. "That was the battle that killed my only brother. Since then, I have never and will never trust a Tobbi."

"I was not there when that took place. In fact, I personally disagreed with Amaru's beliefs and refused to join his army. And I was punished for that."

As the conversation started to heat up, Kayode interrupted. "Will you tell us how you defeated the dark king?"

Saqui proceeded to tell the story of how she fought Amaru. She started from the beginning, when she learned her destiny and her training. Then, she turned to Sapay.

"I lost my best friend, my only friend at the time, to Amaru. That coward stabbed him in the back. But I know all Tobbi are not like him. We all lost people we know in that war. Do not dwell on the past. Look to the future."

After dinner, they chose to go to sleep. They wanted as early a start as they could get. Gosheven flew up and slept on a tree limb, as he was accustomed to a similar bed back home. The rest slept on the ground.

It did not take long for them to fall asleep, especially given how dark it was.

What they did not know was there was another threat looming. As Gosheven lay asleep in the tree, vines began encircling his body. His legs, his torso, his neck. By the time he was aware, it was too late.

The vines began squeezing him against the branch. He tried to scream, but he was unable. He could not reach his weapon. It was not long before the vines had crushed him and killed him.

Vines slowly began to crawl across the ground to do the same to the other five. One of them brushed against Maicu's leg. Now, he was not a light sleeper. In fact, it usually took a long time for him to fall into a deep sleep.

When he felt the vine, his eyes opened. He could not see much, but he could make out movement.

"Wake up!" he shouted. "Wake up!"

"What is it, Maicu?" Utatci asked.

"There is something here with us," he answered. "I cannot see it, but I know it is there."

Saqui used her sensing to determine that it was the vines.

"Vines," she said. "The vines are alive."

They began swinging their sharp weapons at the ground to chop them up. When they heard the rustling stop, they put away their weapons.

"Where is Gosheven?" Sapay asked.

Kayode used her sensing. Her head dropped when she realized that the vines had killed him. The rest followed when she told them the news.

"All right, one of us must keep watch for the rest of the night, in case the vines return," Saqui ordered. "I will take first watch, followed by Kayode."

The rest of the night went without incident. As dawn broke, (granted, you could not tell in the dark of the forest), they packed their gear and proceeded through the forest.

They were sad to leave their comrade behind. Still, Saqui flew up to grab his weapon. Since she could not shoot a bow straight, she gave it to Kayode, who could.

As the sun reached its highest point, they emerged from the forest. It was only a short walk from there to the Valley of Jolon.