In the depths of the jungle

Chapter twenty: A bold move

JAMES

We already ran several hours through the same chaotic jungle. I had never seen so many plant and animal species before, and Kira seemed to know them all. While I was with the saber on foot and struck through the undergrowth on the floor Kira jumped elegantly and catlike from branch to branch.

"How long did you say we need to the next village?" I looked up questioningly while I hit a big ferns bush in front of me to the side. She still easily jumped from branch to branch. She simply ignored me.

"For someone who lives here throughout his life, you should't you know the directions?" Suddenly she stopped and was ducking while walking a few steps. "What is...? "Shhhh..." she suddenly had spun around turned and I looked at her sharp canines. I slowly moved a few steps infront of her. When I pushed the farns aside I saw it: Three forest dwellers stood in a clearing and stood woke. Apparently, they were a kind of outpost. They had long bows and decorated daggers on her belt. It had to be warriors. "They are guardians of a village." she said sunding worried

"Then maybe they can help us?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. She looked at me like I was the stupidest person she had ever seen. She sight and answered: "Do you see their tattoos? I know their tribe and we had a dispute with them, for our own reasons. They hate humans more than me and that means something, believe me they will only negotiate with a dagger. If we surprise them we can win, but if not we are dead."

"Can't we go another way?" I was not really interested to pick a fight and being outnumbered. Suddenly one of the guards looked in our direction and said something in a language similar to Kiras that I couldn't understand. "They have heard us!" Kira said anxious. "They will alarm the others, if we kill them now no one will have proof." She said in a dark whisper. I still wasn't sure, to me it sounded a bit risky. "If you are too scared I'll take care of it."

What? Of course not! But the last time she was the one hidding out in a cave for days, and now that she was sure of herself again she jumped right into a fight. Great!

KIRA

I crept slowly around the clearing. Always keeping an eye on the guards of Kras'la clan. They were the ones that had sent Lamara. I felt a revolting feeling in my stomach but remembered that I once hindered Ramon from starting a war and I would not be the one doing so. This was simply self defense. I climed up a tree and stepped on a branch and took out my dagger. I slowly walked on and found myself directly above the heads of the guards. I just was just calculating the jump as suddenly James stepped elegant into the clearing. With a charming voice and a smile on his lips, he looked the warriors in the face.

"Good day the gentleman" with these words he drew his sword and went into a fencing attitude. They were shouting comands to each other. Simultaneously I jumped down the tree I had been sitting unseen, to have a watch on James. I took advantage of the confusion and ran with raised dagger down on the guard. My dagger struck through the neck of the warrior directly and buried itself deep into the neck and I threw him to the ground. I used his body as a damping and took the crunching dagger from the lifeless body. But suddenly I felt a heavy blow in the back. When I was spinning around my own axis. The warrior who struck me scratched across my belly with black claws. I fell to the ground. I could roll to the side and saw as a heavy dagger whizzed right next to where my head just was. I could barely gather again as the warrior pushed me right on my lungs. I just could manage to raise my arms to block at last the serious impact. It was exhausting, because he was quite strong. He suddenly struck across the inner of my mostly healed left arm and I could feel how the mental cut through my skin and my muscles. I screamed out in agony. His knife burned like hot iron on my skin. I gathered all my strength I had left and went for his throat but he blocked me with his right arm and I slilped but making it up by stabbing my dagger into his right hand where he held his. He let out a cry of pain and let go but was now even angrier and held the dagger in the other. He punched me several times with his bloody hand, but still hard enough that I could not see right anymore and there were black spots around my sight. I felt the blood dropping down. I looked in his face that was twisted in a mask of pain and rage. There was a sparkle in his eyes as he recognized that I was from an enemy tribe. He grinned evil and wanted to stake me, but suddenly he began to moan and something metallic shone out of his belly. From this spot, dark red blood dropped down slowly. With a final groan, his heavy corpse fell on me. With my good arm, I rolled the heavy body to side. And looked into the narrow face of James.

"While you and your boyfriend cuddled Ive done something meaningful." He smeared his bloody sword on a tree trunk and handed me his hand with this arrogant look. With my right arm I took it and with a jerk he pulled me to his side. "I think you should warn me about something like that in the future." But as I put one foot before the other, I was already back on my knees. "Damn he got me worse than I thought. I was exhausted and my body wanted to rest even when my brain cursed it for it. "Oh great, so may I carry you now or what?" He didn't even sounded annoyed more amused. "No, I can manage." But I couldnt. I lost quite much blood and my head was punding from the punches. James ripped a piece of fabric apart from his shirt, tied it around my arm to stop the bleeding, placed me on his back, and carried me on his back. "We certainly could not go all the way back so I had to think about another possibility. There was a little bigger cave that will get us quite close to the Chuckclan. " Do you think you are stong enough for a full day walk with me and the backpacks?" I asked not with a mocking voice how I inteded. " Sure. I can carry you all day my lady. " He said clearly enjoying himself. I would have liked to sink in ground. That I let me help to from a human of and such an arrogant too!

As we finally arrived in the cave, he put me down slowly and over played gentle. "Stop it!" I snapped "What? I just wanted to be nice". He said, with that arrogant smile that made sure he was lying. "If I could stand I would slap that stupid grin out of your face". I said angry. "But guess what? You aren't capable to do that. By the way you could thank me that I saved you." "Thank you, for saving me" I said overplayed grateful. He turned around and wanted to go out of the cave as I called: "Wait where are you going?" "Hunting, what else?" He answered. He smirked because he used the same words that I once said to him. "Or for what do you think I listened to my archer when he taught me how to shoot with the arrows?" "No, I have seen you shoot. You never shoot right; you always make them suffer, because you are too stupid to match the heart!" "This time I'll do it right, I promise, anyway what can you do against me?" I just growled. This discussion was senseless, of course he had to go hunting, if I liked it or not for me it was the last one. "And don't forget, to show me every plant and berry before you eat them" I yelled after him. "Don't worry, I will be careful" and with that he was out of sight. Even when I hated to admit it he was right, I had to get some rest.

But before doing so, I had to take care of my wounds. I grabbed my leather belt where my different pouches were dangling, inside herbs and plants used for healing. Firstly I rubbed some dried and grained red berries onto my wound. They were there to kill all more or less harmless poisons that entered the wound. After that I carefully dropped the yellowish flesh of some mashed fruits onto it. It was used to milder the pain. At last I placed my always helpful connecting leaves on my arm and on my belly where the scratches were still all to visible. But after some moments I still felt a stinging pain in my arm and the skin at my belly was itching. I also noticed that there was still blood dropping down where the leaves should have prevented it. There was something wrong, why did it not work? My herbs always worked! Always, except against something new. Those bastards have used some venom unknown to us. How did I not notice that? He even had to have it on his nails in order to keep the scratches from healing and I remembered his black painted claws. It must have been on them. Even though I panicked a little at the view of my herbs not workin I felt tired and my head was fuzzy. It got harder to hold my eyes open and the dizziness took over. I didn't really notice when I slowly slided down, and fell into a dreamless asleep.

JAMES

I went out of the cave and walked a few meters away I looked for the things Kira was always looking for. After half an eternity I finally got something. I saw little foot prints in front of me. I recognized them; this was some animal that was a mixture of a cat and a squirrel but a bit bigger. I had to be fast and quite. To my luck I saw it before it could see me. I put the arrow in the tendon, I had to be careful, I knew that she would see it when I didn't shoot through its heart, then she would be upset. I don't even know why I cared so much about her oppinon. Maybe because we are so much alike. Well I would help her to go wherer she wants to go and she helped me to get out of the jungle. And with that thought I let go. The animal stopped moving immediately. I walked slowly, just in case, but it was definitely dead. I put the arrow out of it and I carried it over my shoulder.