The Ten Clans Chronicles

Chapter 6: Forest Ambush

"Oooh, me poor back's achin'," moaned Rittersly, arching his back and rubbing down it as far as he could reach with both paws. Finally, he felt his spine crack and heard the pop as the bones worked themselves into more comfortable positions. "I musta slep' onna rock all night."

"Oh yeah?" Kero shot back with the irritation that grated on his nerves. He glared at his shorter companion with tired, red-rimmed eyes. "There musta been a moun'ain unner me. C'mon, le's get a move on. The sooner we gets outer this stinkin' swelterin' furnice the better!"

Rittersly could not argue with that, so he joined his tall companion in hastily packing up their little makeshift camp. They'd even managed a fire, though they had barely managed to light and keep alive the night before. At least they'd found dead plants and a few withered shrubs to feed the flames with.

After a harsh night of cold, stinging winds, the travelers were uncomfortable, irritable, and chilled to the bone so much so that they were almost glad when the sun brought back its merciless scorching heat. Almost.

Soon, most of the campsite had been transformed into two sloppy rolls, which the two rats slung over their shoulders along with the empty haversacks that had previously held their pitiful supply of victuals. They hurried onward down their chosen path without bothering even to kick sand over the remains of the fire.

The pair of picarats trudged side-by-side on aching hindpaws through the sand, barely noticing when the white-sanded dunes gave way to more genteel rolling hills of firmer sand as the land began to flatten out. To one side, the tall pointed white peaks gleamed proudly against the hazy blue sky, towering over the lands of early morning grey and shadowed gold.

Kero glanced up at the blinding, snow-capped peaks with the hour old sun already glaring at him from his left. Eventually, the hills of sand gave way to smaller hills grained with little tufts of dry green shrubs that rolled gently on their right. The Great Mountains ringed the flatlands, a gargantuan stony feline lounging in the sun.

As Kero lowered his gaze to take in something that was directly ahead of them, his eyes widened in relief. "Ritters, look!" he whispered.

Ritters did look.

In the midst of this dry desert landscape, Kero had spotted a hopeful patch of green. He became so excited that he did not utter any further exclamations. He took off in a headlong dash towards it. bounding away like a startled hare.

Ritters looked up after his companion, puzzled by his behavior and fearful that he was being left behind. "Kero!!! Where're y' goin'?!" he shrieked. "Hey, wait fer me!" Ritters ran frantically to catch up with Kero.

As they both ran towards that green patch, a pair of cold black reptilian eyes watched their backs unblinkingly from its perch on a large flat rock. The pink forked tongue darted in and out swiftly. Then, the lizard scurried away, circling broad in the same direction that the rats were travelling, giving them a wide berth as it bypassed them.

***

A young meerkat stood in a clear stream that bordered the thicker woodlands. The water was so perfect and crystalline that the smooth pebbles littering the bottom of the creek bed could easily be seen beneath the small, rippling silvery expanses of flowing water. The creature relaxed, allowing the welcomed coolness to swirl about her waist. She dipped her paws into the sparkling river water, cupping and slackening them repeatedly underneath the gentle current, fully enjoying the soothing sensation as it ran around her long flexible digging claws.

Shades of glittering green and gold grasses swayed in the slight early nighttime breezes that mixed the coolness of the oncoming night with the warmth that remained from the waning summer day of the Desert Terrains. Everything around her now had transformed into a sea swathed in the red light from the dying paws of dusk as the indigo and purple-grey blanket of night descended meekly on the land.