The Adventure of Fel

chapter fifteen

       I keep my crystal in Amories' jar for safekeeping. It doesn't take long for us to reach the forest again – from there, I have a new idea.

       "I refuse to wander around like a headless forest dragon," I say, throwing my bag over both shoulders. I throw one leg over a lower branch of a tree so tall I can't see the top and begin to climb, muscles straining. The cats fly by me, making use of their nimble paws. I imagine I have a tail like theirs and attempt to move faster, though I rest my foot for around a minute on each branch before putting my entire weight on it, afraid of falling at every step.

       It takes around thirty minutes just to climb the tree, and my arms are burning by the time we reach the top.

       "I'm gonna be ripped," I pant as I reach the last branch. Gwen is bathing herself calmly, Leo wearing an expression of boredom. I stretch my neck over the leafy cover and am relieved by a cool breeze. I lift my hair off of the back of my neck and take in the view – mostly just green treetops cut off by a sharp blue sky. I take out my map, keeping a death grip on the nearest branch.

       "We're going to the beach, right?" Gwen asks. I nod, leaning down a bit. I point to Erin's cove, the most famous port in all of Burr. On the map it doesn't look that far, but I now know that an inch on paper can be around a week in real life.

       "I've always wanted to go to the beach," Gwen says.

       "Really?"

       "Yeah. It reminds me of home."

       "Really?"

       "Yeah."

       "So...where are you from?"

       "Fel."

       "Sorry."

       Damn. I guess I thought that since she brought it up...

       "That way," I say, changing the subject and pointing South. "Ready, guys?"

       I'm met with silence.

       "Guys?" I look down, only to see the last of Leo's tail as they leave me in the dust.

       The next three days are long ones. It's easy to see the point of your journey when you're staying in invisible palaces or getting attacked by orangutans, but it's a bit harder when you're just walking for eight hours a day. The most entertaining parts of the next half a week are the food breaks we take and the time Gwen gets scared by a snake. I like the evenings, as well, when I sit, back to bark, and write. I'm a bit worried I'm going to run out of pages in my notebook; I've never written so much and so frequently before. 

        Yet sometimes, when my legs are burning and the sun's too bright and I stumble on a twig, I want to stop. I've seen enough, and doubts start to creep in.

       But Leo is so, so happy.

       I see it in the way he prances and trots everywhere, in the alertness of his ears and upwards turn of his mouth.

       I think Gwen is happy, too. Though she keeps us on track and keeps a weary air about her, sometimes, before we go to bed, I creak open my eyes and see her staring off into the forest, eyes closed and pink nose in the air as if the trees are whispering to her.

       Nonetheless, the days are quieter, our faces more tired yet determined. Until our fourth day, that is.

       "OHHH I CAN HEAR IT! I! CAN! HEAR! IT!"