Pebble twisted around in the claws of the hawk. She stopped when the hawk's grip became tighter.
She looked to the ground. That was the only place she felt safe and she was high above it. A grove of trees came into sight and she noticed that they were all hawthorn trees.
A forest of hawthorn? Pebble thought to herself. She looked closer and realized that they were all a perfect circle of trees, with pathways around them. On the top were a bunch of thorny vines.
The hawk suddenly dove down to a group of animals. I recognized a Honey Badger, a Striped Hyena, and a few birds. The hawk hovered above them.
"Got another one." He told them. "Caught her spying."
"Well we wouldn't want that," the Honey Badger started laughing.
"Which one do I put her in?" The hawk asked.
"Go talk to the termites." A bird squawked.
A group of termites was patrolling around the group of trees. They were like the ones Pebble saw earlier. They towered above her. They were the size of the average fox.
The hawk flew over to them and said, "prison cell for this small cat."
A termite nodded its head and marched over to a tree. It stuck its pincers around a hawthorn tree and snapped the tree. It quickly ran about four feet away and the other termites rushed in and dragged the tree away.
There was a rumbling sound and some trees sprouted around the stump. They didn't stop growing and they reached as tall as the previous tree.
The hawk flew over to a termite and it grabbed Pebble in its pincers and started to climb up the trees. It reached the top and climbed in. Pebble struggled against the termite but couldn't get free.
Before it reached the ground it dropped her. She landed with a thump and pain raced up her right leg and up into her tail.
The termite climbed out and some vines started to grow across the top of her prison cell. They grew at a fast speed.
Pebble got up and put some weight on her right paw. Some fresh pain shot through her and she had to lie down again.
How will I get out of here? Pebble asked herself
YOU ARE READING
The Shattered Plains (Aphrika #1)
FantasySet in a re-imagined Africa, The Shattered Plains follows Pebble and Splash during a war that divides their country. The two cats make their way through alliances and battles as they try to return order to Aphrika.
