Sword of the Stars Part 15
The Wetlands
The days wore on until they reached the wetlands of Shakra. The marsh was humid, and surrounded by a forest filled with strange plants. Birds and other animals could be heard scurrying about.
Quatre would have marveled at the beauty of the wetlands had he not known what they really were dangerous. From what his uncle had told him, Shakra was virtually uninhabited. A couple of villages lay to the north, near the border, but no one dared to try living below that. There were dangerous things living in the marshes of Shakra, which made it an ideal place to keep one of the Orbs safe.
He stole a glance at his friends. Yohan, behind him, was calmly taking in the scenery. Wufei was looking around anxiously, and Duo looked a little hesitant. Duo hadn't said much since the day they'd left Sophia's house. He knew what he was thinking about, though. He tried to imagine what she would do if he'd been told to fight Wufei. He'd probably feel the same way as Duo did right now.
Quatre decided to break the silence. "Well, what now?"
"The Orb," Yohan replied. "It is being kept in the middle of the wetlands, deep within that forest."
Quatre winced. He didn't want to go in there. With a sigh, he motioned for Duo to take the lead. He shrugged and brought Cloud to a walk, steering the horse along the swamp-surrounded pathways. Quatre reined Bolt in behind him.
They'd been walking for several minutes when Wufei gave a start and gasped. "Did you see that?"
Everyone stopped. Quatre looked around. "See what? What is it, Wufei?"
The Cleric shook his head. "I'm not sure, but the grass was moving. It was almost as if something was coming toward us. It looked kind of like a--there! There it is!"
Quatre turned to where Wufei pointed. Six dark green shapes emerged from the water. Quatre gasped and almost fell off of Bolt. They were disgusting; with scaly skin; long, lanky limbs; big, round eyes; and large heads. They looked like... like giant amphibians.
Duo saw the resemblance, too. "Are those giant *frogs*?"
Yohan slid off Bolt. "These are probably part of the reason Shakrans never came to live down here."
Quatre jumped down from Bolt and took his staff. He handed the horse's reins to Wufei as Duo unsheathed his katana and leapt out of the saddle. Wufei heeled Cloud forward, safely out of the way.
The frogs, in the meantime, had made their way to shore and were now flicking their long tongues at Quatre and the others. Quatre groaned under his breath. He hated frogs when they were small, let alone six feet tall. He twirled his staff in his hand and thrust it at the frog nearest to him. It slapped the weapon away and shoved him to the side. He hit the ground and rolled to her feet. The frog made its way to Yohan, who was in the middle of a spell. It swung a webbed foot at the mage and caught him by surprise, smashing into the old man's face. Yohan fell to the ground. Quatre leapt toward the frog before it had a chance to finish the wizard off. He slammed his staff onto its head. As it lost its balance he placed his staff between its legs and threw it over his head back into the swamp.
He turned to two more frogs coming his way. With lightning-quick reflexes he thrust his staff into one's stomach and brought up the other end of the staff to its face. While it was stunned, he twirled her staff and thrust it hard into its throat. As the frog fell face-down into the mud, Quatre turned and thrust his staff at the other frog. It used its long legs to leap into the air. While he watched it land, he felt something wrap around his ankle. He turned frantically and was pulled to the ground. The frog he had thrown into the marsh wasn't as gone as he'd thought. Its slimy tongue was around his ankle. He slammed on it with the butt of his staff. The frog shrieked in pain and loosed him, but not before he was kicked violently in the back by the other frog. He fell forward on his stomach and lost his grip on his staff. He brought his hands up to protect his face as the two frogs began kicking him.
Duo pried the dead frog's tongue from his wrist and back-flipped out of another frog's path. He searched for Quatre, and gasped when he saw him. He was on the ground, and two frogs were kicking him with their strong feet. Ignoring the two frogs near him, he ran toward the other two frogs and slashed at them with his katana. Shocked, they backed away several feet. Quatre wasted no time. He grabbed his staff and stood up. His lips and nose were bleeding, but otherwise he looked all right. They stood back to back as the frogs came at them.
Before the frogs could reach them, bolts of lightning struck the two in front of Duo. They were incinerated.
Duo turned and the frogs before Quatre engulfed in flame. He and Quatre frowned at each other, then glanced at Yohan. The old mage was standing with Wufei holding his arm.
"Are you two all right?" he asked.
Duo nodded. "Seem to be." Wufei left Yohan and laid his hands on Quatre's nose and lips. They were healed.
"Thank you, Wufei," Quatre said.
"What were those things?" Duo asked. "How did frogs get that big?"
"There are many creatures in the world, Duo," Yohan explained. "Perhaps these frogs were natural, perhaps they were affected because the Orb's magic is close by. It doesn't matter. The point is, we beat them. Shall we go on?"
Duo nodded, eager to be away from the rotting carcasses of the frogs. He wiped his blade clean on the thick strands of grass before they moved on.
They moved further into the dense, humid forest. Yohan led the way, followed by Wufei, Quatre, and finally, Duo. They trudged along the muddy ground, pushing through branches and leaves. Soon it became dark and they hiked even deeper into the woods. Now they were pushing long, thick vines out of their way.
The vegetation was larger now, and there were no more animal sounds.
Duo felt a little nervous. He glanced around, but all he could see was trees. He hoped Yohan knew where he was going. Suddenly, ahead of him, Wufei lost his footing and fell to the ground with a thud. Quatre bent and helped his friend up.
"Are you all right?"
The Cleric nodded. "I tripped on a tree root or something." He searched the ground and picked up one of the thick green vines. "This must be the thing that tripped me."
As the Healer held it, it began to move. Wufei yelped and dropped it. Duo unsheathed his katana just as he felt something slide around his waist. With a shock he remembered the vines on the trees. He was hoisted into the air. Down below, Quatre was dodging vines that were coming for him. Wufei's feet had been pulled out from under him, and Yohan's arm was caught.
Duo stabbed at the vine with his katana and tried to free himself. As a sticky, greenish fluid poured from the cut in the plant, the vine heaved Duo into the trunk of the tree. He blinked through the black dots he was seeing and gathered his senses. The vine pulled him back and prepared to heave him again, but he began to saw his katana back and forth along the vine. It swung him around violently, but he didn't stop until he'd sawed off the part that was holding him.
He fell to the ground with a jolt. Several other vines tried to reach him, but he slashed at them and made his way toward Wufei, who was still being held by his feet. He sliced the vines holding him and looked for Yohan. The mage was shooting balls of fire at the vines. He motioned for them all to follow him.
"Come! The Orb is beyond here! Hurry!"
Quatre stopped his duel with the vines and ran passed Yohan. Wufei and Duo followed. Yohan came last, shooting more flames at the plants.
Duo followed Quatre and Wufei through the woods, not knowing where he was going. "Keep running forward!" Yohan shouted from behind them. "It should be nearby! I can feel it!"
Duo ran onward, aware of the vines from the trees around them stretching out to grab them. He turned his head to see if Yohan was keeping up. The mage was running fast and looked as fit as a young man. When Duo turned his gaze back to where he was going, he saw that Quatre and Wufei had disappeared. He had only three seconds or so to ponder over where they could have gone before he felt the ground beneath him vanish. With a cry for help, he fell down into darkness...
TBC...
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