A Fantasy Story Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Adventure in the Jungle Forest

To the naked eye, all one could see were two blurred objects colliding against each other in a meadow. One object was on fire while the other was emanating green. However, thanks to our slow motion cameras, we can see what happens within the five minutes that Van used to fight the hellhound. The heat of the hell fire was so strong that Van couldn’t get close enough to land a blow without getting severely burned. It was his idea to get the hellhound running around so the flames would die down enough for him to get into its weak spots. There were a few times that Van had missed because he wasn’t quick enough to get in and out before the fire rose up, cloaking the hound’s body.

Fire started to spread to the surrounding vegetation and Van had to snuff it out before it lit the jungle on fire. He worried about the after math of his battle with the hellhound would cause harm to others on the island and it was up to him to be strong enough to fight all the flames on his own.

Suddenly Van had tripped in a hole in the ground, causing him to fall and power slide across the chard earth. He had milliseconds to see that the underbelly of the hound was completely unprotected and take action before it mauled him to death. Van slashed the sword right through the hellhound and ended the fight showing him holding his sword high above his head in victory over the halved remains of his foe. Inconsequential to the fight, Van practiced the same move a couple more times, thinking about how awesome it would be to include the sword into his victory pose.

                That’s correct reader; this is, unfortunately, our stories hero. Brave dimensional warrior, sent here to save and protect the essence of existence itself from an evil force so diabolical I would need two chapters to properly explain just how dastardly this entity is. Bravo hero, bravo.

            Ignoring whatever cocky remark the narrator is making of me, I started looking around at my surroundings, in hopes that I would be able to see something that will help me get out of this isolation and meet up with Ace, who promised me free food. Alas my spirits dwindled as I realized that there was no audience around that would have witnessed me slay that beast so awesomely, as well as help me find a way to Ace’s village.

            As I continued to look around for things that would help me get to Ace’s village, I noticed that the hellhound’s body was twitching. Just then the body of the hellhound started to burn red and suddenly exploded into a billion tiny lights that floated around in the air like dust before gathering into one ball, shooting high up into the air and flying off to the unknown. It was pretty awesome, but then I started to wonder about something very crucial to the storyline.

“Why did this monster explode into tiny pieces of light while the two other monsters that I fought before remained whole and un-exploded?”

            I paced around the meadow and pondered this question to myself; however I couldn’t come up with an explanation that made sense. I refused to believe that aliens had anything to do with this and will continue to do so until I see a little green man or a proper flying saucer.

            Walking along the tree line, I came to realize my situation again.

“Great… Hungry and alone. Just what I always wanted. That was sarcasm in case you were wondering!” I yelled into the jungle.

“You yell a lot, hey?” said a small voice behind me, scaring me to the ground slightly.

“Bwa! Who’s that?! What do you want?” I asked relaxing on the grass, not scared at all.

“Wow, I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just passing by and heard you yelling at the trees”

“Uh yeah, sorry bout’ that. It’s just that I’m lost, alone and incredibly hungry. I even lost where my friend Ace went, when we were separated.”

“That’s bad! If you want, I can get you back”

            I quickly arose to my feet and rested my hand on the young boy’s shoulders.

“Can you really help me? Can you really get me to the village where foods of plenty have been promised?”

“Of course I can, follow me” The young boy said as he walked into the jungle.

            I didn’t think too much about who this kid is exactly, mostly because I was tired, light headed and he said he could help me. However since I was being guided by him, I might as well get to know him a bit better.

“So what’s your name?” I asked

“My name is Mayhew”

“Cool! Mine is Van. Do you live around here Mayhew?”

“Yes! There is only one village on Bowakka”

“Oh Yeah? So who are your parents?”

“Whoa! Look at that!” Mayhew said before answering my question.

            Some local deer things in the brush caught our attention because they had ostrich feet and red moose antlers that spiked at the front while forming long swooping spoons towards the back as if they were for protecting its sides. There was five traveling all together and they were incredibly close to us.

“These guys are amazing! What are they?” I asked.

“They are called Blood Kulkans. Some stories of my village say that long ago, villagers would go out to gather fruit and never come back because a monster would kill them by impaling them, leaving holes in their bodies. So a group of hunters went out to find a monster that they believed lived in the ancient temple built inside the mountain. Before they could get there, they found a heard of Blood Kulkans and where brutally murdered. One escaped and told the elders what he saw when the Blood Kulkan killed on of his friends with its red horns. From then on, whenever someone saw a Blood Kulkan, they had to get away to a certain distance or they will think you’re going to hurt their family.”

“How far away do you have to be?” I asked concerned.

 “Usually have to be to forty paces away, but a few years ago an adventurer came to our island and studied them. She found out that they will start shaking their heads, making a rattleing sound to warn others that they are threatened.”

“And so it’s safe right now because they’re not acting like that”

“Yes, that’s right. But it’s weird, I’ve never seen them this close to people before. It’s like they’re not scared at all”

            Just then a giant Blood Kulkan, which was bigger than the others and even had a few scars on its face and body, emerged from behind a tree and looked directly at me. I froze in place, hoping not to look to threatening. It took a moment to study me and then started to walk directly at me.

“Get behind me Mayhew, I’m not going to let him hurt you” I said slowly dragging him behind me.

            It must have been ten feet tall when it stood right in front of me. I didn’t dare make any sort of movements that would upset this bull Blood Kulkan or hurt it. Ideas ran through my head for escape plans, but then I started to hear a quiet voice saying something calmly. I thought it was Mayhew at first, however this voice I heard was deeper and had more of a rasp to it.

“We saw how you fought against the hellhound, who was put here to destroy this island. We saw how you protected this land by putting out the flames and for that I would like to thank you.” The voice said.

            Van could hardly believe it. He could actually hear what the animal was thinking and how thankful it felt for his services. It took most of his energy to restrain his excitement and keep his composure.

“You are most welcome, though I would have done the same for anyone, I appreciate your thanks” I said out loud.

            With that, the bull Blood Kulkan turned to his family and led them into the jungle. Van let out a sigh of relief knowing that his luck continues to surprise him.

“Van! What was that? Who where you talking to?”

“Huh? Oh, I was just talking to another friend. He was thanking me for something I did earlier today”

“You mean that hellhound you killed?”

            I turned to Mayhew with confusion.

“You saw me fight?”

“Um… No? I was just listening to you two talking”

“Wait! You heard that too?”

“Yes?”

            Van took a moment to try and understand what just happened. Suddenly he realized that at this point of his life, where he’s in another dimension and hearing the thoughts of animals, he just doesn’t care about the how anymore.

“You know what Mayhew?”

“What?”

“I care not about how anymore. Let’s just get to the village already”

“OK!”

            We made our way awkwardly through the jungle, jumping over fallen trees, around boulders, across rope bridges and up cliffs. It wasn’t until we got to the ancient temple that I started to wonder something to myself.

“Mayhew?”

“Yes Van?”

“Do you know how to get back to the village?”

“Yes I do”

“Do you really?”

“Well, I’ve been shown a couple of times from my brother”

“Ah Huh… So do you know how to get back from this place?”

“No. This place has been lost for over three centuries”

            Van sat down on a rock and sighed.

“Lost again huh?”

“I’m sorry Van, I just wanted to help”

“I know, I understand. I just wanted to get back to village so I can see if Ace was ok.”

“You know, I think I can still help.” Mayhew said eagerly.

“At this point I’m all ears. What’s up?”

“In the village, there is a secret tunnel that my brother told me leads to the ancient temple. So if we find the tunnel on this end then we can take it all the way back to the village.”

“Have you seen this tunnel? Do you know it exists?”

“Yeah I seen it”

“That’s good enough for me, let’s go!”

            And so Van approached the dark entrance of the lost temple with Mayhew in toe, confident that he will be able to find the secret tunnel and get back to the village.

“There better not be anything bad in this place, or else I’m going to flip a coffee table” I thought to myself.

“Come on now Van, what kind of adventure would this be if there wasn’t?” Said the Narrator.