Of the Wild

Over the Trees

*Cassius

I remembered the pretty crystals everywhere, and how rich I would be if I could just get all those crystals....

Fire. Fire touched me and wrapped thin armels around me. I shuddered and moaned in pain. No! Leave me in this comfortable agony....Roaring, screaming, yelling. Terrible sounds and the fire....I wanted to scream.

*Bacchus

Thankfully, Mccarty was a great tracker, otherwise we would have just wandered in circles. I was no novice at tracking vehicles, but I lost the trail a few times and Mccarty just kept walking. Maybe he was just in a exhausted trance, like Gilbert was.

"Pick up the pace, Collins." I barked for the hundredth time. He lagged behind us, supporting Lane. Apparently, Jak Lane had an allergy to something in the bee's poison. He was dedelirious when conscious. which was less than half the time. We had no medical anything besides tree bark so we opted to leave him. Collins wouldn't have it. So he got to carry the whole burden. Literally.

Collins looked up and nodded. "C'mon, Jak. Not far now." Lane's head lolled back and he murmured something unintelligible.

Stupid boy. I looked back ahead of us and pressed on, my machete cutting down anything too thick to walk through. We'd been walking for days, sleeping in the dirt or trees, eating bugs, plants and Mccarty found some berries to eat. Nobody else felt up to trying them.

I was hell bent on finding that girl. I would not let her, a child, best me. I pressed on tirelessly, grim determination filling me. I was Bacchus Vareti, cousin to the Corvati line, Captain of the army, strategist, decorated veteran and I wasn't even 45 years old.

"What's that?"

One of my men jolted me from my determination talk to myself. I glanced behind me at Gilbert then followed his gaze up. We came to a halt and listened intently.

In the distance, a soft thrumming was getting louder. It pounded and pulsed rhythmically.

"Is that..." Collins said, looking around wildly.

"A helicopter." I said gruffy, looking towards the east. The boys all looked at each other and grinned. Gilbert scrambled over to the nearest tree and started climbing up like a monkey.

I started thinking about rescue and what we'd do once back. They'd find us seemingly lost, weary and broken. The punishment would be grave, for not only failing to capture the princess, but getting my squad destroyed and the survivors lost in the jungle.

"Get down." I commanded. All the conscious soldiers looked at me, surprised. "Get down, Gilbert."

"But, sir, the helicopter-" He started to say.

"I don't give a damn about the helicopter. Get down right now." I said, glaring at him. Shocked, he obeyed.

"What is going on, sir?" Mccarty asked, eyebrow raised.

I turned my icy glare on him and he stiffened. "We are not going back without that girl. We will walk for a month if we have to. None of us are leaving until we have the princess in a bound heap at out feet. Is that understood?"

The soldiers looked between each other, eyes wide. Mccarty looked at me and straightened. "What about surviving? How can we capture the princess if we're dead?"

I put my hands behind my back and looked at them all evenly. "We are not going to die." My gaze cut to Lane. "Most of us, anyway. We have tracks, weapons and smarts. We are not dying any time soon. Nor are we going back defeated and empty handed."

"You're just afraid the heir will demote you and shame you." Mccarty said, his head shaking.

My hand lashed out before he could react and before I could want tl restrain myself. My fist caught him in the jaw and he spun around before dropping to the floor in a surprised heap. He touched his jaw and looked up at me, stunned.