A Game of Chi Book III: A Sword of Dust

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

The ringing in his ears finally subsided as his eyes fluttered open. As soon as he saw the grey sky above him, he felt pain on his face and groaned. "Hey, he's awake!" he heard someone yell. "Really? He's really badly burned." A black hand came near his face and Furtivo growled, trying to sit up and grab it, only to fall back in pain. "He's still after us, eh?" the first voice said jokingly. "He's tenacious, I'll give him that." What the hell happened? Furtivo wondered, gritting his teeth to push through the pain. He realized that he was on a wooden stretcher, being carried by two gorillas into a forest. The Sanctuary Forest, he recalled. I came to the Sanctuary Forest to capture Laval, and then... It all came rushing back to the fox. With a start, he realized that the cub had actually beaten him and left him for dead in the burning forest, and Furtivo felt humiliated. He roared abruptly, nearly startling the gorillas into dropping him. "Hey, easy now," said the first one. "I don't know if you'd survive a fall right now. You're pretty messed up." How the hell did Laval beat me? he asked himself. He fought so differently from anyone I ever fought before. Forcing his eyes open once more, Furtivo winced as he turned his head to look at the forest around him, noticing several gorillas swinging back and forth. Did he really learn all that here? With them? "Where... where are you taking me?" Furtivo rasped, his throat feeling dry. "To Grumlo," the second gorilla replied. "Since you're awake, he'll want to speak to you." Furtivo coughed and closed his eyes, exhausted and in pain. How could I have lost? he wondered. How could this have happened?

Furtivo opened his eyes again when he felt his carriers come to an abrupt halt. "I'll bring Grumlo down here," he heard one of them say. "After all, we can't carry him up there. It'll exacerbate his burns." While the gorilla scampered up the colossal tree that was likely ahead of them, Furtivo processed his words. Burns? That's right, I was left in the fire by Laval. So does that mean... Furtivo exhaled deeply and lifted his arm. To his horror, much of his fur was black and charred, and he suddenly felt sick to his stomach. Groaning, he turned his body, trying to roll off the stretcher. "Hey, easy!" the other gorilla said, kneeling to reach him. "Don't move!"

"I need to see myself," Furtivo uttered, the feeling of his surely burned fur touching the ground almost too much to bear. "I need to see what's become of me."

"There will be a time for that," he heard a gentle but firm voice say. "But that time is not now." Furtivo heard a thud behind him, followed by several footsteps. "Help him turn over," the voice said. Growling at the sensation of the gorillas turning him onto his back, Furtivo looked up at the newcomer, a large, grey gorilla with a white sun on his forehead. "I take it you're Grumlo?" Furtivo said hoarsely. "Yes, I am. I'm the spiritual leader of the Gorilla Tribe," the grey gorilla answered. "To those outside, I'm considered the Lord of the Gorilla Tribe, but that is in name only."

"Somehow, I'm not surprised you don't have a lord," Furtivo retorted. "Hm," Grumlo said. "Garrick, fetch this fox some water. His throat is surely dry." Grumlo crouched, his face inches away from Furtivo's. "What is your name?" he asked. "Furtivo," the fox rasped. "But some call me Furty."

"Well, then, Furty," Grumlo answered, "here's what's going to happen to you. We're going to nurse you back to health, and then you can choose where you want to go. You can return to wherever you're from, or you can remain here. You can do as you wish." Furtivo let out a rough chuckle, which gave way to coughs. These morons, he thought incredulously. They're going to heal me and let me stay? I'll kill them all and be done with it! Obviously, Grumlo had seen Furtivo's expression, because he smiled. "I'm sure you think we're fools for wanting to heal you," he began, "but it's our way of life here in the Sanctuary Forest. That's what 'sanctuary' means; anyone can come here for safety and to be treated well."