Tourist Trap

Chapter 20

"Yeah, I'm pretty good at going without sleep when I need to," Daedalus replied. "I must have accidentally wandered into a grove of sleep-sand trees because the last thing I remember is a thick cloud of dust descending on me and then an uncontrollable feeling of drowsiness. The next thing I knew I woke up in that damn pit." 

"What were you doing out in the jungle in the first place?" Zeke asked. 

"I was on an 'expedition' of sorts for my job." 

"Oh yeah? What's your job?" 

"I'd rather not talk about it right now," Daedalus replied gruffly as he stared around shifty-eyed. 

"All right, that's cool," Zeke raised his hands with his palms open, showing he meant no offense. "I'll tell you, I feel much better now that we've eaten. I'm still kind of thirsty though. Do you think the river water's safe to drink?" 

"I don't think the water itself will kill you. Better keep an eye out for aquatic creatures though. Maybe we could throw a rock in first to make sure there aren't any river worms around." 

"Sounds good to me," Zeke said as he picked up a suitable looking stone. He tossed it into the river with a loud splash. After a minute with no noticeable reactions, he ventured cautiously to the edge and cupped some water in his hands. It was cool and surprisingly clean tasting. He drank until he was satisfied and then wiped his mouth with his arm. "Well, I guess I'm ready to continue on our journey." 

Daedalus drank his fill and then they set on their way. They hadn't been walking very long when Zeke noticed a significant increase in the number of flowers that were growing around them. They came in various shapes and sizes and sported brilliant shades of purple and red and yellow. Pretty soon the flower growth was so prevalent that it covered every inch of the ground they walked on and there seemed to be several enormous flowers, seven or eight feet tall scattered about here and there. 

"Well, look what we have here," they heard a smug voice call out. "It seems we have some visitors, boys. Mammals, by the looks of them. What are you fellows doing in this neck of the woods?" 

Zeke looked around but couldn't see anyone. Then he noticed that the tall flowers were bending over and turning to look at him. They had distinct, somewhat humanoid faces that leered at him a bit threateningly. 

"Sorry to bother you," Zeke called out. "We're a little lost. You wouldn't happen to know how to get to the city from here, would you?" 

"You're a long ways from the city," a bright red flower with bushy eyebrows said. "Better be careful or you might get hurt." 

"We're not looking for trouble," Zeke said. 

"I'll give them trouble if they try to fuck with us," Daedalus snarled. In response a blue flower sprayed him with some sort of mist. He fell to his knees and grasped at his eyes in pain. "Ow! That fucking stings! When I recover my vision you're going to wish you hadn't done that!" Another flower conked him on the head with a large boulder it had picked up in its petals and he collapsed into an unconscious heap. 

"So are you going to give us attitude or do you feel like joining your friend here?" the red flower asked menacingly. 

"No sir," Zeke replied as he dropped his spear and held up his hands. "No attitude from me. Just point us in the right direction and we'll be on our way." 

"Well, maybe we'll help you out and maybe we won't," the flower replied. "What's in it for us?" 

"I don't know," Zeke conceded. "What do flowers like?" 

"We like fertilizer," a short orange flower piped up. "Do you have any fertilizer on you?" 

"Shut up, Ralph," the red flower glared at the smaller one. "No, I'll tell you what. There is a particular item you could retrieve for us. It's a ruby sculpture of a bee. If we could gain possession of it, it would grant us the one thing you animals have that we envy."