The Amazon Triangle (NaNoWriMo 2016 Project)

Chapter 21 (Brilliant Plan)

Edith saw only the leering rodent skulls and the jagged teeth larger than her fingers, wrapped in hemp and hanging around the neck of her attacker. When the long hand closed around her free arm, all the self-defense lessons her mother taught her in middle school kicked into gear and she immediately began to flail and twist and scratch any part she could reach.

"No!" she shrieked. "No!"

Too late! The Fidenru got hold of her other wrist and pulled hard, crossing Edith's arms in front of her and arresting any movement. The young woman kicked up and back, attempting to land a blow with her heels, but one blunt knee to her tailbone ended the fight rather swiftly. Edith meekly walked where the warrior shoved her like a horse on tight reins, stumbling out into the open. The Yardenru all hung back as the Fidenru chanted and whooped eerily at the small clutch of short humans piled in the middle of the square. Edith could see the firmly-bound figures of both Henry and Justin. At the very least, they carried Ben smoothly without disturbing his wounds much, and plopped him next to Henry.

"Be careful!" Henry screamed, though his words were futile and he wasn't in any position to actually do anything. "That's my son!"

Beyond the legs of the warriors, Edith saw Neyri receiving a heated dressing-down by the Yardenru chief. Two Fidenru approached, dragging a reluctant prisoner between them.

"Mom!" Edith yelped, jumping to her feet, only to be smacked down immediately by the warrior beside her.

"I've done nothing wrong!" Janet was yelling. "Let go of me!"

But the warriors seemed adamant as they carried her hand and foot down the path that led into the jungle.

"The throne!" Janet finally burst out at the top of her lungs before she was quite out of earshot. "You hear me? It's on the top of the throne!"

Edith felt a hand slip into hers. She looked up and met Justin's gaze as he gave her a squeeze. He'd gotten the message as well.

Once Neyri and Janet were gone, the Fidenru bundled the four prisoners into an even smaller hut with nothing but a tiny opening on one side, which they completely surrounded, leaving no open yard. There would be no clever escape routes this time. Inside, there was barely enough room for all of them, especially Ben, who had to stay prone on his back so he wouldn't dislodge his ribs.

The noise died down, and it was over. Edith dropped her head into her hands and burst into tears.

"That's it, then," Justin pronounced grimly. "We're through; there's no way we're getting the Yardenru piece, and we don't have a snowball's chance of even finding where the Fidenru have theirs hidden!"

Henry blinked away from staring at Ben's sweating, feverish body.

"Actually," he said slowly. "I might know where that is."

Edith raised her head and looked at him in the semi-darkness of the hut. "You do?" she asked hoarsely.

Henry nodded. "Now that I think of it," he mused, "it makes sense. The pieces of the Terragyth all went to the chiefs, and they want to keep it near their person, based on how much they trusted their followers: Neyri keeps hers in her hut because the other Materu respect her. The Yardenru chief keeps hers on her throne, because that's the one place the others won't touch."

"So how does that explain where the Fidenru chief keeps her piece?"

Henry grinned at the skeptical young man. "Chief Vedala wears a coat and hat she no doubt got off a Japanese admiral she managed to kill. I remember looking at the embroidered Japanese characters across the brim, and at first I just dismissed it completely because I assumed I didn't know what they meant—but now that I think of it," the professor tapped his chin. "I am willing to bet that one of those shiny, golden characters wasn't Japanese, and wasn't embroidered either."