The Frozen Spark

Chapter Ten; Unwanted Adventure

          “REQ HUV!” came a shout from behind him.

          He turned around to see nine others following him. Angrily, he walked up to them. “Fre tw nunm!?” (Why are you here!?)

          “Hug tre yun!” (We want to come with you!) Vrovleh responded hopefully.

          Gug looked at all them for confirmation; they all raised their back foot in agreement. He then pointed towards the mountain. “Beeds teaq ges Dous.”

          A different Douklax walked up to them and claimed, “Ge hyn bet Dous.” which was followed by screeches of approval to the Douklax and against the Beeds from the seven Reds that were not as close.

          Gug rotated back towards the direction that the Yellows flew and commanded “Ge fre! Vex uyz pom web!”

          The other Douklax rushed as quickly as they could to catch up to the other three, and there they were a group, a smaller clan. They hoped that there were survivors of their large colony, but they couldn’t be certain. They could only hope that there was. For all they knew, they were the last Douklax—or any sort of Red—to survive the battle.

          They walked for many ktath, which gave them dozens of daq approached and left. After walking for almost an entire season, they finally saw the Beeds still flying throughout the sky with their precious cargo. From what Gug could see, it was a fair fight. But he could not be certain until he got much closer to the enemies. Also from Gug’s view, they could still gain even more ground on them if they walked even just a little faster. Maybe even having to run; and they would have to take longer intervals between their shortened breaks.

          He began walking ahead, slowly at first, then subtly faster and faster. He did not even notice his equals who were still right around him. He just had the prize in his single-tracked mind.

          His only goal this early in the journey was to retrieve the Dous back from the menacing Beeds. Being single-minded creatures can be difficult for them at times. But Gug could only think about getting them back, and he did not care what happened to the others, as long as he got them back safely.

          Walking into step, the companions took Gug’s pace and followed him. They were ever so slowly gaining groun on the swift Beeds. The Beeds were visible in the way that you knew what they were, but you could not make out any details. The company had to stop every now and then for some delicious grob to chug down from thirst. Gladly though, some Douklax had thought of grabbing feetfuls of Panthalai before they set out, to the delight of the rest of them.

          They were really sad when they had to stop and rest. Despite the ground that they had made from walking many seasons, half of that was lost when they rested. They thought that it really sucked.

          When they knew that they had to make long breaks though, they would dig through the aebit to hopefully find stacks of kygob and build strong, small, orchard colored huts with them for the time being.

          Even though they knew that kygob was used for “trades,” they still used it for their houses because kygob was also a great building resource. Plus, they had nothing else to use for their shacks.

          They would not, absolutely would not, tear the huts down. First of all, that was just too time consuming, knocking them down. Secondly, they could need them just in case they came back in that direction. Thirdly, the Beeds could destroy the cabins if they attack and/or felt like it. The final reason that they wouldn’t bring the huts down is that the small hope of any survivors from the war was still enough that they wished to let them know where the company had went, and that they were still fine. Or maybe they were just too lazy to.

          It was nearly Aenaev when they had finally stopped for the day. They were all tired and had nothing to drink since either of the two Sun’s had risen into the sky. Their small supply of Panthalai was nearly finished so they were each all starving a lot.

          Two of the still unnamed Douklax dug through the scarlet aebit for more of the orchard kygob. Once they had dug some up, they would toss what they found up to Vrovleh and another yet nameless Douklax. From there, along with the other six, they would build a shelter for the ten of them for the rest of the season.

          Entering the cabin, Gug lay down in such a way that he could see outside. Just faintly he could make out the Beeds leaving his vision. ‘Gyw nuh.’ (This is going to be a long journey.) Gug thought to himself on a break. Right after that he slept for the first time in two or three seasons.