Astel forced his vocal cords open, attempting to scream out loud, hoping the sound would scare off the carnivorous plants just as his movements had. Nothing. His throat was full of some liquid. He could hardly breathe, much less scream. It started bubbling over before he finally tasted it — there was a clear, metallic taste to the liquid.
Only then did he notice the vines had already stuck themselves inside his body, entering from between his ribs and forcing a hole deep inside. As they moved, they lightly grazed his organs. Astel's lungs felt like they were being caressed by a feather, while weighed down by the blood gushing through his body. At this point, the roots were wrapped around him in several strong coils. His thoughts were buried beneath thick fog.
Only one thing remained clear.
He was about to die.
With his attention on the roots, the toothed flower moved closer. No breath came out to announce its presence, the sound of its movement masked by Astel's drowning coughs. The sharp teeth weren't teeth at all — they were pointy thorns, and they had just stuck themselves onto Astel's skull. Blood streaked down his face as tears formed in his eyes. It was like being eaten by hungry dogs, except the dogs wouldn't be so… gentle.
With a squeeze, Astel felt his bones crack as the coiled roots moved upward, squeezing the blood out of him like a tube of toothpaste. His eyes spun around in his skull, no longer able to keep straight ahead. He took his last breath before the blood burst one of his lungs.
Just before that happened, however, he reached into one of his pockets with his fingers, tearing the weak fabric apart and causing a small metal object to fall into his palm. As the roots moved up, they released their hold on his arm below the elbow, allowing Astel to raise it. He could feel the lack of blood in his limb — even more so now that it was lifted off the ground, letting gravity pull what remained down toward his elbow.
Even so, he slowly brought the object to his face.
The roots were about to enter his mouth and nose after already infiltrating his ears, but as his arm rose, they recoiled, retreating just a few inches. He brought the whistle to his mouth, fumbling it around in his fingers as his hold on it slowly failed. With a slow clench of his teeth, he grabbed the corner of the whistle, trying to blow as hard as possible.
Instead, he coughed out blood — and the whistle along with it.
With a metal clang it fell on the cold dark stone and rolled away from the wrapped Astel. His hand went limp, falling down beside it as his whole body went numb, spasming slightly as more blood flowed out. The retreating roots immediately climbed into Astel's mouth and nose, caressing his eyeballs.
It was over.
Or so he thought.
A small trickle of energy dripped from his reserves, boosting the effectiveness of his Control Fragment and allowing him to stay lucid for even just a few more moments. He could feel the plants climbing inside his body just as the flower stuck on his head pierced the top of his skull with another tentacle. This one, however, started pumping something inside Astel's head. He could feel it squirming around in his brain — one of the last things he would feel before losing consciousness.
*
A thick, white worm climbed inside the tree through a small hole, evading Felix's beak. With a 'tsk,' he rolled down the tree, hopping from branch to branch. He hid deep in the lustrous green crown, attempting to evade the predators seeking any opportunity for easy prey. He stared at the fight continuing in the distance before turning his attention toward the ravine, staring at it for a while, the shine in his eyes almost fully gone.
Then he felt the entire tree shake.
But instead of being scared, he simply leaned off the edge to see what had made such a ruckus. To his surprise, it was an old friend — a little mongoose with wild, bat-like wings and three smaller tails, one of which was severed about halfway through. To Felix, it wasn't weird that such a small creature could cause such havoc. After all, it was none other than Monte.
'What took you so long!' Felix shouted through their mental connection.
'I had some trouble getting to you, you know,' Monte shot back with a certain sass in his voice. 'You still need my help?' he asked, oblivious to Felix's current predicament.
The black-and-white magpie only nodded, reluctantly adding, 'yes…'
Monte dug his small paws into the tree bark, breaking off small bits and almost falling on the first step. 'Oops, so brittle,' he commented.
Felix shook his head, covering it with his healthy wing.
In just a few moments, Monte had already climbed the tall tree and started inspecting Felix for any injuries.
'You know, I saw you getting chased by those disgusting bonejaws.' Felix stayed quiet. 'I wish I could fly as well — just imagine how free I'd be.' Monte continued speaking, visibly making Felix annoyed. 'The skies are such a free space. Minus the bonejaws, the basilisks, the orange locusts and those other annoying non-beaks — all those teeth still make me shiver.' He said this while softly gliding his paws over Felix's hurt wing. 'Good news is that you only dislocated it. Bad news is that you won't be able to fly, not today at least.'
Felix nodded. 'That's fine. I just need to get out of here.'
Monte grabbed hold of the wing in a way that was extremely uncomfortable before moving the joint back into place with an audible pop. Felix sighed, glad that his brittle bones hadn't broken. He met Monte's gaze to thank him, but saw that his ears had propped up, hearing something from afar.
'What did you do to make her so mad?' he said, looking in the direction of the fight between the basilisk queen and the centipede king. 'Their majesties are in quite the battle.'
Felix sighed. 'I may have made a little promise I was sure I wouldn't need to keep, but things may have gone a little sideways.' He turned around, no longer facing his friend. 'Anyway, I need to get out of here.'
Monte nodded. 'Sure, I can do that — but you know that she'll find you.'
Felix nodded. 'If things go right, she won't.'
Monte ran around him, standing up to stare him in his red eyes. 'Oh? Did you finally find your magical way out of here?'
Felix stayed quiet, slowly turning away, but Monte kept moving in front of him, staring into his eyes with a sort of quiet expectation.
'Fine. Yes, I may have found a way out. Now leave me alone.'
Monte squealed, falling onto his back with a giggle, before standing up in the blink of an eye and lowering his head toward Felix, clasping his paws together. 'Please, take me with you. You promised.'
Felix stayed quiet.
'Unless you were kidding, of course,' Monte added, his eyes all watery, pleading with the most innocence his rascal-like face could conjure.
'I… Can't.' Felix's head fell. 'I'm sorry. I fear it may only be a one-way trip.'
Monte was quiet for a moment — genuinely quiet, which was rare for him.
'But I'll come back for you, I promise.'
Even though he found Monte to be an annoyance, he couldn't deny the friendship they had built, and the support he had received from him over the years.
'Okay.' Monte stared at him for a long time before slowly nodding. Tears formed in his eyes as he held out his paw. 'You promised. You can't take it back now.'
Felix shook his paw with his claws. 'I know. And I won't.'
Monte wiped his eyes, a bright smile returning to his face as he ran to the highest top of the tree.
'Hey, where are you going!' Felix shouted, still unable to follow him.
'Stay there, I'll be right back.'
It was hard, but Felix listened.
Soon enough Monte came back, signing for Felix to hop on his back. From the top of the tree, Monte had found a few paths to run as far away and as safely as possible. As soon as Felix climbed onto his back, he darted down the tree and ran like his life depended on it. He weaved in and out of bushes, jumping over fallen trees and evading beasts both larger and smaller than him. At times he had to stop and hide before a larger predator walked past them.
At one point, they were noticed by a cervid walking on its hind hooves. It had a wide-open mouth — almost like its skull was split in two — and it felt less like a peaceful deer and more like a hungry shark that had just smelled blood. Its extreme sense of smell allowed it to notice them even from dozens of meters away, hidden behind a thick tree trunk.
'Uh oh,' Monte said.
'Stay calm. I think I saw this one earlier — it has trouble walking and always stumbles on its third step. Just wait for that and run in the other direction. You should be faster.'
'Wait, wait, wait — you think? And what do you mean should be?' Monte shot back, not noticing the beast had already taken two steps.
'Run! What are you waiting for!' Felix screamed into his mind.
Without a second thought, Monte bolted in the opposite direction. The beast noticed them as soon as they moved, but thankfully Felix was right. The tall cervid took its third step slightly bent forward to gain more speed — but instead fell over, letting them run away.
The rest of the way was thankfully mostly peaceful. They didn't run into much trouble.
Reaching an open cave where they could rest for a moment, Monte finally asked, 'So how do you plan on leaving this place?'
Felix made himself comfortable before answering. 'I found a boy. A human boy.'
Monte nodded along, already having heard this story dozens of times.
'I think he's the one. I probed his mind while he slept and noticed something interesting.' Monte was practically on the edge of his seat — no matter how many times Felix said he had found a way out, it was always so exciting to hear. 'This boy had traces of a shadow reptile within his mind, although they were weak.' He paused. 'I'm not sure how such a weak human came into such a precious possession, but I think it can take us — take me — out of here.'
Monte nodded, listening until the end before asking, 'But wouldn't the boy want to get out himself? Why would he give it to you?'
Felix frowned. 'That's just the thing. I'm not sure how to convince him, and I don't wish to hurt him. He reminds me too much of him.'
Monte sighed. 'And where is he now?' He looked around jokingly. 'I don't quite see him.'
Felix stayed quiet for a moment. 'That's just the thing, my dear friend. I don't know.'
Monte hissed. 'What do you mean you don't know? Isn't he your ticket out of here?'
Felix turned slowly toward the ravine. 'If the bonejaws didn't eat him, then he's probably down there.'
Monte gasped audibly, his eyes widening. 'You should give up. Eventually someone else will appear.'
Felix said nothing more. He turned toward the ravine, tucking his claws beneath his feathers the way he always did when he had nothing left to do but wait.