The Gaunt Beasts of the Woodlands [King Rat II]

"You don't understand,"? said Arallets to Tangor, we on Moiromma, do not judge our mates or men according to how pretty they look, there are no beauty contests there, we go by their reputation, how brave they are, what people say about them, victories: and 160-years on Moiromma is only a fifty, if that, of their life span, so age is not a big thing."?

They kept on walking into the deep, the heavy and dense part of the woods both getting hungry, and a bit tired.

" ?As they got deeper into the woods they came upon a rodent feast, these gaunt beasts were running wild, fighting one another but not drawing blood although nearly. They were running around a fire, leaping across sections of it; their must had been a thousand of them.

Thought Tangor: lightening must had struck one of the trees" ?set it on fire, and they were trying to appease the heavenly gods (Siren had told him about this feast called 'The Feast of the Pleasure's,"? they were going to make a killing thereafter (they always did), an offering to the gods, especially the god of thunder and storm. He pulled Arallets back as not to be so exposed, should one of the rodents gaze their way; he explained to her this is what it was, and that they'd most likely be the most prevalent sacrifice available for their gods, and seek them.

"It is best we leave Arallets,"? said Tangor [restlessly], "we really need to find some food, and get out of here before that fire is completely out, it looks a bit dim right now."?

Feast of the Pleasures

"As soon as they are done with their dance, they will come and chew us to death,"? said Tangor [anxiously].

"How long will the dance last?"? asked Arallets.

"As long as the fire burns, which will not be long at all,"? replied Tangor.

Arallets, stood erect, after having been on bent knees for a while, she was overwhelmed, started to shudder, she was scared, and Tangor saw this, it was all really too much for her; for she had thought for some reason she would be accepted as Siren's great gift to the planet, both of them, but so far all the Cadaverous beasts on the planet were against them, and thus far it was not working out their way; consequently, she was a simply an intruder, and was being treated as one.

"Will the Beasts will kill us without a trial?"? she asked.

"They are more primitive than the Vipers I hate to say,"? commented Tangor.

"They have a spirit god to please...[a pause] how uncomforting,"? said Arallets trying to get her proper composure back, one that showed a little more hope and courage; one that told Tangor, she'd be more useful in a moment.

They had been talking in a low voice as not to be heard as they walked away from the feast, and found an open area where light was shinning through the open sky: days were long and nights short on SSSAG for this season, this time of the year.

All of a sudden there were several rodent beasts circling them, guards, sentries for the Rodents Feast: they snapped their dagger like teeth at them. Their jaws were hanging down, wide open, and venom was dripping over their lower lips.

Said one of the beasts, "You are spies from the Vipers,"? then another beast spoke, "No, they are from the moon, or its asteroid!"? and then took a few more steps nearer.

"You will not leave me alone,"? said Arallets, petrified.

"Now how could that be possible?"? said Tangor.

These rats were all of 300-pounds, more like sows, with upper tusks like a walrus. Arallets had now put her hands over her face,

"Mother,"? she cried, "I wish you were here!"? It was hard for her to conceive how Siren lived among these beasts, and for so long and lived.

All of a sudden the fire had gone out, and 10,000-feet were running towards them in the woods, it sounded like thunder, the several rodents that had circled Tangor and Arallets looked to the side picking up the sounds, they had all turned their heads a bit, so their ears could make out the foot steps to be of their kind, and when they did, Tangor grabbed Arallets' hand, grabbed a hanging vine, and with her arms around his neck, hanging on his side, he ran and the vine got momentum, and he jumped to a tree branch, a tree but a few feet away, and as thick as the thickest pillars of any cathedral in Europe. In another moment's time, they were up fifty feet onto tree branches overlooking down at the rodents as they gathered below them, now gnawing on the tree.

Chapter Four

The Tall Trees

Sunlight gleamed into the eyes of both of them as they reached the top of the tree, overlooking a sea of green, they were 220-feet high, and it all looked as if it was a canopy of green, a plateau, a mesa, sort of, a green table, you could say. Below them, 10,000-hungry rodents were chewing on the great tree as to gnaw it down; all with red wicked eyes, eyes that had rage in them.

"If only I could talk to the King of the rats,"? said Arallets [her voice had gained some more courage]. "How shall we escape these beasts?"? she added.

"Through the trees of course, how else?"? mentioned Tangor.

Arallets looked strangely at Tangor, but she had learned to trust him, and said not a word.

During the night, as they lay back in the branches of the trees they ate papaya type fruit, until they could not eat anymore. And as soon as the sun started to rise, yet dark within the deep of the woods went to make their escape. Tangor grabbed her and a branch and swung to another, and another, and another, and to a vine, and then to another vine, and then to a branch. This went on for several hours, and then Arallets took it upon herself to swing the following four hours. Here and there, they grabbed pieces of fruit to gain strength.

Tangor was making some kind of response to Arallets, as she was about to grab a vine, and she saw what he was pointing at, the edge of the other side of the woods. And with a grab of the vine, and a leap, Arallets was in the air, on her way to the branch Tangor was standing on. He was thinking, as she was in the air: she sure has a fine body, and smooth muscles, and a handsome face, and a tough young spirit in her, she will make for a good mate, warrior for someone; but she was not Siren; that was also good he thought, Siren was too much a warrior, and not all that sensitive, or cultivated as Arallets seemed to be, Siren was more complex (in comparison). He was starting to like what she was, and what he saw in her. But she was still hurt from his earlier response, yet it was only the second day [long days], since they had arrived.

Dennis Siluk

Writing is more than a hobby for me. It's a passion, one of the ways I capture and celebrate life.