[rework] Minglings - chapter 9: The second merging

"Wake up, Jake, please, wake up!"

Jake slowly awoke to a soft whisper combined with a loud knocking. He tried to figure out why his sister was waking him up this early on a Saturday but decided to ignore it. He tried to roll on his left but thudded against something.

Now what?

He grunted loudly while his awareness gradually returned, and with it, the memories of the last few days. He lurched up, opening his eyes.

All around him, debris from the hospital walls was falling to the ground causing the banging noises he had heard. Distant explosions and collisions caused the cracked floor to vibrate. Emma was sitting next to him, tears streaming across her face. As soon as she saw him look at her, she began rubbing her cheeks and sniffing.

"It took you long enough," she muttered, sounding scared and angry.

"What-"

Jake stopped talking, shaking his head. She didn't know what had happened any more than he had. Annoyed, he looked around for Mason, finding him six feet away, eyes closed. Jake scrambled to his feet and looked around.

Something wasn't right, something was missing, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

David.

The name popped up, and he felt his scales turn cold as he looked around. A pool of blue blood was all that was there, a long smear of blood leading out of the door. The corpse wasn't the only thing missing. Synthia wasn't anywhere either.

"Shit," Jake hissed.

It took him way too long to rouse Mason, who seemed disinclined to wake up.

"Wake up, dammit," Jake finally shouted, losing his calm and shaking his friend.

"Ergh, what? Where? Jake, what is going on?" Mason's voice was gravelly as if he had returned from an all-night bender.

"David's body is gone, and Synthia is missing too," Jake hissed.

It seemed to take a moment for the word to register to Mason, then he surged up in a single bound, eyes narrow and a snarl on his lips.

"He must have disappeared in the merging..." Jake said, unconvinced of his own statement.

Mason's eyes lost their fire as he took deep breaths, and slowly he seemed to sink in thought. "Mabey Synthia took the body?"

Emma walked towards them, staring straight at Mason, who frowned as she approached.

"I am sorry I yelled at you. But you shouldn't kill people. It isn't a good solution," Emma said with a slight shiver. Although only standing half as tall as him, her eyes were deadly serious as she looked up.

Jake had the feeling she had awoken early and had enough time to mull things over.

Mason looked back, his mouth open, lost for words.

"But I still like you. I am sure you won't ever hurt anyone that doesn't deserve it. Just don't kill anybody, ok? What if you ever make a mistake? You can't turn it back!"

Mason nodded silently before dropping to his haunches and staring her into the eyes. "Who told you all these things?"

Emma smiled bitterly. "My mother." Then she turned around and started rummaging in the remains of the closet, pulling out shirts and inspecting them.

Jake sighed and watched her for a moment. If she had woken earlier, perhaps... "Emma, do you know what happened to Synthia?"

The girl looked over her shoulder and nodded.

"She woke just after I did. When she saw David's body was missing, she left. "

"Did she say where she was going?" Jake asked.

Emma shook her head and turned back to the closet. "No, she just thanked me, looked at you two for a moment, and then ran off."

Jake and Mason shared a sad look before looking around the room for anything useful.

--

"We aren't in Cans-"

"Don't! Just, don't," Jake snapped, interrupting Mason's lousy joke as he stared out of the hospital's entrance towards what used to be downtown.

Everything was gone besides a narrow stretch of asphalt that disappeared into a dense jungle that went as far as they could see. It was as if some giant hand had scooped out that entire side of the city and possibly everything behind it, replacing it with something else. At the edge of the jungle stood a few buildings. Those nearest were ripped apart, a crumbing of broken and jagged edges all that remained while debris had spilled into the greenery.

"So, now what do we do? Going back home just became a lot less likely," Mason said, kicking a piece of stone debris towards the jungle in the distance.

"I don't know, but let's hope those rats are gone," Jake replied.

They moved in front of the hospital to get a better view, stopping in the middle of the large parking lot. No more cars were left, and the asphalt looked ancient with withered cracks and green fungus growing over many parts. The sounds of falling buildings and explosions came from far away, opposite the jungle, not loud enough to drown out the those from the wilderness—a creepy atmosphere of high-pitched screeches, bird calls, and the occasional loud trumpeted roar.

Jake turned around, scanning the remains of the city. The towering buildings in the distance were gone, replaced by plumes of rising dust and smoke. The tallest buildings he saw were no more than two stories high, giving him an almost unobstructed view of the place he had lived in for five years. Between the rubble, he saw that entire stretches of the city resembled a greyish, sandy desert, and he had difficulty locating anything familiar.

He felt Emma fidged beside him as she gazed around, eyes wide and frightened.

"What do we do now?" she whispered.

Jake and Mason shared a look, exchanging a non-verbal message before nodding.

"Our home is close to Limewood, and after we walk around that jungle, we will reach our families," Jake said, trying to sound confident.

"Are you leaving me here?" Emma whispered, eyes suddenly wide, a lost, panicky look in her eyes.

"No, no, no!" Mason whispered before Jake could speak, and he stepped forward, seeming to want to hold Emma's hand. She dodged his grasp as tears filled her eyes.

Groaning, Mason dropped his hand, and Jake could see him hide the pain. Mason gave Emma a weak smile. "Of course not! You come with us!"

Just as Emma seemed to calm down, a strong tremor ran through the ground, and she screamed. Jake barely managed to remain standing. Behind them, the side of the hospital suddenly collapsed and the entrance they had just exited caved in, causing a landslide of debris to surge straight at them. Mason jumped forward, grabbed Emma's hand, and pulled her away just in time.

"We can't stay here," Jake said, feeling his heart rate slowly drop again. That had been too close. He wiped some small rocks from his clothing and waved in the air, trying to clear away the dust.

"Aw shit..." Mason's strangled voice startled him, and he spun towards them.

Mason was gripping Emma's hand, and both were staring at a part of the city behind Jake that still had a few one-story buildings.

Tracking their gaze, Jake shuddered. Thousands of shining red eyes were covering the buildings like Christmas lights, blinking and moving, more emerging from cracks and holes by the second.

"We need to get out of here," Mason whispered.

Either he was unlucky with his timing, or the rats took offense to his voice because they swarmed out of the shadows with a deafening, multi-faceted screech.

"RUN!" Jake screamed, grabbing Mason's shoulder and pulling him along. Emma almost tripped as Mason dragged her along.

"Go," Mason shouted as he pushed Jake forward, flipped Emma over, and tossed her across his shoulder. Then he sprinted after Jake and towards the jungle.

The sound of a wave of rat claws tearing through the debris exploded from behind them, accompanied by screeches. Within a few seconds, Jake crossed the parking lot and jumped onto the soft brown soil.

As soon as his their feet dug into the sand, he felt his momentum shift. His taloned feet were digging deep into the ground, propelling them onward.

"Put me down!"

Emma's voice came from behind, and he was just in time to see her struggle and practically jump from Mason's shoulder. She landed with a roll, then turned and dashed after him. Within a moment, she overtook him, her legs moving in a blur.

How the hell does she move like that? Jake thought as he bent forward, trying to increase his speed.

Wondering how anybody's legs could move that fast, he saw a flash from the corner of his eyes. From the side of the city, parallel to them, two giant cats dashed towards the jungle, followed by the wave of rats. Their ears were flat on their heads, tails all puffed out as they rapidly outran the rats.

"..that...is… not… something… you see… every… day," Mason managed to get out in between his rough breathing. He changed his course until he wasn't heading towards the same spot as the cats.

Jake followed him and took a quick look over his shoulder. The rats were still there, but they were also outrunning the wave. The slowest rats at the back of the wave slow were already turning around. After two or three more breaths, only the closest rats continued to pursue. A quick look showed that the cats had almost reached the jungle, and the rats had stopped following them.

In front of him, Mason reached the edge of the jungle and rushed through the first line of trees, Emma right behind him. Jake followed them, jumping across a long root, noticing meter-wide, green and purple veins snaking across the jungle floor ahead of him. Every time he stepped on one, he heard a soft squeaking noise like someone was squeezing a rubber duck.

When he reached a dense part of vegetation blocking almost all visibility deeper in the jungle, Jake stopped beside Mason and Emma. They were inspecting dark purple-leaved bushes blocking the entrance into the jungle's depths. A rustling came from behind, and Jake saw that not all rats had stopped. Hundreds were rushing into the forest, eyes wide and looking around but still heading their way. They were slamming into each other and the trees in their haste to get to the Kobolds.

Feeling his heart-rate skyrocket, Jake looked from the ominous wall of vegetation to the incoming rats.

"We can't fight them. We have no other choice," Mason whispered, sounding just as scared as Jake felt.

Jake grabbed Emma's hand, turned around, and placed his hand on the leaves and branches. The dull brown bark felt slightly warm to the touch, while the leaves felt like every other leaf he had ever felt. Steeling himself, he pushed his arm until it vanished between the branches. He swallowed, steeling himself for insects and other creepy jungle crawlers. Would there be snakes?

"Hold her other hand, so we don't get split up," he said, hesitating.

"I already have her hand, dammit! Get moving before we become rat food," Mason snapped from beside him, staring wide-eyed at the dense wall of alien vegetation.

Without giving himself another chance to hesitate, Jake pushed into the jungle. As soon as plants surrounded him from all sides, the noises seemed to fade away in the distance, then disappeared altogether. It became dark and quiet as if someone had closed the doors and windows, and then all sound but rustling was gone, rustling and the occasional animal call.

Jake felt leaves rip and tear through what remained of his clothing, scratching harmlessly across his scales. It felt a bit like when someone gently pulled their nails across your skin, harmless but annoying. He didn't see which leaves or branches did it. All he saw were the same green and purple leaves. Behind him, he heard Mason and Emma's breathing, like two bellows, one big one small, way too loud in the muted darkness.

"I am scared, I wanna-" Emma's high-pitched whisper broke off, and she started crying softly.

"Don't worry, little one. I don't hear those rats anymore. Perhaps they are too afraid to follow us," Mason replied from the back.

Yeah, and why would that be? Jake thought as he squeezed Emma's hand in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture. As he pushed forward, the air turned damp and hot, and a thin layer of moisture accumulated on his scales. He almost screamed when he felt a slithering sensation next to his leg, and he reflexively slapped at it.

"Ouch! Something hit my tail..." Emma wailed, her voice so loud it made Jake cringe.

He forced himself another step forward, wondering how long they would need to move through this jungle before finding a clearing or an end.

--

High up in a tree, a sharp, reptilian snout covered in indigo scales poked out between the large leaves. Dark-blue eyes littered with thin yellow stripes scanned through the dense plants below. Hands with razor-sharp nails pushed the leaves revealing arms with leather armguards. The light from above sometimes caused the blue scales on the uncovered portions of the arms to sparkle.

"Are you sure you heard something?" a raspy voice asked as another head, covered in yellow and blue scales, poked out from the leaves. This one had a long ugly scar from the tip of his snout, tearing through one of his nostrils all the way to where an ear was supposed to be.

"Yess, you sshould not have come, Tergin. Your handicap will prove your undoing."

"Says you, who speaks like a snake! Now be quiet, or I will rip your throat out and leave you for the Headrils."

"Enough!"

A third head, covered in yellow scales, poked through the leaves. Massive and with prominent jaw muscles, two golden eyes glared at the others.

"There should be nothing on this rotten island besides some Headrils, which don't make any noise. What did you hear, Ensir?"

The blue one, Ensir, bared his teeth, glaring at Tergin for a moment before responding. "A scream and unintelligible muttering."

The largest one sniffed. "Then we will find whatever it is and rip it apart. We have lost too much to get here. We won't, can't search for another place!" A sad look crossed his face, then he disappeared back inside the foliage, quickly followed by the other two.

--

"Jake, are we almost out?"

Emma's frightened voice made Jake sigh as he continued to push through the stubborn plants. He'd told her to keep quiet, but she seemed incapable of it, not that he blamed her. He was thirsty, hot, and tired, and he couldn't imagine how she must feel.

"I don't know, Emma. We have already backtracked much further than we traveled inside. We should have exited the jungle half an hour ago," he said honestly. Lying wouldn't help any of them, not anymore.

Behind them, Mason, who was softly cursing under his breath, suddenly stopped with a loud yelp.

Jake froze and turned around, his anxiety rising to new heights. "What's wrong?!"

"He let go of my hand!" Emma cried, squeezing Jake's hand.

Jake turned around and maneuvered around Emma until he reached the spot Mason should have been. From all sides, branches poked him while leaves folded snugly against his skin. He stuck out his hands, scanning around, starting to panic slightly. Mason would never leave them. He was sure of that!

Seconds ticked by, and he knelt, feeling for a body. There wasn't anything but a thick carpet of thin twigs, leaves, and mud.

Mason, where are you, he thought, feeling his breathing speed up. Emma's hand was like a tiny vice around his, and he was suddenly glad it was there.

He started overstretching, hanging with his full weight against parts of the jungle, desperate to find Mason. Suddenly, his hand pushed through the tight foliage to his right, and he lost his balance, tumbling forward. Branches scratched against the scales on his face, and he instinctively closed the transparent second eyelids to protect his eyes. His first reaction was to let go of Emma so he wouldn't pull her along, but then his protective instincts kicked in, and he clenched her hand tightly. He couldn't leave her alone here!

Emma screamed as he pulled her forward.

The falling lasted only a split second, and then he landed on a soft cushion of yellow and orange moss. Jake immediately pushed himself upright as fast as he could, looking around for any danger. He almost had a heart attack when a golden and red Kobold face appeared directly in front of him, the long snout almost touching his.

It was a good thing he froze, or he might have screamed before he recognized Mason. His friend was kneeling in front of them, a finger against his lips and eyes open wide. He also had one hand across Emma's mouth to prevent her from screaming. The little Kobold was almost panicking, tears dripping from her eyes. After a second, she recognized Mason and calmed down before raising her hands and pulling Mason's hand away.

Jake blinked and swallowed down some bile before nodding, and he looked around. He was about to ask what was going on when Mason raised a finger in warning. Then he moved to the side, granting Jake his first unobstructed view of the small clearing behind Mason.

A tall, perfectly straight black tree stood in the middle of a mossy tapestry, its thick trunk disappearing amongst a canopy of leaves. It had no branches he could see, and all the other trees seemed to stay away from it, creating a perfect circle. Dense yellow and orange moss grew across the clearing, but even it stopped within half a meter off the tree, creating a second circle. Scattered around the tree lay black, uneven branches, anywhere between one and two meters long and some as thick as his upper arm.

Jake frowned, looking around and confused. Why was Mason so on edge?

What is wrong? There is no-

Before he could finish the thought, one of the black branches shuddered, and a small twig grew from its side. With a smooth motion, it reached out to the soft carpet of moss and, with what resembled a little hand, ripped away a handful of moss before bringing it back to the main branch. A slit opened up, and the hand stuck the moss inside. The slit closed again, and the small arm merged back into the branch.

After a moment, another branch repeated the process.

Jake sat, frozen in place, feeling Emma's hand tremble. He turned to Mason, getting an uncertain shrug. Emma was looking at the behavior of the branches as if spellbound.

Jake turned back to the solid wall of foliage, suddenly wishing he was back inside. As careful as he could, he began rising, but as soon as he did, Mason gripped his arm, pulling him back. Jake shook his head, throwing him a confused look, and Mason grimaced before looking straight up.

Getting a terrible feeling, Jake looked above his head and felt his stomach clench. Black branches, similar to those on the ground, hung above the edge of the clearing. They appeared from between the green and purple leaves like snakes. If those were the same as those on the ground... he looked at Mason sharing a horrified look. Mason clenched his jaw, pointed at the tree, and raised a hand, mimicking how the tree went straight up, spread out, and back down like a bowl, forming something similar to a trap.

Now what? Jake thought. They couldn't just stay here, could they?

What they needed was a weapon. He carefully started rooting through the moss and soil below, looking for a stone. The branches showed no reaction, and he felt something smooth and round. Praying for something usable, he drew it out as quietly as possible, then blinked in shock. In his hands was an old and worn yellowed skull. It had three eye sockets and stumps where horns might have sat on the top. A sharp intake of air came from the side, and he shared another horrified look with Mason.

Mason mouthed, 'we are fucked' at him, and Jake shook his head. 'Not useful," he mouthed back.

He put the skull down and dug around some more, quickly unearthing bones, both small and large, and many more skulls. As he tried to find one that might be useful, Emma started softly crying, and he gnashed his teeth. They needed a distraction of some sort. Recalling an old thing he had seen in movies, he picked up a skull, weighing it for a moment before looking at the far side of the clearing. With a flick of his wrist, he threw it across the moss-covered clearing.

Three pairs of reptilian eyes were following the skull as it hit the side of the vegetation and, unable to penetrate it, tumbled back down. Above it, one of the branches shivered and shot down, striking the skull before it could reach the ground. With a sharp pang, bone fragments scattered around, some knocking into the branches littering the ground.

The black branches shuddered, then rapidly grew legs and arms, scrambling to stand upright. Two orange bulbs sat atop each stick, staring around unblinking. Within moments seven of the scrawny, black entities were looking around, searching for what had awoken them.

Jake looked at Mason, who bent over until he was close to Jake's ear.

"We have a chance. Those fucking branches that are hovering at the top pause for a moment. The skull couldn't penetrate the jungle, but we should be able to jump right in."

Clenching his fists, Jake knew it was a gamble. Although Mason made it sound so easy, they might jump against a thicker wall of the canopy and bounce back, or the black branches might just rush after them. He stared at the tiny black stick figures, at the jungle, and nodded. They didn't really have another choice.

"I will carry Emma. Get ready," Mason whispered before crawling to the small blue Kobold and whispering something in her ear.

Jake kept an eye on the sticks and felt his mouth run dry when one turned directly towards them. It didn't show any sign of seeing them, though, and its body continued to turn. Then it stopped and snapped back, turning its horrifying orange orbs to Jake. A weird ticking noise echoed through the clearing, and immediately all branches turned to the tree Kobolds.

Mouthing "now," Mason picked up Emma and rushed towards the side of the jungle.

Jake followed right behind him, and nearly at the same time, they threw themselves at the thick wall. Jake felt a momentary resistance pushing him back, then a branch blocking him broke, and he tumbled back into the dense undergrowth.

--

Unbeknownst to them, the black branches walked to the edge of the clearing, clicking sounds coming from deep inside their wooden bodies. After a moment, a louder banging noise sounded from the central tree, and the black branches leaped forward, disappearing inside the jungle.

--

"We've gotta move. If those ugly sticks follow us, we won't be able to see them coming," Mason hissed, grabbing Jake's hand and pulling him forward. Jake held onto Emma's hand. Now in the lead, Mason began barreling through the jungle, using his bigger bulk to force his way through, no longer worrying about making a racket. Branches snapped left and right as he created a path, pulling the others along.

"Make sure you don't stake yourself, you fool!" Jake shouted in a panic.

He got no reply, but Mason slowed down a little.

"They are after us!"

Emma's high-pitched scream filled with fright made Jake want to roar in anger. He pulled her towards him, picking her up with one arm as he rushed after Mason.

The massive, golden-red Kobold started picking up speed again; his eyes narrowed to slits. Two very inhuman eyelids covered most of his eyes and stopped even sharp sticks that would have penetrated his eyes otherwise. A tree branch, thick and strong, caused him to come to a sudden stop, and he shook his head, slightly dazed. In the momentary silence, Jake heard something, and he was about to say so when Mason shouted.

"What the… I smell water!"

Mason began rushing forward again, not waiting for a response, and pulling Jake and Emma along.

How the hell does he smell water? Jake thought when he heard something in a momentary lapse of Mason's bulldozing of plants. Something familiar.

"I think I hear rushing water!" he shouted, wondering how he even heard it over the sound of Mason moving through the jungle like a freight train.

Then he smelled it, a fresh, cool aroma, pure and clear. He instinctively knew it was water, surer about it than about the scent of orange or apple. There was also something different about it compared to what they had scented in the bike tunnel.

With a suddenness that caused all three of them to come to a staggering halt, they burst out of the jungle. Light, bright and warm caused Jake's eyes to close while the sound of surging water rippled around him. For a moment, he forgot the branch monsters, the jungle, everything, as he enjoyed the feeling of the sun on his now almost naked scale-covered body.