Black Water

JOURNAL #16
(CONTINUED)
EELONG

Eelongis a strange and wonderful place. Strange because oftheway evolution took such a different turnfromon Second Earth… or any of the other territories I’d been to, for that matter. Wonderful because it’s totally beautiful. Not since I first swam through the underwater world of Cloral had I been to a place where you could use the word “paradise” to describe it. I think this territory is about as close as it gets. But Eelong is one other thing. Dangerous. Strange, wonderful, and dangerous. That pretty much summed up my opinion.

Boon led me to the far side of the massive room inside the hollow tree and pointed up to a ledge that led to a hole in the wall. It must have been a hundred feet up.

“That’s the tunnel we’ve got to take out of here,” he said.

“You’re kidding?” I answered. “It’ll take me an hour to climb those vines.”

Boon shook his head in pity. “How can gars on your territory be superior to klees if they can’t even climb?”

“We have an agreement with cats,” I answered. “They don’t ask ustoclimb things andwedon’t ask themto doalgebra.”

Boon had no idea what I meant. But he shrugged and said, “No problem. We’ll take the gar way up.” He walked along the wall of the cavern until he came upon another tunnel into the tree, at ground level. “Follow me,” he said, and disappeared into the opening. I stepped into the opening to find myself in the dark.

“Boon?” I called out.

Boon’s head suddenly appeared from above, upside down, right in front of my face. I jumped back in surprise and saw he was hanging from his back feet, or paws.

“Climb the roots,” he instructed. “It should be easy.”

I looked up to see he was hanging from a dense tangle of thick roots that created a tunnel going straight up. “Why do we have to climb?” I protested. “Can’t we just go outside and walk to Leeandra?”

“We could,” Boon answered. “If you don’t mind running into a tang.”

Tang? The only “Tang” I knew was a fake orange drink that astronauts liked. “What’s a tang?” I asked.

“Nasty creatures,” Boon answered. “Predators. They eat gars, mostly, but that’s because we klees are smart enough to keep to the trees. Tangs climb even worse than gars do.”

“Are they green?” I asked. “With lots of teeth, and smell bad when they’re hungry?”

“You know about ‘em?” he asked.

“You might say that,” I answered. “I nearly got eaten by one.”

“Then you know what I’m talking about,” Boon exclaimed. “That’s why we climb.”

Boon hoisted himself up and climbed the root system. I figured that if the price of avoiding those lizard creatures outside was to climb a tree, that was okay by me. Boon was right; it was easy. It was like climbing the jungle gym in the playground at Glenville School.

“What happens when we get up?” I called up to Boon. “Won’t we be stuck?” I thought about making a joke about dumb cats getting stuck up in trees and having to be rescued by the fire department, but I didn’t think Boon would get it.

“Trust me,” he said. “I’ll get you where you need to go.”

This was his show, so I stopped asking questions. Since he hadn’t eaten me yet, I had no reason to believe he meant me any harm. As strange as the whole situation was, I was beginning to feel that finding Boon was a good thing. And if he took me to Gunny, it would be an even better thing. We climbed quickly for about five minutes. When we reached the top, I hoisted myself out of the vertical tunnel and into another large, empty room. We were still inside the tree, but now high above the ground. The room was about a third of the size of the room at ground level. I could feel a slight swaying as theiuge tree moved in the wind. The floor was made of wood planks that looked old and weathered, like they had been there a long time. Leading outside were three big archways cut into the walls. I felt a warm breeze blowing through and saw blue sky beyond.

“It’s a tree house,” I said. “Do people, uh, klees live here?”

“I told you, nobody comes here much anymore,” Boon answered. “It’s too far from civilization. But somebody must have lived here at one time, and built this dwelling.”

“So now what?” I asked.

Boon walked for one of the archways. I followed him, but slowed before reaching the opening. I’m not good with heights. I expected to peer out of the archway and see a long drop to the ground. When I took a tentative peek outside, I was surprised to see that beyond the opening was a balcony about twenty feet wide. I took a cautious step outside and saw that it wrapped around the tree. The floor was made of the same wooden planks as inside. There was a handrail around the outside for safety. Better still was the view. I walked slowly toward the handrail and got another look at the incredible forest.

Boon joined me and said, “Pretty, isn’t it?”

“It’s awesome,” I replied. I meant it.

“This is nothing,” Boon scoffed. “Wait until you see Leeandra.” He walked away from me as if he were actually going somewhere.

“Where are you going?” I asked. “We’re in a tree!”

“To Leeandra,” he shouted back without turning. “It’s a long way, let’s not waste any more time.”

I followed him, but fully expected to circle this treetop balcony and end up right back where we started.

We didn’t. After walking a few feet, I saw that there was a bridge leading off the balcony. It was about ten feet wide and held up by thick vines, like a suspension bridge. Boon stepped onto it like it was the most natural thing in the world, and kept walking. I, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure. I stood at the beginning of the bridge and peered over the handrail. It was a long way down. Alongway. The bridge seemed safe. It barely moved when Boon walked across it. Still, this was scary. I’d seen too many movies where people walked across these suspension bridges and the wooden slats started to break through and…look out below! I reached up and grabbed one of the suspension vines, giving it a good tug to see if it would hold.

“It’s safe, Pendragon,” Boon assured me. “I told you, klees live in the trees. We know how to build bridges.”

“So everybody lives in tree houses?” I asked. “Klees and gars?”

“It’s better than worrying about tangs all the time,” he answered.

I gritted my teeth and took a step onto the wooden bridge. Obviously it didn’t break, and I didn’t plummet to a horrifying death. I took a few more tentative steps, and we were on our way to Leeandra. It turned out that the big tree that held the flume was only one of thousands. Every tree on Eelong was as big, if not bigger. The bridges were like roads in the sky, snaking beneath the canopy of leaves. Each new tree we reached had a similar platform that ringed it. Some had multiple platforms with stairs between them. I thought back to the first moment I stepped out of the tree and looked over the cliff. I now realized that the reason I didn’t see any buildings was because they were hovering just below the treetops, out of sight from above. Incredible! An entire civilization existed high above the ground. It was a world of tree houses.

This world was full of life, too. I saw a swarm of tiny, orange hummingbird creatures float by like a small cloud. They each gave off a sweet, whistling sound that must have been their tiny wings beating. Together, the effect was like music. I glanced up to see a large hawk soaring overhead. It was pure white and floated on thermals like a lazy cloud. Directly across from us, on our level, was a tree full of green monkeys. They were cute little things that chattered and chased one another from branch to branch.

Looking over the side to the forest below, I saw that it was dense jungle, like a rain forest. Every so often I’d catch a glimpse of a green tail disappearing into the underbrush. These could only be more of the lizardlike tangs. I decided that if there were more of those bad boys hiding below, I was very happy to be walking above them, out of reach.

Boon walked quickly. I had to work to keep pace. After five minutes we had passed through a dozen trees, each with a couple of different choices as to which bridge to take next. I was going to need a roadmap to find my way back to the flume. That wasn’t good.

“Tell me about Saint Dane,” Boon said as we walked. “He’s a gar, right?”

“I guess,” was my answer. “But he can change himself to look like whatever he wants. I’ll bet he could change himself into a tang if he wanted to.”

“Really? That’s hard to believe,” was his response.

Hard to believe? I was walking along a wooden sky bridge talking to a cat. Don’t tell me about hard to believe.

“You think he’s here, on Eelong?” Boon asked.

“Yes, I do,” was my answer.

“Finally!” Boon exclaimed. He hopped ahead of me with excitement and walked backward while talking quickly. “I’ve been waiting forever to meet this guy. Seegen said he’d be here someday, but I never thought the day would actually come! He’s really bad, right? I mean, do you think he’s going to try and do something horrible on Eelong? Let him try. I’ll slash him like that quig in the flume tree!”

I realized that this man-eating cat was no more than an excited kid who thought the war with Saint Dane was some kind of exciting game.

“Uhh, this isn’t like pro wrestling,” I said. “This is real.”

“I know that,” Boon said defensively. “What’s pro wrestling?”

I didn’t like having to be the voice of reason. I was suddenly feeling like I had to act like an adult or something. I stopped walking and spoke in my most serious voice.

“Look, Boon, I don’t know what Seegen told you, but this isn’t going to be fun. Saint Dane is a killer. I’ve seen him start wars and destroy cities. He’ll do anything he can to turn Eelong inside out.”

“Let him try!” Boon shouted with defiance. “I’m not afraid and neither is Seegen.”

“Yeah, well, I hate to burst your bubble, but maybe you should be.”

“Why? He’s a gar! There hasn’t been a gar born that I can’t handle.”

“He isn’t an ordinary gar, Boon, he’s…Wait, what am I doing? I’m talking to a cat! You’re a freaking cat! This is insane!”

Maybe it was because the shock of my first few moments on Eelong had finally worn off. Maybe it was because I was feeling alone. Or maybe it was because my mind had finally rejected the possibility that cats could talk, but I had had enough.

“I’m going back,” I said, and turned back for the flume. I had no idea how to find it, but I was ready to try. Boon ran around in front to head me off, but I kept walking.

“You can’t go back, you’re supposed to be here!” he complained.

“No, I’m not,” I shot back. “This territory is crazy. Quigs are humans. Cats talk and live in trees because they might get eaten by big lizards. And I’m supposed to follow somebody who thinks battling Saint Dane is going to be fun? I don’t think so.”

I kept walking. Boon kept pace. “But, but, Seegen will be really angry with me,” he complained. “I was supposed to bring you to Leeandra.”

“Tell you what,” I said. “I’m going back home, to Second Earth, where humans are humans and cats pee in a litter box. If this Seegen character wants my help, he can find me there. Let’s see howhelikes dealing with a world where he belongs in a zoo.”

“But what about the other Traveler, Gunny?” Boon asked.

That made me stop. Gunny. I’d almost forgotten. Whatever problems I was having with Eelong, Gunny had them too. I couldn’t leave without finding him.

“Ahhhhh!”A horrifying scream came from down in the jungle. Boon and I ran to the railing of the sky bridge and looked down. On the ground we saw a small band of klees run from the jungle into a clearing that was directly below us. They were running on all fours like, well, like cats.

“I thought the klees lived in the trees?” I asked.

“We do,” Boon answered. “But we still need to spend time on the ground. Food doesn’t grow on trees, you know.”

There was a joke in there somewhere, but I didn’t go after it. Running behind the band of cats we saw a group of humans. They were dressed in the same rags as I wore, but didn’t look as wild as the quigs. They just looked like smallish, dirty people. There were about a dozen in all. Mostly men, but a few women as well. They all looked as if they were running in fear from something, and a second later I saw what it was.

A green shape sprang from the bushes and grabbed the last of the fleeing humans. It was a tang. The lizard wrapped its talons around the leg of the human, who had fallen on his stomach. The beast dragged the guy along the ground toward the bushes. The victim may have looked human, but his terrified screams sounded more like an animal. Adoomedanimal.

“We gotta do something!” I shouted.

“Like what?” Boon answered casually. “It’s okay, Pendragon. This happens all the time.”

It was horrible. Maybe Boon was used to seeing humans dragged off to a gruesome death at the hands of a hungry lizard, but this was alien to me. I’d never seen anything like this on the Discovery Channel.

“But he’s going to die!” I shouted.

“That’s how it works,” Boon said patiently. “Survival of the fittest.”

Even though we were high overhead, I could smell the deadly-sick odor come from the hungry tang. It was getting ready to feed. The human grabbed at the ground, digging its fingers in, desperately trying to pull away. It was futile. The other humans kept running. The cats, too. This guy was left to die. My stomach turned.

Then I saw a black shadow flash back into the clearing. One oFthe cats had returned. It ran toward the tang on all fours and stood up on its back two feet.

“Kasha!” Boon exclaimed.

“Who?”

“She’s a friend of mine,” he answered. “And she hates tangs.”

The cat Boon called Kasha was jet black. Her fur was so black, it looked blue. It was shiny, too. She wore the same dark clothing as the other cats. In one hand she held a long stick. In the other she held what looked to be a coiled rope.

The tang stopped dragging the human. It eyed Kasha warily. The human let out a guttural plea, begging for Kasha’s help.

“Kasha, let it go!” came another voice from below. The other cats had returned. They stood together in a group, on their back legs, keeping a safe distance from the action. Boon pointed to the big, gray cat who had yelled at Kasha.

“That’s Durgen,” he said. “He’s in charge of the group.”

“It’s over, Kasha,” Durgen yelled, sounding bored. “I want to go home.”

Another cat called out, “He’s past his prime anyway. The tang’s doing you a favor.”

The other cats laughed at the remark. Kasha ignored them. She crept closer to the tang and stopped about ten feet away. With her left hand she held the stick out as a threat. She swiped the air a few times, getting its attention. The tang kept its eye on the stick, but didn’t let go of the human. What the tang didn’t see, was that in Kasha’s right hand, she held the lasso. I saw that one end of the rope split off into three threads. Hanging from each end was a ball about the size of a big lemon. Kasha turned her body sideways so the tang couldn’t see that she was getting ready to throw it. She swept the air with the stick again. The tang snarled. It held tight to the leg of the human with one of its talon hands, and held the other up, ready to fend off the stick.

“Hurry up,” Durgen yelled. “I’m already late for supper.”

Kasha flashed the stick once more, the tang swiped at it, and Kasha hurled the rope. The three balls spun toward their target. The tang had no idea what hit him. The three balls wrapped around its neck, winding the vines along with it. Kasha quickly dropped the stick, grabbed the vine with both hands, and yanked hard. The tang screamed in pain and reached for the vine. Of course, by doing that he let go of the human, and the frightened guy scrambled to his feet and fled. When he ran past the group of cats, one of them shouted at him, “What? Not even a thank-you? Where are your manners?” The others laughed.

But it wasn’t over. Kasha was still grappling with the tang. The lizard made a move for her, but Kasha danced away and yanked the rope again, making the tang scream in agony. As long as she held the rope, she could control the tang. But if she let go, the tang could attack. It was a standoff.

Kasha called to the others, “Uh, little help, please?” Her voice was definitely feminine, which is weird to say because she was a cat. She didn’t sound scared, either. But it was clear she didn’t want to be dealing with this tang on her own.

“Come on,” Durgen said to the others, sounding like he was bored with the whole event. “Let’s help her out…again.”

The cats all picked up long sticks of their own and moved toward Kasha and the tang. Durgen said to Kasha, “What if we weren’t here to help?”

Kasha replied, “But you are, so start.”

The cats poked at the tang with their long sticks. Kasha let go of the rope and backed away. The tang made an angry move for her, but the other cats poked it back.

“Easy there, big fella,” Durgen said to the tang. “Party’s over. Go find dinner somewhere else.”

The tang hissed at them and backed away. With a final shriek, it turned and rumbled into the bushes.

“Can we go now?” one of the cats asked Kasha.

“Yes, thank you,” she answered.

They retreated as a group, in case the tang decided to make a counterattack.

“Why do you do that?” Durgen asked Kasha. “Risk your life for a gar?”

“To make you angry,” Kasha replied playfully, and gave the cat a friendly shove.

“I’m serious,” Durgen added. “One day you’re going to get yourself killed.”

“Then you won’t have to worry about me anymore,” Kasha said with a chuckle.

The cats dropped their sticks, got down on all fours, and ran into the forest, once again looking like a pack of jungle cats.

“She’s a friend of yours?” I asked Boon.

“Since we were little,” Boon answered. “Her father is Seegen.”

“Seegen? The Traveler?” I asked in surprise. “He has a daughter?”

“Yes. She doesn’t know it yet, but Seegen told me she’ll be the next Traveler from Eelong. And when that happens, I’ll become her acolyte.”

“Are you serious?” I asked, sounding more surprised than I meant to.

“Yes. What’s wrong with that?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Let’s keep going. We’re almost there,” Boon said, and continued walking.

I followed, but with a new, troubling thought. There was only one Traveler from each territory. My uncle Press was killed, making me the Traveler from Second Earth. Loor’s mother and Spader’s father died as well, making them the Travelers from their territories. Aja was an orphan. If Kasha was destined to be the next Traveler from Eelong, then I was very worried about the safety of Seegen, the current Traveler. It was suddenly more important than ever to meet him.