David Bishop and the Legend of the Orb by T.C. Crawford (tools of titans ebook .txt) 📕

Chapter XIV

David woke with a dull throbbing pain in the back of his head. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself sitting propped up against a large tree trunk at the edge of a vast wide-open plain stretching to the base of an enormous chain of mountains. It appeared to be late in the morning, as the sun was already climbing high in the sky and was slowly making its way towards the top of the mountains in the West where it would eventually set.

He quickly sat up after remembering that Erin had gone off on her own. When he tried to stand, he stumbled, realizing he still needed to recover from the blow he had suffered.

“You're awake!” he heard Rex shout behind him.

David turned around to see Rex and Orin slowly packing up a camp site they had made for resting overnight. They quickly came over to where David sat and started to explain to him what had happened since he was out.

“We had to do something, kid. We knew you’d go on your own after Erin” explained Rex. “We couldn’t take the chance of you going off and getting yourself captured or killed!”

“He’s right, David.” remarked Orin. “You weren’t listening to us when we tried to explain, but Erin has to do this on her own for now until we can find the help we need. Otherwise we won’t stand a chance at taking back the kingdom and saving anyone.”

“You’re right.” exclaimed David. “I understand why we can’t go after Erin…we can’t do much good with just the three of us against an entire legion of soldiers.”

“I’m sorry, David.” Rex said apologetically.

“It’s okay, thanks.” said David still rubbing his head. “Now where exactly are we, and how long have I been out?”

“You’ve been out for a few hours. We’re about a day, maybe two, from Ravenfell depending on how quickly we can move. We’ve made it to the Southern edge of the Outer Woods. Now we just have to cross these plains by nightfall, and we’ll make camp in the foothills before reaching the mountains beyond.”

“These must be the plains that I woke up in when I was brought to your world” said David. “That means we need to be careful; these fields were sprawling with dozens of those beasts from the Wolf Guard when I first came through the portal. I almost got eaten by one of them.”

“We’ve been seeing bands of them here and there since we arrived at the outskirts of the forest. They seem to be spaced throughout the entire plains surrounding the forest like they want to keep anyone from going in or leaving” explained Orin. “I don’t like it one bit, but we have to find a way past these creatures if we’re going to get to your people” he said, nodding towards Rex.

“I’m afraid you’re right” he replied solemnly. “David, got any ideas? How did you get past them before?”

“Well…I ran as fast as I could. I got lucky, honestly. Had I not been close to the forest I would have certainly been caught.”

“Well running isn’t an option; they’ll see us and swarm on us like a bunch of angry bees” replied Rex.

“We could try to use the cover of the high grass and crawl our way across” suggested David. “But we would need to find something to cover our scent, so they don’t smell us coming. That’s how they spotted me last time.” said David, recalling the horror he felt when he was spotted by the beast. It still sent shivers down his spine.

“I know just the thing for that! A special spell of mine, works real well for concealing smells!” exclaimed Orin with a grin.

✽✽✽

“Mud? That’s your special spell?” griped David, clearly displeased with the horrible smelling muck that now covered the companions from head to toe. “Couldn’t you have obtained some better smelling stuff?”

“What? It’s not so bad, quit being a baby!” teased Rex, clearly more in his element than David.

“Yeah well at least it will keep our scent from attracting those beasts. It’s not like you had any better ideas!” stammered Orin defensively, knocking David on the head with his staff.

“Ouch! What’s with you two hitting me in the head? Can’t you pick a new spot for a while and let this one be?”

Rex and Orin chuckled, but David wasn’t so amused.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Let’s get going, before those beasts learn to smell ‘stupid’ too.” David teased.

The companions started off towards the edge of the high grass and knelt down to the ground before starting off through the thick, dry plains, crawling painstakingly through the field.

The sun was getting lower in the sky, getting pierced by the peaks of the tallest mountains by the time they were nearly across the fields. It had been a long and arduous task crawling through the high grass. It was hot, uncomfortable, and the grass had a strange way of making you itch all over.

They had been lucky so far and had avoided any encounters with the creatures in the field. They had a couple of close instances, however the mud seemed to cover their scent well enough that the company of approaching beasts walked right by merely a few feet ahead of them without catching their scent. David silently told himself to remember to apologize to Orin later for complaining about his idea.

As the companions continued to trudge through the tall dry grass, David stopped to wipe the sweat that was dripping into his eyes. He looked over to check on Orin and Rex, both of which were struggling with the heat as well, dripping with sweat from head to toe. It was only then that he realized their fatal error.

The sweat was slowly running off the mud!

David could begin to see streaks of clear skin on both Orin and Rex, and he assumed the same had been happening to him. Wide eyed with fear, he looked up as the same conclusion