Chapter 21- Terrors of the Forest.

Wilson shouted at the horned-monkeys for the umpteenth time. He was furious and the monkeys seemed not to care, but continued to bounce on the tree branches and chattered noisily, obviously mocking him. His instincts were trying to tell him something but he was to upset to think clearly.

As he prepared to try his luck again, a loud voice stopped him.

"You must be like the stupidest person on Earth! Do you think you can outsmart one of the smartest beast species to ever exist by letting your anger cloud your sense of judgement?"

Wilson looked at the owner of the voice but said nothing and looked back at the horned-monkeys again. He watched their movements for a while before he turned back to respond to the young lady. She was already gone.

'How did I not hear her leave?' He thought to himself.

'Perhaps I am truly letting my anger cloud my senses.'

He took in a deep breath and looked back at the monkeys and observed how the branches place them in ways that they covered one another's blind spots. He couldn't sneak up to them because they had the home-advantage. He could not go at them directly either. That's what he had been doing all this while anyway.

He couldn't find a way to kill even a single one but he was not willing to give up without killing at least one of them. He had to let them know that he was not someone to be messed with.

He looked at the surrounding trees and suddenly realized how many creatures were watching him. The horned-monkeys only occupied a few of the trees. Most of them had other species of creatures there. They all seemed social including those well-known for their solitary living habits.

There were multi-coloured snakes that somehow blended in with the environment, several types of flesh eating birds, squirrels with razor-sharp teeth, they were surely not the types that fed on nuts. A few families consisting of various well-known, forest-dwelling carnivores waited expectantly below the trees several metres away watching him intently. Surprisingly, they didn't seem hostile to him but only observed him expectantly as if waiting for him to drop the monkeys from their trees.

He looked back at the monkeys on the tree he had been constantly scaling and falling from for the past few hours. The e monkeys noticed their fellow hostile beasts in their immediate surroundings but paid no heed as if to say that they were neither scared nor concerned.

"Just how many enemies have these monkeys made?" He asked aloud and as if they understood what he said, the horned-monkeys snarled at him in unison. and threw a few well-sharpened branches at him. He dodged them very easily and the spear-like branches sank into the moderately hard ground very easily. Wilson gasped.

"What would have happened to me if they had hit me?" Wilson more of asked himself aloud than at the monkeys but they gave him a demonstration nonetheless.

They each grabbed some more branches and made a throwing pose. Tranquility filled the previously noisy habitat. Even the breeze had stopped. It was obviously the calm before the storm. Everything paused as if under control, then the horned-monkeys collectively threw their sticks in a frantic, seemingly disorderly manner.

Wilson had poised to dodge again but soon saw the sticks pass way over his head. As he followed their trajectory, he saw a stick impale a rainbow coloured snake. Noises filled the previously tranquil forest and all the creatures scattered around in a frenzy, struggling to escape their impending doom. He frantically looked around and noticed how easily the branches had found their targets. The horned-monkeys had impeccable aim. They barely missed and the branches were thrown with such amazing strength, they always penetrated their victims like butter, cutting right through their thick hides and impaling them on the nearby trees or to the ground. The stench of blood filled the land in no time.

The the monkeys roared in unison and the big ones jumped down from the tree. Wilson instantly ran for his life. There was no way he could face off against so many of those beastly things. Hell no! And so, he ran as far away as possible. He was not willing to risk his life to find out what would happen next. But at least he now knew why the creatures were looking at him expectantly. They were hoping he could obliterate the horned-monkeys. They were the terrors of the forest.

He sympathised with the creatures but then, there was no way he was going to be able to kill an entire army of strong and dexterous horned-monkeys. At least, not on his own. And so he ran and ran and ran without realizing that nothing was chasing him.