Wild and Reckless

Confused by Brinn's question, Jaymes shook his head. "I've been working on this plan for over a month. Bit by bit. Every time they let me out to relieve myself, I have been doing what I can. With your help it will only take a moment to finish and be ready to go."

Brinn pinched her nose. "Under normal circumstances, there is no way I would trust a child with my future. I have been burned by kids before…"

The princess thought back to the time a little elf girl nearly got the Empress and herself caught while trying to escape from her parents years ago.

Jaymes's face fell.

"…but," Brinn continued. "We are kind of out of options and time. So I am willing to try. But like I told my husband: you better not die, kid. I don't want to have to explain that to Rory later."

The young man's eyes sparkled like diamonds. He assumed his most business-like voice. "So, here is what we do..."

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Weaving through the trees behind the rest of the pack, a plump lizard slowed his pace as he huffed. He stopped, leaning against a tree to catch his breath.

"Why are we chasing after a measly child? Bohdrin is the idiot who let him escape and he is dead. I miss my tent by the lake. When Taran promised power, he didn't mention all the exercise..."

The lizard thought about the wolves which had moved farther beyond the last spot they had seen Gela. None of them had been able to make it over the barrier, and the lizards were unable to stand the cold at all.

Having returned to the cabin and meeting with some of Taran's allies, the lizards had decided to scout nearby and wait for their wolfish counterparts.

Now that seemed like a mistake. What the plump abomination wouldn't give now for a full belly and no more walking!

That was when a scent filled his nostrils. It wasn't food, but it was familiar. It was the obnoxious child! Jaymes was behind them somehow. The others were heading in the wrong direction.

'If I rally everyone and find that brat, I can set myself up as leader in the cabin. The others will have to feed me and I can get them to do the running around for me...'

"You foolish lizards! Come back! I found the kid!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

It took a moment for the rest to hear, but they eventually turned back to the fat creature who was leaning against a tree.

"This better be good, Graine," one of the monsters with a bad eye threatened. His claws raked against each other as he made a fist.

"Yeah, we were about to find some humans!" a smaller lizard hissed with hatred in her eyes.

Graine tilted his nose in the air. "Numbskulls, you were chasing fairy tales. The boy is behind us. I can smell him, don't you?"

The others sniffed at the air and their pupils widened as bloodlust filled their veins.

"Don't go wild. We need the boy alive. I'm not attached to the tutor though. So if worse comes to worse, we will say it was an accident if the old man dies."

The lizards rumbled their assent. Under Graine's leadership, they headed back towards the cabin a short distance and then veered left.

"That boy is lost as anything!" Graine announced. "He will be relieved when we 'rescue' him."

The others chuckled. Jaymes wasn't fooled by their 'protection' scheme, so they saw no reason not to make him pay for trying to leave. They would make sure the child would think twice before trying to leave again.

Graine grunted as one of his comrades bumped into his side. "Watch where you are going!"

"It's these cursed ground vines. They keep tripping me." The other defended herself.

All along the ground, a tangled web of vines wove between the trees making a perilous journey for the lizards.

"We will have to make the brat clean up his garden. Whose bright idea was it to let him start that?" Graine cursed as he pulled his clawed foot out of a knot.

"Bohdrin let him," a few chimed in in unison. "Said it was better than listening to him complain..."

Only weeks had passed since the tattooed lizard had let the boy plant a single seed, and yet this patch of forest was overrun with the tendrils. It was unnerving.

Graine looked at the tangled mess. "Jaymes is probably hiding below the vines. Don't step on him."

Slowing their pace, the monsters continued to search for the fugitives. At last they spotted a small figure curled up against the a large trunk of a tree. His chin was on his knees and his face was wet with tears.

When he saw the monsters, his eyes widened.

"Don't come any closer!" Jaymes called out. "It took him!"

"Took who?" Graine furrowed his leathery brow. Then it dawned on him. The professor was missing. "Who took him?"

"I was just trying an experiment. I didn't think it would get a mind of its own, I swear!" Jaymes pleaded as if Graine's opinion mattered.

"What are you talking about?" Graine was growing impatient. He took another step toward the blubbering child.

"I was just trying to help the Creeper Vine!" The boy averted his eyes and uncrossed his arms.

That is when Graine noticed the vine wrapped firmly around the child's chest.

"It's so tight," Jayme's wheezed. "I have to get out of here!"

He struggled to stand and began to run. However, the child did not get more than two steps before the vine sprung to life and lifted him from the ground and up into the trees. Jaymes disappeared into the branches with a haunting plea.

"Help me!"

The lizards stared in shock for a moment. Graine looked up for Jaymes with no luck. "How did..."

A snap cracked around them and suddenly the forest came to life. All of the vines on the ground tightened like a net around a fish, entangling the lizards' feet. From above, leafy tendrils shot from the trees in every direction, swaying in an attempt to grasp their new captives.

One of the reaching vines nearly caught Graine around the neck. He ducked just in time for it not to lift him off the ground like the child before him. "Retreat!" he yelled as he bent to free his feet.

His claws ripped at the green ropes as he thrashed against his coming doom. When Graine managed to get loose, he fled.

Behind him, the other lizards screamed, crying out for help. Yet, the plump lizard did not even look back to help his fellow monsters. Above him the branches were becoming more and more disturbed. The vines were following him.

Graine had never run so hard in his life as he scurried to outrun the racing vines. If he made it out of this, he would never go back to the cursed cabin ever again. Already a plan was forming in his mind as he cleared the last patch of leaves.

'Taran does not even know I was here. I can return to the lake to give a report on Gela's whereabouts and never be blamed for any of this...'

A half-dozen others joined Graine at his side, staring warily upward at the whispering branches.

"Where are the others?" Graine asked.

"Dead!" the creature on his left answered with conviction. "There is no way they could have survived that hungry beast."

Graine shivered. "We will not forget their sacrifice. Now, let's get out of here!"

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After his harrowing scream, Jaymes quickly broke the vine holding the intricate web of vines in place. Each part of the creeper had been carefully placed and woven so it would grow into what Jaymes needed.

When released, the boy watched as his trap sprung to life and took captive his former jailers.

The terrified monsters fought against the chains, eventually winning and fleeing in every direction without a care for the boy or his fate. When the creatures were all finally out of earshot, those in the tree all burst out laughing.

"That was quite a performance," Brinn patted the boy on the back.

"Thanks." Jaymes winced.

"Did I pull you up too hard?" Alvar untied the boy from the viney winch.

Jaymes held up his hand. "No, you did perfect. The vines held even better than I thought! My original goal was to set off the trap to prevent them from following me. It was never meant to be a scare tactic. But when I realized we needed to protect your friends, I opted for a new plan."

"You mean you were just winging it down there just now?" Reyan asked, his voice full of suspicion.

"You could say that." Jaymes scratched his head. "Don't tell the professor though. He is already worried about me as it is."

"A wild and reckless scheme that totally shouldn't work and yet it does? I take it back, Jaymes. You aren't related to the human royals. You are clearly related to me." Brinn tousled the boys hair, her voice filled with approval.

"Is that a good thing?" The child wanted to know.

Brinn hooked a crooked grin. "Fates! Not at all, but it sure is fun!"