5. Bumped Battlefield

Quili had never been this happy to see someone. Didrik had brought back the rabbit, but at a great cost. He had fresh cuts in his side and sank into the first tent he saw. She now believed Tibbowe’s glowing words about him—why he’d sacrifice so much of himself for creatures he barely knew was unbelievable.

As the camp awoke, she guarded Didrik, who had fallen into a deep sleep.

Epoh and Gossin walked past, this time carrying three empty baskets.

“Man, she really does nothing all day,” the Gossin said loudly.

Epoh looked disgusted. Her friend’s voice sounded different. “While we work hard, she is sleeping against another animal’s tent.”

“Puh.” Gossin maakte een gebaar met zijn vingers dat ze niet kende, maar het was vast niet aardig. “Maybe it’s time somebody shows how useless her garden is.”

Everyone around them suddenly looked at the garden. As if they’d forgotten it existed or thought Quili had given up by now.

And they all saw multiple stalks growing from the dirt. Quili jumped and happily ran to it. Gossin looked frustrated and swung after her, from tree to tree.

He beat her to the garden and landed exactly on one of the plants. The crack sounded to her ears like a bone breaking. Gossin was fine—her plant was note.

“Oops! How silly I am. I just walk—” He tripped again, his body flattening another plant.

“Stop! Go away! Stupid ghost.”

Quili pushed him aside and tried to bring her plant back to life. As if it would remember how to connect the two broken pieces back together. She hoped Didrik would calm her down, but he slept like a stone.

The worst was yet to come. Epoh also walked into her garden and “tripped” over a plant near the edge. Her best friend, her only friend, happily participated in killing her dream. Happy and nervous.

“Why!? Why are you doing this!?”

Epoh’s voice was almost inaudible. “What do I know, what do I know.”

If she felt guilty or not, it didn’t matter. It was about what you did. And even though Quili understood, her anger broke her brains for just a moment.

She jumped at Gossin, kicked her strong hind legs backward, and hit him square in the face. As he yelled from the pain and rolled backwards through the garden, she bit his tail. The screams by the Gosti sounded wonderful to hear ears—and woke up Tibbowe.

An eagle dove from the heavens and pushed the two apart.

The royal lion took over. Gossin bled heavily, but rapidly hopped to Tibbowe to complain. “She attacked me! It was like she tried to eat me! That is against the rules, which say—”

“I am familiar with the rules,” Tibbowe said calmly, “which I instated myself.”

“Well, then, you know she must be banished!”

“No! I … I …”

She had attacked him. He had never hurt her, only her garden. Didrik was still asleep and couldn’t help.

It was done. This king had never liked her. She lived, and was allowed to collect seeds, only because of his sweet wife. And now her life was over.

“The same rules,” Tibbowe said, “that forbid destroying another animal’s property.”

“Wa … wa? I tripped.”

“Me too,” Epoh squeaked.

“Multiple times? Simultaneously? And what were you doing here? Or were you secretly walking to the enemy, who aren’t far from this garden according to the eagles?” Quili suppressed a neigh. The eagles could have told her sooner!

“But oh royal highness, my tail! Attacked! Blood!” He held up his tail with black rings, though they were mostly red rings by now, and nearly pushed it into Tibbowe’s nose.

Quili frowned. “Did … didn’t you have a huge phobia for blood?”

Gosti already had large eyes. Gossin’s eyes now seemed too large for his head. In a flash, Tibbowe lunged for the animal, but it slipped through his claws, climbed a tree, and swung away from the camp. Five eagles immediately took off to chase him down.

“That explains,” Tibbowe growled, “why we lose each battle. Spies lived among us. So all Gosti must actually stand behind the enemy!”

“Not true!” the other Gosti in camp immediately said. “We stand behind the gods! We have proven that, believe us, please.”

Tibbowe considered. Quili saw a flash of anger in his eyes, an eagerness to kick out all the Gosti, but he contained himself. “Then you are a Split Species. The only animal that is not entirely on one side.”

“Is that … is that good?”

“I am not sure.”

The stern eyes of a lion looked down on cowering Quili. “Make no mistake, Equid. Attack once more and you are banished for good.”

It might have sounded fair, dear reader, but banishment just meant the other soldiers would eat her. As soon as she wasn’t part of camp anymore, all those lions and eagles did not have to follow the one rule. And she could never win from those creatures.

She had to learn how to contain her anger.

Tibbowe walked away.

“Thank you,” Quili said softly. He still heard and turned around for a faint smile.

“I want to question all the Gosti in our camp. Visit my tent at once.”

As a river of ape-like creatures streamed into the king’s tent, Quili studied her garden. Only a few plants remained. And she was doing so well! They grew far more quickly than regular plants. It seemed … it seemed there were more plants than she even had seeds. Could they really be magical? Once that grow a hundred plants at once?

Epoh walked to her with a basket between her teeth. “I … erm … can I join you?”

“No.”

Quili searched for her rabbits and planned to find ten seeds today, to repair her garden. That Epoh was now afraid to go alone, well, well, that was her own big fat fault. Traitor. Her act with the tripping was laughably bad.

Epoh exited the camp on the left, Quili on the right. Didrik was impossible to wake up, so she had to go alone. Something that made the rabbits very nervous. Bu now that she knew seeds were used to lure planteaters, she hoped to do something clever.

Namely, not touch anything. Remember where they were, then send someone else, like Tibbowe. Would he do that? For her? A few days ago, the answer would clearly have been no. Now she saw a world in which the king helped her.

A tap behind her. Another tap, dull and numb, which made a rabbit on her back squeal. As she turned around, she received a tap on the back of her own head. It hurt, but not enough to knock her unconscious. Whoever attacked—

Nobody attacked. The next tap came from her hooves, loud enough to make something crack.

It rained eggs.

Eggs larger than she’d ever seen. Admittedly, she hadn’t seen many eggs—as she was no bird and did not eat them—but she was sure these were oversized. She felt the same weird energy as with the large seeds.

The world turned black.

Two heartbeats later, all sunrays returned.

Overhead flew a giant bird. His two wings mixed with the color of the foliage, but won when it came to size. Was that …

“Cosmo! Cosmo!”

A beak turned downward. The god had to descend in a spiral around the trees, for he had no space for a regular landing in this overgrown rainforest. When he finally stopped, the rabbits were blown from her back due to the gusts of wind.

“Pardon me.” He had two normal wings. So no Heavenmatter for him.

“Where is your Windgustwing?” Quili asked. Ugh, she should’ve said her name first, or bow to him or something.

“If I am right, dear beast, then it is held by the wrong paws.”

Screams sounded from camp. Two eagles sang something, which other birds copied like a trumpeting melody. Quili felt the ground shake and a nasty wind pick up. That happens when hundred animals run at each other and play with their powers.

The next attack. This time, the enemy seemed to have found their camp.