7. Liars

Cosmo and Tibbowe had spoken for a long time, sometimes loudly and sometimes in whispers, as they pointed at maps of the area. Quili slept with a worried heart, but no longer for her garden. For Epoh, who had been taken, maybe already eaten. Yes, she was mean to here. Yes, she dropped her friend when she needed her most.

But surely, a few mean words were not on the same level as dying. Maybe she could get her friend back. She wanted to try, if only to say the mean things back to her and then smile and hug again.

And she worried for the mission. Tomorrow morning, the army would race to the place that was supposed to have Darus’ Heavenmatter. Didrik could not—or did not want to—explain, but they all spoke of it like a turning point in the war. The weapon with which the gods would win in less than a week. She anticipated such an object would not be easy to find.

“Let’s hope,” Cosmo said as he exited the king’s tent. “We did not even want to start this war. It has already taken too long. Each life lost is one too many.”

Yes, Quili had chosen the right side, she was sure. Though it was not really a choice, as she was born on the continent ruled by the gods. The only reason all these predators did not eat hear, was because she was born on the right side of an arbitrary line. Would the gods still help her if that wasn’t the case?

She tapped Didrik’s shoulder. “We have to look for Epoh tomorrow.”

“Can’t,” he said sleepily. “I go fronty-front in the search for Darus his object.”

“Don’t!” Quili said, much louder than anticipated. “I mean, what if something happens to you? What if we’re unable to spot hte enemy again, and you’d be the first to …”

“Oh, ah, don’t worry, I only die in the distant future.”

“What?” Quili sighed. “Let me guess: it would break my brain to—”

“Yesso.”

“Then choose a side! Choose our side. You’ve seen how peaceful the gods are. How they do not want to fight. And you—in some weird way—know you’re not dying anyway …”

“Peaceful?” Cosmo suddenly appeared. She had forgotten his hearing could, according to legends, even hear whispers on another continent. “Don’t want to fight? We are more than eager to fight. We have exterminated many species in the past, ask Didrik.”

“Nah, rather not, it would break your—”

“We understand you must sometimes fight to prevent future pain. The problem? This is exactly what those Pricecats want.”

She had to admit: her brain was broken. They had to fight to defeat the Pricecats, but that’s what they wanted for some reason, so they had to not fight them? No wonder the gods hoped the war was over tomorrow.

“Can’t the Chiefgod come and help? Juraism shows that—”

“Stop that! Juraism is an invention! We are your Chiefgods.”

“… all of you?”

Cosmo sighed. “It is insane! You are surrounded by real, living gods every day, and still the animals believe in made-up gods they cannot even sea!?” He nervously picked crumbs and dirt from his feathers. “In the old days, when you wanted plants to grow and blossom, you’d visit Eeris. Goddess of Nature, always ready for you in the Rainbow Forest. Now they sing songs and prays to a made-up God of Fertility. And when the plants start to grow after a while—which would have happened anyway—they think their prayers have been answered!”

“Is it true that her Heavenmetter are the Heavenly Flowers? In the Rainbow Forest?”

Cosmo flew away. “I think we need to tell fewer animals about the Heavenly Objects and where they are.”

Camp fell silent. Everyone slept to recharge energy for tomorrow. Energy that had to come from somewhere, because they lacked food. She was about to dream herself when she heard noise from her garden.

A clear stomping and scraping noise. The group of lions that stomped through her garden didn’t even attempt to be secretive. Was it that bad? Why were they all against her? Was her garden the worst idea ever?

She ran to them, unsure what to do.

“Stop! Or I will get Tibbowe!”

“Sure, he’d love that,” a lion said after trying to split a seed with his sharp nails. He succeeded after many attempts. “Losing precious sleep. And when he looks … we’ll be gone.”

“Why!? Why do—”

One of them suddenly dashed forward. Quili staggered in fear, but the lion stopped just before his teeth grabbed her throat. The lion remained underneath her hooves, making it hard not to hit him.

“We need meat! Like most of the army. This is all a waste of energy and space.” They walked through her garden, again, to destroy every single part. Half the army had helped her plant many seeds and protect them with fences. It didn’t matter against five giant lions.

They licked their teeth. Quili’s right paw dug into the dirt, preparing a leap, powering up her anger. They all treat me like garbage! the voice in her head screamed. Shall I treat THEM like garbage?

She really wanted to bite in his tail. Yes, the one in the front, now eating two seeds at once.

At least half the camp must have woken up from the noise of these not-so-subtle criminals. She sprinted at the first lion, staggered, ready to smash a hoof into his face, to bite his tail, to scratch wherever possible, before—

They did this on purpose.

The lion smiled. As if a wild near-horse didn’t charge at him with red eyes. He’d accept any wounds, if it meant Quili was banished and allowed to be eaten.

She roared and fought the anger. Her paws fell down, stuck to the ground. She made herself tall and did not move again.

The other soldiers came looking for the source of the noise. They saw a group of lions flee the place. They tried to hide their faces, but enough animals had seen the perpetrators.

“These lions have purposely destroyed my garden and threatened me,” Quili said. Her voice had trouble staying calm and clear. She knew this was the right choice.

To her own surprise, she trusted Tibbowe. Her king.

Tibbowe left his tent lazily. His expression was dark. This had really upset the king.

“Stop them!”

A few elephants were enough to create a wall. The Gosti used their weapons and ropes to arrest the lions. Tibbowe studied the damaged to the garden, which meant he mostly studied a patch of dirt that didn’t represent anything anymore.

“I thought I was clear about our rules.” He sniffed. “With a pained heart, I banish my own lion brothers from camp.”

“Your own family!?” the foremost lion yelled.

“A king does not discriminate. You are all my family,” he spoke.

“No.” Quili again spoke before thinking, but her feeling was certain. She could only think about Epoh and how she was wasting time before saving her friend.

The lions had challenged her and eaten a few seeds. That was not the same as being sent away, almost to a sure death in the hands of the enemy.

“I forgive them. They may prove themselves in the mission tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Didrik yawned. “In a few sleepless hours, you mean.”

“Stop whining,” Quili said with a laugh, “you apparently have all the time in the world.”

Didrik grinned. “That I do, that I do.”

Tibbowe looked around, taking in every soldier face. “If … if everyone agrees with that decision?”

Quili nodded. Most of them nodded. “Then I retract my banishment. And now no more—”

All eagles descended from the trees at once. “They found it!”

“Pardon?” Cosmo had seen them much earlier and landed in their midst.

“The enemy! We’ve finally learned how to spot them, thanks to Cosmo. And they have been trying to break a door in a cave for hours. While preparing to run into the place when the door opens.”

“A thousand manes!” Tibbowe yelled. “Ready yourself! You have until sunrise, then we leave at once.”

When the very first sunrays appeared, they indeed left. The entire army ran away. Not blood-thirsty or full of adrenaline, but tired and done with this war and hungry bellies. Quili was one of the few to stay behind, joined by the rabbits.

This time, however, they didn’t need to look for seeds. They were scattered around camp itself. Had they fought a battle before, right here? She didn’t understand and looked around suspiciously. Once she had gathered more than twenty seeds, she was quite certain nobody hid in the bushes to attack her.

Her garden had to restart again. Only one, thin stalk stood upright. The eagles were the only ones to support her from the start. Big, strong beasts. Rulers of the skies. And even that wasn’t enough to save her garden.

Wait …

Of course it wasn’t enough.

The eagles didn’t really help, they only told here to collect more seeds all the time. And what appeared in camp after all eagles had descended? Seeds.

“Say rabbit creature—”

“My name is Hop. I risk my life for you, and you don’t even learn—”

“Hop, sweet Hop, what exactly is the eagle diet?”

“They are pure carnivores.”

“Pure … carnivores. So no plants? They can’t eat plants?”

“Yes, yes, that’s what it means to—”

The rabbits realized too.

And if the eagles worked for the enemy, then …

Quili raced out of camp.

“The message is wrong! Don’t listen to the eagles!”