7. The Advantages of Birds
Meogg had several things she did not want to encounter alone at night. A wild boar now topped that list. She didn’t know where the beast was, but she could hear it. That endless panting, unnecessary grunting, and of course the clanking of Captain Olombos’ golden chains.
It was as if they wanted the whole world to know they were there. And maybe that was the point, because just a while ago she still hopped through the grass fearlessly, but now she was afraid to take a step. Her thoughts turned to soup. Where are they? How long have I been walking already? One day? Three days?
“The map is clear,” said Olombos. “We must go to the center. These and these spots have deadly dangers, and here is a wall over which we cannot climb.”
“I understand, captain,” said a much softer voice. “But is walking through a path full of broken glass really the only option?”
They are on the other side of the wall, she thought, relieved. Of course they just follow a map and don’t imagine any other routes
Meogg emerged from the shadows and walked on.
“Who’s afraid of a little glass?”
“Sharp glass.”
A loud thud surprised her. She grunted briefly, but Olombos hadn’t heard it.
“I will not be defeated by those bothersome birds. Not for the second time!”
“But there are no birds here!”
“Where a bird is not, it will be any moment. Yes, yes, a well-known saying for a reason.” The group walked on, and each step felt like a small earthquake. Meogg tried to follow along from the other side of the wall.
“I’ve stood on a ship my whole life. I know everything about the compass, the map, discovering new lands. And for all that effort I have one country to my name. One! Almost all the Faraway Islands have been discovered by birds, because they can fly!”
Olombos spat, and even from afar, Meogg found it disgusting to hear. “It’s an unfair advantage. They must have stolen some power from the gods, made a deal with the devil. We’re going to set it right. We threaten to destroy all the Primal Birds’ eggs and—”
“I actually heard those were eggs of the Crystaltiran.”
A fox chimed in as well. “Didn’t somebody say those eggs were from the infamous Ghostbird?”
“Fine. Whatever. As long as there are some eggs to crush or use to my advantage.”
“But,” a boar tried, “the Apra say we can live together with birds, because they have the sky and we have the land.”
“Stop with the Apra nonsense. They’re as bad as the birds that steal all my islands.”
“But if all islands are named after you, isn’t that very confusing? Olombos 1? Olombos 2? Olombos—”
“You have no creativity. My beautiful name is a breeding ground for endlessly many beautiful titles! Olombia. Umboso. Make some effort.”
“Doughnuts,” someone yelled from the back.
He growled. “Too far! Fortunately, it’s not much farther for us. Have another bite of Sigri and we should be there by morning.”
Suddenly Meogg’s legs felt numb. She was distracted by the conversation, too relaxed, and stepped right into a deep hole.
She roared at full volume—as only bullfrogs can—and barely managed to stretch her legs until she could grab the edge of the hole. She flung herself upward.
Immediately, the first tusks started pounding into the wall. Pieces crumbled off. Meogg roared in fear again, then broke into a sprint.
She couldn’t see where her feet landed. She just had to hope there were no more defenses, hope her tired legs would make it one more time.
Why would Cosmo secure his secret passage? she thought, before pushing away all thoughts. Now there was only the long way up towards the center of the island, and the boars behind her.
Olombos broke through the wall.
For now, they were tiny orange dots far below her, sluggish beasts with torches in their mouths. But she was a small frog whose legs could barely move anymore.
The wall made a sharp turn. She couldn’t slow down in time. She turned, hit the wall with her back, and immediately rolled along.. Something shifted inside the wall.
Suddenly, a razor-sharp stone spike stuck out just above her.
She jumped back down and used the trees to propel herself, zigzagging through the forest, but always moving higher. The boars crept closer, mostly because they could see where they were going.
Meogg felt it in everything. She couldn’t keep this up. Her left leg didn’t want to straighten anymore, so she jumped with her right leg and could only go left. After three hopeless circles, terrible stomach cramps threw her off balance.
She roared in panic and frustration.
A moment later, the roar came back to her ears.
Holog? Family? she thought, but it didn’t sound like them. It sounded like herself.
Then … I must be in some kind of cave, she thought. She roared again—another echo. She made one final leap upward, without looking, and stuck out her tongue to the top.
She got stuck to a rock.
Quickly, she rolled up her tongue and then her whole body. Disregarding the pain, she clung to the ceiling. My body is falling apart, she thought. Claes was right. Sleep will get you, if death doesn’t come sooner.
If the boars won the race, however, the same fate awaited.
Captain Olombos entered the cave. He looked forward, left, right, but not up. Five boars now stood right underneath her.
One walked into the dark and quickly returned. “This cave is a dead end.”
“That loud bullfrog is here. Find her and torture her until she tells us everything, and gives up their claim to the island.”
A fox stood in the opening and her coat shone beautifully in the torchlight. It was unbelievable that such beautiful beasts, designed by the gods themselves, would partake in something so cruel. “She’s not in the grass or against the trees either. I think there must be a secret path the other way.”
The entire group gathered in the cave. It was only a matter of time before they would look up. And then it would be over, her body made that very clear.
If I … if I distract them, keep them busy just a little longer, she thought. I’ll give my family more time. I’ll give Parog more time.
She let out a roar, but it was a weak one, drowned out by Olombos’ gravelly voice.
“Fine! We move that way.”
The group stepped out of the cave. Meogg breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed so much she nearly came loose.
The last fox looked up. She winked at Meogg and hurried out of the cave as well.