[Chronicles of the Twenty-One Butterflies 01] • Butterfly Islands by Seabranch Chris

Author:Seabranch, Chris [Seabranch, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance
Amazon: B01BHVED0I
Goodreads: 29159807
Publisher: Chris Seabranch
Published: 2016-02-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter XI

It took the Harpy a whole day to reach God's Mercy. For most of the journey, Casey sat alone at the bow and watched the steep cliffs of New Island pass by. Caves and overhangs, where seagulls, eagles, colorful parrots, and other birds nested, riddled the three-hundred-foot sheer cliff face. The myriads of birds created an orchestra of blended squawking and tweeting that carried far out over the rolling swells.

Casey wished to be one of them. She wanted to be a bird and escape from it all. She imagined herself soaring high above Gallows Sound and looking down at the islands. Where would she go? Maybe she would go further west, far from Governor Johnson and Alfred. At least, she would go somewhere far from God's Mercy – that was for sure. She watched as a big blue parrot disappeared over the edge of the green island and out of sight.

A dense jungle covered New Island, and lianas hung down from overhanging trees that leaned dangerously over the island's edge. Some of the trees even grew horizontally and many of the lianas, which had grown from the forest canopies for decades, hung perpendicularly down toward the sea.

Casey watched as angler monkeys climbed up and down the lianas. These strange monkeys, which were just a little smaller than humans, had black fur, elongated faces, and lived exclusively in the lianas of New Island. The primates picked larvae, caterpillars, worms, spiders, and insects from the canopies and sprinkled them down to where the lianas touched the sea. The movement of the critters attracted various fish, which the angler monkeys then grabbed with their hands, and ate them in the safety of their nests in the trees. After de-fleshing the fish, the monkeys threw the bones, and seagulls would often swoop in to catch the fish remains in mid-air.

It was a perfect circle of life, Casey thought to herself. Angler monkeys ate the fish, and the seagulls ate the leftovers. Stools from the birds fertilized the sea below, creating a perfect environment for algae and seagrass to grow. The fish ate the algae and seagrass, thus completing the circle. It was not like that with the people living in Gallows Sound. There, only those at the top of the food chain, such as Governor Johnson and the queens of the Old World, benefitted. There were no leftovers for the poor and those in need. Casey wished the people would find the courage to revolt against the tyranny and bring down the Governor, but it was hard to imagine who could legitimately oppose him.

***

The Harpy reached God's Mercy early the following morning. The mist still lay heavy over the sea, creating fairytale-like scenery. On the approach, Captain Blue ordered Argus to sail the ship as close as possible to the cliffs of New Island. It was a dangerous thing to do, but necessary to avoid guards from the city spotting their arrival. The curvature of the New Island coastline provided cover from unwanted eyes.

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