Alternamorphs 01 - The First Journey by Applegate K.A

Author:Applegate, K.A. [Applegate, K.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

57 | P a g e

XXVI || Twenty-Six

The poison-arrow frogs are a good cover. With your powerful hind legs, you leap

through the rain forest to the site of the Blade ship. You lurk underneath a bush,

waiting for Tobias’s signal.

<They’ve started fighting,> Tobias says. <Where are you? I can’t see you.>

<To the right of the Blade ship,> you say.

<Underneath that bush with the pointy leaves,> Cassie adds.

<I still can’t see you. And I can’t find Visser Three. He could be in a new morph,>

Tobias says.

<Watch,> you say. You hop out a few feet into the clearing.

<Okay, got you,> Tobias says. <You’d better circle to the other side. There’s Hork-Bajir

in your vicinity.>

You hop back. Together with the others, you make your way around the ship. Around

you, you can hear the Hork-Bajir crashing through the rain forest. Every so often, you

hear the sizzle of Dracon beams.

It begins to rain. You’re thirsty, and your frog brain clamors for water. You hop forward

and stick out your tongue. The water feels cool. You swallow gratefully.

<The rain feels good,> you say.

<What rain?> Tobias asks.

A brownsh-greenish creature suddenly detaches itself from a tree. It appears to have

no bones. But at the end of its five arms are sprinklerlike holes. They are spraying you

with water.

<It is a B’heeon!> Ax cries. <Look out for its—>

A three-foot-wide, sticky pink tongue suddenly shoots out of the creature’s mouth. It

laps you up like cream. You thrash about, but you can’t escape as the tongue shoots

you backward into the waiting mouth.

<Frog’s legs. Delicious,> Visser Three says.

And SLURP—you’re finished.

Oops. Try again. Turn back to page 46.

58 | P a g e

XXVII || Twenty-Seven

The jaguar owns the rain forest. You realize this as you take control of the morph. You

feel the power of your coiled muscles, ready to spring. Your gaze can pick out details

in the darkest shadow. You spy the tiniest beetle and the sloth hanging abov eyou and

the parrot in the tree.

They don’t concern you. When you are hungry, you kill to eat. It is the way of the

forest. You have power and control and grace and mobility and will.

<I feel pretty sublime,> Marco says. <I mean, I’m a pretty supreme human. But as a

jaguar, I’m incredible.>

<The forest is incredible,> Cassie says softly. <It’s layered with life.>

You know what she means. From the dirt underneath your pads to the tiniest branches

overhead, the rain forest teems with life.

<How can the Hork-Bajir just slash and burn this place?> Rachel asks. <It’s so

incredible.>

<That is why we must stop them,> Ax says. <Wait.>

You pause. Your ears have picked up the same sounds.

<To the right,> Jake says.

<No,> Ax says. <We are surrounded.>

The Hork-Bajir have fanned out in the forest. They have made a pincer movement, and

you have fallen into the trap.

Dracon beams explode around you. One of the Hork-Bajir swipes at Cassie, and she

snarls and jumps at them. Rachel isn’t far behind.

You spring at the neck of a Hork-Bajir, and it goes down. You swipe at another with

your claws and teeth and all the power of the jaguar, but there are more of them than

you.

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