Imperium Chronicles Box Set by W H Mitchell

Author:W H Mitchell [Mitchell, W H]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Humor, Space Opera, galactic empire
Publisher: Willbot Books
Published: 2020-07-19T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The forest grew brighter as a heavy morning mist hung among the low branches. Sisa Oakhollow, her hands tightly bound, followed the Katak warrior in front of her while several others trailed behind. The leading frogling trudged ahead, his webbed feet making hardly any sound among the leaves and twigs. His back, moist and shiny, reflected dapples of dawn piercing the canopy from above.

“Where are you taking me?” the girl asked, but the front warrior said nothing. None of them had spoken a word since dragging her out of bed and into the night. She could sense the froglings were agitated. They had lost many fighters in the attack.

Sisa reached out with her mind.

Why are you doing this? she thought.

The lead Katak stopped. Turning to face her, his throat swelled and he made a loud croaking noise. In her head, Sisa heard him think, Be quiet!

They started walking again, but after an hour or two, they stopped. The warriors formed a perimeter in a semi-circle between the girl and a stand of birch trees.

Sisa heard movement from the trees. Several small humanoids emerged. Each looked like a toadstool, tiny eyes peering out from under a cap of red with white spots. Their arms and legs were short, sprouting from their squat bodies. Like the Katak, they carried spears.

Sporemen, Sisa thought.

The froglings chirped excitedly, thrusting their weapons in the air. The sporemen did the same.

“Alright,” Sisa said. “Everybody calm down.”

The lead Katak shook his spear at her, then pointed back at the fungus people.

Sisa formed words in her mind. What do you want from me?

Translate, he thought back. What do they want?

Concentrating, Sisa focused on one of the sporemen. As a fungus, his thoughts were difficult to understand at first, but after a few minutes, Sisa began comprehending the situation.

You’re trespassing, she told the frogling telepathically. They want you to leave.

No, the leader replied. We must go this way.

Well, I don’t think they’re going to let you, she thought.

So be it!

With one of the froglings guarding Sisa, the others rushed into the trees and attacked the sporemen. The two sides squared off, each lunging with spears. Sisa could feel their fury and fear, mixed with her own. She didn’t understand why any of this was happening, why they kidnapped her, or why this was so important that someone had to die because it. Mostly, Sisa just wanted to be home in bed, the smell of her mother’s hotcakes wafting down the hall from the kitchen.

The Katak shouted when they died, croaking their last breath, but the fungus people, gentle in their own way, made no sounds at all. They fell quietly, like the morning fog burning off in the sunshine.

The treetop village was in uproar, the Gowyn townspeople running from one platform to another, looking for their missing Sylvan. From what anyone could tell, only Sisa had been taken. To Silandra, her mother, this made it all the worse.

“Why would they take my daughter?” she asked the others, but their concerned stares held no answers.

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