The Adventures of Jocker & Bivy: Saving Upworld (Book #1) by J. Thorn

Author:J. Thorn
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi

Chapter 7

They maneuvered through endless tunnels of dirt, occasionally punctuated by clay pipes or thick wires. Renaldo told stories of how they came to be and tales of heroics from battles past, none of which could be entirely believed. Jocker stayed toward the rear of the group. He expected to see a snake head lunging at him, but the serpent did not return. Boris regained his usual personality and appeared to recover from his time in the snake’s coils.

As Renaldo led the group through a ragged hole in the remains of a brick wall, he stopped and turned to face them.

“This wall is known as the foundation. It is what the giants’ house sits on. Should this wall ever be broken, the house would collapse on top of our world. The wall is meaningful to the rats and I must stop here to pay my respect.”

Bivy, Boris and Jocker waited as the rat dropped its head to the ground. Renaldo used his tongue to clean the dirt off of the bottom layer of bricks.

“Okay. We can go. However, I must warn you. Beyond this wall is the domain of the queen and her armies of ant warriors. If we continue, there is no turning back.”

Boris looked at Bivy. Bivy looked at Jocker. Jocker looked at Renaldo.

“Let’s roll,” Jocker said.

The group traveled into tunnels narrowed to thin tubes of dirt –just the right size for an army of ants. Bivy started to feel trapped.

“It feels like the walls are closing in,” she said. “Like I can’t breathe.”

“I know what you mean,” Jocker said. “We’re birds, meant to soar at great heights above the trees and the animals below, not crawl through the ground like a rat.”

“Hey,” Renaldo said.

“I meant crawling through the ground like a spider.”

“Hey,” Boris said.

“I meant birds don’t like crawling under the ground, okay?” Jocker looked at Boris and Renaldo and smiled at them.

The rat led the group for another few hours before they stopped to rest. Bivy and Jocker had no idea how Renaldo knew it was night. He explained rats are nocturnal and are usually awake when many other creatures are asleep. Boris agreed and could not understand why anyone would want to spend time in the blinding, hot sunlight of the Upworld, as the insects and creatures below called the world above ground. Bivy and Jocker took a nap while Boris and Renaldo kept watch on the group.

Jocker awoke to Renaldo’s whiskers tickling his beak.

“Hurry, someone’s coming,” the rat whispered.

Jocker shook Bivy out of a dream.

“I’d like my sundae with extra worms, bug juice and a cherry beetle on top,” she said with her eyes closed.

“C’mon, wake up, sis,” Jocker said.

Bivy shivered awake and saw panic in her brother’s eyes.

Boris and Renaldo led with Jocker and Bivy behind them. The rat and the spider ran through tunnels carved by the queen’s armies. They spun around a corner and dove behind a pile of dirt. Bivy and Jocker followed, forcing their feathers low and out of sight.

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