[Danny]

really, you should have expected the Vykker, as they were sent out into the forest to find a runaway vykker.

yes, there are a lot of slig fics. when i started writing this, i thought it would be new and original. then i joined the forums, and got depressed at the number of people with the same idea.

i've just finished Chapter 32, and [oh, Odd, this'll sound bigheaded] i think its my best chapter yet. i'll get it posted in while, i just want to give out these little teasers.

here are 25 and 26. they're quite short, enjoy the shortness while you can...

CHAPTER 25

“Any sign of them?”

Frag shook his head. “Can’t see anyone. They’ve disappeared.”

Greeb sat on a crossbranch and held his head in his hands. “We have to decide what we’re going to do. We could spend forever looking for the others. I would have been happy to spend the rest of my life in the forest, but Rettick’s right; we’d never be able to cope. Besides, we have a duty to those we left behind at the factory to try our best to free them, too. I’m fairly sure we’re heading the right way, and we must be close to the edge, because the trees seem to be getting smaller and further apart. You can almost see the bottom if you look down. We could get away, and try and find the mudokon villages.” He cleared his throat. “It would mean abandoning those who are still out here, but they will undoubtedly head for the edge as well. What do you think? Do we go on to try and free our fellow sligs or do we try and find the others?”

Frag was nodding. Greeb guessed that he’d want to head out of the forest, as would Drak. In fact, when Greeb thought about it, he himself was probably closest to those who were lost, so if he wanted to leave, the others would follow.

“We’ve forgotten Volt.”

Greeb looked up. “What?”

Briori waved his arms. “No-one remembered to pick him up earlier. And I’ve no idea where we were then.”

Greeb cursed. “That’s Six we’ve lost, now!”

Drak spoke up. “We should carry on. If we stay out here, we’ll all be lost.”

Frag nodded. “I agree.”

“Me too.” Briori said.

Greeb almost smiled. “Straight this way then? That’s the way we’ve been heading.”

The others followed silently, thinking their own thoughts.

CHAPTER 26

“Lost him.”

Gormanul nodded his agreement. “Turn back?”

Tillyn shrugged. “I guess so, but I’m not sure which way we even came.”

Gormanul pointed to his left. “That way.”

“You’re sure?”

Gormanul shrugged. “ ’s as good as any way, really.”

They walked for about ten minutes, before Tillyn held up his hand. “Look!” Ahead was a battered corpse. It was barely recognisable as a slig. “It doesn’t look like one of our party. We must be close to the edge.”

“ ’s not eaten.”

“Shall we take a close look?”

Gormanul nodded, and they approached the corpse, but they weren’t ten feet away when the ground erupted. A net about twenty feet across lifted them, the corpse, and everything else on the branch up into the air. “Shit!” Gormanul tugged at the ropes, but they were very strong, and didn’t give. After struggling for a while, they settled down to wait and see who had caught them.

After twenty minutes or so, a slig approached along the branch. He was talking into his mobile fone. A voice that anyone who knew Supervisor Dran would have recognised crackled on the other end.

“Where are you?” came Dran’s voice

“Trap 215, 300 metres up, sector 21L.” the slig responded.

“The creature?”

The slig shook his head. “A couple of runaways, by the look of it.”

There was a pause. “Wait there for the Flyer, then send them back here. Oh, and remember to reset the trap afterwards. That creature’s still out there somewhere.”

“Aye aye, sir!” The guard put his fone away, and grinned at Tillyn and Gormanul. “You’ve got an interesting time ahead of you, guys!”

And he settled down to wait, watching their futile attempts to escape.

[ April 21, 2001: Message edited by: Rettick ]