[skillya_glowi]

OOps. Why did my post duplicate??

Anyway, chapter Three:

Chapter Three

Sami rubbed his eyes and stretched. Remembering the noises that woke him last night, he looked around alertly. Nothing seemed out of place.
The deep orange glow had by now turned rich yellow, from which Sami concluded that it was nearing noon. The wind has also picked up and was swirling the fallen leaves around, along with chips of bark and small stones. Sami yelped. The wounds in his back were still very sore and it was difficult to move around.
Grabbing hold of the log, Sami drew himself up. Slowly and painfully, he made his way around the log and sat down.
He was disturbed by a screeching noise coming from the shrubs. Expecting the worst, he cowered and shut his eyes, but once again, not noticing anything changing he looked up. There was nothing unusual in sight. Supposing it was only an aftereffect of yesterday’s chase, Sami straightened up and resumed drawing in the dirt with his toes.
However, as he himself reasoned, he could not stay here forever. He must find a way to live. He was very hungry, since he had not eaten anything since yesterday except for a few stray insects, which were far from nourishing. Sami rose carefully and started hopping eastward, with hope that he may find a pond or a stream, at the least.
Soon Sami noticed something very strange: the sounds of the wood, the chirping of birds, the cries of animals have vanished. More wary than ever, he started moving very slowly, then stopped completely, looking around, puzzled.
While he stood there, suddenly the noise reappeared. Mystified, he shook his head, not sure if there was a momentary silence, or perhaps the lapse was due to some internal malfunction.
Suddenly he remembered his home. He remembered the crackling of the fireplace where he used to sit on cold winter days. He remembered his favorite chintz armchair, the cover of which looked like a patchwork quilt because it was torn and darned so many times. He used to sit there and read, or spend his nights. Now he pictured his cosy river home, if not shattered to smithereens, as the hive of the Woulks, the breeding grounds of ruthless predators.
Sami sniffled and wiped a tear. Sighing, he sat down onto the dry leaves, staring blankly into the thick air. His head drooped down.
Without noticing, he drifted off into a weary sleep.

Sami woke from the sensation of being carried. Opening his eyes wide, with a pang he realized that he was carried — He could feel a stretcher under him. Whoever — or whatever — was carrying him seemed to be hidden under the stretcher, and it seemed to be tall.. The acrophobic Sami stammered and bolted up. He closed his eyes and clenched his two fingers tightly in his teeth.
After a while his fingers started hurting. Not wanting to lose his last fingers, he took them out of his mouth and gritted his teeth.
He noticed that his escorts were talking in a strange language. Sami pinched himself to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming, and then carefully tried to lean over to look at his kidnappers. While he was leaning over, however, he saw the ground — very far away. Quickly he sat up. Breathing heavily, he leaned close to the stretcher and lay down.
After approximately a minute, the motion stopped. Sami’s eyelids flew open, immediately revealing the hide of the stretcher. Sami flipped over and saw the roof of a cave. By the glow on its top half he concluded that there was a fire going. He shook his head and sat up.
He was definitely in a cave. On the walls there was the most peculiar sort of art, along with mysterious symbols, overgrowing with moss and vines. In the corner Sami saw (and felt) a giant bonfire. In the flickering firelight, he noticed four odd faces staring at him.
Their eyes seemed to emit an orange glow, almost obstructing the pupil. Their eyelids, as he could see, were translucent, and so were the hornlike protrusions, five on each side of the head. Between each horn a thin membrane was stretched, forming a finlike mane around the face. Their skin appeared to be a smooth grayish-green hue, splattered with yellow and white war paint.
One of them approached Sami. Sami shrank back. The creature stopped halfway and asked something of his associate. They argued for a moment, then the first one grabbed a stick and started drawing in the dirt.
He drew an arrow pointing towards Sami. Sami pointed a finger towards himself and raised his eyebrows. The creature nodded vigorously. It held up two webbed fingers, turned them upside down, and flicked them out, one after the other, as to suggest walking. Sami interpreted this as “Where do you come from?”
Mutely he pointed his finger at the ground and wove his hands, and hopelessly said, “Not from here”.
The stranger turned to his associate again. He seemed to lead a short discussion, which appeared to be fervent and fast-paced.
Hanging onto his last bit of hope, he started silently telling his story. He stuck out his fingers and curled them to suggest claws, waved his hands again. Pointing his fingers to the walls, he made a whimpering noise, and moved his leg as to swim. He made a karate chopping motion to his missing arm, and then spread them apart as to say, “I dunno.”
This time the creature turned and called a name.
“Ikha!”
A fifth figure appeared.
The caller said something very fast and motioned for Ikha to come closer. They dove into conversation, which included fervent pointing at Sami and hand gestures.
“ You…problem?” Ikha asked, raising his eyebrows.
“ Woulks overran my home and I need a way to get them out!” Sami blurted.
“ Woulk…A ta pe e kha naya ,” Ikha turned to his partner.
“ A ta pe, wanu lus kah. Y ko lus kah, e neh kah, lus ah kah .”
“ A lus e naya, kah naya ta pe. A ihino e pe ta .”
The other creature shrugged.
Sami supposed it was for the better. Anything was good if it did not end in him roasting over a fire. Perhaps this translator of theirs could understand his trouble. But even if he did, how in the world could they help?
Ikha turned to Sami.
“We know…help you. Rest.”
This Sami did not mind. He has been up from dawn to dusk and was very tired. He sighed contentedly and leaned back on the stretcher. The experiences of the day have worn him out and he was snoring not before long.