With our food devoured, the thieving monkeys cast their mischievous gaze upon the saddlebags adorning our trusty glowhorn stags.
'No, no, no!' I shout, my arms flailing in a futile attempt to ward off the thieving creatures. But they pay no heed to my protests. With lightning speed, they leap onto the backs of our stags and deftly open the saddlebags, revealing a trove of clothing items.
Imogen's voice quivers with urgency. 'We have to stop them!' she exclaims, 'they've already eaten our food,' she says, her eyes darting between the monkeys and our beloved belongings.
A surge of frustration courses through me, and an untamed instinct takes hold. Without conscious thought, I find myself on all fours, my primal growl reverberating through the forest. The monkeys freeze, their eyes widening with surprise and caution. For a fleeting moment, it feels as if I could fully shift into my wolf form, but the pain shoots through my bones.
Before the monkeys can strike back, a shimmering cloud of mist materialises, and from its depths emerges Mister Kal. Exploding into a myriad of tiny, biting fleas, he launches an onslaught against the thieving monkeys. They screech and scratch in a frenzy, their thievery disrupted by the relentless attack.
Janie steps forward. Her hands raised high, and she utters an incantation with unwavering determination. 'Tremendous nebulous!'
Above the monkeys, a fierce storm cloud materialises, crackling with electrifying energy. A bolt of lightning cascades down, striking the intruders. They screech as they're zapped, their bodies wracked with the force of nature's fury. Seizing the opportunity, the monkeys scramble up the nearest trees, disappearing into the distant foliage.
As the storm subsides, Janie rushes to my side, her concern evident. Imogen kneels beside me with worry.
'Are you all right?' Janie asks, her voice filled with genuine concern.
I sit myself up, ‘Yeah, I’ll be fine. My wolf instincts kicked in, and I had the urge to shift,’ I say to them.
‘I thought you didn’t want to shift and be a wolf?’ Imogen says.
‘I don’t, but the urge to was out of my control,’ I explain, trying to quell Janie and Imogen’s concerns.
Imogen and Janie extend their hands towards me, and I gratefully grasp them, feeling their warm support as they pull me back to my feet. We survey the aftermath of the monkey mayhem, our campsite littered with broken and half-eaten bread and biscuits, our spare clothes tossed haphazardly across the ground.
The rustling of dried leaves beneath approaching footsteps catches our attention, causing us to turn as one.
Xander’s eyes widen in astonishment as he takes in the chaotic scene. 'What happened?' he asks, his voice laced with disbelief.
Janie steps forward. Her voice tinged with frustration. 'A troop of dazzling-looking monkeys invaded our camp, snatched our food, and rummaged through our belongings,' she informs him, her gaze never leaving his.
‘Oh, must have been glamonkeys. They like to steal from Felderians and then glam themselves up with the items they took,’ Xander explains.
‘Well, what will we do now without any food?’ I ask him.
‘If I need to hunt food while we are here, I will do so. Otherwise, I will purchase food from the taverns on our travels back to your world,’ Xander replies. ‘For now, we should get some sleep. I want us up and awake as the sun rises so we don’t waste a moment searching for the blossom fox,’ he says.
A cloud materialises before us, and with a gentle puff, Mister Kal descends gracefully from its embrace, landing on all fours. He sits before us, casually grooming his paws as if his appearance were the most natural occurrence in the world.
We sigh with relief, grab our blankets off the ground, where the monkeys left them, and all curl up by the fire to sleep. As soon as I’m about to drift off to sleep, I hear the most horrendous sounds from a creature. Shrieks twist and contort, reaching unnatural pitches that grate against our ears. We jolt upright, wide-eyed and alarmed, our gaze shifting to Xander for an explanation.
With an air of nonchalance, Xander reclines on his makeshift bedroll. 'It's just a bunch of squirrelgrims,' he casually dismisses, as if their horrendous sounds were nothing more than a minor inconvenience. As the squirrelgrims move along to another part of the forest, we can finally drift off to sleep.
As the first rays of the morning sun paint the sky with a warm golden tone, Xander rouses us from our slumber. With a yawn and stretch, I sit up, the crisp air filling my lungs. And as I breathe in deeply, a captivating scent tickles my nostrils, capturing my attention with its earthy and herbaceous allure. With a wriggle of my nose, the others follow me as I follow the scent and eventually find the creatures emitting the smell.
They are small creatures resembling plant bulbs with round heads that dart about with purposeful energy. Their eyes, wide and curious, gleam with intelligence while long spiky leaves cascade down like tresses of wild foliage. They collect little stones and pile them up. ‘Builderbulbs,’ Xander says, ‘They build igloo-shaped houses from the stones but leave the top open. They cover the outside in mud which dries out, and they hop into the hole like a rabbit, and their plant heads remain poking through the open roof. They bop up to watch out for predators, such as weasels and snakes and then bop down, keeping still when the predator is nearby. They look like ordinary plants, fooling anyone. They make many of these muddy igloo houses so they can travel through the forest safely,’ he says.
Janie, Imogen and I watch in awe as these plant-like creatures scurry about, collecting little stones scattered across the forest floor. They meticulously pile the stones with nimble precision. The little house blends seamlessly with the surrounding foliage as the mud dries.
'They're so adorable,' Janie whispers, her eyes sparkling with delight as she observes the creatures' industrious endeavours.
Xander interrupts as we admire the creatures. His gaze falls upon me. 'We mustn't linger any longer,' he states with urgency. 'Keep tracking the scents,' he instructs.
I nod, understanding, and resume following the tantalising scents that have led us this far. The scents reveal hidden nooks and crannies, where peculiar bugs reside in bizarre shapes, colours and sizes. We stumble upon many cosy dens inhabited by more fluffy creatures, their curious eyes peering at us with equal intrigue.
Birds of the most astonishing colours flutter above. Some display half-scaled bodies, reminiscent of lizards, while others boast peculiar tails—some even have multiple tails, a mesmerising site. I count up to nine tails on some of these enigmatic birds.
Mounting our stags, we continue our journey. Ever the content companion, Mister Kal finds solace on the back of Imogen's stag, observing the world with his feline grace.
The sun begins its descent, casting a warm glow upon the forest. I realise I’ve spent the entire day tracking scents. My stomach rumbles loudly with hunger. Suddenly we abruptly come to the other end of Moonshade forest. We stand on the grass field and look towards the distant mountains.
‘This can’t be happening,’ Xander says. ‘We’ve searched the entire forest and found every other creature but the blossom fox,’ he says, agitated.