We were resting after the last battle, when all of a sudden, we
heard this screaming. Not like the apes -- they've been pretty much
screaming all the time. But like a person screaming.
So, we went off to investigate -- someone might be in trouble! It
turned out that it was JVEN that was in trouble. Well, not really. It
turned out the giant spider was her friend -- I mean the giant spider that
followed her.
Ok, it was a pretty big surprise. We were really happy to see
Jven again, and I guess the Drugdear sent the spider along with her to
make sure she got back to us all right.. Now Jven has a pet spider! I
asked her if I could pet it and she said yes; it was all fuzzy and it
purred. I asked if we could call it 'Purry'. Jven said no.
While Canliss went to close the door to the Drugdear, Nikita
taught me how to read! She taught me the alphabet song, which has all the
letters that make all the words there are. In Hurvan, anyway. There are
lot of other letters for the other languages, but Nikita said we'd stick
with one for now. But soon she says I'll be able to write my name.
Nikita found out that some of the mushrooms she was carrying could
kill the slugs if they got in you. They did some other things but I
forget what. She gave me one in case one of the slug spitting apes got me
and one of the slugs got in me. That made me feel a lot better. I don't
want to be like that slug-guy from the Bazaar.
I was getting sort of bored, so I played 'catch' with Jven's
spider. The spider didn't get it -- even though Ulfie was showing it how. Well,
there's nothing wrong with being slow. I asked if we could call it
'Spidey'. Jven said no.
Jven said the spider was hungry. We found some of the dead apes --
this way they could do some good instead of just smelling bad. I picked
one up and jiggled it so the spider would think it was alive and eat it.
While it was eating, I asked if we could call the spider 'Slurpy'. Jven
said no.
How about 'Chitterbug'? Jven said no. Well, we'll find a name soon.
Now we had to figure out how to get across that big room full of
screaming apes. We rubbed ourselves with dead ape so we'd smell like
them, and Nikita cast a special spell so they couldn't see us.
Wow -- It was really loud in there. It was dark too. Nikita and
Jven were together on Slurpy, Canliss was... somewhere. I missed that
part. Kariya was on my shoulders and I carried 'Ulfie.
Rhavin went ahead (well, that was the plan. I couldn't see him).
Kariya and I went next. When the apes pushed me, I pushed back, and
Kariya told me which way to walk. All the apes were screaming and
pushing -- but at least I didn't notice the smell. Everything smelled.
We made it to the other side, and Kariya jumped off. I guess
there was still some trouble, because the next thing I knew -- BOOOM! It
started to smell bad again -- lots of burnt apes. All I could hear was
screaming -- I couldn't see Kariya -- where was Rhavin? And Slurpy and Jven
and Nikita? There was more lightning from Kariya -- I could see for a
second, and I went to Kariya; we made a formation! (the formation is
strong).
Jven, Nikita and Slurpy came soon, and Canliss too. Nikita went
to go save Rhavin (Rhavin had trouble smelling like an ape). Then we all
left and Kariya sealed up the tunnel with a wall of ice. Finally it was
quiet! I turned my lamp back on -- it was so nice to know I had a lamp on
my head again... I don't like being in the dark anymore now. I mean, dark
here is REALLY dark -- darker than the darkest night, darker than a closet
or a cellar (because there's no door to let the light back in). Dark here
is DARK. I don't like that the most of all -- that's why I'm glad I have
my helmet.
We went on. I was hoping there would be no more screaming apes,
but we heard some more up ahead. Rhavin felt a little bit of evil there
too. We tried another corridor, where we heard slithering sounds and
Rhavin felt LOTS of evil. We decided to take a nap instead.
Nikita got really mad when I asked if Slurpy could sleep with us.
I guess Slurpy is an outside spider. Kariya said he'd be OK -- Slurpy
lives in the caves. I checked after we slept and Slurpy was still there --
whew! I like Slurpy -- Slurpy purrs.
We decided to go to the small evil, but I guess it left while we
were sleeping. We found a cave with glowing mushrooms -- just like the one
Nikita has that kill the slugs. It was really pretty -- there were purple
glowing mushrooms all over the floor, and a pool of water in the corner,
and a big shiny wall. We got some more mushrooms just in case, and got
some water. Nikita was still really mad -- even at Rhavin.
Jven talked to the water. She said the water told her that apes
drank from it and snake-faces drank from it. I think she just wanted an
excuse to go swimming.
Well, we have to rest up again, ´cause we're pretty bad hurt. I'm
afraid to ask Nikita to teach me to read some more... maybe later when
she's not so mad.
Love,
Ester