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Book: BEYOND THE LOOKING-GLASS: Book One in the BEYOND Series by Gordon Rothwell
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Authors: Gordon Rothwell
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and his men? They’s real close behind us.”
Anton didn’t answer. He waved a hand at Nikki and they hopped aboard the crude raft. Nikki took the long pole and shoved the raft out until it got caught in the river’s fast-moving current.
Huck and Jim stood forlornly on the riverbank.
Anton didn’t look back.
The hunt was again in full swing.
~*~
THIRTEEN
After a difficult trek through the forest, Kellen noticed the tree branches becoming thicker. The nature of the vegetation was changing. Tree limbs now were more like jungle vines. Off in the distance, he thought he heard the chattering of monkeys. And somewhere, behind a matting of dense green foliage, a tiger roared menacingly.
“What’s happening, Kel?” Aleeta asked breathlessly. Her face was flushed and sweat poured down from her temples.
“Not sure,” he said, “but we’re in a jungle now. In this crazy, mixed-up, world you’ve created.” He put his arm about her waist and pulled her along. The air was growing hot and thick with the rotten-egg smell of marsh gas. As they pushed through thickets of bamboo and razor-sharp blades of jungle grass, a slimy black leech fell from the vines overhead onto Aleeta’s exposed neck. She screamed and Kellen knocked it away before it could attach itself and suck blood.
As they continued to fight through walls of bamboo stalks, strands of sunlight shone down through tangled vines and delicate dripping leaves. Thorn bushes tore at their skin as they clawed through the bush. And rust-red muddy holes, filled with brackish yellow water, threatened to suck them down to their death.
A deadly striped krait snake slid across Aleeta’s foot. She gasped and grabbed Kellen for support. Before he could dispatch it, the reptile slithered away into the bush.
Finally, the dense jungle parted. They found themselves staring at the ruins of a giant causeway. And stone skeletons of ancient pagan temples. Temple spires reached up into the air above the jungle like fingers.
As they trudged on, rotting trees were growing up everywhere through stone floors that must have once been part of majestic palaces. The battlements of the fortresses had long since crumbled away to dust. Wild green and brown creepers spilled out of blackened tower windows.
Only an empty stone honeycomb stood where a flourishing empire had once thrived and existed.
“Hello, anyone here?” Kellen cried out.
No human answer.
But tribes of wild monkeys now howled and chattered their annoyance at being disturbed by this intruder’s voice. They scrambled along crushed parapets and into holes in old temple walls. The echo of their scolding reverberated through the deserted jungle city’s stone streets.
Then, Kellen heard it!
A boy’s voice crying out at the top of his lungs.
“Hurry,” he said. “I think it came from over there.”
They rushed along the deserted pathways of the dead jungle city, sending screaming monkeys scurrying off in every direction.
The two of them came to a wide, raging river filled with floating debris. The water swirled and eddied as it roared forward.
Kellen cautioned Aleeta to be quiet.
“What is it? Do you see anything?”
“A boy. I see a boy over on the far riverbank.”
“Jace!”
“I don’t think so. He has bushy hair. He looks wild. He looks like--“
“Who?”
“Like Mowgli, that jungle boy in Kipling’s story.”
As Mowgli spotted the two invaders in his jungle kingdom he raised his head up and howled like a beast.
The jungle answered.
Somewhere, in the dense jungle nearby, a tiger roared in defiance.
Mowgli leaped forward onto a row of half-submerged rocks that spanned the river. He growled and shook his shaggy head, as he took long cat-like strides from stone to stone.
“Oh, my God,” Aleeta said in a quavering voice. “He’s coming after us.” She looked about, desperate, but there was no way to escape.
Kellen put his arm around her. “No use running, Allie. This is the
Anton didn’t answer. He waved a hand at Nikki and they hopped aboard the crude raft. Nikki took the long pole and shoved the raft out until it got caught in the river’s fast-moving current.
Huck and Jim stood forlornly on the riverbank.
Anton didn’t look back.
The hunt was again in full swing.
~*~
THIRTEEN
After a difficult trek through the forest, Kellen noticed the tree branches becoming thicker. The nature of the vegetation was changing. Tree limbs now were more like jungle vines. Off in the distance, he thought he heard the chattering of monkeys. And somewhere, behind a matting of dense green foliage, a tiger roared menacingly.
“What’s happening, Kel?” Aleeta asked breathlessly. Her face was flushed and sweat poured down from her temples.
“Not sure,” he said, “but we’re in a jungle now. In this crazy, mixed-up, world you’ve created.” He put his arm about her waist and pulled her along. The air was growing hot and thick with the rotten-egg smell of marsh gas. As they pushed through thickets of bamboo and razor-sharp blades of jungle grass, a slimy black leech fell from the vines overhead onto Aleeta’s exposed neck. She screamed and Kellen knocked it away before it could attach itself and suck blood.
As they continued to fight through walls of bamboo stalks, strands of sunlight shone down through tangled vines and delicate dripping leaves. Thorn bushes tore at their skin as they clawed through the bush. And rust-red muddy holes, filled with brackish yellow water, threatened to suck them down to their death.
A deadly striped krait snake slid across Aleeta’s foot. She gasped and grabbed Kellen for support. Before he could dispatch it, the reptile slithered away into the bush.
Finally, the dense jungle parted. They found themselves staring at the ruins of a giant causeway. And stone skeletons of ancient pagan temples. Temple spires reached up into the air above the jungle like fingers.
As they trudged on, rotting trees were growing up everywhere through stone floors that must have once been part of majestic palaces. The battlements of the fortresses had long since crumbled away to dust. Wild green and brown creepers spilled out of blackened tower windows.
Only an empty stone honeycomb stood where a flourishing empire had once thrived and existed.
“Hello, anyone here?” Kellen cried out.
No human answer.
But tribes of wild monkeys now howled and chattered their annoyance at being disturbed by this intruder’s voice. They scrambled along crushed parapets and into holes in old temple walls. The echo of their scolding reverberated through the deserted jungle city’s stone streets.
Then, Kellen heard it!
A boy’s voice crying out at the top of his lungs.
“Hurry,” he said. “I think it came from over there.”
They rushed along the deserted pathways of the dead jungle city, sending screaming monkeys scurrying off in every direction.
The two of them came to a wide, raging river filled with floating debris. The water swirled and eddied as it roared forward.
Kellen cautioned Aleeta to be quiet.
“What is it? Do you see anything?”
“A boy. I see a boy over on the far riverbank.”
“Jace!”
“I don’t think so. He has bushy hair. He looks wild. He looks like--“
“Who?”
“Like Mowgli, that jungle boy in Kipling’s story.”
As Mowgli spotted the two invaders in his jungle kingdom he raised his head up and howled like a beast.
The jungle answered.
Somewhere, in the dense jungle nearby, a tiger roared in defiance.
Mowgli leaped forward onto a row of half-submerged rocks that spanned the river. He growled and shook his shaggy head, as he took long cat-like strides from stone to stone.
“Oh, my God,” Aleeta said in a quavering voice. “He’s coming after us.” She looked about, desperate, but there was no way to escape.
Kellen put his arm around her. “No use running, Allie. This is the
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