After walking beside him in silence for several minutes, Miko says, "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way."

"I know, we just need to find him," James rea.s.sures him.

They continue down the beach for another half an hour when they come across two sticks stuck in the stand with sh.e.l.ls and a skull hanging from a rope tied between them.

"What is that?" Miko asks.

Coming closer, James can tell it was put here by someone. The primitiveness of it makes him think of a 'totem'. "It was probably placed here by locals to warn trespa.s.sers to keep out," he tells him.

"Maybe we should too," he says.

"I would if Jiron wasn't up there, somewhere," he says, pointing further up the beach.

"He might be okay now," Miko says hopefully. "He is a good fighter."

Nodding, James replies, "You may be right. Let's find a pool and I'll try to locate him again."

They move a little inland, away from the pounding surf but not within the vegetation which may hide a rhino-lizard. Looking around they locate a pool that's shielded from the wind whipping in off the water, so remains fairly flat.

James settles down around it as Miko joins him. Concentrating on Jiron, he watches as the image begins to shift and then suddenly they see Jiron, strapped to a pole as it's being carried by two of the natives. He widens the image and they see six others carrying spears, traveling with the ones carrying Jiron.

Letting the image go, he turns to Miko and says, "I don't think he's okay."

"No, it didn't look like it," he replies. "How are we to get him free?"

"Won't know that until we get there," he tells him. Leaning upon his walking stick, he gets back to his feet and then returns to the beach. Continuing down their original course, they don't travel very much further before they come across a well trodden path extending into the swamp area. James pauses before it as he contemplates what to do. He glances to Miko and shrugs, before turning to follow the path.

After moving several hundred feet deeper into the swamp, the air begins to smell foul. The stench of decay and gaseous fumes permeates the air. "What is that foul odor?" Miko says, holding his nose.

"Some areas, like swamps, give off odors due to stagnant water and other rotting decay," replies James. "Though I'm no expert on these sorts of things, just something I'd read once."

The further they go into the swamp, the thicker the swarms of mosquitoes become. Miko is becoming quite slap happy as he continuously kills bugs that land on him. For every one he kills, it seems another dozen or more take its place. The fact that he's bare from the waist up makes it even worse. "This is unbearable," he says after killing his hundredth mosquito. His back has dozens of raised b.u.mps from where they've gotten to him.

"I know," agrees James as he kills another one. "Let's stop for a second."

He tries to remember the shows he'd seen on the Discovery Channel about bugs and attempts to come up with a spell to help keep them at bay. He formulates his thoughts before releasing the magic and then suddenly, a cool mist settles about their exposed skin. It takes only a second before the smell hits, the most G.o.d-awful smell James has ever come across.

Miko begins gagging and tries to move his head to get away from the smell, but it's all over them. "What did you do?" he gasps, trying to breathe without smelling which is nigh on impossible.

"Tried to keep the bugs off us," replies James, eyes beginning to water from the stench.

Miko quickly realizes that whatever the foul smelling mist may be doing to his senses, it is in fact keeping the bugs away.. No more of those pesky mosquitoes are landing on him, or even coming close for that matter.

"It worked," James exclaims in satisfaction. "I'd rather have stink than bites, wouldn't you?" he asks.

"If it just wasn't so bad," Miko begins, but then nods his head in agreement. "Next time, try to put some perfume in it, okay?" The rain had by this time all but slacked off and doesn't seem to be washing the pungent stuff off of them.

"Okay," agrees James as they once again start following the trail deeper into the swamp. Further along, they come across the skeletal remains of one of the rhino-lizards they'd run into earlier. It's half sunk in the water, lying next to the trail. The top half of the animal, the part not in the water still has rotting, decaying flesh attached to the bones. The section within the water looks to have been picked clean.

Miko eyes the carca.s.s as they pa.s.s and observes small fish swimming in and around the bones. Not paying attention to where he's putting his feet, he accidentally steps off the trail and into the water.

Suddenly a flurry of activity surrounds his boot as the water begins to churn. Pulling his boot out of the water quickly, he finds three of the small fish are attached to his boot. Appalled, he rubs his boot along the ground, and quickly sc.r.a.pes them off before running to catch up with James. This time he's paying much closer attention to where he places his feet.

From up ahead, they hear the sound someone coming down the trail toward them. James begins to leave the path and enter the water in order to hide in a copse of trees when Miko grabs him by the arm and shakes his head vehemently. Pointing to the small fish swimming there in the water, he warns him quietly "They'll eat you alive!"

Nodding his head, James turns around and quickly leads them back down the trail to a group of trees they pa.s.sed just moments earlier. Moving carefully off the trail and making sure not to step into the water, they hide amidst the trees as they wait for whoever is approaching.

A group of four warriors appear out of the swamp as they come their way down the trail. Each is carrying a lethal looking spear as well as wearing a necklace of bones, one of which looks to contain a human ear as well as the bones. They hold very still as the natives come closer.

As they near the trees where James and Miko are hiding, one of them pauses and begins sniffing the air. The bug repellent! The bug repellent! James suddenly realizes. James suddenly realizes. He smells the bug repellent. He smells the bug repellent. The warrior c.o.c.ks his head to the side as if attempting to determine from which direction the smell is coming. The warrior c.o.c.ks his head to the side as if attempting to determine from which direction the smell is coming.

James watches as the others suddenly take notice of the smell. After a brief exchange of words, the warriors begin working their way closer to the trees they're hiding in. They're almost upon them when a rhino-lizard bursts out of the dense foliage and grabs one of the warriors, dragging him screaming off the trail and back into the swamp. The other three warriors immediately turn, and screaming war cries, give pursuit as they try to rescue him.

"Come on!" James says as he comes out from behind the trees and hurries down the trail as fast as his injured leg will allow. As they rush down the path, screams and roars can be heard coming from where the warriors are fighting the rhino-lizard.

"This is crazy," Miko announces after they've put some distance between them and the battle behind them, "we don't even know if we're going in the right direction."

Pointing off through the marshy wetlands, James says, "Would you rather try to cut cross country?"

Thinking of the little fishes that inhabit the water, he shakes his head no.

"Then we have to stick to the path as best we can and hope that we run across him," he explains.

The pain in James' leg continues to throb with every step he takes, perspiration courses down his face. He has to lean heavily upon the stick in order to even remain upright.

Out of the swamp ahead of them, the sound of beating drums begins to be heard. Sure that they've found where Jiron has been taken, James hastens along. They soon come to where the trail diverges and he hesitates only a moment as he ponders the best way to go. The one leading left goes more in the direction of where the sound of the drums is coming from and looks well traveled, so he turns that way and follows it.

From up ahead, the beating of the drums become louder the further they progress along the trail. The trees begin to thin and they're able to make out a village of crude huts sitting upon an island surrounded by stagnant bodies of water. The trail they're on leads straight to it and he can see several other trails leading away from the island going in different directions.

"Miko, look!" James whispers as he points to a cage sitting on one side of the island. Jiron is lying within the cage, shirt soaked with blood and not looking too good. At first he appears dead, but then he moves and James breathes a sigh of relief.

Looking over to the island, Miko watches as dozens of warriors do a dance with their spears to the beat of the drums. Surrounding them are the women and children of the tribe, all standing and swaying to the rhythm. In the middle of the dancers stands a man dressed in ceremonial attire holding a staff atop which sits the skull of some unknown animal. He looks to James like some sort of witch doctor.

"How are we going to get him out of there?" Miko asks, not liking the odds.

"I don't know," replies James. "It doesn't look as if they'll be doing anything for a while, though." Motioning to Miko, they make their way to the edge of the water where several trees grow that will afford them some protection while they observe what's going on.

Just as they settle into their hiding place, two warriors approach the village from where James and Miko had just come from. They're carrying two others who have obviously been chewed upon by a rhino-lizard, neither of which look alive. These must be the ones who'd almost discovered them earlier.

When the warriors get to the island, some of the women begin wailing as they see their men folk being carried in. Several of them come and take the fallen warriors away into one of the huts. The witch doctor and the warriors dancing seem not to take any notice of the new arrivals.

The warriors suddenly stop their dance and the witch doctor begins talking to them. Gesticulating wildly and speaking loudly, he begins to work them into a frenzy.

James notices a pile of bones off to the side of the village and points it out to Miko. When Miko sees it, he gasps. For there mixed in with bones of different types of animals are two human skulls.

"Cannibals," James whispers.

"What?" Miko asks.

Leaning close so Miko can hear him better, he repeats himself, "Cannibals. They eat people."

"Jiron?" he asks, aghast that that could be his fate.

"Looks like it if we don't get him out of there," he tells him.

Shuddering, Miko looks at the cannibals with unmistakable loathing.

While the witch doctor is speaking to the a.s.sembled villagers, several of the men begin erecting a large spit. When the spit is fully erected and sufficient wood has been piled beneath it, several warriors go over to where Jiron is being held and open the cage door.

Two go in and grab him, dragging him out of the cage and carrying him over to the spit. "Can't wait any longer," James says as he watches Jiron being brought closer. He looks to Miko who nods understanding.

Miko watches as James settles in and begins to work the magic.

The witch doctor stands before the spit, staff held at his side. The warriors carrying Jiron approach and come to a stop before him. With one warrior supporting him on either side, they stand him up in front of the witch doctor. Jiron's head lolls to one side as if he's not exactly conscious.

Raising his staff high above his head, the witch doctor begins to sway. He begins chanting as the beat of the drums intensifies. Feet stomping, he continues chanting as he dances his way around the warriors holding Jiron.

He's gone around them several times when he comes to a sudden stop. The chanting ceases as well as he turns and looks directly over to where James and Miko are hiding. He knows we're here! He knows we're here! Miko suddenly realizes. Miko suddenly realizes.

The witch doctor shouts something to the warriors near him and points over to where they're hiding. He's about to say something else when the villagers as one, gasp aloud. He turns to look behind him and sees what looks like creatures made of swamp mud walking out of the water. Little fishes are wriggling within the mud and occasionally fall out to flop about upon the ground.

Raising his staff, he cries out as a flash of light leaps from the tip of his staff to the nearest mud creature. When the light hits the creature, it looses all cohesion. With a sodden plop, the mud which had formed the creature falls apart and splats with a sickening sound as it forms a pile upon the ground. The light flashes again and again until all the mud creatures have been reduced to a pile of muck.

He turns back toward their hiding place as he points his staff in their direction. A yellowish beam of light flashes in their direction but is deflected by an unseen barrier.

The villagers begin crying out as the women and children get up and run off the island, using paths leading away from where James and Miko are hiding. The warriors grab their spears as they begin racing toward them.

"James!" Miko says urgently, "they're coming this way." He waits a moment but James fails to respond to what he'd said.

As the warriors come closer, a stick flies up off the ground and begins twirling above the path, blocking their way. A warrior comes close and tries to strike the stick, only to end up being struck himself. The force of the blow could be heard even from where Miko sits and the warrior reels backward into his companions.

Miko sees James remove one of his slugs from his belt and watches as it flies toward the witch doctor. Inches before it hits him, it's deflected away.

The warriors holding Jiron take him back to the cage and lock it before joining the others who're trying to get past the whirling stick. Miko sees Jiron begin to regain consciousness and stands up groggily, holding onto the side of the cage as he surveys what's going on.

The witch doctor again let's loose a bolt of energy which is once more deflected before it even gets close.

A violent tremor suddenly courses through the ground and Miko has to grab hold of a tree next to him in order to remain upright. The warriors trying to get past the whirling stick begin to fall as the shaking of the ground throws them off balance. One unlucky fellow stumbles near the water's edge and trips over an exposed tree root. Crying out, he falls into the water which suddenly roils with movement as hundreds of tiny fish begin biting him. Miko watches in horror as the water turns red and in less than a minute, the water again grows calm and naught but bones can be seen.

The shaking had rocked the island as well, causing the witch doctor to stumble but had somehow managed to remain standing.

James is beginning to pant from the exertion of maintaining the whirling stick that's blocking the warriors' way and in dealing with the witch doctor. The familiar headache caused by too much magic usage begins to make itself known, his vision is starting to blur as well. He's not going to be able to continue much longer, he needs to finish this quickly before he pa.s.ses out.

Miko watches as the island stops its shaking and the witch doctor steps closer to the edge of the island. Suddenly, the pool of stagnant water near him erupts, throwing muck and water into the air. A good portion of the eruption arcs through the air toward the island where the witch doctor is standing.

Trying to get out of the path of the swamp water, he back pedals quickly, but not quickly enough. The water falls upon him and suddenly he starts to scream as dozens of small fish attach themselves to his exposed flesh, their tiny sharp teeth digging in hungrily. He begins trying to tear them off when a hole suddenly opens up in his chest. A spray of gore explodes out his back as one of James' slugs exits his body.

The witch doctor falls to the ground in a pool of his own blood, the little fishes continue biting and wriggling into his body. The warriors, who'd been trying to get to James, stand in stunned silence upon seeing their witch doctor fall. They begin crying out in fear as they turn tail and run, following the paths the women and children had taken earlier. In short order, the island is clear of everyone except Jiron who's still in the cage and now more alert.

With Miko's help, James gets up and makes his way along the path over to where Jiron is being held.

When he sees them emerge from the swamp, a big smile breaks across his bloodied face. "Thought that might've been your handiwork," he says to James when they get closer.

"Couldn't leave you to be their dinner, now could I?" James asks as he begins to unlock the cage.

Getting a whiff of the bug repellent, he goes, "Gah! What did you guys fall into?"

"Pretty bad, isn't it?" Miko says. "It may smell bad, but it keeps the bugs off," he explains. "James did it."

"Got any more?" Jiron asks as he kills yet another mosquito who'd tried to make a meal of him.

Nodding, James concentrates and the mist appears. Jiron's nose wrinkles as it begins settling in upon him.

When James sees his reaction to the smell, he smiles and says, "You get use to it."

"I sure hope so," he says.

"We better get out of here before they come back and bring friends," James tells them. "I doubt if this is the only village in the swamp." He gazes around the island at the many paths leading away.

"Which way?" Miko asks when he sees him considering their choices.

"We came from the south," he says, "nothing there but beach. The villagers took the paths toward the east, so maybe we should follow the one to the northwest." He points to a well used path that leads in that direction.

"As good as any," Jiron says as he goes over to the mat on the ground near the cage where his knives had been placed. Strapping them on, he turns to leave and notices James' leg for the first time. "What happened to you?" he asks.

"Big lizard came and took a bite out of him," Miko replies for him. "But we took care of it," he says as he glances to James. "Didn't we?"

Giving him a slight smile, James says, "We sure did."

Hobbling, James continues to use the stick to aid him in walking as he and the others leave the island on the northwest path.

Chapter Four.

Leaving the island behind, they set out upon the trail as they keep an eye out for any warriors who may return, seeking retribution for the death of their witch doctor. On Miko's mind however, are the rhino-lizards who seem to pop out from the trees with little or no warning.

A couple of times they observed one of the natives moving among the trees off in the distance, but none ever came close enough to pose a threat.

"They must be keeping an eye on us," a.s.sumes James.

"As long as that's all they want to do," Miko says as he continuously scans the sides of the trail, as well as behind them, for natives and rhino-lizards.

"Think they'll attack?" Jiron asks.