Chapter Twenty One

Flim watched the incredible show in the sky for a few moments before realizing that the surprise had made him lose control of his color shifting abilities. He was a bright pink, with purple hair.

With a silent curse he shut his eyes tightly and tried to concentrate. His pink color immediately began to darken, from red, then brown, and finally a deep green.

“That was close,” he whispered to Sammy, not expecting any response. Talking to Sammy just made him feel a bit less alone.

Flim looked over to toward the clearing where Devon and the others stood, transfixed by the sky. The creepers were hooting and capering around. He knew that this was probably his best chance of getting close without being seen. He began to sneak closed to the clearing, careful to avoid any dry twigs or leaves that might alert the creepers to his presence.

Flim heard the snapping of a twig to his left, coming from the deep vegetation lying in that direction. He froze like a statue, hoping that he had not been seen by the creepers. Slowly he turned to look in that direction to see what had made the noise.

Flim’s blood turned cold as he saw the outline of a powerful creature pushing its way though the brush. The movement of the creature assured Flim that it was a predator of some sort, hungry for its next meal.

His terror grew as he saw that the creature was not alone. Several other shapes moved in the thick foliage behind the first. He stifled a gasp as the lead creature pushed its way into the open. Flim had never seen such a fearsome beast. It looked mean and hungry and was sniffing the air, looking for something to sate its hunger.

Flim hoped he was not the thing’s next meal. Luckily for the young alien boy, y’Langians were very different from humans and most other aliens. As part of their adaptation for hiding, y’Langians had lost their scent. That is to say, they did not smell like anything in particular. In fact, if they stayed in a particular environment they eventually began to exude the common scents of that environment.

After a few moments, four of the beasts had broken through the surrounding brush and were searching the area with their noses. Each, in turn, passed by Flim, not seeing or smelling him. After they moved away Flim said a silent prayer to Y’la the creator, thankful for his race’s peculiar talents.

Flim watched in horror as the beasts caught the scent of his friends and their captors. The beasts rushed toward the clearing, baying and grunting in equal amounts. Relief washed over him when the largest creeper rose and put himself between the beasts and Devon, Jacinda and Merrell.

Flim’s relief turned to amazement when the creeper hooted at the beasts and they simply wandered off, as if they were puppies rebuked by a stern master.

Soon Devon and the others started off again. Flim waited a few minutes and set off after them.