Free Final Quest by B. C. Harris Page B

eyes belong to pounces on him? Jamie takes another step towards the plant with the eyes.
    A mass of eyes begin to rise. It looks like a a bunch of large Frisbees that are comprised of eyes lifting upwards at the same moment.
    I’m shocked by what I’m seeing.
    The eyes don’t belong to anything at all. It’s as though each collection of eyes is a creature without any other visible body parts, although I realize that underneath each of the round objects must be wings to propel them upwards.
    “Listen to that,” Jamie says excitedly.
    “To what?” I say.
    “Listen. It sounds like bursts of air are shooting from the underside of each those eye creatures.”
    As I look closer at the unusual animals, I observe that after each one of them shoots upwards, they float downwards for a second or two before they fly upwards again.
    “It’s like they have their own jet-propulsion system,” Jamie says. “They move by forcing air through their bodies. They’re like animal hovercrafts.”
    “Where are their mouths?” I ask. All I can see are the saucer-like objects totally comprised of eyes, bouncing up and down in the air.
    “If you look on the underside of the creatures,” Jamie says, “there’s a hole that is sucking in air, and look, there are a bunch of smaller holes that are shooting out bursts of air to make the creatures fly.”
    As I look at the dozen or so objects flying a short distance away, they remind me of large pancakes with a mass of small red and green eyes on the topside. The underside is bluish-white. I can see the holes that Jamie was talking about. The air is being sucked in one hole while a bunch of little holes blast the air back out as though they are sneezing. In fact, as I listen closer I hear sounds like squeaky sneezes as the creatures fly.
    Flying eyes, I think. What are we going to find next?
    Listening to the incessant noise around us, I realize I haven’t heard Capurni say anything for a little while. Looking around, he’s not where I expect to see him.
    Capurni is nowhere to be seen.
    I panic.
    “Jamie, Capurni has disappeared.”
    Jamie immediately turns. There’s an anxious look on his face.
    “Capurni, where are you?” I say, my voice shaking.
    “Capurni,” Jamie says with a little more force.
    There’s a movement in a bush in front of me.
    I almost jump out of my skin.
    It’s Capurni. I breathe a sigh of relief.
    “Where were you?  Where did you go?” I ask.
    “Come with me,” Capurni smiles. “I found a waterfall. You aren’t going to believe what else I found.”
    I’m not sure I want to know.
    Capurni turns back to the twisted vegetation. Jamie is instantly behind him, although he stretches out his hand for me.
    We beat our way through huge leaves and twisted vines. I shudder to think there could be snakes or some other hideous creatures crawling nearby.
    Soon there’s a clearing through the mass of plants. There’s also the distinct crashing of water. The sound reminds me of the dangerous waterfall that we experienced just over a year ago on our journey to the Land of Shade. I shudder as I recall that I almost drowned in that situation.
    Coming to the opening, I catch a glimpse of the waterfall. It’s high and narrow. There is a large pool of water at the bottom of it.
    Beside the pool of water is an enormous flower, bigger than a bus. The flower has a long purple stem that reminds me of the neck of a giraffe, or actually it’s more like the long neck of a brontosaurus. Along the stem are massive leaves.
    There’s something unusual about the flower as it sways in the wind. With its brilliant colors of orange and yellow, I thought I was seeing the petals of a large flower, but the more I look, the more I realize it looks more like a head.
    The flower, or perhaps the head, slowly rotates in a different direction as though it’s hunting. I’m shocked to see jagged teeth, among what I thought were petals, flashing in the sunlight. This massive plant that at