The Drifting by L. Filloon

wondering what’s taking Ziri so long.
    The man-beast suddenly turns on me, an evil grin on his face, “Ha…there you are.” 
    He stalks toward me slowly, his head still moving side to side.  I know he has a general idea of where I am, but not my exact location.  Nonetheless, he approaches closer, and that’s when I see it…the knife in his hand.  Oh my God, he’s going to kill me! 
    I send a desperate plea for Ziri to hurry up and I shut my eyes tightly.  I open my eyes again when I realize that the man-beast just below me.  He stops and sniffs the air again, his ears twitching.  Then slowly he looks upward and even though I assume he’s blind, his eyes lock onto mine.  No longer trying to hide now that he’s found me, I start screaming at the top of my lungs.  The man-beast drops his knife and slams his hands over his ears, falling onto the net and curling up into a ball.  At the same time, he tries to scoot away from my screams.  Seeing how much pain he’s in I scream even louder and keep on screaming until he’s almost back to the tree trunk where I first laid eyes on him.
    “Ugh…all right, already!” he screams back at me.  “Enough,” he continues to yell, but I keep screaming until I can feel the soreness start at the back of my throat.  Looking about him in frustration, hands still over his ears, he calls out, “Ziri… enough !”
    My scream comes to a sudden stop.  Did he just call out for Ziri?
    I hear Ziri from somewhere above and behind me.  I try to turn toward him, but the vine is being uncooperative.  As he lands on the netting and makes his way toward me, the man-beast yells with a grimace, “You didn’t say I would be dealing with a damn banshee!”  He slowly removes his hands from his ears and when satisfied there’s no more screaming, he quickly gets on his short legs, balancing himself with ease on the bouncing net.
    “Trust me, Kulzo, I didn’t either,” answers Ziri.
    He walks over to where I’m still dangling from the vine and stops to look at me.  I give him an incredulous look saying, “You know him?  You set all this up?”  A burning anger makes its way to my chest and I swallow before furiously continuing, “Are you both out of your minds?  First, the old woman drops me several feet, and then you put this…this…whatever he is on me?  Was it your plan to have him kill me, too?”
    “Ah, girlie,” says Kulzo, now standing facing us with arms crossed at this chest.  “I wasn’t really going to hurt you.  Just toss you around a bit to see what you’re made of, that’s all.”
    I stare at the odd-looking man and then back at Ziri.  I give up.  I shake my head, resting it on the vine and trying to get my breathing under control…again.  I start to feel the chill now, seeping into my bones and I realize I’m shaking, my teeth chattering. 
    Noticing my shaking state, Ziri reaches out saying, “You can relax now, Lily.  Drop your legs.”  I let my legs down slowly only to have my thighs cramps up on me and I gasp out loud.  Before I realize what he’s doing, Ziri catches me under my knees and lifts me easily into his arms. 
    “Lily, untangle your arms from the vine,” he demands softly.
    I shake my head at him.  “I can’t.  My arms are cramped too, it’s hard to move them,” I reply.  While holding my legs with one arm, he reaches up with his other and cuts the vine.  He catches me once I’m free and cradles me close to him. 
    He stares down at me with a worried look, “Hmmm, perhaps we’ll do your training out of the rain until you’ve become accustomed to it.”
    “Ah, you’re being too easy on her,” says Kulzo.  “It’s just rain – who gets sick in the rain?  Besides, if she’s to become accustomed to our realm, well then, she’ll need to get used to training in the rain.”
    I want to tell off Kulzo, but I find myself curled up against Ziri’s chest trying to get warm and hide my face from the rain.