Chapter 12

  Unhappy - Jezreel

  Jezreel was not happy. She had seen Link get on the back of Max, the Elephant. She couldn't quite believe that this elephant had survived a fall off the cliff near the three rivers. And that he just happened to show up when he did. Jezreel just wasn't convinced; he could be completely innocent.

  Yes, she had seen the tree drop on him. She had seen the elephants pull him aside as if he were dead. Before that, she had not seen any sign that this elephant or any elephant was conspiring with the gorillas, but one could never be too careful. Besides, the council made it clear that they weren't to tell anyone.

  Well, she reminded herself, they said it was to be a secret mission and that no one in the forest of animals should be told they were going. No one, except the council, was to hear what they found. But still, keeping a secret meant keeping it a secret from this elephant. Jezreel shook her head at the number of times she had to try to correct Link. She was also disgusted that Link talked. Yes, Max was a talking elephant, but this was not a safe place to talk. That was why she was not speaking, except in the speech of birds.

  Jezreel shook her head. They had to do what's right. They had to follow the rules. Too much was at stake. Jezreel's friends who had fought against Conquest. A couple of them had been severely injured, and one didn’t survive. Jezreel just soared for a minute. Not trusting to be able to keep her wings flapped in any sort of flight as the grief passed over her. She just glided. She allowed the memory of a lost friend to flow over her and pushed on. No, she told herself, I cannot allow Link to jeopardize this mission. Conquest is too dangerous to trust some random elephant that we came across in the middle of the Lower Plains.

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  As Jezreel glided, she lost altitude, then she thought she heard something. She had thought Link was just resting. After all, he'd been walking for a long time, and though he could keep walking, being out of water wasn’t easy. Her not being in the air would be difficult, so she wasn’t concerned. However, she listened closely.

  It was then that Jezreel heard him. She could not believe it. Link was whispering to Max. He was telling him things. Except, she corrected herself. Of course, she believed it. Link was irresponsible.

  She changed the trajectory of her flight and decided that now was the time to confront this otter. This person was supposed to be her partner, helping her save the forest, not sabotaging what they were doing.

  She dived, knew exactly what she was going to do. As she dropped, she knew it was in her power; she could grab and ripped into Link. But she didn't want to hurt him too much.

  The wind gathered, flowed around her as the speed grew, and she was ready. She threw out her claws and flew over the top of the elephant, Max. She grabbed Link by the shoulders. She grabbed tight, but tried not to grab too tight. She did not want to hurt him. She flew ahead and saw the perfect spot. It was a large clump of grasses, way taller than either of them. She turned in that direction and dropped Link. She then did a quick turn and landed right in front of him.

  She glared at the otter, then yelled, “What are you doing?”

  Link, unrepentant, said, "I'm trying to get us an ally."

  "We are on a secret mission, Link. Do you not understand what the word 'secret' means?"

  Link shook his head. "We're keeping a secret from the spy that's in the forest. We are not in the forest. Max has been here for seasons. He is not the spy. And he’s not in league with the gorillas. He can help us.”

  “And could get killed," Jezreel yelled back, knowing that it was a real danger.

  She hoped that the idea of putting his friend in danger would make Link come to reason and send this elephant away.

  Their words went back and forth, and their voices rose. And Jezreel was convinced that Link was not going to change his mind, but she had to make him.

  A new sound filled her ears, footsteps, and not of an elephant. Jezreel paused and asked, “Did you hear something?”

  That's when all her plans went awry.