Xavier Excerpt #1

Small exerpt from my Fantasy Novel

After a refreshing swim and a successful trek into fishing Xavier found himself looking at the trees again with the sun burning down on his back warming him to the depths of his bones. He knew as soon as he stepped foot into the jungle the warmth of the sun would vanish and he would be surrounded by the biting chill of an endless hunger that seemed to flow through the roots and stems of every plant. Through his many treks in the jungle he had come to understand that the plants were more than a defense against any random traveler that happened upon the island. The foliage had been given life of its own as well as an intelligence that bordered on a hive mind like a colony of ants.

“Here we go again.”

Xavier steeled himself for the first burst of speed he would need to break through the plant wall as well as his own fears of the inner jungle. His toes curled in the hot white sand and he leaned forward ever so slightly. He could see the trees shuddering in anticipation and see the roots and vines already on the move. The plants knew that he was coming and he was sure that they wanted to catch him this time by any means necessary. He could see large slug like roots breaking the surface and weaving through the ground as if it were water, the vines slithering down trunks and branches just waiting for a taste of his fur, and thorn bushes exposing their barbs like teeth from a jungle cat.

Xavier closed his eyes and leapt forward! He braced himself for the first stinging scrapes as the trees reached out for him first, they always did, with their branches sharp as a lion’s claw. Next would come the bushes and then the vines. Finally the slow moving roots would attack, large leather whips that could fell a building in a single swoop. So imagine Xavier’s surprise when nothing happened. He had thrown himself so hard against the oncoming attack that when nothing happened he stumbled and fell to the jungle floor sliding to a stop ten yards from the tree line.

His face was covered in mud and leaves as he pushed himself to a sitting position. This was something the flora had never done and it just showed Xavier how smart the plants really were. In the moments that it took him to sit up the foliage had pounced. The roots of the largest trees cracked the ground with the force of a giant earthquake, vines snaked around his torso and squeezing with the strength of a giant anaconda forcing the air from his lungs. He tried to duck, roll, to do anything that would cause him to move out of the way of those roots but the struggle was for naught. The powerful limbs of the tree came down on top of him like a wave, stars erupted in Xavier’s eyes and were quickly followed by the feeling of blood dripping down his face.

With his lungs unable to breath in the precious oxygen Xavier needed to stay conscious, the werewolf started to get desperate. His claws swung wildly at anything that moved and he kicked at vines, bushes and branches as if he were a wild animal. In an act of desperation Xavier grabbed the vine that was wrapped around him and chomped down and through the green appendage. White sap bubbled around his maw and if he focused hard enough he could have swore that he heard a scream from somewhere deep in the jungle. He tore the large chunk of plant off the vine and the grip loosened enough for him to wriggle free.

Spitting the vine onto the jungle floor Xavier nearly flew to his feet and immediately started to run into the center of the island. He could feel the thick sap crusting around his lips and his claws becoming sticky with the sap liquid. He had hurt the hive mind of the jungle and knew deep down that the plants wouldn’t take too kindly to it. He pushed blood to both of his legs, his wolf heart pumping hard to egg more speed from his body.

The werewolf had no idea how far he had run or if he was heading to the center of the island, the jungle had a way of confusing his sense of direction, so when he saw the clearing not too far ahead he was more than a little relieved. He could hear the jungle trying to close in on him, the leaves were rustling loudly, ground shaking and breaking apart, as well as bushes leaping into his path. He maneuvered this way and that, clawing at anything that got in his way and once again found himself diving through a closing gap into the clearing. His arms crossed in front of him as he drove headlong into the green grass and panted as he pulled his tail and feet as far away from the jungle as possible.

He had made it.

Panting and out of breath Xavier struggled to his feet and waved at the jungle. He could have swore that the leaves of the trees waved back.

Author's Note

please, feel free to tell me what you think. Good or bad, i can take it, i'm a big boy.

Reviews

[Stephanie]

That's intense. Reminds me of that movie The Happening a little but, because everyone thought the plants were causing people to kill themselves. Anyways, I like the idea of an attacking jungle, I'm just a little confused as to what Xavier was doing there and if he's a full wolf or a human too. Besides that, it was a great write with excellent descriptions. Good job :)

[Tannen Dell]

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[James Watts]

A few punctuation mistakes, but we all make those. Sure I have a few as well. As far as story, its not bad. Would like to read more.

[QuietPoet]

Wow. I liked this. It have great descriptions and I wanted to keep on reading it. Very good.

Sorry its taken me forever to read this. Hope all is well.

[.]

Full of descriptions ..
And great idea to have come across such a plot
I liked it!

[CLUTZ]

lol.......it's like a neverending game of tag. this is just my take on it but it seemed as if in the end the forest was never gonn really hurt him, just give him a chase that both parties agree to play although silently. it's like a story i read as a child.
the farmer woke up early in the morning and went out in his field to meet the crows and they talked for a while, then at a certain time a bell would ring and the dog just jumped up and started chasing the crows. the crows would eat his corn and he would set traps for them then they would set traps for him then when the bell would ring again they would stop fighting and go back to being friends and talking and the next day it would start all over again
also this story reminds me of tom & jerry......idk why, i'm just weird that way...........but all of this is just my opinion. i read the last part about the tree's seeming to wave back and it just sort of made me remember those things.