Enzo Lo Grasso - Zhandalee And The First Metamorphosis

--Are we sure we'll live to the end?-- Zandi asked doubtfully.

--Be quiet, even if it 's very much that I do not use it, we will not get hurt, I think, we must always keep the cenrte of the slide, staying in balance sitting down, it' s not difficult – Biko reassured.

--Yes, Zandi, the bed of the slide is made of sand and a sort of moss that allows you to slide without making us ache--

- Come on, I begin, come behind me, Zandi – Ima reassured.

But when she was about to position herself seated on the slide, about twenty meters far they heard a strange little noise and a dozen small birds flew up, the three looked in that direction, then Biko took the sword he had placed behind his back and intimated:

--Who is there? Let's see if you do not want to be killed --

But no sound and no response came from the foliage, Biko advanced a few yards with his sword forward and cautiously to see if anyone was hiding, but he found nothing.

-- Maybe it has been some passing mongoose,-- Ima said.

--Perhapes your sister have reason – Zandi reinforced.

Biko returned near the two girls and he put the swords in the scabbard, he remained a few seconds on the area from which that sound had arrived and then he stood as a third recommending the girls ..

--Attention to the balance, otherwise you can hurt yourself- -

--You think about you – Ima replied and she threw herself followed by a cry of euphoria, Zandi shrugged as if to say '' What doyou want to do? '' and she follow Ima.

--Girls! – Biko pronounced and he threw himself down to the slide.

The run of the slide for Zandi and for the other two was a wonderful and incredible emotion, they slipped sitting balanced on the moss that made them slippery like soap, they passed through colourful flowers of which some petals remained on them, they grazed small animals who watched them astonished, they immersed themselves in a thick and soft green foliage where they were caressed, until Ima and Zandi arrived at the end of the slide where a soft grass allowed them to roll for many meters in a joyful and fun way. They lay smiling, looking at the blue sky, under a tree on which there were two birds watching to the girls laughing, then they both looked at each other strangely flying in the sky.

Ima abandoned her lying position sitting and shaking a little green foliage off her back, Zandi made the same thing a few seconds later.

- It 'was beautiful, I had never tried an experience so amusement, even at the most sophisticated rides, we have to do it again in the future – Zandi pronounced cheerfully.

-- But my brother, where is he? - - Ima said worried looking at the end of the slide, when immediately they heard Biko’s shout, it was not a scream shouted by the girls, it seemed a confused shout, in fact at a distance of dozen yards from where Ima and Zandi had arrived, they could see a great dustiness followed by branches and pebbles and some small animals looking surprised, from this dust the scream came falling to the ground creating a trail, after about thirty meters of pulley he stopped, the head of Biko came out from the vegetation, all dusty with dry branches in his hair and a pile of foliage in his mouth that spit out, then Biko looked at his arms and he saw some big ants starting to climb him up, he broke his eyes and screamed.

--A formicary !!!!! --

He got up and after a few hundred meters he threw himself in a small pond nearby, the girls enjoyed the whole scene smiling, then they got up, they cleaned the rest of the body walking towards the pond. As they arrived near the shore

- But where is your brother? Will he not be drowned,? -- Zandi asked.

--No, quiet, Biko is a fish, he can swim very well,-- Ima replied.

Biko emerged from the water and spitting out a fountain of water he said:

-- I've seen it ugly! --

-- Were you not the boy who made us a thousand of recommendations? -- Zandi asked ironically.

Biko coming out of the water replied:

-- It was not my fault, I slipped perfectly, the sword is caught for a moment on a bush making lose my balance, and then thanks to the luck I end up on a anthill – he ended squeezing the clothes and putting the sword back on his back.

--This area is the most west part of the forest, we have to start from here, let's distance each other so to be able to control a wider area of forest but still remaining on sight always – doing so Biko stood between the two girls and they began to scour the forest looking for Demetrio.

--Attention Girls, we must be discreet, we could run across the soldiers, so we have to observe well and make little noise – Biko précised.

- Usually he lives on the trees, you can rarely see him wandering on the ground, but we never know – Ima added.

--I have understood!-- Zandi answered, bending her head slightly forward in the direction of affirmation.

After a few hundred meters of reconnaissance Zandi glimpsed near a large trunk of a bare tree becoming gray, an animal that caught her attention.

--you’ll see that beautiful cat, very large and it seems docile -- Zandi pronounced approaching the animal.

Biko did not see it right away, so he approached it too.

--Zandi, be careful! Not to approach it, it is a wild cat and it does not go so well with the man, it could hurt you, let it go -- Biko warn.

--Biko is right, listen to him, do not approach it, I heard of people who got hurt – Ima strengthened the words of Biko, approaching calmly.

But Zandi, seeing the calm air of the animal, did not renounce her intent, and went further, coming slowly to stroke it on the head, the cat behaved like a domestic cat, letting Zandi's hands gently caress it, and it seemed happy with caresses.

--What did I tell you? It's a good cat,-- Zandi said.

Ima and BIko looked at each other in disbelief, and they approached Zandi who in the meantime had taken the cat in her arms.

--I do not believe in my eyes,-- Biko said in astonishment.

--How can you do everything? It’s clear you are a divinity – Ima said smiling.

-- I've never seen a thing like this in my life, never any of these beasts behaved like that with any of us, obviously it feels something good in you, the animals know it long, -- Biko said.

--Caress it you too, -- Zandi told Ima. -- it will not hurt you --

Ima approached the hand and she began to caress it at first with much fear but seeing the docile nature of the feline she took security stroking it with taste, the animal was happy to receive such cuddles.

--We have to continue the research, we have to find Demetrio before the soldiers, first to save his life and then to know what he can tell us about this whole story,-- Biko said.

--Big cat, I would be hours to caress you but now I must go --Zandi said jokingly to the wild cat, the cat turned its head suddenly staring at the depth of the forest, the three boys remained petrified, the animal later made a grimace showing the sharp teeth and pulling out the sharp nails.

--What is it doing? – Ima asked.

--Evidently it feels the danger coming,-- Biko said.

As soon as he finished saying, the cat suddenly jumped out of Zandi's arms and ran away disappearing through the trees, but doing so with his fingernails it scratched Zandi's arm in a showy way from which came a few drops of blood that ended to the ground.

--Let me see,-- Ima said taking Zandi's arm.

--It's nothing,-- Zandi replied.

-- It's a big wound, but now I'll beam it -- Ima proposed pulling out a handkerchief for bandaging the arm --When we will arrive at the village, we'll clean it better,-- Ima said.

Suddenly there was a shot-gun from where the wild cat had fixed.

-- Soon let's hide, they are the soldiers, the cat had heard them. Let’s go on that tree --Biko suggested running towards a thick tree to the right of where the three were, leaping up on it and reaching out his hand in ahead asking to his sister and to his friend to follow him.