National Park

Chapter 21

Raja's eyes widened and he was sure that his mouth would have dropped open if he was not gagged by the elephant's trunk. He could neither understand nor believe what was going on! The other animals were also dumb with disbelief! O-el's anger boiled over, and he charged at Busi. Simultaneously, a crowd of cheetahs, wild dogs, elephants, buffalo and leopards charged O-el! Raja could hear the screams of accusation amongst the remaining animals as the Big Five were being questioned and asked to explain, almost being attacked by the other animals! The Big Five were arguing back, the noise getting louder and louder as the tension mounted.

O-el had just managed to get his mouth on Busi's left shoulder when he was rammed down by the charging animals. Busi fell to her knees, continuing to scream, "The Big Five cannot be trusted!"

They do not have the best interests of the other animals at heart! The rest of the new council are not far from here! You will see the bodies of innocent anim-"

She was suddenly cut off by a loud roar from behind Raja. A few seconds later, an elephant trumpeted. Raja's eyes opened in excitement; he was sure that the roar was Niol. The amazing part was that he could hear an ultrasonic sound! Raja rolled his eyes upwards at his captor and, judging by the shock on the elephant's face, Raja was sure the trumpeter was Niya! The elephant's grip loosened and, without wasting a moment, Raja slid his head out, opened his mouth wide and bit hard into the elephant's trunk. With a pained 'oof', the elephant dropped Raja hard on his backside, but the little puggle ignored the pain and quickly sprung to his feet. Everyone was still arguing and it was becoming violent. He needed to get Niol and the rest of the animals here to calm things down. Raja darted off just as the elephant was about to grab him again. Raja looked back and saw another breakaway group, this one being led by a familiar elephant; it was Niya's mother! Niya's ultrasonic call must have told her mother that she was in danger!

"Follow me! I know where they are!" Raja screamed.

The animals were not far behind him as he bounded through the bush. Busi was still kneeling on the ground while O-el was completely surrounded; he appeared injured, but he did not seem bothered by this as he snarled menacingly at the giraffe.

Raja ran past the now wide awake Dhinoo, but there was an empty spot where Niol had been. He could hear Niol's growl just ahead, but he could also hear the other conspirators. Raja broke though the opening and found Niya and Sqwee wriggling to free themselves while Niol was attempting to take on the leopard, buffalo and rhino alone. Raja barked loudly and charged at the three animals. He did not know what he would do, but he knew he just had to help Niol! The rhino and leopard, ignoring Raja, charged at Niol together, but he jumped out of the way and sunk his teeth into the rhino's back, causing a grunt of pain! Niol had just released the rhino when the leopard managed to take a large chunk of flesh from his lower shoulder. It was clear that the leopard had been aiming at Niol's jugular, but the other animals had arrived and were now on top of the conspiring council members. Niya's mother pointed her trunk to tell someone to free Niya while she and the others rushed to assist Niol. Raja had charged in and slid under the buffalo's legs, and now jumped up and, with all his strength, sunk his teeth into the buffalo's tail. The buffalo threw its head back in pain and began to spin around, attempting to knock Raja off, but he locked his jaws and hung on tight as the buffalo dragged him away from Niol. Niya's mother called urgently for a group to help Raja while she and three other elephants charged at the rhino and leopard. Niol stood up, blood gushing from his wound. Niya's mother swung her head, and, in the same manner that she had capsized the ranger's truck, she smashed against the rhino, knocking him off his feet so he crashed into a large boulder. The other elephants had already rammed into the leopard, whose attention had been on Niol and who had not seen them.

"Where's O-el?" Niol demanded as he limped towards Raja.

Raja had let go of the buffalo's tail, as the other animals had now cornered it. It had given up the fight. Raja stood up slowly, ignoring his bleeding legs, and spoke clearly.