Jack Strong and the Red Giant

Chapter 35: Blood and Fire

Jack closed his eyes as the shadow engulfing him leeched up to his thighs. He was being eaten alive, mummified. Then something grabbed hold of him and he felt his body rise through the air. He opened his eyes, half-expecting something to poke them out, only to see two black eyes instead.

He couldn't believe it. It was Ros. Before he knew what was happening they had whooshed out of the mouth of the volcano and were zooming through the blood red sky. The shadow larvae disappeared soon after, vanishing in a wisp of smoke and ash.

"Sorry," said Ros, the wind whipping about their ears. "I forgot that your rocket boots didn't work. I came back as soon as I realised you weren't behind me."

"That's okay," said Jack, still trying to catch his breath. "I'm just glad to be alive. I thought I was dead for sure."

"It should be me thanking you Jack. You saved me. Without you I would never have escaped. I... I... I'm sorry Jack."

"Sorry? – what are you sorry for?"

"I'm sorry for judging you the moment I set eyes on you and for making your life on the spaceship harder than it should have been. I find it difficult to trust other people – I wish that everybody was like you Jack. I hope you can forgive me."

Jack didn't know what to say. Half of him wanted to tell him how unkind he'd been, whereas the other half was just glad that he was finally being nice to him. In the end the more human half won. "Don't worry about it," he said. "You had your reasons. I find it difficult to trust other people too, so I know what it's like. Maybe if we survive all this we can hang out and be friends?"

"Yes, that would be great. Because if we don't I may as well just drop you now."

Jack span around immediately, the sharp rocks below suddenly coming into focus.

"I had you there for a moment, didn't I?" laughed Ros, a big grin etched across his face.

"Yes, you did," said Jack, chuckling along.

Jack realised that he had never seen Ros laugh before. It's funny how everybody looks alike when they laugh, he thought. Maybe there is hope for us after all...

Jack peered into the blood-red distance. They were heading back towards their spaceships, the sprawling desert looming ever larger before their eyes. He kept checking behind them but as yet none of the creatures from the volcano were following them. This made him breathe a little easier, but the lack of immediate danger made him think about Vyleria again. He hadn't heard from her in over a day now. Anything could have happened to her, especially on a wild, freaky planet like this one.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine," said Ros as if reading his mind. "It's probably some malfunction with your spacesuit or something. She'll be there waiting for you when we get there."

"Yes, but it's not because I fancy her or anything," said Jack, blushing like a tomato.

"No?" asked Ros.

"She's just a good friend that's all," said Jack, his face redder than ever. "Besides, I doubt she would see anything in a boy like me."

"Well, you never know Jack. Don't be shy."

"I'm not shy, I'm... I'm just trying to be a good friend, that's all. She would do the same for me."

"Yes, I'm sure she would," he chuckled.

Jack wondered if Ros was right. Do I like Vyleria like that? He laughed at the idea that a beautiful girl like Vyleria would see anything in a dull, simple boy like him. Not when she could have any boy in the universe...

"Are you sure that's the place?" asked Ros, looking at a huge, crooked gash that stretched on for as far as the eye could see.

"Yeah, that's where the cave was over there," said Jack, pointing at a clutch of jagged rocks below them. "And there's the entrance to the valley. They have to be here somewhere, or else..."

"Don't worry, I'm sure she's not..."

"Well then where is she?" asked Jack, a little louder than he'd intended.

"She could've moved to a safer location, she..."

"No, she would've stayed exactly where she was in order to stay in touch with Kat."

"But that means..."

"That she's down there," said Jack, looking eerily at the planet's new canyon.

"We better go down for a closer look," said Ros, his tone strangely somber.

Jack stared into the bottomless, black depths and screamed Vyleria's name over and over again. But there was no reply, only the shrieking wind and the distant sound of a volcano rumbling into life.

"Ros," he said, his heart racing like a space car. "Give me your boots! I'll fly down and look for her, she's probably just..."

"You're crazy Jack – can't you see – she's gone - there's nothing you can do."

"Look, I'm not asking you," he shouted. "I'm telling you – GIVE ME YOUR BOOTS NOW!"

"No," said Ros. "It's too dangerous; I'm not losing you too."

Jack was about to protest further when a bright orange glow suddenly appeared at the bottom of the canyon. It was small and isolated at first, but then it began to spread and rise, until the entire canyon became a ribbon of molten lava, bubbling and frothing at the surface. He stared at it for what felt like forever until he felt something grab hold of him and try to drag him from the edge of the cliff.

"Come on Jack," Ros screamed. "We've got to get out of here!"

VYLERIA'S DEAD. The thought whirled around his head like a tornado.

Still Ros dragged Jack back. Still Jack struggled against him. He couldn't leave her, not now, not after all they'd been through together.

Then he felt the ground give way beneath his feet as the earth vibrated like a pneumatic drill.

Huge tears opened up in the rock, out of which spat streams of molten lava that seared and burnt the earth like it was one big steak. The lake behind them had also burst its banks and was now rushing upon them like a tidal wave. The whole planet was ripping itself apart. They had nowhere left to run.

Jack felt Ros lift him up as they tried to escape the fiery carnage, only for them to fly straight into a black cloud of scraping talons.

They ducked left and right, but it was no use. There were too many of them - their beating wings and snapping jaws forcing them back down towards the blanket of lava now covering most of the planet.

Down and down they went, the clouds of ash and smoke following like aerial blood hounds, until all they could see was a sea of red. The heat gnawed at Jack's face, singing his hair and his eyebrows. Immolation beckoned. They had to find a way up or else they were doomed.

Ros made one last feigned dive before immediately arrowing vertically upwards.

Jack closed his eyes as a shadow of ash swooped towards his head, its great, wide beak snapping away ravenously.

Then there was a shrill squawking sound and Jack's face was sprayed with ash.

He opened his eyes to see the bird monsters exploding all around him, the rapid fire of a sonic cannon shredding them into millions of pieces. Then he saw a large, silver hawk zoom towards them, scooping them up in its talons.