Tales of PulchraGea, Vol. 1

12: Shadowboxing (final/1996)

Silva is the oldest and largest city in PulchraGea. The origins of the city trace back all the way to the exodus of the Varenkono, the Green Tribe, from their ancestral home in the southern jungles outside the borders of PulchraGea. The oldest parts of the city are situated on ancient metal structures that float in the air by methods unknown. The interior of these hoverpads is off limits to the general population, as the inner workings are as dangerous as they are mysterious. The Green Tribe originally moved onto the pads to escape the dangerous animals that roam the forest floor, as well as to avoid the hallucinogenic spores that seasonally fill the ground layer.
However, the city has long since expanded outward, carved into the trunks of the massive Ruba trees that have grown around it. The trees were stripped of their incredibly dangerous bark, which is made of long razor-sharp wood almost as hard as steel. Then the soft wood within was carefully carved and shaped so as not to kill the tree. This was done over several generations and the methods that were used have been lost over time.
It was here that Katy's data said Alex Shepherd had hidden another stone many years ago.

***

I landed in the launch and was met by one of the Law Officer's deputies. Apparently, Katy had called ahead: the deputy gave me a sheaf of papers from Shepherd's time in Silva. Within was an itinerary that I found especially interesting. Shepherd had hardly been in the city at all during his visit. According to the documents, the Law Officer at the time had advised him at length against journeying into the forest below.
There was an ancient and little-used elevator that went all the way from one of the hover pads to the forest floor. I could've gone down another way, but I was trying to follow Shepherd's footsteps as closely as I could. Unfortunately, the entire sheaf was useless once I reached the forest floor.

There was a good reason the forest floor was generally forbidden. There was all manner of flora and fauna. Some were harmless. Some were dangerous beyond belief. The forest of illusions had flowers of exotic color, trees with delicious fruit growing wild everywhere. There were also the razor-barked ruba trees, fiery phoenix ash that grow in copses from the stumps of enormous but fragile volun trees, and geafail vines that snag you when you move through them. As far as animals, you've got the small green squirrel-like lutee (LOO-tay), fireproof torch monkeys that live in copses of phoenix ash trees, to the armored silverstream dragoons. Then there are the vicious lupine kildragoons with their sharp, uneven tooth ridges. There are the small, pugnacious pygmy zillae which will fight with literally anything. Even more dangerous are the squawkatiel that can kill a man with a single cry. On top of the list of reasons not to enter the forest, and the food chain therein, are the gargantuan tyrant zillae that stand taller than a tyrannosaurus rex and stalk their prey with ultraviolet vision.

I kept my wits about me as I walked. The standard issue PG-13 assault rifle I held at the ready had been loaned to me by the Law Officer at his insistence. I was so focused on smaller predators that I completely missed the tyrant zilla standing over me until I tripped over one of its toes. The zilla immediately looked down at the ground to scan for prey. Fortunately, the deputy had also insisted that I take a standard issue camouflage cloak. I'd laughed at how poorly the mottled greens, greys, and browns mimicked the foliage. I wasn't laughing now, because it also had a layer that reflected ultraviolet light almost identically to the detritus I was buried in. It was good enough to fool the giant. It moved on after a minute.

The zilla wasn't the only predator around though. As soon as the larger predator was out of sight, a pack of kildragoon slunk into the open. They were much more intelligent and had a sharper sense of smell than zillae do. They snuffled around the area. I wouldn't be able to hide for long. I brought my laser rifle to bear and mentally prepared an escape route, though a fat lot of good it would do me in this unfamiliar territory. I fired.