NOVEL NEXT Book 6: Chapter 216
“I’ve seen it all.”
Jeffery glanced down at the flashing egg tucked underneath his arm. “Does that mean you want to go back to the residence?” the old man asked. He looked up at the dragons and phoenixes who were gathered around in a circle. In the center of the gathering, a dragon and phoenix were locked in fierce competition. They glared at each other as they munched on roasted bugs, the phoenix chewing despite her lack of teeth.
“No,” Garlic said, his eggshell flashing once. “None of my ancestors have gone through what I have. None of them have seen a dragon and phoenix engage in an eating contest like this one. This is enough for me.”
Jeffery furrowed his brow. The egg saw it all, had enough, but it didn’t want to go home? “And that means…?” the old man asked, dragging out the last word.
“I’m going to hatch,” Garlic said.
The retired guide blinked. “Oh,” he said, his brow furrowing. He wasn’t sure about the specifics of caterpillar eggs. “Do you need me to do anything to help you? There’s a lot of phoenixes around; I bet one or two of them would be willing to sit on you until you hatched if I asked nicely.”
“I’m not a bird,” Garlic said, his eggshell flashing. “Are you trying to get me killed? Birds eat my kind for breakfast; if you hand over my egg to them, it’ll be like gifting them a surprise snack.”
“Okay,” Jeffery said, nodding his head. “So, what do you want me to do?”
“Keep watch for me,” Garlic said. “If a phoenix gets too close and wants to eat me, convince it to go away, or throw yourself into its beak to sate its hunger.”
Jeffery nodded. If a phoenix did show up, he definitely would not throw himself into its beak; he didn’t sign up for that when he agreed to take care of two infant bugs. Of course, he wouldn’t let Garlic know that. He placed the egg down on the ground before taking out a blanket, debating on whether or not to use it to block the egg from view.
The egg wobbled, and with a small cracking sound, a small portion of the shell’s surface shattered, the broken bits falling inside the egg. Jeffery put the blanket away and stood on his tiptoes to get a better look at what was happening within. A bluish-green caterpillar—or perhaps it was a greenish-blue one—munched on the broken shells, devouring them slowly before climbing up to the broken patch. As if it were eating a leaf, the caterpillar munched on the eggshell one tiny bite at a time. As it ate, its body grew in size, and after it devoured all the egg’s remnants, Garlic was the size of a small puppy.
“Congratulations,” Jeffery said. He glanced at the ant pupa, Ginger, which was tucked underneath his other arm. Was she going to hatch as well? Was hatch even the right term for a pupa? The old man shrugged before turning his attention back onto Garlic. The caterpillar was standing upright on its hindmost legs as if it were a human. Strands of silk were coming out of the spinneret located near its mouth, and the silk was landing on the caterpillar’s body. Jeffery squatted next to the bug. “What are you doing?”
“Making armor,” Garlic said, still producing silk. “Caterpillars are soft, squishy, and slow; a perfect recipe for being eaten. I don’t want to be eaten.”
Jeffery nodded and watched in silence as Garlic wreathed himself with silk, somehow creating a series of long spikes along its sides and spine. Even a hungry bird would think twice about eating the caterpillar. When Garlic finished armoring himself, he stopped spitting out silk and rested the upper half of his body on the ground. “Perfect,” Garlic said. “Let’s go over to Vur and Tafel. Now that I’m no longer an egg, Tafel can’t just throw me into that hole with the rest of the junk she hoards.”
“Well, she still can,” Jeffery said but decided not to elaborate upon seeing Garlic stare at him. “Let’s go. I’ll make sure you aren’t eaten by any phoenixes on the way.”
Vur turned his head to the side, sensing Garlic and Jeffery approaching by feeling the wind’s movements. Luckily, Tafel was seated on his snout instead of standing, or she might’ve fallen off from the sudden movement. She raised an eyebrow upon seeing the retired guide and silk-wrapped bug. Jeffery usually carried Garlic’s egg under his arm, and since the egg wasn’t there, but a caterpillar was…. “Is that Garlic?”
Vur nodded. “It’s covered in the same silk Geomi makes,” he said. His thoughts traveled back to the giant caterpillar, and his stomach gurgled as he remembered the taste of Geomi’s legs. Then, he remembered the deal he had made to eat those legs. Garlic was a friend, not food. Vur’s eyes landed on the pink pupa tucked underneath Jeffery’s arm. It seemed a little different from before, but Vur couldn’t figure out what made him think that.
“Hey,” Tafel said, her eyes narrowing at Garlic. Even though the bug was still a decent distance away, the demon could hear him chatting with Jeffery. “Do you think Garlic can understand Gronion? It’d be perfect if he could translate for us.”
Vur turned his head towards the large beetle. After ripping open portals for its underlings to go through, it simply remained in place, waiting for the task to be completed. Gronion was a beetle, and Garlic was a caterpillar; would they really be able to understand each other? Then again, Gronion did lead an army of winged ants, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable for it to speak caterpillar too. After all, bugs were bugs.