Book3. Samantha - The Sleepy Falls 1

Book3. Samantha - The Sleepy Falls 1
Before Avu and I headed over to Sleepy Falls, we went to Lexi’s farm to return Lake to her parents. Getting a baby involved in the whole mess with the So’oks wasn’t something I was about to do. It was bad enough that I’d taken her to the bog. Nothing had happened, but I wasn’t about to tempt fate a second time.
Not to mention that Lexi and Commander Driann would probably have hunted me down and skinned me alive the moment they found out I left the farm with their daughter without their permission. I knew that I had to let them know what had happened, but not until I had found Nick and Ulrus and Avu’s people gotten the help they needed. But more than that, the base had to be informed about the So’oks. 
When we made it to the farm, Lexi and her husband were still out, so I took Lake inside while Avu waited for me close to Nick’s home, out of sight, because if Commander Driann noticed him, questions would be asked and I wasn’t quite ready for that. 
After I had fed, changed, and played with Lake, our little adventure left her so exhausted that she fell asleep not long after I placed her in her crib. Then I treated the wound on my temple and took a look at my sore shoulder–a nasty bruise was already spreading along it. 
Not knowing how long it would take to find Nick and Ulrus, I decided to pack some food and water in a backpack that Ulrus had left in the back seat of his flying car.
Commander Driann and Lexi returned not long after I raided their pantry.
“Gotta go!” I said before either of them could stop me and ask me anything about their daughter, then rushed straight back to where Avu was waiting for me.
When we passed by Nick’s house, a pang of guilt ran through me as I realized I hadn’t asked Lexi how her visit with the doctor had gone. I made a mental note to visit her the following day and explain everything.
She was probably going to be very angry with me, but I had already accepted that it would be the consequence of not thinking things through and jumping to the wrong conclusions.
It was around nightfall when we made it to Sleepy Falls. I pulled two head flashlights from the backpack and gave one to Avu, who, from the looks of it, knew what it was as he quickly put it over his head and turned it on.
The entire area around the triple falls was absolutely breathtaking. The section of the mountain the water ran down had a somewhat U-shaped formation, with two of the waterfalls facing each other and the largest of the three in the center. But what caught my attention were the floating rocks that led up the mountain. I had never seen anything like it. 
Even before Avu pointed at them, I knew what he was about to say.
“There’s a hunting ground up the mountain. Nick and Ulrusss are probably there.”
Why men had to go to such extremes to kill some poor animal, I wasn’t sure. But at the same time, I was fascinated by the entire area and wanted to see more of it.
As we got closer, the roar of the falling was so loud that we had to speak loudly to hear each other.  
I asked, “Why are they called Sleepy Falls?”
Avu pointed at the vegetation growing along the mountain. “Sssee the red flowers?” he asked me.
When I nodded, he added, “If anyone getsss too close to them, they releassse ssspore that make you sssleepy. While you fight to ssstay awake, long tendrilsss will wrap around your legsss and pull you underwater, where a big creature will devour you.”
I blinked as I studied the flowers, which looked a lot like tulips, only much bigger.
“Are you telling me that the vegetation is actually part of an underwater creature?”
Avu didn’t reply right away.
We stood in silence as we watched an insect land on the petals of a flower. Slowly, the flower began closing around it, trapping it inside and killing it.
It reminded me of the carnivorous plants back on Earth. But these were far more nightmarish–they were actually part of an underwater alien creature. Technically, I was the alien on this planet. 
“We need to be very careful,” Avu warned me as we reached the floating rocks. They rose like a staircase, all the way to the peak, which was covered in mist.
I wasn’t sure why he seemed so scared to be this close to the waterfalls. Sure, the creature living underwater was very dangerous, but as long as we stayed away from the flowers, we would be fine.
I asked, “If this area is so dangerous, why do Nick and Ulrus come here to hunt?” without actually expecting an answer.
“It’sss where all the warriorsss that proved themssselvesss before their villagesss come to hunt. There’sss a ssswamp up the mountain, and only the ssstrongessst and bravessst malesss go to hunt there,” Avu explained as he stepped onto the first rock, which immediately moved to the left. 
One by one, the other rocks also started moving.
He kept talking as the rock he was standing on moved toward the one above it. When the two rocks briefly aligned, he jumped onto the next one and climbed higher.
I wasn’t normally afraid of heights, but looking at the moving rocks made me dizzy as I realized why Avu was wary of this place. One mistake, and he would fall into the waters below, where a hungry creature awaited.
When he was on top of the third rock, he turned to face me, a frown forming between his thin eyebrows as he realized I wasn’t following.
“We need to hurry,” he urged me.
But I wasn’t sure that I could climb the rocks. All the walking had already left me winded, and I was in dire need of rest, but with the night fast approaching, we couldn’t spare a moment, as many predators living on and around the mountain were nocturnal.
It would have been a problem with them standing still, but having them move added a new level of difficulty that would be game over for me.
“Sssamantha?” he asked.
He tried to hide the tremor in his voice, but there was no hiding how scared he was for his people, for his mother and sister.
I couldn’t leave Avu alone, so the only way forward was to keep going.
I took a deep breath and waited for the rock to reach me before jumping. That one second, as my feet lifted off the ground and landed on the floating rock, felt like an eternity, my heart hammering against my ribcage.
Wanting to distract myself, I pointed out, “You haven’t actually told me why Nick and Ulrus come all the way here to hunt.”

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