47 Ducks 1.12

12.

The school of ducks soon reached the mid way point of their journey. They stopped to look at the high hill before them. It looked like a stack of double burger with cheese outcropping and laid in between two buns. Around the hill was yellow dried out cactus from the dry weather.

“Guards, that’s Burger Hill. Once we cleared that, we are in Chicken Country.” Othello told his the others. The ducks looked to the hill. There was no passage way passed it that could be seen by the ducks.

“Othello, how do we get through? It’s too high to fly over. And yet I see no passages?” Iago asked.

“London will show us.” Othello replied. “London had been in and out of this place more than once.”

London stepped up and explained to them there was another way in.

“But it’s hazardous and above all, I never tried it before with such…lots of clumsy webbed pads.” That last line from London drew some irritated quacks. “So are you ducks dumb enough to follow me?”

“Lead the way, you scoundrel for a duck.” Caesar told the other. London then led the ducks to an overhanging rock. 

Below at the shadow of it, London pushed at the thicket to reveal the hidden passage. It led downward from the dusty surface to the dark hard ground, and then the ground turned moist. The ducks followed in a single file with their feathers dirtied by the moss covered surface.

“That was good.” Jonas of the Guards stuck the bill at the wall surface. It had grabbed a worm in its bill; using its instinct horned by seasons of hunting. “It never felt better than a fresh young one.”

“Jabbering holes, Jonas you could wriggle a worm any day.” Othello complimented the other. “Save one for me.”

“Yup, he got the bill for everything.” Iago quips out in support with a tinge sarcasm. “Did he tell you what Molly done with his bill? She went mooolly all evening.”

That drew the others to snort up their bill to the crude joke. Soon their laughter ceased when they reached the new path; a narrow ledge to a drop down a deep crevasse. It was just wide enough for the ducks to move sideways.

“Let me show you the way.” London stood facing the wall with its rear protruding out. “Move slow and don’t quack out.”

London did it a short space of time, with Othello following close. The later had trouble moving for it was not used to such walks. Caesar choose to go next and struggled till midway.

“I ain’t moving anymore. I am flying.” Caesar turned to flap its wing and slipped. It would had fallen if for Othello which reached out with spread wings for the former. Caesar used its bill to grab hold of the extended wing while on the safer opposite ledge. London had used its wing to hold Othello. The two ducks slowly pulled the Legionaries Commander to the ledge.

“Thanks, London.” Caesar heaved itself up and then looked at Othello. It nodded to the Guard Commander before it 

stepped further in to the shadows. There the others will not able to see to the quivering legs on the Legionnaires Commander. The other ducks made their ways across with slow movements but none fell into the crevasse. They thought the dangers were over when they came to the next one.

“Here we will descent to the lower ledge.” London told them. “There are no ledges here to walk by, but we will take flight to it.”

With that, London flapped its wings and swooped down. It was a tight dive but the duck made it. It caught its feathers there and replied to the ducks.

“That was …rejuvenating. I much prefer the ascent than this.” London quipped back. “So who is next?”

Othello stepped up but Caesar did it first. It was done swiftly and the confidence restored, Caesar called on the others to join him. All the ducks did it with a few slipping at the edge but rescued by the others who had reached it. Caesar turned to look at London.

“So what else you got planned for us?” Caesar asked.

“A swim if you are keen.” London smiled and then led the way down the tunnel to an underground stream. The difference was the current was swift. “Be careful you do not get drifted out to the middle or you would be sucked underneath the current.”

The ducks were past listening and jumped in to the stream. Immediately, three of them were caught by the undercurrent and got dragged under. It was the strength of London who managed to drag them out, and onto the main drift. The ducks drifted in and out of the stream current, some almost drowning but ever another will assist the other. The ducks floated with the current for over some time before they reached the still pool among the rocks.

“Wow! That was great.” Caesar sprouted out a jet of water from its bill. “I could do this more than once.”

“No more swimming. Now we climb.” London motioned to the steep incline wall ahead of them. The ducks sighed out in their bill.

“There is no way we could climb that.” Iago grumbled out. Even Othello had to agree with the other. London laughed out. It wadded over to the wall and then showed them the hidden passage.

“May I show you the express way up and down.” It was a steep passage but it was a series of circular path that a duck could wade on. Soon the ducks made it to the last stretch before reaching the exit.

“Ducks, you almost made it.” London told them and then it paused. It turned to look at the exit.

“Stand back! There’s danger here.” London warned them. It was then from the dark shadow, the centipede appeared. It was a large one with its numerous leggings. The centipedes have a rounded or flattened head, bearing a pair of antennae at the forward margin. Centipedes possess a variable number of ocelli, which are sometimes clustered together to form true compound eyes. Even so, it appears that centipedes are only capable of discerning light and dark, and not of true vision. The first pair of legs at the head end of the centipede act as sense organs similar to antennae, but unlike the antennae of most other animals, point backwards. The forcipules are modifications of the first pair of legs, forming a pincer-like appendage always found just behind the head. They are not true mouthparts, although they are used in the capture of prey items, injecting venom and holding onto captured prey. Venom glands run through a tube almost to the tip of each forcipule.  

Behind the head, the body consists of fifteen or more segments. Most of the segments bear a single pair of legs, with the maxillipeds projecting forward from the first body segment, and the final two segments being small and legless. Each pair of legs is slightly longer than the pair immediately in front of it, ensuring that they do not overlap, and therefore reducing the chance that they will collide with each other while moving swiftly. In extreme cases, the last pair of legs may be twice the length of the first pair. The final segment bears a telson and includes the openings of the reproductive organs. Centipedes are predators, and mainly use their antennae to seek out their prey. The digestive tract forms a simple tube, with digestive glands attached to the mouthparts. Like insects, centipedes breathe through a tracheal system, typically with a single opening, or spiracle on each body segment. They excrete waste through a single pair of malpighian tubules. It is known to eat lizards, frogs, birds, mice, and even bats, catching them in midflight,as well as rodents and spiders.

“London, welcome back.” The centipede hissed out in the round hills accent. “Your last deed of killing ma’ brother with the rock made mae’ a lonely creature.”

London stepped back while the centipede reveal its long body of over two feet. That Wee Centipede was the guardian of the passage.

“Oh, my mother is here. She is upset at you killing Reginald.” The centipede showed the elderly centipede with the same length. “She is poor in sight, but she could pick up any of your ducks for some distance. Mum, please say hello to London.”