I was going to get a second opinion because while I liked Jack, I knew that the Colorspore Colonies saw the world very differently than I did.


    “Excuse me, Jack, Reggie…”


    I walked away from them.


    Reggie wasn’t about to let me walk away without a dig at me. I can smell your female primates. They are more yeasty than you. I can smell them easily.


    I wasn’t going to pass that along.


    “Opal, so did you find Jack and Reggie because they’re T. rexes or because they’re Colorspore Colonies?”


    Colorspore Colonies is not in this unit’s database of known species. More research required. Paring with Fodoron Obelisk might enhance this unit’s knowledge of K’Shaul’s more extraordinary fauna.


    I took that as a good sign. It wasn’t a no. Neither was it a yes, though. “Opal, the fungal growths on the dinosaurs are the Colorspore Colonies. Can you find more of them? I’d like to find any of the remaining spores that covered the T. rex with the green mold armor.”


    I was pretty sure I was the first person in the universe to ever use those words in that order.


    One moment. Processing. Scanning. No spores detected.


    I was getting frustrated. My aunt hated computers of any kind, but my uncle was the opposite. He loved gadgets and figuring out how things worked.  Most of the time, dealing with Opal was fairly easy, but right then, I felt like my Aunt Kathy trying to save an email attachment.


    “I would be surprised if it was that easy, Opal. I asked if you could find Green Colony, since we’d been close to them before, and you have a better understanding of the species.” I knew she would complain about my language. “I know you don’t fully understand them, and if you were fully charged, and if you paired with an Obelisk, this would be easier. I get all that. But is it possible to find Green Colony?”


    This unit appreciates HOSTNAME: Sid Marshall’s understanding of the situation. This unit believes it can find remnants of the spores if they still exist. Please return to the last known location of Green Colony.


    I turned to Jack and Reggie. “If I can find Green Albert, will you help me find my friend? I have to warn you, it’s a long way, and we’ll be facing hundreds of the Sleezenak on motorcycles. That’s a kind of machine. I’ll show you.”


    Reggie just had to grumble. Machines are made of metal. Metal is not a food stuff. Machines are a waste of time.


    Jack, as always, was more reasonable. If you pull our friend from the Great Cloud All Around, we would be very happy. I’m sure even Black Colony would show you their gratitude and both of us would journey with you to the ends of K’Shaul.


    That sounded good to me.


    I did find it interesting that Jack knew about K’Shaul, but how in the fuck could we find a mixture of spores? And, if we found them, how could we transport them? I certainly didn’t know how the Colorspore Colonies worked, and even Opal was fuzzy on the strange, sentient fungi.


    I took only thirty seconds to explain the situation to Billie and Khanna, in the simplest English I could think of.


    Billie, of course, grimaced. “How are we going to find fungus, Sid? This is fucking weird and stupid, and I just want to find Holly.”


    Khanna stood with her arms crossed, her eyes blazing with fury. I knew she was leaning into anger because the sadness was too hard to bear. I understood that completely. I also knew that she would unleash all that fury and sorrow on the Sleezenak when we broke through their army and crossed Lava World.


    “I want to find her too, Billie. This is our best bet.”


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    The cheerleader sighed. “Fine. I suppose you''ll need a jar. We took a bunch from the penthouse.”


    I had totally forgotten about the jars we’d grabbed. “Yeah, a jar would be great.”


    Billie grabbed the Huntress’s hand. “Come on, Khanna. We can grab some food and water at Lone Tree Ridge. Get the jar, come back, get mold, get on our motorcycles, drive all the way back, to that weird lava place and kill more lizard people. But you have to promise me, Sid, that we’ll find Holly tonight.”


    “We’re going to find Holly,” I said with a ferocity that made Billie wince.


    Then, I was walking around the T rex’s hunting ground, acting like an annoying first grader. “Find anything, Opal? What about now? What about now? Have you found Green Colony yet?”


    Opal had the patience of an Arkadian Quantum Universal Intelligence Assistant, which meant, she was okay with me asking all the time, but she did eventually say her scans would be more effective if I didn’t bug her so much.


    Opal suggested I walk in a spiral, going a meter out, then five meters, ten meters, then fifteen. Walking in circles through the redwood forest was making me crazy. It got even worse when Billie and Khanna returned with the jar. They’d eaten, drank some water, so they were doing okay.


    “Find anything?” Billie asked.


    “Not yet,” I growled.


    Khanna looked like she might either puke or throw punches. “Sid Marshall maybe not trust his spirit. Maybe spirit is stupid. Khanna say we go back, now, and find Hol-ly. But maybe Hol-ly is gone, stolen away by the demon storm. Maybe Hol-ly in the Inferness now, damned forever. Damned forever.”


    Billie was chewing on a nail. “What is she saying, Sid?”


    I told the truth. “She’s worried about Holly.”


    “Join the club.”


    I was about to give up. We were a hundred meters from the hunting grounds. Surely, Green Albert was gone. But then, I saw a squirrel scamper away from us and run halfway up a tree. I called it a squirrel, but although it had the big bushy tail, it also had six legs and tusks. Well, if the deer could have tusks, so could the squirrels. The rodents were pretty rare, but we had seen them before. Instead of being a golden-brown color, this one was green.


    Opal gave me the good news.


    Green Colony detected on a small mammal. Green Colony matrix is too simplistic for communication. Sentience unlikely given the small amount of spores. Spore growth detected. Retrieve small mammal.


    But the squirrel was on the big redwood, and there was no tree near it that I could climb. I would have to make the jump and grab the squirrel before it got higher.


    “We don’t need a jar,” I said to Billie. “We need a basket. I don’t think this squirrel is going to be as chatty as our favorite T. rexes are. Wait here.”


    Billie’s mouth dropped open. “What the fuck, Sid? What kind of shit are you talking?”


    Khanna had picked up some of our slang. “Sid Marshall talk fuck shit with spirit. Fuck shit spirit is wrong.”


    I hoped Opal didn’t take that too personally.


    I backed up.


    The green six-legged squirrel wasn’t running away, but it didn’t seem very happy either.


    I know once I grabbed it, there was a good chance it would bite me, so I had Opal give my survival suit gloves.


    Then I ran toward the squirrel.


    The minute it sensed that kind of movement, it darted up the tree.


    I launched myself in the air, aiming higher on the tree. My aim was perfect. It raced up the tree and right into my hand. I grabbed it, and like I thought it, it squealed and tried to rip my hand apart with its tusks. When that didn’t work, it scratched, bite and squeaked bloody murder.


    By that time, I was floating down through the air. I came mashing down through the branches of a slimy aspen tree before rolling ass over teakettle through ferns.


    The squirrel continued to wrestle around in my hand. The animal’s green fur felt like normal fur, silky soft.


    I shook the squirrel a little. “Hey, Green Colony, I don’t know if you can understand me or not, but you have got to fucking relax. I’m going to take you back to your friends.”


    I was pretty sure I was dealing with a rodent and not a sentient fungi, but still, the little animal finally stopped struggling.


    I’d been scratched up and bruised, but Opal told me she was working on fixing that. Total energy usage would be 3%, which seemed to be the going rate for minor injuries.


    Walking back to the hunting grounds, Billie and Khanna stood there, blinking.


    “Nice jump,” Billie said finally. “Uh, did you catch it?”


    I held up the green tusked squirrel. “Yeah. Got it. Though, I’m not sure if Green Albert is still alive or not. I’m hoping Jack and Reggie can tell me.”


    Jack came thundering out of the rest and stood there, towering over us. Reggie was right behind him.


    I held up the terrified squirrel. “Uh, I’m pretty sure your friend found a World Beast.”


    Jack’s laughter filled my head. That is not a World Beast, Sid. That is a Bridge Beast, something Green Colony could use to keep themselves alive. This is a happy day! Green Colony will not grow in strength, knowledge, and sentience without a far larger creature.


    At that point, I had something in mind, the perfect World Beast for Green Albert, but I didn’t say anything. I kinda wanted to keep it a surprise.


    Khanna pounded her spear on the ground. “Now we go! We go save Hol-ly!”


    I walked over to Reggie, who eyed me and the squirrel. “Are you going to help us, Reggie?”


    Reggie lowered his huge nose and sniffed. Yes. You found Green Albert, and I am grateful. We will find him a World Beast, but first we eat your Sleezenaks. They are delicious and very crunchy but not too crunchy. Then, maybe, one day, we tell you the Way of Molzo.


    I didn’t give a fuck about Molzo. I wanted to wipe out the Sleezenak army and find Holly.