Colin went for it. May, predictably, went out with him, leaving her dad and Rita in the midst of all-out chatter. Those two probably didn't even notice when they left.
She brought along two Comrades; a yellow Lynxmouse and a walking cactus.
"Thanks for getting me out of there." May said, with relief. "I owe you one."
"I'm out of there too." Colin said. "We're even."
May grinned and handed him the list. "There's forty-two requests on it, all with payment offers. Do whichever of them you like."
Colin scanned the list. "Finding items in the Forest… no way, we're not going to survive it… finding lost items under the sand in town… finding lost items under the sand in the desert… May, I can't do these!"
"Try this one." May suggested, pointing.
"Bring freshly-cut wood… five planks." Colin frowned. "How exactly am I supposed to cut wood?"
"Hire someone." May suggested. "Or buy it from the woodcutter."
"And why doesn't this guy get it himself?" Colin asked.
"He lives up in the mountain with his precious Starburst Flowers. Doesn't dare leave them for too long." May shrugged. "Most of the time, he gets everyone else to bring things for him."
"He must be rich…" Colin whistled. The reward for that job was 600cr.
"He is. Starburst Petals sell for very high prices. He's one of those few people who would really take the time and attention to raise them just right and wait for the exact moment to harvest them. That's why he hardly ever leaves."
"But nobody else wants to do this job?"
"Not many people know it's there. The guy doesn't trust just anybody to know where he lives. That's why he asked the mayor."
Colin looked at her. "May, you really know how to do all these jobs, don't you?"
"Of course." May answered. "So?"
"Why do you need me along?" Colin asked.
"To keep my dad happy." May said. "I'll never hear the end of it otherwise."
***
They bought the wood from the woodcutter. Each piece cost them 60cr. Colin would have been in trouble if May hadn't looked through his backpack and sold off most of the loot Meek had picked up earlier. He barely managed the wood as it was. {Maybe I shouldn't have spent everything on food earlier. But I never expected to have to buy things to do a mission.}
"Wood here is more expensive than elsewhere." May said. "But I'm not going to bother going all the way to another village or to cut it myself. We still make a good 300cr profit."
Colin followed her up the mountain, until they came to a river.
"See that?" May pointed. "That pile of rocks there make a natural dam. Because of it, most of the water goes to one side and then into an underground river. If those rocks were removed, our whole village would be flooded."
"Isn't that dangerous?" Colin asked.
"Probably." May agreed.
"Is that why you guys planted that there? Colin pointed.
"Planted… what?" May blinked.
"That plant." Colin said. "It's a bit gray, but the shape's kinda obvious."
"What…?!" May dashed down to the dam.
She saw it soon enough. "That's a creeper!"
"Huh?" Colin blinked. "Is that its name?"
"No. It's the type of plant." May said. "Colin, that plant's going to tear down the whole dam!"
"Are you sure?" Colin frowned.
May studied it some more and said. "I think it's already too late."
She touched the plant, what little of it reached them and sniffed. "Someone painted this thing."
"Painted?" Colin stared. "Why?"
"To hide it from being seen." May told him. She glanced at him sideways. "I'm surprised you managed to see it at all."
"Lots of things have different colors in this world. Why would plants be any different?" Colin asked.
"Why indeed." May growled. "Colin, someone did this on purpose. Someone planted this here to destroy the dam and flood Hot Sands. It's been here long enough that taking it out would destroy the dam anyway. Right now, it's the only thing holding the dam in place."
"Shouldn't we warn everyone?" Colin wondered.
"We should." May agreed. "Let's go."
***
"Dad!"
Mayor Henry jumped when May pounced on him. "May? What is it?"
"The village is going to be flooded! The river dam is about to break!" May said.
"WHAT?!"
It took some time to explain, and Mayor Henry wanted to see it for himself. After he saw it, though, his face turned grim. "This is serious."
"Who would do something like this?" Rita asked.
May thought about that and started ticking off fingers.
"Never mind." Rita said, when May reached ten and went on counting.
"Why would someone want to destroy my village?!" Mayor Henry groaned. "We have done no one any harm, always offering shelter to the hot and weary Traveler! What did we ever do to…"
"Dad, we don't have time to complain!" May pulled at him. "We have to warn everybody!"
"You guys go ahead." Rita told them. "I'll get my Arachnid to stick some webbing into it. Maybe that will help it hold out for a bit longer."
"Thanks." Mayor Henry said. "Let's go, May. Colin, you come too!"
Word spread quickly. In an hour, fifty men had gathered in the village square.
"What are we going to do?" Everyone kept asking.
"We have to calm down and think this through." Mayor Henry said. "What can we do?"
"We can build another dam." The woodcutter suggested.
"Or…"
That was as far as they got before a woman's cackle cut across the gathering in the square. Colin and the others looked around, wondering where that scary laugh came from, but he couldn't see any laughing woman around.
"There." May pointed. Her eyes were wide. "That's…!"
"Her." Mayor Henry's face paled. "So she did it."
She stood on the roof of Mayor Henry's house, red all over from hair to high-heeled shoes. She wore a narrow silky gown and a cape to go with it. And she laughed.
"That witch…" Fanny growled. "Why…?"
"Who's that?" Colin asked her.
"That's the Lady Scarlet." Fanny said. "Why is she here?"
"Are you the one that did this?!" May demanded.
"Did what?" Scarlet asked, innocently.
"That creeper in the dam!" May barked.
"Oh, that old thing. I was getting tired of waiting for it." Scarlet waved dismissively. "I think it would be faster to do the job myself."
"You…!" Mayor Henry stepped forward, face turning red.
"Oh, shut up, Henry, flooding the village is just a side dish. What I really want is her." She pointed.
{May? What does she want with May…?!}
"No way!" Mayor Henry threw himself in front of May as May's eyes went even wider. "Do you wish to take {everything} from me?!"
"You did that to me, didn't you?" Scarlet told him coldly.
Mayor Henry's teetch clenched. He tapped his badge, a deep purple shield. "Saber!"
With a fierce growl, a tall, sand-colored Sabretooth Tiger leapt up to stand beside Mayor Henry.
Scarlet's eyes narrowed. She too, tapped her badge, and hers was brown. "Infernos."
With a roar that shook the very air appeared a firebull three times bigger than Edward's. Where it walked, the sand caught fire and left behind glass. Where it passed, the walls of houses turned black.
{That firebull is dangerous…} Colin thought.
Mayor Henry thought so too. He stepped back, looking very, very worried.
"Gander!" Mayor Henry called. "Mitos!"
A blue and yellow goose as big as May and what seemed like a ball of rock with arms and legs appeared.
{Where did they come from…?} Colin wondered.
Scarlet smiled. "Nettle."
From behind Infernos stepped what appeared to be a walking plant, or maybe it was an octopus or jellyfish made of red vines… but it had a head that looked like a flower. Sharp eyes gleamed at the three Comrades standing with Mayor Henry.
Mayor Henry was sweating now, and Colin didn't think it had to do with the heat or the firebull. His Comrades all looked very, very nervous.
"What will it be, Henry?" Scarlet asked softly. "Hand over the girl, or I will destroy this village right now."
People started calling Comrades left and right. Colin saw Comrades step into the square out of nowhere as more and more were called. He saw everything from hand-sized ants to a bear twice the size of Rall.
Scarlet shook her head. "Infernos! Eruption!"
"Run!" May grabbed Colin and pulled him to one side. "RUN!!"
The explosion behind him made his ears ring, and the next thing he knew, the ground and the sky were chasing each other around him.
{May…?}
Red cloth swept in between him and May. One moment, May was stretching out to him, and the next…
"May!" Mayor Henry shouted.
But it was too late. Colin landed on the ground with a hard thump, and stayed there for a while. After all, what was the point of getting up and scrambling around some more?
May was already gone.
***
"Where did they take her?" Mayor Henry roared. "We have to go after them!"
Colin got up slowly.
"Yip." Shiro said softly.
"Can you track them?" Colin asked.
"Yip." Shiro nodded.
"Let's move!" about twenty men headed off after Scarlet and May. "Stay sharp!"
Colin glanced at Shiro. Shiro shook himself and said, "Yip."
They made ready to join the search party, as did Mayor Henry himself.
"The rest of you, to the dam! Repair or replace it before it's too late!" Mayor Henry said, as they headed out.
Another explosion made him eat his words. From the sound alone, Colin figured that it wasn't an explosion of fire. This was an explosion of water.
"Oh, great." Colin sighed.
And then the torrent of water coming straight down from the mountain hit the village and water sprayed everywhere.
"RUN!!" Mayor Henry said, grabbing Colin.
Colin's first thought; {Hey… this is exactly what May did…}
His second; {Rita! What happened to Rita?!}
His third; {We're never going to outrun the flood.}
He was right. The water was moving too fast. At first, they were only sprayed all over, but then came a whole wave, and both Colin and Mayor Henry were knocked over.
The wave was followed by another, and this one didn't subside because a third wave covered them after that, and when Colin managed to stand up after that, he found himself up to his knees in water.
And the water was rising quickly. Very quickly.
"This is bad." Henry said. "We better get to higher ground."
"What about May? And Rita?" Colin asked.
Mayor Henry shot him a quick look and made a quick decision. "You get Rita. I'll get May."
Colin nodded. "Yes, sir!"
***
Getting to Rita was easier said than done.
"Watch out!" Fanny called to him, as she went tumbling past. The water kept pouring outwards and anybody not behind something solid like a house was being pushed back with it. Colin tried to get past once, just once, and the current was so strong, he was swept away along with someone's furniture and a stuffed bunny.
"Yip!" Shiro swam beside him, his paws paddling the water for all he was worth. "Yip!"
Rall had a better idea. He just grabbed on to Colin's leg and held on tight.
"Wuark." Warc flapped her wings overhead, safe and dry. "Wark!"
"{You} can laugh." Colin grunted, as the water almost slammed him against a house's wall. "You're totally safe."
{I'm glad Meek isn't caught up in this… she might drown…}
Raiki shook herself, and climbed up to Colin's head, freeing him to use his hands. "Thanks, Raiki."
"Mew." Raiki shook herself again, making her fur stand out in all directions.
But nobody laughed. They were all too busy trying to get back on their feet. The flood kept rising and rising, until Colin had to swim to keep his head and Raiki above water.
The current was getting stronger too. Colin couldn't control where he was going any more, but Rall's weight on his leg kept him drifting towards one side…
"Aagh!" Colin gasped as he hit something solid and the current swept him into a sheltered place. He looked around; he was in a house.
"Whew." Colin said with relief. "I think we'll be okay here until the water goes down."
"Yip!" Shiro, however, looked worried. Very worried.
"What's wrong? We have a chance to rest. We should take it easy a while before we go back out there." Colin said.
"Yip! Yip, yip!" Shiro tugged at him, sounding fearful. "Yip!!"
"What?" Colin asked.
Shiro was swimming hard, trying to get out of the house. "Yip! YIP!"
And then Colin realized what was wrong.
They were trapped.
The current was pushing them into the house. It was too strong for them to swim out. The water kept coming in, and it wasn't going out. Sooner or later, it would fill the whole house, because the house had a roof.
And when the water reached the roof, there would be no more air for them to breathe.