An Unforgettable Summer

Chapter 4: Chamti

“Um... Chamti?” Lilikiki walks slowly inside the cave, not wanting to provoke the bear. She looks all around her as she walks further inside. "Hi?" Lili doesn't hear a sound. At the bottom of the cave, she sees something. "What is that?" Lili approaches and realizes that this is where the bear stores the food that the other animals give him. In a last attempt to communicate with the bear, the young flyoness calls him again. “Chamti! I just want to talk!” Once again, she hears no answer and she doesn't see anyone in the cave. “I'll come back another time.” Lili decides and turns to the exit. "Oh!" She's startled when she sees the huge bear Chamti entering her cave.
"What?! Who are you? What are you doing here?” Chamti asks in his menacing tone.
“I-I'm sorry. I... I just wanted to talk to you.” Lili answers, a little cowering in fear. Chamti looks scarier inside the cave.
“Do you want to talk? Very well. Bring me food and then we can talk.”
“N-No.”
"No?!" Chamti looks more irritated.
"I... I think what you're doing is wrong."
“Oh yeah? Then why?" Chamti lets out a light laugh in a tone of enjoyment.
Lilikiki remembers what her parents taught her and showed her. “Animals work hard to get food for them. You are forcing them to work for you and they don't have enough food for themselves.”
"So maybe they should work harder."
“Or maybe you should start working to get your own food.”
“Are you calling me lazy?” Chamti approaches Lili threateningly.
"N-No, I..." Lili backs away slowly in fear. "I'm just saying that's not how the circle of life works." Lili explains, remembering what her parents taught her.
"Wait a second." Chamti stops, realizing something. “You're one of those creatures that came to visit the forest, aren't you?”
“Y-Yes. And my father is very powerful. You should be careful.” Lili looks more confident now.
"Hahaha." Chamti laughs for a while. “No animal is more powerful than I am. And if you and your family don't do what I want... Well... Maybe I can change that.” Chamti smiles mischievously, moving closer to Lili.
“W-What are you going to do?” Again, Lili is a little scared.
Chamti just continues to smile and approaches her. When the bear tries to grab her, Lili dodges and quickly passes the bear's side, running out of the cave.
"Come back here!" Annoyed, Chamti leaves the cave and runs after Lili. “You'll regret that you challenged me!”
Lili runs between the trees, trying to escape the bear, but Chamti is strong and smart and always manages to get close to her. However, Lili is young and agile, so she jumps between tall rocks and tree trunks to gain more speed. After a while, Lilikiki looks back and she doesn't see the bear. It is then that she stops and smiles. "I did it?" She waits for some time and neither hears nor sees the bear. "I did it!" She celebrates and starts walking again, trying to make her way back to her family.
However, the big bear appears by surprise and grabs her. "Gotcha."
“Aahh! Let me go!” Lilikiki screams in fright.
“You're gonna be very useful to me, girl.”
"Please don't hurt me."
"Don't worry. If your parents get me enough food, I won't do you any harm.” Chamti turns to walk back to her cave, but...
“Let go of my daughter, Chamti.” Askaru appears, looking seriously at the big bear.
"Well, well... You're just in time." Chamti just smiles. "Don't worry. I'm not going to harm your daughter. All you have to do is find food for me, just like everyone else.”
Lilikiki just watches her father, still scared of what the bear might do.
“You know this is wrong, Chamti.”
"Wrong? No. Intelligent? Yes."
“Each animal has a role to play in the circle of life. In this forest, everyone collects their own food, everyone builds their own lair... This is the Forest of Peace. All animals respect each other.”
"Exactly. All animals respect me because I'm the strongest animal in the forest.”
“No animal respects you because you are threatening them.”
“They have to realize that I'm bigger, stronger and smarter so that no one challenges me. But it seems that you and your family don't understand that, do you?” Chamti grabs Lili a little tighter.
“Aahh! Dad! Use your magic!” Lili asks, more scared.
"Magic?" Chamti is confused.
"No, Lily." Askaru says. “Chamti, listen. It's not too late for you to change. Please put my daughter down, return the food to the animals and you'll see that everything will be fine. No one will hate you, I promise.”
"Never! Now disappear from here! Come back when you have my food!”
"I'm not leaving without my daughter!" Askaru gets into an attack position.
“Don't challenge me.” Chamti threatens him.
For a few seconds, Askaru and Chamti look at each other, serious and determined. Seeing this, Lilikiki takes the opportunity and bites the bear's paw, managing to free herself and positions herself behind her father.
“Oh you damn girl!” Chamti is furious and moves forward to attack both.
Askaru and Lilikiki look at each other. Askaru smiles and his daughter realizes what he wants. The two start running in different directions. This time, Chamti decides to chase Askaru. Askaru is fast, but the bear knows the forest best, so the king of CiAr never strays far enough.
"You cannot escape!" Chamti doesn't give up. The bear continues to chase the flyon until a rocky wall forces them to stop. Now Askaru is trapped between the wall and the bear. “It's your last chance. Find food for me and neither you nor your family will suffer.”
“I have a better idea. Now, Lili!”
"What?!" Chamti looks back and just has time to see Lilikiki jumping from a tree to his head, knocking him down. "No!" Chamti falls on his belly and Askaru quickly jumps onto his back.
“Come on, Lili.” Askaru asks and Lili jumps onto the bear's back, joining her father there. The two put pressure on the bear's back with their weight of adult and teenage flyons, making Chamti unable to get up.
“Get off!” Chamti demands, trying to get up, but without success.
“Chamti, listen. You have to change your attitude.” Askaru tries to convince the bear. "If you don't, other animals will continue to suffer and you'll never be truly happy."
“What if I don't want to change?”
“In that case, you'll have to leave this forest.”
"Hahaha. And who is going to kick me out? You?" Chamti makes fun of Askaru.
“Go on, dad. Use your magic. Make him disappear or send him elsewhere or..."
“No, Lili! I already told you we can't use magic here!"
“M-Magic?” Once again, Chamti is confused. "I... I've heard that word before."
"What?!" Now is Askaru and Lili who are confused.
"Wha... What is magic?" Chamti asks curiously.
"You... You shouldn't have that information." Askaru warns, knowing that it's too dangerous. “Where did you hear that word?”
"I don't know. I... I just remember... N-No..."
Askaru and Lilikiki notice that the bear is quite confused.
“Chamti. Do you remember your family, your old house?” Askaru asks, trying to figure something out.
“I…” Chamti struggles to remember his past, but… “I don't remember anything. I just remember waking up here in this forest.”
“I see... Lili. You wanted to see magic, you're going to see magic.”
“Yes!” Lili is glad that her father has finally agreed to use magic.
“W-What are you going to do?” Chamti is worried again, not realizing what Askaru is planning.
“Don't worry, Chamti. I just want to help you. Please keep calm. Relax."
"O-Okay." The bear tries to calm down, despite not knowing what will happen.
A bright blue light appears on Askaru's neck.
"Dad?!" Lilikiki is admired, but she knows her father is about to use magic.
In fact, that light comes from his El'drian crystal. He brought the magic crystal for his family trip, believing it could be useful. Askaru has kept the crystal camouflaged, since in the past he promised his queen Tayarinne that he would get rid of that crystal. However, he was unable to do it, as this crystal is what allows him to do all sorts of magic.
“What are you going to do, dad?” Lili asks curiously.
“I'm trying to reactivate Chamti's memories. I need you to help me and keep him calm. This magic is very powerful and I need maximum concentration. Do you think you can help me?”
“Sure, dad.”
"Let's do it."
Askaru closes his eyes, concentrating on the crystal's magic, which is getting brighter and brighter. The flyon uses its energy to try to wake up the bear's asleep memories.
"Look... at the light." Askaru asks in a calm, serious, tired tone.
Chamti looks into the crystal's light and his mind travels to the past with small flashbacks.
A large island in the middle of the ocean, a place much further away than the Forest of Peace, appears in his memories. It's an island dominated by dinomorphs, a species of anthropomorphic dinosaurs. Chamti remembers this island, where all dinosaurs seem to live in peace. A baby iguanodon is with his parents, next to a tree. His father uses his tail, pointing at a tree and a fruit levitates from the highest branch of the tree to the cub's paws. “One day, you will do this and more, my son.”
Askaru shakes a little. Mind magic is very tiring, but he has to help Chamti recover his memories. For the good of the jungle and, above all, for the good of Chamti.
The bear feels his memories coming back stronger. This time, the picture of a teenage iguanodon practicing magic among the trees. Finally, after several attempts, he manages to levitate the fruit. His parents show up and nuzzle him. “Very well, Kátní.”
"Magic is strong in you." His father praises his son with a smile.
“Mom... Dad... Magic...” Chamti talks, his body moving.
"Lili. Don't let him go.” Askaru asks.
"Yes, my dad." Lili obeys, putting more pressure with her paws on the bear's big, heavy body.
The light of the magic crystal intensifies and Chamti's memories continue to appear more clearly. This time, several dinosaurs are fighting, predators attacking preys that are trying to escape. The leader of the predators, a T-Rex, is using his magic to turn anyone who challenges him or tries to escape to stone. “From now on, I will be your leader! You all must obey me!” In the middle of the chaos, the iguanodon Unikátní, now a little older, hugs his parents, knowing they cannot challenge the T-Rex.
The bear Chamti becomes more restless as his memories are coming back, forcing Askaru to focus more on his magic and Lilikiki to keep him calm and quiet.
Now Chamti remembers another moment. The island is being destroyed while the dinosaurs fight each other with their magic. Unikátní and his parents are hidden among tall trees. "We cannot escape, but we can save you." His father says in a serious, worried and determined tone.
“What are you doing?” Unikátní asks, watching his parents link their tails, getting ready to do something.
“We've been practicing a lot in secret. But now there is no time.” His mother explains.
“Take our magic to other lands. We are very proud of you.”
Unikátní's parents use their magic to open a magical portal, which leaves them low on energy.
"No!" Unikátní doesn't want to leave his parents.
"They're over here!" A voice exclaims, not far away.
"There is no time. You have to go, son.” His father warns. “Show everyone our magic. Don't let our species become extinct.”
"Hey! You! Stop!” Two velociraptors run towards the iguanodons, ready to attack.
“I love you, mom and dad.” Unikátní speaks, crying.
“We love you too, Kátní.” His parents smile at their son, who disappears into the portal.
"No!" Chamti screams, now remembering his past.
Askaru stops using the crystal's magic and lies down, resting. This kind of magic leaves him very tired because it's a kind of magic that forces him to have great mental concentration.
"Dad!" Lili gets off the bear, going to nuzzle her father, clearly worried about him.
"I'm fine, Lili."
"I... I remember now." Says Chamti, getting up calmly.
Askaru and Lili just look at him curiously. “What do you remember, Chamti?” Askaru asks. In fact, Askaru manages to get other creatures to recover their memories, but he can't see those memories.
“Actually, my name is Unikátní.” The bear explains. “My parents and friends called me Kátní.” He smiles for a while, before turning serious and sad again. "But... I don't have any friends or family anymore."
“W… What happened?”
“I used to be a iguanodon from Dinostrov.”
"Wait. Does Dinostrov exist?” Lili is amazed. In her studies, she read about a legend that tells about an island with dinosaurs, where magic is powerful, but no one ever saw that island.
"Yes. Dinostrov was my home. A big, beautiful island, camouflaged with our magic to keep intruders out so they cannot invade our home. But we didn't know the evil was already inside.”
Askaru and Lilikiki sit down to listen to the bear's story.
“All Dinostrov's dinosaurs knew magic. Parents taught their children and the magic never disappeared. We lived peacefully, happily, prey and predators in harmony. But a selfish T-Rex wanted to increase his knowledge of magic and ended up killing our leader, making himself our new leader. His greed and his selfishness caused a huge conflict between dinosaurs, leading to the death of several species. Those who survived tried to gain a greater knowledge of magic so they could face the T-Rex. But it wasn't enough. A new magical conflict has led to the destruction of our island and our species.”
"Oh no..." Lili is sad, hearing that story. Askaru continues to listen seriously.
“My parents and I were the last survivors on the preys' side. We were being chased and my parents used their maximum strength, joining their magic to open a portal and send me here.”
“How did you end up turned into a bear with amnesia?” Askaru asks.
“Dinosaurs always knew how to handle magic, but they never tried to do something really big like teleportation. I think the teleportation caused me to pass out and lose my memory. I just remember waking up at the entrance of this forest not knowing what had happened or what to do. And I was already a bear when I woke up. Maybe my parents used the rest of their energy to change me to protect me, before the portal closed and they were…” He refuses to say the D word.
“And how did you end up… like this?”
"I don't know. I think because I was alone, because I didn't remember my past... I wanted to show that I wasn't weak. And the name Chamti? Well... The animals gave me that nickname and I just accepted it.”
“What are you going to do now, Chamti? I mean... Uni... Unikaki?” Lili asks, still a little confused by the whole story.
“It's Unikátní. And I don't know. After all the harm I've done in this forest, I doubt the animals will forgive me."
"You won't know if you don't try." Askaru says. “You can always start by apologizing to my family.”
"Thanks. And… I'm sorry.”
"I already apologized to you." Lili smiles.
Chamti smiles too.
“Maybe I can transform you  back into your iguanodon form. But not here in the Forest of Peace. If you want to stay and live here, you'll have to live without magic and be like a bear.” Askaru explains.
“Maybe...” Chamti thinks for a while. "We'll see. For now, I would like to try to make peace with everyone.”
“This is a big step. But you can count on my support.”
“Thank you, um...”
“Askaru.”
"Yes. Thank you, Askaru. For everything."
“You're welcome, Cham... Unikátní. Now maybe we should go. It's getting late and my family is worried.”
"A-Alright."
Askaru, Lilikiki and Chamti walk together. It was a big twist. Lili wanted to face the bear, proving that she was brave and that her parents were wrong to wait before they acted. Askaru ended up using magic, even though he knew it was dangerous and forbidden. Fortunately, no one saw them. Chamti recovered his memory and realized that what he was doing was wrong. Now Chamti, or Unikátní, wants to prove to everyone that he's not evil. His future is unpredictable, but he knows that whatever may happen to him, it will surely be better than all the bad things that have ever happened to him.