The ground hit me hard so it was a good five minutes
before I could get up. It was impossible to stand on my cut ankle, but my other
ankle only hurt really badly. Fortunately, the next thing I tripped over was a
long, thick branch, which I could use as a walking stick. I stumbled around for
about ten minutes in the dark. The creatures in the woods avoided me, which was
great by me. That was until I walked right into my doom.
My doom, that day, was the wolf pack itself. By the
time spotted the three wolves, they were already growling. There was a bloody
carcass in front of them, so I prayed they weren’t hungry enough to attack me.
I started backing away.
The growling from behind me made my blood grow cold
and I couldn’t help looking around. Four more wolves closed the circle around
me. I always loved dogs; they’re best with ketchup. “Um… Nice mutated alien
wolfies.” I slowly waved my hand. “You don’t want to eat me. I’ll give you all
indigestion.”
“I don’t think they care.”
Divina’s voice was a gift from the gods. I was
grateful for her presence, but was upset that she stepped in front of me as if
to defend me. Never in my life had a woman tried to protect me. Every foolish
thing I was about to say just froze in my throat as the four wolves in front of
us stopped growling. It wasn’t even a minute later before they slowly backed
away into the dark, abandoning their kill. Divina quickly turned around, still
keeping me to her back, and faced the other wolves. They didn’t take as long as
the others to back off. Divina finally relaxed.
“We should find Kiro. He’s probably worried out of
his mind about you.”
Before I could stop her to demand an explanation, she
was off. “Divina! Wait up!” She must have remembered my ankle because she
slowed. She never wandered around; she knew where she was going.
“How did you get away from that wolf?” I asked.
“Your shoes. I noticed them under the bed when you
tried to ditch them so I bagged them because I thought they would come in
handy. The poor beast took one sniff of them and ran howling in pain.”
I couldn’t argue. “That was a good plan.”
“Listen…” Her voice was surprisingly gentle in
contrast to her walking. “Don’t tell Kiro we split up. He doesn’t like his
apprentice being in danger and it’ll be easier on him if he doesn’t know you
were on your own.”
It made sense, but I couldn’t help feeling
suspicious. However, when Divina came to my side and held me close to help me
walk, that suspicion evaporated.
A few minutes later, Divina slowed until we came to a
complete stop. I didn’t have time to worry about another attack before I heard
the gust of wind. I allowed myself to be manhandled as Divina grabbed the back
of my shirt and turned me toward Edward. He pushed my head up, surprisingly
gentle for such a quick movement, and started checking my neck for injuries.
“His right shoulder,” Divina supplied.
Edward let go of my neck and pulled up the sleeve of
my shirt until he could see my shoulder, which was still slightly numb. I
couldn’t even look.
“What happened?” he asked.
Against my better judgment, I looked. The skin was
swollen and purple, even though the wolf hadn’t broken the skin. “Doggy spit,”
I grumbled.
“Draxuni venom,” Divina translated. “No cuts. No new
broken bones. He has a mildly sprained ankle. He’s fine.”
“Hello!” I cried quietly, finally able to express my
horror. “Does this look fine to you?!”
“Quiet. That’ll fade, just don’t rub it. You don’t
even need treatment for it. Now let’s go before we attract anything else. How
did you get away?” he asked Divina.
She shrugged. “The same way I did last time; I yelled
at them in telepathy and made them confused. They can’t stand it.”
“So, are we having fun yet?” I asked.
“We’re getting there.”
Edward helped me as we started on our way again, much
quieter than before. Divina held Edward’s bag in her arms so it wouldn’t catch
on anything. I kept thinking about how the wolves acted toward Divina. They
hadn’t looked confused.
It was hours later that my luck just turned
horrendous. Edward was practically carrying me when they both froze, again, and
scanned our surroundings.
“I don’t understand,” Divina said, “they don’t hunt
in packs. They’re cannibals.” There was the edge of panic in her quiet voice.
“Oh, this is not fair,” Edward said.
I knew we were in trouble since he didn’t even
whisper it. Then they came out of the dark cover of the forest and I realized
just how dead we were; about fifteen of the raptor creatures surrounded us.
“Can they see us?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter; they know where we are. Divina,
your sun charm.”
Divina was already untying her bag and backing
towards us very slowly. I noticed with horror that most of them were focused on
me and my ankle.
“Don’t provoke them. Don’t look them in the eyes.”
But one of them didn’t need provoking. It took one
large step towards me and opened its mouth to let out a horrible screech. The
scaly skin on its neck came up around its head like one of those frilled
lizards. As it did, a dark blood color slowly flushed the top of its snout,
like the plates of a stegosaurus.
The others all let loose their own screeches. Then
the instigator launched at me, Divina shook open the little white cloth bag,
and the whole area filled with searing light. The creatures jumped back from
the brightness in obvious pain and only a few remained on their feet.
Edward picked me up the instant the light cleared and
ran. Divina kept up easily but so did the raptor creatures. It was only a few
minutes before I could see the break in the woods, the light at the end of the
forest. Everyone ran with all their might, but I noticed that Divina was
pulling ahead… because Edward was slowing. He was breathing heavy, and I was
dragging him down. The sun was still far away.
“Divina, can you use your explosive stuff that I
almost blew up the ship with?!” I yelled.
“No! Can’t get to it!”
Something had to happen. We would never have made it
to the sunlight. I closed my eyes, drew my energy, and did something I would
forever deny if anyone asked; I prayed.
Please, Tiamat… I’ll be the best
Guardian ever if you help us.
Trees were disturbed and branches buckled. A tree
collapsed in front of us, forcing us to stop. Edward put me down and pushed me
at Divina, who held me upright. I couldn’t close my eyes; I preferred to see my
face getting eaten than to close my eyes on my fate. The wings were the first
of the beast that I saw. Leathery, majestic black wings created a gust of wind
strong enough to push Divina and I back several steps.
Edward was suddenly standing between me and the
beast, but I could see enough of him to be amazed. The giant cat beasts were
awesome, the giant salamanders were wicked, the raptors were horrifying, and
the wolves were bone-chilling, but this beast… I’d never seen a more beautiful
and magnificent creature. Solid, lean muscles flexed under slick black hide. He
had a reptilian-shaped body but with a feline grace and agility. His long tail
ended in a rather wicked looking spike. His eyes were large, fiery amber
diamond-slit pupils like a cat’s. Two, sharp, small ears were laid flat against
his head in anger. His wings flexed out in a threatening manner as he opened
his mouth with a roar, displaying many sharp teeth. Then I realized with great
relief that we were not the objects of his wrath.
Fortunately, most of the raptors understood they
didn’t stand a chance against the beast that stood not much taller than them,
but seemed to radiate power and strength. Several of the raptors attacked while
the majority ran, hopefully not for help. Three raptors attacked his face and
neck, while another three tried to take him from behind. He struck fast, and
suddenly one raptor was on the ground in a pile of pulpy blood. In the blink of
an eye, another joined its friend on the ground with its chest ripped out. The
third actually bit the snout of the beast, but couldn’t leave a single mark.
The beast ripped its head off!
During this almost instantaneous defeat, the beast
had driven the spike into one of the raptors attacking its back, but now
another was attacking its tail while the third was doing everything it could to
the beast’s neck. The beast couldn’t shake the raptor, who was bracing itself
with its back legs against his wing blades. His tail was occupied.
I didn’t think; there was no time to. The thick rock
was in my hands and I passed Edward before he could stop me. About five feet
from the beast, with hand and magic I threw the rock as hard as I could,
knocked the raptor square in its eyes, and sent it spiraling into the one
attacking the beast’s tail. With his tail freed, he struck quicker than the eye
could follow into both chests.
Edward pushed me back into Divina’s arms, but for the
first time since meeting her, that wasn’t where I wanted to be. I saw the
surprise and intelligence in the beast’s eyes, as well as the way his ears
perked up. I wanted to make sure his neck hadn’t been injured. Even covered in
the blood of his kills and emanating power, I wanted to make sure he was all
right. He saved us, but Edward still stood between me and the winged beast. The
beast wouldn’t hurt us and shouldn’t be treated as the enemy.
I shrugged off Divina, but when I tried to get passed
Edward, his grip was relentless. I didn’t say anything, just struggled to get
out of his hold while watching the beast’s eyes for agitation.
“Let him go,” Divina said, surprising us both.
The beast never took his eyes off me.
“Why would I do that?” Edward growled.
A small flicker in the beast’s eyes told me he didn’t
like Edward’s tone.
“Because he’s going to keep struggling and the
creature will get angry. Seriously, have some faith and let him go. Dylan is
paranoid of everything; if he can walk up to it, it can’t possibly eat him.”
Famous last words?
They worked; Edward let go and I lost my balance. The
beast perked his ears up even more and his eyes softened with something close
to concern. His smoldering eyes had turned to cool amber, wider with curiosity.
I stepped forward slowly, holding my hand out as if to a regular animal, all
the while knowing that it would not be the last time I ever saw it again.
Divina was right; I
am
a paranoid person. I
grew up with horrible luck knowing that anything that could, and sometimes
could
not
go wrong, would go wrong. So why did I feel so safe and calm
with the beast covered in his foe’s blood?
I was worried about stumbling on my painful ankles
and spooking him, but I managed quite gracefully under the circumstances. As I
started reaching for his head, his ears bowed back slightly and he pulled a few
inches away. I looked at his ears to avoid eye contact and stopped advancing. I
could feel and hear him sniffing my hand before slowly touching the tip of my
fingers with his tongue. That was odd, but then he leaned forward until he
touched my hand. I looked back at his eyes and moved my hand slowly up his
snout and between his eyes to pet his head. It was only then that I realized he
had a short, velvety coat over a really tough skin. I slowly started touching
his ears, all the while watching his eyes for irritation. When he nudged my
hand, I started to really rub his ears and was rewarded when he closed his
eyes. It took me a moment after the quiet rumbling started to realize he was
purring. I looked at Edward’s stunned expression and couldn’t stop grinning.
“No, you cannot keep him,” Edward said.
Petty.
It looked like my new friend was going
to be much better company than Edward, the overbearing father. Divina, on the
other hand, didn’t look the least bit surprised, and even seemed a little
proud. Edward glared like the beast was a bully at school who was beating his
kid up at the playground. I could see some future arguments between Edward and
me.
The beast regained my attention by nudging me in the
chest. I started rubbing both his ears and that made him extra happy. He
continued nudging me until he was rubbing his cheek on me like a cat. Then he
sniffed me, huffed, and nudged me again. I looked down at my shirt, which was
now covered in the raptors’ blood. He wasn’t showing me affection; he was
wiping his nose on me!
“That’s right, buddy, go ahead and use this shirt as
your tissue. It’s Edward’s anyway,” I cooed.
Divina snickered.
“We have to go, or we’ll miss the boat,” Edward said
bitterly.
I sighed. “Is there any chance I can see him again?”
“Of course,” Divna said. “He knows you now and
obviously likes you. He has your scent, so he can find you anywhere in the
world, and I don’t believe you two can meet like this and then just part. No, I
predict you two will cross paths quite a few times, but Kiro is right. Come
on.”
She took my arm and I leaned against her to help
relieve my injured ankle. We started forward again, as quickly as I could
manage with Divina’s help. My new friend came with us, his head barely nudging
my arm opposite of Divina as if to catch me if I fell.
Although it didn’t look so far away, it took us about
half an hour to make it to the edge of the forest, where I could see the shore
and several people waiting around. Edward paused and I knew by his expression
what I had to do. I rubbed the beast’s ears again and could see in his eyes
that he understood.
“I have to go now. You can’t come with but if you
ever go to Shomodii, come say hi, okay?” I said. I looked at Divina.
“He doesn’t understand the words, but he surely
understands the tone. He knows you want him to find you again, don’t worry.
We’ll give you a minute alone to say bye and thanks. Don’t be long,” she said
as she grabbed Edward’s arm and pulled him away, despite his reluctance.