The fire crackled and spat as the sticks prodded the failing embers, sparking new life from the old, crispy hearth. The sky above the small group of travelers was a deep inky black, the stars hidden by dense clouds, threatening to cry out. The forest around them was quiet, save for the soft chirps of crickets, the trees thinly weeding out to an open field not far away. The orange and yellow blaze again began to warm the air around the travelers, all huddled in their blankets and sitting (or lying) as close to the fire as they dared, without catching the flame. The ground beneath them was hard, the grass trampled from the constant pressing of feet and bodies. Three of the group slept, close together, their breathing deep and peaceful. Two more sat at the fire, the dark blanket around them standing out starkly against their pale skin.
At first glance, they seemed like any other group of people, camping out in the lonely forest. At second glance, reality wore thin, and the perception was altered. The two sitting on the bench were hardly old enough to be in highschool. They seemed weary and tired, yet aware of their surroundings. Every chirp of the insects, every crackle of the embers underneath the fire, every silent whisper of the wind was noted. In the middle of the log sat a girl with slightly tan skin. She had bright blue eyes that glittered in the firelight. Her hair was long, full-bodied, and so black it was nearly as blue as the ocean's depths.
"We're close, Hillock. I can feel it." She sighed, and prodded the fire once more. Her other hand was laid on a thin, almost rusty short sword in it's sheath.
"I know, Zhann. But we've got to keep on guard. This is the dangerous part, when we start relaxing…" He paused, as if unsure of his next words. "I'm not so sure about this storm. It's… it's strange." Hillock spoke, his face in deep thought. He had thick, coarse, brown hair, with small stubs of horn sticking out. His skin was deeply tanned. Against his bare chest was a small set of reed pipes that looked much older than he did. His legs were covered in thick, shaggy, brown hair and instead of feet, he had dully gleaming hooves. The satyr stared at the sky in concern, watching lightning streak across threateningly. Thunder rumbled in the distance, like the clouds were waiting to explode.
"Hm. He must be angry. We've been out of the loop for a while, I wouldn't think much of it. We're close to the camp. Let them rest a bit longer, and in an hour or so, we'll carry on." Zhann looked pointedly at the three sleeping kids. They weren't that much younger, but they were all so very new to this. So very innocent, and out of place with the world that was going on around them.
The hour passed by slowly. The two were caught up in their own thoughts, just watching the forest around them. A small noise caught Zhann's attention. It was like a snake, slithering in the leaves. She looked at the ground around her, eyebrows furrowed in concern. She shook off the noise as Hillock stood. Rain started falling, around them, and the wind started to pick up. The embers of the fire were quickly extinguished.
"Hey, wake up you three. We're moving on." The satyr nudged each of their feet with his hoof, as if they needed a wake up. The three had already been awoken by the thick, heavy raindrops. Zhann collected the blanket from her shoulders neatly, shoving it into a large black pack. She quickly picked up the short blade, and A couple yawns later, the groaning pre-teens were standing. The two twin boys just looked at the world through glazed eyes, anger written on their faces at being so abruptly awoken. Their hair was already plastered to their skulls. The youngest, a little blonde eleven year old with gray eyes rubbed the sleep and the rain viciously from her face. Zhann collected the blanket the satyr picked off the kids, and shoved it into the backpack as well. She shouldered the pack and marched onwards, the three younger ones in between her and Hillock, who was bringing up the rear.
They marched quietly onward, far enough in the tree's to be hidden, but close enough to the field beside it to be ready for battle. The wind whipped wildly around them, while the rain poured down. The faint scent of strawberries was carried downward by the wind, and Zhann sniffed deeply. But there, that sound, that slithering… it was closer. And Zhann could smell the sea, and strawberries, and the faintest trace of sulphur.
She worriedly glanced back at Hillock. He had to have smelled it all, much more than she did, much sooner than she had as well. While the rain masked nearly everything, the scent of sulphur was still there, etched into her mind. He was quietly looking around, his eyes wide and alert. He caught her eye for a moment, and there was a solid moment of panic between them, behind his liquid brown eyes. She breathed deeply, and paused. The kids looked on quietly as she turned and put a finger to her lips. She could see the hill through the forest, and the fabled evergreen growing tall amongst the other trees. She started towards it.
Zhann heard the slithering, even closer now. She was still confused – it could very well have been the rain. She racked her brain, trying to think of what monster actually slithered. She knew that the gorgons surely had snakes for hair, but she couldn't remember what other types of creatures there were, that could be following them. The chimera had a snake for a tail, but by now they would have heard a lion's roar, or something. She had to stop her thinking process, though, because she heard a great crash to her left. She ran forwards spotting a road, the others following closely behind her.
As they reached the pavement, Zhann heard a loud hissing sound to her right, and a loud roar to her left. She spotted a car lying in a ditch, a little ways down the road. It's brake lights were on, a bright red light in the middle of the empty darkness. A figure emerged just as something else cauht Zhann's attention. A little farther than the car was a huge monster. It was too far away to really make out what it was, but it's silhouette was enormous.
As Zhann started towards the car, to help the people inside, a high-pitched scream ripped her from her thoughts. She turned around quickly, and gasped in horror. Two children back away with daggers in their tiny hands, looking up in horror, panic, and dismay at the creature. From the waist up, it was a woman with long brown hair, and wearing a snakeskin shirt. From the waist down, however, she had scales that melded smoothly into a rippling, sleek tail, with muscles contracting as she stood herself up. It was as if her mouth had unhinged, and her human body had widened for her prey – and as Zhann looked on, the more horrified she became. Dangling limply out of the beast's mouth were two feet, in muddy red shoes. One of the twin's.
Her mind went numb at the sight and panic ripped through her chest. She unsheathed her short blade as she looked for Hillock. She rushed forward instinctively as the last bit of shoe lace disappeared into the monster's gullet. It licked it's lips and lunged for the other twin, who froze in terror. She spotted the satyr a short distance away, shaking his head in confusion and disbelief.
"OI! LAMIA!" Zhann called out, getting the lamia's attention. The beast switched it's focus to the charging girl, who stabbed her blade into the creatures unprotected, soft-scaled yellow belly. Yes, the Lamia. The half-woman, half snake monster. With poison fangs, and a beautiful poison face. It's primary target was young children, and that was who it was going for.
The monster shrieked and squirmed in pain. Hillock rushed to the kids, nearly dragging them away from the scene.
"Get to the tree! The property line!" Zhann yelled as she hung onto the sword. The beast reared upwards, trying to twist itself away from the pain. It slammed its stomach into a tree, successfully knocking Zhann loose. Her right arm was scraped by the wood bark, and she hit the back of her head roughly against the tree. She felt blood ooze from both wounds, down her arm and the right side of her neck. The rain stung as it pounded against her fresh wounds. In the back of her dazed mind, she heard a gutteral roar. She tried to locate the source, but was distracted as the Lamia pulled the blade from its stomach and reared it's fangs at her. It threw the sword down, where it embedded itself into the ground. The rain washed the monster's black blood down its slimy stomach. Zhann rolled behind the tree and to the right just as the creature lunged at the ground.
Thankful that one of the most famous traits of the Lamia was its stupidity, Zhann caught her breath for a moment. She looked around the tree to see the monster as looking off to the right of the trees. It hadn't seen where she had gone. Then, she spotted a tiny silver glint in the darkness. The wind blew against her as she crouched down and ran to her sword. With a heave, she pulled it from the ground.
Now, behind the creature, she studied it intensely. It was stupid, slimy, and couldn't see or heard her. She looked down the length of its body for a weakness as she picked up the fainted slithering sound. She looked at the end of its tail and noticed that the slithering sound was, in fact, a rattle. Her tail was nearly vibrating as the monster hissed, creating a smooth slithering noise.
Behind her, something exploded – which unfortunately the monster heard as well. It rounded around at the noise, and saw Zhann. Thinking quickly, she stomped on the end, and drove the blade directly down. The Lamia turned around in agony, and started on Zhann. Inadvertently, in its haste to kill her, the creature ripped off the end of its own tail. Zhann watched as the end of the tail rattled for a bit, and then once again tugged the sword from the ground. Except this time, it wasn't dislodging itself. The beast angrily cried out again.
Zhann heaved against the rough handle of her sword, but it seemed completely stuck. She heard another roar in the distance, and for a millisecond, thought of the two kids, and of Hillock. She hoped they were safe. The monster took advantage of the situation, and lunged at Zhann, her jaw unhinged and wide. Finding her inner strength, she pulled the sword from the ground and swung upwards. She watched with wide, unbelieving eyes as the sword embedded itself just a little over halfway through the Lamia's neck.
Zhann let go of the sword as the force of the blow turned the creature on its side, and away from her. She breathed deeply, as the monster crumbled into dust as it fell to the ground. The wind blew it away in deep gusts, and before it even hit the ground, it was gone. The sword fell with a dull 'thwak' into the mud covered ground. Zhann stood there for a moment, and saw the triangular cone of the rattle from the snake. It was about the size of her hand, and was tough and smooth. Zhann felt it for a moment before quickly coming to her senses.
She ran across the road and up the hill, before stopping short at the scene, trying to take it all in.
The minotaur - A huge, beast like figure, half man, half bull. Funnily enough, it seemed to be wearing soaked tighty-whiteys. It's fur was thick and bristled, and the smell of wet, dirty barnyard animals and rotten meat met Zhann in a wall of stench. She saw three people in front of it. Well, two people and an unconscious satyr. The evergreen tree that marked the property towered over the scene, and Zhann knew she was almost safe. But she could never leave anyone in trouble, and facing the Minotaur counted as trouble. A twelve year old boy in a red rain jacket stood about ten feet away from the satyr, who was ten feet away from me. A woman was retreating downhill, trying to lead the monster away from them.
"Run, Percy!" She cried out, her voice carrying in the wind. Zhann could hear the fear in her voice. "I can't go any farther. Run!"
But Percy just stood there, frozen as the Minotaur charged the woman. Zhann started towards her, but it was too late. The woman tried to sidestep the bull-man, but the monster was smarted than it seemed. It's hand shot out and gripped the woman by the neck tightly. He lifted her effortlessly as she struggled. Her eyes weren't on the fate, the death she was facing, but instead on Percy.
"Mom!" He cried, unable to move, frozen in terror. Zhann stood, unable to look away. She couldn't help. She felt useless. She was only a few feet away from the satyr, but she couldn't help.
The woman's eyes looked on with hope, pain, and love. "GO!" She cried out to her son. The guttural roar that Zhann couldn't place resounded in her ears. The woman vanished into golden dust, like a balloon had suddenly popped. Suddenly Zhann realized that without the woman to distract him, the Minotaur would go after the closest person – in this case, the unconscious satyr.
She dropped the Lamia's rattle, gripped her sword tightly and started towards the beast, before it could get to the satyr. The kid seemed to come to his senses as Zhann shouted at him. "Get out of here!" The Minotaur reached the unconscious satyr and started to sniff him with its great ugly snout.
It seemed not to notice Zhann, and Percy started to move. But instead of running, he stripped off his red jacked and started to wave it at the beast.
"Hey! Hey, stupid! Ground Beef!" Percy yelled out, running to the other side of Zhann. She looked at him incredulously. He waved his jacket quickly, and turned his back to the great big tree. Zhann thought his plan was simple, but she didn't think it would work. This creature wasn't as stupid as the Lamia had been. She didn't think he could jump out in time to get out of the way. With nothing else to do, she bent down and shook the satyr by his shoulders. This one was younger than Hillock, but not by much. Hillock seemed so much more mature, in looks though. More developed. She pushed the thoughts from her mind as she watched the bull charged, both his arms spread wide. It bent it's head down, and it's horns were pointed at Percy.
Suddenly, the kid jumped directly up, surprising both Zhann and the beast. He kicked off of his head and turned in mid-jump, landing on the beast's back. The Minotaur rammed it's head into the tree, and Zhann could see that Percy was visibly shaken. The beast staggered around, trying to shake the boy off. Zhann shook the satyr again, and he groaned loudly.
"Food!" the satyr moaned. Zhann looked a bit shocked – that wasn't the expected response. Unfortunately, he didn't wake. And now, the Minotaur turned, ready to charge at Zhann and the satyr. She stood with her sword at the ready, her mind working a million miles an hour.
'Theirs is too much muscle and fur to penetrate with this lousy blade. And who know's if his heard it in the same place? If I try to stab him in the throat, I could miss and hit the kid. Maybe if I swipe downwards, and take out his legs… that should work. To her surprise, though before the bull could charge more than a few steps, there was a resounding 'SNAP!', and Percy lie on the round with a sharp horn in his hands. Zhann's eyes grew wide when she saw that he had snapped the horn off of the Minotaur's head. Percy sat up, just a little ways away from Zhann and the satyr. For a moment, it seemed like the beast didn't know what it was going to do – go after Percy, or Zhann. It chose, and turned towards what it saw as a bigger threat.
Zhann steadied herself as she looked directly into the creature's beady black eyes. She was standing, and though nearly her entire right side was soaked with blood, her sword gleamed in her hands and battle burned in her eyes. Percy looked a little dazed, and she couldn't blame him – he had just been thrown off the back of the biggest bull ever. The creature pawed its hooves into the round, getting ready to charge. Its breath came out in short, rugged pants. Zhann started towards it, her sword pointed forwards, as the bull barreled towards her. Just as it started to pass Percy, Zhann stuck her sword deep through its middle, while Percy had rolled up onto his knee and stabbed it with it's own horn between it's ribs. She had been knocked down, back onto her wounded side. She took the brunt of the bull's charge, and smiled vaguely as she realized she had only stopped the Minotaur from charging to the satyr – Percy had struck the fatal blow. She lay on the ground, her head pounding, watching as black blood poured from the wound in it's middle. It started to disintegrate into dust from the wound in its side. Chunks blew away in the wind, while thunder brewed across the sky and lightning flashed in the distance.
The rain had stopped sometime in the middle of the fight, though neither conscious warriors noticed. Zhann lay there for a moment, the rush of adrenaline wearing off. She looked over at the younger boy, noting his features. Surprisingly, she saw a little bit of recognition in his face. He looked familiar, yet she knew he was a complete stranger. His deep blue eyes were filled with grief, the pain of losing his mother still fresh in his mind. She remembered feeling like that. The two breathed deeply, slowly, as if the world was falling apart around them. She felt a smooth, yet hard surface touching her fingers, and she looked at what it was. The rattle. From the Lamia. Go figure. She gripped it, and suddenly remembered the kids, and Hillock.
Zhann stood up slowly, her head pounding and her skin dirty and sticky. She helped Percy up to his feet. He looked like he wanted to cry, but his eyes fell on the satyr. Without saying anything, the two picked him up, both gripping their respective treasures tightly. Zhann's vision blurred ever so slightly as she took in the sight of the farmhouse. Even though the sky was black, yellow fluorescent lights glowed in the distance. They stumbled towards the house. Zhann assumed that would be where Hillock took the kids. It must have seemed the right thing to Percy, because there was no hesitation.
We collapsed on the wooden deck, both of our strength failing us nearly at the same time. Crickets chirped in the background, and Zhann could hear the door open. Her vision faded in and out, until she focused on Hillock who was suddenly over her.
"Hey, hey, hey, are you okay? What happened?" He tried to get her attention. She smiled at him vaguely.
"Oh you know. Lamia. Minotaur. Same old stuff. Are…" She had a hard time focusing on the right words. Feet shuffled into her view as a kind looking bearded man bent over Percy. Zhann bent her head and looked over. A blonde and the man were talking in hushed whispers. Someone else had already taken the other satyr. The blonde and the bearded man looked at Zhann simultaneously. She went inside, and the bearded man bent over Zhann also. She looked back at Hillock. "Are the other's alright? Where are they? Are you okay?"
Hillock smiled warmly at the bearded man before replying. "Yeah, Lily and Vance are alright. I'm fine, just a couple bumps and bruises." He looked like he might say more, but the man interrupted.
"I think Zhann could use some rest. You've been traveling a very long time, and…" He had a deep, old voice. It was gruff, yet sweet. Zhann blacked out before he finished his sentence.