Animonsters

A wolf waited patiently inside of the barn, crouched down and hidden between two cages. It would be completely undetectable to anyone inside of the barn unless they stood directly next to it, and by that time it would be too late.

It breathed in deeply, filling its nostrils with all of the smells of the barn, and exhaled slowly. The overwhelming scent of helpless, inured prey assaulted it, and it had trouble controlling itself.

They're not the prey tonight, it reminded itself. They need to be protected.

The image of a wolf, circling a carcass and snapping at another, weaker wolf, was summoned. The stronger wolf triumphed, and began to eat the carcass.

No, they are not to be protected for eating, it said to itself. They need to be protected for protection's sake.

Part of its mind, utterly unable to comprehend the idea of defending animals that it was supposed to be eating, fell into a confused silence. The other part growled softly, waiting intelligently for the opponent to show...

(Hey, Cassie.) Tobias said.

Cassie snapped her head upward so fast it was almost comical. In the rafters was a red-tailed hawk, looking straight in her direction as if she were visible.

(Aw, man. How did you know I was here?) Cassie asked, sounding a little disappointed. She thought she had picked a great spot.

(Well, I can't actually see you, but the deer in the cage across from you looks terrified.) Tobias said. (And I can hear something breathing in your general area. Don't worry, a normal human or animal wouldn't notice you. What morph are you in?)

(Wolf.) Cassie answered. (I figured it would be the best at this job.)

(What job?) Tobias questioned. Then he answered himself. (Still looking for that mystery predator?)

The past couple of nights, the barn animals had been terrorized by an unknown predator. The first time it had killed a goose and stripped it down to the bones. The last time it had cleaned out an entire row of cages, leaving behind a bloody mess that had made Cassie sick.

(Yeah. The problem with the barn is that I can't get a definite scent among all of these other smells. I'm thinking wolf, though.) Cassie said. (The ground is still muddy from yesterday's storm, so my dad says he should be able to track it if it comes tonight.)

(Need a hand?) Tobias asked. (I'm restless, so I might as well do something useful.)

(Thanks, but I might be here for a while.) Cassie said. (There's no guarantee it will come at all-)

There was a heavy thud against the locked barn door, which shuddered. Cassie emerged from behind the cages and growled a throaty wolf warning.

(Tobias, what's out there?) She asked. Tobias obediently swooped outside and peered through the moonlit night. Then he saw the thing attacking the door, and knew he would have been screaming if he had a mouth. A large, erect figure was throwing itself at the barn door, making maddened snarling noises.

(Ahh! Cassie, I don't think it's a wolf!) Tobias yelped, as it let out a howl of rage. Yellow teeth glinted in the moonlight.

(Whatever it is, it's not getting to the animals again.) Cassie said stubbornly, but with a hint of fear in her voice.

The deadbolt shuddered, and the lock casing began bending. Cassie stared, horrified. A rabid grizzly bear had tried to get in once, and the door had sustained almost no damage. This creature was tearing it to shreds.

(Cassie, you need to get out of there!) Tobias said. (The door isn't going to hold for much longer.)

(There's no other way out except the rafters.) Cassie said, talking mostly to herself. (It will take me too long to morph to bird.)

(Cassie!) Tobias yelled, as a large piece of the barn door blew apart. A roughly canine face jutted through, its gray fur matted and tangled. Yellow, bloodshot eyes locked onto hers, and Cassie felt a wave of fear from the wolf mind combine with her own.

We can not afford to be scared right now, Cassie said, shoving the frightened wolf mind away with some effort. She felt oddly alone now, like a kid would feel if their parent suddenly climbed into the backseat and thrust the steering wheel into their hands while they were flying down the highway at 70 mph.

The wolf was in a state of absolute, paralyzed terror. It could not move the limbs, or any muscle at all. Cassie could do it well enough, having used this morph dozen of times, but the wolf could have done it better. And there was no time to practice, no time to learn, only time to do.

The creature smashed through another section of the barn door, forcing its bulk into the gap. Cassie backed up to the very end of the barn, realizing her only chance was to get past the thing when it came for her.

Gangly, muscled arms covered with fur pulled the creature inside. It stood just over seven feet tall, standing on two long legs ending in big, clawed feet. Blood and saliva dripped from its snout, evidence that it had a snack on the way over.

Cassie bared her teeth menacingly, looking as dangerous as a wolf possibly can to a massive, hungry monster, which is not very much. It advanced towards her, snarling and bristling.

(Just hang on, Cassie!) Tobias yelled desperately.

The creature stepped forward, and all of the animals fell silent. Cassie was briefly reminded of a western saloon, when the bad guy comes in, but couldn't find anything funny about it.

It stepped forward again, and Cassie stepped backwards.

(Tobias, I could use some help here!) She yelled, bumping into the back of the barn.

"ROOOWR!" It growled, and dropped to all fours. Cassie snarled, then faked left. The creature darted left, and Cassie ran past it on the right. She raced for the hole in the door, hoping she could make it. The creature spun around and ran after her.

(Ahh!) Cassie yelled, and hurled herself towards it. Her wolf body thudded into the door just under the hole. The creature ran towards her, snarling and drooling.

Suddenly the wolf mind exploded upwards, pushing Cassie's mind out of the way with such force she was disconnected from the body, unable to feel, touch, remember, or sense anything. Bewildered, she experienced an instant or eternities of something close to non-existence, before her senses returned again.

The wolf was in full control of the body, but that was the only thing it had control of. It howled and barked and yammered insanely, repeatedly launching itself at the door. Froth flew from its snout.

Finally, with one last titanic effort, the barn door broke, along with, Cassie suspected, her rib cage. The wolf, despite two fractured legs, propelled itself at full wolf speed out of the building. A few yards away from the barn, injuries overcame the wolf brain's manic intensity, and the broken wolf body collapsed.

The creature screamed a cry of rage and triumph, and ran from the barn. Cassie wrenched control from the terrified wolf and tried to move, but nothing responded. It closed the distance between them, lunged forward, and clamped its jaw into their throat. Blood began pumping from the wound.

It likes to lunge a lot, doesn't it? Cassie thought foggily, and could have sworn the wolf agreed with her.

A dark shape slammed bodily into the creature, and both crashed to the side of Cassie with a ground shaking thud. Both leaped to their feet, and Cassie recognized the outline of a familiar long neck and multiple sharp blades.

(How about picking on somebody your own size?) Tobias said angrily.

The creature hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to handle this new threat. It must have decided to handle it the way it handled pretty much everything else, and launched itself at Tobias. It moved at its formidable full speed, but Hork-Bajir weren't all that slow either. Tobias dodged to the left, swept the creature off balance with his tail, and delivered a punch that would have dented steel. As it was, the creature sprawled onto the ground and whimpered.

It let loose an anguish howl and rolled to its feet, scooting away from the barn. Tobias made a grab for it, but it shot off into the darkness on all fours, heading for the forest and limping slightly.

(Cassie!) Tobias said. He nudged her gently with his foot, and she whimpered. (Demorph! Demorph!)

Slowly, Cassie's body emerged from the wolf. To Tobias' relief, the her throat closed, and the blood stopped flowing.

Suddenly, a silver glint flashed in the moonlight, and something struck his elbow blade! He reached down and picked up a small object, examining it closely. It was a tranquilizer dart! He whirled around and saw two figures that must have been Cassie's parents standing on the porch of the house, leveling tranquilizer guns at him. He started to panic.

They had seen him! Wait, no, they couldn't have! Even with the full moon, they couldn't see him very well at that distance. They'd assume he was a huge bear or something - if they didn't get closer. Then they'd see his oversized neck, blades, and green-yellow skin. He had to get out of here, before a tranquilizer hit him and had who knew what effect on his Hork-Bajir body.

(Cassie, get back up to your room as fast as you can!) Tobias said, pulling a disorientated Cassie to her feet. (Go!)

Tobias faced her in the right direction and dashed away into the forest.