Three
The stream felt good after the long walk. Avocet had trekked through the night without stopping, picking her way steadily through the dense forest and further away from her homeland. And also, hopefully further away from that black demon she saw. All throughout the night, every shadow, every tree, every movement seemed to be a huge black monster come to drag her away to a hellish end. With the welcoming burst of sunlight over the mountains to the east, Avocet felt refreshed and renewed, able to face life again—at least for the next ten hours.
She'd never been this far away from home before. The last migration had taken place before she was born. Since then, migrations to the colony's former summer home further south had become too dangerous. Humans were getting more wily and more aggressive and too few Avians were being born to make up for the sheer numbers who lost their lives in the ensuing battles. Avocet was actually one of the last Avian children to be born in recent years. Many no longer survived.
Avocet waded out into the deeper part of the stream and ducked under the water, coming back up and shaking her wings rapidly to fling off excess water. Her down clung to her head like tree sap, but she didn't care at this point. She was just glad to cool off. She sloshed out of the stream and set about to wringing her clothes out, keeping her peripheral vision open for any danger. She only relaxed at night, and even then, she was on high alert for any and all sounds she heard creeping through the undergrowth during her vulnerable periods. She was exhausted and hungry, but every time she tried to settle for an extended period of time in one place, her thoughts flashed back to the black creature, forcing her to keep moving. Even so, she was tempted to stay around the stream for a few days. A source of fresh water was always handy and she'd seen many animals approach looking for a drink. Plus, there were fish in the stream. While Avocet hated fish, she knew she'd have to give up being picky if she was going to keep surviving out here. She still hadn't managed an actual kill, instead scrounging up bitter greens, insects and scavenging off of carrion she came across. It was disgusting, but she was so hungry now, that she didn't even care.
Sitting on the bank in the warm sun, she allowed the rest of her to drip dry as she gazed out over the area. The stream she'd found ran through a small, sheltered canyon. The banks were made of sandstone and quite warm to the touch, especially after the icy water. There were a few patches of dry scrub grasses growing here and there and served as homes to fast little lizards and insects Avocet had never seen before. She found herself watching them darting in and out of the shadows of the flat rocks lining the ridge of the little canyon.
All appeared to be safe enough here. The canyon was quiet and secluded and Avocet could see the pathway leading back out of it from her position on the bank. Traversing it back wouldn't be hard. It wasn't the easiest path to find from the ridge but once you knew where it was, it was a handy little hideaway. Maybe if she couldn't stay in the canyon any longer, she could remember its location and return every now and then for fresh water. Hopefully by then, she'll have added some hunting skills to her repertoire of daily life.
She sighed, scooting backward until she sat in the shady shadow of a rocky overhang, sheltered from the boiling sun. For the first time in days, she actually felt relaxed. Sure, her stomach was tied in knots from the stress and hunger, but except for that, she felt pretty good. Leaning against the cool shaded rock, she sighed heavily, her eyelids feeling heavier by the second. It was still broad daylight; maybe she could get in a few hours' rest before her hike out of the canyon.
Just a few...hours...
When Avocet opened her eyes again, the sky had gone from a stark blue to a smattering of violets and oranges, and her heart skipped in terror at how long she'd been unconscious for. It had been more than a few hours; she'd slept the whole day! An entire day that could've been spent either moving on to the next location or—
She doubled over as her stomach clawed at her insides, demanding something nourishing. She could have also spent part of that day looking for food of some kind.
She groaned, sitting up with a sigh. She could hear the gurgling of the stream. She stood up, her legs shaking beneath her. Luck had been good to her for the past few days. She didn't know how much longer she would be able to survive, though. She didn't know enough about wildlife survival outside of the things her brother brought home for them. The mushrooms and plants she'd been eating had all been things she'd recognized. She was rapidly running out of such familiar things as she drew further and further away from his apparent hunting grounds. She had thought she would've seen him by this point since he often made tremendously long journeys in search of food and water for them. The unhappy thought crossed her mind that elder Condor had perhaps forbidden him to return to these hunting grounds, or else Rail had believed the story of her death and was reluctant to find her body being picked over by ruthless feathered scavengers.
Her heart felt sick again. She slowly moved toward the stream, intent on placating her parched throat. As she bent down to take a drink, something caught her eye in her peripheral vision. She turned to the left, spying what looked like tracks coming out of the water. They were drying in the evening warmth, but they had been made fairly recently and retained enough of their shape for Avocet to see them. She crept closer. The tracks were large, but she couldn't place exactly which creature they came from. They were too long to be a mountain cat's, and from what she'd seen of that black creature, they were too big to belong to it, either. They certainly weren't hers. Whoever or whatever had made these watery tracks had come by seemingly just moments before she'd woken up.
Something else was strange about the tracks though. Curious, she stood up and stepped into the water, stepping back out again and making her own set of tracks. She was astonished that, while smaller, her tracks made the same movements as the other set! Whatever made these walked on two legs like she did.
Unnerved, Avocet glanced around at the darkening canyon. The solidifying thought that she wasn't alone in this place made her spine tingle. She straightened up, her whole body shaking as she stared into the winding darkness further into the canyon, as if expecting to see something big wandering around back in there. Quietly, she gathered her canvas bag and, ignoring her protesting stomach, headed back out the way she had come through, hoping to avoid whatever had made those huge tracks.
The sky was getting darker. Her clawed feet made the going easier, but her adrenaline served to keep her moving swiftly. Her wings twitched and her eyes struggled to adjust in the low lighting. She already knew she had night vision, but it wasn't very good. It mostly served to help her avoid tripping over things while she walked in the dark.
She froze suddenly at one of the most startling sounds she'd ever heard; a deep, bellowing roar that echoed through the canyon, bouncing off the rock walls and reverberating all around her, making it sound far closer than she knew it probably was somewhere deep in her rational brain. But her rational brain wasn't in control at the moment. Instinct had grabbed a tight hold on her and had her careening out of the canyon, scrabbling up the side of the steep pathway and finally into the scrub bushes surrounding the canyon. Her breath came in short, panicked gasps as she worked her way stealthily through the undergrowth, digging deeper into the thick, prickly bushes to hide herself.
Sharp scraping and dragging sounds behind her had her dropping to her stomach in the bushes and freezing in place, her eyes able to see out beneath the thick, sticky branches. Struggling to calm her breathing, she watched the narrow entrance to the canyon she'd just left, her heart hammering in terror as one of those black demons clawed its way out, shaking its head and snuffling like a wild dog. Thick saliva dripped from its mouth as it gnashed its teeth together, still shaking its head. It stood up on its hind legs, appearing to scout the terrain as it did. Avocet held her breath, listening to the blood rush through her ears; had that roar she'd heard come from that thing?!
The creature's long, flexible tail lashed behind it as it turned its head to look back into the canyon. It made a series of sharp, hissing grunts and, rearing up again, began to walk slowly in Avocet's direction. She froze, eyes wide and hand covering her mouth as she tried to stay as still as possible. Saliva continued to pour from the creature's mouth and as it got closer, she could see that it appeared to have no eyes. Even with her lack of experience with the dangers of the world, Avocet knew enough to understand that this thing probably had a superior sense of smell. She could only watch with baited breath as it drew nearer and nearer to her position. She knew she couldn't outrun it, nor could she fight it. Her knife was in her canvas bag around her neck. She'd never reach it in time. She doubted her tiny, underdeveloped claws were strong enough to even scratch that thick skin.
Snuffling and chuffing at the ground, the creature appeared to be following her scent, as it was dangerously close to the exact trail she'd followed to enter the scrub bushes in the first place. Casting a quick glance around, she saw a narrow tunnel to her left through a patch of thorns, probably a game trail used by small animals. Looking back at the creature, who continued to snuffle little puffs of dirt into the air, still a short distance away, Avocet started to shift silently toward the little tunnel. Moving slowly, but steadily, taking care to make as little noise as she could, she first carefully worked the canvas bag off from around her shoulders, ditching it for now. If she survived this, she could retrieve it later. Scooting along on her stomach, she pulled herself along by digging her claws into the dirt, her eyes trained on the tunnel. If she could just make it in, her best bet would be on the creature finding the mouthful of thorns it would receive in the chase diminishing its enthusiasm for small prey like her.
Just a few more feet. She could hear the snuffling now above her and flinched as a glob of drool plopped down on the ground beside her hand. Her skin went cold as she realized it was directly above her and chanced a glance upward. Standing on two legs, it stood above the scrub bush, head swiveling this way and that as if scanning the immediate area. Saliva continued to drip from its jaws, its mouth curling back to reveal a frightening set of teeth. Avocet was amazed it hadn't seen her yet, but it was only a matter of time.
She reached out for the mouth of the tunnel, adrenaline pumping through her veins and tempting her to move faster. Her eyes went wide as she realized she was just about there. Her other hand went up to grab a root jutting out from the ground for better leverage.
Crack!
She froze, her heart pounding in horror; that wasn't a root, it was a branch that had gotten stuck in the bushes. She'd just dislodged it!
A chilling hiss sounded from above her and she barely managed to duck forward as the long black head crashed down into the bushes, shrieking and thrashing as it snapped its gaping mouth toward her. Avocet scrambled forward into the thorny tunnel, ignoring the way the thorns gouged her skin and scraped along her face. Turning onto her back as she kicked herself backward and further into the tunnel, she watched that terrifying jet black head enter the tunnel after her, opening its mouth. She shrieked when a second mouth shot out of the first one, latching onto her ankle and then ripping backwards, taking a chunk of skin and scales with it. She hissed in pain, continuing to scoot backward until she was out of its reach. She watched in alarm as it retreated from the tunnel and began moving around the thorn bush, still visible to her from the inside. It growled viciously and thrust its head down into the bush, retreating sharply with a shrill squeak. Grumbling ominously, it tried this tactic again, with similar results. Each time, small scratch marks would appear on its face as it continued to try to reach her from different angles. Avocet curled into a ball inside the bush, shaking uncontrollably, but strangely unable to scream out her fear. She just continued to watch her possible Death lunge into the bush again and again, but unable to get to her without stabbing itself in vicious thorns.
Avocet had no idea what sort of patience this thing had, or even if it would decide she wasn't worth the effort. The sounds of its growls and chilling shrieks continued to pulse through her, sending shivers down her spine at their otherworldly sound. Still shaking, unable to fight or run, she curled tighter into a ball and wondered if this was it for her.
Suddenly, there was a sharp whizzing sound above her head and something smacked hard into the creature, sending it flying sideways away from the bush. Avocet sat up, disbelieving as the creature rolled to its feet, its attention now distracted on something coming up the path. Avocet tried to follow its line of sight, but she saw nothing approaching. Another white hot blast surged forward and collided with the creature, which shrieked and staggered on its feet, falling to its side in a heap on the ground.
Avocet decided not to stick around to greet her savior. She scrambled back through the thorns into the scrub bush and grabbed her canvas bag. Turning, she crawled fiercely back through the tunnel, listening to the dreadful sounds as the black demon appeared to have met something in battle. The sounds of the scuffle were quite clear and quite close. Every time it let out that deafening hiss, it went right through her and she shuddered.
The thorn tunnel opened onto a game trail heading further down the valley along a dried riverbed. Without looking back at the battle behind her, Avocet took the steep rocks two at a time on her feet, amazed at how steady she was despite her terror and the blood streaming from her injured leg. Another white hot blast rocketed above her head and crashed into the rock cliffs above her, sending rocks and dirt plummeting down. She gasped and leaped off to the side, narrowly avoiding being struck with heavy boulders that had become dislodged from their perches. Pure instinct and adrenaline guided her now as she picked her way along what appeared to be a dried up riverbed below the ridge where she could hear the battle sounds dying away behind her. Even when she could no longer hear anything, she continued to run, her legs easily carrying her over the tough terrain.
Whatever had attacked that creature, she owed it big time. Although she highly doubted it would survive that fight, she was still grateful. The sounds of the battle had now faded completely as Avocet hunkered down in a small rocky alcove to tend to her injury. With the adrenaline wearing off, the pain was now shooting up through her leg in spastic paroxysms, and she ground her teeth. She'd never been hurt this badly before. She had to admit, she was scared now. She tore the worn, ragged fabric of her tunic until she had a jagged strip and carefully wrapped it around her bleeding ankle. Now she had a problem; if it became infected, she'd be in serious trouble. And worse, judging from the familiar thundering roar that suddenly echoed through the valley, if that thing's sense of smell was as good as she suspected it to be, she was now leaving an absurdly easy trail for it to follow. Glancing back over her shoulder, she shuddered, her expression faltering, "Guess you didn't make it. Thanks for trying." she whispered bitterly. She turned, knowing her small lead wouldn't last very much longer. She had to find help, and soon. If her leg became infected, she was buzzard food.
Before she got very far, she removed the knife from her bag, gripping the handle tightly in her small hand as she trudged forward. She could feel the blood seeping through the crude bandages. Already they were becoming ineffective. Weakened from hunger, stress, and now blood loss, Avocet all but gave herself over to her instincts, searching for a safe place, any safe place in the vast wilderness she was now forced to call her home. The tingling shooting down her back had returned again and now, she equated this feeling with danger. The creature was on her trail once again and her breath began to puff in short, frequent gasps of terror. She chanced a look behind her, back up the steep slope where she'd dove in following the black demon's encounter with some kind of foe. Her heart leaped into her throat at the sight of the black demon scrambling down the incline, face in the air and scenting its surroundings. It let out a thick chuffing noise and Avocet knew it had caught the smell of her blood in the air. Panic threatened to grip her in its jaws as she made a beeline for the trees, ignoring the constant sting of her ankle as pressure forced more blood out. Now it was seeping through the bandages, dripping on the ground and alerting the whole world of her presence in that forest. Jumping from rock to rock, her eyes looked up and spotted a soft orange light on the horizon. It was now very late out, the sun having nearly completely dipped behind the western hills. Avocet knew this glow meant a human village was nearby and she was now faced with a dire choice; turn and accept the creature's challenge, or seek out her sworn nemesis for shelter and safety. Before she even had a chance to make up her mind, she was suddenly plowed into from behind and sent hurtling down onto the rocks, slipping between two large ones and hitting the hard earth below. Clutching her head, blinking the stars out of her eyes, Avocet looked up to see a shape blacker than darkness appear in her vision, leering down at her hungrily. Saliva poured from its mouth around her as it lowered its head in to snap at her face. Avocet shrieked, ducking aside as the bizarre second mouth shot toward her, gouging into the dirt where her face had been seconds before. That strange black crest on its head kept it from fully entering the space as it lashed viciously at her again and again. The creature snaked an arm down through the hole, grabbing at her viciously as she strained her neck away from its hold, fumbling desperately for the knife which had dropped beside her somewhere when she fell. The creature's sickeningly thin fingers scraped her face and hovered for a second, and Avocet momentarily gave into instinct and lashed her head around, snapping her jaws around the creature's hand. It shrieked and snarled in shock and pain as it hopped backwards, hissing its anger and frustration as this tiny little target proved to be a little more a handful than anticipated. Determination renewed, it returned to the gap between the rocks, shoving its head down in as hard as it could to reach the Avian trapped beneath.
Avocet's hand finally grasped the handle of the knife and she pulled it around, unsure of how much damage it would do to this thing. The snapping, gnashing jaws just inches from her face, saliva spraying everywhere from the creature's furious snapping movements, Avocet turned the knife in her hand and pulled her arm to the side, wrenching it forward and jamming the blade into the creature's neck as it lunged for her.
The creature let out a bloodcurdling scream, withdrawing from the hole and tearing the knife from her hands as it writhed in agony, sickly yellow blood slithering from the wound where the knife remained buried, trapped and slowly appearing to melt upon contact with the blood of the creature, further sealing it within the demon's black skin. Avocet stared in amazement and horror at this spectacle, noticing how the blood appeared to be corroding the knife stuck in the creature's flesh. Blood from the wound had sprayed onto her and she was vaguely aware that her skin singed and burned upon contact, but by this point, she was somewhat in shock at all she'd been through and only barely registered the pain.
Screaming in agony, the black demon seemed to forget about the little Avian female as it took off down the riverbed, trailing yellow blood as it went and vanishing into the trees, melding with the darkness. Avocet lay on her back, taking slow, uneven breaths as her mind struggled to process the fact that yes, she was still alive and yes, she'd just successfully defended herself from being eaten by a denizen of the fiendish underworld. She was covered in dirt and demon spittle, but she was still breathing.
Her body shaking nearly uncontrollably, she picked herself up slowly, grasping the rocks for balance as she got to her feet, her legs trembling so badly that she almost fell again. Her wings sagged against her back, her whole body aching from the stress and near fatalities of battle.
Now, instinct took over completely. Abandoning the canvas bag, she slowly began moving down the riverbed toward the light in the distance, no longer thinking, no longer caring. All that mattered to her instincts was finding safety and shelter. The fears of running into the creature were almost nonexistent now as she plodded slowly through the trees, her deadened eyes fixed on the soft glow that was getting steadily brighter as she got closer. When she finally reached the edge of the forest and her eyes settled on a cracked and broken road leading to a bright yellow sign that ended at the trees, she collapsed on the ground as her knees buckled beneath her, her wings beating on instinct and reflex to lift her up before sagging back down. Her world spun in her eyes and her eyelids were winning the fight to close as they slowly darkened her vision, the last thing she saw being the single lit light post at the end of the cracked, weed infested street.
A/N: Kind of a shorter chapter, but I don't want to drag them out too much. I've already about finished this story. At the very least, I've reached the 200 page mark so I'm making good progress. And for those of you reading and wondering, there will be another book connected to this one. Don't know what I'll call it yet.
By the way, I want to do a shout out recommendation for another story. Make sure to read K'Shai's Alien Vs Predator: Annihilation and its sequel Predator: Darkness and Light. Annihilation is probably the most epic THING I have ever read. Masterfully told and paced. The sequel also features mindbogglingly well constructed physiology on the Predators and I've acquired K'Shai's permission to feature this biology in my own story. When it eventually comes up, I'll recommend these stories again, as well as how you people desperately need to read them. So, like usual, if you liked, leave a review and I'll answer. So, I'll see you in November, my lovelies!
~Luna