At this point, the creature was so curious about Yulia that all caution he had was thrown to the winds. Slowly, he brought up his right arm; his hand quivering in anticipation. He watched the sweat bead up on the backs of Yulia's shoulders, amazed at the way it ran down the curves of her body, tracing unique patterns over her smooth delicate skin.
In all of his years hunting, never had he encountered such absolutely intriguing prey.
His fingers were now hovering over the small of her back.
Suddenly, in a way that broke the silence like glass, another scream hurdled through the night air. Yulia reacted, and leapt forward into a run like a gazelle. The creature, startled, shot his head up and peered into the foliage, the long black tendrils on his head snapping and whipping against his mask. Then another streak of blue energy appeared, not from the creature's weapon, but from inside the tree line across the river. Yulia was halfway back to her outcropping to grab her pistol when the blue energy streaked past her head, grazing her skull. She fell, unconscious, to the ground with a thump.
The blue energy however kept its path, striking the ground near the creature's feet with a charring hiss. The creature threw wide his arms and bellowed in challenge, goading whoever had attempted to strike at him to show themselves. More streaks of blue energy shot forth from the tree line. The creature then sharply tuned his infrared and began to scan the tree line for the slightest trace of heat.
Nearby on the river rocks, Yulia laid motionless. The creature took a few steps forward and continued to scan for life signs. His data told him there was nothing to be found.
The creature cried out in frustration, his instinct to hunt taking over his current desire to inspect this foreign delicate female. He took one last look at her, lying there helpless on the ground, then broke into a run and disappeared into the forest.
An hour later, Yulia still lay unconscious on the ground, her temple sliced open but cauterized by the beam that had struck her. The smallest trickle of blood was now dried on her peacefully sleeping face. In the moonlight, a thin shadow passed over her body. She did not stir.
Quietly, gently, soundlessly, the shadowy figure lifted Yulia gently off of the ground. As fast as the shadow had appeared, it was gone again, leaving no trace that itself or Yulia were ever there.
The creature burst into the woods and immediately grabbed the nearest tree trunk, vaulting itself up onto a sturdy branch. Swinging, leaping, jumping, the creature bounded through the forest, determined to kill whoever had struck against him and dared to flee in cowardice. His blood pumped furiously through his veins, and his rage built up within him like an uncontrollable heat. His mind was wild with anger and lust to quench his thirst for blood, but for a moment it also wandered back think of the female creature he had just encountered. He could still smell her. He could still feel the warmth she emitted that penetrated his skin, pulsing through him.
He would find her again. As soon as he collected another spine.
Once again, Yulia found herself awaking to the sound of rushing water. She flicked her eyelids open and waited for her blurred vision to clear, and then found she was looking up into a stone ceiling. She felt cold and wet, noticing that she was lying on a thin layer of broad dark green leaves spread on a very low, flat rock. Around her were long bare stone walls; a cave. At the entrance to the cave, about 20 or so feet away was a thick curtain of water. The waterfall gave the cave excellent cover. Yulia looked herself over and noticed that she was once again wearing her clothes; her knife, pistol, and outer shirt lying in a heap next to her head.
Burning a few feet away from Yulia was a very small fire. Feeling her chill, she crawled across the wet stone floor weakly, and curled up to warm herself near the embers. After what she had gone through the last 15 or so hours, she no longer had any energy to spare for fear. Warmth flooded her body, and she allowed herself to relax. When her body was finally back to a semi-comfortable state, she began to look around the room for any signs of whom or what might have brought her to this place. Fear gripped her heart again as she thought that she may now be the prisoner of whatever was stalking her earlier that day in the forest.
However, she was totally alone in the cave.
Pushing herself up to her feet, she wobbled on her weak knees, and felt a wave of hunger. She prodded the cargo pocket of her trousers, but the Power Bars she had were nowhere to be found.
Yulia tried to push her hunger away and began to inspect the cave. There were numerous large flat rocks scattered around the cave floor, soft and smooth to the touch. They looked as if they had been worn smooth over time, perhaps used for beds. Over one of the rocks was spread a huge animal skin, reptilian-looking but upon closer inspection seemed to be covered with a thin layer of soft downy feathers. Yulia pressed a finger to its surface. It was pillowy and soft like baby skin, yet it looked hard and unforgiving. Surrounding this bed were small earthen bowls and shallow plates, some empty but most filled with pastes and liquids that stunk to high heaven. Yulia caught a whiff of a deep-red paste in a clay bowl the size of her palm, making her gag. She spun around, resisting the urge to vomit, and found herself staring into a single blue eye.
Yulia was shocked to see before her a human female.
'You're awake.' she spoke softly.