Chapter 5 Predator or prey
Humphrey's POV
"Alright guys, see if you can find Kate." I said. "Of course my furry friend!" Marcel chimed. Paddy spoke up, "We'll see if we can find her somewhere along the route to Jasper." Marcel asked, "Are you sure she would continue to Jasper without you?" I nodded miserably and said, "Yes, I'm sure of it."
Marcel and Paddy shared a look and flapped their wings calling, "We'll tell her your alright!" Paddy yelled down to me, "What are you going to do?" I called back, "Find a nice den or somewhere to spend the night." Marcel nodded and said, "We should be back in three days or so." I smiled miserable and said, "Give her my best."
With that I watched them fly off towards Jasper lost to the clouds. I sighed to myself and thought, "I wish that we hadn't been separated like this." I shook away my thoughts and said to myself, "No point dwelling on the past." I observed my surroundings more carefully looking for a place to call home and spotted the silhouette of a tree line.
I thought to myself, "That's more like it." I started my trek towards the trees leaving the field and hurtful memories behind me.
As I approached the tree's I saw the tree line was much larger than I had suspected. I looked suspiciously to see if there were any dangerous obstacles before me. I shrugged off my worries and entered the forest and saw that the tree's let little to no light to the forest floor. I let my vision adjust and thought casually, "At least the sun won't wake me up in the morning." I emerged from the forest thicket in an open clearing illuminated by the setting sun above me.
I yawned and thought to myself, "I better pick up the pace before it gets to dark." I slowly continued back into the forest and I heard something rustle in the bushes beside me. My hair stood up on end and I whimpered calling, "Whose there?" The rustling in the bushes stopped and my voice cracked when I yelled, "I mean it, who are you?" I jumped through the bushes and stared into the green eyes of a small pup. I yelped and saw that there was a massive gash in the pup's side.
I ran over and asked, "Are you ok?" She gave me a look more terrifying than eve's and yelled back, "NO, ITS ALMOST DARK AND I WAS ALMOST KILLED BY THE TERROR!" I quickly grabbed some leaves and staunched the pup's bleeding side and then chills went down my spine. I asked, "What's the terror?" The pup's eye's turned to pure fear and said, "It comes at night and kills anyone unlucky enough to be out of the den." She cried out in pain and I loosened my grip on the leaves.
She continued, "It got my brother, and it left me here last night to chase him down." I looked at the sky through the oppressive branches and asked, "Where can we go that's safe." The pup shook her head and said, "No time, it's faster than us and nobody has ever gotten a good look at it." I had successfully stopped the bleeding and helped the pup onto my back and said, "We can make it, now please, where do you go to be safe from it?" The pup weakly replied, "The cliff face has a cave where it can't fit through the opening.
I nodded and ran desperately through the dark. I saw shadows leap at me and any second I expected to be attacked by whatever demon possessed these woods. I saw a cliff wall rise up from the tree line and poured in all the speed I could manage. I caught a glimpse as the last rays of sun disappeared beneath the horizon. My blood turned to ice and I pumped my legs as hard as I could.
Suddenly the cliffs where in front of me and I nudged the pup and asked, "Which cave?" She weakly opened her eyes and said, "The one directly beneath the boulder." Looked up and saw a boulder that was perched just above a tiny opening in the cliff walls. I ran for it and thought I saw a glimpse of white flash through the woods. I ran for the opening and pushed the pup through gently. I ducked and scrambled inside. Something grabbed my back paw and I felt claws enter my flesh and I let out a shriek in pain.
I kicked and clawed the dirt trying to pull away from it. My back paw connected with something soft and fleshy and the claw released me. I scrambled through desperately and collapsed to the floor. I saw the pup breathing softly and I crawled over to her and whispered, "You'll be fine now." I was just about to pass out when I heard someone scream, "HUMPHREY, HELP ME!"
(I hope this qualifies as some suspense and danger to the story. The terror was my own idea but adding an enemy in goes to Bmiller. Thanks bro and I hope you all enjoy the next chapter!)