It was past the peak of the day and the air was starting to cool. Although it was still bright there was a palpable change in the air. The boys had been walking for over an hour, stopping but once for Seth to climb another tree to retrace their surroundings.
‘This is utterly hopeless,’ Seth moaned, ‘we’ve been walking for ages and not seen anything familiar. We’ve not even seen or heard anyone else either! Why don’t we turn around and go back the other way?’
‘Because I’m sure this is the right way,’ said Sattan.
‘And how can you be so sure?’
‘We’re heading downhill.’
‘So what?’
‘I’m positive we were led up a slight incline on our way in.’
‘But what’s to say it’s not the same the other way? The clearing they left us in could have been at the top of a small hill.’
‘Well there’s another reason as well – when we stopped before you said you heard the river flowing this way. At lunch Brutum, Rostrum and Aures had fish and they wouldn’t have traipsed miles through the forest to get it. We’re on the right track, trust me,’ Gabriel assured, whilst at the same time hoping that he was indeed right.
Suddenly there was a rustling in the bushes off to their left. The three boys spun towards the origin of the disturbance.
‘What is it?’ whispered Seth, anxiously.
‘I don’t know,’ Gabriel whispered back, ‘but it sounds like-’
‘Woo-hoo-hoo! Ha! Ha! Ha! Check it out, Fung. Three little cowards all lined up in a row!’ Victor cackled. His squat, crimson body emerged from the bushes, bent double laughing.
Fungus followed close behind, laughing like a hyena. ‘S’matter Brushtail, ya scared? Ya girlfriend not here to protect ya?’
Seth’s face flushed with rage. ‘You idiots! You think that’s funny?’
‘Absolutely we do,’ shot back Victor.
‘Why don’t you guys just get lost?’ spat Gabriel, ‘And don’t even think about following us either!’
‘Follow you? Oh, good one, Gigantor. Why would we want to do that and end up hopelessly lost? We know exactly where we’re going. Don’t you follow us!’
‘Fine. Now beat it.’
Victor and Fungus scampered back off into the bush the way Gabriel, Seth and Sattan had just come from.
‘I hate them,’ Seth said, gnashing his teeth. ‘I really, really hate them.’
‘Yeah, so does everybody,’ Sattan said.
‘But what if they’re right though?’
‘About what?’
‘About going the wrong way. I don’t think I’d ever be able to show my face in school again if they beat us back.’
‘Seriously, Seth, how likely is that? They screw up everything!’
‘Yeah... I suppose so...’
After another thirty minutes or so of walking, they paused for Seth to once again check their position. As best he could tell, they were still on roughly the same course and a few miles ahead there appeared to be a break in the treeline. They each thought it meant they were finally approaching the meeting point at the large clearing where they had set up camp in the morning, so continued onwards.
It was late on in the afternoon when the serenity of the woods was shattered.
A shrill, high-pitched scream echoed forth.
Gabriel, Seth and Sattan stopped dead in their tracks, chilled to their bones. As quickly as it had begun the scream subsided. Without thinking, the three boys took off toward its origin. Branches, ferns, nettles and brambles whipped passed them and slashed at their arms and legs as they ran. Ignoring the stinging cuts, they dodged tree trunks and continued on as fast as they could.
The trees broke and they skidded out onto a long, muddy trail cut into the forest. It had been forged by a stream that had dried to no more than a trickle due to the summer heat. Pulses racing, they scanned the area frantically for the source of the scream.
Yet they saw no danger.
Instead they discovered Willow, Aire and Alae, the latter of which, stood in the middle of the dwindling stream, dripping muddy water from the waist down.
‘W-w-what happened? Who screamed?’ Gabriel panted.
‘Is... everyone... OK?’ Sattan added through deep gulps of air.
‘I screamed,’ Alae said, barely holding back her tears, ‘And do I look OK? This was a brand new outfit!’
‘But you’re not hurt?’ Seth asked biting his lip to stop himself from laughing, as were the other two.
‘As a matter of fact I twisted my ankle when I slipped in the mud. But never mind that, look – my new robes are ruined! Stupid stream! Stupid forest! I wish I’d never come on this stupid trip at all! I’ll never get these stains out!’ She limped over to Willow and Aire who started to dab at her robes with a small pink handkerchief.
‘I agree, Alae,’ said Willow in her airy, melodic voice, ‘this whole day was just a big waste of time.’
‘Oh come on, it’s not been all bad,’ Gabriel interjected and got a swift elbow to his ribs.
‘Let the lady speak!’ Sattan said, a dreamy smile spreading across his face, ‘Go on, Willow, you were saying?’
‘Actually I was finished.’
Aire said, ‘Not that we need any help – we were doing just fine on our own... but do any of you three know which way the camp is?’
‘Straight ahead, we think. Willow, would you like to come with m- us?’ Sattan said.
‘Well I suppose if we’re all going the same way, we might as well go together...’ she replied.
‘Great! Gabriel, be a gentleman and help Alae with that bad ankle of hers will you? Seth... did you ever realise how much you and Aire have in common?’
‘No.’
‘Loads, I’m sure of it, why don’t you discuss it as we all walk. Willow, allow me to escort you, dear lady.’
She let out a long sigh and rolled her eyes.
And so the eclectic group set off through the forest. Willow gracefully strode ahead, examining her nails and paying no attention to Sattan whatsoever, who trotted along at her side like an obedient puppy. Aire followed, droning on about shopping. Seth, meanwhile, was contemplating the best leaves to wad up and use as earplugs. Trailing along behind was Alae, who was leaning on Gabriel’s shoulder so much she was practically being carried. She howled overdramatically with every step and continued to complain about what a rotten waste of time the whole experience had turned out to be.
With the addition of their new travel companions, the boys’ pace slowed drastically. Another hour passed by (for Seth and Gabriel it felt like ten times as long) and still they had not reached camp. Gabriel began to wonder whether in fact, they had chosen the wrong direction.
Surely we weren’t walking for this long before? Gabriel pondered. Although, the three girls left the group just before us so maybe we are on the right track. Then again, he thought, Victor and Fungus were the first students to leave the group. Could they really have become so lost that they’ve travelled that far from the camp?
There were other things troubling Gabriel that he couldn’t quite explain. Over the last hour or so, the forest seemed to have grown much quieter and unsettlingly gloomier. Since they had passed over the stream, they no longer heard the distant gurgling of water. The breeze had died down and was no longer rustling the uppermost branches of the trees.
Gabriel tried to shake his feeling of unease. Focus on something else, he told himself, Alae, for instance, you’ve been in the same class with her for over a month now and not actually spoken to her once.
‘So...’ he began, searching desperately for something to talk about, ‘How’s the ankle?’
‘Awful,’ she replied, ‘I’m beginning to think that it might be broken. It hurts so much.’
‘I don’t think it is,’ he replied, ‘I think you’d have known straight away if it was broken.’
‘Well that’s the problem,’ she winced again, ‘I have a very high pain threshold, so there’s a good chance it
is actually much worse than I first thought, but it’s getting so bad now that I’m starting to feel quite faint.’
‘I see.’
They hobbled on in silence for several minutes more. Up ahead he could see Seth looking more and more uncomfortable, his tail hung limply, miserably between his legs. Completely oblivious, Aire was talking about something that he clearly had no interest in, ‘...was red, but then I saw a pair in blue with silver trimmings that were so cute and I just had to have them...’
He glanced again at Alae. She was flapping her free hand rapidly, trying to maintain her composure. Her breathing was so hard and fast that one may have thought she had just ran a marathon. Alae’s appearance was usually flawless, yet now her pristine white blonde locks hung damp and matted. As if on cue she howled once again.
‘Try not to think about it,’ Gabriel tried to assure her, ‘it’ll help ease the pain.’
‘And how precisely am I supposed to do that?’ she snapped.
‘Focus on something else.’
‘Like what?’
‘Umm, I dunno... like how you can fix your robes...’
‘Not funny,’ she scolded.
‘Alright... well what about... what are you planning to do tonight?’
‘Rest my ankle.’
‘Right, yeah, of course... well maybe just focus on listening to the birds singing.’
‘There aren’t any birds singing.’
‘What?’
‘There aren’t any birds singing.’
She was right. The forest had fallen deathly quiet. He stopped in his tracks and Alae stumbled forward.
‘OW!’ she snapped, ‘Just what do you think you’re-’
‘Quiet!’ he ordered.
‘Don’t you tell me to-’
‘Shut up!’ he barked.
Now he was sure of it. Something was very, very wrong. It was still too early in the day for the birds to have gone to roost.
‘Seth!’ he called as loud as he dared.
Glad of an excuse to break away from Aire, Seth immediately called back, ‘What is it?’
‘Listen.’
Seth paused for a moment, ‘I can’t hear anything.’
‘Exactly. Isn’t that a little weird, for a forest to be completely silent?’
Even Aire now ceased her incessant prattling about clothes and shoes.
After another short pause, Seth called back again, quieter this time, ‘Yeah, this is spooky, I don’t like it. Wait, let me get Sattan.’
Sattan and Willow had sauntered on ahead of the others, unaware that they had stopped. Each of them was caught up in their own fascination with exactly the same person: Willow. Seth scampered after them as quietly as possible. They were both rather disgruntled at rather abruptly being wrenched away from their train of thought.
‘So what’s the plan?’ Willow asked after the six of them had regrouped.
‘We’ve got to keep going,’ said Gabriel, ‘but keep quiet. And stay close together.’
They continued in total silence. The pace slowed even more. Each step was taken with caution, taking care not to disturb anything. Alae continued to limp forward - now using Aire for additional support - biting her lip to stop herself from whimpering in pain. Willow continued on much the same; her long, slender legs stepped lightly even when she was walking normally. Gabriel, Seth and Sattan treaded carefully, surrounding the girls as best they could, whilst monitoring and listening to the forest for any signs of movement. Once or twice the boys in turn would halt the group when they thought they had heard something; the crunching of leaves, the snap of a twig, heavy breathing. But as soon as they paused, any suspicious signs that they were being stalked would vanish as quickly as a drop in the ocean.
Late afternoon slowly turned into early evening and still the procession moved forward through the silent forest. As the light began to fade, the silence grew even more imposing. The trees closed in around them like a coffin.
And then they all heard it: a harsh, rasping, steady breathing. It was close. Behind them somewhere, but impossible to pinpoint.
But before any of them could react, they heard something else off to their distant right.
Someone or something was crashing through the undergrowth.
And they were screaming.
His eyes wide, Seth spun round to Gabriel, ‘That sounded female, which means...’
‘I know,’ Gabriel said grimly.
‘We have to help her- them!’ panicked Seth.
At that same moment the breathing behind them grew louder, more intense. The leaves behind them rustled. Whatever it was, was approaching. And laughing. All six of them spun around in fear.
‘Sattan, lead the girls. Run,’ Gabriel commanded.
‘But what about-’
‘We have to help Tamera. Run. Now!’
The four of them fled. Sattan led Willow and Aire through the underbrush, virtually dragging Alae along with him.
Gabriel and Seth took off in pursuit of Tamera and Verbera. Seconds later they could hear the fading sounds of branches snapping as Sattan and the girls piled through the undergrowth.
Then another sound.
A soft whump, followed by further cracking and snapping. It echoed that of their friends. Whatever had been stalking them was now following the path cut by Sattan, Willow, Aire and Alae. Gabriel prayed they would make it to safety, but right now they were on their own.
All around Gabriel and Seth the forest zoomed past. Blurred hues of green and brown bled into one another. The sound of their breathing coupled with their crashing through the forest was deafening compared to the silence that had preceded it. They were closing in on Tamera and Verbera, although the girls’ screaming was still headed away from them. They started to hear the sound of bodies tearing through the forest up ahead. Again they felt the stinging branches tearing at the bare flesh of their arms, legs and cheeks. Again they heard the distinctive mirrored snapping of branches which indicated a chase.
And then suddenly the screaming and cracking of branches abruptly stopped.
‘NO!’ Seth cried and their speed increased to levels neither thought themselves capable of.
In front of them gaps began to form in the trees. They saw brief flashes of colour, alien to that of the forest. The girls’ clothing. But then two large dark shapes loomed up and blocked them from view. Without thinking, Seth snatched up a heavy fallen branch as he ran.
***
The two girls had stopped in a small clearing overgrown with knee-high shrubs and weeds. Too exhausted to go on and gasping desperately, for what they assumed would be their last breaths, they turned to face their pursuers.
The two creatures emerged slowly, stalking their prey.
Neither Tamera nor Verbera had ever seen a Reptilian in the flesh before but had heard accounts from the few that had survived. Now looking upon them, they realised those accounts were grossly understated. They were much more hideous and vile than either of them could ever have imagined.
The scaly monsters were tall and powerfully built with mustard-colour eyes and the classic reptilian slit-like pupil. The creature on the left was larger, with grey-green skin like armour plating. Small spikes protruded from his shoulders and ran down his back. A thick tail, swung back and forth menacingly. The monster’s long scaly face opened into a huge mouth, hanging slightly ajar and filled with erratically spaced but deadly, coned teeth. The massive hands flexed razor-sharp claws.
Its comrade was just as intimidating.
Its speckled yellow-green hide was smooth and shiny but no less tough than its counterpart’s. A square face held a terrifying toothy grin, exposing inch-long fangs. The girls imagined that the creature’s massive muscular arms were capable of constricting and crushing the trunk of a tree. As if their appearance wasn’t terrifying enough, a putrid stench emanating from the evil pair reminded the girls of decaying flesh. They felt sick to their stomachs. It was the stench of predators.
Suddenly, there was
another crashing through the undergrowth behind the two monsters. The scarily calm composure of the Reptilians made the girls think the arrival of more of the reptiles was imminent. They would meet a ghastly and brutal end, viciously torn apart and feasted upon by these cruel beasts.
What actually emerged caught them all completely by surprise.
***
Gabriel sprung forth from the forest and hit the snake-like creature square in its left side with his right shoulder. The force of the impact sent the monster sailing through the air until its flight was brought to a bone-rattling halt by the trunk of a nearby tree. Before its compatriot could react, its jaw was met with a tooth-shattering blow from a swinging branch that splintered on impact. The behemoth spun once before crashing down face first into the dirt.
Seth tossed the broken stump aside, ‘Are you OK?’
The girls sprinted over and hugged the two boys tightly. Seth’s cheeks turned a deep crimson.
Tamera was speechless.
‘Y-y-you saved our lives...’ Verbera finally managed.
‘Well...’ Seth began.
‘We can catch up later,’ Gabriel said, looking at the felled Reptilians, ‘they’re stunned for now, but I don’t know how long it will last.’
Not long at all as it turned out. The two Reptilians were already beginning to stir as the four of them took off.
Ten minutes later, the forest broke and they spilled out into the makeshift camp set up earlier in the day. Master Tigris was nursing Alae’s ankle. Willow, Aire and Sattan were assisting where they could. Brutum, Rostrum and Aures stood back, packed up and ready to leave. Tolero watched over the edge of the clearing.
‘Thank the Zodiac you’re all still alive!’ he said, ‘Are any of you injured?’
They all said they weren’t, then Gabriel added, ‘Where’s Styne and Victor and Fungus?’
‘Still in the forest,’ Tolero replied his gaze unwavering, ‘Master Tigris had little faith in them so instructed Styne to keep a watch over them in case they went too far off course.’
‘But we saw them ages ago,’ Seth said, ‘they were headed off in completely the wrong direction and Styne was nowhere to be seen.’
‘Of course he wasn’t, Seth,’ Tolero assured him, ‘Master Tigris wanted them to think that they had found their own way out. Styne would only have made himself known if it was absolutely necessary. Like now.’
Child of the Gryphon Page 19