Starfall

by R. M. Anderson

  No need to make a fuss with the other details, she decided. At least not at that moment, anyway. She then introduced Thomas to the Floppersnogs, who also woke up, and they all sat together by the fire. Though still somber with the dramatic passing of their mother, the Floppersnogs eyed Thomas with curiosity.

  Henrick continued to glare at the newcomer. “So where is it you come from, exactly?”

  As Thomas told Henrick his story, Radianne noted Henrick did not show any sympathy, nor did he seem too impressed. Instead, he said nothing and continued to scowl.

  She had thought for sure he and Thomas would get along right away, since their backgrounds were so similar. But Henrick was apparently not thrilled by the fact that a total stranger had just joined their quest. She could also sense a bit of something else churning under the surface… was it jealousy? Could that be it?

  Good, she thought. Perhaps he needed a bit of shaking up.

  Blink, though appearing a little tired, seemed very taken with their new visitor and listened intently as Thomas talked about his adventures in the desert.

  As the night grew old, Radianne realized how exhausted she was. The changing emotions over the last few days had done her in. She said goodnight to everyone and crawled over to the Floppersnogs who still needed her comfort. As they nuzzled up against her with their warm bodies, Radianne drifted off to sleep to the sound of Blink laughing at something Thomas had said. She was vaguely aware of Henrick sitting aloof, back in the shadows of the flickering fire. Watching her.

  **************

  Henrick did not talk most of the morning. Instead, he darted irritated looks every now and again at Thomas, who had managed to hold captive the attention of every member of the group since his arrival.

  Radianne wasn't surprised. She continued to find their new guest very intriguing as well. He entertained them all with stories of his travels in the jungle and the desert, speaking of hidden places and magic potions, sharing thoughts about how to get back at the Snorgs before they caused even more destruction.

  His chatter was a good distraction from the unsettled feelings Radianne continued to experience, especially when it came to Henrick.

  She glanced over at Henrick then, wondering with annoyance why he wasn't adding input to the conversation. She expected him to contribute to the discussion, as serious as he was about exacting revenge on the Snorgs. But he just walked along silently, his mouth seeming to be permanently set in a very unattractive grimace.

  The Floppersnogs continued in their silence as they walked. Still having a difficult time dealing with the death of their mother, they would periodically hop over to Radianne and nudge her legs, asking for a comforting touch. She patted them gently, sometimes stroking their fur, as Blink sat on her shoulder and chatted away to Thomas.

  After awhile, her stomach reminded her that it had been quite some time since they'd eaten.

  “We really should stop and try to find something to eat,” she said to no one in particular.

  Henrick turned and came to a stop. “I told you before,” he retorted. “There's hardly anything to eat in this desert. You will just have to wait a little longer.”

  As soon as he said the words, Thomas coughed.

  Radianne smiled. Time to show Henrick he didn't know everything. “Well Thomas knows how to find food, as he's lived here for years,” she said. “How do you think he's managed to survive on his own all this time?”

  Henrick glared at Thomas and snorted. “I have no idea. OK, desert boy. Talk.”

  Radianne frowned at him. She couldn't believe how rudely he was acting! But Thomas handled the situation well.

  He valiantly ignored Henrick's attempt at insulting him and addressed the rest of the group. “Mostly desert rabbit and cactus fruit,” he offered.

  Henrick laughed. “Cactus? That's absurd.”

  Radianne turned her back on him and her full attention to Thomas. “If you can show us how to harvest this unique sustenance, tonight we can have a feast,” she said cheerfully. “I think it sounds lovely.”

  Thomas nodded. “Of course.”

  Henrick rolled his eyes.

  The group continued to walk along, stopping every now and then to try to gather water. Thomas took out a knife and cut away at chunks of cactus as they went, placing them into a large pouch he produced from a pocket in his pants.

  “So Thomas and I were thinking,” Radianne said to Henrick, in an attempt to pull him into the conversation despite his sour attitude. “Maybe after we help Blink home, all of us together can figure out how to stop the Snorgs. We already have the start of an army right here. I'm sure there are others who would be happy to join the fight with us.”

  Henrick rolled his eyes. “As if you are going to be part of any army,” he sneered. “You're going home. This isn't your fight anyway. Back to Eugladia and your perfect little life there. We will need a great amount of help. I will figure it out myself.”

  Tears filled Radianne's eyes and she quickly turned her head so he couldn't see. His words pierced her heart. It was the first time he'd spoken to her that harshly. She'd only been trying to help… at least she knew where he stood. Once Blink was gone, Henrick would be out of her life for good too.

  She smarted from his comment about it not being her fight… she lived in a world where the Snorgs were wreaking havoc, so it most certainly was her fight too. But she was unable to form the words to tell him exactly what she thought.

  As if sensing his friend's hurt feelings, Blink patted Radianne's neck from his perch on her shoulders. The electric current moved through to comfort her, as it always did.

  What she wasn't expecting just then was Thomas's sympathy. The impact of Henrick's words on her had not gone unnoticed, and he leaned in close to her ear.

  “It would be an honor to have you fighting alongside me in my army,” he whispered. “I think you'd do a fine job. You're a brave soul.” He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

  Radianne forced a small smile at his kindness, though his words did little to ease her wounded heart. She hadn't known a man could hurt a woman so much until she'd met Henrick. She thought maybe the time had come for her to harden herself against him completely, as she'd done when she'd first met him.

  As the day progressed, the Floppersnogs broke their silence and began to talk quietly to one another. Perhaps they were starting to make peace with the death of their mother, Radianne mused. Though everyone was sad with the passing of Mother Floppersnog, they all knew they had to keep pressing on.

  The situation was still so fresh and sad and she didn't even know how she'd take care of all of them once she was back in Eugladia, but she was glad they were there and she pitied the little creatures for their great loss.

  As the hours went by, she couldn't help but notice that Blink seemed a little weaker than he had been in previous days. With alarm, she observed her friend was a tad more stone-like and pale in appearance and he also began to weigh a little more heavily on her shoulder.

  He was still in good spirits. As the desert despair began to claw at Radianne again, however, she wondered how much longer her friend would remain in good health. She didn't say a word to Blink about it, because she didn't want to alarm him, but she wondered if Henrick even noticed. Or if he was too busy worrying about Thomas taking charge of things.

  At some point during late afternoon, Thomas and Henrick both announced, simultaneously, that they knew of places to stay for the night.

  Henrick said he wanted to camp by a cluster of giant cacti, but Thomas said that the shelter of an empty sand cave would be a much better choice.

  As the two of them argued, Radianne mused about how little they both considered her opinion. No one asked what she thought or where she wanted to go. Perhaps she shouldn't have invited Thomas after all. She was starting to see that Wanderers always thought their ways were the best and that they knew everything, caring little for the opinion of others.

  “We are staying the night at my location,”
Henrick stated with finality.

  Thomas opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it, and closed it.

  Henrick led the group to a sandy sort of ditch surrounded on all sides with clusters of giant cactus plants. “You see,” he said, making a wide, sweeping gesture with one hand, “this place is well protected. It will be perfect.”

  As Thomas started the fire and scraped the spines off the cactus pieces in preparation for dinner, Radianne thought of her best friend back home. She desperately wanted to talk to Piri. This “man” thing was getting to be too much. The egos were ridiculous.

  Thomas cooked the cactus and kindly offered her the first piece. She chewed on it thoughtfully. The taste wasn't bad, but it was bland.

  “It's different,” she said. “But not awful. At least it's something.”

  Thomas laughed. “It needs salt. Unfortunately, I don't have any with me. I've had to eat it cacti for years. You get used to it after while.”

  Blink sat quietly beside Radianne. The Floppersnogs also ate, but Henrick sat with a disgusted look on his face and watched Thomas serve the cactus.

  “Probably poisonous,” he said out loud. “I'll wait for something more palatable to come along.” Thomas set his mouth in a slight grimace but said nothing in response.

  As night fell, eerie howls echoed through the darkness. The sounds sent tingles up and down Radianne's spine as the group sat at full attention and listened.

  “Desert Dogs,” Henrick muttered.

  Radianne looked around for any sign of the mysterious creatures. The howls sliced through the night again and the Floppersnogs scampered to her side and began to whimper. She cradled one of the tinier ones in her arms while placing another hand reassuringly on Blink.

  “It sounds frightening, Radianne,” he whispered.

  “It will be OK.”

  “No one move!” Thomas commanded, staring at something outside the circle of cacti.

  Radianne followed his line of vision to the top of the sandy ditch. Several horrid creatures stared down at them, baring their teeth and flashing evil, yellow eyes. She had never seen such creatures before. They were enormous, with wicked-looking pointed ears. The Desert Dogs.

  As large as Eugladian Grizzly bears, their black tongues lolled out of their mouths and coppery fur stood straight up on their backs like spikes. The strange canines focused their gazes on the young Floppersnogs and Henrick, licking their bared jaws hungrily.

  “Ma, Ma,” the Floppersnogs said softly as they slowly backed away from Radianne and the sight before them with fear. They huddled together in a darker corner of the camp.

  Henrick picked up a rock near to where he sat.

  “No, don't throw that,” Thomas warned. “These are not your ordinary Desert Dogs, in case you haven't noticed how much larger they are than usual. These, I'm afraid, have been altered…”

  No sooner had he said the words than Henrick let the rock sail through the air. It hit one of the beasts squarely on the nose, sending the creature into a violent rage.

  There was no time for anyone to question Thomas about what he'd meant when he said the dogs had been altered. Though they'd seemed to be wary of the fire at first, Henrick's action had enraged the creatures. The beasts snapped their jaws viciously at the air and growled, glaring at the Floppersnogs and Henrick with bloodlust in their eyes.

  Then, the monstrous dogs leaped into the air in a chorus of howls and sprang past the fire, heading toward Radianne, Blink, and the Floppersnogs. The largest and most fearsome of the pack lunged toward Henrick.

  He stood up and began hurling more stones.

  Thomas ran over and jumped on top of the dog targeting Henrick. It bucked and growled, twisting its body this way and that in an attempt to throw him off.

  Tossing him into the air, it swiped at him with one giant paw and its knife-like claws tore through his flesh. As Thomas tumbled sideways and clutched at his side, doubled over in pain, the creature flicked its murderous gaze back to Henrick, who had stopped throwing stones to watch Thomas's battle with great – and stunned – interest. He appeared to be frozen in place.

  During all the commotion, Radianne grabbed Blink and ran under a cluster of giant cactus that were bent together to form a sort of cave. The Floppersnogs were still frozen to the spot where they'd run off to. Radianne had no choice at the time but to run as well as it would have been impossible to gather them all up at once. Guiltily, she wondered how she could sneak back and pull them all out of the line of danger. She had to go back for them. She had to.

  But she didn't have the chance.

  At that precise moment, taken by surprise by the onslaught of the enormous Desert Dog, Henrick stumbled backwards and hit his head – hard – on a large desert sandstone boulder.

  The fall rendered him unconscious. Radianne watched in complete and utter horror as the other Desert Dogs rushed forward and plucked up the bundle of Floppersnogs in their jaws, carrying them away as if they were a pack of pups.

  The little bright furballs cried out in terror as they were carted off into the inky darkness. The sound of their cries hit Radianne squarely in the chest, and with a sinking heart, she crawled out from her cactus cave.

  She looked around wildly. With wide eyes, she took in the sight of Thomas sprawled out awkwardly on the sand. He lay panting on his back as blood poured from a nasty gash running down his torso.

  She knew he needed help, but more pressing was Henrick. She had to focus on Henrick for a moment.

  Her eyes moved to where he lay unconscious. Her heart skipped a beat. She froze. The last remaining Desert Dog, the largest of the pack, was heading straight for his throat. In the moonlight, Radianne could see the sparkle from the saliva dripping down its lethal-looking fangs.

  Thinking quickly, she set Blink a safe distance away and yanked at the large prickly arm of a nearby cactus, ignoring the pain from the spikes that seared through her hands as she ripped the limb apart. Blood trickled down her fingers but she didn't care.

  Her heart pounded furiously as she watched the Desert Dog close in on Henrick. She knew what she had to do. She hadn't been able to save the Floppersnogs, but she had to save him!

  Holding the cactus arm high above her head, she lunged ahead and swung the desert plant directly into the beast's head. Her weapon struck the creature directly between the eyes. With a shriek, it reared up on its hind legs, momentarily blinded. Then, in one violent whir, it raced toward her and pushed her back, knocking her down.

  The air rushed out of her lungs. She watched helplessly as the monster descended on her with its cruel yellow gaze. Bracing herself for the pain and death she was sure would come, she closed her eyes and thought of home and all she'd left behind. All the things she'd taken for granted… her family, her friends. Now she would never see them again. Blink would never return to his rightful place… her poor star friend would never again shine his beautiful light on the world.

  As the tears began to trickle down and she felt the foul hot breath of the monster on her cheeks, she silently thanked The Creator for the life He had given her and apologized for not showing more gratitude.

  Then, to her complete surprise and amazement, the Desert Dog turned away. She heard a groan and the sound of something heavy dragging.

  Cautiously, she sat up. She was grateful the creature hadn't snapped her in two, but she was also confused as to why it didn't. Almost instantly, she had her answer. She watched in horror and disbelief as the beast ran off into the night. It dragged Henrick with it through the sand.

  Jumping up, she began to run after the desert monster, but remembered Blink and Thomas. Her heart tore in two. She would have to be rational, she decided.

  She knew she first had to tend to Blink and Thomas and then they would find Henrick and the Floppersnogs. Hopefully they would reach them in time, wherever the beasts had taken them.

  Walking back to where Henrick had fallen, she noticed something shiny glinting in the moonlight. I
t was his dagger. She picked up the weapon gingerly, trailing a finger along its smooth surface. If only she would have had her own weapon a few moments before – something much deadlier than a silly desert plant. If only. Never again would she be so unprepared.

  Sighing, she tucked the dagger away out of sight into a pocket in her tunic, next to the rolled up sack Miss Lugia had given her.

  Blink timidly walked out from behind the cactus and stumbled toward her. She could tell he was struggling. The horror of the attack had seemed to weaken his state. She ran to him and plucked him up, cradling him against her chest. Her tears fell freely as she took in his sorry state – the stone-like in appearance was starting to show more now than ever before – perhaps the terrible event had caused it. His glow had begun to dim.

  What to do? What to do?

  The journey had definitely taken an ugly turn, she thought. She looked helplessly at Thomas, who still lay bleeding in the sand. Her heart ached for the Floppersnogs, who could very well have been carried off to their deaths. Then there was a hollow, helpless feeling when she thought of what fate might await Henrick. Despite all the mixed emotions she'd been struggling with, and despite the despair the depressing desert had tried to suck her into, she knew she truly cared for him.

  “I was so scared for you Radianne!” Blink cried, weakly. “I thought that monster would make an end of you… I'm sorry I couldn't help. And then Henrick…” he trailed off and began to cry his glittering star tears. Radianne patted him gently.

  “All is not lost Blink,” she whispered to her friend as her own eyes welled up again. “We will think of something.” She feigned confidence. She was beginning to doubt herself even more just then. Blink would not last much longer, his body was transforming before her very eyes. It had happened so suddenly, but it was a sign their time was running short.

  The way his light had pulsated back in Eustasia had been a warning, and that had been so many days ago. Now they would have to find Henrick and the Floppersnogs too. With such limited time. She could never leave them behind. And Blink wouldn't want her to. She had to save them all. It was a disaster.