by Chris Smith
***
The dark figure also kept checking behind while paddling. He had set a pace which would enable James to keep him in sight, or at least the light, which he had placed at the back of the board as a beacon for the boy. The light shone out brightly in the stillness; the boy couldn’t possibly lose sight of it. He knew the boy would follow his lead across the water until they reached the caverns. The light would illuminate the one he needed the boy to enter, the one that looked as though it had a jaw of fangs. The boy would follow him, he wouldn’t be able to help himself because, once close enough, the current would take over and drag him in.
Once inside the cavern the shadow brought his craft to rest at the only place able to accommodate a landing. He stepped onto the bank. The beast was exactly where he had left it tethered. He strolled up to the animal, squatting down to look deep into its sad, pathetic eyes. The beast began to tremble. Cowering like a beaten pup the animal tried to skulk away from the dark figure but the leash was too short. He’d seen to that. He picked up the blood stained spike hat was lying on the ground and looked momentarily at the tip before thrusting it into the animal’s fur. The creature howled. The shadow twisted the implement, pushing it into the animal’s neck a little further.
Magnified by the cavern’s acoustics the creature’s howl rocked the cavern. Slowly, the shadow pulled the spike out. The animal reacted by snarling and snapping, straining against the leash in its attempts to attack its torturer. Had it stuck out its tongue it could have licked him, but the restraint held him short of anything else. With saliva still dripping from its mouth the beast eventually calmed down. Then, trembling with fear, it cowered away from its assailant, anxious not to feel the spike pierce its flesh again. The dark figure studied the fresh blood on the spike. Smiling, he stuck out his own tongue. Licking the spike slowly, he savoured the taste of the beast’s blood.
Chapter Eleven: The Maze of Thorns