The Good Hawk

by Joseph Elliott

  I open my eyes and stand up. Everyone is still looking at me and staring.

  “It wants to be outside,” I say, showing that I am brave and I go.

  I walk past the tents to the edge of the trees. Some people are looking at me and pointing and it is rude to point so they shouldn’t do it. I say goodbye to the snake and it drops off my arm and goes away in the grass. When I turn around there is Murdina and other people and also Jaime but not Crayton.

  “Remarkable,” says Murdina.

  “Are you crazy?” says Jaime. “You could have killed her!” He is shouting when he says it. He is being cross because he likes me, I know it.

  “Calm down,” says Murdina. “A bite from that snake would not have been fatal. I just needed her to think that it would be, to test how much she believed in her own abilities.”

  This means she lied to me. It is not nice to make someone think that maybe they will die when they won’t die. It makes me not like Murdina even more.

  Hendry walks to me and holds my hand and shakes it which I do not like. He is smiling. I do not smile back. I want to tell him not to hold my hand.

  “As a sign of our respect, you may take whatever food and supplies you need before you leave,” Murdina says.

  “What about Knútr?” asks Jaime. “We need to take him too.”

  “The deamhan?” says Murdina. “Absolutely not. His crimes against us are too great. He killed and ate one of our own.”

  “Knútr ate a person?” says Jaime.

  “Not a person, a cow,” says Murdina. “The herd are part of our tribe — both the cows and the bulls. They are our equals, so the crime is viewed with the same severity. The girl has earned the right to kill him, which she may do before you leave. Either that or we will kill him ourselves. Those are the only options.”

  Murdina goes and then everyone else goes and it is just me and Jaime.

  “Let’s walk over to the field,” Jaime says.

  We walk together away from the tents to the place where the arena was. It is not there now. Some flies go around us and I shake my head so they don’t go on my hair. My head is hurting again because of the snake that was called a viper.

  “We need to leave,” Jaime says. “We’ve already wasted too much time here. But we can’t go without Knútr. Without him to bargain with, it’ll be the two of us against the whole deamhan army. What do you think we should do? We have to smuggle him out somehow so we can take him with us.”

  He is looking at me and I think he wants me to say the plan, but I do not know what the plan is or can’t even think of one.

  “Do you hate me?” I say.

  “Why would I hate you?” he says.

  “It’s not d-dùth to speak to animals in your — head.”

  “I think it’s amazing what you can do. . . . Maybe some things that are not dùth aren’t as bad as we’ve been told they are.”

  I can’t say anything to that because it is a bad thing that he has said. If the elders say it is a bad thing of course it is a bad thing. It is quiet in the field.

  “Can you talk to more than one animal at once?” Jaime asks me next.

  “I don’t know,” I say, because I don’t.

  “Could you try?” he says.

  “W-why?” I say. I am thinking it will make my head hurt a very lot.

  “What if you made all of their bulls run around at the same time? Maybe it would cause a big enough distraction for us to escape with Knútr.”

  It is quite a clever plan although I do not know if I can do it and I don’t want my head to hurt more. I will try it though because you have to try, don’t you?

  “I will try it, Jaime,” I say, and he smiles.

  “Okay, first we need to— ” but he doesn’t finish what he was saying because he hears the barking. I hear it too. It is far away but I can hear it because my ears are good and I am good at hearing. It sounds like a lot of animals barking a lot.

  Jaime is looking all around to see it. I see them first.

  “Look, Jaime, there,” I say, and I point. They are far away and dark shapes and moving fast. There are so many of them and they’re running toward us. I know what they are. I know it this time.

  It’s the terror beasts.

  WE’RE RUNNING. AGATHA IS IN FRONT OF ME, EVEN though I’m usually much faster than her. I can’t stop looking at the animals. They’re running toward the camp from all directions, racing down hillsides and bounding through the grass. I don’t know what they are; they’re barking, but they’re too big to be dogs, too big to be wolves. There are so many of them. Hundreds.

  A horn blasts, then another. People are running, pulling out weapons, jumping onto bulls.

  “Terror beasts. Terror beasts. Terror beasts,” Agatha pants as she runs, the words tumbling out every time she exhales.

  I think she’s right.

  They’re close enough now that I can make out the power in their hind legs, the sharpness of their teeth, the determination in their eyes. They’re closing in on the camp. We won’t make it back before they get there. They’re going to kill us. They’re going to kill us and they’re going to eat us.

  I freeze.

  “Agatha,” I say, but it is no more than a whisper. She doesn’t hear me. She keeps running. I’m finding it hard to breathe.

  What do I do? What do I do? My heart is pounding so hard it feels like it might explode.

  “Agatha,” I call out again, a little louder this time, but she is too far away.

  I should have kept running. I’m exposed, out in the open like this. Now I don’t know where to go. The creatures are closing in on the Bó Riders and all I can do is stare.

  Some of the beasts have noticed that I’ve stopped. They change their course, accelerating toward me. I might still be able to outrun them, to reach the camp before they cut me off, but it would mean running at them almost head-on. There’s no way I can do that. I turn and flee.

  That wasn’t the right decision, I know it wasn’t. It’s too late now.

  I need somewhere to hide, but I’m surrounded by nothing but open grassland.

  A large rock. To my right, a short sprint away. I can’t tell how big it is or how easy it’ll be to climb, but it’s my best chance. I speed toward it.

  The animals chase me. Five, ten, twenty of them. Their barks get louder; they’re closing in. They are much faster than I am. Their breath warms the backs of my legs. Any moment, one of them is going to jump up and push me over, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

  I’m nearly at the rock. It’s bigger than I thought, its sides steep.

  A little farther, a little farther.

  I launch myself at the rock, ignoring the pain that hammers my elbows and scrapes across my knees as I frantically search for something to grip on to. My fingers find a crack and I start to pull myself up. The animals crash into the rock, snapping their jaws at my feet. I kick back and keep climbing. My ears throb with their deafening barks. I haul my body over a ridge, onto the small flat area at the top. Below me, the beasts jump against the rock, their claws scrabbling at its sides. They yelp in frustration as they try again and again to scale it. They look like wolves, but they’re much larger, with bright yellow eyes and long black tails. Their fur is dark gray, streaked with patches of white. Although they’re big, they’re also skinny, their rib cages visible beneath their mangy fur.

  Their barking attracts the attention of others, until there must be more than thirty of them circling and jostling at the base of the rock. I’m trapped, and too far from the camp to call for help. Besides, the camp is already overrun with beasts; the Bó Riders are charging around on their bulls, trying to fend them off with their spears.

  Where is Agatha? Did she make it back?

  The barks beneath me quiet. The beasts are trying something new. The ones at the front hunch forward, allowing others to climb onto their backs. More join from behind, and then more again. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Their bodies shift and falter as
the ones above step on those beneath them. They’re gaining height; the ones on top are no more than a couple of feet away now. Their teeth are stained yellow, and foamy spittle sprays out when they bark. I shuffle backward to the very tip of the rock.

  One of them strains forward and tries to bite my ankle. I kick it as hard as I can on the side of its jaw. There is a sickening crack and it falls off to the side. Another one has already replaced it. I kick again and again, but there are too many of them and they are too quick for me.

  The highest beast crouches back onto its hind legs and then springs toward me. I half shout, half scream, raising my arms to protect my head. Something wet splashes across my face. I open my eyes. It’s blood, but it isn’t mine. The beast is on the ground with a spear through its side. The other beasts are on it at once, tearing it apart, fighting over its flesh and lapping up its blood. They’re barking and squealing in equal measure.

  “Quick, while they’re distracted.”

  I turn around. Cray is there, mounted on his bull. He’s holding out his hand to me. “You’re going to have to jump.”

  I look down and shake my head. The gap is too wide. I’ll never make it.

  “I can’t,” I say.

  “Quick. We don’t have much time.”

  I stand on the edge of the rock. If I don’t jump far enough, the beasts will be on me the moment I hit the ground. My whole body is shaking. The beasts have finished eating and turn their bloody snouts in my direction. They snarl when they see Cray. They’re going to attack him. Even on his bull he is no match for that many of them. They’d easily pull him down.

  “Jump!” shouts Cray.

  “I can’t! I can’t!”

  He’s too far away.

  I’m going to fall. I’m going to die.

  “Now!”

  I close my eyes and leap forward.

  TERROR BEASTS. TERROR BEASTS. TERROR BEASTS.

  They’re going to get me. I have to do good running. They’re going to get me. I’m not good at running.

  Faster faster faster faster.

  Nearly there. The terror beasts are too. I do not want to look where they are. They are the most worst things I ever saw and I know they want to get me and eat me. Their barking is the loudest ever. It hurts in my ears and I do not like it.

  My breath is coming out loud and it’s hard to breathe. I need to stop but I can’t. I look behind me to see where Jaime is. He isn’t there. No, no, the terror beasts didn’t get him, did they?

  The bull people are on their bulls now and they charge into the terror beasts. The ground is shaking. There is a big and horrible hit of teeth and legs and bones when all the animals crunch together. More terror beasts run down from the hills. I do not know where to go. There is too many of them and too many bulls all running all different ways around me.

  “Agatha, up!” someone shouts who is Murdina. She is on her bull and she pulls me up.

  “Jaime!” I say.

  “Where?” Murdina asks.

  “I don’t know. He was over there.” I say it, and I point.

  “I’ll go,” says Crayton, who is on his bull too and I didn’t even know he was there. He kicks his bull and goes to Jaime. Please find him. Murdina kicks her bull too and it runs toward where a big group of terror beasts are. Already lots of terror beasts are on the ground and they have been trampled. I do not like seeing it. The terror beasts are trying to bite the legs of the bulls when they run. The bull people are using their spears to try and get them off and hurt them. One of the bull people nearly falls off when his spear is caught in a terror beast’s mouth. On the other side, a terror beast jumps at a bull and bites it with its teeth. The bull puts its head down and then trips over and crashes on its side. The man who was on it is on the ground and the terror beasts jump on him. I do not want to see it. There is too much for my eyes.

  Murdina moves her bull away from a big group of terror beasts that is coming toward us. The one at the front jumps, so she gets it with her spear. The sound is crunching. I think I will be sick. Murdina shakes the terror beast off so she can use the spear again. We keep on going faster.

  “We need to draw them away from the children’s tent,” Murdina shouts to two other bull people. “Circle around and spread the word. On my signal, we move as one to the southeastern peak.” They nod their heads and go.

  “Look!” I say. The girl from yesterday is on the ground next to her bull. She can’t get back on because the terror beasts keep coming at her. Her name is Mór because Jaime told it to me. She is using her spear to keep the terror beasts away, and the bull is using its horns but there are too many terror beasts and they can’t get them all.

  Murdina steers her bull straight at them so so fast. We trample over one and Murdina uses her spear to get two more of them at the same time. Mór swipes at the others and they go away enough to let her get back on her bull.

  “We’re heading to the southeastern peak,” Murdina says to Mór. “From there we’ll coordinate a stampede. It’s our only hope.” She takes a horn from her belt and blows it. It is a long sound and a deep one. We turn away from the camp and other bulls come too and we all go as fast as fast as we can. The terror beasts are following. Barking and barking. We are going up the slope, a big one.

  When we are halfway up, Murdina shouts to all the bull people, “On my count, we turn and stampede. Pull in tight. Three, two—” But she doesn’t finish because there is more barking and it is above us, not below. More terror beasts. They were waiting at the top of the hill like they knew we were coming. Now they are running down and the other ones are running up and we are trapped in the middle and where can we go?

  Murdina swears. Bull people and bulls go in every direction all splitting up which was not the plan.

  “Anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated!” shouts Murdina in front of me.

  What can I do? My head is all heavy which makes it too hard to think. I can only watch it happening. All around is nothing but terror beasts. There is more than one hundred or one thousand of them. They are ripping and tearing and biting and howling. It is the worst thing ever. I do not like it and it is horrible. I close my eyes and scream as loud as I can.

  “Agatha! That’s really not helping,” says Murdina. It is hard to hear her because I am screaming. “Stop screaming!” she shouts.

  But I can’t stop. It is too bad and horrible and I hate it I hate it all.

  “If the wildwolves don’t kill us your bloody screaming will,” says Murdina.

  I stop screaming. I think something. I do not know if it is a clever plan but it is the only one I have. I have to get down. I cannot do it on the bull. It will be dangerous but I do not mind dangerous. I am brave. I put my leg over the bull’s back and fall off it to the ground. It is a long way down and it bangs on my knees which hurts.

  “What are you doing?” says Murdina, but I don’t answer. I get up and start to run. There is a tree ahead of me which is where I am running. It is the fastest I have ever run. All around me is a mess with terror beasts and bulls and bull people. I try not to look at them. I only look at the tree. Run run run run run run run.

  I trip over something and the ground is dizzy. I sit up. A terror beast runs at me and jumps. I use my elbow to hit it in its mouth and some of its teeth break. It hurts my elbow a very lot. The terror beast gets back on its feet. I crawl away from it. Blood is coming out of its mouth where I hit it.

  “Stay where you are,” I say out loud and tell it in my head.

  It stops and its nose does twitching. It is looking in my eyes and its eyes are horrible yellow like bad things.

  If you try to get me I will hurt you again, I say.

  It wants to know how I am in its head. It does not like it.

  You need to go, I say to it. You all need to go and stop all the killing.

  It tells me that’s impossible. They are gathered for the great feed. It has been promised to them. It is their last hope.

  I know it in
my head that it is very hungry. It has not eaten for a long time. It makes me sad a bit about that. It comes one step toward me.

  Don’t come closer, I say. I don’t want to hurt you.

  The terror beast does not reply. It shakes its head. It does not want me to be inside its head anymore. It runs toward me.

  I need to stop it. Near me is what I tripped over. I reach my hand toward it. It is a horn like the one Murdina had to blow in. I try to grab it. I can’t reach it. The terror beast jumps on my chest and pushes me backward. It is on top of me. Blood is coming out of its mouth onto my neck and its breath is all hot. Its tongue is out of its mouth and is so long. My fingers are reaching reaching for the horn. It is too far away.

  The terror beast is in my head again. It says that they will eat and we cannot stop them.

  My fingers find the horn and I grab it. I’m sorry. I tried to warn you, I say and I hit the horn into its side as hard as I can. It howls because it is hurt and it falls down on top of me. I am sad that it is hurt or maybe dead but I have an important job to do so I cannot think about it. I push it off me which is hard because it is heavy and so much blood is on me and then I run the last bit to the tree. When I am there I climb it which I am good at climbing. I go all the way to the top and then I can see everything around which is what I wanted. I want all of the terror beasts to hear me.

  Then I do the screaming. I scream as loud as I can, in all of their heads.

  I know they hear me because they all stop and are turning around and looking for what the sound is. Some of them shake their heads or hit them on the ground. They snap at each other and bite their own tails. I keep screaming louder and louder. Their howls and their pain is all full inside me. It mixes with the screaming and I do not know which is them and what is me. My head is so full it is going to burst. Something breaks inside. My eyes flip over and I cannot hold on. I fall out of the tree, down to where the terror beasts are hungry waiting.

  I’m hungry

  They haven’t brought me anything in days

  Naughty shadows