Claws of Doom

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Claws of Doom Page 77

by Peebles, Chrissy


  With the crash and a string of profanity that made Olivia blush, the man below them went sliding back down the mountain. Olivia poked her head back up and saw a man, bloody and dirty, pushing himself up to his feet. Another man at the back of the party was swinging his sword wildly at nothing in particular, turning to and fro, his eyes wild as they jerked this way and that. Olivia, suspecting Daniel to be the cause of the man’s alarm, set the barrel of her rifle gently along the top of a flat rock and fired.

  Screams and shouts erupted at once. The soldiers drew their various weapons as their eyes searched in vain for their enemies. Sporadically, one or two of the men would drop where they stood, no movement seen besides their bodies slumping slowly to the ground.

  Olivia had grabbed the other rifle and was setting up for another shot when she saw an enormous mountain lion emerge from the woods between the men and the kids. It moved slowly and deliberately at the child in front, baring its fangs. Olivia could only imagine the growl that must have been emanating from its throat. She watched as the children began backpedaling, tripping over one another as they scrambled back the way they had come, pulling the slower ones by their chained hands. Aidan closed the distance, ensuring their continued retreat. Olivia cringed at the terror so evident in the faces of the children even though she knew that Aidan was doing what needed to be done to keep them safe. Still, it was hard to watch.

  “Why aren’t you shooting?” Lilly yelled at her sister. Olivia snapped her head around to see her sister offering her the next rifle, already loaded.

  Focusing her mind back on the task at hand, Olivia was scanning the scene for her next target when she spotted two men with swords who had moved away from the main group and now were sneaking toward Aidan. Whether they suspected the mountain lion was something other than what it seemed, or they were just trying to get the children back, Aidan was in danger. Swinging the rifle quickly to her left and lifting up, Olivia pulled the trigger. One man dropped to his knees. The other dove quickly to his right, landing about halfway into the brush. Bad idea, Olivia thought as she saw his legs kick and then get dragged quickly away.

  The entire battle lasted only a few minutes at most. Though Lilly had reloaded again, her nimble fingers moving quickly through the process, Olivia wouldn’t need the extra round. As before, the animals disappeared along with the bodies of their prey. Eventually, after all had fallen silent, Daniel walked slowly down the path, waving at the girls to come down. Aidan stepped out of the forest and stood next to Daniel as the girls made their way to the gathering spot, careful to avoid slipping and falling. When they reached the bottom, Daniel spoke, his eyes never leaving the point where the trail entered the trees.

  “I think you two should go in and get them,” Daniel murmured to the two sisters. “I don’t want to scare them. If you two go in without your rifles, I think they’ll be more receptive than if Aidan or I go in there. I’ll move around to make sure you both stay safe. Agreed?”

  The girls spoke in unison. “Agreed.”

  Daniel stepped immediately into the woods. Olivia and Lilly handed their rifles to Aidan and began marching along the path to where they’d seen the children disappear, Olivia leading the way, Lilly’s hand on her shoulder as she followed. As they stepped into the trees, Olivia paused as the darkness washed over them. It seemed as black as night after leaving the bright hillside with its whitewashed rocks. Olivia squinted to try and make out the path as she shuffled forward. Finally, eyes accustomed to shadows, she began searching for signs of the group. The broken branches and trampled earth made for easy tracking. They finally found them, dirty, scratched up, and huddled together at the base of a fallen tree. It wasn’t nearly large enough to conceal the group, but it was as much protection as one was likely to find in these woods. Approaching cautiously, Olivia extended her hands.

  “It’s okay now,” she began. “It’s over.”

  “Stop there,” the boy closest to her demanded. He was tall and lanky with dark skin. Olivia could see his fist closed around a large rock. Not wanting to provoke him, she stopped and grabbed her sister’s hand.

  “We’re here to help,” Olivia answered. “We’re here to take those chains off of you.”

  Olivia could see the hesitation in the boy’s dark eyes. “Who are you?”

  “I’m Olivia. This is my sister Lilly. What’s your name?”

  The boy glanced back at the others behind him before answering.

  “I’m Atreyu,” he announced.

  “Nice to meet you,” Olivia replied, taking a small step toward him and squatting down. “Are you from around here?”

  “I…we…most of us are from Exile. We picked up the others later.”

  “I know you’re scared,” Olivia murmured. “I was, too, when I was freed from Argyle’s men. But it’s real. You don’t have to be afraid. His men are gone.” Olivia waved her hand back around her to accentuate the fact that they were alone. “My friends are the only ones still out there, and they won’t come forward until I tell them it’s okay. Can I tell them it’s okay?”

  Atreyu’s eyes scanned the woods around them before looking back and whispering to the others. There was a brief moment of discussion before he turned back to Olivia.

  “It’s okay,” he sputtered.

  “You sure? You’re still holding that rock pretty tight,” she said, nodding her head toward his clenched fist.

  “Oh, yeah.” He let the stone fall from his hand.

  “It’s okay to come out!” Olivia yelled back over her shoulder, her eyes never leaving Atreyu’s.

  Daniel walked out from behind a nearby tree and casually leaned against it. Aidan appeared a bit further back and trudged forward to stand near his brother. Neither of them spoke.

  “That’s Daniel and Aidan,” Olivia offered. “They’re the ones that freed me. They also saved my sister from Argyle’s men.”

  “We just barely got out before they got there,” Lilly interrupted. “Now his men are after us!”

  Olivia whacked her sister on the shin. “Sorry for the interruption Atreyu. My sister gets a little excited sometimes.”

  Lilly rubbed her leg. “Sorry.”

  “Anyway, they saved us. Now we’re trying to save others like us. They took our parents, and they were taking you too. We think it’s time someone put a stop to it. You probably shouldn’t go back to Exile though, or wherever you’re from, at least not yet. Like Lilly said, Argyle’s men are looking for us, and they’ll be looking for anyone that should have been brought in already. You should get as far away from here as you can and hide out.”

  Atreyu stood, shaking his head defiantly. “No,” he replied. “My brother’s still back in Exile. I’m going to go get him first. I’ve got to get him out. There’s nobody left to protect him from Argyle’s men. They took our parents. Then they took all the other healthy adults. It’s just us now. We’ve got to look after one another.” He yanked at his chains, pulling one of the other children off balance behind him. “Get me out of these. I’ve got to go back.” His voice cracked with urgency.

  “Relax,” Daniel said. He stepped forward. “I don’t think they’re that close behind us.”

  Atreyu turned his attention to Daniel. “She said you were here to free us. Then do it!” He rattled the chains urgently, holding them out in Daniel’s direction.

  “I will. I just don’t want you to panic. If you’d like, once we get these chains off of you, we can all go back to Exile together. We can get your brother and all set off together. You can join us if you’d like. Any of you are free to join us.”

  “I’m not going back there,” came a voice from the back of the group. “I’ve got nobody back there. You set me free and I’ll leave now, thank you.” Others began muttering their agreement.

  “Fine,” Daniel answered. “Do as you will. You want to go, I’m not going to stop you. If any of you want to go back to collect your things, or to collect your loved ones, we’ll go with you.” With that, Daniel squatted
down and picked up a large stone. Carrying it over to where Atreyu stood, he dropped it with a thud at the boy’s feet. “I’ll be right back.” With a blink, he was gone. Atreyu swayed where he stood and shook his head.

  “Wha?” he began. Daniel reappeared in front of him holding a broad axe.

  “Kneel,” Daniel ordered. Atreyu looked at him defiantly. “So I can break the chains,” Daniel explained. Atreyu didn’t move. “If I’d wanted to harm you, I’d have done it back in the clearing with Argyle’s men.” Atreyu glared at him suspiciously before kneeling down and placing his wrists on the rock.

  He looked over at Olivia. She smiled. CRASH. Atreyu jumped at the noise. CRASH. Again he started, but looked down to see his wrists freed from their shackles. He rubbed at the raw red skin and then set the manacles around his ankles on the rock. Daniel continued the process until all were freed, wrists and feet, from their irons.

  Daniel stood back and surveyed the motley group standing before him.

  “Who wants to leave now and who wants to go back home to gather your things, or your family?”

  “I’m going back,” Atreyu stated, stepping forward.

  “Anyone else?”

  A few mumbled replies and glanced sideways at the others. There was a brief discussion. In the end the rest seemed content with striking out on their own.

  “Very well,” Daniel conceded. “If you continue south along this path, you’ll arrive at Void by nightfall tomorrow. You should be able to get some food and drink there, maybe provisions for your journey if you’re lucky. I don’t think any of Argyle’s men are down that way.” Daniel glanced to Lilly. She seemed to know he was waiting for a response from her and shook her head slightly. “It’s getting dark, but I’d advise you get moving,” Daniel concluded.

  As Daniel turned back to Aidan, Atreyu stepped up next to him and touched his arm. “When will we be leaving to go back to Exile? You said you’d go back so we could collect our things, so let’s go. I know you think my brother Halem is safe for now, but I’d like to make sure with my own eyes. I’m his older brother. I need to take care of him.”

  Although he didn’t respond, Daniel jerked visibly at the comment. “We can leave after we eat,” Daniel grumbled after a moment’s pause. “I need food, and you look like you could use some too.”

  Daniel sat down on a log and dropped his bag in front of him. He took out a handful of meat and vegetables and handed them to Atreyu before pulling some out for himself. Aidan joined them, followed by the girls. The four sat in a semi-circle around Atreyu, sizing him up when they thought he wasn’t looking.

  “What?” Atreyu finally asked. “Why do you all keep looking at me?”

  “They’re just trying to get a feel for you,” Lilly answered. “You were the one who seemed to take charge of the group back there. You’re also the only one willing to go back to Exile. If you’d like me to ignore you instead, fine.” Lilly turned to face her sister, her back now to the new arrival. “Nice shooting back there, at least I think it was. We won, so it couldn’t have been too bad,” she commented, smiling and changing the subject.

  “Thanks,” Olivia replied, her eyes darting over Lilly’s shoulder to Atreyu.

  “Listen,” he interrupted. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. I shouldn’t be so rude and actually, now that I think of it, I haven’t said thanks. Thank you,” he said. He stood and gave a small bow, “to all of you. We never would have escaped on our own, so I owe you my life. Please, accept my apology.”

  “Apology accepted,” Olivia answered. She smiled sweetly. “And you’re welcome.”

  “Happy to help,” Daniel muttered, gnawing at his venison.

  Aidan leaned in toward Atreyu and whispered. “Don’t worry about Lilly. She can get a bit hot under the collar. She’ll settle down.” Lilly overheard and stuck her tongue out at him. Aidan laughed at her gesture and leaned back against the moss-covered trunk behind him. “She’ll be back to her charming self before you know it.”

  Packing up their things after having finished dinner, Daniel handed his water pouch to Atreyu who drank deeply. “We can move out now if we have to. The sun’s going to fall behind the mountains soon though so I’d rather not go too far. We should camp out for the night and make the rest of the journey tomorrow, maybe the next day. You okay with that?”

  “I don’t suppose I can argue with you. I could go by myself, but it would probably be safer to stay with you. I’ll trust you that Halem is safe for now.”

  “Great. Let’s get moving,” Daniel called to the others. “Not that I don’t trust all of Aidan’s little friends, but I’d like to camp in an area where we’re not so…popular.” Atreyu gave him a puzzled look. Daniel just shook his head. “You don’t want to know.”

  “You really don’t,” Lilly agreed, catching a bit of their conversation as she walked by holding onto her sister’s arm.

  “And what’s the deal with her?” Atreyu whispered, leaning close to Daniel.

  “She’s blind.”

  Shocked and unable to believe his ears, Atreyu raised his voice a little too loud when he responded. “She’s WHAT?”

  “She’s BLIND,” Lilly yelled back to him. “Not deaf.” And she strolled off up the path with her sister.

  Daniel chuckled to himself and glanced up into Atreyu’s startled face. “You asked.”

  Daniel and Aidan snatched up their packs, and the group set out, this time headed back the way they’d come. By the time they’d walked a few miles, Olivia was walking with Atreyu, making small talk and being friendly while Lilly and Aidan walked behind them trading insults and smart remarks. Only Daniel was quiet, lost in thought, trying to find the errors in their attack to better prepare for the next.

  They made camp after a couple of hours and stayed the night huddled close together for warmth. They rose with the sun and set out once more. The group traveled north, paralleling the White Mountains. Lilly and Aidan had moved to the front of the group and walked in silence side by side. As the sun settled slowly toward the peaks of the White Mountains, Lilly reached out and grabbed Aidan’s arm, bringing him to a stop.

  “Shhhh.”

  Aidan glanced over at her and pulled her quietly off the side of the path. The others followed suit, moving quickly into the cover of the brush.

  “Can you hear that?” Lilly whispered to Aidan.

  Aidan held his breath and strained to listen. He was silent for a moment before refocusing his attention on her.

  “Come with me,” Aidan said, as he led Lilly back down the path to where Daniel stood and waved at Olivia and Atreyu to follow.

  “There’s someone up ahead,” Aidan whispered.

  “Friendly?” Daniel asked, eyes narrowed with suspicion.

  “I don’t know. Whoever it is, it sounds like they’re in trouble.”

  “Let’s go take a look,” Daniel replied. He started forward along the path.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Aidan said, stepping in front of Daniel. “I think there might be werewolves up there too. I’m not sure, but like last time, the rest of the animals have scattered.”

  Daniel surveyed the rest of the group.

  “Why don’t you all stay here, and I’ll run up and check it out.”

  “Are you crazy?” Atreyu interjected. “There might be werewolves and you want to go to them?”

  “Don’t worry about me,” Daniel answered. “Everyone else okay?”

  “Be safe and come back quickly,” Olivia said. She put her hand on Daniel’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

  Daniel nodded and took off, leaving Atreyu stammering and confused.

  “What just…?”

  “You’ll get used to it,” Lilly laughed as she patted his back.

  Atreyu was still looking back and forth at the others when Daniel reappeared next to Olivia.

  “You’re right Aidan,” Daniel panted. “There’s a pack of werewolves up there.” The others took a step back. “The pack has a baby
centaur cornered against the mountain. There’s a grown centaur on a ledge above who’s holding them off for now.” He shook his head and looked at Olivia. “I don’t know how much longer he can keep them away. He can’t pull the baby up, and it doesn’t look like he can get down to her.”

  “Let’s go,” Olivia said, pulling her silver bullet pouch out of her bag and dropping the rest. “The rest of you should stay here. I’ll shoot while Daniel gets the baby.”

  Lilly and Aidan nodded and murmured their agreement while Atreyu stood silent, mouth agape.

  “Let’s get up some trees in case the werewolves come this way when the shooting starts,” Aidan suggested as he reached up for a nearby branch. He pulled himself up quickly and reached down to help Lilly. Atreyu stood, watching Daniel and Olivia disappear along the trail.

  “Hey!” Aidan shouted. Atreyu started and looked up at him. “Start climbing.”

  Atreyu scampered to a nearby tree and climbed up level with Lilly and Aidan. He sat on a large limb, glancing nervously at the others while they awaited Daniel and Olivia’s return.

  Chapter 18

  Making Friends

  As they approached the point where the trail turned toward the mountains, Daniel lifted Olivia into his arms and took off. Olivia closed her eyes to the blur of trees, trying to calm herself as the wind whipped through her hair. Daniel slid to a stop at the base of a tall pine.

  “Climb up,” he ordered. “You ought to be able to get a good view from up there. Once you can get the werewolves to back away a bit, I’ll move in and grab the baby.”

  Olivia scrambled up the tree, careful to avoid dropping her rifle as she moved from limb to limb. Time was of the essence. About fifty feet up, she found a perch that offered an unobstructed view of the rocky outcrop Daniel had told her about. The baby centaur huddled in fear, trembling, at the base of the cliff. Roughly twenty feet above, an adult centaur trampled back and forth on a ledge, shooting arrows into the trees and bellowing at the top of his lungs.

 

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