We are deep in the story here. Want to start from the beginning?
Keira kept very still. The last of the sun was shining, creating a dapple of orange and pink on the green foliage. Had that really been a growl from the darkness? She waited. There was no other noise that she could hear. Was it safe? She slowly got up and peered around the boulder. The moss shifted under her fingertips as she was clinging too tightly. It would be just her luck to get this far, only to perish now at the beginning of her journey. She listened. The growling was gone, but in place of it, there was no noise at all, which meant that every other animal surrounding her was also holding their breath. There was definitely something nearby that she didn’t want to meet.
Maybe it was something slow, like whatever was in the swamp water that she had swum through earlier. Perhaps it was like a carnivorous Venus flytrap, and if she found her courage and got her legs to move again, she could simply run from it. This was a thought that gave Keira hope. But it was only a dewdrop of it. The chances that whatever was out there was slow and possibly immobile were slim. But she couldn’t stay here. If the creature knew she was there, it would pounce on her. If it didn’t, it would find her soon. She had to move. Keira willed her feet to go. To do something. She shuffled as quietly as she could behind the next boulder. She had no idea if this was the visible or non-visible side of the beast. She just prayed that she was somewhat hidden. The best she could do was stick to the shadows. Shadow… Keria looked around. Where was that cat? All she could see were leaves and the rough shapes of rocks and roots. Darkness was sitting right on top of her now. Hopefully the growling beast didn’t have good eyesight in the dark.
She peered over the curvature of the rock to find the next spot. She held her breath as she moved, darting from one large patch of foliage to another, until eventually her shoulder was rammed into the crevice. She was making good ground. But the lack of bird song and critter activity was still making her nervous. She looked back to where she had come from. It was nothing but night air.
Wait.
There it was. Glowing turquoise eyes in the dark. It was difficult for Keira to see, as she was right underneath large, broad leaves. But the eyes were unmistakable. She waited for the two glowing orbs to face a different direction, and then she made her move. She cursed as her foot slid, making an audible scuffle noise of grit on rock, but she couldn’t stay in the open. She dove into a shaded area behind a boulder and tried to control her heartbeat. She didn’t want to risk the creature seeing her, but eventually she had to look. Slowly, she shifted her head up to look.
The beast was staring straight at her. Another came out from behind it.
They locked eyes for a brief second before the beast’s body jolted and Keira sprang into action. She turned and ran, boulder-hopping her way out of the dry riverbed and back onto the hard soil. Once there, her feet could connect with the ground, and she could push off. Her speed was good through the forest floor, as she bounded over the odd log or fallen trunk, but it wasn’t fast enough. She could hear the bounding of paws on the ground. They were faster than her and making up the distance. She ducked and dove through the long roots and overhanging creepers. Low growls and the thumping of strong legs hitting the ground echoed from behind her, getting louder and louder.
Keira skipped a breath here and there as she ran in fear, and she got a spasm in her left side. The pain seared up, causing her to stagger. She couldn’t get air in. Her side began to bunch up. It pulled her shoulder down and yanked her body. It took every inch of willpower not to stop and try to stretch it out. She didn’t have the time to be kind to herself. She had to move for the sake of her own survival. But it was going to be pointless. Her logic screamed at her. The creatures would catch up to her fast, and they would overtake her soon. She was going to have to stop and fight the beasts. With a push, her foot smeared on the mud, and she dropped her hand down to steady herself as she turned. Grabbing a branch with the other hand, she lifted it high to smash the first beast that came near her. he branch was soft and half-decomposed, so it did nothing but surprise the beast. Keira grunted in horror as she realised she had no protection. There was nothing but soft, mouldy material for her to fight with.
The entire body was created from bits of dark wood, pulled together by some type of turquoise energy, the same energy that glowed out from its eye sockets. The bioluminescence seemed to drip from its body. Keira was going to have to find something to pull this creature apart.
Her eyes darted around, trying to find something to use. The first light of the moon shone through the trees, and she could see the shadow on the rock, of the same type of grooves that she had seen before. There were signs of technology around her. She let out air. For the first time in her life, Keira was going to have to do something for herself. She was going to have to protect her own life. Not the life of her brothers, not try and fight for her mom, as she felt her mom’s life slipping away at the same time her baby brothers’ first cries sounded out. She had to make a decision to live for the life she was going to live. It didn’t feel as easy as a choice. But the need to survive surged inside. She was going to have to claim her own life, as her own. She had very little knowledge of how energy worked, but she prayed that the guardians of life would help her.
Slowly, she walked backwards to the large rock behind her. As she crept, she felt something getting hooked on her foot. Probably a root or a creeper, but it felt softer on her skin. She looked down and saw the bright color of yarn. One of Maude’s hideouts must be nearby. Maude knew about technology, which is probably why she had chosen this spot. But then, there was a way for Keira to be safe here, if Maude thought she could be safe. Her back hit the boulder. She looked up, and there was another creature right above her. The beast jumped down in front of her, landing in a puddle. There were three of them now, circling her, pinning her against the wall. Keira felt the hard rock behind her, searching for the groove. As she searched the rough surface blindly, her skin rasped against a sharp edge, and she felt the pang of a scrape. Blood dripped out as she fumbled and found the symbol etched on the rock. Her blood soaked into the stone, and there was a bright light as the whole marking lit up. The beasts shrank back in fear of the brightness. They seemed uncertain as there was a foreign hum of energy growing.
Keira also turned with her arms up in fear of the energy surging. She spotted her shadow cat appearing out from the darkness. While the beasts gave a low growl to try and intimidate this new soft, furry creature in their midst, the cat made a soft noise as it touched the energy grooves on the rock, while simultaneously touching the puddle that the beasts were in. There was a loud crackle as the energy flowed from the rock to the water and electrified it.
Keira shrieked as there were multiple boom and crack noises, with sparks flying, as the beasts blew apart. She shielded herself as their energy exploded, and the organic matter that made up their mass was flung and dispersed into nothing but dead wood again. It steamed and gave off a wet smoke from the heat. The shadow cat made a soft noise and released the flow of energy to brush itself against her knees. Keira knelt down against the boulder. The fur from the cat had a small sparkle, and there was still static electricity that jolted her a little. She stroked the cat.
“What did you do?” she asked, but the cat merely purred back.
Keira looked around. The noise of hissing slowly died down, as did the smell of burning wood. Eventually, the last of the sunset beyond the trees faded and the noises of the night swelled up. Keira searched at her feet and found the yarn. She pulled it to see which end was tighter and then got up and followed it. The cat followed her as they made their way to a small crevice between two rocks. Keira slid her way in and found the mound of soft, old, dry grass and a nest of wool and yarn. There was a slight, old, musty smell about the place, but it was warm and safe. Keira crawled up into a ball, herself, and let the day’s events leave her to be replaced by the darkness of sleep.
Leave a comment