Chapter Seven: Monsters

Her good mood didn’t even make it through the night, though. A few hours later she awoke to screaming, yet again. Her first impulse was to ignore it because of the fresh memory of Bridget’s prank. On her way back to dreaming, however, the scream came again. She noticed something strange about that noise. It seemed…distant. And it didn’t really sound like screaming, she thought as she sat up. A definite screeching quality made it not human.

Looking around, she saw that she wasn’t the only one who had been awoken. Elder Banied scurried out of his blankets and started to shake the sleeping figures over by him. Evie followed suit and turned toward Bridget’s bed.

“Go away,” Bridget groaned as Evie tried to get her friend out of bed. “I’m sleeping.”

“Bridget, wake up!” Evie hissed. “There is something in the forest and I think we need to get away from it.” Another screech punctuated her fearful words and Bridget’s eyes shot wide open.

“Wwwwwhat wwas thaaat?” She bolted up to sitting, the blankets clutched to her chest while her head darted in every direction, looking for an imminent threat.

Elder Banied spared Evie from having to answer by quickly heading their direction. Anna and Trevor scurried around the campsite, packing up their belongings.

“Pack up!” The Elder’s voice was an urgent whisper. “We need to get out of the clearing.”

“What…” Evie left her question unasked because the Elder’s stern face swivelled in her direction.
He nearly spat the words, “Just do as you are told for once without any foolish questions!”
The camp disappeared in a virtually silent uproar. Everyone gathered their own things and began heading toward Elder Banied. He motioned them to follow him into the thickest forest around them as that horrible screech sounded again and was answered by another, slightly lower pitched one. After that they heard several, but they sounded more distant. The first one, at least, moved ever closer.

They marched on through the night, shivering in the cold wind. The moon lit the forest brightly, and it wasn’t that difficult to see. Still, the silence loomed, except for the occasional screeching and the muffled grunts when someone stubbed their toe or tripped on a root. Although Evie kept telling herself her imagination was playing tricks on her, it seemed that every call of that distant animal sounded closer than the one before.

Elder Banied led them in what felt to Evie like circles in the forest, as if looking for something. Hours later, or at least what felt like hours later, he stopped at the mouth of a cave and motioned them in. Evie hesitated. She didn’t know what made that awful screeching noise, but she was quite sure evil things lived in dark caves. Her mother, when she was young, and Aunt Abby, most recently, had always been clear that they should never enter a strange cave, no matter how empty it looked. She wouldn’t go in, not even in the middle of the day. She folded her arms and set to tell Elder Banied her position. One loud screech that sounded almost on top of them, though, sent her scurrying in without a glance back.

The cave hardly deserved the name. It ended a few paces from the entrance. Once inside, she could see that there was nothing to be afraid of. The moonlight cast eerie shadows, though, and she stepped close to Bridget for comfort. Before she could worry about how silly it looked, she realized that they were all huddled together against one wall. She felt comforted and warm. She did not want to move. Trevor’s voice to her right sounded unsure and shaken, “Are they after us?”
Elder Banied whispered back, “I think they must be, and I think you know who sent them.”
The boy didn’t answer. After a minute, Bridget’s voice asked, “What are they?”

There was another pause and then a sigh. The Elder answered quietly, “Raptons. They are a small, domesticated dragon. They are used primarily for hunting. Someone is looking for us. Raptons are nocturnal and can see like it is the middle of the afternoon in pitch black. Fortunately, though, they will be blinded by the light. All we have to do is wait for dawn. They will stop hunting before then.”

The assurance didn’t seem to calm anyone. They all stayed huddled into the wall, silently listening to the beasts coming closer. There must have been tons of them! The answering screeches now sounded as close as the first one, as if they were all circling right over the cave. And then, all at once, the noise stopped. Evie heard her own heartbeat in the silence. She had thought nothing could be as frightening and the cries of those creatures, but the suspenseful silence screamed even louder of looming disaster.

Elder Banied broke away from the cluster to edge slowly toward the entrance to the cave, hugging the wall the entire way. No one else moved.

It happened in an instant. A long, scaly beak poked into the cave. The thing screeched a quick cry, throwing its leathery head back and closing its blood-red eyes. Elder Banied had his sword out, but he was snatched by the legs after a bird-like claw wrapped around them. Evie wanted to scream. Bridget did scream. But Trevor didn’t even hesitate. He surged after the Elder, grasping the hilt of his sword in both hands.

Before she knew what was happening, Bridget had Evie by the arm and dragged her to the cave entrance. Once again her cousin proved how much more courage she had. The scene outside made her breath catch. Hovering several paces in the air, the rapton expanded to the size of a house. Its bat-like wings stretched out, flapping wildly. It almost had the torso of a skinny man, except that its gaunt ribs were covered by that dark scaly skin. Evie couldn’t have guessed what color it actually resembled, not in the dark. With one of its thick legs, it swung Elder Banied’s limp body back and forth.

It seemed that it would have flown away with its prisoner if it hadn’t been for Trevor. Moments after they emerged from the cave, that boy jumped from the top of a tree onto the creature’s back. How had he climbed the tree so quickly? He must have rivalled Bridget’s skill at climbing! After a moment of stunned staring, Evie began wondering what in the world he was doing. He didn’t have his sword in his hand. Rather, he reached around the neck of the creature to its face. Bridget didn’t stare curiously. She began grabbing anything she could find and throwing it at the rapton. Its long, pointed tail, whipped the ground and Bridget fell backward into Evie, knocking them both to the dirt and rocks.

At that moment, Trevor shouted, “Stop! Do not move.” As if the command had paralyzed them, the two girls laid there, stunned, as the rapton suddenly calmed. Evie didn’t believe it. Trevor had one hand over each eye of the fierce beast. It seemed as if that had put the animal to sleep. Its tail stopped lashing and its humongous wings stretched to their full length, so that it glided to the ground. It landed carefully leaning back so it supported its weight with the one free leg and thick tail, which now rested on the earth. A few trees bent backward or snapped to make room before it folded its wings and stood still.

Trevor let go and slid down its back. The animal opened its red eyes but didn’t move. The boy made his way around to stand before the rapton. He held one hand out before him, with the palm down. In a slow motion, he lowered his hand to his side. The animal mimicked this action, setting the Elder down gently before bringing its talon to rest on the earth by the other one.

Evie and Bridget didn’t move or make a sound. That had to be magic. Was that what it meant to be souray? You could charm dragons? Evie had never seen a dragon before. She surely could not have done that. Perhaps she wasn’t a souray after all. Looking at the creature, still standing impossibly still, Evie figured she had been wrong about its size. It loomed larger than any man she’d ever seen, but not by much. Even as tame as it acted now, her stomach clenched in fear. She wanted to run to the Elder, but she was too afraid.

Bridget acted first. Getting slowly to her feet, she walked toward Trevor as if approaching a rabid, but awe inspiring, animal. He didn’t move from facing the rapton, but he didn’t act upset about her movement either. He whispered, “I must keep eye contact for a while, or she might attack again.” In a louder, commanding voice he added, “Anna, see to the man!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Evie just noticed Anna creeping carefully out of the cave. She shook with remembered fear, but she didn’t seem afraid of the creature anymore. At Trevor’s bidding, she scurried over to Elder Banied’s side. Bridget, on the other hand, kept moving toward Trevor. “That was amazing!” she whispered excitedly. Evie braced herself. He was going to say something cruel and her friend would be angry for days.

Instead, the boy’s face softened a bit. “I was taught how to tame Rapton. They will only answer to their master, unless you can blind them. Then they respect you. They will often obey you. It is the only way to calm them, unless you are their master. They will not release what they hold unless calmed.” It had the sound of something recited during a lesson. It wasn’t magic at all, Evie realized, with a start of surprise. This was education. All of a sudden lessons seemed like a very good idea. She knew she wanted to learn.

Before anyone could say anything more, Anna helped Elder Banied to his feet. He held his head, but seemed to be okay. And then, another screech pierced the night. Trevor looked up, but it seemed he’d kept eye contact for long enough, because the beast before him did not move. “This is a scout,” he said while intently studying the sky. “The others will follow when he does not return their call. We had better get out of here unless you guys want to try and fight eleven of them. There are usually twelve in a pack.”

Bridget was headed back to get her stuff from the cave, but she kept glancing back at the sky. “Can we hide from them? It’s not dawn yet and I’m sure we won’t outrun them.”
Apparently Trevor and Elder Banied each thought she meant the question for him because they said as one, “I do not know.”

The chase began.

The little group ran slowly through the night, hopping over the rocks or tree roots in their way. The rocky terrain made it hard to move fast, and Evie didn’t think Elder Banied had the energy for it anyway. The screams of the raptons came closer. Each time the initial one called, it received answers by several more. They weren’t trying to outrun the animals. Evie knew that was not possible. They were trying to outrun the night, hoping that the sun would come before they became victims.

Evie’s heart tried to beat its way out of her chest. She’d never been so afraid and she’d never felt so alive. Bridget stayed next to her, running with a determined look on her face. If anyone could outrun these beasts, Bridget could. She was so brave and strong! Still the screams came closer.

At one point Trevor disappeared from in front of them. They could see him there one moment and not the next. An instant later, the girls fell on top of him. He desperately struggled to pull his leg free of the tree root it had caught on. Evie and Bridget didn’t pause. They each grabbed an arm and pulled with all their might. Trevor held his leg and twisted to break it free. When they were all on their feet again, the boy limped a bit, but seemed to move almost as fast as before. They continued running before the adults noticed the delay.

Then Evie noticed the first creature come into sight behind them. Without looking back, she couldn’t see the whole thing, but its ugly head lingered there in the corner of her eye, moving closer to their little party. They pushed forward until the lead monster pushed ahead of her and the others made the shape of the flying V behind it. Were there only eleven? At that moment they seemed like hundreds.

One of the raptons broke formation and swooped down toward the party. Evie didn’t have a moment to think, but she felt her stomach lurch. She couldn’t escape. Bridget threw herself into her cousin’s side. The two of them hit a tree and bounced to the ground. By the time Evie looked up, the massive animal headed back to the others. It had only missed grabbing her because Bridget had thrown her from its path. Bridget shook involuntarily. The other members of the party also pressed tight against nearby trees. It seemed unlikely the raptons could swoop down into such places.

Since the group had stopped, the animals did too. The V became a circle. Again, one of them broke formation to claw, this time at Anna. The poor woman threw herself onto the ground next to the tree, and it missed again. Elder Banied stood next to Trevor, a few paces from the girls. He glanced once at the sky and then darted toward them, hunched as far down as he could go and dragging the boy behind him. A rapton shot toward them, but missed by a hair because Bridget hit it with a rock just as the talon swooped to close on the Elder.

He soon had his back pressed against the tree where the girls took shelter. Trevor seemed more shaken than Evie had ever seen him. Come to think of it, he usually held tightly to amazing calm. He stared up at the Elder, who began speaking, “We have to find better cover.” He panted quickly and began to cough. The run had been too much for him. He was a very old man. “There is a narrow space between two boulders over there,” he indicated the direction where Anna still lay pressed against the ground. “We might be safe in there until morning. Dawn can’t be much longer.”

Curiously, Evie wondered why the creatures didn’t try another swipe at them. When she realized, she wished she hadn’t. Several of the raptons had broken away and gone different directions before they disappeared. They are landing, she thought. They will surround us on the ground.
Before she was sure what was happening, everyone had begun gathering all the rocks they could carry. The short run to Anna kept the small group’s nerve on edge. They ran upright this time, tossing rocks and sticks at any rapton who attempted to get close. It seemed like the creatures felt confident in their plan for ground attack, because, although they swooped low, none tried to get close enough to grab. Evie supposed it wasn’t worth the rock welts, since they were certainly going to catch the runners as soon as they could land in the forest.

Trevor helped Anna to her feet and Elder Banied showed them where the boulders were. They would risk everything getting there. The open space between them and safety meant chancing more than just the scratches the rapton could give them in the more heavily forested area. Evie could see the chance, though. The boulders stood close enough together that the rapton wouldn’t fit in. She would. Perhaps the adults would too. It was a big chance they were taking. Of course, they didn’t have a whole lot of choice. Once the creatures moved close on land, hiding against a tree wouldn’t save them. With that on her mind, Evie noticed that she saw only three still circling above them. They had to act fast.

Elder Banied whispered frantically, “We are just going to have to run for it. Do not look back, do not stop running. Keep going until you are between those boulders! GO!” Evie felt a push from behind, but it was not even necessary. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her. Vaguely, she was aware of Trevor and Bridget to either side of her. Anna and Elder Banied must have been behind. The clearing left them so open. It seemed like miles to safety!

Mockingly, almost casually, a rapton stepped out of the trees in front of her. It threw back its head and screamed that terrible scream. Its call was answered immediately from all around her. Bridget stumbled and fell, face down beside her. Evie threw herself to the ground. She surely couldn’t get to safety now. In horror, she realized that they were surrounding them. Running would do no good. They were caught. Slowly, the monsters stepped closer, closing the ranks of the circle. Evie wanted to close her eyes, but couldn’t. She had never been so terrified.

Suddenly, a light flashed in front of her. Before she had time to wonder what it could be, another appeared. An instant later, thousands of them decorated the air around her. The night had somehow gone pitch black, except that those tiny, flashing lights blinked everywhere. Evie looked to the side. She couldn’t see any of the other people. She only saw the black night and those beautiful little lights. I might be crazy, she thought. Perhaps I am crazy with fear. I never had much courage. But still the lights winked, and still the night loomed.