Stronghold City Draft

Chapter 13

Maya had been admitted to the hospital. The only reason why the hospital took so long to pick up the telegraph was because it was 11:26 at night once Arialia had begun dialing, not so soon after the chupacabra had entered the room. Her blood tests showed positive for chupacabra venom. This brought a specific passage from Helena Flier's Guide To The Fauna Of Syntar to mind. "C. brutallicus's prey mostly consists of small creatures the animal can kill with a single bite to the neck, so I was astonished to discover that this peculiar creature has venom glands within its mouth. The venom is harmless on its own, but it reacts with the enzymes in saliva, turning into a toxic poison. While I have observed venomous mammals, such as slow lorises and platypi in the past, I have never, ever observed a venomous member of the family Canidae. I was puzzled as to why C. brutallicus has venom, seeing as it does not need venom to dispatch its normal prey and it does not help in fights for dominance as chupacabras are immune to their own venom. However, I soon discovered that the venom is not to help the chupacabra hunt prey- it is to defend the chupacabra when it is threatened. I witnessed a chupacabra under attack by an enraged camel. The animal was kicking at the chupacabra with its hooves and the normal attempts to intimidate the camel- hissing with the back spikes raised to seem bigger- were not working. The chupacabra was backed against a rock when it sunk its teeth into the camel's foreleg. The venom is very fast-acting and painful, and does about as much damage as a rattlesnake's bite to large animals when it has run its course over a few days. The venom can also aid in the killing of larger prey than what the chupacabra normally feeds off of, such as buzzards, monitor lizards and young camels, as the fast-acting venom can kill creatures of this size range quickly." Aviary hoped with all his heart the little dragon was strong enough to overcome the venom. Lucien had also been admitted to the vet. Thankfully, the chupacabra had not bitten him. Aviary had no way of knowing whether his pet had enough chupacabra blood in him to have immunity to the venom, and he was sure the venom would be fatal. However, the claw marks cleaved into Lucien's side required medical attention. He needed to get stitches, otherwise there was a chance of infection. Lucien would be back home after five hours or so, but none of the doctors knew how long Maya would be at the hospital, but they estimated a few days. The wound in her neck required attention, and she needed plenty of rest in order to recover from the venom as quickly as possible. Aviary sighed. This day had gone wrong in so many ways. He stepped outside the house. He looked up and saw the headless corpse of the chupacabra he had killed last night hanging above him by the tail. He had hung the chupacabra up in the morning in hopes of warding any other chupacabras sneaking in in the night away. Its loosely attached head had fallen off while Aviary had hung it up. He knew eventually it would rot and the smell would get in the house, but he wanted to make the message clear to Anarchy's wild servants that his family was off-limits. He walked all the way to the town square, and sat down on a bench in the park, watching the fountain gush water. The park was peaceful, like a little green oasis in the heart of the desert city. He watched from afar as children observed the caged chupacabras by the edges of the park in their makeshift prison. He decided to walk over to the prison and give it a look. It seemed someone had bothered to organize the little zoo more. The cages were stacked much more neatly, and all the cages on the tops of any given stacks had tarps over top of them so that the chupacabras wouldn't get wet in the case of any rare Solarian rain. Any damaged cages or cages that were too small had been replaced with brand new ones of the largest size available for dog kennels, and the most violent chupacabras had muzzles strapped over their snouts so they couldn't chew on the bars or try and bite any children through the cages. They had also been given things to do in their cages, such as balls with food inside that they could roll a certain way to get out, soft blankets to lay in, bones to chew, or large, shallow dishes of water they could lay in or drink. Aviary even saw one bent over a piece of paper with a pencil held in its forepaws drawing a picture. Every cage had a label on it with the name, (The most violent ones didn't have any names listed, probably because those chupacabras were too unwilling to share) gender of the animal, presumed age, and any special warnings. Aviary walked through the little prison, reading the labels of each cage. Scourge, 25 year old male, do not stick paws near cage, will bite. Lupus, 15 year old female, has anxiety, do not touch cage. Granite, 50 year old male. Limestone, 20 year old female, is ill, do not feed treats or she will vomit. Jerboa, 30 year old female. Haywire, 30 year old male, more than likely mentally deranged; will try and manipulate you into opening cage for him. Do not make eye contact if he asks you to open cage. And so on. There were a lot of chupacabras in this prison, at least fifteen. Aviary wondered how many there were in total in Anarchy's army. Probably a hundred at least.

In the open desert, three wanderers trekked through the sand. They were a peculiar bunch with a fascinating backstory for each member. The creature at the head of the group was named Shrew. He was a rare animal known as a kekkoriik. Kekkoriiks are odd creatures. They look similar to a dromaeosaurus and are covered entirely in tan feathers everywhere but their face and feet. They have four ears on the side of their head and are a little bigger than a cat, and have the ability to speak Common. They are sacred among dragons, for they have the ability to soul-bond with a dragon, an ability no other animal has. One a kekkoriik bonds with a dragon, they grow bright feathers like a tropical bird and they can feel each other's presence and emotions. Shrew had not soul-bonded- he still had his dusty tan feathers. He didn't want to, either. He was about 600 years old- kekkoriiks, even those not bonded with dragons still live a long, long time. Shrew had originally wandered on his own, exploring the desert, talking to saurians, escaping chupacabras. The second in the line of wanderers was the only member of the party who couldn't talk. His name was Cat. He was a cat. A tabby with a white belly that was once a stray living in the outskirts of Solis, before the wall came up, to be exact. One day, when Shrew went into the city, Cat started following him. Shrew couldn't shoo him away, so Cat stayed. Now, Cat was a close friend of Shrew, and he would never dare shoo him away. The third was the most interesting. A chupacabra. A one of a kind chupacabra. His name was Lizard. Looking at him, you could tell he was unique. Instead of tan, brown, or red fur like a normal chupacabra, Lizard's fur was pitch black. Instead of yellow or orange eyes, Lizard had grey ones. Where normal chupacabras had pink tongues and throats, Lizard's was a milky white. He was also runty and so skinny he looked like a walking skeleton. The right side of his face had been hideously deformed by claw marks etched into it. Lizard once lived in Stronghold city, as one of the litters of the first generation born under Anarchy's rule. However, rare mutations had made him look different from all his brothers and sisters. His mother abhorred him, believing he was cursed, and it didn't help he was a runt and a weirdling. She never gave him a name. He didn't like to hunt. He didn't like to fight. He spent all his time watching the blind fish in the pond and the glowworms on the ceiling. He refused to eat meat. His mother constantly abused him for being so strange and his body was pockmarked with scars. One day, she had enough of him being around. She raked her claws across Lizard's face and told him to go away and never come back. Lizard had seen Shrew wandering around and started following him. Then, the party of two became a party of three. Shrew had christened the weird little vegetarian chupacabra Lizard because he felt like Lizard's slitted eyes, reptilian claws, forked tongue, long tail, and skinny, bony body reminded him of the lizards he had seen scurrying across the sand. Lizard was only four months old, still a puppy. Shrew had taken pity on him. Together, these three friends, three of a kind, strode across the sand together, unaware that their destiny was linked with the dragons of Solis and chupacabras of Stronghold City.