Soul Ties

Chapter 35: The Body Under The Blade

My cheeks are flushed from the heat rising around me. Although Ogmellos and I are nowhere near the lava filled lakes, the heat from them is still bothering me. A bead of sweat starts to form around the back of my neck. I peer from around the tree I'm hiding behind, the bark burned so badly that it crumbles underneath my touch. My hands are covered in soot and ash, but I hold on anyway, keeping my body tense and ready.

The sky is dark from the smoke rising into the atmosphere. I can't tell if it's day or night right now. My eyes shift around the other scorched trees searching for Ogmellos. I spy him crouched on one of the branches several trees away from me. His weight bends the branch but it doesn't snap like I assumed it would.

His gaze is focused on the ground and something cracks in the distance. Ogmellos doesn't move and neither do I. With my chest pressed against the body of the tree, I stare at the thing moving in front of me.

I've never seen an animal like this. It's large body contrasts its sickly long legs. Even from this distance I can tell it's taller than me. The legs are so thin compared to the body as it crawls on all fours, its large sharp nose sniffing around the ground. Two blood red eyes sit on the side of its head and, when it turns in my direction, I see a third placed in the middle. Each eye moves on its own causing me to shiver.

It takes in a deep inhale, smelling something that piques its interest. Its gray body lowers itself closer to the ground, the scales on its back seeming to vibrate. I can't help being disgusted by the roughness of its skin. All three eyes focus in my direction and instantly my heart rate picks up. I clutch the tree as my anxiety begins to rise and the bark in my grip cracks and breaks off. The creature stills and so do I.

I'm too afraid to look at Ogmellos, terrified if I look away from this thing for one second it'll reach me before I see it coming. My gaze stays locked on it as it crouches deeper to the floor, its long legs almost disappearing underneath it. It scurries towards me, stopping a few feet away from the tree I'm hiding behind. Can it see me?

I'm not confident in my hiding place, mainly because the tree isn't entirely big enough to cover my body. My right shoulder sticks out a bit, as does my thigh. But because it's dark from all the smoke, I hope that will make me less noticeable than if the air was clear.

I hold my breath, staring at this creature staring at me. It's only two trees away from me now, closing the distance between us at an alarming rate. It places its nose to the ground again, inhaling long and slow. Suddenly its head jerks up and it opens its mouth releasing an ear shattering screech so high pitched I have to cover my ears. The movement catches its attention and it springs towards me, its razor sharp yellow tongue extending as it jumps.

I freeze against the tree. I yell at myself to move, to run, to do anything, but my feet stay firmly planted on the ground. I watch the drool drip from every sharp tooth of this thing. My fingers dig into the tree as I watch this animal lunge towards me in slow motion. My heart rattles and my blood goes cold, but I still can't move, even with this creature so close to me.

Its tongue darts out a few inches from my face as its shrill scream pierces through my eardrums. Instantly, the creature drops to the floor, eyes rolling back in its head as it falls to the side. Its mouth stays open, tongue hanging lazily out of it and onto the ash covered floor. It lets out a heavy sigh and completely stills.

I look up to see Ogmellos standing behind it, something black dripping from his hand. I cant help looking back down at the creature and notice a pool of blackness coming from the back of its head. Ogmellos shakes his hand, the inky liquid splattering on the floor. The knife he's holding is also soaked and he wipes it on the leg of his pants, the silver metal shining again.