HEAR YE, HEAR YE [Assorted Medieval Fantasy Stories]

[07] The Predator and its Prey

A massive, man-sized gecko sckimper-scampered across the forest floor stealthily, breaking not a twig or leaf as it tracked on the hunt. So happy was Averdale the gecko with how quietly he moved that, every here and there, he chirped joyfully in a hushed tone.

However, when the gecko had caught wind of something delectable nearby, he ceased any clicking and chirping and went into high alert. There, behind a massive stone, there was something grumbling and fluttering softly. Lured by the promise of company or food, the gecko approached on careful steps.

When he got near the rock, Averdale utilized his padded feet to climb up swiftly and silently, peeking his head over to the other side. Quite literally, the gecko's mouth fell open as he saw the tastiest treat in the world.

It was a creature with massive wings whose designs were woefully majestic, almost as if it were the face of a bigger beast. Its marble-soft hair cascaded down the back of its head, and little tail-like things stuck out from its scalp, too. It seemed to be drenched all over, its wings, hair, skin, and clothing dripping with water. Most importantly for Averdale, this snack had its back turned to him, and the gecko already made adjustments to sling its tongue around the creature's neck.

The wings suddenly fluttered rapidly, sending a flurry of water droplets all over the place. Several struck Averdale directly in the eye, sending the gecko falling backward and off the rock.

With a soft chrunk!, Averdale heard the voice of the creature peak in surprise. "Hello?" came her voice, and Averdale kept completely still. Heartbeats became the loudest noises in the world for Averdale, and for a second, he thought that his breakfast would get away.

As the winds blew by, a bird in the distance chirped, and a whole year seemed to pass. Geckoic thoughts of being discovered came and went, and as the seasons shifted ever so slightly, Averdale twisted covertly and began to climb back up the rock. Looking back over the summit of that mountain, he was happy to see that his prey had not been alerted, and had turned her back to him once more.

So, with deft precision mastered over the course of seven long years, Averdale lashed out with his tongue. The end expertly wrapped itself around the prey's neck, doing three loops before she could make any auditory reaction.

"What the—?!" The creature began to kick about as she was pulled back, her hands uselessly prying away at the tongue. Eventually, when she got close enough, Averdale leapt from the rock and pounced onto her. She twisted around at the last second, but that at least meant Averdale had a cushioned landing. He flattened her onto the ground, managing to pin down her two arms and legs with his own as her massive, orb-like eyes glared into him.

"Get off me!" Somehow, the creature still managed to push herself up and off the ground, and even though he already held two arms tight, a third arm seemingly came from nowhere and grabbed him in the side. With overwhelming strength (against a fairly light gecko), Averdale was tossed aside with ease.

Concussed from bonking his skull into a rock, his tongue had loosened from her neck, allowing the creature to pry herself from Averdale's slimy grasp. When Averdale managed to flop back onto his feet, he saw as the creature tried to flutter its mesmerizing wings into a grand escape.

Sadly for the creature, Averdale was a deadeye. His tongue retracted into his mouth, then shot out like a bullet, fully constricting her waist and dragging her back down. "Let me go!" she yelled, trying to kick at his sturdy tongue, but Averdale didn't care.

Eventually, the creature was forced onto the ground once more, stepping haphazardly as Averdale tugged it closer and closer. Despite having four arms that were really, REALLY hurting his tongue, he persisted.

The creature tried to bash his tongue, pinch it, pry it apart, but no matter what she did, it did nothing. Then, when Averdale could practically smell the savory goodness bleed off her skin, he pounced at her.

His tiny teeth sank into the creature's waist, although the creature only... made a weird sound in response. Either way, her hands had clamped down on his lips, trying to pull them away from her.

"Stop! Stop it!" she demanded again and again, yet no matter how much she fluttered her wings or pushed his jaws, he only wanted to eat. That was, at least, until the creature poked one of his eyes.

Averdale's immediate response was to panic, as any self-respecting, eye-loving gecko would. Such was the pain in his eye that he again lost his grip around the creature. Weirdly enough, as the gecko was wiping his eyes clean, he heard the sound of squelchy, sticky rolling.

Then it hit him, literally. A wad of sticky whatever-the-heck was rammed right down his gullet by the creature. Choking, flaring in pain, and absolutely confuzzled, the gecko hit his head against another rock. This time, he was knocked out.

🦎

The gecko woke up to find himself completely wrapped in some sort of white, shiny wrapping. He had been pasted to the base of a tree, with only his head left free. The night was slowly descending on the world and, to his displeasure, the creature was nowhere to be seen.

But that savory scent still hung in the air, and it came from all around him. He needed to get to it, as his stomach was groveling with desire. First, though, he had to get these wrappings off him.

Every fidget and budge got him no closer to freedom, so Averdale did the most sensible thing anyone would do in this situation: he began to eat the wrappings. His tongue rolled out, and so he began licking at the wrappings.

Yet as he did this, he realized something rather quickly: the wrappings were the most delectable, most desirable, and most demanded thing for his stomach. With a euphoria brought about only by a life's completion, he forgot all about freedom, and only thought of two things: first, of course, that this was the best-tasting food in the world; and second, he needed more.

He needed that creature. He needed her goop.