Roizen | ONC 2023

Chapter 2

The monster attacking the mercenaries roared, startling both sets of horses.

In the panic and confusion, lamplight wasn't enough to illuminate more than the bulky form of the creature pacing the road between the two carts.

Alana saw the flash of lamplight on scales and fur as the creature launched itself over her wagon with a throaty snarl. Bright yellow eyes with cat-like pupils burned as the creature swept at the horses with a clawed paw.

The animals reared in their harnesses in an attempt to escape the creature. With yelps and screams, the front cart disappeared around a sharp turn in the cliff side road.

"Stop moving!" Shouted the angry mercenary as he attempted to aim his crossbow at the beast. He fired blindly into the darkness.

It was no use, the panicked animals were beyond control. The driver became useless as a wheel caught the ditch and overturned. Alana was thrown from the cart just before the vehicle rolled upside down into the trees. The lantern smashed into the ground, flashing brightly before going out.

The ensuing darkness of the moonless night was filled with the sounds of chaos. Girls screamed. Men shouted. Alana heard the twang of another crossbow bolt.

There was another roar, louder than the first. Alana couldn't see, but she knew she wanted to be as far away from the source of that chaos as possible.

Alana scrambled on her hands and knees as fast as she could away from the sounds of the monster and mercenaries. Her palms and shins scraped along dirt and rock as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the starlit night.

The beast roared again. Somehow, the creature had managed to get in front of her. Alana tried to control her panicked breathing. If she was quiet enough, maybe the creature wouldn't notice her.

She wasn't quiet enough, or perhaps those yellow eyes allowed the beast to see in the dark. With a scrape of claw on stone and a heavy thud, a pair of bright cat eyes appeared a few feet from her face. The smell of musty wet dog clung to her nose.

With a menacing growl, the shadowy bulk of the monster stalked forward. Alana screamed, tossing a handful of gravel and mud at the beast as she forced her aching body to run away.

She took five steps, then ten, then fifteen without incident. Her eyes adjusted enough to make out the edges of trunks under the starlit canopy. If she could just get far enough away from the heavy breathing behind her, she might be able to hide among the thick bushes.

The girl darted through the trees, begging her ancestors for the luck to avoid low hanging branches or trunks in the near darkness. Suddenly, Alana stumbled, crashing to the ground.

She should have prayed to avoid rotting logs.

Wt leave carried her along the forest floor, ending with her back slammed into a trunk. Stunned, she watched helplessly as the frightening beast continued to charge after her.

Alana was never one to go down without fighting. She felt around the forest floor for something, anything to defend herself. A rock or branch might not do more than anger the beast, but it was better than nothing.

Her hand brushed against a thick, heavy branch, knocked from the rotting log. Despite the pain it caused, she sat up, bringing the wood in front of her like some kind of shield.

The beast skidded on the forest leaves. It stopped the same distance away as before, yellow eyes blinking. The sound of the monster's deep breathing filled the silence between them, as Alana and the creature were frozen, staring at each other.

"Don't you dare eat me." Alana ordered the monster on the off chance it understood her. "I have a lot to live for, and I most certainly don't want this to be how I die."