The Beginning

Chapter 20

Jhaufyther circled Klickhaze, whose eyes were glowing with vengeance. "How do we stop the human who wants to hurt Riley and her friends?" he growled, feeling his tail starting to bristle.

Despite the deadly energy in Klickhaze's eyes, her voice was calm. "Shouldn't we worry about that after the tournament?"

"RILEY'S LIFE IS IN DANGER," he shouted. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "Sorry. I'm just really riled up at the thought of Riley getting hurt."

"I can understand that. But you need to save that anger for the human instead of taking it out on us," Klickhaze commented.

"Why do you always have to make smarter points than me?"

Klickhaze smirked. "I'm just like that."

The wheat shivered as Clauchice's head popped out. "Riley and her friends are trying to figure out who wants to hurt them."

"Good." The more that her friends and Riley help to stop the person, the more likely that Jhaufyther can catch them.

The three of them lounged around, waiting for nighttime, when they would start being active. As the sun set, Clauchice stretched, her tail in the air. "It's a good thing that we're going to be out today. I don't feel like sleeping tonight."

"Neither do I," Jhaufyther agreed. "Or, at least, I can't sleep without getting a snack. You know that empty feeling in your stomach that you have whenever you're trying to sleep?"

"Yeah. I get it every single day," Klickhaze agreed.

"This night will be perfect for filling that up, while also scaring the other group of humans."

"YES," Clauchice said. "That's what I was thinking as well!"

They talked for a while until nighttime came. Jhaufyther got up and smiled at them. "You ready?"

They both nodded. "Yep," they said together.

"Then let's go." Jhaufyther turned around and stalked into his camp, ready to scare the new humans.

Riley woke up to footfalls outside the camp. Looks like Jhaufyther is out, she thought.

Carlos rubbed his eyes. "I might as well get up now that he's out and about," he groaned. He slowly crawled out of his bed and went to the newbies, who were already awake, looking out of their den with wide, fearful eyes. "What was that?" Tommy whispered. Crystal didn't say anything, she just stared outside.

"The Catwings are out," Carlos whispered back. "It's best for you to hide so they don't scare you."

Riley knew what Carlos was doing. While being suspicious of the newbies, he also wanted them to stay hidden in case Jhaufyther struck.

Crystal nodded. "Okay. Where do we hide?"

"I think hiding here is just fin-"

Carlos got cut off by the sound of running. Jhaufyther skidded in, his eyes glowing. "Where are they?" he said.

Riley nodded toward them. Tommy's eyes widened. Jhaufyther's gaze flicked toward them, smiling evilly. "It's time to have some fun," he whispered.

Riley was already used to this, so she decided that she could draw. Jhaufyher provided her with charcoal from Lhrioun's lair, and he also gave her a paperlike leaf that had the perfect surface to draw on. Carlos and Sam busied themselves playing tic-tac-toe by using sticks to draw the game on the ground. Riley settled herself in her bed, covered herself with her blanket, and waited for the show to begin.

She looked at Jhaufyther and nodded. He nodded back and flew out of the camp, his tail brushing the ground. The atmosphere was quiet until Klickhaze came slithering in, her tail flicking from side to side. She narrowed her eyes and glared at the newbies' den. They started trembling with fear, the sweat starting to drip down their faces. Marissa had the balls to run out of the den, only to be stopped by Clauchice. She grinned at her and wrapped her tail around Marissa, with no gentleness at all. She threw her on the ground, leaving her bruised and one arm broken, it dangling at an unnatural angle. Tommy gasped. "Marissa!" Seeing his sister lying on the ground hurt, newfound courage shone in his eyes. He ran out of the den and looked around until he found a rock. He grabbed it and flung it at Clauchice, who turned her attention to him.