The Chronicles of Tenroha

Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Matáo awoke to the noxious smell coming from the breath of a creature in front of him as it was speaking. Its voice was one with an eerie tone containing a sort of hissing that drug out at the end of each word. "Our master will return soon, and when he does, we will eat one of you."

The creature paused for a moment and then it asked, "Will it be you?" It began licking the blood from the side of Matáo's face. The creature looked similar to a shaggy haired wolf, to Matáo, but it was much larger. It had long dark fur that appeared to be composed entirely of shadows. He could see the fur, but it had no physical form. He could almost see through the creature. He could see the individual strands of hair, but he couldn't see any mass to them. It had long, dark fangs that protruded from its mouth that were similar in appearance.

"Or will it be you?" growled the creature as it leapt to the other side of the room with a loud thud as it landed beside Jeremiah. It slowly began to climb the wall with its front legs until it stood on its hind legs; bracing itself on its front legs on the wall with one paw-like foot on each side of Jeremiah's head. It took a long, deep sniff of Jeremiah's neck and began to lick the blood from his face as well. Its mouth began to water. Acid began to drip from its fangs and on to Jeremiah's shirt. The acid burned through his shirt and began eating away at his skin. Jeremiah yelled in pain.

The creature stepped away and slowly walked back to where Matáo was tied to his chair. Matáo's vision was blurry. He had a gash above his brow that throbbed with pain and blood leaking down the side of his face. He looked around the room. The only light in the room was coming from an open window. He saw that Jeremiah was tied to the wall and that he was tied to a chair. He couldn't move his arms or legs because they had been strapped to the chair that he was sitting in.

He watched as the creature paced around the room. "What are you?" he asked in a disgusted tone that was quiet and very dry. It cracked as he spoke. He cleared his throat and asked the question again with even more disgust as he remembered the creature's foul smelling breath.

"We are known by many names, but here, in this realm," the creature stopped its pacing in front of Matáo and stared directly at him, "We are known as the Luna Stala," the creature said. "What are you doing here, in this realm?" asked Matáo. "The master sent us to watch over this one. To ensure he succeeds with the plan," replied the creature. "What plan?" asked Jeremiah in a faint, crackly voice as well.

"Our master has many plans for this land and will soon make it his own," said the beast. Jeremiah cleared his throat and asked, "How does he plan to accomplish that?" The creature leapt back across the room and stood in front of Jeremiah again. It began to lick the blood and sweat from the side of his face and said, "You ask too many questions for a tasty morsel. When Master Claremont returns, I believe that we will eat you first; while he watches." The creature looked at Matáo.

The beast began to smile and pace the floor again. "You are no match for the King's forces," interjected Matáo. The creature let out a long chattery growl that sounded as though it were laughing and said, "My master commands twelve regiments, each hosting three to five thousand men who have been trained to do as he commands."

The creature continued, "His spies have informed him that the king's forces only contain six thousand men, most of which have never fought a battle." Jeremiah interrupted the beast, trying to catch it off guard, saying, "Your spies have lied to you." "The king commands twelve-thousand men on foot and another six-thousand mounted soldiers on horseback," he lied.

Jeremiah knew the king's forces well. He knew the beast was wrong, but so was he. The king's true forces numbered closer to five-thousand men on foot with another two-thousand riders, all of which had been called up from their garrisons that were many leagues away. The kingdom had been at peace for over one-hundred years, so there wasn't much need for a large army. They had been scattered across the land to help defend the other cities that had not been attacked yet. He could also summon the remaining Peacekeepers to help defend the capital city. When he did, he could add an additional four-thousand men to the battle.