Sisters in Arms

13.

Annabelle POV

Slowly, we all turned. The tension in the air rose as we all listened. From our little beach, I could see a sharply rising cliff enclosing our little cove, but still no beast. It was looking both good and bad for us. We were very much trapped, but there were no visible signs of the beast. Then, all the good was drained from the air as a humongous shadow cast across our group, and the blood drained from my face.

I'm usually quite a brave person. I'm quite used to hiding up trees if I run into trouble on a hunt, and can stare an angry king in the face without a flinch. But out here, there was nowhere to run, and I wasn't entirely sure how a terrifying beast would respond to puppy-dog-eyes. We heard it roar again, still frozen. My heart was fighting hard to escape m chest, and I tried to keep my breathing steady. Rilla was looking around frantically for an escape, but as our eyes met, we knew we had only one chance of escape. The cliffs were sheer, but rough and riddled with holes. Our only other option was to die there and then on the beach.

Moved by some unknown signal, we all ran, away from the monstrous roars and towards the cliffs. We climbed, stronger and faster than normal. I've experienced this before, when fleeing danger in the woods, but never like this. Some call it fight or flight. I'd say, given our situation, that's optimistic. Judging by the shadow, the beast was ten feet tall at least. We were around halfway up the cliff before we heard the monster breathing. We could hardly turn back, but I just had to look over my shoulder. I had to see just how slim our odds were. I heard Josephine's tiny foot slip a little, as she did the same.

It was more terrifying than I imagined. Ten feet tall, with the body of a bear, that tail of a dragon and the fangs of a serpent. It's eyes were red, only adding to it's aura of general bloodlust. The thick brown fur was matted, missing in some places, and around it's mouth dripped the blood of it's last meal. Our odds of survival? Slim to none.

"Anna..." I heard Jo's small voice. I didn't usually let anyone but Chloe call me by my pet name, but I decided just this once to let it go, in the face of a rather more imminent priority.

"Yes Jo, that's a monster."

"What do we do with it?"

"We kill it of course" My station demanded I take control; even so far from home, I could not look weak.

"Well I don't suppose you'll need us then, that thing's huge!" Rilla cut in, obviously having turned round herself.

"And I did NOT sign up for this." interjected Thom. I tried to remain calm.

"Look, don't panic. We just have to climb out of range. You hear me? I said CLIMB!" A little taken aback, perhaps, but running on adrenaline nonetheless, my companions climbed for their lives. I brought up the rear, receiving a face full of rocks and dirt as Rilla's feet 'slipped' in air-quotes at each step. She objected rather strongly to being shouted at by a princess. I made it to the top of the cliff just as the creature took a first swipe at my foot. The attack had begun.

Rilla very much drew the short straw. As the strongest, and best with a sword, she was required to get the closest to the beast, but she was so small that one of the beasts paws was as long as her torso, and almost twice as wide. She weaved and dodged, trying desparately to wound the beast, but making it impossible for me to get a good aim on the beast without the risk of killing her. I shifted my aim from left to right, watching in terror as her and Thom, who had borrowed my tiny dagger and rushed forth to protect his Rilla-elf, fought to keep one another alive. Suddenly, I saw Rilla's body tense. Jo cried out, fearing she was wounded, but I knew better. She wasn't wounded. She had just had an idea.

Without warning, she leapt. High into the air, I had to admire her strength and ability, until she landed neatly on the beasts shoulder. The three of us remaining froze. We didn't know what to do, this monster would surely swat tiny Rilla like a fly. The cliffs were not terribly tall, not as tall as the beast for sure, and we could see everything. Rilla ducked and jumped, fighting to keep her balance as the beast shook, trying to dislodge what to it was just a fly. A rather large one, but a fly nonetheless. Finally, Rilla stood long enough to wound the beast. She drove her blade deep into it's neck, and we were rewarded with a huge spray of dark, treacle-like liquid that I can only assume was it's blood. Rilla leapt nimbly back to the cliff just as the creature began to sway.

I stamped my foot in protest.

"Yuk! This will take AGES to wash out of my hair!" I wasn't sure what brought on this princess-y outburst, but I was used to certain standards, and being covered in monster-blood fell a long way below them.

"Well, Miss Priss, you are more than welcome to wash it in the ocean." Rilla argued back. We peered over the cliff to see the creatures blood oozing into the sea, turning it a dirty shade of brown. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Rilla scowled. Thom snorted.

"Umm, hello?" Jo attempted to keep the peace. "Guys, we just killed that thing!" Rilla coughed slightly at the word 'we'. Jo was undeterred. "Besides, drinking seawater drives you mad, and that thing had to drink." I allowed myself to calm down a little, my hair was, after all, not top priority here. I resolved to keep my eyes peeled for a lake, as we slowly left the scene.