Prophecy, Book One of the Kingdoms of Chartile

Chapter Six: At Fortress Kelsii

Jayson woke with a start. He had drifted off, thinking of the "dangers worse than bumbling mountain trolls." His experience of getting carried off by a troll his first day in Chartile had set him on edge whenever darkness came. He wasn't sure what had roused him, though he shouldn't have been sleeping anyway. He had traded shifts with Jack only minutes ago. Or had it been hours? There was a rustling outside the cave entrance. He must have been sleeping longer than he thought, for the fire had reduced to glowing embers. Something moved again, this time closer to the cave entrance. There wasn't much time to rebuild the fire, but he could hardly see to shoot with his bow.

Jayson moved as slow and quiet as he could, adding a log to the fire. He fanned the flames with one hand and reached for his bow with the other. The sound was more like scuttling this time and was closer and faster. He thought he saw the glint of glowing red eyes, but dismissed it as a trick of the darkness.

It all happened at once. A massive, leathery-winged creature flew into the cave. Its wings fanned out what little fire had just sprung to life. Jayson screamed and shot the beast with the single arrow he had managed to grab before falling spread eagle across the floor and his friends. The arrow missed its main target but caught in the animal's wing. It screamed, and everyone was on their feet now, scrambling in the dark for their weapons.

The creature pulled the arrow from its wing with almost human hands and rounded on Jayson. He had lost most of his arrows when he had fallen. His hands shook as he fitted on to his bowstring. Before he could notch it, the monster was upon him. Its wings beat around him, and its screeching and screaming was deafening now that it was inches from his face.

"Jayson!" someone shouted. There was a flurry of weapons. Jayson was oblivious to anything but the animal screaming at him. He held his arms around his head and curled himself into a ball. From beneath his arm, he saw a dark gray face, both human and bat-like, with large, pointed teeth in a wide mouth. The creature opened its mouth wider, ready to bear down on him. He closed his eyes, prepared for the pain. It never came. Piper cried out and lunged forward to cover Jayson. The creature sank its teeth deep into Piper's arm. She screamed an agonizing cry as loud as the creature's. It echoed off the small cave walls. What appeared to be lightning surrounded her and lashed out at the creature. It screeched its ear-piercing cry again, and turned tail, taking off into the night.

Jack and Leo followed, but it vanished into the night as quickly as it had come. Piper fell to the floor beside Jayson whimpering and shaking. He knew this was his fault. If he hadn't fallen asleep, the fire would have never died.

"Piper, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," was all he could say. He couldn't move. He shook so violently he could barely hold his bow. He didn't even notice the tears that streaked his cheeks. Piper was shaking more fiercely now, and her breathing was becoming more labored. The lightning coiling around her body had died away, leaving the shrunken form of a little girl curled in pain at their feet.

Jack and Leo hurried back into the cave to find Dimitri cradling Piper. He held back her hands as she clawed in desperation at the bite wounds on her arm. The flesh around the wound was red and raw as though it had been touched by acid.

"It burns! It burns!" she whimpered, her head rolling from side to side. She screamed again and fell unconscious.

"Piper, stay with me! Stay awake!" Dimitri bellowed. He shook Piper and ran a hand over her face and hair, but she did not stir.

Panic followed. Leo and Jack dropped to Piper's side. They too attempted to rouse her but to no avail. Jayson curled back against the wall, his arms wrapped around his torso and tears continuing to stream down his face. Dimitri stood, cradling Piper in his arms.