The Ancients A Tale of Survival

The Chantix

Mỷrἇ stopped so abruptly that Jåcóbӱ ran into her.  His umph was quiet as he grabbed her arms to steady both of them.  Jåcóbӱ peered over her shoulder at the forest in front of them.  They had stumbled upon an animal trail and had been following it for days.  Trees lined the trail and sunlight filtered brightly through the trees.  Birds chirped and animals scurried about.

"Why did we stop?"

Mỷrἇ peered over her shoulder at Jåcóbӱ.  He turned his gaze from studying the forest and looked at her.  Mỷrἇ made a small flick of her left hand towards a stand of dead trees.   Jåcóbӱ's gaze went to the trees and studied them briefly before his gaze followed that of a bird that took flight from one of the branches.

"I no longer hear the cry of the Weeper.  It didn't take flight because we would have seen the bright read of it's wings."

"Hmmm, this doesn't bode well.  How much farther must we go west?"

Mỷrἇ shrugged.  "The sensation is fading, but it's still there.  Can you sense if we are still being followed?"

Jåcóbӱ turned and looked back through the forest.  He had released Mỷrἇ's arms, but his fingers still brushed lightly against her skin.  Mỷrἇ shivered at the contact.   Jåcóbӱ frowned down at her before his gaze softened.  He picked something from her hair and tossed it up into a shaft of sunlight.  Light blazed and smoke blew away on the wind.  Mỷrἇ shook her head and swatted playfully at Jåcóbӱ.

"They have refound our trail, but they are days behind us."

The sound of a twig snapping caused both of them to spin towards the dead trees.  A pair of glowing orange eyes glared at them.  A snarl was barely heard and it made both of them go pale.  That snarl only belonged to one animal, a chantix.  Images of a chantix flashed in Mỷrἇ's mind.  It had the scaled body of a reptile with the legs of a wolf, but with huge claws and teeth that could rip you to pieces within seconds.

Jåcóbӱ kept his gaze on the chantix.  It was odd that one was in the forest.  He thought they only dwelt on the plains.  Jåcóbӱ paled as the head came farther into view.  It was a female and by the look of her head crest she had a nest of young somewhere.  Mỷrἇ's hand had found his arm and had a death grip on him.  She hated chantixes and  Jåcóbӱ couldn't blame her.  Mỷrἇ still bore the scars on her leg from the young one that had clawed her years ago.

"Run Mỷrἇ,"  Jåcóbӱ whispered as he loosened one of his scythes. 

Jåcóbӱ was surprised when Mỷrἇ did exactly as he said.  He caught the flash of her hair as she turned and ran up the trail that veered close to the dead trees.   Jåcóbӱ followed her keeping an eye on the chantix.  His scythe flashed out and raked a line of blood along the chantix's thigh as it leapt at Mỷrἇ.  Mỷrἇ let out a squeal of pain as the chantix's claws raked across her shoulder.

Jåcóbӱ was hot on Mỷrἇ's heals as the chantix bellowed behind them.  The slithering sound it made as it ran was close behind them as they ran.  Mỷrἇ left the trail and Jåcóbӱ followed her.  He kept her within his sight as he turned to check the advance of the chantix.  Jåcóbӱ had just turned to make another swipe at the chantix when it pounced on him.  Jåcóbӱ was knocked off his feet.  As Jåcóbӱ fell he knocked Mỷrἇ off her feet and all three fell head over heal down an embankment.

Jåcóbӱ landed hard on Mỷrἇ who grunted in pain.  As he started to pull himself up he froze as the chantix rose above him with it's claws digging into his thighs.   Jåcóbӱ could hear Mỷrἇ's frightened breath in his ear as the chantix bared it's razor sharp fangs at them.  Just as the chantix went to pounce a feathered spear sprouted form it's neck.  The chantix let loose with an earsplitting death cry as it fell away from it's pray. 

Jåcóbӱ scrambled to his feet and backed away from the dying creature.  He kept Mỷrἇ him as he backed away.  Mỷrἇ  clutched at him as a group of people appeared out of the forest and surrounded them.   Jåcóbӱ felt Mỷrἇ place her back against his and he heard her knife slide free of it's scabbard.  Jåcóbӱ felt for his remaining scythe and got prepared to use it.

"We mean you no harm."

Mỷrἇ looked to her left as she settled into a crouch ready to lunge at the first person who came to her.  Her one hand was braced on  her brother's back so that she could duck when he would pull out her scythe.  Mỷrἇ felt Jåcóbӱ's body shift as he looked to his right.  Two men and a blue skinned woman stood next to bone white tree.  Mỷrἇ had never seen someone like the woman before so she focused on the two men.  They were both equal in height and had long brown hair that was left lose with two small braids framing their face.  The man on the left had eyes as black as night, but the man on the right had yellow eyes that seemed to pierce through the shadows around them.

Mỷrἇ kept her back Jåcóbӱ's as Jåcóbӱ turned to face the men and woman.  "How do we know you speak the truth?"

"You don't, but if we wanted you dead we would have let that creature kill you."

Mỷrἇ studied the people in front of her.  The had the same dark skin and hair that the man speaking did.  Mỷrἇ wondered if these were her father's people.  Jåcóbӱ's stance changed subtly which made Mỷrἇ stand up and sheath her dagger.  She gave the people in front of her a death glare before she took a half step to the side and peered around  Jåcóbӱ at the man who was speaking. 

The yellow eyed man motioned to the injuries that Mỷrἇ and Jåcóbӱ had.  "Let us tend to your injuries and then we will talk."

As the man and his companions turned away Mỷrἇ  spoke to Jåcóbӱ loud enough for everyone to hear.  "We have arrived where we needed to be."

Jåcóbӱ looked down at her as the yellowed eyed man and his companions turned back to look at them.  Mỷrἇ kept her gaze on the yellowed man and nodded before she looked up at her brother.  "I no longer feel the need to travel west.  We are where we were meant to be."