The Last Guardian

Two

I awoke to the sound of the beast stirring around me. When I opened my eyes and got up, I looked to see that Trico was laying down now. Although he wasn't relaxed, I was relieved that he wasn't moving around as much as he was before. When I got to my feet, I quietly began to tiptoe around to the beast, watching it struggle to get up and fall back on the ground again. 

I wondered if the beast might be hungering for something... 

I hopped up onto a rock to get a better look at the injured beast. He heard me and quickly turned his head to look, the warning growl erupting from his throat again. Trico's eyes were still the red color they were before, and his juvenile wings were still flapping angrily. Without a word, I hopped off the rock and then turned to look around. 

Directly in front of me, I saw a rocky staircase leading to what seemed to be an entire stone building. I headed up the stairs and looked to my right to see a ledge. On top of the ledge, a barrel sat, glinting in the only available light in the cave. Hopping up, I grabbed the edge of the ledge and pulled myself up with ease, placing two hands on the barrel and lifting it off the ground. 

In the distance, Trico was watching me. The farther I got, the less red his eyes were and the more white his eyes became. I dropped down off the ledge and slowly headed back towards the beast, careful not to be too quick. When I got close enough, I saw his expression change greatly. All the menace in him seemed to disappear as he cocked his head to the side like a curious puppy, white eyes glued to the barrel I was carrying. 

But that didn't last long. He immediately went back to growling, and right at that moment, I made my second big mistake. I had thrown the barrel at him and when he had leaned his head forward to growl, the barrel had hit his nose -- hard. That really made him mad. He sent another large breath towards me and knocked me back a couple inches, snarling at me and opening his mouth wide so I could see his teeth. I quickly turned tail and ran a safe distance away from Trico so he could focus on the barrel instead of me. 

It seemed to do the trick. He turned his head to stare down at the barrel, ears perked as he slowly inched himself towards it. When he was close enough, he lunged at the barrel, grabbing it in his teeth and then throwing it up into the air. I watched as the beast chomped the barrel into splinters and swallowed most of the wood. Some of the wood spilled from his mouth and fell onto the ground below, but he didn't try to go after them. 

The white disappeared from his eyes after he finished chewing. Now his eyes were a beady black color that I could hardly see in the dark of the cave. He made a low noise that almost sounded as if he was saying "Mmmmm", then turned his head to look at his left. I moved towards him and grabbed his attention, thus getting a growl. Trico's eyes went back to white as he stared at me, showing no sign of attacking. Thus, I began to speak. 

"Want some more?" I only got another menacing growl in response, so I quickly turned and ran back to the staircase - this time going to the one on the farthest corner. I climbed up onto the ledge and then ran to get the barrel, having to squeeze through a tight tunnel to get to it. I scooped up the barrel in my hands and then effortlessly tossed it off the ledge, surprised that it didn't break when it hit the rocks below. Then I hopped down after it, grabbing it again and heading back towards Trico, who was watching me with interest and caution mixed into one. 

As I neared, he once again began to growl, telling me not to come too close. I kept my distance and once again tossed the barrel at him, relieved when it didn't hit him in the nose this time around. It still clearly made him unsettled, so I respectfully ran a distance away from him to give him more space to eat. That seemed to do the trick, as his eyes went back to their black color and he nudged the barrel with his nose to make it roll. Without hesitating, he lunged at the barrel yet again and chomped it to bits, more wood falling on the ground. 

Trico made the "Mmmmm" sound again, and turned his head to the left, resting his chin on the ground and beginning to relax. I tiptoed from my spot and around him, finally noticing a lever out of the corner of my eye. The lever was attached to the wall in the farthest corner, and made entirely out of wood. I ran over to it and checked it out before grabbing it and pulling it down. It opened a barred gate right beside me, which led to another room that had a barrel inside. After retrieving the barrel, I once again headed back for Trico, who was watching me again. I tossed the barrel at him and, unfortunately, it didn't land as close to him as I wanted it to. 

Trico growled in disapproval and cast a glare in my direction as I hesitantly moved towards the barrel again. He hissed at me when I picked up the barrel and I stepped back a bit, before tossing the barrel towards him again. This time, it landed close enough for him to reach and he stared at it for a moment before gobbling it up like he did the other two. I saw him begin to try and stand up and actually thought he was going to at first, but when he first put all his taloned paws on the ground, he immediately collapsed again with a loud whine. 

My offerings appeared to have sated the beast's appetite -- but it was still in pain, and could not stand. Trico seemed to give up after that, completely relaxing and laying on his side. It was then that I noticed a second spear in his right shoulder, and quickly made the conclusion that it was the reason he couldn't stand. 

"Does it still hurt?" I asked aloud, watching Trico turn his head to look at me. I moved over to get closer to his right shoulder, getting a growl in response. But I made it around to the spear without getting blasted back by his breath, and climbed up onto his shoulder. 

"Sorry about this," I whispered to the beast and placed both my hands on the spear's handle. I briefly thought about what had happened the last time - and how he had knocked me out,. But without a second thought, I lifted my hands and yanked the spear from his skin. The beast howled in pain and began to stir again, making me desperately cling to his feathers in an attempt to hold on. One of his flapping wings slapped me, sending me flying off and back onto the ground. I skidded a couple feet and once again hit a wall, crying out in pain. Weakly, I tried to pick myself up but found that I couldn't, feeling consciousness slip slowly out of my fingertips. 

Here we go again, I thought, as everything went black for the second time that day.