The Sketch Survivors: The Enemy Among Us

Into the Jaws of Death

A menace arrived on the fourth night since Staut. Yuirus awakened in a stupor, possessed by the freezing temperatures. He thought he was hallucinating when the moonlight revealed a disturbing silhouette.

Beyond the mouth of the cave, a creature with a largely proportioned head and numerous ram-like horizontal horns on its side, progressively decreasing in length the further down its thin, sparsely hairy neck it crept. The rest of its plump body gave way to two arms that could have come from a T-Rex, and dragged along a fat tail that only lifted when necessary. Its eyes were circles of coal black encircling a burst of white light, almost like gazing into two stars.

The rhinoceros-sized animal reared its ugly head and howled, revealing a mouth that was little more than a scribble of jagged stalactites. Others of its kind appeared at its back, squealing into the moonlight as well.

The original creature, soon followed by its accomplices, began to stomp down a sheer hill, only for the first one to turn its head all of the way around its neck to see Yuirus, awake, one more time, before vanishing.

It was only then that Yuirus truly awakened. A sharp sense of dread overwhelmed him as he silently sat back upon the damp, rocky floor of the cave, and shook Soal awake. Automatically, Soal knew what was to be done. Groggily, he got to his feet and whispered, "Irene." That jolted her awake, and she proceeded to wake everyone else.

Soal could infer. "Yalerojopes," he quietly warned Safer's Legion. "We need to go. Now."

The Legion was on the move, and it took no chances. The peak looked reachable within minutes, and they were prepared for battle. Heather and Bridget were surrounded by Yuirus and Thronost for greater protection. Soal was in the lead, followed by Irene, then Yuirus/Thronost/the Lint Corp sisters, and then the others in the rear. "Hurry!" Soal commanded as they stormed out of the cavern.

The Yalerojopes, still trudging down a slope, turned their heads around like owls and spotted the Legion immediately. They walked sluggishly, but at full thrust they were about as fast as an ostrich. This pack of half a dozen or so pursued the Legion up the mountain, only to be joined by other packs as time marched on.

The ever-clumsy Soal slipped on a twig, and began to slide down the ice into the jaws of the Yalerojopes, only for Irene to rush back and tug him back up before the guardians of the key could snap their craggy jaws into his skull.

"Gargh!" Irene yelled as the Yalerojopes hissed, releasing their toothy grasp on Soal's boots. Violent memories of the Battle of Laya filled Soal as his left boot was sacrificed to free him. The Yalerojope that caught him chewed up the boot, and spat it out, contorted and compressed as though it were made of pipe cleaners.

The hill grew ever steeper, and more Yalerojopes joined the pursuit. A fierce wind set in, shrieking with the creatures. The Legion was dependent upon deceptive maneuvers to evade the Yalerojopes, which were very fast on their feet (adorned with several thick claws, and one unnaturally lengthy toe claw). The more Yalerojopes arrived, the more it felt that the Shepherds were not doing their job. If Staut was right, the hybrids definitely didn't want another invasion.

The Lint Corp sisters sobbed in their childish fear as they were escorted up the snowy hills by the protective Yuirus and Thronost. A light flurry set in, and further numbed Soal's hands and feet, but all pressed on anyway.

In the rear, George, Emma, Lucy, and Gorshaw sliced at any Yalerojope that neared. Many of their attempts were partially successful, but with Yalerojope injured, it returned with increased vengeance. Was the Key's location a coincidence, or was it a part of a greater meaning?