Destiny of Sapphire - Book One: The Baron and His Elf

Chapter 9 - Keep Running

Keep Running

Alfhild climbed up the slope after some difficulties. Her sleeve was caught by a broken branch as she heaved herself up. It tore when she tugged it free. Closing her eyes to calm down, she ignored the torn sleeve, magic was not to be wasted on minor annoyances like torn sleeves but she did wish that the route had been easier. Picking up a sturdy stick that was a head shorter than her, she used it for walking and probing around for any unwanted surprises in the undergrowth.

The sounds of birds singing soothed her temper a little. There was just enough light breaking through the trees for her to walk around safely. So far, no danger had pounced on her. This forest was unfamiliar to her but she had asked for a map from one of the villagers who had drew it as he explored it every five days. It was crude but enough for her to proceed towards the cliff where the herbs grew. Medicinal herbs often grew near cliffs and Alfhild never liked it.

It was dangerous to climb over to get even the leaves, despite their efforts, the elves had never been able to grow any herbs that would thrive on flat grounds. They even tried slopes to no avail. Hence, her trip to this cliff was necessary. Somewhere, she heard the calls of birds that sounded very much like Minka Bird, this meant that death was coming. The appearance or the calls of the Minka Bird meant death. Alfhild shivered, she was not about to be eaten in these forest.

Suddenly, the rustling of the bushes startled her into a fighting stance, there was no telling what creatures were hidden in this part of the forest. The Minka Bird had unnerved her. When something stepped out of the bushes, Alfhild swore to herself.

“Sir Blake,” was all she managed. Losing her temper with the stubborn man was not something that she wanted to. He had this ridiculous effect on her when he looked into her eyes.

“Alfhild, all I want to do is to make sure that you are safe,” Blake held out his hands warily, afraid that she would throw him a spell to teleport him back to the village.

Alfhild sighed, “I do not want you or anyone to be harmed. This is a dangerous place and we do not have any weapons.”

“That’s why I am here, I’m worried, Alfhild.”

Blake thought he saw her blush but it disappeared quickly and she turned around, the conversation ended with that and he followed her using the sturdy stick that acted as his walking stick. He felt lucky to have found her despite his lousy tracking skills. He had cuts on his hands to prove it as he had not seen the thorns, tiny thorns that bit him, as he tried to look for Alfhild. Thankfully, before he lost his patience to scream at the forest, he found her. Her sleeve was torn, he had seen her torn sleeve on the branch and was so happy to have found her.

“We have to keep moving to find a safe place to rest for the night. The sun is setting soon,” Alfhild’s voice floated to him through his thoughts. Looking up, he noticed that she was right, they had to move, who knew what wild animals were out there. Blake had heard some kind of call above his head as he climbed up the cliff.

“Alfhild?”

“Yes?” Alfhild continued poking on the thick undergrowth.

“What was that weird call I heard from a bird just now?”

“Minka Bird, when it calls or appears, it means that death is approaching.”

“For whom?”

“That, I do not know. It only foretells death.” They carried on the journey in silence. After what seemed like hours to Blake, they heard something. It sounded like bones being crushed and Blake wondered if it was a giant boa constrictor; this kind of snake would just coil and crush the victims’ bones until it could swallow them. He wasn’t sure if he could fight any creature with his stick that now looked and felt pathetic in his hands.

Alfhild froze, she was not sure what was causing the sounds but she felt it belonged to something large and they would not be able to kill it. They had no usable or even something that felt like a weapon. Cautious, she approached the trees where the sounds were coming from and when she saw it, her blood ran cold.

The creature was huge and gorging itself, it never stopped and carried on eating and swallowing; not once did it stop.

“Alfhild,” Blake whispered into her ear. She shivered at the way he spoke her name. “What is that thing?”

“Gulon.”

The cat ears twitched while tearing the deer apart and started gorging. That was when Blake saw the rest of its body. The shaggy brown fur and fox-like tail looked strange in addition to how the body was different, it looked like a bad mix of a dog’s body with cat head, ears and claws. He wondered how could such a creature be created; it was eating and gorging itself despite that its stomach was expanding at an incredible rate.

“Does it ever stop eating?” Blake whispered.

“No. It is always eating. Soon, you will see how it continues eating.” True to Alfhild’s words, the gulon stopped eating and backed itself between two trees that obviously were too close to each other. Blake watched with amazement. The odd creature kept pushing itself and the sound of gagging started. With another push, the trees groaned with the impact but held in place. The gulon continued to gag and with a strangled sound, it vomited out the barely digested deer that it had just ate and other pieces of meat that Blake and Alfhild cringed at the sight and smell.

Suddenly, the gulon stared at them. Frozen, they watched it carefully but scrambled to their feet when it ran towards them. This time, they were fresh food for it and it gave out a strange mix of call between a cat’s meow and dog’s bark.

Desperate, Blake screamed, “Split up!” Alfhild needed no second warning. She took a sharp turn to her left and kept running despite the rocky terrain. Blake kept his path in a zig zag manner, hoping the creature was stupid enough but it kept crashing down the trees that nearly crushed him when he veered left, barely missing him by inches.

A loud growl and the stink of the gulon’s breath spurred Blake to pump his legs harder. It was difficult to run with the undergrowth but he was not ready to be some weird creature’s meal just yet. Not when he needed answers to his questions. He jumped to his right when a shadow appeared to his left and the ground shuddered when the tree fell.

Hearing a hissing sound, Blake barely missed the cobra’s fangs. It hissed viciously and he wondered how he could avoid being poisoned and eaten at the same time. As the gulon crashed towards them, Blake stood between the angry cobra and hungry gulon. As the gulon leapt towards Blake, he twisted his body and rolled under the gulon as it roared. Its roar changed to a cry of pain when the cobra bit its neck. Shaking its head in the attempt to throw off the snake, the gulon clawed at its new enemy.

The cobra had fallen off and raised its head for another attack. Blake watched them cautiously as they faced off. The cobra was still alert while the gulon was starting to shake its head as if to clear its vision. The poison was taking effect and the cunning snake was just dancing left and right in front of the gulon. Blake thought he saw the gulon paled before it finally crashed onto the ground, moaning in pain. Although he was not being chased, Blake still had to take care of the cobra. However, it turned its attention to Blake just then and hissed again.

Backing away slowly, he hoped that some sort of weapon would appear in his hands, to his relief, something sharp poked his hand and pulled hard. Risking a look away from the angry snake, he turned around to pull his weapon and found a sharp branch. Using all his strength, he pulled it but it stopped before he could pull it out all the way.

The cobra was now closer to him and ready to strike.