Monster Legends - Volume 1: A World Of Monsters

17. Predator

The walk towards the mountains in the horizon was a miserable one. We keep glancing backwards, hoping that the Evaranae moved to do their own thing. That never happened, standing still as statues, their eyes on us as we march.

Stella and I have thought of an idea. We stopped walking, sitting onto the ground, taking a break. "Why not just wait till the sun comes up? They will have to leave to their lairs then." It sounded like a good idea. So we settled down, taking out some food and we sat facing the Evaranae, thinking. "Man, I'm tired." Stella says. I was too, but being the gentleman as I am, I allowed her to sleep first while I took the first watch.

My heart beat rapidly as I kept on the lookout, my ears listening to sounds out of place. Lucky for us, the Evaranae stood where before. Moving only slightly once in a while, catching prey to feed on, the spider Monsters didn't cause us problems no more.

Two hours before dawn, I awoke Stella. She grumbled angrily, wanting to carry on sleeping but knew I needed the rest just as much as she did.

The sleep was short but resting. Nothing attacked, which was strange, considering the Dark Plains were crawling with life. It was as if the Monsters didn't want to near the mountains. I wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing.

We weren't hungry yet, and the sunlight hit our faces. We were very disappointed to see the spider Monsters haven't moved. Jenson must have tamed them somehow, made them be able to stand sunlight. "It was worth a try." Stella says, and I nod in agreement. "Damn them." I say with anger.

If we wanted to leave the Dark Plains, we would have to go the long way through the mountains. At least we got what we came here for. The Guarae, Laomu staff. Bolt was beside us as we carried on towards the mountains, away from the Evaranae. Away from Jenson and his shack. Away from the Dark Plains. Little did we know, that we were heading for something worse. Much, much worse.

With the sunlight, everything looked a lot nicer. Less scary. "How was your life as a kid? Robbie told you about my school life, so how about you?" I ask. We were both fifteen, me being older by a month. "I live with my dad and mother. As you know, mum is a little sick, but she's getting better. School was boring like it is for everyone. Only lessons I was actually interested in was the Monster related ones. I think that was the case for everyone to be honest." "Yeah." I nod.

"I've had a couple friends, both girl and boy. They're away now somewhere, Monster training I guess. We went fishing with dad when I was younger. No one in my family is a Monster trainer. That's why I want to be the first one."

Jenson's shack and the Evaranae soon disappeared behind us as we climbed the first hill. We stopped numerous times to regain our energy, walking uphill was very exhausting.

It was middle of the day when we came across the first cave. Guided by a torch, we explored as far as we dared. The moment we stepped through the cave entrance, the atmosphere turned chilly. Goosebumps appaeared all over my skin, so I zipped up my coat.

It didn't take us long to find the first remains of something's dinner. Green skin, a grey like liquid and skeleteal remains of an eight legged creature. "Evaranae?" I ask, my nose wrinkling at the horrid smell. "Yeah. Whatever killed it, it's probably even more dangerous than the spiders." Stella said, taking a large gasp of breath. "Let's get outta here, before I'm sick."

Only about twenty metres away, we found another entrance leading to the ground. "I'm starting to think they're lairs. Of something we should be afraid of." "Very afraid of." Stella adds.

Splotches of blood littered the floor. I tried my best to avoid the piles of bones. Some animal, some Monster. Maybe even human. I finally come across something new. I went further into the lair as before. Stella said it was a bad idea. She was right, but curiosity got the best of me and I carried on anyway.