[First in Genre, Action/Adventure - The Shadow Awards]
[Best Heartbreaker - The Shadow Awards]
Alema (aw-leh-may) is the dominant male of a small African wild dog pack, dedicating every day of his life towards his family. He has remained blissfully...
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Alema half-expected Amadi to suddenly rise to his paws and be alive as the tree he lay under, but the wild dog didn't move. His flank was still, showing no signs of breathing.
Alema fervently pushed through the group of dogs, who oddly did not question his arrival. His eyes landed on the body, searching for claw wounds and bite marks, but there were none. The wild dog's pelt was still slick and healthy. It took several moments for Alema to see the tendril that was wrapped around Amadi's neck right above his neck band. It dug into his throat, and the fur surrounding it was clogged with dried blood. Amadi's head was gently lifted by the tendril; when Alema followed the line he noticed that it was attached to one of the acacia branches.
"What is it?" one dog chirped.
"Did it kill him?" another asked.
"It couldn't have," the next dog said. "It doesn't have any claws or teeth."
"Maybe it's poisonous," someone offered.
The group of dogs stepped away from the tendril.
Alema's heart quickened. Was it a type of snake? No, it was too thin to be a snake, and it didn't have a head. So how did it kill him? Alema raised a paw and pressed in against his throat, mimicking where the object was wrapped. He found that he couldn't breathe with the pressure, and quickly removed his paw.
"It must have choked him," he decided aloud. "Like a rock python does with its prey."
The group of dogs turned to him in surprise, as if they had just noticed his presence, and Alema shrank back in embarrassment.
After several moments of silence, one dog spoke. "Do you think it's a Thing from the outside world?"
The group erupted in conversation, all of them exchanging glances with the dog who had spoken aloud of the outside world. Alema was shocked that the wild dog had brought up the courage to suggest such a nefarious idea.
"Only a Thing from the outside world could defeat an animal who came from it," one dog pointed out.
"If it came from the outside world, the upwalkers must have had something to do with it," someone said.
"Do you think there are more of this Thing around here?"
"Is the savanna still safe?"
"Hold on," Alema hooted and was glad to see that the dogs obeyed him. He turned to the dog who spoke of the outside world. "What's your name?"
"Kofi," the wild dog responded.
"Can you tell me what happened, Kofi?" Alema tried to swallow his fear as he struggled to maintain a calm voice.
"We were coming back from the kill," Kofi said, looking slightly embarrassed as he brought up the impala his pack had stolen. "And Amadi had fallen behind. We were confused and afraid that he would be angry at us for leaving him, so we followed his scent. We found him like this." He motioned towards Amadi's body.
