Journey of the Horn

Chapter 12

I eventually fell asleep with Connall laying on top of me and a small pouch for a pillow. When we woke up our fire was out and the storm had stopped. "Alright bud, we have two choices. We either head for the ring, or we go hunting for some food. What do you think?" He just starts to wag his tail like a happy dog as he grabs my bow in his beak. I can't help but laugh at his cuteness. "Alright, hunting it is." I grabbed my bow and my quiver and climbed down the cliff. Connall decided to practice his flying skills and glide down to the ground. We started heading back for the mountain, which was north of us, that way even if we didn't find food then at least we would still be heading to the ring.

There was no telling what the weather would bring, or the challenges ahead. The sky above us was as blue and clear as the clearest of water. But in the distance clouds loomed over the snow covered mountains, the snow went up to my waist. Connall was completely buried but he didn't mind, in fact he liked it. He was popping his head out of the snow and squawking at me like we were playing Marco Polo. So I started playing along; "Marco!" He popped up a few feet in front of me and squawked before diving back down. I remember playing with my younger siblings, Alpine in particular. He loved it when I would chase him trying to tag him....I wondered how he was doing, I hope he was okay. "Marco!" "Squawk!" I had to admit, watching that little griffon jumping in and out of the snow had its way of making me feel better. But that stopped, when I heard a voice coming from the right of me. The voice was soft and sounded like it was getting wrapped up by the wind.

I looked over, and there was a woman. No older than me, she had golden hair, with deep tealish blue eyes. She was a satyr like myself. She wore a pink dress along with a white fur shawl around her shoulders. "Who are you, and what are you doing up here?" I asked. "My name? My name is Lilith (means female demon of the night). Oh please sir, it's so cold up here." I looked into her eyes, they seemed to enrapture me in their cold blank stare. "Sure, come here." She gets a sinister smile across her face. It was then I realized that she was also carrying a parasol. She came closer; "Oh thank you sir you're so kind, and generous. You must have a very sweet soul..." It was then that I knew, this creature wasn't a satyr at all. But rather a tricky changeling. Not the kind like Nanny, no this kind was the kind you wished you would never encounter. Like a siren the lure men and women alike to their deaths, but they don't do so with a song. No they usually draw in their prey by shapeshifting into a helpless child in need, or someone their prey would be attracted to, and once they were close enough they would change back to their original form to suck out your soul to gain more energy and power for themselves. Usually they don't wander out of the Dark Forest due to the fact that if light touches them, they become so weak that they have to retreat into their soul stone. But obviously this one had found a loophole.

I stood stiff as they walked closer and closer. So close that they were starting to transform back to themselves. But before they could turn all the way I ripped the parasol out of their hands. They made a sound that could only be compared to the echo coming from a murder victims scream across the trees as they retreated to their soul stone. It was as black as night, and as soon as I heard it hit the snow I exhaled all the air I had trapped in my lungs. I searched for the stone in the snow, if it wasn't broken into shatters the changeling would most certainly come back. I found it under about three feet of snow, I threw it up in the air, and round house kicked it as hard as I could. It broke into a million pieces. My breathing was heavy, but we had to continue on. If we didn't the cold would eventually catch up. "Come along Connal, it's...safer now."

We continued toward the mountain, with the day going by without another struggle other than dragging my exhausted hooves and starving stomach through the snow. My stomach sounded like a Grizzly that had just woken up from its hibernation. We have to find some food soon, I can't imagine how hungry Connal must be. He's only a baby. I heard something moving through the snow, something bigger than a satyr. But what? Please don't let it be a Ursa. I moved through the trees as quietly as the crunch of the snow would allow, trying to make myself as small as possible with Connall following close behind me. I hid behind a bush as I peeked over to see what the source of the sound was, and was relieved to find....it was Muskoxen. I laughed a little out of sheer relief. "Well Connall, little man, looks like we're gonna eat after all." I drew my bow and aimed it at a Oxen, but then I saw a calf poke its head out of its mother's fur. It was trying to keep warm. I couldn't kill its mama, I aimed at another. This time a male. I drew back my arrow and fired, the arrow hit him in the shoulder and he started to run. "DANG IT!" I started running after him at full speed, which for a satyr is about 40 miles per hour. I felt like a wolf chasing down an elk. Connall was also chasing it, but instead of running he was jumping almost like he was skipping. I continued to run but looked back every now and then to make sure Connall was still following me. I looked back one time....he was gone.