The Lost Voices (OLD VERSION - New Version to Come)

CHAPTER 4... THINKER (PART 2)

Sketch 47: Arrival

8-18-1620 A.R.

Location: Elios, Terrarin 

Retraenon was awoke in the early part of the morning by Minimus nudging his cheek. One of his eyes was shining with a golden hue. "What is it? What're you doing up?" As soon as Minimus received a response, the fox pointed his head down the hill and toward a nearby patch of woods. 

After following his friend's line of sight, Retraenon saw what he was fussing about just beyond the tree line. Stalking the convoy was a lean cog-beast just waiting for a straggler to step too close. Minimus could use short bursts of magic by himself and must have enhanced his sense of smell with yellow magic, which helped him sniff out the lurker. The soldiers guarding the convoy must not have noticed the threat or were carelessly ignoring it. Well...maybe they were right. 

Retraenon had to remind himself he wasn't in Cabrinor. Cog-beasts weren't nearly as aggressive in Terrarin. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Retraenon saw a woman with auburn hair dash into a thicket of bushes not far from the cog-beast. It took a moment, but the creature eventually hunkered down and turned back into the trees.

"No-crap." He muttered under his breath. Quickly, Retraenon stretched out, cracked his neck, and puffed out a forceful yawn before gripping his suitcase and hopping off the wagon. "Come on Minimus." The fox jumped to his master's shoulder and they proceeded to ride the decline like a grassy mudslide. Their eyes turned blue. "Which way?" Minimus continued using his nose and indicated a direction almost immediately. 

The two sped through the trees, sidestepped branches, avoided bushes, and became increasingly aware of the forest floor filling with stones and slippery moss. Careful footwork barely kept them up, but they soon reached a second decline where the creature was sniffing the air in a wide clearing below. Retraenon didn't see the girl anywhere, but he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign. 

Either way, no time to wonder. Retraenon left his suitcase on a branch and motioned for Minimus to watch it, before sliding down a gigantic, moss-covered rock and propelling himself off with a somersault that landed him next to the cog-beast.

The six and a half foot, humanoid animal was the sickening fusion of a lizard and bear whose ingrained, metal pieces and parts made it appear alarmingly thin. Patches of scraggily hair pinched through its randomized scales and its eyes resembled the razor slits of a reptile. Its paws were wide like a bear, but had an abnormal length to them due to iron stilts that stretched the fingers. All this, and it even had an enormous tail shielded by spots of rusted metal. Upon landing, the creature's head immediately shot to Retraenon's position and let out a roar that was something between a bear's cry and a wounded screech.

In a blink, Retraenon drew his katana and went for its hairy throat, but hidden metal encased its neck, making the slice a waste. It then leaped forward with elongated black claws, but Retraenon doubled back with a rolling kick that bashed the bottom of the animal's jaw and stunned it momentarily. 

Regaining his composure as the beast shook off his blow, Retraenon dashed toward it and slashed its forearm before it could swipe at him, but missed his second cut when the creature's eyes blazed yellow and it dodged the strike. 

Then, like a wicked pendulum, the beast sprung right back at him with a full-force, scraping uppercut that sent Retraenon hurtling through the air. He landed with a calculated backwards roll and adjusted his arm, noticing the grimy claw mark on his chest.

Retraenon shrugged it off as his eyes rippled with blue & green and he formed a mirage that mimicked his exact appearance and stature. The two bolted forward in a zig-zagging formation, which seemed to confuse the creature. Taking a chance, it leaped into the air and came down on the two, but it only smashed the magical clone.