“‘Let’s go hunting,’ he says, ‘it’ll be a nice break from watching the herds,’ he says.” O’Kel grumbled under his breath as he scaled a prickly tree. “We should just petition the Master’s drones to take care of this instead of wandering around like fools with pointy sticks. If whatever this thing is can take down a healthy Mor’ban, then what makes him think a couple of shepherds can drive it off?”
O’Kel shifted in his place on a tree limb a few more times before settling in place, his steel rod wrapped in hide balanced awkwardly in his hands. Staring down through the leaves, he watched the leashed Vidak flap and struggle against the rope around its foot that was pegged into the ground. A couple feet to the left and hidden in a bush was Enday, his net in his hands and a cocky grin plastered on his face.
A few hours of waiting and staring down at the bait with glazed eyes, and he was beginning to drift off. A pleasant evening breeze rolled in with the scent of dust lilies from the southern valley wafting in the air.
He sat up with a start when a pebble hit him in the face, almost making him fall from his perch. Steadying himself, he looked down to see Enday crouching by a tree. He’d have told him off if it weren’t for his pale expression and bugged eyes that were darting between himself and something to his right. Enday slowly lifted a finger to his lips, backing away and leaving his net behind in the dirt.
O’Kel froze; something snapped in the branches, followed by the creaking of wood to his side. His grasp on the pike tightened as he held his breath. Carefully, he turned his head and searched the dark green foliage around him for movement. There was nothing there; just the final rays of sunlight dancing through the shadowed canopy.
His gaze flashed back to Enday accusingly, but before his scolding words left his mouth, what had been disguised as a thick tree limb came to life and uncoiled like a spring. It must have lunged for the Vidak below, because only a moment later its body was curled back into the leaves with it dangling from its serpent jaws.
O’Kel gasped and shuffled back against the trunk, fumbling the pike in his hands to stab the monster. He thrust it without thinking, and it jabbed into the bark with a crack. The long, feathery reptile cocked its head towards him with a deep hiss; blood still dripping from the carcass between its razored teeth.
It slinked closer, claws digging into the wood until its snout was only a foot away. He shut his eyes, trembling as he clung helplessly to his pike that wouldn’t be budged. A hot puff of air hit his face along with the smell of death, and he braced for the worst. The air stirred, but the stench faded. He opened his eyes, and the lizard had fled; its tail whisking away into the depths of the canopy as silently as it had come.
One Response
Nice! Had me on my toes!