Follow Through

Survival Of The Fittest

The enchanting lights of the crystals blurred together into a muddy brown before my eyes as Ulrik sped through the thickening crimson haze.I desperately wanted to crane my neck and try to figure out what was chasing us but aside from my dangling legs, I was completely immobile. Apparently Keanu's brain hadn't quite arrived at the same conclusion mine had as I could feel the reverberations from his pointless thrashing through Ulrik's bark-like skin."What is wrong with you bro? Put me down! Are you insane? Do I look like a helpless little female?" A quick pause as he reassesses,then "No offence,Jude"

I'd shrug if I could.

"None taken."

I'm usually all bark and no bite.

Ulrik powers on relentlessly and my hair comes completely undone from the bun I'd fashioned on the hill.

"Hey! What is WITH you bro? What are you running from? Where are you taking us? Hey!HEY!" His voice is thick with insult and outrage and I can all but feel his frustration.

"Silence boy! You're leading them right to us!" Ulrik commands and the force of it actually shuts Keanu up.I needed answers too but if I've learned anything today it's to trust Tree Bear.

Well.....that and the old saying should have been 'as stubborn as Ulrik' because a mule has nothing on him.

I'm a pretty close second though.

"What's going on Ulrik?" My voice was calm and even.If we were in serious danger this was no time to be cantankerous.

"The hounds of Nazir have trailed us here.We must get to the inner circle before we are overtaken" His tone was just as measured as mine.

"Oh so you answer her but not me? " Keanu sounded incensed.

"For once,Ms Bishop was not screaming at me,it triggered an uncharacteristically swift response," was Ulrik's response.

Smart a*s.

"Are you implying that I'm some sort of shrew?!" I shrilled at him.

"Case in point," he grunted and I rolled my eyes.

"What happens if we're overtaken?" There was a sliver of apprehension in Keanu's voice,his machismo wavering.

"We will be consumed," Ulrik answered gravely.

"Wait a second,you mean that's what we heard howling back there?" I asked,remembering the eerie,ominous sound.

"Yes,Judah"

"Why do you always sound like that?"

"Like what?!"

"Like you're annoyed"

"Perhaps it is due to the fact that you are a constant annoyance?" He replied forcefully.

"Aren't we getting a bit off topic here? We're being hunted by blood thirsty magic dogs!" Keanu exclaimed from Ulrik's left side.

Oh.

Right.

Ulrik took a bounding leap over an errand boulder without breaking stride then cut sharply to the right.My teeth and tongue made a very painful sandwich.

"Mother freaking mango banana split!"

"Jude,I know you're not thinking about your stomach right now! You're more upset about getting food than being food!"

"I bit my tongue Keanu!"

"Wow, you're still doing that fruit swear thing?"

"Can't seem to shake it so yeah."

"Are all humans as daft and obnoxious as you two?"

This was from Ulrik who sounded only mildly curious.

I tried to shrug again but alas,I'm still pinned by Sir Haughty.Since he was trying to save our lives I decided to let his snide little comment slide.

For now.

We had more pressing matters to attend to.

"Ulrik,if we're being chased by these things,shouldn't we hear them behind us?" There were no more lights now,nothing but unrelenting darkness,the sound of Ulrik's feet pounding the earth and the wind whizzing past my ears.I could sense towering trees and plants streaking by us and the occasional stone building but that was it.

"They will not be heard unless they want to be." His voice was still measured,as if we were sitting down having tea.

This dude was running like an Olympic sprint veteran,carrying two fully grown people  (I'm diminutive but hey,I'm still an adult!) and didn't even seem out of breath.What in the strawberry is he made of?

"Well that's reassuring," mumbled Keanu.

Something hard and bony grazed my exposed calf and I cringed reflexively.

"Ulrik!" I yelled but he had already turned and ducked under something,running to the left now.

"What is it Jude?" asked Keanu,alarmed.

Before I could tell him what I'd felt there was a succession of thuds all around us and I could see stocky greyish bone paws racing alongside Ulrik.As if a literal running sack of bones with wolverine like claws wasn't bad enough, they all had a sickening poop-brown glow and made not even a whisper of sound.

"What the date?" The words left my lips softly and unbidden,then floated off, unacknowledged.

I guess my male counterparts were too busy being scared shitless to reply.

I watched as the bony,razor tipped paws drew nearer and I could feel others behind us as well.We were being crowded and boxed in.Ulrik began losing momentum and I felt his grip tighten a moment before he made an abrupt about-face and planted Keanu and I on our feet."Don't.Move." was all he said before he started to chant rapidly,the words barely decipherable.Not that we could move.The creatures halted soundlessly and began to fan out. I believe I can speak on behalf of my dear friend when I say that both our brains had short circuited and our limbs were rendered incapable of response and action.These ghoulish monstrosities were much more frightening than the animal Noir we had faced the meadow.We were surrounded by the Devil's pets.They all stood as tall as I was on four bulky legs with slabs of bare bone and russet muscle making up their bodies.Their heads were nothing but huge Lion shaped bone structures with patches of rust where there should have been hair.They had ears and tails but it looked like grey cartilage that had started to rot.I drew nearer to Ulrik when I realized that they had no eyes,just an empty black space that glowed from within with that same diarrhea brown that illuminated the darkness enough so that we could see each other. I stuffed my fist in my mouth so I wouldn't whimper or scream but I was shaking.I was about to become my first love:food.I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to summon my power but my fear overwhelmed me,eventhough they were all perfectly still,as if waiting for us to make the first move.

"Oh man,oh man,oh man,oh man," Keanu murmured on the other side of Ulrik,"Jude,the last thing I told my mom was that her meatloaf tasted like sawdust and spit,I didn't even say sorry"

That got the fist from my mouth and I glanced over.

"You're a horrible son."

"She was on my case about Rissa again." Before I could enquire about his bimbo girlfriend of the week,the pack of Nazir demons began snipping at us and drawing closer.Ulrik's voice rose with his chant and his staff pumped out purple glitter.

"Back to the dark from whence you came,feel my wrath and know my name!" His stream of power lashed out like a whip and he spun in a tight circle while it followed suit and slashed the shoulders of three hounds,severing the entire appendage.They all jumped back in unison,with the three injured howling in an ear splitting,plaintive cry that shook with pain and fury.

"Alright Ulrik!" I forgot myself in my gaiety and slapped him on the arm.Pain jolted up and throughout my body from my palm and I almost wailed like the beasts.

"Dammit Ulrik!" I grumbled crossly at him.

"You should not have struck me," he said before readying his staff to strike once more.

"Wait!" Keanu interjected.

We both turned to him with identical expressions of 'what the hell for?' on our faces. Hell's favorite hounds were stomping their feet and growling,the wounded whining and hopping around on their remaining three legs.I knew that the only thing stopping them from coming at us was Ulrik's stick that pulsed a strong,steady purple.

"I can understand them."

His eyes were wide and shocked,the pupils completely dilated.He's losing it.

"Run that by me again?" I say and step closer to him as a lone hound lunges and is struck down by Ulrik.

"These things.....they were once just normal house pets,I can see their lives in my head.They all died happy and just want to rest.They're all tormented." He grips my arms and looks into my eyes pleadingly,as if begging me to see what he sees,or to believe him.He looks at the grotesque abominations he's advocating for then back at me. "I can see chains on their souls." Alright,that's weird.Straight up metal ward alley.

I gently shrug off his hands and press the back of my hand to his wide forehead."Are you feeling ok Keen?"

Two hounds leap at us simultaneously and Ulrik slams his staff through the eyehole of one and swings it's body around to smack away the second.They go down in a howling,bony heap but the wounded three have now gotten used to heir missing limb and begin circling us in off kilter steps,growling low in their throats.

"Judah,some assistance would be welcome."

"Hold on,Ulrik" I turn to Keanu and repeat my question as he stares at the things that are about to eat us with compassion.I want to slap him upside the head.

"I'm fine.I think this is my power,I think I can communicate with animals."

"Do those look like any animals you've ever seen?!" I ask in exasperation and just a hint of fear.

"They used to be!" He yells defensively and steps forward,calmly walking to a Nazir Hound that is crouching and getting ready to leap right on him.