I turned away and rushed uphill again, away from the sounds of carnage.

On my way through a clearing I spotted the metal ship, no longer flying, but resting upon the ground. It looked almost like a gigantic Chinese firecracker, made in riveted metal. I didn't pass too close for fear that more armed beetle-men might emerge from it's open portals.

No, I wasn't feeling foolhardy enough to get near, but it did me no harm to look.

I took note that it had great silver fins along its sides, like a fish, glass balls along the sides and top like something that might be on a French chandelier. It had to be at least as big as a railway car, yet it seemed to sit lightly on three small metal feet.

Before I passed into another copse of trees I also observed green and red stripes that ran end to end and some markings that might have been writing.

Inhuman screams and growls shook the air.

If I had slowed in my retreat from the scene of that monster combat, I hurried it back up now.

In fact, I ran, deep into the darkness ahead.

“Renford!”

I halted at the sound of a pitiful human voice.

At first I couldn't find its source in the shadows “Who's there?”

“Here.”

Against a boulder lay two bullet-riddled bodies. One was Steven Donnelly, his eyes wide and still, looking at nothing. The other was detective Enfield. I could see right away that he was near his end.

“Enfield! What can I do for you, man?”

“Nothing,” the detective said, “as you can see, he got me as good as I got him. Now we're both done.”

“Maybe I can get you some help, there must be a doctor nearby.” I knelt beside him.

“No, boy, there's no use in it,” his lips seemed to be going blue, his great black beard stained in blood. “Get away from here as fast as you can. This one's brother got away from me. I think all of the others...”

“I got him, he's gone, but he...”

“Well done!” Enfield perked up a little, but the effort made him cough, those holes in his chest couldn't have made it any easier.

“I don't know if I should tell you, but there's something else in the woods. There's other things, other danger...”

“I thought I saw something.”

“You too?”

A strange far-away look came into his eyes “From a young age I'd heard legends about these woods. I guess I never thought much of them. They talk about there being a secret people here.”

“I've got to get you out of here.”

“It's too late for me, Renford, but you need to be careful. I don't know what's afoot.”

“Can I do anything... to make you comfortable?”

He shook his head “The most you can do is get away alive, tell someone what happened. This is as good a place as any to lay these old bones to rest, but you're not for this. Get away, Renford. Get back to town and live.”

I wanted to argue, or even to drag him back with me, but those proved to be Enfield's last words.

I might have taken a moment to pause and say a word over him, but instead I set about doing just what he'd instructed me to do.

Up ahead of me the forest floor was split by another gap, stone sheer walls sloping down into obscure shadows. To my left there appeared to be a narrower spot crossed with branches where I might cross. At that same spot another cliff overlooked the ravine.

I looked below me and realized that about 20 feet down was another clearing on the edge of the gulf and that this was the other side of the log bridge which I'd sought from the beginning!

I looked a moment before I realized that two figures were crossing the log bridge from the far side, and the figures weren't human beings!

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Two of the Sasquatch things walked across to the clearing and stopped, as if looking around.

I lay flat on the stone and watched them, both guns at the ready.

It struck me now just how odd these things really looked. Each was covered with brown fur, but neither seemed to have a muzzle or ears like beasts of the forest have. No, their heads almost looked like those of spiders, covered in lifeless eyes with no suggestion of nose or mouth. Looking at them in clear light, it seemed also that their arms and legs were too long for their torsos.

The two monsters gestured to one another for a moment. One looked around as if to see if the coast was clear, and put both paws to his head.

Then he lifted the head off!

Yes, the head itself was nothing but a helmet, like maybe a deep-sea diver would wear, only with fur. And the head underneath was that of a man.

The other Sasquatch took off its head too and there below me were two men talking, dressed in the strangest disguises I'd ever laid eyes on.

They weren't very loud with each other, so I didn't get their conversation, but I could see that they were men of a strange kind. Each had tan skin, almost coppery, each with soft features. One of the men had an eyepatch and both had dark hair which spiked up like the quills of a porcupine.

For some reason I noticed last which I should have noticed first: that each of these men had slightly oversized pointed ears.

If I went and told Morninghawk, or any other man, that I'd seen two Sasquatches who turned out to be elves in disguise, he'd call me a drunken fool and tell me to go sleep it off.

When the elves decided to put their helmets back on and continue on their way, I went mine and crossed the upper gap.

No sooner was I back in level forest when raygun fire broke out again.

Beetle-men popped out from behind trees to sneak off shots. When trees and dirt around me started to blow up I got the idea they were aiming at me.

I didn't stay still, but started running.

I fired back with the raygun, which must have given them a surprise.

Time dragged on and found me dashing from cover to cover, running and hiding like a hunted animal, only to take wild shots with the strange weapon when the opportunity arose.

I don't know how long they had me pinned down, in fact I couldn't even tell how many of the monsters were after me. From all I saw it could have been five or fifty, I just know they kept the rays hot and ready.

I intended to make good and escape the forest of horrors, but the chance was shaved thinner and thinner with each blast. I decided to myself that if I met the one who was missing a hand I would take him down with me.

Once in a while I'd see one of the scaled beasts in the clear and open fire, but he always managed to duck behind a rock or other obstruction just in time.

I made slow progress towards a fallen log, under which I saw a bare hill sloping downwards shaded by trees gently spreading out around a clear spot below. Yes, that looked like as fine an exit as any. With every dash I made closer to that spot, though, more fire came my way.

I'd just about worked up my courage to make a long run for it when a ray struck a tree that leaned near the log, and middle of it was blown through. The tree fell forward, but tilted away from my hiding-place, toppling down and knocking other branches away.

Inspired, I began to fire wildly at the trees that the beetle-men had selected for cover. In the havoc that followed, the shooting stopped and I made my mad dash, now safely obscured behind the newly fallen tree.

In the clearing stood another metal craft, something like the one from before, but arranged differently, fatter around the middle and with stripes in red, yellow, and blue. There was also a lightning-bolt design, just like the one on the raygun I'd found!

All that went on in the forest that day was a mixed-up chaos to me, but I began to get the feeling that this metal flying-machine belonged to the elvish people who went around in the Sasquatch costumes and that they might just be better types to meet than the beetle-men.

I saw that there was a sort of ladder or steep steps that led to an open hatch. What could be inside?

The clearing hugged a high stone cliff, which the metal flying-ship rested next to. If I kept near the trees I'd have ready cover, just in case some bad surprise waited for me inside.

I laughed to myself then I thought maybe I'd really get to be lucky and I could figure out how to fly myself back to town!

That turned out to be my unluckiest day yet.

Inhuman cries sounded from the trees and before I knew it the beetle-men appeared. They opened fire right away, blowing up everything in my general area.

To my left, trees exploded and burst into flame. I went to the right.

Under the smoke and the dust I was able to get into the metal ship.

Rays blasted at and around the door, but the material of the ship was less vulnerable to their power. I found a handle near the entrance and worked it, closing the hatch and shutting me safely inside the strange craft.

I watched through a glass bubble of a window as the creatures tried feebly to blast their way to me. More and more of them emerged from the woods, over a dozen. They appeared to be debating what to do when I saw one point at the rock-face behind the ship.

The next thing I knew, the beetle-man focused their guns on a spot high on the rock wall, up above me.

I heard a deep rumble, like multiplied thunder or a hundred tidal waves. The ship rocked under the weight of massive debris of the exploding mountainside. I was knocked down, around, and sideways, the ship itself seeming to roll every which way.

Although the daylight through the windows was blotted out, small internal lights, like gas-lights, showed me a metal cabin filled with machinery I couldn't recognize.

The landslide continued and parts of the metal roof began to finally dent under the weight. I knew that in no time the windows would have to give way and I would be drowned or crushed by dust or stones.

The craft did a couple of somersaults and I found myself tossed into a dark booth about the size of a closet. The sound of ripping metal shook the place and the door slammed shut just as the dust began to roll in at me.

Mechanical noises started up and the flicker of the lights, and then I knew no more.