Arina’s scream was long, hard and primal. It was a cry that pierced my ears. She leaned away from me and brought her hands out in front of her as if she was trying to protect herself. She scrambled onto her side horror etched over her beautiful features. It was something I was sure I would never forget, and then all of a sudden, she stopped, the silence just as painfully as her scream. Aghast, I didn’t know what to do. There was no sign of my old friend within the contours of her face.
“Arina, it’s okay. You’re okay,” I said, snapping out of my shock. I stumbled after her, falling to my knees. My right hand clasped around her shoulder, but she only continued to stare up at me, her unfocused eyes hollow and empty, her expression full of agonized emotion.
I was really scared. What was wrong with her? What was she seeing? She fought against me, slapping her hands out and tried to pull herself out of my reach. I reacted without thinking and lifted my good arm, high above her head and swung it down fast, slapping my hand hard across her cheek. The slap stung my hand and left a red mark that quickly grew darker on her skin.
Arina blinked once, twice, and the fog that had covered her gaze lifted.
“What was that for?” she snapped. Her hand reached up to rub her cheek, and she stroked it gently.
“Sorry!” I shrugged. “You were all weird and crazy looking! At least you’re talking to me now instead of screaming.”
“Screaming? Why did you hit me?” Arina hissed, rising to her feet. “That hurt!”
“You were staring off into nothingness and weren’t answering me,” I told her.
Clearly unamused, Arina continued to glare. “Don’t say stuff like that to me. You know that freaks me out.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said. “You don’t remember fighting against me, kneeling frozen in the middle of this little clearing, staring out to nowhere and then screaming at me?”
Arina looked me up and down. “What are you talking about?”
I returned her glare. I wanted to fold my arms over my chest, but I knew my shoulder would not let me. Instead, I decided for Arina’s benefit, to recount what had just happened. Her eyebrows rose in surprise, and she shook her head as she listened.
“Okay,” she said. She side-eyed me, and I knew she didn’t believe a word I had said. “I don’t remember any of that.” Her eyes swept around the still space we were standing in, and her angry face turned to unsure wonder. “What the…?” She spun around and then looked at me. “The storm. We’re not getting wet. Why aren’t we getting wet?” she asked, her voice turning angry again.
“I don’t know,” I told her. “As I said, I found you in here.”
Arina waved me off, and I sighed.
“Look,” I began, knowing the stress of the moment was fueling our argument. “Let’s just get out of this ... this…” I searched for a word to describe what was happening in the clearing. “Circle,” I finally came up with. “I feel exposed, like someone is watching us.”
Arina looked at me incredulously, but she then cast her eyes at the trees that were surrounding the circle.
“Where’s Shane and Nate?”
I stopped. With all of Arina’s unusual behavior and the strange space we were standing in, I had actually forgotten that Shane and Nate were still missing.
“I don’t know. You were the one who was with them last,” I said.
I watched as Arina frowned, and her eyes flickered off to the distance as she was trying to remember.
“I don’t know what happened,” she said. “The last thing I recall, they were just in front of me. Do you think they’re all right?” Arina chewed worriedly on her bottom lip and panic began to dance in her eyes.
“How would I know?” I sighed again, but I changed my tone when her expression darkened. “Don’t worry,” I said gently. “They’re most likely taking shelter from the rain somewhere or they’re probably even home already.”
“I don’t think Shane and Nate would be the kind of people who would leave us,” she retorted sharply.
I pursed my lips, disgruntled. I would give Arina time to cool off, after all, my hand had left a very impressive imprint on the side of her face.
My gaze returned to the wild storm on the other side of the clearing. Deep down, I knew Arina was right. Shane and Nate would not leave us, especially now when it was obvious Shane was interested in Arina. The trees continued to sway back and forth in the strong wind. There was no sign of them, and a new sense of fear settled in my stomach.
I grimaced as another sharp stab on pain jolted through my shoulder. I rubbed it gently, only to cause it to ache some more.
“What did you do?” Arina asked, eyeing me closely.
“I fell off Mellow and landed on some rocks.” I waved my good hand to ward her off. “I will survive.”
Arina crossed her arms over her chest when I couldn’t help another grimace from coming across my face. “You might have broken it,” she said firmly. “We’ve got to strap it up until we can get you to a doctor.”
I nodded, knowing she was right. “Can I use your shirt?”
She removed her long-sleeved shirt that she had tied around her waist. It had originally been worn to protect her skin from burning in the afternoon sun. We worked together to maneuver it, carefully working it around my tender shoulder.
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“There,” she said after a few moments, smiling confidently at our work. We had wound the material so it didn’t get caught up in the straps of my backpack and held my arm securely across my body. “The shirt’s damp, but it should help for now.”
I looked down. “Thanks for your help. You’ll make a great vet too one day.” I gave her an apologetic smile, and she laughed at my comment.
My smile was quickly wiped away. Arina lifted her hand and clasped it onto my unhurt arm, her fingernails digging deeply into my skin.
“Ow! What’s the matter?” I cried, unable to comprehend how, after her professional manner of bandaging my shoulder into place, she was now trying to break my other arm.
Arina ignored me, and I followed her gaze through the trees to the point she was watching out in the storm. My stomach dropped, and I sucked in my breath.
We forgot our trivial bickering. I gripped onto her arm as well with my free hand and without any further words, sunk down until we were crouching on the ground. Hopefully, the grass outside of the clearing was high enough to hide our position for out in the storm, a tall, humanoid creature strode through the trees.
It moved with ease and stealth negotiating the terrain with ease, clambering over fallen branches demonstrating agility and incredible speed. My first impression was that it was distinctly in the wrong place. While it seemed to be quite at home in its current environment, it was quite obvious that it didn’t belong in the Australian scrubland.
It had tanned, olive skin like my own, but that was where our similarities ended. Intricate, blue tattoos were scattered over the outside of its arms only emphasizing its lithe but muscular frame. On top of its head, long black hair was wound into a tight ponytail where golden rings were positioned at equal distances. They held the hair in place until the end where a large golden hook hung. In its hands, similar to the hook in its hair, it held a long stick with a golden curved blade on its end.
I looked down at the scorpion on the vambrace covering my arm. The hook looked very similar to the long stinger at the end of the ruby scorpion. I shook my head. Was it a coincidence?
The creature stopped, taking purchase on a large boulder. It was searching for something, scouring the scenery, freezing to peer through the trees before nimbly jumping to another tree or rock to gaze in another direction. It stopped and lifted its head to smell the air in an uninhibited, animalistic manner, and then, it gave four distinct high-pitched calls. They reverberated through the storm, and instead of dying out, they increased in power and volume as they travelled farther and farther away from where it stood.
In one swift and abrupt move, it turned and looked directly at the clearing we were hiding in. Arina gasped, and our fingers clamped down harder into each other’s skin.
We were completely exposed.
To our horror, the creature began to move towards us, its long legs striding through the landscape covering the distance with frightening speed. I couldn’t overcome my shock at the sight of it. I didn’t have time to react or escape. Our only choice was to stay put and cower.
It stopped within a short distance of the clearing and proceeded to stare directly towards the circle, unblinking and unmoving.
My heart began to pound even faster because now that it was closer, I could see it was definitely not human. The distinct difference were the tubes of skin running over its cheeks making it look like its nasal passageways existed on the outside of its face instead of on the inside. They twisted and curled pulling the creatures eyes up at the ends.
I assumed it was male. Stubble grew on the side of its face and a gentle spread of dark hair grew on its muscular chest, peaking out of its tight black vest. The muscles on its arms were large and stood out with its vice like grip on its weapon. The creature hissed as it stood on the edge of the clearing. Razor shape teeth appeared along the front of its mouth.
Arina and I instinctively pulled back. Its eyes were not of natural human shape or colour, but instead, a purple glittering iris.
The creature maintained its vigilant watch over our position. The seconds past, and I waited for it to charge and take us down, but it didn’t move. The standoff dragged for longer. Maybe this was a creature that only chased its prey after they had started running. I shuddered involuntarily at the possibility.
Then it hit me.
Maybe the creature couldn’t see us.
It was staring directly into the clearing, and now that it was this close, I could tell that its eyes were not focusing exactly on our position. Was the clearing somehow protecting us, preventing it from entering?
“Arina,” I whispered. Arina’s head flicked back to me, fear and amazement etched onto every inch of her face as if I could possibly be crazy enough to speak at a time like this.
“Shh!” she hissed back.
“I don’t think it can see us,” I risked once again.
Arina looked at me and then back to the creature standing a few meters away. She didn’t answer straightaway. “Maybe you’re right,” she replied. She paused before she continued, “Do you think we should make a run for it?”
I looked around the clearing, taking note of the calm inside the circle and the wind and rain outside. Whatever this circle was, we were out of harm’s way for the time being.
“I don’t think so.” My eyes met Arina’s. “I think it’s this clearing. It’s shielding us from that, that,” I struggled to find a suitable word to describe it. “Thing,” I finally decided on.
Arina looked at me quizzically.
“I think we should stay here,” I concluded, and without waiting to see if Arina was going to agree with my decision, I slowly settled into a sitting position in the grass, my eyes never leaving the creature’s face.
The creature didn’t respond to my change of position. Instead, it jolted, spinning on its feet to look in the opposite direction. We both startled at its sudden movement, gasping for breath, but our actions went unnoticed. The creature sniffed the air again, grunting in the process, suspiciously this time as if it had picked up a scent that it wanted to pursue. I held my breath again, fearing the worst. Had it caught a whiff of someone else? I gasped. Had it caught a whiff of Shane or Nate?
The creature spun back to us and we both leaned back. It took a step closer. Our grips tightened even further, and Arina’s sharp nails dug into my flesh once more. I grimaced, but I didn’t say anything. We leaned away from its dominating presence. The creature started to walk around the perimeter of the clearing, its eyes bearing into the circle with each and every step. Arina let out a whimper, her eyes tearing up as it continued to move.
This was it. I was sure of it. I had been wrong. Just when we thought we had been safe, it was going to lunge into the clearing and kill us.
Instead of charging, it walked right past without stopping. Its feet came within inches of our bodies as it continued on its path around the perimeter. We scuttled backwards farther into the center of the clearing. It returned to its starting point and grunted in what appeared to be disgust.
Fear pounded in my ears.
All of a sudden, it turned sharply on its heels, a complete one hundred and eighty degrees. Another four high pitched calls left its chest. We covered our ears at the sound. And then it was gone, sprinting out into the scrub.
Its speed was startling! It glided over the ground easily, leaping over obstacles that came across its path, and within a few seconds, it had travelled far enough to be swallowed up by the trees and bushes.
We didn’t move. I tried to comprehend whether what I had just witnessed was real, that it had actually happened, until one significant thought penetrated through all of the others.
Shane and Nate!
My heart thumped in my chest, and I stumbled to my feet.
“I think he’s going after Shane and Nate!” I cried.
“Really?” Arina asked, her voice full of panic as she clambered up as well. “What should we do?”
Anger quickly replaced my fear. I had no idea who or what the creature was, but I knew I couldn’t let it hurt Shane and Nate, no matter how weak or injured I might be. Courage and adrenalin, or maybe foolery, poured through my veins and before I could question my own actions, I ran towards the edge of the clearing and leaped.