The wind whistled past her, whipping Aliga's hair and clothes. Mist clung to her skin, cold and damp. The bat beneath her flew through the forest in terrifying speed, weaving between the trees, its wings sliced through the air with deadly precision. Howard grasped the creature's fur in a deathly grip, barely holding on as they shot higher and higher into the sky. His heart pounded violently, each beat hammering in his chest like a war drum.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!??!" he yelled into the wind, desperation creeping into his voice.

Aliga said nothing. She did not glance back. Her jaw clenched tight, muscles tensing as she fought to focus, while in her mind she could feel it-a shadow closing behind them, a presence that was suffocating, eating at her instincts to run harder. She could have no distractions. Not now.

Under, the forest floor dissolved into a gray and green sea. The mist that covered them blinded them to what pursued them. Yet she knew they were being hunted. She had been aware of the pressure of his eyes upon her when they ran.

Then a terrible screaming came through the trees, a sound so sharp it sent a tremor through the air. Aliga's heart stopped. She risked a look over her shoulder.

Out of the mist like a nightmare, the leader emerged, his mount fused to him in a gruesome display of raw power. His once separate mount was part of him, six massive black wings stretched from his back, beating with furious intensity. The snake-like limbs had merged with his arms, twisting inside those smooth, scaled limbs in ways no human form should twist. His glowing blue eye became a fire of otherworldly light, and from that distorted mouth, a guttural growl escaped.

He flew with horrific speed, each movement of the beat sending him forward as if a storm had become a creature. Trees shook and bent to the force of his passing, leaves tore from their branches, and the earth shuddered at the approach of this monstrous form cutting through the air with his eyes glowing brightly onto Aliga and Howard like a predator measuring his prey.

"WHAT IS THE ACTUAL FUCK GOING ON!" Howard cried out in terror. His grip on the fur of the bat tightened, making his knuckles pale. "What even is that thing?"

"SHUT UP LET ME THINK," she hissed, her voice strained. "Hold on."

She thrust the bat upward, ducking under the overreaching branches of the giant trees. The bat shrieked, straining into the increasing altitude against his wings. The mist was clearing above them, and that wasn't any concern. She could hear him. His beat was growing quicker, louder. It was like the building of a storm, a crescendo nothing could stop or go around.

Then, in an instant, darkness had shut over them. Howard looked up just in time to see the leader swooping down from above, his wings outstretched wide, a monstrous silhouette against the dim sky. He dived with fatal accuracy and taloned claws outstretched, for Aliga.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

With a jerk of the bat to one side, Aliga avoided the leader by inches, his claws slicing through the air where they had been only moments before. The dive jolted him so severely that it sent a shockwave through the trees, and soundings like dead weight began to fall as branches snapped from their moorings. Howard yelped, nearly losing his balance as the bat spun wildly out of the leader's path.

He's too fast!" Howard shrieked, panic welling up in his throat.

Aliga didn't say a word, her eyes darting about desperately. She needed an opening, a way out but the leader was relentless. He was already circling around for another attack.

The leader's merged body moved with unnatural speed, his wings beating furiously as he closed the distance in mere seconds. The mouth snarled into a sinister mess of bared bone-like teeth as he prepared to strike again.

Aliga's head was racing. She couldn't outrun him over open sky-not like this. Yet maybe there was some other way. Her eyes were scanning the forest below, her search for something, anything that might give them an edge.

And then she saw it. A dense canopy of trees, with branches interlaced so thickly that they formed nearly an impassable wall of leaves and wood. If she could lose him in the forest, weave through the trees there where his size and wingspan would be a disadvantage, they might have a chance.

"Hold on tight!" she called to Howard.

Without warning, Aliga sent the bat plummeting into a sharp dive, heading straight for the dense canopy below. The bat shrieked in protest, but Aliga urged it on, wings tucked in, dodging the branches as the forest rushed up to meet them, whipping at their faces as they plunged into the tangled mess of trees.

Behind them, the leader let out a furious roar, his wings pounding harder as he struck into the forest. But here, undergrowth, size had become a brake. His enormous wings were clipping branches and slowing him down. He let out another roar, swiping at the trees with frustrated writhing, tearing through trunks with claws as he tried to keep up.

Aliga darted through the narrow gaps between the trees, twisting and turning with frantic energy. Aliga could still feel the presence of the leader close behind, his rage palpable but he was falling behind. The thick canopy was slowing him just enough.

For a moment, hope flared in Aliga's chest. They were pulling ahead. If they could just keep this up, they might escape.

But then, with an appalling spurt of speed, the leader tore through the branches like a storm unleashed, beating his wings against the trees to send them crashing aside. He was coming again, this time closer, faster, more determined than ever before.

There!" Aliga screamed, scanning the treetops for an opening, a cliff edge, plunging into a deep gorge. She sent the bat shooting toward it, hoping that if they made the leap they could get enough distance between themselves and their leader.

The bat flapped its wings wildly, shooting up as they leaped toward the cliff. Howard felt his heart thudding in his ears, his grip slipping as he hung onto the creature's wing.

But by that time, they had already dived forward a little too far, and the leader launched himself at them once more, his claws snapping wide. Aliga spun the bat to the side, but it would not have been fast enough, and the talons grazed the bat's wing, sending it completely out of control.

Howard screamed as they plunged toward the gorge, seeing the ground rushing up to meet them.

And behind them, the leader hovered, his glowing eye watching with cold, calculated malice.