Between the Sun and the Moon

by Psychic Smith

Chapter 21

CHAPTER‌ XXI

The streets were filled with ponies at full gallop making a mad dash from… something. Everypony with wings took to the skies, leaving their ground-bound brethren alone. Nick knew that the beasts they were running from were called Timberwolves. However, given the panicked mob mentality and the giant crocodile that he and Will encountered when they first arrived, he had a feeling that these were no ordinary wolves.

Lieutenant Sabre was fast. Since their quick exit from Meadwing’s the pegasus mare flew above the crowd, guiding the two humans through the streets. Nick could see that Sabre wasn’t even close to flying at full speed, the mare occasionally bolting ahead with near-impossible acceleration to look around the intersections before returning to her charges.

Being as tall as they were, it looked like Nick and Will were sprinting through a waist-deep, multicolored, living river of equines. The humans were easily able to keep track of the Lieutenant.

Nick looked behind him to see Will panting heavily as they ran. Apparently, losing all the weight he had during his time in a coma did nothing for his physical abilities. He wouldn’t be able to keep this up for too much longer.

“Lieutenant!” Nick yelled above the thundering hooves. “How much farther?”

Sabre spun around, flying backward for a moment. “About another 10 minutes at this pace, lad!”

‘So about another mile’ Nick guessed.

Soon the crowd began thinning out. Ponies were much faster on their four legs in comparison to the human’s two. As the noise of the mob grew more distant as ponies ran past, the lively city grew quiet as Nick and Will ran.

The soundscape changed slightly as they rounded the corner of one intersection. Faintly, it sounded like a large creature crashing through the underbrush of a forest.

But there were no trees anywhere near them.

Sabre stopped at a nearby alleyway and motioned for the humans to follow before darting between the buildings.

The ground went from cobblestones to dirt as the humans entered the alley. Sabre was low to the ground like a tiger on the hunt. Will braced himself against a wall as he panted from the exertion.

“We were too slow,” Sabre whispered. “Move quietly, ya don’t want to tangle with these beasties.”

Will immediately held his breath, freezing where he stood in the alley. Nick crept further into the alley, listening closely.

The sound of snapping tree branches was getting louder, and suddenly, a large brown figure bolted past the opening of the alley, a trail of broken twigs left in its wake. Then a second. And a third.

“You didn’t say that those things were, quite literally, made out of wood,” Will whispered in disbelief.

“Too busy savin’ your lives,” Sabre shrugged. “I left that part out. At least they didn’t see us.”

Any conversation was silenced as something was making loud thudding sounds from above, and getting closer. One, two, three, four… Then the sound stopped. Nobody breathed for a long moment, refusing to move.

Then a small stick fell from above into the alley, right in front of Nick.

Sabre looked up, and her eyes shrunk to pinpricks. “Run!”

With that, Nick and Will bolted further down the alley behind the lieutenant, and the sound of snapping wood was hot on their heels, this time accompanied by heavy footfalls along the rooftops.

As the trio ran from the alley and onto the next street, Will spared a glance back, which only prompted him to run even faster.

The creature was covered in a bark-like texture, it’s body and limbs looked as if they were made out of the branches of trees. With each step, twigs and leaves would fall off of it, making a cloud of foliage that followed it like an afterimage. The thing was easily about the size of a car as it bounded across the gaps between the buildings. However, Will was scared shitless by the piercing menacing glare of a predator on the hunt that came from its glowing green eyes. That fear spiked as those eyes locked on to Will as the timberwolf leaped onto the street below.

“Fuck!” Will shouted as he sped up in an attempt to catch up to Nick and Sabre who were a short distance further.

“Sabre! Where are the guards?” Nick asked as they ran.

Sabre didn’t answer with words, but the mournful look on her face said everything her voice didn’t.

“Alright then, no back-up. How do we lose them?”

Sabre immediately looked to the air before shaking her head. “Usually? I’d say fly, but ya don’t have any feathers on ya, so that’s out of the question!”

As they turned onto another intersection, the sound of wood scraping against stone rounded the corner, followed by the sound of a house front getting smashed in.

Ahead, the street opened up into a decently sized market, with stalls stood vacant under their colored cloth canopies. On the hill above, the Everfree Castle stood above the roofs. They were close.

Nick ran behind Sabre through the market, dodging past unattended wagons and barrels of stock, Will not far behind. The sound of the timberwolf was getting fainter. Nick and Will turned to see if it was still following, to see the first few stalls erupt into an explosion of wood cloth and produce.

And cabbages. Lots and lots of cabbages.

But Will’s ears turned to the faint sound of a girlish scream being drowned out by the charging timberwolf, it’s green eyes in hot pursuit.

As he ran, the screams continued. It was coming from one of the stalls to Will’s right. Despite every part of his brain told him to keep running, Will slowed down slightly, before shaking his head. He needed to keep up with the other. Stay alive.

“Somepony! Help!” the voice screamed. Nick and Sabre’s heads whipped around at the sound, and Will’s eyes widened in realization before he took off towards the scream.

Will heard the timberwolf switch course, opting to follow Will, the slower human, as he sprinted between the stalls.

As he rounded the side of a cart with a yellow tarp over it, he saw a small purple filly shaking in a ball of fur behind one of the wheels. It took him only a moment to scoop up the filly like a football before taking off again.

And not a moment too soon as the cart was sent flying into the side of a building as the timberwolf once again slid across the smooth cobblestone.

Will shouted above the din. “Jewel? What are you doing out here?”

From her place in the crook of Will’s arm, Jewel looked up at the human carrying her through teary eyes. “Mister William!”

“Where is your mother?”

“The- they…” Jewel choked on her words.

Holding the filly tightly against his chest, Will kept an ear on the timberwolf chasing him, taking quick glances occasionally. Nick and Sabre could only watch as outside spectators as the timberwolf herded Will towards the corner of two buildings.

“Goddammit,” Nick swore, as he took off after the timberwolf, Sabre close behind before bolting past Nick.

Will kept running as the timberwolf swept from side to side in its charge, constantly changing its direction of approach. Suddenly, while looking behind him, Will slammed into the side of the building.

When he realized he was cornered, Will pressed himself up against the walls of the building. In his arms, Jewel was shaking in terror as she watched the green eyes of the timberwolf slowly push its way past the last few stalls. Will took the filly, and placed her behind his back, covering her with his wide frame.

The timberwolf fully emerged from the market stalls, Will finally getting a good look at its head. Leaves made up the thing’s eyebrows, and its dog-like muzzle was made of bark like the rest of its body. The soulless green eyes stared at the human, jowls pulled back to reveal a set of sharp, jagged, wooden teeth. The timberwolf approached slowly and with purpose. Stalking.

Will turned slightly, shielding Jewel with as much of his body as he could. He could feel her shaking beneath him as the timberwolf loomed above them.

The beast stopped inches from Will’s face, it’s hot, rotting pine-scented breath washing over the human, who was now shaking just as much as the filly he was shielding. The timberwolf’s paws made cracking sounds, as long thorn-like protrusions extended like claws.

In a flash of motion, the timberwolf reared up onto its hind legs. As the claws descended onto Will, the human cowered, shielding himself with his arm outstretched in terror and defiance.

Comments

[Crystonian]

Kick the bastard!