Jaffar groaned as he stretched and rolled his shoulders, he had not slept as well as he usually did. The Zuban symbol on the map kept coming to him just he began to doze off, when sleep finally found him, he was plagued with dreams of cryptic symbols and a crushing sense of failure. So feeling anything but rested, he shuffled towards his door, dragging his hooves as he went. He cast a harsh glare at the map on the table, the cause of quite a few sleepless nights already.
He pushed the door open and stepped onto the bridge, hoping to see that they were making any noticeable progress. He heard one of the Jackals give an impressed whistle," Ya look like shit Cap'in."
He groaned and waked towards the bay windows," I feel like shit Denda."
"Nudda long night den Cap'in?" Ad'e asked, looking him over while keeping his paws firmly on the wheel.
Jaffar sighed," I could not get my mind to stop working. I must have laid there for hours trying to puzzle out that stupid map." He looked out the windows towards the shore, they were about two hundred yards from a black sand beach, which gave way to grass and eventually to a line of coniferous looking trees Jaffar had never seen before. He smiled to himself when he saw the Mountains off in the distance," We are getting close now."
"Dat we are Cap'in." Denda said as he passed him the spyglass," Don' see it yet, but ah know its out dere." He looked over at Jaffar," Wuts da plan once we run outta ocean?"
The Horse brought the glass to his eye," We hoof it." He replied casually.
"Wut 'bout da Horus?" Ad'e asked.
Jaffar shrugged," We just leave a few of the smaller, weaker dogs behind."
The twins exchanged shocked looks," Ah don' tink dats such a gud idea Cap'in! Wut if dey try'n steal her?"
Jaffar just smiled," I have already thought of that." His smile turned mischievous," We make certain that Sappra comes with us. She has proven that she will follow my orders without question, and those mutts of hers would not even lick themselves without her permission after, those monsters ate all the rebellious ones." In the time since they had attempted to jump ship, the dogs had been extremely cooperative and he had been so impressed with the change in attitude that he agreed to to forego any punishments.
Ad'e and Denda looked at each other again," Ya tink we can trus' her?
"She has made it abundantly clear that she actually believes I will keep my word." He replied smugly," It would be wasteful not to take advantage of it."
- - - - -
The salty wind was stronger today, and it mussed up Cumulus's feathers, he was going to have to preen them later but that was hardly important right now. What was important was the three dark silhouettes that drifted through the water in the Horus's wake. It had been a week since he had found the the ship in the midst of a massive rescue effort, granted it had been the dogs own fault but, he likely never would have never found them if he hadn't heard all the screaming and huge splashes. Which is why he was now sitting perched on the masts cross beam watching the whale sized predator. He had noticed a pattern over the previous days, at least one of them tailed the Horus at all times but the animals that left varied. While every thirty minutes they would surface to breathe, sending plumes of water vapor skyward. During those brief moments Cumulus caught a glimpse of their heads and bodies as they rolled back under the surface, he was actually rather happy he could not see them in detail, they looked hideous.
He sighed and looked towards the distant beach, the black sand and the gentle waves were so picturesque and beautiful he could almost forget how deadly this land was. If he tried, he could picture the sand as white and picture a lighthouse in the distance, massive cargo ships resting at a dock across the bay, the sound of foals laughing and splashing in the shallow water. The smell of charcoal and grilling hay, pretty mares sunbathing. He sighed as that happy memory from his youth played in his mind for a short while, a younger Stout hitting on those pretty mares only to get his plot kicked by their jealous coltfriends. A memory of his college days in Baltimare, Stout had literally dragged him screaming and kicking out of the library. He was soon grinning as the calming scene let him easily play through that memory.
Then just as quickly he was pulled back to reality, his eyes locked onto the distant trees. 'It couldn't be!' For just the tiniest fraction of a second Cumulus saw white feathers darting between the trees. 'It's impossible!' His eyes jumped from one thicket of trees to another but he saw nothing. 'Could I have imagined it?" He shook his head and scanned the the distant forest once more," It must have been my imagination." He told himself," After all, I have barely seen anything in this land. I doubt that one Slasher was the only thing out there that was white, right?" Despite his logic he could not bring himself to relax and spent the remainder of the morning and much of the afternoon watching both the shore and the sea creatures that continued to shadow them.
The sun had was just starting to arch towards the horizon, just beginning to colour the opposite side of the sky in dark blues and purples, when Cumulus heard Denda call up to him. "Hey Doc! Ya autta look ovah dere!" He gestured towards the mountains that had risen up to occupy a vast portion of the sky.
Curious he looked to the distant peak and took in what details he could from this distance, the upper portions were jagged and covered in snow. He could see clear signs of erosion even from this distance, but nothing seemed that interesting abo-. "What!?" He heard Denda laughing below him but ignored him, setting against the side of the mountain was a tall pillar, not the sort that was shaped by wind and weather but the sort was purposely crafted and made to be seen from a great distance. Cumulus found his wings moving before he realized it and was hoovering in the sky trying to see more, with addition of his altitude he could just spy another pillar hiding behind a curve in the mountains side. He hoovered there squinting at the pillars but, they sat mostly in the shadow of the mountain, and the lengthening twilight was only making the attempt all the more impossible, so he quickly flapped back to the Horus.
As he landed on the deck he found Jaffar and the Twins waiting for him, the Horse stepped forward," Quite the sight is it not? I believe that it is worth looking into."
" Absolutely!" Cumulus said while nodding. " What do you think it is? Something pirates built maybe?" He thought back to the what he had read in the Commodores journal, which he had not told Jaffar about, the thought that it could be an old pirate fortress.
Jaffar shrugged," That is a distinct possibility. It is a pirate map we are following." He turned and looked towards the pillar, the dense trees and the mountains bulk obscured most of it, but it was still visible even from this distance. " I am quite curious as to what we will find."
- - - - -
He crouched low, the broad leaves of the bush and the growing twilight doing their job and covering the white of his feathers. Off to his left he heard the faint trill that signaled his pack mates had gotten into position, he snorted and cooed softly, telling them to wait for his signal. He waited patiently, every now and then his keen eyes saw the shrubs move, the rest of his pack were still moving into position.
This was the fourth time he had been forced to hunt since he had begun pursuing his flying target, it was annoying having to abandon the chase, but its sent lingered in the air with the stink of the sea. They had spent weeks chasing it through unknown territories, but now once again he was close, it seemed to spend its days on that thing that thing in the water. It was slow moving and easy to keep track of, but his prey was always just out of reach. He spared a moment to think back to his old territory, a part of him missed it, the familiar smell of the trees and combing the beaches for something tasty. It was for the best that they were here, the pack had been getting to big and a split was inevitable, he just never thought that he would be the one to leave.
A soft trill brought him back to the hunt and he cooed in return, with the pack in positions he had to wait for just the right moment to strike. This was unfamiliar prey that they had found, he had to be cautious, all three animals looked dangerous. The first walked on all fours but had menacing spines protruding from its shoulders and running down two thirds of its back. The other two were large potbellied things with tiny heads and spindly necks, in contrast were their huge hand claws. He felt conflicted, these seemed far too risky to attack but his grumbling stomach was was hard to argue with. His pack trilled to him again, signaling that they were impatient to begin.
He snorted and cooed to them again, he was going to have to pick something but they all seemed healthy and in the prime of their lives. The four legged spiney thing was closest and there was a fair amount of distance between it and the fat ones, it was probably their best shot. He hooted softly, telling the pack that the one closest to him was their target. With his single quiet call the pack moved into action, the four on the far side of the clearing came screaming out of their cover towards the the spikey thing. As he expected it turned and swinging its spiked tail and watching them intently, ready to defend itself.
The two Potbellied animals honked and warbled and began swiping in the direction of his pack mates, but they were already backing away ready to leave their companion to what ever fate. He took this opportunity to strike, their prey was surrounded and alone. He tore out of the underbrush with a high pitched screech, the thing faltered in its defense as it turned to stare dumbly at him. The rest of the pack darted towards it and in the blink of an eye half a dozen Slashers hung from its sides biting at it and cutting deep gashes with their hand claws. The scent of blood filled the air and the the creature groaned and whined in pain and terror, The Slashers were getting excited and bite and cut with greater ferocity.
As it began to topple over the Slashers retreated a short distance, there was the clear sound of bone crunching as it hit the ground, its shoulder spike and shattered under its weight, it groaned in agony. They backed away letting the multiple wounds they inflicted do their job, the Albino glanced to his left and saw the two Potbellies loitering at the edge of the clearing, no longer acting threatening they seemed to gawk at the scene that was playing out before them. "Hhhhhssssssshhhh!" He hissed at them but they did not flee, turning his attention back to their kill, he was pleased to see it barely breathing and unable to lift its head.
He sauntered towards it and hopped onto its bloody side, with a few well placed kicks he opened its gut and began to gorge himself, gulping down as much flesh as fast as he could. The other Slashers piled in and started swallowing anything they could get in their mouths, there was a sense of urgency to there feeding. It was very unlikely this area had no resident predators, the pack wanted to ovoid any kind of confrontation with a larger hunter or, a pack with greater numbers.
thump...
The pack continued to tear into the their kill with reckless abandon, only occasionally pausing to squabble over a choicer piece of meat.
Thump...
One of the Slashers paused in its sloppy eating and stood tall, looking around the clearing. It saw only the two Potbellies, still gawking at the edge of the trees. It quickly shoved its face back into the bloody mess.
THUMP!
The albino and several of his pack jolted upright, hearing the sound of an impact, their heads turning in every direction, keen to danger. After a few seconds of silence, they leaned back into their meal.
THUMP!!
Every head shot up and looked towards the mountain and the source of the sound.
THUMP!!! Crack... Snap.. CRRRREEEAAK!!!
There was the sound of wood breaking and in the darkness the Albino saw a tree topple over, other trees were moving now too!
THUMP!!! Crack! Crack! Snap!
One of the trees lifted off the ground and slammed back down, making the world seem to shudder. Fear flashed through the Albino as he understood what he was seeing were not moving trees, but a pair of legs. The other Slashers were begining to back away.
THUMP!!!
Again it stepped towards them, making the world jump violently forcing them to take several steps back. The Albino saw the two Potbellies had turned tail and run, he also noticed the air was becoming heavy, it was getting hard to breathe.
THUMP!!! Crack! CREEEAAK!!!
With another step the air just seemed to get thicker, it pressed down on him making him struggle just to stand. Another tree had fallen in the wake of this thing, and it was so close now, covering a vast distance in just a few thunderous steps. The huge limb started up but before it could come down again, the Albino's nerve finally abandoned him and he ran as fast as his wobbly legs would carry him. The other members of his pack were only a few steps behind him. He turned to look back and saw a pair of huge squarish jaws, as white as sun bleached bone, clamp around their kill and lift it out of view. He turned and just kept running.
- - - - -
Cumulus waved his hoof in the air like a foal in elementary school," Okay, I have a question." Four pairs of eyes turned to observe him, Sappra and Jaffar looked annoyed while the Twins looked like they were barely able to keep from laughing. " How do you plan to get to shore with the Leviathans still tailing us?" The humor drained from the Jackals in less than a second, he saw Sappra cringe at his casual mention of the creatures that had killed over a dozen of her clan, Jaffar's enthusiasm for their little foray vanished as he turned over this detail in his mind. Cumulus sighed at the Horses thoughtful expression ," You forgot they were still back there, didn't you?"
Jaffar put on a look of offense but before he could say a word Denda started to laugh," Aw, he got ya dere Cap'in!"
Jaffar sighed," Yes that particular detail had slipped my mind." He began pacing and muttering to himself, those present watched him shuffle from one end of the room to the other, stopping periodically to tug on his goatee. He did this for nearly ten minutes, back and forth, pausing with a bright look on his face and then scowling and muttering',"No that would never work." and returning to pacing.
That was when Sappra chose to speak up," Why don't we just move to waters to shallow for them to follow us?"
The Twins looked ready to make some scathing remark until they saw the expression of Jaffar's face, his eyes were wide and his mouth hung open. "That might actually work." He said quietly," They are very large animals, if we got the Horus set up in the shallows then maybe they might finally give up chasing us."
Ad'e cast a nervous look towards the Horse," How shallow we talkin' here? Dis tub t'ain't meant fer rivers and swaps."
Cumulus stepped forward," From what I've seen of them, they are very long but have narrow, slender bodies. They would probably only start having difficulty moving in under eight feet of water, and would not be able to go shallower than half that."
Ad'e shook his head," Den dat t'ain't gonna work none. Dis tub woold beach herself long 'fore dose beasties."
Jaffar and Sappra sighed," Well scratch tha idea, nice try though Sappra." The Horse turned and resumed his pacing until he noticed the mischievous grin on Denda's face," What are you grinning about?"
His smile seemed slightly disturbing," Well, wut if we used sumo' dat dynamite we got in da hold?"
Cumulus's jaw dropped," You brought dynamite down here!?" He turned to give Jaffar a searching look.
The Horse shrugged off his gaze," We brought it in case we needed to do any blasting. In case anything was blocking our path." He tapped his chin thoughtfully," I would certainly say this counts." He turned back to Denda ," I take it you have a delivery system in mind? Just throwing a stick int he water will not accomplish anything."
"Oh aye! Ah got a plan ta blow beasties out da wadda." He laughed as he stepped passed Jaffar," Mind if ah borrow one o' dose map cases Cap'in?"
Jaffar grinned,' That is brilliant, those tubes are air tight. I shall fetch the case you two go get a few sticks." He paused," And for Tartarus sake be gentle! You know how touchy that stuff can be!" The Twins nodded and sprinted off,"Sappra come with me I shall need a pair of hands. And Dr.Granted, I want you to keep an eye on our unwanted shadows. We must know exactly where to aim."
Cumulus nodded and stepped out the door, he was not overly thrilled to discover that there had been a volatile explosive on the Horus. His mind flashed back to their wild ride through the Barrier, 'if even one of the crates and shifted the wrong way we would have been blown to the moon!' He shook his head and settled onto the masts cross bar," Well they're still here." Just as he had looked in their direction one had surfaced to breathe, exhaling a tall cloud of misty, stale air. It only took him a moment to count the silhouettes, he was pleased to find that all three were here," At least we'll only have to do this once."
It only took a few minutes for them to have everything set up and Cumulus was not happy about it at all, he was circling the creatures not daring to fly any lower, he was acutely aware of their ability to launch themselves out of the water. The plan was simple and very stupid, to keep from wasting explosives they were going to aim for him rather than have him point out where to throw. If all went well the he would just end up wet, if anything went wrong though, he could very well end up dead, something he was very eager to ovoid.
Back on the ship Ad'e and Denda huddled together focusing on the task at hand," Watcha tink brudda? Tirty second fuse be enough? Gotta give da Doc time ta get out da way."
Ad'e shook his head," Naw dat might be to much. Ah'm gonna say twenty is all we need, kinda hope we only need ta do dis once ya know?"
"Here's hoping." Denda replied, while twisting the fuse until it broke. "Alrighty, Dis half's ready!" Sappra stepped up and passed him one of Jaffars map cases, a long thing metal cylinder with a threaded lid. He delicately slide a single stick of the explosive into the tube, stopping it before it hit the bottom and the fuse slipped passed him. Ad'e leaned in and lit the fuse with a lighter.
Denda slammed the cap over the opened end of the case and spun it quick until he could cinch it down, he stood tall and drew his arm back," Heads up, Doc!!!" He took another second to gauge the distance and then threw the enclosed bomb with all his might, the case spun rapidly and plopped into the water less than three feet to Cumulus's left.
Cumulus beat his wings furiously and climbed high his eyes glued to the water and the large shadows. It had been a good throw settling right between two of the aquatic predators,' I wonder how long they set the charge fo-'
BOOM!!!
"Well that answers that question." He said flatly, setting himself into a glide and searching the agitated water. He had expected a much larger explosion but the water forced upward had not even risen up ten feet, He began scanning the water looking for any sign of it having worked, it would have been easier but the water had become very dark. There was a loud puffing sound behind him and he saw that one of the creatures was retreating, it had risen only long enough to exhale, he could see another silhouette lagging behind it but, still it was swimming away.
He looked back below him, the water had become dark red and he could see why, the third creature hovered close to the surface, it's grotesque face held above the water so it could breathe. A third of its body on the right side was covered in gashes and holes and its paddle-like flipper on that side was a bloody stump. Already it was moving away from the Horus being pulled by the current rather than moving under its own power. Cumulus could not help but pity the creature, it would not last long in that condition, they had not intended to kill them just drive them away. He turned and flew back to the Horus, fluttering his wings as he landed," So." He glanced at Jaffar," What's next?"
- - - - -
It had only taken two longboats to get everyone and the supplies ashore and there had been no deadly encounter with some other sea monster. Which had been a relief to everyone, now they were waiting for the dogs to finish loading their supplies into a large wagon that had been assembled on the beach. The longboats had been flipped over and rested above the beaches tidal zone to prevent them from being swept out to sea.
So Cumulus sat on the sand staring into the trees and brush his senses keen to danger, his mind returning to the previous evening when he thought he had seen a white feathered animal. He hoped he had been wrong and he had yet to see anything to suggest that the Slashers were in the area but, his logical mind told him there was no such thing as a predator free environment. He glanced back at the Horus now sitting about fifty yards from shore, Jaffar had left only eight dogs on board but had ordered Sappra to accompany them, she had agreed without complaint but it had taken more work to convince the dogs they were leaving behind.
A Dog wandered in front of him, his nose inches from the ground," Have you found anything?" He asked the dog. It paused and shook its head and went back to the task he had given it. After they had gotten the wagon built he had set four of the dogs to the task of sniffing out any signs of danger, he had been surprised when noone objected to him giving orders but chose to focus on detecting danger.
So far there had been nothing and he was starting to take note of the forest itself, unlike the dense jungle they had found the Slashers in these trees were much more familiar to him, Oaks, Sugar Maples, Black Walnuts and the occasional Pine tree. Rather than dense ferns and thick vines the underbrush was thorny berry bushes and Dogwoods, if he did not know better he could have been back in the Everfree. It was strange how that thought put him at ease in this dangerous place.
One of the dogs walked up to him," We find nothing." He said simply.
Cumulus sighed," Thank you. I think we can relax a little while we're here." The dog nodded and went to help load the cart and was shocked to see Jaffar harnessing himself to it, he would have assumed that the dogs would be doing the manual labor. As he looked over Jaffar's rigging he saw that there was a quick release so that the horse could easily free himself should danger appear. The dogs were just strapping down the last of their gear, when they finished Jaffar started into the trees Ad'e and Denda walking beside him. Cumulus spread his wings and flew ahead of the group as it began its march through the trees, he kept a constant watch for any sign of danger, his ears twisting in whichever direction his eyes were not.
He could see he was not the only one on high alert, the Twins stood on either side of Jaffar, their keen eyes constantly looking over the surrounding trees, while Jarrar's own ears kept swiveling in different directions. The dogs stuck together in groups of fours with their noses held up in the air or pressed to the ground, hoping to sniff out trouble before it came crashing through the underbrush.
He could also see that everyone on the ground was armed, even Jaffar who had a long oddly shaped spear slung across his back, the was squarish and edged on three sides, it was very different from the ones the Royal Guards used it reminded him more of an ice spade than a means of self-defense but he was far from an expert on such things. Likewise Ad'e walked with a Kukri in one paw and other in it's sheathe on his hip, ready for what every was about to attack. Denda had a machete strapped to his back and another pair of the blades each hung from his hips. Each dog was equipped with only a single machete, Cumulus realized he was the only one without any kind of weapon, he suddenly felt exposed and a lot less safe even in the air out of reach of any kind of threat.
They pressed on like that for several hours like that, their senses stretched to the extreme, eyes and ears snapping to every unfamiliar sight and sound, and in this alien environment there were a lot of them. The birdsong and insect calls were unfamiliar to him but he was beginning to notice the similarities, in the Everfree when a dangerous animal was around the forest was deathly silent, but here the trees rang out with the sounds of a thriving ecosystem. Cumulus was more than confident that as long as the forest kept singing like this, he let himself relax a little and began to take in the forest with greater interest.
He could see flocks of small Swallow-like birds similar yet not the same species that was native to Equestria, a distant cousin perhaps. It made sense as Zebrican Swallows were much larger and did not migrate like their Equestrian cousins, if he had the time to collect samples the little birds alone would have made his career. He started to chuckle as an old joke from a movie came back to him, with a smirk he dropped down next to Jaffar and the Twins," What's the airspeed velocity of an unladen Swallow?" He asked trying hard to keep a straight face and hoping one of them would get the joke.
Denda rose to the challenge and grinned over at him and started laughing," Zebrican or Equestrian?" (1)
They both broke into a fit of laughter and Jaffar just rolled his eyes," I do not even want to know. I believe you should be watching for danger Dr. Granted?"
Cumulus whipped a tear from his eye," We're fine for now Captain, listen for a moment, do you hear that?"
Jaffar strained his ears but all he heard was birds and bugs.," All I hear is a bunch of birds." He said sourly.
"Exactly," He said dropping to the ground and walking beside the horse. "As long as the wildlife is singing the odds of us being attacked are minimal."
Jaffar blinked and looked around in disbelief," Are you certain?"
Cumulus waved his hoof dismissively," Of course I am. I learned this trick in the Everfree, think about it, if you know there's a dangerous animal around would you make a lot of noise to let it know where you are?"
The Horse tapped his chin thoughtfully," I suppose not."
He smiled," If there was something sneaking up on us they would know long before we would. Right now we have nothing to worry about." His expression became somber," But if it goes totally quiet then that's when we know we have a problem."
Jaffar nodded," Well you are the expert in this sort of thing, it would be best to take your advice to heart."
- - - - -
So far Cumulus had been right after an entire day trudging through the forest they had yet to encounter, well anything, they had not seen a single animal, that may have been impart to Denda hacking through the more overgrown parts to clear a path, or his riotous laughter. After a while he had become bored and started to tell dirty jokes that he and his brother found more amusing that anyone else. However now the sun was sinking below the treeline and the dark was creeping up on them with astonishing speed, they had stopped and setting up camp while the dogs and Jackals set up the tents Cumulus had been tasked with keeping a keen out for trouble.
" Don't know what he expects me to do." He grumbled," Not like I can see in the dark." The deepening shadows had already made aerial surveillance impossible but Jaffar had said to keep watching until they had finished with the tents. He sighed and started circling again, 'A pack of Slashers could be standing in the open and I wouldn't see them.' He turned his gaze to the bulk of the mountain and the two pillars that they were planing to investigate, from the coast one had appeared taller than the other but now that he was closer he could see that they were in fact the same height. He was still to far away to tell, and the advancing night did little to help either, but he was certain he could just make out the outline of oddly squarish stones, like those of an ancient structure.
The idea of lost temples, valuable treasures, and hidden booby traps came to mind and he felt a rush of excitement at the thought of what secrets the ancients may have left there. He shook his head and sighed," Cumulus you've been reading too much Daring Doo again." He let reality come back to him, odds were it was actually nothing that amazing and if it was a lost piece of history, the best he could hope for were old bones and broken pottery. That was what Archaeology usually ended up being after all, it was never the thrill ride the book series made it out to be.
Cumulus glanced back at the clearing where the campsite was supposed to be,'Odd there should be a fire going by now.' He let the air spill out from his wings and dropped toward the camp, he could just make out the triangular tents in the dark, 'Where is everyone?' He caught himself in the air again about a dozen feet from the ground, there were bulky shadows moving between the tents. Had there been an attack? No he would have at least heard that, so with some trepidation he dropped one more time and landed on the ground with a soft thud.
"Ahh, dere ya are Doc!" Chimed a familiar chipper voice. "We signaled ya ta come down like half a hour ago."
He turned to what could only be Denda," Yes, well I can't see a thing right now. Why hasn't someone lit a fire yet?"
His eyes were starting to adjust to the lack of ambient light and he saw the vague outline of the jackal shrug," Cap'in said no fires. Might tell da munsta's where we are."
He snorted," That's ridiculous, Wild animal's are always leery of fire, it's instinct!"
"Normally I would agree with you on such things." Sounded Jaffar's voice off to his right. " However think back to the attack on the beach. We had many fires, but neither the Slashers nor the Ridgeback showed any kind of fear in it's presence, in fact the Ridgeback was not dissuaded even when a burning branch was brandished at it. It is a safe bet that the animals here have little to no fear of fire."
Cumulus tapped his chin with a hoof," Fair point. I guess its better than announcing our presence to every creature with a taste for flesh." He gave Denda a sly grin," Save that for the Twins dirty jokes."
"Hey!" Denda said sounding offended but clearly not, judging by the shit eating grin he wore.
"Save the jokes for tomorrow." Jaffar sighed," For now rest I want to make it to the base of the mountain before nightfall tomorrow." He turned and strolled toward his tent," I would rather not camp out in the open more than we have to."
"Suppose da Cap'in's right Doc, we should get ta bed too." Denda started towards the tent he was sharing with his brother.
Cumulus looked skyward, his eyes had adjusted to the dark well enough that he could tell there wasn't a cloud in the night sky. "Fantastic." He sighed," Another night in a freaking tree." He spread his wing and fluttered to a nearby oak that looked a little less uncomfortable that the surrounding pines.
- - - - -
Cumulus started awake and lunged forward already assuming the worst, he could hear the dogs barking obnoxiously loud, but it did not sound pained or panicked. There was a half moon tonight and by its silvery light he could see two vaguely familiar creatures standing back to back and swiping at the air with their overly large hand claws. There was a moment of terror that ran through him as he almost mistook the two for some new predator, but one look at their bloated bellies told him that these animals were more or less harmless, though a solid strike from one of those claws looked liable to take off someones head. Nearly a dozen dogs circled the Potbellies, and he saw they were getting reckless in how they dealt with these animals, lunging forward and scampering back when the herbivores attempted to defend themselves.
With an exacerbated sigh, cumulus picked himself up from the branch he was calling a bed and lazily glided towards the scene. He landed just as Jaffar and the Twins came sprinting up, looking panicked," What in Tartarus is going on here!?" The Horse yelled.
Cumulus tried to explain the situation more or less as he understood it, but the dogs were so damn loud, it was too much and he brought his Sonic Whistle to his lips and gave it the gentlest of puffs. It had the intended effect as every dog visually cringed and staggered backwards. Satisfied with the moderate quiet, the dogs were whimpering a lot and rubbing at their ears, He turned to answer Jaffar's question," If I were to hazard a guess, these two were wondering towards the camp and the dogs on watch spotted them." He turned back to the dogs, who were all giving him a sour look," There is little to worry about everyone. These creatures are plant eaters and aren't dangerous unless provoked." He rolled his eyes," Kind of like you were just doing."
The dogs took a few moments to look ashamed and started back towards the camp, most giving the panicked Potbellies a wide berth. Most but not all, on of the smaller dogs had clearly misjudged the distance the creatures arms could reach, as the Potbelly saw an opportunity and took it. There was hardly a noise until the little dog yelp and started whining in pain, the creature spread its arms out and made a bellowing, honking like sound that sounded like a mix between a woppi cushion and a goose. The little dog was sent flying by the force of the blow and landed on one of the dogs tents, collapsing the frail shelter, everyone rushed to the dogs side and the Potbellies chose to make their exit.
He was in a bad way to say the least, there was a deep gouge in his right foreleg that bleed profusely and he was already looking pale. Ad'e and Denda had already started to pack the wound with cloth in the hopes of stopping the bleeding, Sappra knelled by him softly stroking his head trying to keep herself from panicking. By the time they had the leg bandaged, the horizon was turning gold and the moon was beginning to sink below the trees.
Ad'e was the first to say what most were thinking," He ain't gonna makit if we bring 'im wit us Cap'in. He be safer on da Horus."
"We would lose all the ground we have made if we turn back now Ad'e. We are so close now." Jaffar said quietly. " We cannot turn around now."
A pair of dogs stepped up to him," We take him back. You go on ahead Boss."
Jaffar blinked in surprise and looked ready to say no but with Sappra's pleading gaze he sighed in defeat," Fine, be careful and don't dawdle. He is liable to attracted a dangerous animal, smelling like blood now." The two dogs nodded and set about collecting a few supplies and their fellow dog and looped off into the trees. He saw the nervous look on Sappra's face and smiled," Relax, We just came from that direction and we are fine after all." She sighed and nodded but still looked worried, Jaffar turned and looked at the rising sun and smiled," Well I had not planed to be up and about this early, but since everyone is up, lets eat and break camp."
There was a collective groan but it was loudest from the Twins who where slumping down and doing their best to look exhausted, it did not work and soon everyone was busying themselves with getting their food down. Once that was done they quickly broke down the camp and stowed it all away, all the while Cumulus circled overhead watching for any signs of danger. The birds were still singing so it was unlikely that they would be attacked, at least nature gave no clear sign of it, but the dogs had made quite a racket, something unpleasant was bound to have heard it.
He turned his attention towards the looming mountain, its size had made judging the distance difficult but since they were leaving so early they should definitely be there before dark. He could also see a small portion of the structure they were heading towards, it had to have been crafted, the stones were to purposely shaped for it to be a natural formation. It did however appear to be ancient, nature was clearly encroaching on the structure, he could see vines and tree roots covered much of it's exterior.
All of this coupled with the distance that still separated them from it, made even attempting to identify the architecture impossible. Still he was giddy at the thought of what they might find, while doing his best not to set his expectations too high, this was real life after all, not a Daring Doo novel.
- - - - -
The light breeze that blew through the trees and ruffled his feathers was soothing and helped him drift of into a shallow sleep, this what he needed right now just a little nap to help him forget his troubles for a short while. "Mmmmmmeeeeeeerrrrr..." The pitiful noise was just the right frequency to snap him out of his blissful state and back to sour reality. He snapped his crimson eyes open and turned to glare hatefully and the one who disturbed him, but simply could not. The offending pack member lay about six feet away on her back, all four limbs pointed in a different direction, he should have been angry at her for being so whiny about a poor meal, but she just looked so damned ridiculous that he could not hold in an amused snort.
The small noise caught her attention and she looked over at him," Mmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrllllll!" She whined louder and gave him a pitiful, pouty look with large watery eyes. He turned his gaze forward and tried to ignore he, she retaliated by whining again and flailing around on her back and rapidly kicking her hindlegs in the air. He should be scolding her for making such a fuss but dammit if that was not the cutest thing he had ever seen. (2)
It was inevitable that they were going to hunt again but he had wanted to rest after their last kill had been stolen, at this rate though he would have to kill something just to make her stop. So with a great sigh he picked himself up and stretched, his back was a little sore but that was nothing to worry about right now. He started in surprise and a trill sounded a short ways away, one of his pack had spotted something, pleased that he now had another chance to eat he cooed back signaling he was coming.
At his return call, the silly female rolled onto her feet and squeaked happily accompanied by a series of excited hops. Now that she was standing he could see the real reason for her behavior, she was still very young, at the stage where she was no longer a chick but not quite an adolescent. He did not think he had brought any of the young with him but no matter, he turned and headed towards where the call had come from, if he was lucky it would be something he was familiar with and could easily kill.
The youngster hopped along beside him squeaking excitedly, she was so annoying but he could not bring himself to be short with her, she was young and she would learn soon enough. When he arrived the rest off the pack was already there and as he approached they flashed their throats submissively, he ignored them as he had caught the sent of blood. This was good wounded prey was easier to bring down, but he frozen when his nose picked up a tiny but enticing aroma, one that was familiar to him.
He stood tall and spotted his next meal, a pair of Diamond Dogs were swiftly but carefully moving through the trees, on the largest ones back lay another smaller dog that smelled of blood. Around them all lingered the faintest scent of his Pegasi quarry, he could not believe his luck an easy meal and a trail to the prey he had been stalking for weeks, it was just too good to be true.
He was excited now and with a few trills and squawks most of the pack slunk off to get ahead of the dogs, only two other members of his pack remained with him, the fidgety youngster and an old female. He hooted once and then loosed a throaty roar," Hhhrrrrrrrrrrroooooooooorrrrr!" Loud enough to be heard by the dogs, he sprinted through the shrubs with reckless abandon, the other two following his lead and making a racket. The dogs both heard and saw him coming, which was exactly what he wanted, and the yelped in terror and took off down the trail, the small injured dog screamed in pain as it clung for dear life to its ride.
He felt no need to push himself, the rest of the pack was bound to be in position by now, and sure enough as the dogs ran pass a large maple tree two of his pack leaped out of their cover and tackled the prey. The smaller dog tumbled to the dirt and desperately scrambled to get away on its three undamaged legs, much to his surprise the fidgety youngster pounced onto it, clamping her jaws onto the base of its skull and shaking it violently while snarling.
In less than a minute the Dogs were all dead and the pack was tearing into them, swallowing hunks of flesh whole desperate to ovoid having this meal stolen like their last one. In less than ten minutes all three dogs had been stripped to the bone, which several Slashers now gnawed on trying to get at the marrow, The albino snorted and trilled at them, drawing all their attention, he trilled again and began walking away in the direction the Dogs had come from. This meal had given them more then they had burned catching it but they were skinny and not that filling, there was a bigger meal waiting for them.
- - - - -
Cumulus hovered in the sky, there was a strong head wind so it was a bit of a challenge but he paid it no mind. At the moment all he cared about was the overgrown stone temple in front of him. It was still several miles away but once again the illusion of size had caused some confusion as to the distance remaining, much like the mountain itself the structure was enormous, were its architecture not so foreign to him he would have mistaken it for a palace. It consisted multiple cylindrical shapes each stacked on top of each other and gradually getting smaller as they went up, much like a tiered wedding cake except that there were twenty of them. The two pillars stood on each side of the structure and were in no way grounded to it for stability, it was a wonder that they had yet to topple over in an exceptionally strong wind. It looked like there was a wall built around it but it had collapsed in several places and nature had used these gaps to encroach into the the area. The first three tiers had been overgrown with vines and other types of crawling plants, and the first tier had actual trees growing on it, creating the impression that it rose up out a hill.
There was still a lot of ground between them an the outer wall, but the group was having no trouble maneuvering through the forest, the trees were getting larger as they marched on and as such the space between the them made their hike easy. In fact from his altitude he could see that the trees near the outer wall of the temple were larger still, he would have to get closer to know for sure but he was confident they were the largest trees he had ever seen. He looked down and saw the group trudging along, they had been walking since early this morning and everyone except Cumulus was getting tired and sore. As slow as they were he could probably fly over the temple and be back before they had gone another mile, he sighed and made to land next to the group.
When his hooves touched the ground he walked over to Denda, who was slumped forward and panting like all the dogs were. "Ah still do' git why ya ain't a whipped as da rest o' us." He groaned while glaring and Cumulus.
The pegasus just laughed," Oh please, it's not my fault you lot are so slow. I could've flown to the mountain and back by now."
"Ah feel like ah shood be insulted," He chuckled.
"That is it!" Gasped Jaffar. "I am exhausted, there is a clearing up ahead lets rest and eat something."
Cumulus glanced skyward, judging by where the sun was it looked pretty close to three or four P.M., they should have eaten hour ago but Jaffar had insisted they wait until later,'Guess it's finally later then.' He walked forward into the large open space, the grass seemed longer here, but that just made for something comfy to lay on, and on the far end was a little hill with some large stones on it.
It seemed like as fine a place as any to rest and he leaned down and started munching on the grass, this earned him a disgusted look from Jaffar, to which he responded by casually shrugging. He saw no need to waste their food stores when he had plenty of edibles right under hoof, grass was far from tasty in fact it was a rather bitter but it was everywhere so why not. Jaffar pulled a small bale of hay from the wagon, that was meant to feed both Equines, and happily helped himself to the sweeter food. While The twins pulled out large tough looking strips of jerked meat, which the dogs eyes enviously. He did his best not to shudder, while he was no stranger to meat eaters, the thought that this particular meat had been cured and seasoned, sparked his natural instinct to shy away as most ponies tended to any time there was meat involved. The dogs were left with nothing but dried out bread to eat.
Now that there was something on their stomachs the group were laying about taking full advantage of this time to rest, most of the dogs had curled up in the sun and were dozing peacefully. Denda lay on his back dozing in the grass under the shade of a tree, and Jaffar laid on his side by the wagon half in its shade and his face in the warm sun, not sleeping but resting his tired legs. Ad'e sat cross legged in the shade keeping keen eye out for trouble despite the pleasant songs the birds sang, of everyone he was the one who would not relax. Cumulus was laying on the branch of a huge sugar maple, he was not asleep either but enjoying the chance to relax none the less.
He could see some of the temples upper tiers from his perch, it was likely Jaffar was staring at the temple as well, it was now visible even from the ground. They had been resting for close to an hour, and the sun was falling towards the horizon now, the actual evening was still a few hours away and they would arrive at the outer walls long before sunset. Cumulus stood up and stretched, trees were starting to knot his muscles, he looked down and saw Jaffar was also stretching, ad'e and Denda were both up and moving to wake the dogs. "Looks like nap time's over." He sighed and glided down to the ground.
It only took a few minutes for Jaffar to hook himself back up to the wagon and they started on their way passing through the clearing and the small hill. Cumulus noticed the stones on the little elevation were very smooth and all similarly oval shaped, he stopped to stare at them, something felt wrong with this. He could not put his hoof on it but something was off, he glared at them," All the same shape?" He muttered to himself. Everyone else was starting back under the trees, he was falling behind though he could easily catch up from the air.
Deciding to shrug it off he started trotting towards the trees," Hhhrrrrrrrrroooooooarrrrrr!" The forests quiet was shattered as a Slasher jumped out of the bushes and landed on Jaffar's back, it was hard to tell who reacted faster; the Twins of the Diamond Dogs. The two Jackals sprung into action and punched the frail boned feathered predator off of the horses back, while the dogs turned tail and ran back toward Cumulus. The Slasher flew through the air and landed in the dirt, as quickly as it had been removed from him, Jaffar was even quicker to extricate himself from the wagon's grasp, already gripping his spear and hastily stepping backward.
The Slasher recovered easily enough and stalked towards the Horse, it was quickly joined by another three of its pack, which stalked forward slowly taking the time to gauge what this preys reactions would be. Sappra had rallied here dogs and now all of them stood in a group with their machetes drawn, they stood on the slope of the small hill, Sappra stood right next to one of the odd stones. Jaffar and the twins were making for this rally point too, Cumulus started when he realized that he had frozen up and slowly inched himself in that direction.
Just as Jaffar and the twins joined the growing defense, an ominously familiar white Slasher sprinted out of the trees towards them, a pair of smaller Slashers right behind him. Cumulus gaped as he saw the Albino hunter, it was the same one he was sure of it,' It followed us all this way!?' He flinched as its burning crimson eyes fell on him and it hissed almost triumphantly, for every step it took towards him, Cumulus would take a step back paralyzed by the burning orbs that he stared into.
Just then the smallest Slasher leaped forward onto Sappra, the two of them tumbled over onto one of the oval shaped stones. Under their combined weight it first cracked and then smashed, a thick, sickly smelling goo spattered onto both dog and Slasher. The little assailant skittered away whining about the mess and Sappra lunged forward wailing and thrashing about, stuck to her back was a little blob with and overly large head and big beady black eyes. Every living thing in the clearing froze, save Sappra who continued to express her disgust at the viscus fluid she was covered in, and blissfully ignorant of the crushed embryo stuck to her back.
Cumulus felt his panic start to go into overdrive,'It was an egg! Oh Sweet Celestia, it was an egg! Their all eggs! We're trying to defend ourselves on top of the biggest ne-' His thought process was cut short as the air started to vibrate and become oddly, and yet familiarly, heavy, something was moving in the trees not far away a massive stone grey figure shifted and rose up. Had it not stirred anyone could have mistaken it for a very large stone, but now it was picking itself up, rising higher and higher until its head neck and shoulders towered over the trees. It was easily as large as any dragon he had ever seen or heard tell of, his eyes went wide as he recalled what he had read in the Commodore's Journal, how the rouge captain claimed her ship had been destroyed by a dragon,' It can't be the same animal could it!? That was more than two centuries ago!'
It was facing away from them and as it twisted its head to look down on them cumulus gasped, while the skin of its body was a flat lusterless grey, its face was white as ivory. The whole upper jaw and face was covered in an almost chitin like casing, like an insects hardened exoskeleton, that ended where its neck connected to the base of its skull. Along it top jaw ran a series of downward curved spikes that hung out of its jaw like a second row of teeth, it had high bony crests over its eyes that ended in a claw-like protrusion along the bridge of its muzzle. Perhaps it most striking feature, apart from its immense size and oddly armoured face, was its blue eyes not the icy pale colour that the Twins eyes were, but rather a deep midnight blue.
Time seemed to slow as it looked out over the scene before it, it looked from one to another as though searching for some explanation. Then the embryo stuck to Sappra's back came free and landed on the ground with a wet thump, it's eyes locked onto the pale lump of soft flesh and then shifted to the petrified dog.(3) "Ggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrllllll!!!" The dragon sized creature began to growl with a barely suppressed rage, the air shuddered violently driving the air out of Cumulus's lungs and nearly forcing him to his knees under an overwhelming crushing force.
Gasping for breathe he realized he knew this sensation, he had experienced twice before in his life both times in the presence of Alicorns. The first time had been as a freshmen in college, Baltimare was playing host to the Summer Sun Celebration and he had had a front row seat to see Princess Celestia raise the sun, he had felt a pressure as she hurled the burning orb in the sky. The Second time had also been during the Summer Sun Celebration, but this one in Ponyville, he had witnessed Nightmare Moon's return, and felt the air become very weighty as she struck out against the Royal Guards that attempted to subdue her. The feeling had been stronger than when he had experienced with Celestia, but now it was like holding a candle to a lighthouse, so vast was the difference in the force this creature exerted.
The immense pressure was effecting everyone present, even the Slashers who had started to back away, but none more so than Cumulus who was barely able to breathe as he stared up that the creature. His nerve was being stretched to its limit, every instinct was screaming at him to run as fast as he could, yet he remained rooted to the spot so terrified he had forgotten he could fly. He felt something strange and just a little relaxing, he managed to pull him eyes away from the huge creature and look at himself. A steady stream of urine splattered on the ground under him running down the small incline of the nest mound. he was pissing himself, and it scared him all the more. He had out flown Signus Minors and avoided being lunch for a Hydra, and this thing had him pissing himself.
THUMP!!!
Cumulus's attention snapped back to the beast before him, it had stepped out from the trees and his ears picked up the sound of air being sucked in, much like how a dragon took a breathe before unleashing a gout of... "Fire." He whispered, could this thing really breathe fire!? His fear kept him in place though his mind was frantic to escape, the animal leaned forward, opened its great jaws, revealing countless pointed peg-like teeth, and loosed a savage roar.
"HUUURRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRUHHHHH!!!"
The scream was primal and filled with rage and sorrow and hate, the kind of brutal cry one would expect from a vengeful mother. Under the the beasts deafening roar the Albino's nerve finally broke and him and his pack ran like like death itself was only a few steps behind, and how she was lunging forward snapping her jaws at anything that moved or did not move. As the feathered predators scattered, her large rectangular jaws smashed closed on Sappra and four other dogs. They could be heard screaming inside her cavernous mouth as she tilted her head back, with a quick small snap of her jaws(4) they were pulled completely inside her mouth. Her throat visibly flexed as she swallowed all five dogs with out any hesitation, the sound of their screams died out somewhere in her chest just behind her forearms. She turned to stare at the rest of the creatures assembled before her, Cumulus was confident they were barely a snack to her immense bulk. The crushing pressure increased suddenly and it was more than he could endure, with a final gasp his eyes rolled back in his head and everything went black.
- - - - -
Denda saw Cumulus topple over, he was finding it a challenge to pull the air into his lungs as well but he was obviously doing better then the forest green pegasus. In fact Jaffar and his brother seemed to be the only ones managing to power through, whatever kind of magic this was, which is why he wasn't to surprised to see the pony faint. Ponies were magical by nature, it made sense they would be the ones most vulnerable to this kind of attack. He began inching his way over to his fallen friend as one of the dogs bolted towards the trees, the other dogs all seemed to have the same idea and ran after their kin.
He sprinted to Cumulus's side and paused, he was still gripping his machete why? The thing was worse than useless against this monster, he made his choice and tossed it away, using the same hand he scooped up the unconscious pegasus and tucked him under his arm. With his cargo safely in his grip he dropped onto three legs and lopped off, quickly catching up with his brother and Jaffar who were ahead of the dogs by several dozen yards already.
"Dr. Granted... Said we were... A few miles... From the... Sanctuary!" Jaffar gasped as he ran headlong through the wide space between the trees. "We might... Be safe... If we can... Get to it!"
"Aye Cap'in!" Ad'e yelled as he charged onward on all four legs.
"Hhuurrrooooaaarrrruuhh!!!"
THUMP!!!
THUMP!!!
Denda chanced a glance behind him as the ground shuddered violently almost making him stumble, the white faced killer was chasing after them in her rage. One of the dogs had tripped when the ground shook under its thunderous footsteps, it did not seem to even notice the dog and the whole upper portion of its torso was crushed beneath a taloned foot. It continued to chase them although at a slower pace than one would have imagined, while the trees were spaced apart for enough for it to follow them it was so large it was having great difficulty building up its speed. Just as it would get close they would swerve to put a tree between themselves and it, forcing it to slow or try to crash through the overly large tree.
"HHUUURROOOOOOAAARRUUHHH!!!"
It bellowed in frustration as they gained more distance, clearly these excessively large trees were too big for it to easily uproot or knock down, a fact they played to their advantage. It stormed passed the tree as quickly as it could and in a few ground shaking steps had caught up with the group again, this time in a kind of natural straight away. As they started to turn back into the trees to make it more difficult for the dragon sized beast, it was not quick enough. She had caught up with the back portion of the fleeing group, which consisted of a group of Dogs all clustered together, she jabbed her snout towards the ground and gouged a deep furrow into the dirt. She then thrust her snout up towards the dogs and hurled a weighty chunk of earth at them, The Dogs yelped and screamed as the displaced earth crushed them under its weight.
They ducked and dodged between tress and barely maintained a lead from the enraged mother, she never relented roaring every time she would be forced to slow her pursuit. Everyone was winded and sore when the crumbled wall came into view, the sight of it was enough to give the winded survivors a glimmer of hope. They pressed on, moving serpentine through the trees to keep the beast at bay and it worked, they sprinted through a gaping hole in the defensive structure and under tightly packed trees.
"Hhuurrroooaaarrruuhh!!!" The white faced beast screamed in fury but her steps came to a halt at the flimsy stone wall, she growled ferociously but did not try to step passed the little wall. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and looked over the area beyond the barricade, her demeanor had become a polar opposite of her blind rage only moments ago. "Gggrrrrrrrrrrrrlll!" She let out a frustrated growl and slowly stepped away.
