Seth sank to his knees, terror gripping him in its choking vise. His own stench from the release of his bowels floated up, adding to his nausea.
He was surrounded by the menacing dog-like creatures that had flown into their camp unnoticed until it was too late.
Around him lay the skeletons of his men, picked clean to the bone, dressed only in their saggy rags.
Carefully, he edged away from what had once been his simpering lover, Andrew, his firm, familiar flesh eaten away by minute black and red creatures, reducing him to a screaming horror of boiling flesh that called out to him for rescue with his last breath.
Seth tried to calm down, taking deep gulps of air as he watched the other golden creature called Echo approach him. The winged-dog creatures swiveled their salivating lizard faces toward the tottering Echo as if responding to a whistle.
Four of them crept closer, snatching the live body of Seth’s harpooned creature in their mouths and dragging it away from his reach.
He could hear the frantic barks of the dog in the cage. The Echo creature turned to the wagon, its luminous eyes and swirling antlers sending refractions of light into the darkness. The dog suddenly whined then ceased barking, sitting quietly in the cage.
“Okay . . . easy now. You want your buddy? You can have him. I meant no harm.” Even to himself, his squeaky voice suggested guilt. He offered his hands in supplication. “I was just bringing him back to you. This is how we found him.”
As Seth continued to beg, Echo flipped her long tail high in the air. The bulbous end extruded a membrane. The air filled with pressure. Seth wrinkled his nose as the smell of sulfur hit him.
To his surprise, the creature on the ground reached up and slowly pulled the harpoon from its chest, leaving a gaping wound which healed itself before his eyes.
The Echo creature approached the healed one, fingers to each furry cheek that now gleamed with health. Together, they turned to stare unblinkingly at Seth.
His heart beat so fast he couldn’t catch his breath. He fought off a cramp from his bowels as the Echo creature shambled over to the wagon and hoisted itself up. The white dog went mad with excitement. Unlatching the cage door, the creature was bowled over by the dog. They lay on the wagon floor, the creature grooming the dog, its face pressed to the dog’s side.
Together, they jumped from the wagon and made their way back to Seth’s creature. The winged dogs gathered around. To Seth’s astonishment, the two creatures gathered the dog between them and, without a backward glance, took to the air. The winged lizard dogs flew after them, a protective layer underneath the now squirming dog.
“Holy shit.” He climbed feebly to his feet, wondering what to do. He could not continue to Lily Pond Road. Out of the question.
He shriveled inside knowing his leverage with the tribe was gone. They would never let him lead after this. How could he make them understand what a valiant effort he had made to save his men? If he had not had the good sense to hold his tongue, the creatures may have inflicted more horror. He began to sob, knowing his story would be a hard sell.
Why does my life always turn to shit? I deserve more than this. They don’t know who I am . . . I’m Doc Benjamin’s son! He shook his deformed hand to the sky.
Seth was left sobbing and alone with the skeletons of his dead men and the uncomfortable, wet smell in his pants; alone as the flying creatures vanished from sight, leaving him to listen in the darkness as the bushes rustled and growled around him.