"Quick, put him on my waroth. I'll seek for help." Haraia took charge.
She assisted Jh'tarulash and carried Cal to her waroth and secured his unconscious body safely in place before taking the reigns. Jh'tarulash placed one of the torches into a holder on her waroth to give her light.
"He's losing too much blood. I must make haste." She looked at Ixel who hadn't moved or said a word. "Take care of her, Jh'tarulash. Protect the Narkanai with your life."
He just nodded and gulped loudly. She clicked her tongue and kicked her heels and her waroth shot forward. Within moments, she was out of sight, leaving Jh'tarulash and Ixel behind. He turned to Ixel with uncertainty.
"Narkanai?" He hesitated, "Shall we prepare to return to the city? I fear this journey may no longer be safe."
Ixel continued to look at the dark stain in the sand. Her thoughts drowned out by fear, her body shook violently. The pounding of blood pumping in her ears tuned out all other sounds. She was momentarily paralyzed.
"What..." she whispered, her teeth chattered, "what kind of..."
"Ixel?" Jh'tarulash could barely make out what she had said.
Concerned for her well being he insisted they move on and leave the site. Again, she ignored him. The remaining waroths shimmied nervously. The grunting waroths finally woke Ixel from her daze. She looked to see them dance restlessly in place, their antennae twitched wildly.
"Ixel!"
The expression on his face had paled and his eyes widened. She slowly turned her head to see a massive creature making its way out of the darkness and into their camping site. This fiend was grotesque with three long legs, lumpy body, pointed teeth and long tongue that whipped around tasting everything it touched. It lacked eyes for sight, and ears for sound. It made a gurgling growl as it's tongue sapped up the blood left behind by Cal. For the first time, Ixel realized what true terror was like. A second fiend stumbled into the torch light. The waroths made a horrifying sound that shook Ixel to the bone. They bolted, Jh'tarulash shouting after them.
The fiends finished lapping up the blood trail and gurgled as they bumped into each other. Jh'tarulash picked up a torch and shielded Ixel, his blade held high at the towering creatures. One of the monsters raised its body as it sensed their presence. Jh'tarulash lashed out at the legs of one then jumped back just in time to avoid getting knocked down. It had gone into a rage which sent the second one into a frenzy. Very thin tentacles covered in some sort of mucous oozed out from various places on their bodies. The tentacles whipped about dangerously as they wandered over towards Ixel and Jh'tarulash.
"Run!" He shouted as he sheathed his sword and gripped her arm, pulling her along.
It was obvious that the creatures had picked up on their scent and were not going to be easy to lose. At the moment, all they could do was run. Her senses finally came back to her making her more aware of her surroundings. Jh'tarulash led her deeper into the desert forest without a thought of where they were actually running. Just a little ways away Ixel spotted a pile of rocks.
"There!" She shouted and pointed.
He changed his course and nearly dragged Ixel along. As they got closer it became clear it wasn't normal rocks, but ruins of an old watch tower. They climbed across the rubble and halted at the top. On the other side was a view that reached out over a large sandy valley full of the same things they were running from wandering around aimlessly. The one nearest the rubble had extended its mucous covered tentacles and waved it about as if it could smell or taste their scent on the night air; which caused a chain reaction to others nearby. Jh'tarulash and Ixel realized they had just stumbled upon the nesting grounds.
To be continued...
