Page 5 of The General's Captive
“I promise.”
He dipped his head once, his eyes softening with relief before narrowing with focus.
Keeping low, he crept out from behind the truck, the huge beast, whatever it was, could be heard growling as it prowled closer, its meaty footsteps shaking the ground. I watched as my uncle lifted the gun, taking aim at the creature I couldn’t see.
Then… BANG!
My whole body jolted, but what came next was my uncle’s panicked bellow.
“ALEX, RUN!”
This was a second before the creature found us, the bullet my uncle had shot did little to slow it down. I screamed as the creature emerged, the tendrils of darkness that swirled like smoke out its body doing nothing to hide the humongous head of a black eagle. His eyes blazed with red fire, the color of death among its shimmering scales that replaced the feathers. Scales that merged to ink black fur, with the back half of the creature looking like the body of freaking lion!
In fact, this creature was big enough to be the thing that ate other lions because it was four times the size of one. No wonder my uncle’s gun hadn’t done much damage, but still, he continued to fire, trying to force the creature away from the truck.
This worked until it lashed out with one of its wings that had been folded and tucked close to its back. However, now they were spread out, I could see the span of them was enough to match the width of the cabin. Which meant that they were powerful enough to toss my uncle clean off his feet when hitting him.
“NO!”I screamed as he dropped his gun when he landed. But this cry of panic was lost to the sound of the beast’s rage, and it let loose a bellow into the sky before it turned to stalk my uncle.
My eyes went to the gun, and the second I saw my chance, I rushed to pick it up. But then that strange, smoky darkness enveloped me, trying to drag me away.
I screamed in frustration as it wrapped around my body, making me twist as I fought against it, crawling on my knees to find the gun on the ground. Stems of shadows transformed into finger-like entities and clamped tightly around my arms, throwing me back against the truck. I couldn’t understand it, nor did I know where it was coming from. That was until I saw two glowing red eyes coming from the darkness of the forest.
A sharp cry tore from my throat as my bones connected with the hard ground and I forced myself to get back to my feet. The need to help my uncle pulsed through me, covering the pain I knew I would feel later. I decided to reach back into the truck bed and grab one of the other guns. Then as soon as I had it in my grasp, praying this one was loaded, I jumped down and over the solidifying darkness coming toward me. As for my uncle, he had dragged himself up against a tree, and I could only hope he had enough strength left to fight.
“Uncle, catch!” I yelled, before tossing the gun as far as I could. It was a great throw and an even better catch, but I couldn’t help screaming in terror when I saw how close the creature was to him. Its eyes burnt brighter, like twin embers inthe night and the small gaps between the scaled feathers seeped with darkness.
I watched in awe as my uncle shot bullet after bullet into the beast’s head, then into its mouth, as it screeched an unearthly sound that made every hair on my body stand up on end. The creature continued to roar in what I hoped was pain until there were no bullets left.
But it wasn’t enough.
I knew that when the gun clicked but nothing came out, sending shivers down my spine. The creature’s eyes narrowed, as if it enjoyed what it was doing. Calling it evil was very much an understatement by this point because it must have come from the depths of Hell itself!
“Alex! Run! Head to… the military base… AHH!” This ended on a scream as he found himself gripped in the creature’s claws once more, and was now being dragged deeper into the forest. He continued to shout with the last of his breath.
“RUN!”
“NO!” I screamed, but when I saw that the shadow in the trees begin to move, I knew I had to honor my promise to him. Because I didn’t stand a chance and I couldn’t let his sacrifice be in vain.
I knew I would most likely struggle living with this decision but as those shadows crept closer, I ran back toward the truck.
I ducked below the solid darkness as it flew toward me, and I ran to the driver’s side, jumping in behind the wheel, something easier to do now it was minus a door. With tears streaming down my face, I turned the key. Then I put it in drive and floored it.
Shadowed fingers clawed at the truck as I drove, digging into it, trying to pull me back. I ignored the protesting screech of the wheels and pushed my foot down harder on the gas, then the truck suddenly lurched forward, as if no longer trapped. I heard a piercing howl cut through the night, making me look back overmy shoulder through the back window. And there, clear as day, was a lone, tall, dark figure standing in the middle of the clearing where my uncle used to park his truck.
A man standing in front of the cabin, dressed entirely in black, watching as I increased the distance between us. My eyes continued to dart from the road back to him, watching as he opened his arms up and outward as if ready to command the skies.
Or should I say, the army of creatures I could see emerging from behind him. Only instead of sending them my way, like I thought he would, they all separated, running off into the trees to the left and right of him.
As for the man himself, he remained standing there as he continued to watch my truck until I drove it out of view.
My utter heartbreak now making me ask…
Had he been the one responsible?
Creature Unknown.Gryphon
Appearance - A huge, winged creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion, and the head and wings of an eagle. Blood red eyes and scaled feathers.
