Young Adult / Creature- part 6

Eventually, George recognized that Gerard had left him. He stopped rambling and went back to studying the rock he had removed from the creature earlier.
        It was unlike anything he ever seen. It felt so alien to him. So out of place. He fingered it, coaxing as many secrets as he could get out of it. The rock was veined and brittle. It felt almost like baked glass, or maybe like the lava he had once found near a dormant volcano. It was ropy, yet jagged; black, opaque, and had rainbows of color flashing across it surface.
        The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Something else was in the room. He paused and tried to sniff it out. Satisfied that he and the creature were the only ones in the room, yet mystified as to what he had sensed, he slid off his stool. The rock could wait for some other time.
        The creature had been out for some time, and he worried for its health. He had provided food and water, but what good were they if the animal had not yet stirred since he had sedated it the previous day. All kinds of fears had plagued him all night. Where had the creature come from? Was it the only one of its kind or were there more? What types of things did it eat? What had happened to it? It really did look as though it had gone through Hell and back. But the question that he feared most was; had he given it too much sedative and killed it?
        George had had many guests in his lab: injured, healthy, friends, and so-on. Judging by the dog-like appearance of the creature and by his previous dogs’ likes and dislikes, he knelt and set his hand on the back of the creature.
The fur was soft and silky and was warm to the touch. He began to rub the spine of the creature in small circles from the base of its neck, down the column, and to the tail.
He did not touch the tail. There were several reasons for this; one, he did not understand this creature or whether or not it would appreciate his touching it, and two, it was armored and he got eh sense that the creature did not wish to be touched there. Instead, he rubbed the creature up and down its back some more. He continued rubbing down its coat and working its muscles until the creature finally responded. Soon it was no longer tense and its tail was a warm auburn color.
Relieved, George leaned over and scooped some water out of one of the dog bowl. The creature was alive; it would be needing water soon if not already. With any luck, the creature had not known that the food and water were available to it and would drink when he brought the liquid to its mouth.
The creature did better. It opened its eyes and gave a very grateful look before lapping up the water. If George hadn’t been so keen on getting some fluids into this thing, he might have run, but he held himself in check and merely flinched.
        He continued bringing water to the animal until it drank no more. Then he watched as it fell back to sleep.
        Good, he thought. This creature really needs to rest and recuperate.
        He loosened the bonds on the creature and left the room.

_________

        The dominant pack leader stood on his ledge, legs spread apart and head held high. He had the red star that singled him out as the strongest of the pack. This was as unquestionable as the fact of the sun coming up the next day.
        The star never left; it could not be hidden. Other predators knew not to attack it for the full maw and fury of the most powerful of the Eofadalas was behind it.
        The moon shone from behind, outlining his powerful form in silver. His voice was deep and gravely as Ekanus explained to us, the newly mature, the rules of the Hunt.
        “The Hunt is our way of life. Without it, we would surely perish. The Hunt is our food, our learning, our path of existence.”
        He paused and spread his enormous wings. Every pup wanted to be just like him when they grew up, and we, as newly mature adults, were on our way. His wings spanned nearly fifteen feet. Each of us was envious. We were lucky if our wings spanned more than eight feet.
        Although, or perhaps because of my being the outcast in my age group for fault of my vast differences from the rest of the pack, I was the fastest learner. It took brains, not brawn, to get away from the horrible pain that yearling teach could inflict.
        I used those brains now and examined every inch of Ekanus’ body. Truthfully, there was nothing too remarkable except for the massive span of his wings and the jagged scars of battle. He had tough wiry fur like the rest of the Eofaedalas. He was grey except for the red star and his barrel chest and golden eyes were no different than the rest of ours. It was obvious that he, like me, had learned that strength comes from the mind, not the body.
        And so, while the other yearlings chattered amongst themselves, I listened to what he had to say.
        “We are the strongest race on this planet. Therefore, we must take upon ourselves the duty of being the most civilized.
        “In the Hunt, you do not touch the females or their young. Nor do you ever attack the Chief Learner. For without the Chief Learner, their kind would vanish.”
        A yearling with a dark grey patch across his face leapt into the air. “How do we know who the Chief Learner is?”
        Ekanus rumbled his disapproval at the yearling’s speaking out of turn, but answered the question. “The Chief Learner will look different for all of you, but know that what I tell you is true when I say you cannot mistake him.”
        Another yearling spoke up, “What does he look like to you?”
        The pack leader tucked his wings against his spine before answering. “I cannot tell you, else I risk tainting the openness of your minds.”
        A particularly dark yearling snapped at the wing of the one standing next to him. “Get your wing out of my face before I rip it off Edoras,” he barked. When Edoras made no move to get out of the way, the dark yearling growled and bared his formidable canines. “I’ll kill you,” he spat. “I’ll kill you same as I’ll every single Skreet on the Hunt.”
        Ekanus had had enough of the dark yearling’s attitude. He reared, extending
His wings and bolted into the air. Then he landed on top of the dark yearling, jaws open, and snapped his neck.
The pack leader stood on the dead yearling and roared at the congregation, “If anyone else wishes to endanger our kind with that attitude, let this be an example. We do not threaten or kill our own kind. Nor do we murder thoughtlessly. The Hunt is restricted to full-grown males that do not bear the sign of the Chief Learner. For without the Chief Learner, the Skreet could not continue. If you want an honorable opponent in the Hunts to come, do not attack that one male. Understood?”
        His face was dark and seething, his hackles were raised, and his fur was bristling with rage. He bared his teeth, and the blood-tipped canines for which he was named glinted in the moonlight. Nobody dared to speak. Satisfied, Ekanus took the corpse into his jaws, jumped into the air, and dropped the body into the river that ran alongside the ridge. Then he disappeared into the night.
        The meeting was ruined. The Great Yearling speech had gone horribly wrong. The one night I had been looking forward to for my whole life, and Ekanus would probably never let us go on the Hunt.
        Miserably, I took to the air. All my life I had waited to prove myself worthy of being in the pack by being the best of the Hunt. And now I would never get to go.

        Something in the room clanked and I woke with a jolt. I blinked several times trying to clear my head of the last few tendrils of the dream world.  The first thing I noticed was that I was no longer tied. The second thing I noticed was that I no longer hurt.
        I must have been out for a while; all my wounds were healed.

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