#7

The next morning was overcast, yet the clouds were high and promised no rain. Ara was the first to wake up. For a while she just sat and looked at Zacknue. He has not been himself since they had reached the island. He seemed confused, like he was searching for something and had gone someplace that Ara could not see. She concentrated on these thoughts, praying for answers. None came, so Ara made up her mind and woke him up.

“Zacknue.” Zacknue grumbled and covered his eyes,

“What?” He said as he rose and let out a yawn/

“We should go walk, we need to find a place to settle down. Maybe then you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

Zacknue rose from his bed of leaves and walked along side Ara. They walked out into the woods. For a while they were completely silent, only stopping to observe a strange fruit or climb over an obstacle. By midday they had come to a large clearing, a meadow of sorts.

“Stop.” Said Zackue. “Look”.

“What I don’t see…” Suddenly Ara saw what he had pointed at. In the middle of the field was an object that lay half buried in the ground. IT was very large, about 10 feet high. “What is it?”

“ I don’t know.” The object was a dingy yellowish color. The sides were metal that had decayed far beyond rust. The rest was glass, but not the strange bottles that they used to find on the ocean floor, this was far different. The glass was stretched across a frame, so that it made up the entire objects surface. The overall shape of the object was the strangest part. It was like two arches that attached in the middle, making the shape of an M.

“What do you suppose it means,” Said Ara, who stroked the smooth surface.

“I…I don’t know. But I think we should keep moving.

***INSERT CHAPTERS*****

The meadow ended at a large river that rushed like great torrents. Great currents of white foam billowed up in sprays of mist. Ara took his hand and together they waded into the rushing rapids. The rapids tore at them with angry intent. It swirled up in great pillers that threatened to wash them away. Zacknue made his way slowly clutching the rocky outcrops one after another. After a good ten minutes, they climbed out of the torrents and onto the sandy shoreline. On the other side of the river, thick pine woods sourrounded a flat grassy meadow. On the far side of the meadow, the land rose up into a rocky cliff as the water fell down into a deep canyon.

"I like it here.". Said zacknue, sitting down on a mossy rock, sopping wet.

"me too, there's plenty of room for all of us and it's a nice place for children to grow up.".

"I bet you further down there's a lagoon. It would make nice fishing."

"zacknue, we should go back and fetch the others."

"no need, they'll know. But you and me have buisness elsewhere."

" and where is that?"

" the other side, we need to reach the west by noon tommirow. If we start now, we could be there by sunset."

Without another word, they set off into the woods at a brisk pace.

The woods were very thick and dark. With each step they bounced upon the spongy layer of pine needles that had piled upon the ground. The woods were very quiet, no birds sung and no squirrels nested in the branches.

"zacknue. I feel very uneasy. We should not be here."

"something is following us, I can here see it moving in the treeline up ahead. As long as we keep moving, we'll be fine."

The woods came to a strange clearing. The trees grew out across the area so that the branches intertwined, no sunlight was let through. Zacknue walked into the tall grass and then stopped, smelling the air.

"ara, when I say so, duck."

"ok, but...". Just then, a large shadowy form lept from behind them.

"duck!". The beast leaped over ara, grazing her back and slicing through the skin. It smacked into his side, throwing him onto the ground. Zacnue rolled over and mounted the creature. It swung it's head around and around, threatening to throw him off. The creature spun around, rearing onto it's hind legs. It's stood A good nine feet tall on it's hind legs. It's form was undefined in the dim light. The only features that could be seen were the horns that shimmered s if metallic. Zacknue steared the creauture out of the way as it attempted to to ram into ara. As it began turn away, it slipped on the grass and collided into the ground. With a deafening howl, it struggled to stand back up. Before it could, zacknue twisted it's head quickly. It's neck snapped, the creature went limp. Zacknue got up and wiped the blood off his hands.

"are you ok?". He asked ara, still wiping his hands

"I'm fine, just a couple scratches where it's claws grazed me.".

"that thing was not a beast of this earth. I could smell it, it gave off a musty air, an evil sort of air. The beast was sent to kill us."

" but why?"

"I don't know. But I can smell the air. The west coast is not far, but there is something evil on the breeze."