Escape from Celestial

by Tony Johnson

  Mrs. Sep was the only one that had the courtesy to help the Serendale Captain as she purposely tied the belts as tight as possible, making Griegan regret drawing a blade in her Den. He marched out the front door with a huff, not saying goodbye to the den owners who had given such great hospitality.

  “I got these for you,” Mr. Sep said, draping a bundle of heavy woolen cloaks over the back of the wooden bench. “I guess Captain Griegan doesn’t get one, seeing as he’s not here.” He smiled while shrugging his shoulders. “There should be one for each of you. They’ll help with the cold and rain.”

  “We filled your canteens too,” he added, “and here are some food and supplies,” he handed Kari the bag. “It’s about a seventeen-hour walk you’ve got ahead of you. There’s a good spot for a campsite under a giant cliff a little less than halfway there. You’ll see a lightning-singed tree on the left side of the road. It’s about a mile past that.”

  “Thank you,” Kari said, hugging Mr. Sep. She then gave Mrs. Sep an even tighter embrace. “It was so nice meeting you both.”

  “You too, darling,” Mrs. Sep said kindly. “You be careful out there in your adventures.”

  “I will,” Kari promised. “Hopefully I can come back soon and tell you about them.”

  Grizz, Willis, and Ty thanked their hosts and followed Kari outside.

  Steve stayed behind and was the last one to say his goodbyes. “I can’t thank you enough,” he said, shaking Mr. Sep’s hand.

  “Your shoulder should heal up good and fine. Just don’t overdo it.”

  “Take care of that girl. Keep her safe,” Mrs. Sep ordered Steve, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek. “I see the way you two smile at each other. You remind me of us when we were young.” Mrs. Sep put her arm around her husband’s waist and he put his arm around hers, but then she motioned for Steve to come close to her so she could tell him something quietly.

  Since he was 6’1”, Steve bent down to listen as the elderly woman whispered into his ear. “At some point you’ll have to tell her how you feel. Don’t hide your feelings and make her wait forever like this one did,” she cautioned, nudging her husband in the stomach.

  “Ow!” Mr. Sep joked, rubbing the spot, pretending he was injured. He added, “She’s right, son. You never know what’s going to happen, and you can’t keep feelings that strong bottled up. When you find something like love, hold onto it. It will help you through the darkest times.”

  Steve nodded and smiled, hoping if he ever reached their age, he would be as happy and content as they were. It’s way too early to call what Kari and I have “love,” but I definitely wouldn’t mind if she was the one I was standing next to someday, he thought to himself.

  “Thanks again,” Steve said. He stopped to admire the head of a lion on the wall of the Den. I wonder who killed this thing, he thought, looking underneath for the plaque expecting to find the names of multiple hunters. There was only one.

  Malorek.

  Steve would soon learn the meaning of the name, but since he did not understand its significance, he didn’t give it a second thought. He simply pulled up the hood of his cloak and exited the Den, walking out into the cold, pouring rain.

  Chapter 49

  The clouds only got darker and the rain, somehow, got even worse the farther they walked. They quickly gave up on having conversations after the wind picked up and drowned out the sound of their voices.

  “Here’s the scorched tree!” Willis yelled after six hours of walking. “Another mile to go and we’ll reach the cliff where we’ll make camp for the night!”

  They made it to the site Mr. Sep had alluded to just as dusk was settling in. To the right of the road, beyond some trees, was a gigantic sheet of rock overhanging the ground. It served as a perfect covering from the rain and wind while also making it impossible for any monsters to attack them from behind.

  There was already a spot for a campfire from previous travelers and leftover firewood stacked along the rock wall. “It’s not much, but it will get us through the night,” Willis said, setting three logs in a pyre. “I’ll take first watch.”

  “I’ll take second,” Griegan volunteered before anyone could jump in.

  He’s trying to make amends for how he behaved earlier, thought Kari. She looked through the bag Mr. Sep had given her and tossed Willis some cheese and half a loaf of bread. As Willis walked off into the night to keep watch she divvied up half of the remaining food equally among the six of them, having not forgotten their monster companion, Copper.

  They ate quickly and didn’t waste time talking before they went to sleep. They were tired from walking for so long in the cold, relentless rain and aggressive wind. It took no longer than five minutes for each of them to fall asleep. Even Grizz’s loud snoring midway through the night wasn’t enough to interrupt their slumber.

  “GET UP! WAKE UP!” A voice called from far away, waking everyone.

  “What was that?” Kari asked, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. She looked around and saw that Willis was the only other one who had been awakened by the noise. If Willis is here with us it must be Griegan who’s on watch. Listening carefully, all Kari heard was the strong breeze rustling through the trees now that the rainstorm had ended. Then, the sound of a deep scream of pain from Griegan cut through the night air. This time, everyone who wasn’t yet awake awoke in a heartbeat.

  “What’s going on?” Grizz muttered. His question was answered by a tremendous roar less than one hundred feet away.

  That is the growl of a sabertooth! Steve knew, drawing Brightflame from his side sheath and equipping his shield. Next to him, Kari notched an arrow, Willis and Ty drew their swords, and Grizz raised Skullcrusher.

  Since Willis had added a couple more logs to the fire after his watch ended, the five companions stood together with the blazing flames between them and the forest. The gray sheet of rock wall was preventing an escape, so they stood with weapons ready. Copper looked in the direction of the scream. He let out a low, rumbling warning growl from his throat.

  Trees cracked and broke in the distance, and the sound got louder as a giant silhouette came bounding through the forest towards them. Sabertooth crashed through the branches of two trees and, with a great leap, pounced over the fire.

  Grizz, Ty, Kari, and Willis took a step back, scared of the size of the ferocious-looking beast as it stood illuminated in the firelight. Only Steve stood steadfast, having seen the Monster once before.

  It is you, he determined, noticing the beast’s unique albino white fur, red eyes, and the fact one of its longtooths was missing. Blood matted Sabertooth’s fur in various spots on his body from recent cuts and impalements. Some of it had dried, but some of the deeper wounds were still fresh and bleeding. It looks like the Serendale warriors put up a fight before they were killed.

  Dangling out of the sides of the monster’s mouth were the lifeless arms and legs of Captain Griegan. The direcat’s teeth and claws dripped with blood. He had easily swiped at Griegan and knocked him down and then picked the captain up in his mouth and crushed the warrior to death.

  The red-eyed monster jerked his head and opened his mouth, throwing the dead body over the heads of the companions, where it smashed into the large slate of rock. The deceased captain fell to the ground behind Grizz and Willis, leaving dark-red blood smeared on the base of the cliff.

  Seeing and remembering the warrior that broke his longtooth, Sabertooth let out a gigantic roar that deafened the heroes. Infused with a rush of adrenaline, Steve ignored his aches, pains, and injuries and responded with a roar of his own. He jumped over the fire, swinging Brightflame.

  Sabertooth tilted his head and blocked Steve’s aggressive attack by using his one longtooth, which was as durable as a sword. He rammed his head into the warrior, who blocked it with his shield, but the strike was enough to send Steve flying backwards.

  Kari launched an arrow into the monster’s snout, which angered him more
than hurt him. He lowered his head like a rhino and charged forward, straight at his five enemies. Willis and Grizz jumped to one side while Ty and Kari dove to the other. It was Copper who was the only one brave enough to take on the albino beast. Even though he was a large direfox, he was small in comparison to the monster before him.

  Copper took a couple steps backwards, baiting Sabertooth into continuing his charge.

  That’s a smart direfox, Kari realized. He’s going to try and dodge out of the way at the last second and cause Sabertooth to smash its head into the rock wall of the cliff.

  Copper’s plan was what Kari expected, but Sabertooth anticipated it as well. Despite his charging speed, the monster managed to be observant enough to skid to a halt in time.

  On Sabertooth’s left side, Grizz and Willis saw the open flank and impaled their weapons into it. Ty and Kari did the same from the direcat’s right side, but neither blade nor arrow seemed to faze the beast.

  Sabertooth turned towards the Elven warrior and the Halfling archer on his right side and swung one of his clawed paws at them. Kari was further away, so she simply jumped backwards to avoid the strike, but Ty was closer to danger. Luckily, the Elf’s reflexes were fast enough to save his life. He ducked under the giant swinging paw and came up on the opposite side of Sabertooth, joining Grizz and Willis. Together they impaled the beast, but again, it seemingly did no damage.

  “It’ll take hundreds of cuts to weaken him!” Grizz yelled over the monster’s angry roars.

  “Attack his face and neck!” Steve yelled, rushing back into battle. “They’re the most penetrable spots!”

  Also, the most dangerous parts to go near! Grizz wanted to shout, but he knew Steve was right. Sometimes the only way to kill big-bodied enemies is to go for the head.

  Before any of them could try the new strategy, in a sudden flash of orange, Copper lunged from behind the white-furred monster, flying over Sabertooth’s back and sinking his fangs deep into the back of the enemy’s neck. It was the first attack that caused the direcat to howl in pain.

  Copper’s momentum caused his body to whiplash and twist, his back legs flying in front of him because he refused to release his savage bite on Sabertooth’s neck.

  The whiplash allowed Sabertooth to catch Copper’s foot in his mouth. With a violent turning of his head, the monster ripped the direfox off his back and sent him sprawling through the air. Copper slammed into a tree and fell to the ground motionless.

  Next, Sabertooth targeted the three men to his left, by turning and charging at them with his head lowered. Grizz and Ty moved out of the way, but, in the center was Willis, who took the full brunt of the force. The warrior was lifted off the ground, clinging to Sabertooth’s ears as the monster continued charging and then slammed the Elf’s back against the rock wall.

  Willis fell to the ground, still alive, but struggled to breathe from the impact. Just before Sabertooth chomped him in half, Steve thrust Brightflame, plunging the blade deep into the direcat’s thigh. It temporarily made the monster’s leg give out under the massive weight of his large, lion-shaped body.

  Turning in anger, Sabertooth swatted his giant paw at the warrior. Swinging Brightflame, at the same time, Steve’s sword cleaved through the beast’s white paw, nearly severing it. With a tremendous growl, the red-eyed monster backed up in pain.

  Ty saw an opportunity to cut off the rest of the enemy’s paw, but, as he moved to attack, Sabertooth swung with his other paw at the Elf’s head. This time, Ty was not agile enough to dodge it. As soon as he was hit, blackness swirled before his eyes and he dizzily fell to the ground. In a daze, he heard shouts of concern coming from Steve, Kari, and Grizz before blacking out.

  Again, like with Willis, Sabertooth bent down to kill his enemy, but getting shot by an assault of arrows distracted him.

  Kari launched arrow after arrow into the beast and was happy to attract Sabertooth’s attention away from her Elven friend. The direcat charged at her, but before he reached the Halfling, Grizz swung Skullcrusher in a horizontal arc, powering his hammer into the monster. Together, the heroes used their numbers to overwhelm their enemy.

  “Kari!” Steve called from where he was checking on Ty. He pointed above to the overhanging rock. “Draw it to the top of the cliff!”

  “I’ll try and hold it off!” Grizz bellowed. “Get up there!”

  Using trees to pull herself up the steep hill’s incline Kari scaled the side of the massive rock. She then ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down the nearly forty-foot drop. The fall from here would be equivalent to falling from one of Celestial’s four-story buildings.

  On the top of the cliff was a cluster of giant spruce trees. Kari slung her bow over her back and climbed the one with the widest trunk as quickly as she could.

  Perfect! I’m high enough that Sabertooth can’t reach me and this trunk is thick enough that he won’t be able to knock it over like he did to some of the trees down there when running through the forest. And, she thought, nestling herself in a secure part of the branches, the vantage point from here couldn’t be any better. Drawing her bow, she notched an arrow, and looked down through the clearing, finding herself more than seventy feet above the ground far below. I may be claustrophobic and scared of rats and spiders, but at least I’m not afraid of heights.

  Far below, she saw Ty lying motionless and Grizz and Steve battling Sabertooth, drawing him out from under the rock.

  I didn’t realize how big he is! she thought, seeing the direcat’s massive size from high above. Makes the target easier to hit! She began firing arrow after arrow into the easy-to-spot white-furred beast.

  After the seventh arrow sunk into his back, Sabertooth growled and looked up to the top of the cliff, trying to locate what was causing him pain. He gave up fighting the Human and the Dwarf and scampered up the hill, searching for the female archer.

  With Sabertooth’s focus on Kari, Copper rushed out of the shadows of a group of nearby trees. The direfox’s second attempt at attacking was more successful than the first. He savagely bit into the monster’s back leg, the same one Steve had stabbed. With a firm grip, Copper closed his jaws as tightly as he could and ripped a huge chunk out of the enemy’s lower leg, severing Sabertooth’s Achilles tendon.

  “That’s it, Copper!” Grizz yelled excitedly.

  “This is our chance!” Steve encouraged Grizz, following the enemy up the steep terrain. They came upon Copper, who was standing on three legs. The direfox gingerly held his back leg off the ground.

  “He hurt his foot when Sabertooth caught it in his mouth and threw him,” Steve said, quickly examining their orange-furred friend. Despite being injured, Copper was desperately trying to climb up the hill and continue the fight.

  “You did great boy,” Grizz said, patting the friendly monster’s head. “Stay here. We’ll take care of the rest.”

  It took Grizz and Steve longer to scale the side of the hill than it did for the muscle-bound Sabertooth. Even though one of the direcat’s hind legs was useless, he still made it up the hill three times as fast as they did. Once the two arrived at the top, they saw the monster clawing at the tree Kari was in.

  “She’s too high up to reach,” Grizz said gladly.

  “She’s not shooting arrows anymore though!” Steve replied nervously, fearing Kari might have gotten hurt.

  “She doesn’t need to. Our enemy is already positioned near the edge of the cliff. We can knock him off!” Grizz looked over to Steve next to him. “Together!”

  “Together!” Steve nodded in agreement. Then, the two men ran up the incline of the great rock with their weapons drawn.

  They took Sabertooth unawares towards the edge of the cliff and hacked at his body, successfully driving him backwards. Perilously close to the edge, the two men battled the monster, dodging his wild paw strikes and gnashing teeth.

  Wildly reacting to the danger he realized he was in, Sabertooth managed to swing his paw and
connect with Steve’s injured shoulder. Steve was knocked down by the blow as he winced in pain. His loss of footing caused him to unwillingly slide down the ramp of stone before coming to a stop. Looking up, while clutching his excruciatingly throbbing shoulder, he watched Grizz capitalize on the fact that the monster had temporarily focused its attack on the Human warrior.

  The Dwarf powerfully swung his hammer upwards, connecting under Sabertooth’s chin. Steve could have sworn the direcat’s front legs lifted off the ground from the impact.

  Sabertooth reeled backwards from the blow, his hind legs backing right off the edge of the cliff. Most of his body fell, but his front paws managed to catch onto the stone ledge, allowing the beast to hold on.

  With one of his front paws severely weakened from Brightflame’s gash and one of his back legs useless because of the torn tendon, Sabertooth was unable to pull himself up. Grizz walked forward to deliver the killing blow that would send the monster plummeting to its death.

  As Grizz approached the defenseless direcat, he flicked his wrist, spinning the long handle of his weapon in his palm, over and over. Preparing to deliver the killing blow, he tightened his grip.

  Skullcrusher it is, Grizz said to himself as the weapon landed with the side featuring the anvil-like block of iron facing Sabertooth.

  “Grizz, get back!” Kari screamed from atop the nearby tree before moving to strike the beast.

  From her view, Kari could see a huge crack forming in the rock, right behind where the Halfman was standing. The weight of Sabertooth is too much stress on the weak stone!

  “GRIZZ!” she screamed.

  The Dwarf refused to listen. Anger consumed him as he stood above the struggling monster at the very edge of the cliff.

  “This is for Dart’s brother, Callan, Captain Westfield, and everyone else you’ve killed,” he seethed, raising Skullcrusher and bringing it down for the kill.