by August Arrea
Closer and closer he moved in until he managed to be just a few short feet from the feathery prize. Then, just as he was about to pounce on the Illume and scoop it into his waiting sack, Isaac came swooping down from out of nowhere and dove onto Max. The attack startled the Illume. It quickly spun its head around and, when it saw Jacob sneaking up from behind, it parted wide its beak and let loose an angry shrill of a scream. Jacob knew at that moment he had lost his one sure chance, but nonetheless he lunged forward with the empty possibility luck might somehow guide the bird into his sack. As expected, the Illume bolted from reach and briskly disappeared into the cover of the trees leaving Jacob splashing about face-down in the stream.
“I got it,” Isaac cried out victoriously while continuing to wrestle his sack over his struggling capture.
“Congratulations, Isaac,” Jacob sputtered sourly. “You’ve managed to catch Max.”
Isaac appeared dumbfounded at first until he looked down and saw there was nothing bird-like about the flailing arms and kicking legs he was in the midst of wrestling.
“What’s this?” he begged incredulously while revealing what at first looked to be a bowling ball stuffed inside his sack only to come nose to nose with Max’s scowling face and not the Illume he swore he dive-bombed.
“You arse burp!” scolded Max.
“But I saw it…it was the Illume,” Isaac vigorously defended himself when it suddenly dawned on him he wasn’t hallucinating and that Max, in fact, was the Illume. “Why would you trick me like that?”
“I wasn’t trying to trick you, Einstein.”
Somewhere hiding amongst the trees, the squawking of the one true Illume reverberated loudly. Sure enough, its cries found Creed, who Jacob spied sailing past overhead in quick pursuit.
“Let’s go…hurry,” barked Jacob, jumping to his feet. He tore his way across the Forest floor at a blinding pace in the direction of the bird’s echoing shrieks, while Max and Isaac shadowed him from above.
~~~
“Comin’ yer way,” Jacob suddenly heard Max call down to him.
However, the warning came too late. The Illume buzzed past him in a fluttering blur before he could even think of making a catch for it. And coming straight toward him hot on the bird’s tail was not only Creed, but now Michael, who had honed in on the commotion and joined in the chase. So swiftly they flew that Jacob barely managed to clear himself from out of their flight path, but not quick enough to escape the reach of Creed’s foot, which purposely managed to clip him in the chest with a painful kick in passing, sending him to the ground.
The ruckus from the brawl that followed decimated fully whatever semblance of peace resided within the Forest. Now there were five Nephilim in fiery pursuit of the Illume which eventually took refuge in the foliage of a Guelder-rose shrub where Jacob and Max followed after it. With their sacks in hand they were about to close in on the Illume when Creed, Michael and Isaac found them.
“Time to end this silly game,” announced Creed.
He strode forward revealing in his flexing of muscle his every intention of taking custody of the bird no matter who attempted to stand in his way. Both Jacob and Max immediately accepted the challenge.
“No way, it’s ours!” Jacob stated forcefully.
“Until it’s bagged, it’s nobody’s,” replied Creed.
“Then considered it bagged!” countered Max, firming an unintimidated stance between the brush where the Illume remained in hiding and Creed. “And not by you, Maggert.”
Creed’s face tightened with disdain and he gave Max a forceful shove out of his way. If, however, he thought Max was a pushover like most other boys he crossed paths with, he had another thing coming.
“You’d do your health good keeping your paws off me, I can tell ya that,” said Max with a tell-tale gleam in his eyes which conveyed in no uncertain terms the message that he was not one to shy away from a fight. “You see, unlike the rest of these blokes I don’t give two blind mullets who your father is. You want to have a blue, then give it a burl. Fair warning, though: I’ll do better than making you kiss a tree like my mate Jacob did with you a little bit ago, I’ll put you clean through it!”
Creed didn’t look put-off by Max’s even-tempered threat. In fact, he seemed eager to wager a bet against it, and Max was more than willing to prove he meant what he said. Yet before either could take the first swing, an ear-piercing cry came from the Illume. Only it was like no other sound any of the boys had heard come from the bird in their fruitless pursuit of the creature. There was an oddly unpleasant weight to it. And at first the group of boys questioned if the sound came from the Illume, or something entirely different hidden inside the bush.
Then the shrub began to shake violently and its branches snapped and cracked like kindling before falling still again. An eery silence followed and a guarded curiosity shared by the boys made them lean in for a closer look when suddenly the massive head of a fiendish beast revealed itself in an unsuspecting lunge from the foliage of the bush and let loose an even deeper bone-chilling roar. In an instant, the bush was reduced to an explosion of leaves and twigs left to scatter on the ground and in its place was a horrid creature of incredible size—nothing like the charming, delicate bird seen preening in front of its reflection earlier by the stream—with the body of what appeared to be that of a dragon fitted with the tail of a scorpion. And when the beast unfurled and began beating with tremendous, furious strength what looked to be a pair of giant, leathery wings better suited for a tremendously over-sized bat, the color drained from Max’s face, and with a disbelieving look settling in his eyes he managed to find his tongue to mutter quietly to himself, “Stone the crows!”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Bagging a Beast
“W
hat the heck is that thing?” shrieked Michael.
“Believe it or not, I think it’s the Illume,” answered Jacob who eyed the familiar headdress adorning the front of the hideous creature’s head. Only instead of a crown of delicate white feathers encircling a larger dazzling blue one, they were razor-sharp spikes encircling a single threatening horn.
The boys looked at the oversized sacks clutched in their hands, then at each other and from the same confused look they exchanged it was clear they shared the same thought: Even if they managed to sew all five sacks together to make one giant sack, it still wouldn’t be enough to contain even half the creature. They had little time to ponder such things, however, as the beast began to advance on them. Suddenly, the thing they had chased after so fervently through the Forest sent them slowly retreating away from it in unison, even Creed, though he managed to regain the courage to steel himself by the eighth step when he remembered he was not completely helpless.
“Creed’s got a sword!” Isaac pointed out to everyone, when Creed drew his weapon.
“And I’ll bet right about now you wish you brought yours,” Creed remarked smugly.
“You dirty cheat! You know swords aren’t allowed in this competition,” charged Max.
Creed appeared flattered by the accusation. “You call it cheating, I call it playing it smart. If you want to have a go at that thing with your bare hands choirboy, by all means have at it, and we’ll see where your honesty—not to mention stupidity—lands you.”
The Illume, however, did not take kindly to the sight of the sword. It drew back its head and let loose a screeching cry that made the trees tremble and the ground quiver. And when Creed answered the cry by raising his sword and taking the first couple steps toward it, the Illume narrowed its reptilian-like eyes on the boy and dug its claws into the earth. Arching its back, the Illume opened its mouth to reveal an igneous glow deep in its gullet before it breathed forth an incinerating inferno of blue fire. Creed, having the quick reflexes he had, managed to dive out of the way just in time to escape being grilled alive by the fireball as it roared past him and consumed fully a grouping of dogwood saplings.
“If you got any ideas on where to go from her
e, mate, now would be the time to voice them,” Max said to Jacob as the two looked on and watched the young trees burn.
“I just need to somehow get on its back and get this sack over its head,” said Jacob.
“Oh, is that all?” replied Max sarcastically. “And how do you suppose you’re going to accomplish that minor task?”
“Gotham said the only way to come up on the Illume is from behind. That’s its blind spot. But I’m going to need you to distract it.”
“I’ve got a better idea. How ’bout you keep from being turned into a charbroiled kabob and I’ll risk venturing into the blind spot?”
“I would if I had wings to protect me,” answered Jacob, to which Max muttered “Curses!” under his breath knowing he couldn’t argue the point further.
The others watched curiously as Max made his way willingly in front of the Illume. The beast lunged several times at him. Each time, the blue horn protruding from its head was thrust ever closer in his direction, and each time Max managed to dodge its pointed aim until the Illume gave up in frustration and finally unleashed its fire. Unable to escape the fireball in time, Max brought his right wing in front of him like a shield to protect himself from the full intensity of the flames that engulfed him with a fiery fury. The impact left his wing smoldering, yet singed not a single plume, which only made the Illume screech louder with rage.
It proved to be a difficult and exhausting dance for Max, dodging the combination of fire and tusk looking to impale him, but he continued as best he could all the while keeping an eye on Jacob, who slunk back unnoticed behind the beast. The Illume’s own keen eyes, however, caught Max’s drifting gaze and just when Jacob was about to make his move, the creature spun its head around and spied the Nephilim attempting to sneak up on it. It bellowed loudly and drew back its tail. Jacob dove to the ground as the deadly tail made a dangerous swipe at him and slammed into a nearby tree severely splintering the trunk with the might of its blow. Jacob had barely managed to catch his breath when the Illume’s tail came at him again, only this time it was the six-foot venomous stinger which took aim.
The other Nephilim watched in horror as a furious blur of blows rained down on Jacob one after the other. Each one narrowly missed Jacob, who writhed frantically about on the ground like an unearthed earthworm. Never before had the nimbleness of his reflexes been put to the test than at that moment, and through all the rolling and tucking and dodging and scrambling he did in his desperate turn to steer clear of the stinger, Jacob couldn’t help but wonder was all this really happening as he was seeing it? Was the beautifully delicate bird he first saw by the stream and this hideous fire-breathing beast actually one and the same?
And how, he wondered, could Anahel and the other Guides have sent the five of them out in pursuit of something as dangerous and deadly as they now found themselves facing? Especially without any warning to prepare their naïve selves for what awaited them in the Forest?
Such thoughts, themselves, proved dangerous as the final jab by the Illume narrowly missed Jacob’s skull. And as Jacob looked out of the corner of his wide-fixed eyes at the savage stinger impaled fully into the ground where he had a second ago laid exposed, his jaw tightened with anger when he realized he had narrowly avoided his end.
~~~
It’s now or never, thought Jacob, refusing to become skewered by this hellish, unrelenting monster. He quickly leapt to his feet and was about to make a running jump at the creature when the tail dislodged itself from the dirt. This time, however, it did not miss its mark as it whipped itself toward Jacob. The glancing blow it leveled delivered an unwelcome flash of pain while sending Jacob sailing through the air. The hull of a nearby giant tree which abruptly ended Jacob’s brief moment of flight caused an altogether different, and arguably worse, suffering.
What happened next was lost in a hazy blur. As Jacob fought to recover from having the breath instantly and completely swiped from his body while writhing about on all fours at the tree’s roots, he heard the Illume’s cry pierce the Forest. Then came the loud pronounced beating of leathery, webbed wings followed by several pairs of feet running and more wings—softer Nephilim wings.
“You okay, Jacob?”
It was Max’s voice. And even if he wasn’t sure, Jacob could see the familiar sneakered feet standing next to him. He managed to look up and sure enough it was his friend and partner in this most unpleasant hunt helping him to get to his feet.
“It’s flown off,” said Max, pointing off into the distance. “Creed, Michael and Isaac have gone after it. We’ve got to get it in gear if we want to catch up. No way am I losing to one of them after all this.”
Jacob nodded and motioned for him to go on ahead. “I’m right behind you.”
“Come on, hurry!”
As Max took to the air and disappeared into the trees, Jacob forced himself to his legs. He remained somewhat dazed, but it would take more than a blow from the Illume’s tail to sideline him. Focusing on the direction Max had flown off, he knew he was going to require more than the speed he could muster from his feet to get back into the game. So he whispered for his horse and amazingly the Snowdrift emerged from the Forest behind him as if by magic.
“I’m counting on you,” Jacob spoke quietly into the horse’s ear once he had mounted its back. As if to answer, the horse bolted forward with a force that nearly sent Jacob backward and once more to the ground. Yet Jacob managed to hold tight and, in that instance, he was met with a spellbinding intensity rivaling any amusement park thrill ride as the Snowdrift lived up to its name by maneuvering its way through an obstacle of trees with near-miss swiftness and precision. At times it felt to Jacob as if he was astride a squall whose power he could feel surging between his legs was both unnerving and exhilarating at the same time.
In a matter of moments, Max and the others were in eyesight, and ahead of them steaming through the Forest like a rabid banshee was the Illume. Jacob gently nudged the Snowdrift with his knees and, remarkably, the freight train made of flesh of bone upon which he rode went faster still. The horse nudged its way ahead of the flying teens one by one until Jacob found himself neck and neck with Creed, who scowled at the sight.
Through the trees, Jacob could make out the silhouette of a looming mountain fading against the twilight sky. The light from the sun was nearly extinguished and soon the sound of the trumpet would send forth a wail beckoning their return to Havenhid and, more importantly, the end of the hunt of which no one yet could claim victory.
The boys closed in on the Illume, even as it did its best to lose its pursuers by swerving and weaving a difficult trail to follow through the Forest. If that wasn’t difficult enough, Creed, unable to muster the sizable lead in front of Jacob he would have liked, turned to his book of dirty play by dive bombing his competitor in an attempt to knock him off his steed. Where the Illume proved masterful at navigating the unseen twists and turns of the Forest before it was too late, the Snowdrift was unmatched. And with a little mindful jockeying, it led Creed straight into the path of low wayward branch and stilled him instantly—and from an onlooker’s point of view, painfully—from the chase.
~~~
They emerged from the thick of the Forest and found themselves nearing the foot of a great mountain. It was shaped by steep, jagged grey cliffs which held the black shadowy openings of many caverns and caves high up where the Illume was believed to live. Jacob knew at any moment the creature would turn skyward to retreat into the safety of whichever crevice it called home and once there it would be impossible to capture.
With the Snowdrift still in fierce pursuit, Jacob rose up to stand on the horse’s back and steadied himself with several deep breaths. Then, when he was certain the distance between the Illume and himself could not possibly be closed any further, Jacob clenched his jaw and made a blind leap at the beast. It was an astounding jump; one that could only be managed by someone with angel blood pumping through his veins coupled with an unbridled determination to see t
hrough this feat. In an instant, the course-haired hide of the Snowdrift beneath Jacob was replaced by the hard, rough scales of the Illume. Upon feeling the unwelcome rider on its back, the creature immediately took to the ground. There it bucked and lunged and jerked like a rodeo bull in an attempt to rid itself of the strong hold Jacob had on it. It howled with anger, beat its wings and sent a plume of billowing flames into the darkening sky. Jacob was unmovable. Like a tick attached to a dog, he held tight. Nothing was going to kick him free until he got his bag secured over the beast’s head.
Then Jacob spied once more the infernal tail. It was whipping about wildly in the air behind him, and the stinger was moving uncomfortably closer. Jacob couldn’t help but wonder if the Illume would actually risk stabbing itself in a blind, desperate attempt to stick him. Luckily, he didn’t have to wait and find out, for Max suddenly swooped down and to Jacob’s shock threw himself onto the tail and buckled in for what he knew would be a wildly unpleasant ride.
“Get going, QUICK!” Max cried out as the tail immediately flailed about with violent jerks in every direction in an attempt to flick him free.
As fast as he could scramble, Jacob scaled the Illume’s back toward its head. The creature screamed, threw more fire and whipped its head in the same manner as its tail. It was all Jacob could do to not be flung free and still make a grab for his sack. Somehow he managed, and in that moment he threw all caution to the wind and worked the black sack over the top of the Illume’s head. He struggled with every bit of strength he had to maneuver it over the eyes which blazed with a burning anger, and yet the moment those hate-filled eyes were covered by the velvety blackness of the sack the bottom fell out from under Jacob. He hit the ground, and when he looked about frantically for the creature it was nowhere to be seen.
