The Hungering Saga Complete

by Heath Pfaff

  My eyes met his unblinking black orbs, but this time I willed myself not to turn my eyes away. It took a considerable amount of effort to keep my gaze from faltering, the cold fear stirred by his gaze gripped me. I had to reassure myself - I knew not what the future held, but for the moment at least I was safe and unharmed. I looked for malice in the gaze of the creature that seemed to stare right through me, and though his gaze was terrifying of itself, I did not feel any contempt on his part. Our eyes locked in a sort of silent competition, and after a long moment he nodded the slightest acquiescence and pulled his hood low, covering his eyes. Suddenly the inside of the carriage seemed still and quiet. The carriage continued to thunder down the road at the same steady pace, the rumble of the road beneath the steel rimmed wheels and the shudder of the vehicle across the uneven road surface was all there was to hear in the world I settled back into my seat, for the first time considering what was being left behind.

  I knew nothing of where I was going, and feared to ask more. I also had no inkling of what task or purpose I was to serve when I reached wherever it was I was being taken, but I had the sudden feeling that I might never see my family and friends again. Every mile that passed behind us was putting my home, Danivil, and all of my life there further and further behind me. A silent tear crept down my cheek, and I realized only when it reached my lips that I was weeping. I stifled the sounds of my weakness as well as I could, and turned my head from the others in the carriage, as if looking out the window that was blocked by shades. I didn't want them, these abductors who had stolen me from my entire world, to see me falter. It was bad enough I had tried to run upon first seeing the creature in the shifting cloak. The tears kept falling, but I let out not a sound. A moment later I felt warmth on my leg and turned to see the hand of the white cloaked woman on my knee. She leaned across the gap between our seats, her hooded face coming so close to mine that I thought I might see something more of what lay beneath it, but I did not.

  I found myself acutely aware of her in a way I hadn't been before. She was enchanting, even hidden as she was beneath her cloak. The small amount of her face that I could see beneath the covering of her hood was flawless, adorned with inviting lips that were pink against her pale skin. When her face was just scant inches from mine, she whispered softly, with the barest hint of a breath. "Everything will be fine, my Lowin." Like a summer breeze, cooling on the hottest day, she was gone before I'd fully registered her passing, and again we sat on our separate sides of the carriage, her head bowed as it had been since I'd woken, and I starring across at her, still feeling the tingle of her nearness. The tears stopped then, and though I didn't forget about what I was leaving behind, I was able to accept to some extent this uncertain future.

  For a time I slept then, however I do not know how long: in the darkness of the cabin the passage of time was difficult to determine. I awoke to a cataclysm of shrill animal screaming and the terrified yell of a man's voice. There was a great heaving of the carriage car and my eyes captured only briefly the other two occupants of the carriage bracing themselves against the walls of our once calm compartment. The shuddering continued, and a moment later I felt the entire carriage tip up onto its left side. There was an explosive impact as the woods frame hit the ground at high speed and ground to a stop. In the confusion and turmoil I lost sight of the Black-Eyed Devil and the lady in white. By the time everything had finally skidded to a stop, I was laying on the remains of the left hand door, though most of its structure had been completely shredded by the long slide across the stony ground. A piece of thin glass protruded from my right cheek and I pulled it free, ignoring the sting and the blood that dripped from the gouge. The cut didn't feel deep, but it was jagged. I made to right myself as quickly as possible, but it took me a moment to orient myself in the badly skewed wreckage. As I came to my feet, nearly hitting my head on the right hand door which was now above me, I spotted Kyeia. She lay in a crumpled pile not more than a foot from where I stood. I bent low and reached out to touch her.

  "Kyeia?" I asked, keeping my voice quiet, as though afraid to make any more noise after the loudness of the moment just passed. My heart was racing with adrenaline from the accident. I say "accident," because at that moment that is what I believed had happened, I didn't know any better. Kyeia was the only pleasant aspect of my experience so far, and I was concerned for her. As my hand touched her arm, she began to stir quietly. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Are you alright? Can you stand?" I asked, offering her my hand as she started to shift her weight around to get up. Noticing me seemingly for the first the time, she reached for her hood quickly and pulled it down about her face. It had slipped up a little, exposing the tip of her nose and a bit of her cheek, but not much else. For the first time I wondered if she was somehow disfigured beneath her mantle. It didn't really matter, I realized, and there were more important concerns to address. She reached out to take my hand and I helped her to her feet. She seemed dazed, as though she were looking about for something, or someone.

  "I don't know where Tempest is, but I think I can climb out the other door and pull you out from there." I said, not certain what else to do. She didn't reply aloud, but nodded her head in agreement.

  I reached my hands above me, unfastening the locking clasp, and pushing out. It took me two pushes to move the door. The force of the impact had twisted the frame of the carriage and caused it to stick. As the door screeched opened, the sound of screaming animals returned - I had not heard them since the carriage had first begun to crash. I looked to Kyeia once more before starting my ascent through the door above me. She seemed frightened, and that in turn struck fear into my own heart. I thought she might be concerned for Tempest, though I felt certain the Black-Eyed Devil would not be killed so easily.

  The climb out of the carriage would have been easier if I'd been in better physical condition, but a life spent writing and managing books had not shaped me into a fit, agile climber. With some effort I made my way clear of the wreckage and pulled myself on to what had once been the right side of our transport. Without bothering to look around, I popped my head back into the carriage and extended an arm down to Kyeia. She stepped forward and reached her hand out to grip mine without bothering to look up at me. Again I wondered what could possibly be beneath her hood that she wished to hide from me so badly that even in an emergency she kept her hood pulled low, her eyes cast down. I put the thought aside for the time being and lifted her through the door in the carriage. She was lighter than I thought she would be which I was grateful for. If I hadn't embarrassed myself enough during the climb out, I had been quite worried I would finish the job when I struggled to pull her from the overturned carriage. I was far from vain, but I still didn't wish to appear a weakling in front of the white cloaked girl after having already shown fear and weakness previously. Once she was pulled free, I took my first look at the carnage left by the accident.

  The contraption that had so comfortably housed us throughout our trip was in terrible condition, though it was probably not beyond repair however it would never be seen as a luxurious transport again. Having gauged our most immediate surroundings, I began to scan the roadway we had passed over for some sign of Tempest or the carriage driver. It took only a moment for me to judge the road clear to the point at which we'd separated from the beasts of burden, nearly 200 yards away from where we now stood. Three war-sows, giant boars each the sizes of two draft horses abreast, were laying scattered across the road. The screams of one still filled the air, screeching in pain and fear. The other two were conspicuously quiet. It seemed to me that not moments before I had heard two of them. Amidst the massive beasts a black figure was moving, but it was hard to distinguish from our vantage point on our broken conveyance.

  "I think Tempest is alright." I began to say, but I only got so far as "Tempest" before Kyeia, standing at my side, interrupted me.

  "That is not Tempest." Even as she spoke, the black figure walked over to the third war-sow and proceeded
to rip the creature's head from its body with very little effort. Before it had approached the giant pig, I hadn't properly judged the size of this monster I'd taken to be Tempest wrapped in his shifting cloak. This thing was much larger than the Black-Eyed Devil we'd ridden with. I was about to ask who- or what- it was, but Kyeia spoke before I could get the words out. "Shao Geok - The Walking Death."

  A shiver ran down my spine, colder than the one that I had felt upon first seeing Tempest. The creature's attention turned from the dead pig and as it faced us it seemed to slump down off its legs onto all four of its limbs, shifting from bipedal movement to a swifter quadruped-like gait. It was coming for us. There was a terrible grace in its dash between the now dead war-sows and the place where Kyeia and I stood. As it grew closer I could see that its whole body was covered in a mat of thick black hair and that its forelimbs, though like arms ending in viciously clawed hands, seemed specifically purposed to function as well as an extra set of legs. The creature's great head was adorned by large, pointed ears and a protruding snout, upturned in the fashion of a pig. It was a creature whose appearance only spoke to me of one purpose: tracking and killing. Its eyes were wide spaced but forward facing, giving it an excellent ability to judge depth of field, an apex predator. I had little time to notice anything else about it, because by that time it was nearly upon us.

  My legs quivered and I wanted to turn and run, but some part of my being screamed that I couldn't leave my companion behind. I suppose I owed her nothing, but I knew that I would never forgive myself for such an act of cowardice. It was one thing to run away when only your own life hung in the balance, it was another entirely to do so when someone else was depending on you. I scanned the carriage around me, looking for something to use as a weapon but there was nothing useful within easy reach. The distance between ourselves and the Shao Geok was closing alarmingly fast. I did the only thing I could think of: I stepped in front of Kyeia, interposing my body between her and the charging monstrosity. I knew that what I was doing was futile after having seen how the creature had so easily dispatched the war-sow, but I had no other choice. It would rip through me and into her without even slowing its charge.

  "Get back into the carriage!" I yelled, the words coming at the exact same moment the thought occurred to me. Kyeia scrambled and began to haul on the door which had closed after we exited. It was partially stuck again and our time was up. The gap between ourselves and certain death had been closed in a matter of seconds. The thing was so close that I could hear its deep, thunderous breaths as it wrested them from the air. I did something foolish then; well, at least I tried to do something foolish. I don't know what notion overcame me, but I found myself sailing through the air, leaping towards the creature with all of my might. I was coming closer and closer to the beast, getting so close that I could even smell the fetid odor of its coarse, dark fur. There was a dim fire in its eyes, a malevolent intelligence burning within them that I hadn't expected to see. It was a monster, but not simply a dumb beast. It raised a clawed hand to strike me in what would certainly be a killing blow. I closed my eyes, hoping that with my insane leap I might have bought Kyeia enough time to get back inside the carriage and to safety, and then I felt the hit.

  It wasn't as I'd expected it to be. The impact came from the opposite side than the creature's strike should have, and sent me flying backwards and away from my intended target. I hit the ground hard, skidding to a stop on my right arm and side. I felt the fabric of my clothes, never meant for such abuse, shred and peel away even as the skin on that side of my body followed suit. My eyes opened and I sat up, dazed, looking for the wound that should have been fatally carved into my flesh but found nothing. In fact, though my right side hurt terribly from where I'd slid along the ground, I was remarkably unscathed. I discovered the reason why that was when I refocused my attention on where the creature now stood. Tempest was standing in front of it, his back to me, so that I could only see the vaguely churning outline of his shape as he faced off against the monster. The Walking Death seemed rebuked, despite outweighing the Black-Eyed Devil by nearly double. I noticed that there were areas of gray fabric showing through Tempest's cloak, probably a result of the carriage crash, but otherwise he seemed as steady and powerful as ever. As I watched, the Shao Geok raised a brutal clawed fist to strike its opponent down. There was a blur of motion from Tempest and in one smooth movement the raised forepaw of the monster fell to the ground, severed cleanly at the elbow. I hadn't even seen the flash of Tempest's weapon, his motion was so swift. Had my teeth not been clenched in fear, my jaw would have dropped open in shock. The now maimed monster turned and began to run away, moving much more slowly with its missing fore-limb. I felt certain that Tempest would chase it down and kill it with his inhuman speed, but he simply turned away from the creature and walked over to me, looking down at me with his impassive black eyes. This was the first time I'd ever seen Tempest up close, in good light, and strangely my eyes were drawn to the feet beneath the bottom ruffle of his cloak. I expected leather boots, maybe the flash of steel armor, but what I saw shocked me: the paws of an exceedingly large wolf. I blinked, clearing my eyes of the dust from the road, but when I opened them again I was still seeing the same thing. Tempest wasn't human. He wasn't even remotely close to human.

  "Are you well?" He asked in his quiet voice and I found myself once more shivering in fear, despite the fact that I didn't particularly feel that he was a threat to me any longer. There was a certain tonal quality to his voice that inspired fear in the listener. He reached out a hand to me and indirectly in that act revealed yet another sign of his inhumanity. His hand, like his feet, was that of some massive canine-like animal. It was a fur clad paw, large and powerful looking, each 'finger' ending in a sharp, metallic gray claw that looked as sharp as a razor, yet it seemed he retained the nimble dexterity of a human. I wanted to refuse to take his hand, as it inspired a primal fear and repulsion in me, but at the same time I knew as well as I've ever known anything that doing so would be neither right nor show Tempest the respect he deserved for having saved my life. So, gathering my courage, I carefully took his offered assistance and pulled myself to my feet.

  As I stood, gravel fell from where it was embedded in my side, and blood trickled down my hip and soaked into the tatters of my pants. Somehow, it felt good. Just the fact that I was alive to feel the pain was enough to give me a surge of surprising vigor.

  "I think I'll be alright." I told him, testing my weight on both my feet to ensure that I was still able to move comfortably and that nothing was broken. My right side burned terribly, and putting pressure on that leg seemed to cause the recently peeled side of my body to scream in revolt. It was manageable though, and I forced myself to move.

  Tempest strode easily past me, walking to the carriage where he offered his arm up to Kyeia, who used the proffered limb to climb back to ground level. "We've been betrayed." She spoke the words in her normal tone of voice, but there was a weight about them that staggered me. Tempest merely nodded.

  I approached them, finding myself suddenly full of questions. "What does that mean? Who has betrayed you? Did you know that creature that attacked us, is that why you didn't kill it?"

  Kyeia held up a hand to stop my torrent of questions and I went quiet. Maybe it wasn't my place to ask such questions, but I felt it was my right to have an answer. "I don't know everything, Lowin. That creature that attacked us, though, is an agent of our enemy and our mission was to be carried out in secret. Only a handful of people even knew that we were on this errand."

  I was confused. "Wait, if that creature was an agent of your enemy, why did Tempest let it get away? What are we going to do now?" I posed more questions, despite having not had all my first ones answered.

  Kyeia lips curved in a small smile. "You always have so many questions... The creature, the Shao Geok, has a peculiar nature. They are great pack hunters, intelligent, terrible and powerful creatures. They operate by sending out scouts and then
gathering information from those scouts and acting upon it. However, if one of their numbers is killed, they give off a foul smell that can travel for miles and miles on a day with even a slight breeze. Once that smell hits the air, it's only a matter of time before all the other pack members show up. However, if you only injure one of them, it will stalk off to heal the damage before rendezvousing and reporting its findings to the others. Tempest bought us some time, at least as much as he could."

  I shook my head in disbelief that such a creature could exist without me ever knowing. Kyeia continued, the slight smile she'd worn now fading. "As for what we must do now, we will continue to our destination as quickly as possible on foot. It is not far, maybe another ten miles. If we are lucky, we can cover most of that distance before the rest of the Shao Geok come looking for us." The look in her eyes told me that she didn't feel that was likely. "I'm sorry about your wounds, Lowin. If we had more time I would see them properly treated, but for now you must suffer them until we reach our destination." She paused, as if carefully considering her next words. For a moment I thought she wouldn't speak at all, but she did. "What you did back there, on the carriage, was very brave. It was perhaps the most foolish thing you've ever done in your life, but it was brave." She smiled, and I found myself blushing fiercely and feeling an odd mix of pride and embarrassment.

  I wasn't sure what to make of the white cloaked woman. Sometimes she seemed so much older than me but other times she seemed to be younger than I was, her youthful voice and slight body making her seem at least a year or two my junior. There was a deep sense of wisdom about her, and an inexplicable sense of sadness. She was an unknown quantity, but not an unpleasant one.