Wilderness Untamed

by Butler, J. M.

  15

  Battling the Lizard

  Naatos shredded three winged lizards in his jaws and spat them out. More and more swept in and around him like a tornado of tiny jaws and wings. This was not what was supposed to happen.

  The cabiza mother with her multi-hinged jaws had delivered a devastating blow to the base of QueQoa's right wing. He had not healed. Some acrid scent rose up, further suggesting a venom which they had not yet adapted to.

  Naatos swung around to attack yet again, slicing through the sky.

  This cabiza mother was much larger than any of the others he had encountered. Her neck had a thick leathery hide that did not bleed easily even when punctured. What should have been a simple fight was dragging on and on. WroOth tried to lead away the winged serpents as well as the cabiza mother, but she remained relentless in her pursuit of QueQoa, stabbing and stinging and biting every chance she got.

  He started to cast a glance back toward Amelia when another winged serpent attacked his eyes.

  The cabiza mother roared up again, aiming for QueQoa's shoulder for a second time. Naatos slammed into her and knocked her back. Her claws raked over his shoulder and foreleg, nearly causing him to drop back as the agony raced through him.

  * * *

  Amelia dodged three more attacks from the legless lizard. The blue flushing of the tongue was the only reason she was managing to keep ahead, and already she knew that her luck was running out with that particular tell.

  With each revolution around the circle, the legless lizard narrowed the space between them. And with the narrowing of that space, its tongue struck the ground with greater force and greater accuracy. Within minutes, she would be within reach of its arms. And then, it only had to duck its head down a few feet to seize her in its jaws if it did manage to grab her.

  The one oddity that she noticed was that if the creature seized her in its mouth, its arms and claws would not easily reach her. Not unless it dipped its head to accommodate.

  The scales of this creature were tight and sleek, one over the other like striped armor. Naatos was right. Her gun wouldn't penetrate that.

  But as the legless lizard opened its mouth and hissed, another idea, a very dangerous idea, presented itself.

  The legless lizard hissed again as if sensing she was up to something, and the cackling barks and shrieks from within the grass rose in a terrifying symphony. There was one certain way to ensure she got a good kill shot at the brain.

  Her stomach knotted as she dodged the lizard's tongue yet again.

  At the rate this creature was moving in on her, she was probably going to be going into that mouth whether she wanted to or not. At least this way, she had a chance of getting out alive.

  * * *

  Naatos dove down, ignoring the thousands of prickling tears that rippled out along his neck and back and wings. He seized the cabiza mother's neck in his jaws. The beast twisted around, her long neck arching up, the scales stretching to accommodate her movement.

  WroOth swept up, cutting between QueQoa and another mass of the winged lizards. They stuck against him like curve-hooked darts. Like colorful flying leeches. Their tiny claws and teeth sliding beneath the scales to slice his flesh.

  Several had attached themselves to Naatos even though he had changed the thickness, density, and placement of the scales multiple times. Yet they kept finding ways to stick to him and cut under the scales into his flesh.

  He snapped the neck back, but the wounds were not severe enough to even slow the cabiza.

  All the while his mind counted how long he had been away from Amelia and AaQar. With all of the changes that had occurred in just this one creature, what else could they expect to horrify them in this wretched place?

  * * *

  Amelia stepped away from the boulder, her gaze fixed on the legless lizard. Its eyes glinted as they tracked her. She moved in front of the boulder.

  The legless lizard dipped its head to the side.

  It blinked.

  Her stomach clenched.

  The tongue turned blue.

  She lunged to the left, her hand tightening.

  The lizard's tongue struck the boulder. It wrapped around it twice, but the massive rock did not move.

  She spun around, seized the creature's tongue and stabbed AaQar's hunting knife through the tongue into the ground.

  The legless lizard shrieked. Blood spurted up from the now silver-white tongue. Its high-pitched shrieks continued. The grass rustled behind it.

  More might be coming.

  It dropped to the ground at the edge of the circle, its jaws opened.

  She seized WroOth's club. It was so heavy she almost lost her grip. But she dropped it on the tongue to further weigh it down. Then she grabbed AaQar's staff, checked her weapons, and charged toward the creature.

  The legless lizard's jaws splayed open as it tried to ease up on the tension and the strongest point of the rels continued to repel it. The top portion of its jaw stretched almost two feet higher than she stood, and most of the teeth were only the length of her hand. Other than the dual fangs on each side of the top and bottom. But those were so long and large and only on the side, making them easy to avoid.

  With AaQar's staff in one hand and her gun in the other, she jumped into the creature's mouth. The legless lizard pulled up, then halted as the pain from the dagger and the weight of the club held it in place.

  Its hot stinking breath blasted against her face. She turned the staff at an angle so that one end was in the bottom and the other rested in the top gum of the lizard's mouth. Then, leaning back against the spasming tongue, her feet braced against the teeth, she lifted the gun, aimed for the top of the creature's head and the back of its mouth, and squeezed the trigger. One. Two. Three times.

  Blood sprayed back on her. She grimaced and then grabbed at the staff to keep herself from falling as the lizard's head twisted. The staff bulged as the jaws nearly spasmed shut. But it held.

  She blinked through the blood and then pulled herself forward, eager to get out of the creature's vile mouth. She was able to stand in its mouth without even scraping her head. But she stooped her head anyway as she scurried out.

  Firm ground had never felt so good beneath her feet. The air had never been so cool and fresh. And this creature had never been more dead. At least she hoped. The fact that it could potentially heal hadn't been lost to her. She'd shot Naatos through the skull, and he had survived. Survived and healed back to full strength within moments.

  Warm blood dripped down her arm. Startled, she wiped it away, only to realized that a long shallow cut ran the length of her elbow to her wrist. She must have brushed up against those teeth. They looked sharper than obsidian blades. Opening up the satchel, she removed her old gown she'd saved. She had also packed bandages and healing salve as well. As she cleaned the wound along her right arm, she watched the legless lizard, anticipating death throes and twitches as she considered her remaining resources.

  The staff was wedged so firmly in its mouth she would need help getting it free. And, in the event that it could heal itself, she left the dagger stabbed in its now-pallid tongue and the club in its place. The light had faded from its eyes entirely. The sight of them still unnerved her.

  The wind picked up. It carried with it harsher sounds. The bellows of the wounded brother up in the air. QueQoa, if she had to take a guess. Strange cackles and caws along with gurgling roars that jarred her to the core. And the barking calls of the raptors deep within the tall grass. From the sounds of it more than a dozen circled her now. Bullet-shaped snouts thrust out from the grass and nipped at the tail of the legless lizard, then withdrew again. At least the rels appeared to be holding them back.

  A low hiss erupted to her left.

  She turned, her hand returning to the gun instinctively.

  A large lizard's head emerged from the grass. It appeared a little smaller than the first, but more than large enough to cause her trouble. It had green eyes flecked wit
h grey and blue. Slithering forward, it nudged the body of its larger kin. When the corpse did not move, the younger lizard turned its gaze back on Amelia. Its eyes narrowed. It started forward, then halted. Withdrawing, it sniffed the air.

  Then, like the first, it began circling the outer edge of the circle, closing it tighter and tighter with each revolution.

  16

  The Circle

  Amelia's stomach clenched, and the sickening adrenaline surged again. Sweat rolled down her face, stinging the edges of her eyes.

  This one was younger, smaller, perhaps smarter, perhaps not. It sped a little faster around the edges of the circle. It tested its tongue strength, but that blue tongue struck a full ten feet away from her. A small dent remained in the ground.

  The legless lizard shook its head and withdrew its tongue completely for a moment, as if disgusted by the taste. It resumed circling.

  Amelia glanced up into the sky again, still gripping her arm. The dark shapes were closer, but not close enough. She would have to handle this on her own.

  There wasn't time for her to bind up the wound. Nor did she dare risk making a distraction and attempting to join AaQar in the pit. She might be able to hold onto the staff long enough for Naatos to return. She might even manage to cover the hole sufficiently from below. But bright red blood flowed down her arm, its thick metallic scent almost assuredly a beacon to any predator. Snakes and some lizards hunted by tasting the air. It was possible this species did not have the same skills, but it was too risky to assume that was the case.

  The legless lizard completed its third revolution. Its tongue flicked out again. Its eyes narrowed as it watched her.

  Something about its movements warned her that this one was indeed smarter. It wasn't testing the air as much with its tongue. Maybe it saw the hunting knife and the club and had realized that it was dangerous for it to attempt such an attack in the same manner. Perhaps it was simply more cautious as a rule.

  She still had her own dagger. Both actually. The pair seemed woefully small compared to AaQar's jagged hunting dagger. And there was WroOth's club, resting unevenly against that tongue. The spikes on the end as well as its shape and weight made it a formidable weapon, but that weight made it almost unusable for her. Getting a good angle to shoot this one in a vulnerable place was going to be a lot trickier. Then there were the fans QueQoa had given her, still wrapped up and in the satchel because she had no idea how to use them in a situation like this.

  Her heart raced faster. Bile stung the back of her throat. She kept pace with the legless lizard.

  It quickened its speed.

  She compensated.

  The tip of the lizard's tongue flicked out, tasting the air.

  The one weapon she did have was the gun. The gun and her daggers. Those daggers weren't going to do her much good though. Not at this distance. And the scales couldn't be penetrated from the outside. Of course there were the lizard's eyes.

  Naatos had said her bullets wouldn't be enough to kill most of the creatures here, and it was very possible that the legless lizard's skull was such that the eyes did not give direct access to the brain if penetrated. But if it couldn't see, then even if its other senses were strong, that still gave her something of an advantage.

  The lizard passed around the circle again, close enough this time that in its next pass it would go right past the pit. Some of its girth might even graze the dry grass covering it.

  She moved along the edge of the shrinking ring, aware that within another revolution or two the lizard would be in striking distance. Her attention was divided between the pit and the lizard, but the lizard didn't even seem to notice the pit. Which was good for AaQar. Not so good for her.

  The lizard's tongue flicked out, testing the air but not changing color. It kept its head high.

  Her breaths tightening, she continued circling backward. She tried to pay attention to everything. The elmis on the backs of her knees twinged and throbbed. There was more than one predator watching her, but she had to hope this was the only one who could press into the circle.

  The long, triangular head of a seven-clawed raptor pressed through the tall dry grass. Its green eyes narrowed as it studied her. Then it pulled back.

  If those predators could have gotten into the circle, they almost assuredly would.

  No matter what happened though, she couldn't risk fleeing the circle.

  The legless lizard moved faster.

  She didn't dare turn her back on it. Keeping it to her side was risky, but she couldn't risk going backwards and falling.

  The lizard lowered its head, then pulled back.

  Instinct warned Amelia first. She lunged to the right, struck the ground, rolled, and sprang over the corpse.

  The smaller lizard struck again. This time it struck the thick coiled body of the dead lizard. Its teeth scraped over the scales, louder and harsher than fingernails scraping down a chalkboard.

  She clambered over the dead lizard's tail.

  The living one struck again.

  She narrowly dodged behind the boulder, lifted the gun, aimed at the eye, and squeezed the trigger.

  The bullet struck true.

  She raced out from the boulder as the lizard flung its head back, shrieking. Now on the opposite side, she took aim once more.

  The lizard thrashed. Its eye looked like bloody milk glass.

  Compensating for the creature's movement, she shot again.

  The creature's wheezing screeches cut through her. Mercy would have cut the creature's misery short, but she had no way to do that. She cringed inwardly.

  As if it could hear her thoughts, the creature snapped its head forward. Blood flowed from its wounded eyes like tears. It lashed out again.

  She jumped to the left, though it missed her by quite a distance. The entirety of the circle was now accessible to it. It struck again and again. Twice its jaw nearly grazed her.

  She curled against the dead lizard. The blinded one continued to lash out, hissing and snarling like a creature possessed. Then, after nearly reaching her twice, it tilted its head back. Blood rolled down its dark scales. Then, tilting its head, it flicked its tongue in and out.

  Was it tasting for her or listening?

  She held her breath. The dead lizard's scent, emphasized by the blood and gore that leaked from the horrid death wound, should mask her.

  So long as it couldn't hear heartbeats, she might manage to be still enough it couldn't hear her.

  The lizard lowered its head. Its sightless eye stared at her, the pupil and iris shrouded behind an opaque mask, fractured and bloodied.

  She remained motionless.

  The lizard drew closer, its tongue flicking out with jagged movement. It tilted its head first to the left, then to the right. The bottom of its jaw nearly brushed against the dead lizard's coils.

  It was mere inches from her head.

  She released her tense breath slowly, soundlessly, her gaze fixed on the creature. She could count the rounded scales on its chin, note the exact points where the dark green shifted to deeper grey and then changed again, observe the expansion and compression of its sides with each breath.

  The air stirred above. An enormous black dragon slammed down onto the lizard's head and neck. The bones and scales cracked beneath the great weight.

  She gasped with relief as she pressed away from the scaly coil. Standing, she placed the gun in her make-shift holster. "They broke through the rels. Started circling and kept drawing it tighter until they were all the way in."

  "That shouldn't have happened." Naatos returned to his state of rest. He took in the entirety of the circle and then returned his gaze to hers, a dark frown forming. "Where's AaQar?"

  She indicated the pit. "He wasn't waking up, and I had to get him someplace safe."

  "So you dumped him in the pit?" He crossed over to it, knelt, and swept the grass away.

  "You said he could survive it, and it seemed better than letting the lizards eat him." Amelia
lifted her arm to shield her face as WroOth and QueQoa landed. WroOth, still in his red fire dragon form, supported QueQoa whose iron dragon form was not only wavering but held deep wounds along the right shoulder and side. Talons and teeth had shredded the scales. They no sooner landed when QueQoa's form fell away, and he staggered, gripping his wounded arm.

  "Why aren't you healing?" Amelia exclaimed, running up alongside him. She snatched her satchel from the side of the boulder. "You need to sit."

  WroOth returned to his state of rest as well and put his arm around QueQoa and guided him to the low flat rock close by. "Can you get the bleeding stopped, brother? You're getting into dangerous territory here."

  She pulled the top of the satchel open. "I've got bandages and blood salve. Will that help?"

  "It can't hurt," QueQoa said tightly. His face was ashen, blood matted his brownish-blonde hair. He winced as he gripped his bleeding arm tighter.

  "You put the salve on, I'll tie the bandages," WroOth said, reaching around her to seize some of the gauze.

  She unfastened the lid as she took in his injuries. The salve was supposed to help stop bleeding, but it would meet its match with this injury, despite Libyshan medicine having some surprising tricks. At best this would serve as a stopgap until they could get QueQoa someplace where he could heal. She smeared it onto the deepest of the gouges, layering it thick.

  "You're not healing fast enough," WroOth said. "Are you even healing at all?" He tied the wounds fiercely, snapping the gauze until it was almost taut enough to break. "If you don't get this bleeding under control, I will carry you back to the suphrite now."

  "If he hasn't stopped bleeding in thirty seconds, that's exactly what you'll do." Naatos hefted AaQar up from the pit.

  "Not safe," QueQoa said through clenched teeth. "You'll be attacked again."