Dasen put all of his thought and effort into walking after that. He did not think about his father, Rynn, or the inexplicable things that had happened over the past three days. He concentrated on putting one foot in front of the next, making sure that those strides came as quickly as possible, and that they did not falter. The effort had brought the cramp back to his side, but it had also kept Teth within view. He even thought that he might be gaining some ground when she inexplicably darted into the trees at the side of the trail.
Dasen did not understand but followed her lead. He stepped under a pine just in time to hear a whoosh of air from above. The sound was incredible. He could feel the air moving even through the trees but could not see its source. Another gust sent needles raining down on them. The trees rattled. One more limb-shaking gust and the source of the disturbance appeared through the canopy above.
The creature was smaller than Dasen had expected given the sound of its approach, but its humanoid body was well larger than a man, and its bat wings were each as long as its body. Though its cone-shaped head resembled that of a man, it had huge eyes like an insect, a thick beak for a mouth, and large recessed ears. Its body tapered from the head into slumped shoulders, under-developed arms with clawed hands, and a tail capped by a curved spike that glinted in the light of the rising moon. It had no legs that Dasen could see. The creature followed the trail away to the east then wheeled in the air and turned back to the north. As it turned, it gave a screech like a hawk or falcon, but the sound was unnatural as if made by a horn designed to sound like a bird. At the same time, its tail snapped in the air and struck a great pine. The whack of metal on wood resonated through the forest and was punctuated by the crash of the tree’s top five feet toppling to the ground.
When the creature was out of sight, Dasen started breathing again. He had not even realized that he was holding his breath but gasped to recover the lost air. He looked up the path toward Teth. She was watching the sky with an arrow already notched. Her eyes turned to him. The fear there added to his own. "We need to be at that bridge right now. Can you run?"
Dasen's heart was already thundering. He could only imagine what running would do to it, but he nodded and adjusted the pack.
Teth took one more look at the sky. “I'm going to run ahead, so I can keep an eye on the skies. You just keep running, but remember, give everything you’ve got. We don’t have much time.” Then she bolted down the trail before he could even nod.
Dasen watched her go, took a deep breath, and loped behind. He thought about what she had said, give everything you have. He felt his legs strain under the weight of the pack, the stitch in his side flare to life, the air rattle in his lungs and wondered if his everything would be anywhere close to enough.