Chapter Eight
JULIO'S HEART LITERALLY stopped. He held his breath. He realized that it was no more than five feet away and although he was in a prone position behind a tree with a large trunk, it was not enough to hide him should the creature look his way.
It raised its beak up then tilted its head sideways, first to the right, then to the left. When it stopped, noises came from its beak, like gargling coupled with a dog's growling.
As the sounds coming from it became louder and more aggressive, it swung its neck from side to side but for the head that remained motionless. Every few repetitions of its neck-swinging were accompanied by a change in the head's angle.
Then the creature added a new move to its repertoire. Aside from just swinging its neck from side to side, it started spreading then tucking both sets of its multi-colored wings.
Julio felt that it would be only a matter of minutes before he would be discovered!
But while Julio gaped at the ferocious, awe-inspiring creature, it had already spotted him seconds before. The creature lurched forward in one move with its neck elongated and body bent forward. Then it rotated both its wings at an angle by the joints on its torso, much like how men move their arms backward.
The jet black bony, hook-like edges where its wings folded were now pointing at him.
Julio was rooted to the ground as he guessed horribly one of the uses for its long, pointed tail.
With another fearsome cry, it took off from its feet, pushed its entire body into the air and twisted so when its feet landed on the ground, it was facing the other way. Its wings were now tucked and it was running, not hopping, towards the trees. A few feet away from the first tree, the creature threw its right leg to the side and bounded from it.
Julio watched in shock as, just when it passed near the closest tree to him, its long tail shot out and struck the tree. It came out the other side -- straight at him!
Its wings opened once it came clear of the tree and with one flap of its primary wings, it was shooting in his direction! It appeared to swim in the air instead of glide or fly.
But Julio came to himself at the last second.
He rolled sideways to shield himself from it by another tree. Everything happened so fast. Just as he cleared away from the creature's trajectory, the creature's beak suddenly came into view. He heard the gurgling, almost growling noise as the creature sped by him, but saw it execute a reversal in mid-air. It was so quick that had it not been huge, he might not have seen this. When it was done with its mid-air back flip, its claws found the trunk of a tree and its legs did the rest of work to cushion the force.
In a heartbeat it was on the ground, facing him.
Again.
It spread its wings and gave a mighty cry, then tucked both wings to the side and ran for him.
Again.
But Julio had hit the ground running way before the creature finished its wail.
He didn't know where he was going; all he knew was that he had to get away from the monster. He headed into the clearing without thinking, feeling the creature hard on his heels. It was so massive that the ground beneath him trembled while it ran. He had passed the broken hut-like construction with the well when it descended down in front of him like an arrow dropping from the sky.
He tried stopping but couldn't. He tumbled forward. He just rolled, fortunately, because the moment the creature hit the ground its long beak shot forward before it could fold its wings. He would have been impaled! He rolled on the grass until he bumped into a stop.
On the creature's feet! It had moved without him seeing! It quickly rotated its wing by the joint and stabbed the pointed, hooked joint down at him. Julio barely had time to react. The pointed black spike of its wing grazed his right shoulder just as he rolled as close to the creature's feet as possible. It stung but he barely minded it. He was very much still in danger!
The creature was now towering over him. One of its feet was on shoulder level; the other was at waist level. If he try to sneak in between its legs, it would take too long. While it was now aiming its other wing at his legs!
No time to think. He swiftly curved both legs, and kicked the nearest leg as hard as he could. This launched his lower body up over his head, rolling him backwards and getting up on his knees in one swift move. When he looked up, it was using its wing to regain the balance lost due to his kick.
That didn't take long to do. The creature swung its head in his direction and squealed that ungodly squeal.
Julio bolted for the debris near the well. He remembered seeing some of the wooden beams of the well's hut-like canopy in the debris. They were of practical length and could fit in either of his hands.
With all the speed he could muster, he bolted for the well. He sensed rather than saw when the beast beat its wings and came at him screaming. At no less than 20 feet, Julio felt the gusts of air generated by its mighty wings. He felt as it launched itself up then swooped down. And he knew even without looking it was going straight to him.
It was so quick that he had to fall onto his stomach to escape the creature's claws. It passed above him flapping its wings to gain altitude, and then circled back.
Julio did not run this time. Once he was up, he faced the direction that the creature was coming from and slowly backed away towards the destroyed hut. He knew, with the speed and flexibility that the creature had already shown that he had no chance of outrunning it. He backed away at an angle, estimating the circumference of the well. He planned to circle it or perhaps locate himself behind the waist-high stone construction that lined the well. He had to reach it before...
He did, when the flying menace began its descent once more.
This time, Julio crouched low, using the stones of the well to shield him. If it was that strong and it somehow destroyed the well, then it would mean his end.
And it was almost so!
It indeed broke the stones like it was nothing more than sand, but it did not reach him. He was crouched so low, bunched into the fetal position. Fragments of stone rained over him. That was how he knew the creature had already passed. That was how he knew he needed to move.
The creature had landed on the ground and menacingly, almost calculatingly, approached Julio again. Its head bobbed up and down as it walked, its scaly parts glimmering in the sun. It looked as if it was sizing him up and Julio, in that very moment, knew it was all or nothing.
Now!
With a scream, more out of desperation than of bravado, he launched towards the approaching, gigantic bird. It launched itself backward doing a half flap of its wings mid-air. It landed about five feet from where it was. This confused Julio momentarily and he stopped on his tracks.
Julio moved once more, and the creature once more retreated. No sound came from it, not even the gurgling-growling noise he had heard earlier. It just took off backwards, still landing in front of him at a comfortable distance. Even with the small wooden beams in both his hands, there was no way he could throw a strike at the creature and score a hit.
He could not afford to lose ground. Julio attempted to launch himself at the creature once more. He hoped he could have it backed up near the trees and he would make a run for it. But it has its plan, too. At the last moment, it launched itself up but this time, it did not go backwards. It landed right in front of him.
Its primary wings formed a canopy over his head. The bony parts hit Julio squarely on both sides of his shoulders. He almost swooned with pain because it felt like he had been hit with steel.
Only falling to his knees had saved him from getting stabbed with the pointy ends of its secondary wings. He was able to twist his torso and got away with a long gash on his back. He felt the pang-he felt his flesh tear as the bony protrusion of the wing hit his back. Moving in instinct now, the need to fight to survive, he swung his right arm to the side in a wide arc with all his might, landing a blow on the creature's elongated neck.