CAZADO: BOOK ONE (WATTYS 2023)

EPILOGUE

It was around twelve thirty in the night. A newly abandoned vehicle lay at the side of the road. It was savagely beaten and no longer able to reach its destination. Scavenger birds were picking at the carcasses of the bones of Pariah officials that were laid a few feet away. Wolves had also come and eaten what they could find but were scared off by a creature that most had not seen before. A trail of blood droplets led into an old forest where a Pariah hid in the bushes hoping he would not be found. He held a weapon, a piece of metal he could shoot energy balls through by channeling Ether through his body and into the firearm concentrating its power.

He turned left then right, wiping his eyebrows as beads of sweat poured down his forehead into his eyes blurring his vision. There were no sounds in the forest. Just quiet. He scanned the nearby bushes and saw nothing. He was only hearing things. The wind must have rustled the leaves on the trees. He was safe. Whatever it was must have left the vicinity. He looked around then out past the large willow tree he was hiding behind and began to crawl towards safety. He felt his clothes move again and the pressure, like a slight breeze. The wind he thought. But deep inside he knew something was wrong. He stood up and began to run. As fast as his feet could take him. His weapon hanging from his side.

He did not want what had happened to his friends to happen to him. He was not the greatest official. He had harmed people in the villages and recently joined the Behemoths, but he did not deserve this. He kept running until he could not run anymore. Until his legs burned and his feet hurt. He noticed a nearby rock formation and decided to rest on it. It was a relief. He had been running from the creature for so long. He slowly removed his foot gear and rested his half metallic, horse-like feet on an old rock that had been shaven down by the wind and rain. He looked around the forest. Admiring the beauty of it under the twilight sky. The thing would not have chased him all the way over here.

Then he saw it. It flew over him and landed in the trees near by. He charged his weapon and shot two wide volleys that lit up the sky like fireworks. The blast of light revealed a large vampire bat, eyes red, dripping with blood. The creature took the blast head on and the man smirked. He was the only Pariah Official to hit the creature. He could go home safe; he thought as he waited for the flashing lights from his weapon to disappear. But fear soon gripped his heart as he watched the last of the sparkles clear away and he noticed the creature was still in the sky with wings outstretched, silhouetted by the red glow of the moon.

One flap of its enormous wings and its jagged claws were upon his shoulders, its head near his neck. He could taste the foul stench of blood and smell its fur that reeked of death. In that moment he was too afraid. His weapon dropped from his cold, clammy hands. He could not defend himself. He felt frozen as if he was watching a movie. There was nothing he could do. He felt the sharp fangs prob the edge of his neck and soon the penetration of his jugular, the lapping of its tongue. It felt incredibly uncomfortable, slightly painful and he wished death would come sooner. The pain soon subsided and he slipped into darkness as the creature stood over him. As if unaware of what it had just done. Then its eyes changed color and it sneered.

THIS...WORLD...WILL...BE...MINE...