Children of the May (Children of the May Book 1)

Chapter Nine: The Scream of the Beast

Blood spouted from Piers’ arm as the beast’s tooth sliced through his flesh.

The sickle dropped from the farm-lad’s hand, but the pain seemed to make him angry rather than afraid. His other fist bunched as if he was going to punch the monster on its wet cat’s nose. I found myself sickeningly aware of the severed arm on the other bank of the water, and wondered if its owner had been as brave.

No one screamed, I remember that. I felt my hands begin to drip with moisture, as they always did when I was scared, but my first thought was to get Elia out of the way. The others, Epicene, Mordred and Palomina might just about be able to help Piers – I might be able to do something too – but she was panicking. Though she’d enjoyed the gruesome sight of the arm, she shook as the beast wrenched its teeth from Piers’ arm.

I grabbed her hand, and as my wet hand touched the dry skin of hers, I felt her fear. She knew many songs about monsters, but had never seen one in the flesh. I pulled her back behind a nearby tree, and watched as the beast let Piers drop to the floor.

Mordred and Palomina encouraged the beast to leave Piers and cross the steam to them. They stepped away from each other, trying to make the beast follow one so the other could attack from the side. They both had knives in their hands.

Water crashed over us, as the beast threw itself into the stream. Its single growl contained many voices, each sounding as if they were made by a different animal.

The monster snapped at Mordred, who danced out of its way. It turned towards Palomina. The light fell on the rippling surface of its belly: the dogs fought each other, clawing at the walls of their fleshy cage.

Epicene drifted behind the creature, to the sailor’s tree. She flexed her hands in front of her, growing a fireball between her palms. I caught her eye, and she nodded for me to get Piers out of the way.

I dashed forward, and hooked my hands under the farmer’s arms. The beast was alive to my movement. It bent its massive body and snapped at me, but Palomina distracted it with a flash of her shining blade.

Blood was belching from Piers’ wound, but he was still conscious.

‘Y-Y-Y-You’re g-going to have to help m-m-m-me,’ I said to him, knowing he was too big for me to drag on my own. He kicked his feet against the earth. With me dragging and him pushing we got out of Epicene’s way.

I fell to the ground, breathing hard. The creature had backed Mordred against a tree. It gave out its terrifying multiple roar, but before it could lash out at the black-haired boy a perfectly round ball of fire blasted across the stream. The fireball exploded in a spectacular rain of sparks, leaving a deep charred burn in the fur and flesh of the creature’s neck. Its roars turned into mighty screams, and it thrashed round to face Epicene, whose hands were glowing white-hot.

The fire-sorcerer looked at the beast with a serene expression. The beast stared back at her. The air filled with the stench of burning fur. A long moment passed as the beast and the magician held each other’s gaze. The beast was gathering strength in its back legs – it was getting ready to pounce at her.

Mordred pulled himself to his feet, and tried to distract the creature by pulling at its long, thick tail, but it was now engaged in a silent battle with Epicene, and paid him no heed.

Letting out another ear-cracking chorus of roars, the beast bounded at the fire-sorcerer, its jaws open, its long, sharp claws bared, ready to slice her in two.  

I called Epicene’s name, urging her to blast it again.

The beast seemed to swamp her with its massive body, but in its rage it had propelled itself too hard and too far. The creature’s momentum carried it through Epicene and into the tree behind her. There was a huge crunch, and the sailor in the branches screamed as the tree trunk cracked and began to topple. He tried to hold on, but eventually dropped hard onto the forest floor, landing painfully on his side, his arm under him.

The sailor’s eyes widened on horror as he stared at the beast above him. He gave a strangled scream. The beast roared its many roars, and as the sailor struggled to his feet and sprinted into the forest, it forgot all about us.

The creature went after him, its heavy steps pounding through the trees. The sailor managed to stay just ahead of it, screaming all the time, until they both disappeared from view. The screams and steps faded into the trees. At the end of it there was a cry of terrible pain, and a many-pitched howl of animal triumph.

We all caught our breath. Epicene was standing by the shattered trunk of the fallen tree with a placid, unconcerned look on her face. She was completely unharmed.

‘H-H-H-H-H-How?’

‘I moved,’ she said, with the faintest hint of a smile.

Mordred jumped across the stream. ‘Let’s get out of here before it comes back,’ he hissed. He squatted down in front of Piers, who was shivering as the blood streamed from his arm. ‘How are you doing there, mate?’

‘Been better, feller,’ said Piers, his voice weak and his face pale.

Mordred took his knife, cut a strip from his shirt, and used the material to tie off Piers’ arm above the heaviest bleed. Piers winced as Mordred applied pressure to his wound.

‘Come on then,’ said Mordred. ‘Palomina, help me with Piers. Epicene, you take the rear. Drift, keep Elia with you. Let’s go.’

I went back to fetch Piers’ sickle from the scrub, and we set off as fast as Piers could go. The farmer moved with difficulty, leaning on the other two for support.