Land of Smoke and Ashes

The Black Mountains

Natalie scrambled up, heart thumping wildly.

Somehow she knew "she" had to be her. Mr. Neilson must have people working with him.

She was tucked away in the shadow of one of the tin huts for now, but her cover would be blown as soon as one of them walked around the corner. She scurried forward, desperation making her try the door of the nearest hut. The knob wouldn't even turn.

Natalie turned, finding a pair of glittering, tawny eyes watching her through the dirty glass window. She pulled back and jammed a hand over her mouth to stop her scream.

The eyes flickered out. Gone.

Someone was in the house, and they didn't intend to let her in.

Fear rising in her chest, Natalie back away from the door, daring a panicked look around her. Where was she supposed to go? She needed to hide, but it was obvious now that all the people in town were doing the same thing, and she was the one being hunted. No one in this strange place was going to let her in.

She shrunk back into the shadows beside the house as a figure appeared around the corner. Whoever he was, he cast a tall, bulky shadow along the wall. He stepped into the light, and Natalie had to clap her hand to her mouth a second time, to block a surprised squeak from slipping out.

He was, without a doubt, a pirate. Everything about him, from his rolled down leather boots, to his patched clothing and navy hat, to the rusted cutlas shoved into the sash across his chest, it all screamed pirate. But that wasn't the strangest thing about him. No, he was decidedly not human.

His eyes shone in the darkness, reflecting the low light the same way the tawny eyes in the window had. But his eyes were a strange, reddish-orange color, like a smoke-tinged sunset. What part of his pale skin was exposed to the open, was covered in a strange, inky black substance that curled up and branched out across his arm and up his shoulders, like thick black veins. Natalie watched, horrified, as he moved closer to her hiding spot.

"Park, get your ass over here," he called, and Natalie realized that his was the deep base voice she had heard.

A second pirate came around the corner, and this one fished a pocket watch out of the red sash at his waist as he came, grumbling "An hour it took us to hike these damned mountains. I want to be back on the ship. This place spooks me."

"Coward," the other grunted. He raised one powerfully muscled arm to peer out the end of a copper spyglass, and Natalie saw with horror that the black substance snaking up his arm was moving. It pulsed here and there, and in other places it stretched inky fingers up his neck and down his shoulders.

Impossible. This was impossible.

Natalie squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. Every time she took another shaking breath she breathed in more soot, and she clapped a hand over her mouth and nose. If she went into a coughing fit here...

Her mind was still reeling. This couldn't be possible. She had tripped on the path and hit her head on a root. She had gone home and fallen asleep before dinner again. This couldn't be real. It couldn't be.

Some instinct made her reach for the charm in her pocket, as if it could bring her comfort. Something crumpled under her fingers. The article, she had forgotten it was in there. She sunk her hand in deeper and found the necklace underneath. The surface of the charm was still slightly warm.

Natalie's eyes flew open as the pirates walked past, still grumbling to one another.

"Hate those creatures," the one with the pocket watch said, "give me the willies."

She saw what he meant a second later. Across the row of houses a horrifying creature slunk into view. It was on all fours, like a dog, but it was much bigger. Taller, and it's body was skeletal, all bones and sharp angles. It did not have fur, just a strange, oily kind of skin that matched the tone of the inky veins crawling on the pirates' skin. As it stalked forward, it yanked hard against the leash about its neck, and the pirate holding it growled and stumbled forward. The creature had its nose to the ground, tail lashing. There was a strange whistling sound emitting from it, and Natalie realized with a jolt of horror that the creature's tail ended in a razor-sharp barb. The sound it made cutting the air was so loud it reached across the village.

A strangled whimper rose in her throat, and Natalie jammed her knuckles into her mouth, biting down hard. Her eyes watered. She had to make herself move, at least edge to the left to slink behind the hut she was pressed against. She had to get away from that thing, whatever it was.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, she edged sideways.

She was about to dart behind the shed, because the pirates had turned to look at the nightmare creatures, when there was a creaking sound from beside her, and Natalie felt something grip her left arm. She didn't have time to cry out before she was jerked sideways and into what felt like a pair of muscular arms. A hand pressed hard over her mouth, and Natalie's shriek was muffled as she was dragged backwards into the darkness.