It was a rainy night. Spune Swiftwing, the high-speed, spoon-wielding gladiator, huddled in his creaky bed. The restaurant he was living in could use a little fixing up. A few nights ago, he’d invited another wRHG into his house to stay the night. Unfortunately, this warrior could release very powerful burps, one of which demolished his house’s roof. It also leveled the building next door, but that wasn’t of particular importance.
In an attempt to avoid the downpour, Spune had shoved his driest bed under the remaining chunk of roof, hoping the rain would let up soon. But after many hours, it didn’t seem to show any sign of stopping. The youngling narrowed his eyes. What if he could fix it? All he needed was something large enough to cover the opening. There were a few metal beams stretched across the ceiling like rafters, so if he just found a large sheet of metal, he could probably fuse it to those and his problems would cease.
That still meant he had to go out in the chilling rain to do it. That stunk. With a sigh, Spune left his slightly warm bed and stepped out into the pour. The rain seemed to intensify, slamming onto his body like a waterfall. Spune shivered a little and began a series of dashes, heading in the general direction of the nearest building.
Thunder crashed overhead, causing the land to flash bright white for a few seconds. Each step was perilous, inviting an unwary foot to suddenly slip on a wet surface. Spune gritted his teeth, imagining the rain as an enemy he could overcome. Then, the going was slightly easier. Soon, Spune began to ignore the water altogether.
He passed the first building. He could sense metal there, but none of the size he needed. As he continued on, visibility grew worse and worse. Spune stopped, letting the rain run along his skin. True, he had night vision, but that didn’t mean he had light to see by. All he could discern now were the silhouettes of the things before him. It was almost as if a faint shadow had fallen over his face. Spune blinked, remembering the blackouts he’d been having. As if on cue, his vision shut off. An instant later, he found himself lying on the rubble-filled ground, feeling slightly dazed. Pain from the fall sparked in the center of his back, and in his legs, shoulders, and in the back of his head.
Ouch.
The gladiator struggled to his feet. He blinked a few times, testing for another blackout. Nothing. Spune shrugged his shoulders and continued on, taking great care in where he put his feet. His night vision seemed limited, allowing him only to see wherever the light of his eyes fell. That was only a small space around his body.
What’s happening? Spune thought to himself. Am I dreaming? What sort of nightmare is this?
A shudder rippled through his body. Spune spun around, his heart beating wildly. A flash of red light registered, but then it was gone. The gladiator’s body tensed.
“Hello?” he called out.
His voice sounded small and weak. Spune frowned, and held up his weapon. It flared brightly in the dark, lighting up his surroundings. It was a little more powerful than his eye light right now. Cautiously, he continued on, making each step as light as possible. If there was something out there, he’d have to be on guard.
Suddenly he had a thought. What if the whatever-it-was was attracted to light? His spoon dimmed to darkness automatically, and his pupils followed soon after. Spune strained to listen, trying to hear footfalls, scratching claws, rustling wings…anything that would tell him what type of foe he was up against.
Nothing.
The youngling took a deep breath, straining to hear once more. Still nothing, except for the rain, of course. Spune slowly advanced across the rubble, ducking quickly into a shadowy rubble pile. A streak of lightning snapped across the sky. Spune’s eyes flashed in the glare, alert for any movement. More of nothing.
Spune’s body began to relax. Maybe the stalking thing had just been curious. He continued on. With every step, he strained to hear sounds of pursuit. Nothing but the rain greeted his ears.
Maybe, Spune thought, if I’m so used to the rain, I’d hear suspicious sounds instantly. Comforted, the gladiator hustled on, trying to avoid the slipperiest-looking areas. There was no telling what might happen if he fell again.
After a few more minutes of travel, he came by the old gas station. This was the place he’d been to when he saved Larry…and the guys who’d been chasing him. He paused for a moment, relishing the memories of friendship between him and the other gladiator.
A chilling feeling crawled up his back, and he whirled around, raising his weapon. A figure stood there, his fist glowing with light. Spune was about to strike, when he realized something important about the figure. It was him.
He was staring at his reflection in a glass window.
Spune let out his breath, gasping. Silly. He’d better find the metal quick before anything else happened. The youngling hesitated, cocking his head at his image. He looked kind of cool. Spune grinned, and posed a few more times. Suddenly he saw something in the lower corner of the window.
Eyes. Staring at him.
Spune whirled once again, noticing two things within that second. One, a large sheet of metal roofing was a few feet away from him. Two, the eyes were right next to it, and advancing in his direction. The youngling’s eyes blazed bright, warning the shadow away. It kept coming. Spune dashed, shredding through the rain. He grabbed the metal and shot back to his original position, seeking the eyes.
They were very close. Another blaze of lightning lit up the sky, illuminating a sinewy black body, glittering with gloss, a pair of insect-like eyes, large, razor spines on a slender back, clawed pincher on a long whip-like tail, transparent teeth…so close…it was almost touching his face…
Spune screamed, stumbling backwards. The metal sheet banged and scraped against the ground, sounding awfully loud in his ears. He raised his weapon, hesitating. The creature was running now, showing no signs of halting. As it approached, it was almost as if the darkness in the environment moved with it, attracted by the creature’s silence.
Spune continued to retreat. Sweat soaked his body, chilling him worse than the rain. That was impossible. No creature could move without making at least some type of sound.
“Come on!” he found himself whispering. “Make a noise, something…anything! I need to know how you sound like!”
Nothing. The awful silence continued. The creature got really close, as quiet as a ghost. The youngling saw his reflection in its many-lensed eyes, and his blood turned to ice.
Spune turned his back, terrified, and began to run. The environment blurred by, like a smear of forgotten reality. His feet smacked against obstacles, tangled in others, and kept twisting and making him stumble. His heart was beating so wildly that he was afraid his pursuer was tracking him by its sound alone. Spune tore through a small alleyway, holding the massive metal sheet sideways to slip it through, but it got caught. The gladiator halted, pulling hard on the sheet. It squealed across stone and metal, finally yanking free with a shower of sparks.
The creature was right there.
Spune put the metal up instinctively, and the beast slammed onto it. Its claws shrieked across the surface of the roof, and yet there was another shriek mingled with it. The sound made Spune want to faint with pure horror. He fell onto his back, pinned underneath his metal sheet, with the unknown beast on top of him. At least now, it was close enough for him to hear its breath. The sheet slid a little, and Spune was able to get his head free so he could see over the edge. The creature was still, save for its breathing motions.
He could barely see it. The darkness made this beast nearly disappear, even though it was right before his eyes. He had never seen such a creature before, so he had no idea why the sight of it frightened him out of his wits.
The beast cocked its head, and he caught a brief glimpse of large pointed ears, pointed in his direction. Did this thing rely on sound to hunt? If so, Spune believed he had some way to escape after all. His fingers clenched around his spoon, and he flicked it towards the metal roof…hard.
A surprisingly loud ring burst into the air, making Spune flinch at its power. The creature screamed, clawing at the sky. Lightning flashed, and the youngling caught another glimpse of the beast. It had human-like hands, with a pointed claw on each. Maybe its feet were kind of the same. As he stared, a pair of insect-like wings sprang from the creature’s back, hurling it into the sky with a single flap.
It could fly? Terror replaced his awe. Spune scrambled to rise, picking up the sheet and dashing away once more.
In a few seconds, he was back at his restaurant. Without hesitating, he struck his spoon across the metal roof. Sparks flew, and he had the fire element in his power. He leaped up to the ruined roof of his dwelling, melting the roof into its proper place. Then he stopped, and listened to the rhythmic pound of the rain upon his new handiwork.
A chilling feeling gripped him again. He was being watched.
The gladiator dashed to the window, dreading what lay outside. The creature was back. It was looking up at him, sitting in the shadows. He couldn’t make out much of it from the dark, just its eyes, but he was sure they were focused on taking in his every move. Anger suddenly boiled within Spune, and he raised his weapon high.
He flicked it at the terrifying beast, and the ice-cold droplets swirled into snow. The flakes bit deep into the ground, freezing the area solid. The creature shrieked and backed away, shaking its head and hissing. As it did, Spune noticed other forms, thousands of them, were moving too, as if they were afraid of the ice. Their eyes burned like flaming rubies, but their owners were in retreat.
Too confident to feel afraid now, the youngling continued his attack, spraying icy shards everywhere until his restaurant was surrounded by a ring of icy protection. It would probably melt in the morning, but he was hoping the creature was a beast of night only.
He stood there for a long time, eyes probing the shadows, waiting for one to move. Nothing. Not even a glitter of red. Spune took a deep breath, trying to slow his heart. Suddenly his skin prickled. Thunder crashed, and in the next lightning flash, he saw a twisted shadow beside his own. The darkness returned, but so did his fear.
There was something behind him.
Spune whirled, but even as he did, the creature was in midair and too close to dodge, even for him. He fell on his back again, and his spoon skidded out of reach. The beast’s hands were wrapped around his arms, pinning them down, and he could feel the cold claws of its toes pressing into his legs. Its mouth opened, and a smaller stalk with a similar mouth on it began to slide out. From that appendage, a thin, pointed tongue slid, as slender as a whip. The creature hissed. Spune fought to find his will to strike back, but he found it was gone. He felt utterly helpless. His voice seemed gone too, like it had been scared right out of him.
Was this how it was going to end? He was going to die, at the claws of some strange freak that he just happened upon in the night? He had been focused on repairing a roof, not trying to escape from some strange stalker.
The creature’s head came closer, and Spune saw a frightened weakling in every single one of its eye lenses. That was him. Although it was probably very far-fetched, he still hung on to one sliver of hope. Maybe, this creature was still curious. Maybe it wasn’t going to kill him.
The creature’s tongue swept sideways, as if preparing for a strike. The air split as it moved, for it was sharper than anything Spune had ever known. Lightning flashed again, and the youngling closed his eyes.
A blazing light burned in his mind’s eye, and from its center, a winged shadow flew. This time though, it formed itself into a massive bat. Somehow he knew it was female. The bat spread its wings, and he felt them wrapping around him, and suddenly reality returned. Spune opened his mouth and screamed, wanting so much to sound louder than his fear. Astonishingly, the force of his cry sent the nightmarish creature flying backwards. It slammed into the wall, whimpering in pain.
As he came forwards, his spoon flew back to his side. He caught it, and pointed it at the creature. Suddenly, it didn’t look so scary. The beast twisted, shrinking away from him as he approached.
Spune spoke softly, trying to reassure it.
“Easy…easy…” he whispered. “I only don’t like dying…that’s all.”
He held out his hand, and, as carefully as he could, he placed it on the beast’s shoulder. It flinched at his touch, but didn’t run away or strike like he expected it to. It was trembling, like it was terribly afraid. Spune suddenly found himself pitying the very creature that had tried to kill him…or whatever it wanted to do back there.
“It’s okay…” he continued. “As long as you don’t hurt me, I won’t hurt you.”
The creature’s ears began to prick up again, and its tail slid out from around its body. It was really long. The creature’s back had three rows of spines, arranged in descending size, stretching across its back. They stopped at the base of its tail. Its hands and feet, though clawed, were surprisingly human-like. It was formed like a quadruped, and now that he was this close, he could see the callous markings where its wings could slide out. The beast twisted its neck to look at him, and he noted the rounded head, large pointed ears, and square top and bottom jaws. Its snout was short, and it didn’t look like it had a nose of any sort.
Still, he was sure it could smell somehow.
“What are you?” he asked it.
All of a sudden, the creature got up and leaped out of a broken window, soaring into the sky. Spune ran to the sill and looked out, watching as it got smaller and smaller. As soon as it vanished, the sky began to brighten. Morning was coming.
Suddenly, Spune felt terribly weak and tired. He stumbled to his dry bed, falling onto it with a relieved sigh. He was going to sleep for a couple days now. Perhaps by that time, the nightmares would cease.
The youngling closed his eyes and slept, dreaming of riding on a huge bat…being chased by the freakish night beasts. All throughout it though, a wordless song imprinted itself into his mind…the first one he was to know. It was the song of Shattering*.
*The song of Shattering is the first ability Spune has learned. It can allow its owner to throw things aside with its force, but is commonly used to break solid barriers with a single note.
