Chapter 5

“What do you mean I’m going to die?” I demanded. “Like right now?” I was surprised that my stomach dropped. I always assumed dying of something other than cancer would have been a relief to me, but when actually faced with it I felt only dread. I wasn’t ready to die yet! I hadn’t even had a chance to explore this new world!

“I said probably, not definitely. You surprised me when you came out of that harpy fight unscathed, so maybe you’re more resourceful than you look. If Grog goes down, just try to run as fast as you can. Eating him might slow them down.”

“Them?” I asked. Then more forcefully, “Them?”

Ferrith wasn’t listening. He snapped his fingers to get Grog’s attention. The red-skinned ogre was still close by, watching his master work. He was far more attentive than his lazy cousin that was still taking a nap in the middle of the creek. Ferrith pointed at me. “Grog. Take him,” he commanded. The muscly ogre obeyed without question, snatching me up like he had before with one arm under by butt, the other wrapped around my stomach. I felt very much like a baby in his arms, a comparison I couldn’t help making considering the sounds of crying still coming from the woods behind us. It was pretty clear at this point that whatever was coming for us was not a real baby. Hints included the fact that it was in the woods alone—basically the last place a baby would ever be—and that it was getting closer a lot faster than even a grown adult could run.

I was staring in the direction of the crying when I saw the face of an animal peek out from the tree line. It almost looked like jaguar or a cheetah; a large cat with spotted yellow fur and prominent fangs. Its mouth was open and I could see its teeth looked sharp, but no longer than a dog’s. More disturbing was when it called out with another baby cry, and got an answering cry from deeper in the forest behind it. After showing itself, it studied us with a piercing gaze and switched to a perfect mimicry of a shrieking harpy cry, giving me flashbacks to yesterday’s horrendous fight. I’d seen creatures with that kind of copying ability on Earth in the form of parrots and the like, but never in a land-based predator species.

Ferrith brought us around to leave, heading away from the forest in a straight line. He pointed at the ogre that was still lounging in the nearby stream, “You,” he commanded it, “Stand up.” The fat ogre sat up, scratched its belly, then started to heft itself to its feet. While it did that, I finally got to see what happened when Ferrith summoned a new ogre. He had to stop running to do it; he closed his eyes, brought a hand up in front of his heart, and clenched it in a fist. There was none of the sounds or bright lights I naturally expected from acts of magic. Instead, a spot of air in front of him just started to shimmer and an orange-skinned ogre with a single horn sticking out of its forehead and bulging biceps faded into view. It was almost like my eyes were out of focus and as I strained to bring the creature into focus it became real. This new ogre received no greeting, like I had. It was left to look around curiously at its new surroundings and try to figure things out on its own. It looked lost. And… for a second there was almost an all-too-familiar panic in its all-too-human eyes. It had blue eyes. I’m not sure why I noticed that; probably because they were the same color as my own.

Whatever threat was coming for us, it had to be serious, because Ferrith didn’t stop at one ogre. He kept his eyes closed and just shook his hand out for a second like it was getting a cramp, then clenched it over his heart again. The second ogre to shimmer into this world had the same pale pink skin as mine. It had two great big tusks sticking out of its mouth rather than a horn. Both ogres were at an equivalent height to the others, which meant they were slightly less than twice as tall as me. In the handful of seconds it took Ferrith to summon two new ogres the one that had been lounging in the creek finished standing up. He looked to Ferrith for instructions, prompting the two newcomers to turn around as well. “You three,” he said, pointing to the trio. He jammed a thumb behind him towards the forest and the approaching beasts. “Attack.” It was a clear order, and clearly given. I didn’t even feel an echo of the compulsion that had gripped me yesterday, but I knew how thoroughly it would consume the minds of these simple creatures. They rushed off to obey unquestioningly, feet shaking the ground with their weight. As they stormed off Ferrith looked up at the ogre still carrying me. “Grog,” he said, “come with me.” He turned and ran straight into the shallow creek, pushing through water that came up midway to his knees. Grog had an easy time following.

As we splashed across the shallow creek to safety I squirmed around in Grog’s grip to get a look behind me. I saw that the first cat-like creature we’d seen had fully emerged from the forest and had brought a disturbing number of friends with it. Too many to count. Twenty? Thirty? Comparing the closest one to the ogres running at it I could see that its head didn’t reach their waist, which put them at maybe a head shorter than me. The first one to emerge from the forest gave me the best view. I saw that it had fur over its head and down its sides which were colored and spotted like that of a leopard. It also had a ridge of hard-looking scales running along its spine; I thought they looked layered like an armadillo, but they were too big and thick, so maybe it was closer to a pangolin’s scales. Its front paws dug into the ground with prominent talons. Honestly, its feet looked more claw than paw, and were covered in scales instead of fur like the talons of some large bird of prey. The strangest feature of all was the long pair of ears that extended off the sides of its head like two tails. They reminded me of insect antennae, though they were covered in fur. The extended ears seemed to float in the air over the beasts, stretching the full length of their bodies. As the trio of ogres charged at the beasts their ears flicked several times in sync with each other, almost like they were communicating.

I was forced to turn back around as we reached the other side of the creek and the heavy footfalls jostled me into the crook of Grog’s arms. Ferrith was sprinting at maximum speed, which seemed a bit unnecessary considering our lead and the distraction we’d just left behind. He aimed across the grassy field for a younger looking forest up ahead. It promised the only cover for miles. “What are those things?” I shouted over the rushing wind of our flight. Grog was being forced to jog to keep up with Ferrith now.

“Pursuers,” Ferrith shouted back. He actually sounded winded this time.

“Why are we running?” I asked. “Aren’t those ogres going to—”

“Gaaaaah!”

Behind us came a deep-throated bellow. I twisted around to get a look only to see the three ogres Ferrith had sent were already down. They were being swarmed all over. I saw flashes of blood as one of the beasts used a claw to tear the orange-skinned ogre’s ribcage open. There were so many of them! At least one of them wasn’t joining in the feast and already looking our way. That didn’t bode well. I would have preferred they all forgot we existed. “Never mind!” I shouted. “Keep running! Run faster!” Grog was breathing heavily as he kept up with the all-out sprint Ferrith was maintaining. I could feel the muscles of his arm flexing under me with every stride.

“Any. Behind… us?” Ferrith asked between gasps of air.

I checked. That one pursuer that had been looking at us started trotting our way, two of its fellows joining it while the other forty or so feasted. “Yes! Three of them!” I told Ferrith urgently. “Those ogres didn’t last five seconds. Tell me we can outrun them!”

“We can’t,” Ferrith answered grimly.