-8-

Watch Your Neck, I'm Coming for It

It dripped and stank. The blood dripped down his nose, leaving trails of copper behind. Heize was not unused to blood, but this made him nauseous. Blood from an acquaintance was new; it was not to be trifled with. He knows he should run. That he should just leave Dilo and run.

Heize felt it. A mixture of stress and fear wracking his nerves. The tingles shooting down his spine, sending sparks of emotion to each limb. The desperate instinct to run ingrained in his bones screamed at him. Never had he felt such a strong presence. The air shook with every breath the beast took, and with it, took Heize's confidence.

He stole a glance towards Dilo. The small feathered creature was stiff. Fear and grief tainted his scent. Heize, for once, had no idea what to do. Luckily, but incredibly unfortunately, he did not have to decide.

The trees shook around him once more and Heize barely had a moment before he shoved Dilo out of the way. "Move! We don't know what that thing is!" His voice trembled in the beginning, for a reason Heize didn't want to ponder over quite yet.

Heize had shoved the nervous creature away at the perfect ground where they had just stood shattered into a cloud of dust. Stray rock shot out towards the pair.

Dilo's frightened eyes turned slowly towards him; a question posed within them. In an instant Heize decided. He'd protect this weak bastard who wormed his way into Heize's good graces. God knows how that happened, but Heize wasn't going to question it. He didn't have time to.

A shrieking laughter filled the clearing. The ground vibrated and the trees quivered as if the wind was about the knock them over. Maybe it was. Maybe the sheer force of this awful beast would crush everything in its path.

"Three meals today?! I never get more than one, but THREE in succession? My, my, my, it must be my lucky day." While the beast's voice grated on Heize's ears, the scathing tone terrified him further. It's tone spoke of pain; pain that would never end until he did. Heize could feel it.

He could see her. Her beak stretched as far as her neck. Razor sharp, it promised a long miserable death. Her feathered face was covered in scars from past battles so obviously won that looking at them gave Heize a twisted feeling in the pit of his stomach. Her body was hidden by the foliage, a fact that made Heize both grateful and anxious. "How big could she actually be? I doubt that she's actually bending down to lull us into false security, but that's also exactly what she could be doing." His mind raced, trying to come up with the most logical solutions. There were none.

"Who are these wretched creatures that decided to take a stroll here? Did you come to visit me? I don't get many, and when I do, they never seem to come back." Her beak opened in a not-quite-a-smirk smirk. Her beak disallowed her from making the full mouth movement, but her eyes screamed doom and finished the expression.

Sensing the destruction in their future, Heize quickly turned to Dilo. "We have to run. You can't defeat her, and I don't think I'd survive a fight." Hopefully the rambunctious creature would agree with his evaluation. It was obviously a battle they could not win.

"A-alright. But where will we go?" His anxiety was obvious to a quick glance behind them, Heize made a snap decision.

"Pick a direction. I've never been in this forest before now, so you're going to have to lead us out. Pick quickly. She's getting up." Getting up indeed. She was gradually pulling her massive self up to full size. She was too big. Nodding at Dilo, they made a quick turn to the right. They sprinted as fast as they could, but her laughter followed.

"Did you think you could run away? I've lived longer than you could dream! I will catch you. Don't doubt that. It's just a matter of deciding who's first. I wonder, do I eat the snack first or the dessert?" Her voice rumbled, but the screech of anger that followed sent shivers down the pair's spines. She was mad, experienced, and on the prowl.

"Ket was always terrifying. My parents said to avoid her territory, but this was an adventure and I thought she wasn't due to wake up for another year." Dilo complained between pants.

"You know that monster?!" Heize almost shrieked at him. He had never faced such unashamed stupidity. "Why didn't you warn me?"

"Everyone knows Ket. She's the monster of the forest. She'll nosh on anyone that crosses her during her feeding time. She only feeds once every however long. I always forget the dates, you know. It's hard remembering details; I don't know how you manage to do it." All of his words seemed to tumble out of his mouth.

"I don't understand why you didn't tell me! This could have been avoided!"

"Yeah, well, I forgot. You know, the dates. They get so mixed up in my head and I just forget. Like right now. I forgot. Whoops."

Heize felt a migraine coming. "You forgot. That's it. I'm going to die next to an amnesiac idiot. Tell my family not to cry for me."

"Hey now, don't be mean! I try hard to remember the details. I just forget a lot of them!"

As Heize was going to reply, he stopped. Before them stood a sheer rock face. The stone blocked their path in a wall that stood over 50 feet tall. Taller than Heize could ever grow. He felt his migraine grow alongside his ever present anxiety. They were going to be eaten by a fucking lizard-bird. Great.

Speaking of lizard-birds, Ket slithered forwards. Her full height was what Heize feared: massive. Clawed wings rested on the ground in front of her, the talons stained by blood and dirt, his future if he couldn't think his way out of this mess.

Thinking quickly, he decided if he died, someone had to survive and it sure as hell couldn't be Ket. He sent a glance towards Dilo. Yeah. Someone had to survive.

"You run the moment I tell you to. No questions, no negotiating." Heize's tone was firm. He was not compromising on this.

Dilo shot him an incredulous look, "But I can't just leave yo-"

"You'll do exactly that. I can't have two new friends die on the same day now can I?" Despite the jovial turn his words took, he was serious.

Dilo's mouth snapped shut at the words, no doubt hyper aware of the drying blood resting on his jaw. He sent Heize a quick nod, an action he appreciated. Even if it was as noncommittal as it could.

Heize allowed himself to grow as large as he could, sadly not enough to tower over Ket as he'd like. He barely brushed the tip of the cliff face.

His newfound size sparked interest in Ket's eyes. "Oh my, a full sized meal! I haven't had one in so long. I thank you for donating yourself to my cause. Rest assured it will be greatly appreciated!" And with her last words her eyes sharpened and Heize felt the wind brush past him.

He dodged as quickly as he could; the wind whipped past him, bringing a sharp pain in his shoulder. He hadn't been successful. Heize cursed lightly.

"Damn, I thought I could dodge at least the first attack. I have to be quicker." Realizing his position he scanned for her once more. She stood with a wicked grin, contorting her beak in an uncomfortable manner.

"Oh hunny. Did you think you could be faster than me? I've lived too long for some green-nosed rookie to take me on!" Her voice deepened to a growl by the time her sentence was spat from her beak. Heize felt his ears flick back. Fear.

He tensed his hind legs. 'Now or never' His mind whispered to him. Heize listened.

His tail lashed through the trees, trampling the branches in his way. He made a quick lunge for her throat. The only spot open enough for him to attack. Blood filled his mouth as he catches a wing instead. Her shriek of pain causes the forest to quake. Heize felt a small bit of satisfaction at causing the pain. He did not feel satisfied, however, when she reared back and snapped his tail with her beak.

Agony filled every nerve in his body. His tail shook with pain. It wasn't a clean break; her beak gave the limb a shattering he hadn't calculated. He knew her jaws were strong but he didn't account for his extremities being caught in the crossfire.

His tail wouldn't move. It twitched on command, but couldn't raise more than an inch before it was too much. Heize's eyes watered briefly, he wasn't good with pain.

She laughed. "Oh I'm sorry. Was that too much for little baby stranger? I suppose you don't know how to feel pain properly yet, if that hurt you. Don't worry. I'll make sure you learn before it's too late."

Heize hated this. He hated not being in control. He was better at stealth than full frontal attacks.

Finally catching a strategy, he shrunk and darted towards the trees. His small size made him less of a target, but that didn't mean Ket didn't try to snag him anyways. Her beak was made for diving and picking off her targets. It hit the ground next to him, creating a crater that was larger than Heize himself. Suddenly, he realized that this goddamn forest would be his gravesite.

Ducking behind a tree, he hears her give a huff. "Fine. If you don't want to play, I'll just have to enjoy dessert first." And with that, she gave a flap of her enormous wings and launched herself back to the cliff.

Back to Dilo.

Heize felt his heart seize in his chest. His first actual friend. Gone. Heize couldn't protect anything. Not his friends, not his crew, not even his br-

No. Not anymore. Heize wouldn't lose anyone else. He'd make sure of it.

Heize forced himself to grow until he couldn't anymore, still not enough to tower over Ket, but enough to face her. He shot off in the direction she left and bared his teeth in anger.

"How dare she go after someone under my protection. And I thought I told him to leave damn it!" His mental mutterings petered off when he saw the scene before him.

Dilo.

On the ground. Bleeding.

Rage.

The only emotion he felt was rage. It boiled in his stomach and bubbled out to his throat where he could only listen as a noise he had never made before tumbled out of his mouth. The growl, while not as impressive as Ket's, vibrated the air. His limbs relaxed before tensing completely, ready to leap in a moments notice.

And leap he did. Heize launched himself towards the monster. Teeth bared, claws extended, and growling, he lunged. He could only watch as she gracefully dodged out of the way, disappointment travelling through him until he felt his claw neatly slice through her side. However, in his momentary excitement at causing harm, he failed to see the wing shot at him with surprising speed.

It landed. Heize smelt it before he saw it. Before he felt it. The pain, that is. The monumental pain that occurred when struck. This multiplied when the reality set in and Heize realized where he had been struck. There were many places that were dangerous to be hit. Any place with arteries for example. Another good one would be the neck.

Ah yes, the neck. The holder of the head, the spine, and the throat. Necessary to most all creatures. Heize was one. Ah yes, the neck.

It was on fire. It burned with agony that only relit the flame in his tail. Pain on either side, with his head caught taking it all in. His neck wasn't broken, at this point he'd be dead if that happened, but it wouldn't stop bleeding and Heize was confused.

He didn't know what to do. He could run, but face the guilt of comdemning Dilo to death. He could face Ket and die with honour, ultimately being absolved of guilt, but Dilo still dies. He could also win the fight, but that was incredibly improbable. He wasn't at the level to do so. Heize weighed his options.

Honour sounds very nice. He'd die with honour, not guilt.

Ha ha... Helloo..

I am indeed alive, despite my long disappearance. I struggled a bit with finding motivation, but also time. School is really kicking my ass this year, but I'm gonna try to keep these chapters coming. hopefully with some kind of schedule... probably not. (I'm not gonna make promises I cannot keep.)

I finally set up an outline for these chapters and it honestly helps me create a base of what happens and branch off as I please.

Weird tangent: This story is almost 40 pages long. That is the most I've ever written. Ever. And I still have more ideas! How exciting!

Onto today's chapter:

Whew. Today was full of minimal dialogue, the first actual action scenes, and the consequences of inaction. Will Heize feel guilty for Compie's death? obviously. Will we see it change him as a character? I hope so.

Any guesses as to what Ket, Compie, and Dilo could be? Ket is my favourite, though Mic could be a close second. You know Mic right? The weird flying creature that Heize picked off with no remorse? That one. I have a bad habit of naming characters purely to kill them. Whoops

Anyways. See you next time, where we'll finally leave Little Garden! - SunflowerCity