Thirty-Nine: The Armored Land Narwhal

  The beast charged right at Freydis. I don’t know why it picked her out, among the three of us. It was about as tall as she was, and it lowered its head just a bit to aim its horn right at her. Fortunately she had heard its swish through the stream bank grass, and she was able to dodge it.

  The thing trampled by her, and past me and Caiside. It was a stunning, powerful monster, its massive shoulder muscles pumping beneath its hide.

  It ran just a short distance and turned to come back at us.

  “What is it after?!” Freydis yelled.

  “Get into the trees!” I answered.

  The copse was not large, and it did not have a big number of trees to hide behind, but we darted in. We stood in a line behind one of the larger ones, with me in front.

  The land narwhal paused just a moment and scanned the woods with its narrow eyes.

  It found us and instantly surged forward.

  It seemed to come faster this time, as if it felt challenged by the modest tree we had put between it and ourselves. Once again it put its head down.

  I think all three of us realized at the same instant that the tree might not withstand a full-power impact by the land narwhal. We backed up. The beast closed on us and smashed its shoulder into the tree.

  The trunk snapped in a blast of splinters. The top of it fell over. The obstacle had at least given us time to step aside.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  But as the land narwhal ran by, it suddenly flicked its horn. I was still in front, so I was the target. It swept its horn into me, which was actually very fortunate because that meant I was smacked rather than punctured.

  The tusk, powered by the beast’s massive neck and shoulders, lifted me off my feet and threw me through the air. I saw my bag fly, and my bow and quiver; and Caiside and Freydis flinching back, and then the land narwhal rushing by in a blur.

  I hit the ground hard, but was able to roll and spring up. Meanwhile the muscled horned monster turned quickly and again bore down on Freydis and Caiside.

  This time they dashed behind a larger tree, but the narwhal didn’t try to smash it; instead, it tried to run around it. Freydis and Caiside immediately began circling it too. The three of them whirled around. Caiside pivoted repeatedly on her crutch, quickly, but I could see she would not be able to keep it up for long.

  I began to try to draw the armored land narwhal toward me. I shouted at it, jumped up and down, and waved my arms, but it paid me no mind. It and the women continued their mad carousel around the tree.

  The narwhal closed in on Caiside.

  But then someone else jumped in to help. I first noticed another blur to my left; it was red, the clothing of a man my size. This newcomer sprinted into our fray, yelling:

  “Look here! Look here loathsome brute!”

  He jumped as he ran, and waved his arms, just as I had done, but I suppose he was more emphatic about it. The armored land narwhal did indeed slow down its chase, and it looked over at him.

  The animal stared at the man to take him in, and so did I:

  The man was tall. He wore loose red trousers and a red cloak. The cloak had a hood, but it was down. The man was bearded, with black hair.

  He looked like my father. He also looked like Uncle Danzig. I realized then that he probably also looked like me.

  It was Slade.

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