The Chase (Kyron)

Chapter 1 of the WIP novel I am writing

Kyron sprinted through the forest, expertly navigating the devastation left in the wake of the beast. He had been pursuing the creature for the last hour and was beginning to gain on it. Tiredness began to creep into his limbs like an unwelcome visitor. He ran as fast as he dared. Chasing the creature was one thing, but he needed the energy to fight it when he got there.

Kyron knew that it was up to him to stop the creature and bring it down before it left the Forest’s borders and entered the human lands. He should not be alone. His team had… they all… he stopped.

The weight of today’s events still lay heavy in his stomach, the uneasiness spreading into his chest as he caught his breath. Kyron cast the feelings off. No. This was not the time to mourn them. That would come later. Kyron could hear his father’s voice now, commanding him.

“Remember your training. Remember your duty. We protect the Forest. We alone. We are the Silverscales, and we are its shield.”

Ahead of Kyron, one of the Forest’s ancient trees lay at a sharp angle. Its huge trunk, not quite lying flat, was pointing up toward the stars like a finger of the earth.

Gods, he thought. To fell a tree of this size… this creature’s strength must be unnatural.

Kyron ran up the trunk, stopping after a short distance. The trunk was slick with the creature’s ichor. A few feet away, there were pieces of its chitinous shell stuck to the bark. Kyron’s resolve surged.

It might be strong, he thought, but it’s not impervious. Good to know. If it could be wounded, then it could be killed.

The thought of killing the beast made Kyron feel uneasy. He was supposed to protect the Forest from outsiders and to live in harmony, where possible, with the Forest’s inhabitants. There was no saving this creature, however, not until he could figure out what was causing it to behave this way. It seemed to rage and destroy without pattern or reasoning, just like Chogan had been. Nausea surged in Kyron’s chest and his throat. His eyes began to sting.

Kyron closed his eyes. Not now, he thought. Not yet.

He leapt from the trunk expertly, stepping on the branches cascading down toward the earth like a broken staircase. Hitting the ground at a run, he continued his pursuit.

Of course, this would be much faster if he transformed. As a wolf or a bear, he would be able to cover a lot more ground. But he needed to save his energy. It cost him a lot to transform, and if he needed to select a different shape, he was not sure he could succeed.

Yes, he thought. Be patient. Be smart. Find it. Then I can decide who, or what, I need to be in order to kill it.

His heart dropped like a stone as he began to see the edge of the forest in the distance. He would be too late. He could feel the creature’s footfalls slamming into the ground. He was so close, but he knew he was not close enough. He sprinted now, using up the precious reserves of his energy. His muscles growled back at him in quiet rage.

Kyron made it to the edge of the forest, standing in the gaping hole in the treeline the creature had left in its wake. The ground sloped steeply ahead of him. The grass was torn where the creature had scrambled down the hillside, fresh earth marking the damage the beetle’s huge footprints had left. There it was, in the distance, barrelling down the hillside, its black, shiny carapace glistening in the moonlight. For most, the creature would be invisible regardless of its size. Its natural armour blended expertly with the darkness of the night. But Kyron, with his keen elven eyesight, could see it clearly. He did not like where it was headed.

At the bottom of the hill, Kyron could make out firelight in the darkness. It seemed to be coming through the windows of a building. Kyron could just about make out the sounds of music pouring from its open windows. The stag-headed beetle stormed toward it, its head lowered, prepared to do battle with the building.

Kyron sprinted down the hillside, his heart desperate. He called and cursed at it in Elvish, trying to gain the beast’s attention, but he was too late.

He had been too late from the start.

Kyron let out a last desperate cry as the creature crashed into the building, screams emanating from those within.