Page 56 of Saving the Alien Chieftain

My attention is caught by shiny armor glinting in the purple sunlight. Inspecting the remains shows the half-eaten remains of a blonde-haired Klendathian. The corpse appears recent as it stares blankly up into the sky; the sight makes my stomach churn. He’s the fourth Klendathian Prospect, the one I had not seen since the opening ceremony. I should thank the avian creature for killing him. Chances are, he also would’ve been hunting me had he lived.

Along the edge, next to the black standing stone, lies a huge purple iridescent eggshell. It is cracked open, chunks of thick shell littering the ground. I scan the area, looking for more eggs, but there are none, nor are there signs of a baby chick. The poor creature was probably eaten by the venefexes as the mother died, defending its young.

Satisfied I’ve missed nothing amongst the surreal macabre scene, I hop down from the nest. My pulse rises as I hear the flutter of wings behind me. With incredible speed, I throw myself leftward prone to the ground, expecting the earth to explode with a shrieking attack from an arrohawk. But thankfully, the attack never comes. Turning my head to look behind me, my eyes widen in shock as I climb back to my feet.

Perched atop a black standing stone sits the bird creature’s baby chick, tucking its dual-colored wings against its back as it regards me with a tilted head. The creature is oddly cute, with large dark eyes glowing softly, awkwardly big talons and paws on its relatively compact frame. However, if I’ve learned anything, it’s that everything in this forest wants to eat me and nothing can be trusted. Despite its youth, the beast is still the size of a horse and no doubt would do serious damage to me if it decided I was dinner.

The creature’s eye twinkles with curiosity as it preens its wings. Suddenly, it lets out a whimper akin to a massive dog before fluttering closer to me. My heart races with excitement, yet I’m torn between fleeing for safety or attempting to interact with the magnificent creature. It advances curiously, pausing nervously with each step.

Reaching into my bag, I fumble for the remaining chunks of hydralith meat I had wrapped up earlier. My abrupt movement startles the fledgling, causing it to draw back. Panic seizes me at the thought of the creature flying away, never to return. Holding out the meat, I offer it. “Here you go, cutie-pie.”

The sight of food emboldens it, as it quickly closes the distance and plucks the meat from my hands with its muzzle. Its snow-white maned head rocks back as it devours the food in one massive gulp. I gasp in astonishment as the large chunk vanishes almost instantly, like a mere snack.

Wagging its bushy curled up white tail, the creature spins excitedly in a circle. Hastily, I pull out my last piece of meat, offering it more. “You’re quite the hungry fellow, aren’t you?” I tease, using a coddling voice. The creature confidently gobbles the meat from my hand.I hope I don’t lose a few fingers!

The creature looks at me, expectedly wagging its tail. I hold up my hands. “None left, see? You’ve cleaned me out.” My stomach lurches in panic as the beast leaps atop me. I raise my arms up protectively over my head, screaming, as a big wet tongue laps all over my hair and face. The wetness on my face causes me to splutter in shock. Laughter escapes me as I attempt to fend off the affections of the chick. Its whiskers tickle my face as I ruffle my hands through its furry mane.

After a moment of roughhousing, the creature breaks off the embrace, wagging its tail, tongue lolling out.I wish I had more food to give it.Glancing around, I realize it could thrive here, feeding on the nearby dead venefexes for months. Waving goodbye to the creature, it tilts its head in confusion. “Goodbye, sweetie pie,” I say, turning to continue my journey northward.

Ahead is a small white rock ridge that’ll take me to the very summit of this mountain. Glancing around in the distance reveals it to be the highest peak visible. With excitement, I scale the ridge, eager to learn what’s on the other side. Easily I assail the wall, taking a moment to breathe in the crisp cool air. Squinting, I peer into the distance, trying to discern through the hazy fog that blankets the peak.

As a dense patch of mist passes, I make out amongst the dense trees in the distance a moss-covered stone structure.

There it is! The temple of Sunaisor!

I jump in excitement on the spot, cheering.I can’t believe I’ve found it! And it looks less than a day away.A surge of joy overwhelms me. I never believed in a million years I’d make it this far, especially while being chased by the Klendathian killers. Now it’s so close, the tiny possibility is growing into reality.

The flutter of wings announces the avian chick’s arrival at the summit. It nudges me with its head. “Did my shouting frighten you? I’m sorry, I’m just excited,” I explain, feeling a little silly justifying myself to the animal.

In return, the creature wags its tail, looking at me expectedly. “You should go home, sweet cupcake,” I say, pointing back to its nest. “You live there, I need to go here.” I point towards Sunaisor in the distance.

The creature tilts its head before sniffing my face, its huge muzzle whiskers tickling my face. “Stop! I must go. It’ll be dangerous if you follow me,” I insist, pushing against its maned neck. Looking down this side of the mountain reveals a less steep decline, with a wide river coursing from the near the top straight into the forest.If I follow that river, it’ll take me straight there.

I start my descent, half walking, half sliding down the steep white stone mountain. The loose stones prove more treacherous than the steep wall climb on the other side of the mountain, as I nearly trip multiple times. From the corner of my eye, I can see the chick following me as it bounds from the ground to air, fluttering its huge wings.

“If you keep following me, I’m going to call you Cupcake! A big scary monster like you wouldn’t like such a cute, fluffy name now, would you?” I threaten as I nearly lose my footing as the stones roll away underfoot.

As if in answer, the creature lets out a short bark.

“Fine, have it your way. Cupcake it is,” I laugh.

Finally, the steep stony path transforms into a lusher and more level terrain as little streams of clear purple-blue water trickle through rocky grooves. I follow the streams of water until they coalesce into the beginnings of a river.The river I will follow to Sunaisor!The thought brings a smile to my lips. Stopping for a moment, I take out my empty canteens and check there are no vipertails hiding amongst the bank before drinking greedily of the incredibly refreshing water.

A loud splashing sound startles me, causing me to nearly choke on the water, but it’s only Cupcake diving into the river, talons first, emerging with a wiggling eel-like creature clutched in her grasp. Fascinated, I watch as she savagely rends the creature apart, using her talons and muzzle teeth.Glad she’s on my side. I don’t know when I decided she was a she, but she is.

I clean out my canteens of the old boracks milk and refill them with clean water, confident I have more than enough for the rest of the journey. Cupcake lands beside me with a thud. She throws a part of the horrible eel-like monster at my feet as she wags her bushy white tail excitedly. My hearts swells at the sweet gesture

“Aw, you’re so sweet, Cupcake, but I eat these,” I say, showing her my last nutritious bar. Taking a bite, I offer the rest to her. Cupcake sniffs the bar before lowering her head to scoff the remainder of the eel-like monster.

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” I say, as I struggle to bite through the dense bar.She’s probably missing a tooth ache if I’m honest.Packing up, we continue down the river some ways from the bank. The area around here is still sparse with foliage, making me nervous. I worry Cupcake’s company and the sight of Sunaisor are giving me a false sense of security.

The purple sun lies low in the sky, casting long shadows over the land. It won’t be long before it’s completely dark. Panic rises in my chest as I glance about for a suitable tree to rest in for the night. But there are none; the ones near the bank are too small.It’s because of the mountain. If I can get further down, I’ll find one.

I speed up, and Cupcake bounces from air to ground after me. Suddenly she barks noisily, stopping me dead in my tracks. I turn to see her fluttering above the ground, growling. As my adrenaline surges, I follow her line of sight, and behind a small tree in the distance shines the single red eye of a terrible beast.

No… It can’t be?

I’m frozen in place as the red eye grows larger. The beast stalks closer, revealing the same white furred, scared venefex that chased me on the plains. With an ear-piercing roar, the monster charges, splashing into the riverbed in its haste. My heart pumps in my chest as my instinct tells me to run away as fast as I can from the monstrosity.

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