Chenoo II

The wind tugged at his hair and wanted to sweep it into his eyes.  He merely shook his head against the night and continued on his way unhindered by the winter gale.  Ice crystals sought to blind him but they were less of a nuisance than his hair.  The fur coat he wore was thick enough to keep the chill off of his back as the wind pushed and pulled him along the path he trod.  The snow had abated and a bright moon shown down on the twilight landscape but the wind still whipped up thick sheets reducing visibility down to nothing.  Even so he trudged along in the frigid night.  He wanted to get to shelter before daybreak and he knew of a cave that had afforded him rest in the past.

His stride covered the ground quickly and he made good time in his travels.  The mountain range was just ahead and he picked out landmarks that guided him toward shelter.  A drop in the wind brought to his nose the scent of something strange, something foreign that did not belong here.  It was something dangerous and he paused in mid stride as he contemplated what might lie ahead.  He turned in his tracks and circled to the west, continuing more by instinct than actually knowing where the danger might lay but he was able to avoid it and he gained the bluffs.  He scampered up one near vertical surface easily until he was looking down on the area where he felt the strangeness held sway.

There was something moving down there and it was not natural to the area.  His keen eyes picked out the forms as they prowled about.  They were large, probably as large as he, but their coats were white and matted where his was a dark, almost black, brown.  They sniffed and snuffled about as if searching for food and now and then he could hear their plaintive whines attesting to their hunger.  Their movements were alien and appeared almost insect like than that of any natural animal.  A whim of the gales brought to him their scent.  A stench came from the creatures of rotted flesh, decay and putrescence.  He knew what they were.  He had come upon them before.  They were the Others and they were EVIL!

The Newcomers in the log den!  His thoughts shot back to the couple near the lake that he had tried to warn before.  He had to get back to them and try to make them understand.  They had to leave the area or fall beneath the fangs of these Others!

The winds whipped against the sides of the cabin and whistled through its chinks and cracks.  The moaning and keening of the wind was a bestial, almost human voice as it nosed about the building.  The crashing of the waves on the big lake to the north was cannonade after cannonade against the shore, the booms echoed off the mountains to the south, reverberating thunder against the house.  Within the cabin the blaze on the hearth danced and cavorted, pulled by the vagaries of the drafts and gusts.  Shadows danced and cavorted on the walls.  Those within were snug and warm against the tempest that raged without. 

Yet the inhabitants did not feel overly secure.  The storm notwithstanding, beyond the walls that kept the fu\ry of the elements at bay, there was that for which the winter gale held no fear.  It prowled about seeking means of ingress to the dwelling.  The snuffling and snorting of that which hunted without came from minute openings in the log walls and the inhabitants would start and look in the direction from whence the sound came.

Mireh silently and with but a gesture shushed those within, a reassuring nod of her head let the others know she was not afraid of their external visitor.  Harlan followed her lead and went so far as to press an eye against a hole to peer into the snow smeared dusk.  Presently, as if it had suddenly become aware of his presence, another eye on the other side of the hole was looking back at him.  It held curiosity and wonder, but no malevolence.  The two stared into each other’s gaze for long breath-held moments.  Then the creature turned and left.  Harlan could see its coat was either a dark brown with whiter surface hair, or the snow had begun to pile upon the being’s shoulders.  In either case, its curiosity apparently satisfied, it left the home to wander afield.  There was no more pounding, scratching or snuffling about the walls.  The change in atmosphere was palpable and all within knew their visitor was gone.

“What does it look like?” Harlan asked his host when they had all relaxed.  “I saw white hair over brown.  And we locked eyes.  I stood staring right back at it.  It didn’t look like it wanted to harm anyone in here.  There is intelligence in those eyes!”

Terhune Pertwie replied, “It seemed covered with white hair but with darker fur beneath.”  He rocked back on his heels as he seemed puzzled by something.  “I know within my heart this is the same beast, yet tonight it did not seem hostile.  And looking past I think it never meant us any harm.  It acted out of, perhaps, a sense of curiosity.”  He looked at his wife and her expression showed she agreed with her husband.

“In either instance, the being has left and the storm seems to be abating.  We should bed down for the evening so we can be on our journey all the earlier on the morrow.” Barlow said and everyone within the cozy little cabin had to allow that this was a sound idea.

The next morning found them in bright sunlight examining the tracks left by the creature as it prowled about the house.  There were even spots where it had rested its hands as it kneeled.  The prints were very similar to man prints and Pertwie pointed that out rather nervously.

“The tracks seem to tell that the creature was here long before it let itself be discovered.  The amount of tracks around the building attests to that.  It was here long before it started snuffling about the walls.  It looks like it was seeking the opening but yet it made no move to charge it.”  Harlan was musing aloud.  To the other is seemed as if he was working through some puzzle, solving it even as he spoke.

“I am rather glad that it didn’t seek to gain entrance this time.  The pounding the walls took last time, I don’t know if they could have withstood another attack,” Pertwie replied.

“The way it hunkered down now and then, it seems as if it was anxious yet hesitant to approach us,” Barlow.

“Tracks disappear,” Mireh stated.  Where the wind swept off of the nearby beach the trail the being took to the house and took away from the house had been obliterated and none could read the signs well enough to tell from whence it came or to where it had retreated.

“Somehow, Terhune,” Harlan told the large man, “I think your troubles with the creature have come to a satisfying end.”

“I believe so too.  I don’t think it will seek to charge, should we see it again.  Perhaps I might even attempt to communicate with it.”

The travelers had already prepared to continue on their journey so they bid adieu to Terhune and Sinclair and

following a trail suggested by Pertwie they headed north to the Keweenaw Peninsula.

The sun beat warmly down and much of the snow deposited the previous night had begun to settle.  Freshly melted waters dripped down from tree tops and pockmarked the pristine blanket of white surrounding them.  They traveled at a leisurely pace.  They didn’t want to become over heated and risk the possibility of hypothermia.  Layers came off as they moved and were stored in their packs.  Brief stops were made for midmorning snack, a midday rest, and a late dinner as the sun began to rush to the horizon’s embrace.

A row of bluffs afforded a refuge for the night.  An ancient mine had been dug into the side of the stone and it was here that a snug fire was built and their camp set up.  Harlan scouted out a bit of the surrounding countryside as he gathered firewood.  Barlow and Mireh were in deep conversation when he returned with a healthy armload.

“Mireh thinks we are not alone,” Van Deutch told the adventurer as he quietly set down his load of wood.

“Oh, I know.  I think it’s our visitor from last night.  He’s been following us ever since we left the Pertwie settlement.”  This news took both the trapper and his wife aback.  Mireh had only recently been made aware if his presence.  Barlow, though a good tracker while hunting, had been unaware of it all afternoon.

“Are we in any danger, do you suppose?” the trapper asked Harlan.

“No, had we been in any, it would have made its presence known to us by now, it would have attacked back when we were in those narrows before we paused for lunch.  No, it is either curious about us or it wants to communicate something to us.  Either way I think we will simply have to wait for it to make the next move, if it wants to reveal itself.”

“I am not sure I am comfortable with this state of affairs,” Barlow grumbled and Mireh chuckled quietly to herself and shook her head.  Harlan smiled reassuringly and placed a hand on the other’s shoulder.  Still the dwarf was not mollified and moved over to help prepare supper, grumbling all the while.

They sat back to watch the golden stripes upon the land lengthen and then climb to enflame rock face and treetop as the sun slid lower and lower.  The snow that clung in tiny clumps to the tree tops was ignited by the light and turned into pastel blossoms.  The sky slowly turned pink, then turquoise, and finally darkened to indigo.  Now the fire threw dancing shadows on the rock walls and illumined the trees outside their shelter in a soft golden glow that flickered and brought into focus fantastic faces and mythic creatures traced in the shadows.  Each time the light changed one would point out to an image painted in light and shadow.  It was a pleasant pastime as they supped on dried meat and berries and prepared their couches for sleep.

“Watches?” Barlow asked Harlan.

“I know we’re watched over, even now, but the added vigilance couldn’t hurt.”

Two hour watches were set and the rotation agreed to.  Mireh insisted on being included and offered to take

the first watch.  The two men rolled into their furs and their breathing let her know they trusted her enough to sleep soundly.  The skies remained clear and the bright moon traveled it course slowly above the trees.  Harlan was awakened by her firm hand and he wrapped himself in his covers and sat at the entrance of their cozy hole. 

Smaller animals moved through the underbrush or burrowed beneath the snow, their ever present search for food the only thought in their minds: nocturnal little lives that Harlan found reassuring somehow.  Their presence gave him the peace of mind that no other alpha predator prowled the locale.  He relaxed his vigil slightly and allowed himself to drowse lightly.  Still he was able to keep track of the moons journey and knew the passage of time.

He was just rising from his seat to awaken the Mr. Van Deutch when a terrific roar tore through the stillness and woke both Barlow and Mireh.  They were at Harlan’s side in an instant.  More bestial howls cried out in the night.  It was joined by another voice and presently there came to the trio’s ears the sounds of two bodies clashing in the night.  Horrendous screams and agonizing calls echoed throughout the night and loud smack and smash of blows being dealt reverberated echoes.  While they listened to the invisible struggle continue it moved slowly away from their perch and the distance grew with every sound.  The battle was winding down also.  As ferocious and terrific as it was it was also short lived.  Whomever it was battling, whatever the creatures were, their conflict flared like a rocket and just as quickly burnt to a conclusion for eventually the sounds ceased all together.

The trio stood where they had paused to listen to the struggle.  No one had moved.  They still listened and presently their patience was rewarded.  The sound of a large form moving back into the area came from the forest before them.  It sounded like it was moving with slight difficulty and finally it stopped.  Then a grunting cough sounded and they knew it was the creature that frequented the Pertwie homestead.  It had fought off another creature as large as itself and now returned to resume its vigil over them.  Somehow this was both comforting and upsetting to the three.  It was still keeping watch over them, protecting them even, yet there were things out there as large as it was that it needed to protect them against.

“I think we don’t need to keep watch anymore,” Harlan told the other two and they reluctantly agreed.  They rolled themselves anew into their furs and laid down for an uneasy sleep. 

He had watched the three from a distance.  He knew that they knew he was there yet still he did not approach them.  He also knew of the Others that were around and he wanted to make sure the three Newcomers stayed safe.  He was old, he had seen many seasons.  These Newcomers were a curiosity to him and his kind: the Old Ones.  He wanted to become acquainted with these fragile beings but the timidity of the wild kept him apart.  The Others he knew of old.  He had come upon them before and but for the odd confrontation had left them alone.  Now, however, they threatened the Newcomers and this concerned him.  Somehow he felt the Newcomers were different.  They weren’t of nature.  They barely knew how to survive in the wilds and had to busy themselves making such odd dens and nests.  And how they filled thir days with such meaningless activity!  Their industry baffled him yet at the same time attracted him.

He hunkered down beneath an enormous pine.  There was a boulder beneath and he set his back against it and draped his hairy arms over his fur covered knees.  Normally he would have sought a more enclosed rest for the night but his desire to keep these three safe was stronger than his instinct for warmth and sleep.  He was used to the elements and the chill of the night was but a slight discomfort.  He drowsed but his keen ears picked out every little sound of the night.  The field mouse beneath the snow, the birds snuggling in the nest overhead, the creak of tree limb rubbing against tree limb, all were familiar noises and didn’t alarm him.

Then he heard the hesitant footstep some distance away.  The crunch as it penetrated the frozen rime on the snow was like thunder to his astute hearing.  There was no other sound for several long heartbeats.  He began to feel that perhaps he had been hearing things.  Then finally another foot crunched into the snow.  It was one of the Others!  It had to be, and it was trying move undiscovered, undetected.  He felt the Newcomers probably had not heard the two footsteps.  They seemed to have diminished senses and probably would not have heard the Other until it was upon them.  He turned and edged silently away from his boulder.  He dropped noiselessly to the ground and peered from beneath the boughs of the pine.

The moon shone down brightly on the snow covered landscape before him.  The gray trunks of the leafless trees rose dark in vertical lines that stretched away in all directions.  Here and there the darker, bushier outline of a conifer bewhiskered the tree line.  Another crunch!  He was able to locate where the sounds were coming from but still he saw nothing.  A long pause; another crunch, he saw it!  The while bulk slid along the dark tree choked horizon and he saw it move.  It was inching his way.  By the way the Other moved it was still unaware of his presence.  The muscles beneath his coat tensed and bulged as he readied himself to spring.  Once the Other was close enough he would attack!  Then the Other stiffened as it realized it was being observed.  It froze, but its head swiveled about as it sought to find its watcher.

Red eyes glowed eerily in the light of the moon.  They darted about searching, hunting.  The tattered and bloodied lips parted as the tongue came out.  A soft snuffling came from its mouth as it smelled and tasted of the air.  The teeth gnashed silently as if it sought to rend its unseen prey.  Another deliberated step, another crunch, the Other was closer now.  One more step and it would be within reach. 

Still the red eyes searched the night shrouded landscape but as it advanced is crouched lower and lower, anticipating an explosion into action.  Sniffing and snuffling ever so quietly it stretched out its head, nose scenting the air.  It raised a foot and brought it forward.  It paused before it set it down into the snow.  It shot its gaze straight at the tree where he crouched.  It looked piercingly for several long moments and then their gazes met.

The Old One shot from his prone position, terrific muscles bursting into movement.  He caught the Other as it rose to claw at him, forearms pinioned in his grip.  Trapped in the grip of the larger body the Other’s head shot forward and its mouth snapped and chomped as it sought to reach the tender neck of the Old One.  The larger, darker form twisted and the smaller, white being was lifted from its feet.  The Old One shook the Other like a rag doll and it roared in frustration as it was jostled about.  It reached up with its feet and sought to disembowel the taller opponent.  The Old One threw it away with a thunderous crash into a large tree trunk.  It was up in an instant and closed anew with the Old One.  It roared its defiance as it once again sought to slash and rend its opponent.  They both charged and met with a resounding crash.

Talons and teeth sough to rend flesh as the Other squirmed with manic might, seeking to avoid another steel grip.  The Old One feinted to one side, throwing the Other off balance, then the Old One belted it on the back of the head driving its face into the frozen snow.

The Other flipped as it landed and was back up and menacing the Old One so quick it caught the Old One off guard.  A scream of rage and it closed again, claws swiping at the abdomen of its opponent.  The larger one twisted just in time and the Other only scored a shallow flesh wound.  The Old One chopped down and forced the Other to its knees again.  Another chop at the back of the head and the evil creature was once again face down in the snow.

The Other had been approaching the New Comers from an odd angle and the Old One realized it had not discovered where they had been.  With his superior strength he tossed and threw the Other about, slowly leading it away from the trio’s campsite.  The Other attacked again and again.  It’s state of near starvation made it hunger for which ever was in front of it.  It didn’t matter it if was the New Comers that it had been directed to hunt, or if it was this Old One that sought to keep it from its prey.  It was ravenous and would feast on whatever it could subdue. 

The horrible mouth of lips torn and cracked was fetid and smelled of decay.  The fangs, though, were sharp and sought to close with the Old One’s flesh.  It snapped and bit but the superior strength of the larger creature kept the ravenous maw from closing with it.  It struggled with insane strength but it was outmatched.  The Other’s muzzle was effectively kept from tearing flesh.

But after the battle stretched on it knew it was at a disadvantage due to size but it screamed and roared as it fought all the same.  The Old One began to grow concerned as it considered his antagonist might be calling for reinforcements.  He doubled his efforts to subdue this evil creature and with every blow he sought to drive it to its knees in submission.  This was beginning to tell on the Other.  It fought with less and less strength until finally its energies were being spent in efforts of escape. 

Once the Old One realized this he allowed the Other the opportunity to slip away.  As it gained more it turned its head back and screamed its frustrated defiance.  Then it increased its distance and loped off into the night leaving the Old One to lick his wounds and return to his vigilant seat beneath the tree.  There were scraps and abrasions along its forearms and a shallow slice across his stomach dripped blood but wasn’t a serious injury.  These were no worse than anything it had encountered before and he felt confident he would heal.  He had dealt with real pain before and these wounds were diminished by past experiences.  He settled against the rock, draping his arms over his knees once again.  Presently the night sounds of the surrounding forest returned and remained.  The Old One knew there were no Others about so he allowed himself to sleep, confident his hearing would alert him to the presence of any more that might happen by.