With grim determination the hunters formed a circle around us, readying themselves to protect a group of people they’d only just met.
In their shifter forms they seemed unstoppable. They blocked every jagwa attack while only sustaining minor damage. But then the pterodactyls started attacking as well. The onslaught of both the jagwas and the pterodactyls wore thehunters down. Every slash of their claws seemed slower than the last.
Would this be our end? Did we really survive a spaceship crash just to die under the claws of these horrid beasts?
Just as I thought all hope was lost, a debilitating screech cut through the air. I covered my ears and saw a giant blue bird soaring through the sky.
“Jax!” Rhaz pumped a fist in the air with a wide smile on his face.
I looked up again and realized that this bird had the face and body of the young Sirret I had met yesterday. He swooped down and screeched again, causing the pterodactyls to flee. I could see him more clearly now. His legs had transformed into tail feathers while his arms had turned into wings, but his chest and face were still the same as before.
He smiled down at the hunters who were whooping and cheering at his arrival.
“Watch out!” Sarah yelled as a jagwa leapt for Talia with its claws out.
I thought we might lose Talia when a tree suddenly came to life and tackled the jagwa to the ground. But again my eyes had fooled me. That wasn’t a tree, it was Sozu. His ability to change his skin to blend in to his surroundings was indescribable.
I heard another scream. It was Sarah. A jagwa had pinned her down to the ground. She was pushing on its neck and chest as it gnashed its teeth at her.
Jax let out another loud screech as he tucked his wings into his sides and dove towards the ground at an impossibly fast rate. He grabbed the jagwa with clawed hands and flew high in the air with it. It bucked and howled until Jax dropped it from an impressive height, sending the creature to its death.
Now that the two youngest members of the dekes had joined the hunters, they all fought with a renewed vigor, but would it be enough? With every jagwa that was slain, it seemed as if a new one took its place.
One was about to leap on a distracted Tarak when a spear shot through the air and into the jagwa with such force it pinned the creature to the ground.
I looked up and saw the parents and elders of the tribe running our way.
“Go! We will cover you!” An older male with long white hair and a gray beard shouted. The scene brought tears to my eyes. After Tarak and his hunters had been abandoned by so many, here were a small group of parents and elders who had no special abilities, putting their lives on the line for the ones they loved so much.
“To the mountain!” Tarak commanded.
We made a final mad dash toward the mountain. With the hunters fighting off attacks on both sides and the elders throwing spears to cover our backs, we were finally able to run to the safety of the mountain.
Tarak shoved the boulder protecting the entrance to the side with a mighty shout. We rushed inside and once the final elder was safely secured, he pushed the boulder back into place.
Chapter 18
Tarak
We all stopped inside the entrance for a long moment catching our breath before my hunters and I led the females to the main cavern where the coals of the cookfire still ran hot from when the elders had rushed out with Jax and Sozu to aid us in our fight. I had never been more grateful for the elders of my tribe than today.
Many seasons ago they had sacrificed their home and loved ones to join us cursed younglings in our exile. And today they’d risked their lives so we could make it safely home. The image of them all wielding spears against a pack of jagwas would forever be burned in my mind.
“Here, I can help with that.” Young Sozu encouraged Talia to touch his forearm to release his healing power. As she did she gasped in amazement as the gash on her own arm healed and closed before her very eyes.
“You’re a healer.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement to reassure herself of what she’d just seen. We’d all been there once. The first time you experienced Sozu’s healing abilities was something you never forgot.
“Yeah,” he smiled shyly and ran his hand through his hair.
“That’s incredible.” The delight in her eyes matched his joyful smile.
I was not surprised to see Brexl was the first of my hunters to shift out of his beastly form. He glanced at Taylor one lasttime before he walked toward the storage cavern to put his extra supplies away.
As he walked away I spotted young Sarah, the female with skin the color of snow and hair the color of the yellow torneia flower. She sat on the floor with her back to the wall hugging her knees to her chest. A few tears streamed down her face and my heart ached for her.
I had to remind myself that these females were not from here and may not have seen creatures such as the ones we had just faced.
I was about to go to her to offer a comforting word, but then Jax sat down next to the young female.
