Shadows In the GladeA Story by edloud
Talanka was lost. Had, in fact, been lost since the day of the
great battle. His band of Osage warriors led the charge that broke the lines of
the Missouri that had pushed them back over the river that bore their name. In
a mad blood lust he and several others chased the retreating Missouri into the
wooded hills and slaughtered as many as they could. As the sun began to set
that day Talanka chased a young Missouri warrior down a narrow trail. A trail
that his prey obviously knew better than him. The day light vanished and
Talanka ran headlong into a thick branch that hung low over the trail, knocking
him unconscious.
How long he laid there he did not know, but he has wondered
these woods for days with no sign of man. He fed on lizards and squirrels using
his flint dagger to make traps from small twigs. As the days went by he got
more desperate, feeling like a doomed soul to wonder the earth for eternity. He
began to go mad, speaking to himself as he walked, later he began answering
himself.
He was unaware of his madness until he made camp in a glade of
great pine trees one night. He lay on his back muttering to himself and looking
at the stars, when he sensed something watching him. He rolled over onto his
side and slowly slid the dagger out of his deer skin belt and laid waiting. Whatever
it was was content to keep its distance and watch. Talanka laid still for what
seemed like an eternity. Slowly, he sensed, his stalker lost interest and moved
on.
Talanka woke before the sun after a few hours of restless sleep.
He muttered to himself that he was crazy, there was nothing there. He reasoned
to himself that it was just his nerves. Then he screamed at himself that it is
not his nerves that something watched him last night.
As the sun cracked the horizon he talked himself into walking
over to where he thought his watcher stood. His eyes roved the loam, looking
for any hint of what stood there. His eyes froze in terror at the only sign it
left. It looked like a bare human foot, only twice as large. He cautiously placed
his moccasined foot inside the print. His mouth dropped in awe. He backed away
slowly eyeing the woods beyond, expecting the giant to leap out at any moment.
When he felt he was far enough away he turned and ran through the woods,
leaping over dead trees. He ran through the hills and valleys. On and on he ran
until, hours later, he came across a small stream. He plopped down near the
bank and dunked his head in the water. He yanked it out with a spray of water
flying from his black hair. Suddenly he sensed it again. Somewhere along the
tree line there where eyes burning into him.
He scanned the tree line looking for any sign of the giant. His
eyes rested on what, at first glance, seemed like a smaller pine tree. He
guessed it to be about two heads taller than him. There was something odd about
the tree. It was oddly shaped and really did not resemble any tree he had ever
seen except its pointed top. He was about to look away when the tree moved. It
was a very slight movement. With no breeze rustling through the forest the top
of the tree tilted sideways. Talankas heart froze as he stared at the thing
that lurked in the shadows of the forest.
Talanka decided to act like he saw nothing and slowly stood up
and started to walk up the hill, away from the strange tree. He worked his way
up through thick undergrowth and fallen timber. A few times he almost slid back
down the hill as his foot slipped on loose gravel. When he finally crested the
hill he looked back. He saw nothing unusual and turned to walk down the other
side when a sound split the air that caused his heart to stop. It was a deep
roar that was bestial and human at the same time. The roar came from where he
just was at the base of the hill. He started scrambling down the hill away from
his pursuer, when another sound froze him in his tracks. It was a roar like the
first, but this one was in front of him. He stopped his descent and ran along
the creek, trying to outflank them.
They followed alongside of him. They herded him toward some
unknown destination as the sun sank. He burst through the forest into a
clearing. On the other side was the same glade he was at the night before. He
ran through the clearing, eyes on the glade. He was trying to reach the tree
line before his pursuers could catch him in the open. The tall grass whispered
to him as he ran through it. He ran with the grace of a gazelle, bobbing up and
down as he ran. He went up and down, and then he was gone. He fell into a small
rocky ditch. His had slammed down on a rack and all went black.
When he woke up the sun was high up in the sky. The gash on his
head was dressed with moss and mud, and he was propped up against one of the
taller pines in the glade. He looked around to see if anyone was there. The
only hint of passage was a rather large hand print in the mud next to the tree.
Talanka stood, woozily. As he did he felt eyes on him again. He started to walk
away from the direction of the eyes when the roar sounded from his right and
the shortly after from his left. They herded him all day that way. By night
fall he heard the sounds of rushing water. He came to a familiar shore, the
Missouri river. He was on the border of his tribal lands. Feeling no eyes on
him he set to making snares to catch a rabbit for he had not eaten in days. With
traps set he went off to find a place to sleep. Making a bed out of pine
branches he laid and slept soundly through the night, exhausted.
Talanka rose as the sun did and checked his snares. All had been
destroyed. He threw the last one from him in disgust and turned away. He froze,
less than a hundred strides away stood a beast he had only heard of in legend.
It was two heads taller than him, had a pointed head, brutish shoulders, long
strong arms, and everything was coated in thick brown fur. It opened its mouth,
showing flat yellow teeth and pointed at him.
Madness gripped Talanka; he pulled his flint dagger from his
belt and rushed at the beast. Preferring death over being hunted anymore, he
attacked the giant, stabbing it over and over. The sight of red blood drove him
on, knowing that if it bled it could die. It did not struggle; rather it moaned
and cried in pain. Then it was gone. It fell from him, in a pool of its own
blood.
Talanka fell to his knees in a mixture of relief and exhaustion.
He breathed deep, calming his shattered nerves. He held his breath; he heard a
twig snap behind him. He turned in time to see a giant hairy first slam into
his face.
He awoke back in his own village and listened to the tale about
his return. Apparently the legendary Sasquatch carried him into the village
last night and dropped him in front of the shaman. The shaman understood his
language and the tale he told of finding Talanka lost in the woods. The Sasquatch
had recognized him as an Osage, and they were forever protectors of the tribe.
He and his mate had tried to guide him home, but he slew his mate. The Sasquatch
then cursed the Osage and said a new greater tribe will come and take their
lands. And he would watch it all from the shadows of the glade.
© 2013 edloudAuthor's Note
Featured Review
Reviews
|
Stats
100 Views
1 Review Added on June 23, 2013 Last Updated on July 31, 2013 |