The Watchers in the Mist

The creatures of Kelpiefuil are on the prowl for lost primaries. Caedmon has become very wary of such dangers. He, along with his fellow watchers, must work together to return to the home tree safely.

Their fears fogged their way, but the furry, minute creatures with bushy tails and pointed snouts who call themselves primaries pushed on. Rushing to the tips of the branches raised above the water, Caedmon studied his surroundings. He gazed into the spreading mist ahead of him and trembled as he listened to the shrieks of unseen creatures in the distance. He spun his head to Argo, a primary wearing a cape sewn from dead leaves and moss. 

"We should rest here for now," he said. "Great Eye knows what could be prowling in this murk." 

"Do these prowlers frighten you?" Argo asked with just a hint of a smile. Caedmon did not take his response lightly. He was a young primary, past one and a half, and he had seen many travelers come and go. In this circumstance, he feared he would become one of them, for they had been traveling far into the depths of Kelpiefuil without knowing any way back to the home tree. 

"Creatures must feed," Caedmon said. "And if we were to continue our journey back, we might draw something's attention." 

"Bah, how would they know we're here during nightfall?" Argo asked. Suddenly a dagger darted through the mist and onto Argo's branch, with him springing back.  

"You do not require oral proof to have a revelation, Argo," said a primary with black fur, crooked snout, burnt tail, and scars upon his left eye, pointing at his sharp-standing dagger. He was standing on a branch above them. "For you already have the proof right there." Argo hmphed. 

"As though you could challenge anything without aid, Duncan," he said. "You couldn't save yourself from those beasts." Duncan had put up with his arrogance. He leaped onto the part of Argo's branch where his blade stood. 

"This very blade," he continued, pulling his sharp, tooth-like dagger from the handle and withdrawing it into his leaf-woven sheath. "Was crafted from the remains of a swimming serpent that could've finished me off if it wasn't on the land." He spun to the base of their resting tree and scrambled to it. Argo and Caedmon looked at each other and shortly followed Duncan. 

He sat down, pulled out his dagger, and a stone from a leaf-woven pouch he put down to his left. He scratched the stone with the blade. Sharp and sharper, a danger to the vessel, with a will to cut those who threaten him. Caedmon and Argo stared curiously at his dagger. 

"You must have spent most of your days chasing these hunters," said Caedmon, "Is that so?" 

"I've only been chasing one of them," said Duncan, with a stern look to his surviving eye. "These creatures I killed because I wanted to kill that one beast. But I never found it, and I presumably never will." 

"Likely story," said Argo with disinterest. "I suppose this beast you speak of was a giant towering above the creatures you've faced?" 

"Certainly, it was," Duncan continued. "It had scales that matched that of the mist that is roaming all of Kelpiefuil, bearing a snout covered in fangs. It just attacked from below the water as my fellow watchers and I were scouting the mist. The survivors and I returned to the home tree, but I decided not to return to my nest. Not until I exact my revenge on that titan." 

The thought of this monster's size trembled Caedmon to the bone, but Argo turned to the branches and hmphed.  

"As much as I find your tall tales riveting," he said before rushing over to the tip of the branch. "I'd rather keep a close watch on the boundaries of our resting place before it becomes our last." 

"Fine by me," said Duncan, putting down his dagger and sharpening stone. "I do assure, though, that you might catch something's attention if you wander too far into the mist." He stared at Argo as he faded into the mist until his shaded form was visible. 

"Such an unfortunate soul, he is to be," he sighed. "Caedmon, keep a close eye on him before he gets himself hurt." 

"Yes, sir," Caedmon replied, clambering along the branch next to Argo's post. 

"May the Great Eye bless your unfortunate souls," Duncan whispered. "May he bless us all." He rested his head upon the bark, gazed at the mist lightly flowing into the tree, and the fog faded into darkness. 

 

Caedmon and Argo slowly swung their heads back and forth, studying the mist-covered marsh ahead of them. Hearing the buzzing insects and the croaking and squealing of fly-snatchers faintly echo in the thick of the fog. Soft screeches were joining in the subtle choir of Kelpiefuil's mire. Caedmon yawned. 

"How exhausting," he said. "Spending hours of my short life peeling my eyes for any danger." 

"Indeed," Argo replied. "You should probably get some rest. You're a child, after all." 

"But it was commander Duncan's orders to accompany you in the watch." 

"Oh, come off it! You and I, both, know how crazy that tattered soul is!" 

"Even so, he is still our commander!" 

"You mean to say your commander?!" 

"No, I mean ours!" Suddenly, before he continued the discussion, he gasped, noticing a stream of bubbles rise from the water below the tree branch. 

"Argo," he stuttered softly, pointing down at the water. "Do not move." The bubbling ceased. Then a dark shape began to form in the water, growing swiftly in size until a triangular pair of jaws broke the water's surface. The two primaries jumped from the chipped branch tip. 

The jaws then leaned down towards the water, revealing a broad, short snout, a pair of short, webbed arms, and a horny textured skin as it went. 

Just as they feared, the fog faded out and back into the air in which the giant swimming serpent attacked. Argo pushed Caedmon towards the base of the tree in panic. 

"Go!" he cried, "Wake the commander!" Caedmon hurried to the center of the tree as fast as his little limbs could carry him. He looked down toward the water below, noticing the dark shape of the serpent regrow. 

"Commander!" he cried. No answer. 

"Commander!!" Still no response. 

The monstrous jaws broke the surface, and they appeared willing to welcome Caedmon's flesh and blood into its two beds of nails. He shut his eyes and held onto the bark for dear life. But, all of a sudden, he felt nothing. Something must have cushioned his painful demise: Was it a pleasant thought planted in his nerves? A dream? No, that couldn't be right. 

He slowly opened his eyes and gasped in a horror that struck his mind like a thunderbolt. His eyelids fluttered, and he lowered his head to the water far below him.  

"Not to worry, junior, I got you." whispered a familiar voice, "Everything will be just fine." Caedmon cocked his head to see commander Duncan firmly grasping his hand. He looked down at the tree trunk to spot the swimming prowler push itself back into the water with its webbed claws. He watched in horror as the scaly beast spun around under the water, leaving a trail of bubbles in its wake and disappearing into the returning fog. 

"Argo, sir," said Caedmon, "he's trapped!"  

"I can see that," said Duncan, pulling Caedmon out of hanging from the branch he stood on. "Stay put! Do not come down until I say, are we clear?" Caedmon lowered his head and raised it back to Duncan's eye level. 

"Good," he said before racing down to the branch that Argo clung on. He stood up, reached his arm out to him, noticing the water creature preparing to strike the tree branch once more. 

"By the shadow of tomorrow," he whispered. "Shifting stance, one shall tear, another shall follow!" The monster slowly broke through the water, with its droplets forming into smooth pearls floating in midair. He breathed in the looming mist. His eyes turned white, and he closed them tightly. The world around him stood still.  

Argo quickly opened his eyes as he gasped for one last breath. He saw Duncan standing before the maw of the beast, piercing the roof of it with his blade, but Argo should have been over there with his fate sealed, not here. The animal wriggled in agony until its blood gushed from the mouth. The wriggling ceased, and Duncan yanked his weapon from the trap. The beast plunged to its grave that awaited it in the depths of the dark water.  

It was an undesirable tomb for such a being. Caedmon looked like he had seen a shade emerge from its body as the murky water became a canvas drenched with dark red paint. He suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He scrambled down to the branch where Duncan and Argo stood and closed his eyes tightly. It was his only hope of never seeing death in the flesh again. 

"Commander," he lamented, shedding a tear. "I knew we should've turned tail when we had the chance. Not only have we found ourselves lost in this fog, but we have discovered the gates of Hell through this battle, alone!" Duncan looked at his bloodstained dagger for a moment and pierced the bark with it. 

"Young primary," he said with confidence. "There is a reason I have brought you along. And that reason is something you must discover for yourself." 

"But, for now, we have to fulfill our sworn duties and find our way back to the home tree," he concluded, picking up his blade from the wood and withdrawing it into his sheath. Caedmon raised his head and stood back on his hindlimbs. "Let's move out!" He yelled with his voice echoing through the sun-beamed swamp.  

The three primary watchers began to walk down from their former posts, one by one leaping from the chopped branch to the lush green branch that stood adjacent to it. Caedmon's fear still fogged his way, yet he could see Duncan and Argo. 

The mist began to thicken as they advanced deeper into Kelpiefuil's bogs from high in the trees. The choir of insects and fly-snatchers grew faint. Then there was absolute silence as Duncan came to a halt. He spread his arm behind him. 

“What is it, this time, old rag-"” Argo grunted, only to be stopped by a shush. 

“Commander, what’s wrong?” said Caedmon softly, inching close to Argo. 

Duncan sniffed the misty air, turned his head both ways, and raised his hand to his right ear. The silence broke into a low bellowing noise that grew less faint by the moment. A shadow as tall as the trees formed in the distance, and it was closing in fast.  

“Caedmon, Argo,” directed Duncan, cocking his head, “Get to the treetops! As high as you can, now!” Caedmon scurried into the base of the tree behind him, without question. He clambered up it like he never climbed before, from branch to higher branch. He turned down to the arm of the tree in which his commander stood. Immediately he noticed something was not right: Argo was down there with him when his commander had given him a direct order.

Caedmon cursed under his breath, staring as his fears began to become true.

Author's Note

ignoring grammatical errors and the sudden scene cut off, what do you think of the setting, tone, and worldbuilding? Also, how good is the pacing?