Mindless Beasts

Afraid that he would fall from the pronghorn’s reckless speed as the pronghorn waded across a wide river.

When they finally crossed over, the forest on the other side looked different from what Sly was accustomed to seeing from the window of the attic.

Everything was gigantic and overgrown.

Sly noticed that even flying insects like gnats were the size of small birds and looked well fed on flesh and blood.

Huge Venus Fly Traps were everywhere and several snapped at them when they passed nearby.

Dr. Jennings reminded Sly not to pluck any of the flowers as they passed through the Dara Forest.

Ayana always used to warn in the same manner of Dr. Jennings that some of the most beautiful flowers are the deadliest with no known antidotes to their venom.

One of the plants looked just like one of the sketches from the Foxx journal that Ayana used to study.

He vaguely remembered that it was called the purple medusa plant.

Its petals were extremely corrosive.

That when human skin came in contact within minutes their skin looked like they turned to stone and within an hour the victim would be dead.

Up ahead they started seeing scattered body parts of various furry animals like moose, wild boars and bears but there was no predator in sight and the forest was eerily silent.

Distrusting the silence Dr. Jennings also summoned his peregrine falcon.

Even though he was aware of the consequences it was better to be safe than sorry.

With instructions from its master the majestic white air beast flew without fear into the forest.

His speed was so fast it reminded Sly of a hummingbird as it moved so fast it stirred up a gust of wind and blew dirt into his eyes.

The peregrine falcon was a decent scout and skilled at surveillance and hiding itself well.

If there was any visible danger lurking nearby it would relay this info quickly to Dr. Jennings.

Dr. Jennings saw through the air beast’s gaze a herd of stampeding moose heading their way.

Before Dr. Jennings could command the pronghorn to turn around, the entire pack of moose was already a few feet away and approached the duo rapidly.

Making it difficult for the pair to safely escape the impact of colliding with the herd of moose.

Knocked off the pronghorn, Sly was separated from Dr. Jennings in order to avoid being trampled under the hoofs of the crazed herd.

Something mushy broke his fall.

Under his bum was half of a human torso with its innards and intestines crushed by the impact of Sly’s fall.

The rest of the body was nowhere to be found just like Dr. Jennings.

A few feet away a dead baby wrapped tightly in a blanket with no one to nurse him the baby probably died from starvation, its features twisted in shock and terror.

Not far from the baby there appeared to be a nest of sorts made from mutilated human limbs and the heads of several types of local forest animals.

Sly thought to himself, what kind of creature has such an insatiable appetite but even more pressing, where was it?

Then he heard a loud rustling sound and what he thought was a giant nest started to move and unfurl itself.

He fell into a trap!

That macabre looking display wasn’t just for show, it was designed to look like a pile of debris from far away but up close its smell was enough to ward off other predators.

Sly felt the earth tremble as he came face to face with the strangest giant predator straight out of a nightmare.

Sly had never laid eyes on such a strange beast before, with its fuzzy exterior and weird behavior.

He could not recall any information about a cannibalistic caterpillar during his studies with Ayana in the private library at the Duncan residence.

Suddenly both man and beast were distracted by something circling high above in the sky.

This familiar looking majestic air beast with a wing span of several hundred meters when widely spread, let out a loud screech that made Sly want to protect his eardrums.

A beautiful pair of white wings nosedived towards the carnivorous giant caterpillar.

It was Dr. Jennings looked fierce and ready to do battle on the back of the white peregrine falcon that had made itself larger to accommodate his weight.

"Woosh!"

The doctor boldly leaped off the back of white falcon peregrine and aimed with deadly precision for the head of the massive caterpillar.

"Don’t be scared, just move," shouted Dr. Jennings.

He felt that the young man had every right to be afraid of such a large fantastic beast.

"It’s poisonous so stay out of range of its toxins," warned the doctor. "Your body is still too weak from surgery to be of assistance so just go and hide. I’ll find you when it’s safe to come out."

Not to be left out the peregrine flexed its claws aggressively and used its beak and talons to attack the caterpillar from the side creating an opening for Dr. Jennings.

Dr. Jennings pulled out one of his favorite utensils for performing surgeries and sliced the head of the caterpillar wide open.

His white peregrine came in closer to check on the doctor and nearly got sprayed by a surprise vomit attack from the bone collector.

"Back off!" shouted Dr. Jennings.

The loyal air spirit beast listened and took to the skies soaring out of the spitting rage of the volatile caterpillar.

Yet close enough to swoop in and assist should the good doctor need his assistance.

He had to be careful to avoid any of the caterpillar attempts to spit on him unlike the peregrine; Dr. Jennings wasn’t as agile and his reflexes definitely weren’t as fast.

The spit from the bone collector caterpillar was corrosive and poisonous to the extent of his knowledge there was no known antidote for its venom.

"Splurt!"

The instant the tiny but powerful blade pierced through the caterpillars skull liquid used out and then the metal got stuck.

Even though the incision hurt the infuriated caterpillar and caused it great pain.

It wasn’t enough to kill, just maim the giant beast and make it angrier.

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