Warded by JB McDonald

Author:JB McDonald [McDonald, JB]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: JB McDonald
Published: 2022-07-21T23:00:00+00:00

The jungle held its breath, witness to the carnage that had happened here night after night. Jahal didn’t sleep, but neither, it seemed, did anyone else.

The silence was pregnant with expectation. Rarely did he hear the shuffle of sleepy movements, and never did he hear the sigh of someone easing into dreams. The cacophony of daytime jungle noise melted away.

Then the little animals, those too small to draw the notice of a demon, began to sing. The hum of insects rose so loud that it gave Jahal a headache. Bats raced through the trees, snapping up the mosquitoes and flies. Small rodents scurried through the underbrush and up and down vines, even over the feet of people who remained silent, afraid of drawing the demon’s attention.

The predators were gone. No cats yowled. No monkeys screeched to warn of danger. Jahal shuddered, thinking that the smaller creatures had run wild with no predators to keep their numbers down. But surely a demon couldn’t do so much damage in so short an amount of time.

The moons inched overhead. Half the night was gone, and he knew that he must have dozed. The needs of their bodies were winning out; he could hear startled gasps from others as they awoke in fear. The light from the torches helped. He made out the faces of his people, and there on the ground, Anaye keeping watch. She hadn’t asked anyone to take over.

The night crept on, unending and blurred.

The goat was awake. He noticed it, his mind fuzzy but insisting that it was important. The goat was awake. Her big eyes shifted, and she spun around her tether. Large, pointed ears flicked up and then back. Her nub of a tail twitched. Anaye had noticed too, and went to lay a hand on the nanny’s flank. Jahal could hear her speaking to calm the animal.

He scanned the darkness outside the torch line, but the light was impossible to see past. He could taste daylight on his tongue, though. The night was almost over. Only a hand span at the most until the sun rose, banishing the shadows.

But were the shadows ever truly banished? They always lurked, in the hollows of roots and the curve of a branch. His heart thumped in his throat, as if it would break free.

His brother, curled nearby, moaned. That seemed to be the cue. The infant cried out, weak as it was. Someone else breathed, “No, no, no, no.” A three-toned shriek rose from the trees, not far enough away.

Dalak. He recognized the sound even as his body tightened. Someone began to sob. Someone else spoke in a hiss, telling the crier to be quiet, right now, you’ll attract it, be quiet.

There was a noise out of nightmare. His mind refused to parse the sound, refused to catalog it, refused to hold on to it. His mind writhed and released the memory. One of his people screamed. Someone slapped them, and the scream cut off.

“Easy,” Anaye said, the word somehow cool and soothing.

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