When the Monsters Come by Kennedy King

Author:Kennedy King [King, Kennedy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kennedy King

4 The Chamber of the Wheel

I fled down the plush-floored hallway of the Dream Keeper, barreling toward the door I entered from. It opened when I neared, sliding silently into the wall. Instead of the bright lights that lit the main hallway when I left it, they had darkened by half. Every second they flashed bright red and when they did, a loud grating horn sounded.

The monsters and their ways might have been a mystery to me still, but I didn’t need to understand them to know what this was: an alarm. The whole ship knew I’d escaped and would be on guard, ready for me.

Thunderous hooves, no feet, sounded down the hallway toward where I’d encountered the Artist. I rushed the other direction as fast as I could manage. Escape seemed almost impossible with all the monsters ready for me. The Standing Ones had given me another option but as they also gave me a desire for self-preservation, I’d only use it as a last resort. As long as I still had a chance, as small as it might have been, I’d keep trying to get home to my boy, to warn my people.

The hallway ended up ahead, separating in two directions. Symbols in the monster’s still indecipherable language covered the wall with arrows pointing down each way. Thankfully, I recognized one symbol. Instead of the lines and squiggles of the others, it consisted of a sky-colored blob in the shape of a raindrop with two sticks extending out of it past the drop’s tail.

Before the monsters had taken the other members of my crew, the Ship Tenders shared all they knew of the monsters and their attack on us. The symbol on the wall looked like their description of the Monster’s craft. I turned down the direction indicated, hoping it might lead to freedom.

At my speed and away from the plush floor covering of the Dream Keeper’s Hall, I couldn’t help but click against the hard surface. I kept all of my senses wide open, searching for any evidence of nearby monsters. The air reeked of fear and unlike that wafting off the Poker, it hadn’t come from my crew. It was monster fear.

The klaxons and my clicking along the hallway limited my hearing. I had to depend more on my vision. Side passages shot off of the main hallway but the monsters’ arrow along with the symbol of their ship continued to point straight. Other than looking for more monsters, I scurried past these passages

My own fear spiked when I passed the last of them. A whiff of monster stink hit my senses, tinged with rage. I shifted the Lightning Stick I’d stolen from the Poker in front of me and rushed past.

Two monsters burst from the passage, dressed in the silvery covering of the Poker, each armed with similar Lightning Sticks. The first one to enter the hallway saw me, its eyes bulging wide. It held a finger from its paw over its worm-like lips and stared at the other monster who shook its head up and down.

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