The Undying God by Nathan Wilson Page A

slowly draining him. He had an
unexplainable craving for meat, for he had lived on it for so long.
It was the only thing he could eat in his bestial
isolation.
    He lowered his head to the ground and
examined footprints in the earth. The tracks were faded, quite
possibly left there two days ago. It had been so many years since
he crawled on all fours through the forest, now to stand upon his
feet. It was during that period he came to acquire his enhanced
senses. With these attributes, he would inevitably find something
to feast on.
    Nothing could impede his senses from
finding his prey, no matter where it hid, no matter where it ran.
That same logic applied to humans.
     
    * * *
     
    Nishka opened her eyes to find the
merchant had vanished, and all that remained were the hoof prints
of his horse.
    Dawn’s glow kissed the earth, lavishing
the landscape with mystique. The day was clouded in fog, and the
haze of sunlight flickered through the mist. A breeze wended
through the trees, swaying leaves and carrying the smell of
dew-kissed flora. Arxu’s voice distracted Nishka from the
tranquility of the oasis.
    “I suggest we travel in the forest.”
His eyes swept across the labyrinth of trees. “The fog provides
cover for bandits on the road.”
    Nishka absently nodded and guided the
donkey from the road. They journeyed at a slow pace for the cart,
maneuvering between trees and over rough ground. Nishka scanned the
majestic canopy overhead. The shadows were like a blindfold
stretched across her eyes, deceiving her with every step. With a
cry of alarm, she tripped over a root snaking above the
earth.
    “I can’t see anything,” she grumbled.
“How can you see through the dark?”
    Arxu dipped his hand into his pocket
and produced an opaque stone. It hummed between his fingers until
moonlight emanated from within, bending against the fog. Nishka
sighed in relief. The soft light bathed her surroundings in a
tranquil blue, sending ripples in the dark.
    The wilderness seemed to defy time
itself, host to ancient trees that soared too high to see. She
could only imagine how many eras shaped this land.
    After nearly an hour of walking, the
moonstone suddenly winked out. Nishka stared into the darkest
abyss, afraid to move and fall from the edge of the
world.
    “What happened?” she asked. Arxu didn’t
speak, proceeding cautiously through the forest. His stare bore
straight ahead. With every step, he scanned his left and right,
like a deer being hunted.
    Nishka followed him closely. Something
produced an eerie noise to her left and she froze. The same shrill
sound repeated, vaguely insectoid. The fog lingered in the forest,
obscuring their path. Suddenly, Arxu stopped and Nishka looked up
to see a group of entities in the distance.
    “Run,” the Nightwalker commanded. If
Arxu had emotion, he would have screamed it, because they had
encountered a wandering band of igliuhs.
    The igliuhs spotted them and ran in
their direction. Their bestial cries crashed through the silence,
an inhuman sound that flooded Nishka with nightmare. She instantly
halted and grappled for her crossbow. She couldn’t tell what they
were.
    They looked human in appearance, but
the closer the figures came, the more exaggerated the difference
became. Their eyes were vacant, black pits hollowed into their
faces. Muscles bulged upon their large frames, their bodies not
typical of any human.
    Nishka wanted to scream. She felt
rooted to the earth upon which she stood, holding the crossbow in
her hands. Her mind told her to shoot, but her body wouldn’t
obey.
    Villagers had described igliuhs as
vicious humanoids utterly incapable of sentient thought. It took
little if anything to provoke them; the presence of vulnerable prey
was all that sufficed. Nishka panicked and ran, dropping the
crossbow. As she fled, she saw five igliuhs besiege Arxu out of the
corner of her eye.
    An igliuh splintered from the main
group and pursued her with a wicked-looking blade. Nishka