Cryptids - Prologue& Chapter One-Revised

                                                              Prologue



        He would be known by his descendants as King Narmer, the first pharaoh of Egypt. During his life, however, he was known simply as King Menes of Upper Egypt. As a man with aspirations, he spent much of his life on exhibitions to expand his kingdom.  Menes was more successful than he had ever dreamed when one day he managed to conquer Lower Egypt. Finally he was able to travel proudly home to his family in Thinis where he ruled over his kingdom. No other before him had managed to rule over both kingdoms. Menes united them.

However, the pride of his success was short lived when not long after his victory he was killed by a rampaging animal. The tale was told throughout the kingdom after a slave was overheard whispering what he had seen. A hippopotamus of enormous proportions had been seen charging the king. It seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and had glowing eyes as if he had emerged from the underworld itself. All of Egypt mourned his death, and prepared his body to be placed in his tomb. His body was cleansed from the horrors of his death and his body was placed into a casket that was adorned merely with his painted image and the tears of his wife and children.

          King Menes lay in the tomb all that night with no ember of life in his body. As the night wore on his body became stiff and cold, but as the sun began to rise a fire began to fill the tomb, and as the fire filled the chamber the stone door burst open and the phoenix entered. The phoenix was a bird associated with the God Amun-Ra and was called the Bennu by the Egyptians. It had feathers that were red, orange and yellow, like a fire flaring around its body. It flew in and landed on King Menes’ chest. It lowered its beak as if it were going to lay a kiss upon the dead king’s lips, and then breathed its fire straight into the slack lips. Instead of burning the corpse the fire was ingested and rolled through the body until it shook and bucked and eventually fell to the earthen floor. As the body fell, the fire that had filled the cave extinguished. The body continued to tremble as the king’s eyes and his face contorted to a mold of anguish. King Menes’ eyes shifted from their soft brown to a golden shade of yellow and his pupils elongated to slits of black. White fur spread across his body and he began to scream in agony as his body shifted. His joints popped and grinded as his body transformed. The screams became roars, until finally the only sounds in the tomb were the soft pants of the sleeping King Menes. His new form was that of a white lion.









                                                          Chapter One



                                                Northern Territory, Australia

                                                          June, 2010



          Kyleigh McTierney swept her wavy black hair out of her face with one hand as she stood. Her emerald green eyes swept from one tree to the next as she watched for any change in her surroundings. She could smell the earthy scent of the woodlands that surrounded her, and some inner instinct seemed to kick in letting her know that what she had searched for was near. The blazing heat of the woods had her clothes plastered to every crevice of her body. Kyleigh could feel the perspiration begin to roll down the arch of her back. She had been kneeling quietly in the bush waiting for the gentle rumble of the trees to announce the presence of her predator. Having finally happened, she now knew the location of the beast. The noise was just to the left of her and her hands began to sweat in anticipation of the animal’s appearance.  She tried to hold her gun in a looser grip so that she wouldn't fire prematurely and lose her chance of a surprise attack. She took careful steps, acutely aware of every plant and twig that may give her location away. Suddenly she spotted the magnificent beast as she had crept up behind it. A large wild cat with a head that was a strange mixture of a fox and a hyena with a body that could have belonged to a large dog lay in wait before her. Except for that tail, which belonged to a tiger. The stripes it was so well known for only covered its back from about the edge of its ribs to its long tail. Kyleigh knew that if the beast were to open its massive jaw it would closely resemble its cousin the Tasmanian devil, though on a much larger scale. She took careful aim and shot the beast three times quickly in the hind quarters. The blast of her tranquilizer gun seemed deafening in the silence that had surrounded her for the past few hours. The pitiful animal couldn't fight the tranquilizers that quickly pumped through its blood; and its body fell to the ground as it was slowly trying to make its way to Kyleigh. The animal’s eyes burning into hers with a feral strength made her take a few precautious steps backward, "Doesn't hurt to be careful.” she said into the silence.

          Kyleigh stood looking down at the beast waiting for the slightest move or twitch, prepared to shoot the animal again if it made another move towards her. Kyleigh knew all too well what kind of damage the Thylacine’s incredibly strong jaws could do. She stood admiring the beautiful strength of the animal before her. This was a majestic animal, made even more so by its sad history. Looking at the animal’s head lying so still against the ground, you would never believe the ferocity it was capable of. She began to take slow, cautious steps when her walkie-talkie came to life causing her to jump back.

          "Kyleigh, what the hell do you think you're doing. You left Hugh behind, and what did I tell you about staying with your partner. You're always hot-doggin'. I'm sick of this shit. One of these days we're going to find your half-eaten carcass, lying out in the middle of nowhere. Get back to camp. Now!", her boss Jamieson Randolph yelled into the walkie-talkie.



          "Since you don't even wait for me to answer you, before you start bitchin' me out I think you had complete faith that I wasn't a half-eaten carcass. And I think I just bagged our Thylacine. Why don't you send down some people. Let's get this package out of here.” Kyleigh had a triumphant look at the sudden silence from her irritating boss.

          "A...are you sure, K-Kyleigh? Have you checked length, feet pads... stripped fur, raised heels? You think we have our Tasmanian Tiger. I can't believe it.", Jamison stammered.

          Kyleigh rolled her eyes," One minute you're worried 'bout my safety, next you want me pawing the animal I just shot full of tranqs. I'll measure him; just send me some tech guys to haul this big fucker. I got two more tranqs if he starts to stir."

        "You givin' me shit, and you already found out the animals sex."

        "Boss, you goin' to make my eyes fall out of my head rollin' em at you so much today. Just came out, it don't seem right to call the animal 'it'." Kyleigh put her walkie-talkie back in its carrier. She decided not to speak to him again until it was face to face. First documented capture of a Thylacine since the 1930's, and here he was bitching her out.

          She did love her job though; it isn't every day you get to chase down fairy tales for your day job. Well that was a bit of a childish view of her job, but essentially an accurate one. Kyleigh Lynn McTierney was a cryptozoologist, and she and her colleagues tried to prove or disprove claims made for undocumented animals, which are called cryptids. Cryptids could be one of two things, animals that were thought to be extinct and have had sightings, or a completely new and undiscovered animal, that of course someone has sighted. On this list there are even werewolves, vampires, and unicorns, because unknown to most they haven't been scientifically proven to be entirely based on superstition and myth. We as cryptozoologist have to keep an open mind. Just think of the Kraken, also known as the Giant Squid, if it hadn't been for the cryptozoologist we would still think of this as a mythical creature from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. New discoveries were made every year. Kyleigh was more than ready to make a name for herself. As far as she was concerned this would be just her first contribution to her field.

          Kyleigh looked back to the Thylacine and was surprised to find it lying there with its eyes open staring at her. She whipped her body around shooting the animal with the tranquilizer gun again as she turned. She couldn’t believe she had been so careless. She could have sworn the animal was out. “It shouldn’t have taken so many tranqs. Those guys better hurry their asses up.” Now she only had one shot left if the Thylacine began to stir. She had thought that third shot was good measure. The worry soon faded however as she heard her co-workers running through the bush in her direction. They would have brought extra tranquilizer guns. She didn’t let her guard down however until they reached her side.





        The Thylacine had been measured at 10'2" from nose to tip of tail, breaking the record for the longest of its species by eight inches. It seemed to meet every other attribute of a Tasmanian Tiger to the T. Everyone seemed excited about the length difference, except Kyleigh. Her friend and fellow cryptozoologist, Dean Williams found her brooding on the edge of camp later that evening. "What's the matter, Kyleigh? You should be bragging your ass off in there. What are you doin' out here sulking?"

      "Damn it! Dean, don't you realize that with the size difference, we could be challenged. People could disclaim our reports, and say it's a new species." she responded, kicking at the dirt in her frustration.

      "Don't you think you're borrowing trouble? Why don't we worry about that when it comes to our door? Now's the time for celebrating. Shit like this doesn't just happen every day. I mean the Thylacine has been thought to be extinct for about seventy years. Can't you just see the cup half full, just for tonight?" Dean said wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her back towards camp. "Come on, I'll get you a drink. Might as well get smashed tonight, we leave first thing in the morning to transport the animal to Darwin. Can't be the only two without hangovers.

        "You're right, let's go celebrate.", she said wrapping her arm around his waist. They walked back to camp together arm in arm like that, earning them a few crude remarks from their team as to what they were doing out in the woods together. They ignored the comments as they had gotten used to them. They just weren't interested in each other in that way. They both figured they had just known each other too long for that. Why mess up a friendship like theirs when you could have sex with anybody. Kyleigh looked up at Dean's tall stature, and thought ‘It’s not that he isn't good looking at a good six feet, with light brown shaggy hair and those pale green eyes. He's just too much like a brother to me. But with that strong face I'm surprised some woman hasn't captured him yet. Though I'm a pretty good deterrent.’ She was torn from her thoughts as they entered the main tent where everyone ate and hung out when they weren't busy.

        Jamieson raised his glass to her as she entered the tent. "A toast to the best, luckiest, cocky member on my team, Kyleigh!" as he finished his toast he gulped down the remains of his glass and fell back into his seat with a loud thump. And a few seconds later his eyes fluttered shut.

        Kyleigh looked at Dean and they both burst out laughing," I guess he's had his limit. Now are you going to get me a drink or not. I think I might just deserve one.", she said with a grin.





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