Gatlet

The summer night was chill. The wind blowing form the North made it so. It was a nice night still. The full moon was rising. It was large and had a slight orange tint. It was beautiful. The night sounds were loud in the stillness of the dark. The crickets chirruped their uneven rhythmed songs and the frogs by the pond added their own bass to the night's song. The night creatures came out of their dens, keeping silent in the shadows. Their eyes betrayed them, catching the scant light and reflecting gold from beneath the bushes. An owl hooted nearby, and in the distance a hawk screeched as its prey was spotted.

She ran through this night hearing none of it and seeing little but the ground as she tried to miss the dead leaves and twigs that littered the forest floor. She had been running for hours. Her heart was pounding in her chest and every intake of air hurt.

She slowed and stopped, looking for her destination. The mountain. It was close and her hope of reaching its safe confines was rekindled.

They were very close now. She needed to move. She could hear their voices now, indiscernible, then, "Go!"

That word froze her in mid-stride. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Her head was light. Never had she been this frightened, this hopeless. It was so close and yet she would never make it before the thing came.

A gatlet.

Once the fearsome thing had a scent it could track it even if the trail was days old. Then once they found the person their death would be slow and painful. Their looks were enough to scare you even if you didn't have to worry about them catching you. They resembled a wolf in appearance except they were as tall as horses and their fur was long. Their snouts were long and black and three-inch fanges jutted out of the huge maw. They were powerful and extremely intelligent.

She ran. Better to have tried then to let it come get her--that would be like suicide. Exhaustion took over. Her legs were lead and her vision blurring. She saw something white out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look, then blackness descended.