The Home Run

The Home Run

Criss Dane

         Still running. Running fast. Been running all night. A noise! I just heard a noise! He is near!!

No.

         It was the wind. Been running all night. Must keep running. He hunts for me. He is out there, somewhere…

         My breath clouds before me. The night is cold, cold and cruel. How I long for heat! How I long for fire! Where is the moon? It was out. Where has it gone?!

Oh.

         It hides behind the clouds. Must keep running.

         I have no others. I am alone. He killed them all. Now he hunts for me. We hadn’t thought it possible. We were strong; unbeatable. Now I run. Been running all night. Daylight is soon. Must get home before daylight. Can not survive the day. Can not hide in the light of day. How I shiver! How the fires of hell rage! Nice warm fires! Must get home. Must escape! He hunts for me. Must keep running!

         A brook. I can stop for a moment. My image stares back at me. The face of chaos. The face of terror. The face of one who ran! My razor teeth have gnashed through the hardest of warriors. Still I ran. My horns have impaled thousands upon thousands. Still I ran. My red eyes, the fires of hell. They shine to blind the coldest of eyes. His shone brighter. I ran. While my brethren were torn to shreds, I ran! Must keep running. Something has my tail! I am caught! He has me!!

No.

         Just a root entwined. Nothing to pull it loose. Such hands. Long razor nails. They have torn the screams from thousands of hapless throats. Now they shake. They shake because of him. He is out there…

         I hear sounds. The whoosh of wings! A mare’s bray! His winged mare! He comes! Must run!! Must hide!! His eyes must shine on me now! Can not will not look back!

         Refuge in a cave. Safe for the moment. He soars in the distance. But he can find me. I fade from sight, he can still see me. I turn to shadow, he can still grasp me. Were I to dream, he would follow me there.

         Safe in the dark. Safe for the moment. But he will find me. He…

         He flies away? He did not see me! He flies to the horizon. Those eyes! How they shine! Through the night, far away, still they shine! His wrathful gaze! It pierces the night! He flies away. His black cloak gobbles this wind. His black cloak mocks my master! He is far now. Must run. Must keep running.

         My Dark Master. He waits. He scowls! I feel his glower from here above! His rage is great. His retribution hungry! I face it gladly! Pain. Torment! All I greed for! Only to escape the cloudwalker! Can not face what he showed me…me and my brethren! We were five, now I am one.

         Must keep running!

         Back in the open. Away from the safe dark cave. Must keep to the shadows. He is still watching. I know he is! Watching from the clouds! He walks the clouds! He protects the feebles! The children of earth! The feeble children! We FEED on them! We were feeding when he came! Feeding on fright! Feeding on pain. We never knew things for ourselves. Then HE came and gave us fear. He showed us what to fear…oblivion!

         I remember! I can’t forget! The succulent feebles! We were feeding on feebles. Sweet meat!!! And the bones! I like how the bones crunch between my teeth! And the marrow! And the blood! It dribbled down my chin! And the wails!!! No wine finer than the wail of a feeble being shred by my claws. Feast we did! Reveled in the pain! We did no hear HIS approach. We did not hear him draw his sword. Then a flash of light…and we saw! His sword hit the first of my brethren! Time…it stopped. I saw his face. I saw his eyes! I saw what he saw coming for him…OBLIVION!!! I saw the fire fade from his eyes, the flesh melt from his body, his bone turn to cinder and then crumble. And then…nothing. There was nothing of him. He was gone! Gone from all existence! Erased! HE WAS GONE!!!!!

         The others fell as quickly. He was shadow against the pyre of our eyes. One by one my brethren fell! They saw only death coming for them, death we had never known! Death for all time, all ages. But I saw worse. I looked on his face. I saw his glare! Utter hatred, utter vengence! His eyes burned with a white light! Eyes burning from a cloak of shadow. It singed my skin! I ran! I heard the last of my brethren call for me as I scurried away like a rodent!!!! Then I heard him wail in pain. He wailed like a feeble! And still I ran.

         I heard nothing and saw nothing, so I slowed. Then I heard! The whoosh of wings! His wretched mare’s bray! The sound of her bray! How it pierced the night! How it pierced my ears! He was following! A bolt of lightning landed near me. Three followed closer. I RAN!!! Whimpering like a child I ran!!!!

         Found refuge in the trees. Kept running. Ran hard and fast. Eluded him in the trees. I left the trees and he was far away. Could still see him though. Far in the sky, I could still see him. Could still see his eyes shining in the dark. The eyes that shine with rage. The eyes that searched for me. Ran hard. Ran fast. Eluded him…for a time.

         And still I run. I run to my dark master. I run to malice, to fury. My master will be rabid! This world will never be his. It will always be the ward of the cloudwalker. My master will seethe at this. He will blame me! He will tear me to bits for eons. But I will exist. I will return to his favor. I can face that. I can not WILL NOT face the cloudwalker!

         I am near. I can feel it. I can smell it. Brimstone fills my nose! Sweet nector! I am near.

YES!

         I see the red disk; at the edge of the barren field. A red disk on the ground. A portal. It glows. It calls to me. Home. Home where the fires burn. I am safe. I…a gnarled tree moves? It grows arms…It is HIM!!! The cloudwalker has found me! Lightning all around me! Wind, torrents engulf! NO!!!!! Oblivion will not take me!

MUST JUMP!!!

         I escaped! I descend! Down the spiral staircase! I run! Red glow surrounds me. Hotter and hotter it grows! The fires of home! Still running! Must keep running! Down the stairs I run! No end in sight! Still I run. No end! I hear thunderous laughter! Is it my master? Is it HIM? Still I run! And still I run! Never to stop! Never will I stop! MUST KEEP RUNNING!!!!!