Calamity || The Mandalorian

fifty

A screech pierced the silence of the night as a gigantic, winged creature dived in and out of the campfire's illumination, disappearing once again into the night. Cara was the first to react, her well-honed battle instincts kicking in as she immediately fired a barrage of red plasma at the beast.

"What the fuck is that thing?" Kasia shouted as she and the others all began to blindly shoot up into the sky at any hint of movement, the avian beast concealed in the obsidian night. A soft whimper somehow caught her attention over the chaos of the camp, and Kasia turned to the child who let out a second small cry.

Then suddenly Din was there, taking up position on the other side of the pram and pressing a button to slide it closed.

That's a good fucking question, came his answer to her earlier question, ducking as the beast again dove towards the camp, carefully evading all of the blaster shots as it continued to circle and dive.

"No! Let go of her!" a strangled shout came from Kasia's left and she turned sharply to spy Kuiil rushing towards his Blurrgs, one of which had been picked up by the unknown creatures. In attempts to save the Blurrg, they all leveled their blasters on the flying creature, but it was to no avail as it disappeared into the night sky.

For a moment there was a tense silence, and Kasia allowed herself to consider that perhaps that was the last of the attack—until another of the beasts swooped down to poach one of the remaining Blurrgs.

"Drop her!" Kuiil yelled and a moment later a torrent of plasma flew from Cara's blaster, tearing through the screeching creature's skin and causing the beast to collapse atop the Blurrg, dead.

Kasia exchanged a quick half-smile with her friend and turned back to the midnight sky, blasters hefted—until suddenly a strangled yell sounded behind her.

Kas's heart dropped as she watched, the world for a moment seeming to drop into slow motion, one of the creatures land on Din's back, slamming him into the dirt with a loud grunt. It was a matter of pure instinct that she had her raising her blasters, firing frantically at the beast, all the while her heart seemed to pound in sync with the one thought flowing through her brain which screamed not him, not him, please Gods not him.

Then fire burst from the top of Din's wrist and he shot to his feet as the creature let loose a shriek at both the flame and the shots Kasia had fired at its body. Half of its body aflame, the wailing creature fled haltingly, its less-injured comrade at its side as it disappeared into the murky darkness.

Kasia's breathing was labored as she and the others swiveled their heads, tension rippling through the camp until it was apparent that the creatures were not going to return. Slowly, the adrenaline of the moment slipped from her body and Kasia allowed herself to process all which had occurred.

It was the vision of Din pinned to the ground which caused her to flinch, a ripple of fear tickling its way down her spine as she considered what could have happened, what had been mere moments from happening.