Prodigy Returns (book 3)

Chapter Seven

With the enormous leg in her hand, Alex ripped off a piece with her mouth and chewed ravenously as though she were some kind of savage Neanderthal. She remained cautious, as she was still exposed in more ways than one.

In the distance, she heard a bone-chilling sound that caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand. She immediately stopped eating and hurried to put her clothes back on. With one leg stuffed into her pants, she heard the sound again. It sounded like the battle cry of a large apex predator. Taking off her cape momentarily allowed her to slip her tank top over her head.

Leaving the fire to burn out on the beach, she ran back to the treeline. As she stepped back into the jungle, she heard the snapping of branches and a loud roar. The beast was heading in her direction, but so far remained hidden from view. She looked behind her and saw the smoldering fire and river. There were not a lot of places to run and hide. Alex exercised caution and remained still. Like the calm before a storm, there was silence.

Just then, a large beast came charging out of the forest, ploughing through the trees as if they were toothpicks. In the broad daylight, out in the open, the creature skidded to a stop on the beach within a stone's throw from where she had just been eating lunch.

The large animal was in plain sight, allowing Alex to get a good look at it. It reminded her of a chalicothere - a large mammal that had lived on Earth millions of years ago. It walked on four limbs, but had stout hind legs. The front legs were long, forcing the beast to have a similar posture to a gorilla. Chalicotheres were herbivores with a head that closely resembled a mule, but this didn't look like something that would be at a petting zoo. It had large snarling fangs suitable for tearing into flesh, and two pointed horns jutting out of its skull as if it were some kind of demon from hell.

An all-encompassing fear passed through Alex's body as she looked at the aggressive creature. The beast was much too large and far too frightening to engage in combat with. Plus, Alex was still nursing a broken arm and was just getting over her recent illness.

Alex had yet to move a muscle, but she desperately wanted to run. There was a chance the animal hadn't seen her yet so any sudden movement would alert the beast to her presence and may incite a chase. The large mammal whipped its long neck around and stared straight in Alex's direction. Then, without hesitation, it began to charge. Alex was petrified, but forced herself to move her legs. As it was her only viable option, she ran back into the woods, trying to find the path of least resistance. The forest presented a lot of dangers, and not just the one chasing after her. Alex ran as fast as she could through the dense brush, jumping over logs, avoiding spider webs, and trying not to snag herself on any low hanging branches.

Attempting to outrun the large predator was a fool's errand and without any knowledge of the animal's strengths and weaknesses, she had no idea what she was up against and how best to avoid capture. Looking over her shoulder, she realized the beast was quickly gaining ground on her. She determined there was about fifteen seconds before the animal would catch up and likely mash her into the ground like a bug. With her photographic memory, she recalled the features of the large animal. It had three clawed toes on its front limbs and it used its knuckles to walk. On its powerful, but ultimately stubby hind legs, it had two clawed toes on each limb. Alex made the assumption that it could not climb well, and so she quickly scurried up the nearest tree.

The adrenaline took over and Alex didn't feel the pain in her arm as she muscled her way up a monstrous tree. Her machete dangled from a loop that she had made for her wrist, and the walking stick had been abandoned long ago.

Alex was now about twenty feet off the ground when the prehistoric-looking mammal smashed into the tree with its mighty horns. The beast took a few steps back and roared ferociously before ploughing into the tree one more time. It was fortunate that Alex had selected a thick tree as she was quite confident the beast would not be able to knock it over.

The beast continued to circle around with an escalating rage, looking for ways to get at its prey. It posted up on its hind legs and with its long front arms, attempted to claw at her. Alex had made the correct assumption that the animal could not climb trees, but in her haste she overlooked another important detail. She was trapped and had no way of knowing when the animal would lose interest, if ever. She knew she couldn't stay up in that tree all night, and she only had a few more hours until sundown. Even if the animal left, returning to camp in the dark presented a whole list of other dangers, not the least of which was becoming lost.

Remembering that she still had two large slabs of meat with her, Alex took one of the pieces out of her pocket and tossed it as far as she could in hopes it would draw the beast away from her and satisfy its appetite. Still wrapped in the leaf, the meat hit the ground and caused the beast to turn its head quickly. It seemed as though it had completely lost interest in Alex and was now focused entirely on this new distraction.

While the beast sniffed out the meat package, Alex slowly descended from the tree. Her eyes were intently focused on the threat in front of her, and never once did she break her gaze. So far, the beast seemed to be completely unaware of her subtle act of subterfuge.

Alex now had both her feet firmly planted on the forest floor yet her hands were still touching the tree. She was beyond nervous and afraid, but she realized she may not get another chance at escape. Releasing her grip from the tree, she took a step back. She was still close enough to scurry back up if need be, but so far the beast was not paying the slightest attention to her. It seemed preoccupied with getting the delicious bird meat out of the leaf wrapping.

Alex slowly walked backward, trying not to make any sound. At about ten paces from the tree, she was passed the point of no return. Although there were other trees around, there was not likely one that she could climb up with the same ease as the one she was in previously.

With her heart pounding, she took another step. This time, she inadvertently stepped on a twig, causing it to snap. The beast turned to look in the direction of the sound and saw Alex standing there. The beast looked at her and roared as if it were upset that Alex had played it for a fool. With its head down and horns up, it began to charge with all the rage as before, but now there was nothing in its way. Its galloping stride quickly covered the distance between them and within seconds it would reach Alex to deliver her fate.