Spirit Animals: Life Of Tarik - Book 1

Escape

Something wet and slimy touched Tarik's wrist. Sleep deprived, Tarik struggled to open his eyes to see what it was, and to his surprise, Fang was doing something extremely unusual. He was biting the ropes on Tarik's wrists.

"What are you doing?" Tarik asked.

With a low growl Fang continued, this time more harsh. He had managed to bite through the rope enough to make it look like a single thread. Tarik watched as the rope broke and was relieved to move his arm around. Using his free hand, he helped Fang cut the other rope, before moving down to the rope around his ankles.

The room was almost pitched black and a strong smokey smell lingered around the room. The areas where the rope were tied on Tarik's body were bleeding. Once Fang had cut the final ropes, he began to lick Tarik's wounds. Tarik didn't know if he should trust the giant cat or not. Fang had made it clear that he and Tarik were not friends a few days before. Obviously that had changed now.

Now that Tarik was free, Fang immediately went to a wall and began to dig into it like it was dirt. Small rocks and dust began to fall down from the wall. Long scratch marks began to show, and in no time a small hole in the wall appeared in front of Fang. He stepped outside, waiting for Tarik.

His heart pounding, Tarik crouched down and crawled through the tight opening. When he looked up, a full moon surrounded by stars sat in the sky looking down at them. Fang followed Tarik's eyes and looked too.

"I can't believe you did this," Tarik whispered after a few seconds of silence. "Thank you, but why did you do it?"

Fang flicked his tail and turned his head, padding down the small hill as Tarik followed. Was Fang taking him somewhere? Were they going to see Lynk? Tarik really wondered if he was free or just out to see Lynk. After a few long hours of walking, Fang stopped at a village gate.

Tarik read the sign saying Xin Du.

With a flush of fear and sadness, Tarik realised he was not only far away from Caylif, but he was far away from Greenhaven too. He was lost. Obviously noticing Tarik's stress, Fang rubbed his head on Tarik's hand.

"Please take me back to Greenhaven," Tarik said to the big cat. "I want to go home."

Fang moved into the village.

"What are you doing?" Frustrated, Tarik followed Fang. After a few unsuccessful attempts on stopping the cat, Tarik's stomach grumbled loudly.

Fang growled lowly and pointed with his tail at his own stomach. He was hungry too.

"I don't have any coins, I can't buy us food," Tarik admitted, putting his hands in his empty pockets.

Fang looked passed the crowd and at a nearby restaurant. Licking his lips, he strode forward.

"Oh no, you can't just go in there!" Panicked, Tarik had no idea what to do.

Loud shrieks and screams came from inside the restaurant making Tarik go and investigate the new problem. He placed his boot onto a step with the other behind. The villagers eyes quickly darted from Fang to Tarik. Fang stopped moving too, sitting on top of an occupied dining table and looked at Tarik.

"I remember this village not having a Greencloak," a tall, muscly man dressed in black said. He approached Tarik slowly with a dagger.

Alarmed, Fang pounced from the table and landed right in front of Tarik, hackles raised and teeth bared.

There was going to be a fight.