Chapter 4: The Encounter With A Walokas

By the time Ateek turned in a full rotation, he has seen that there are two gaps in the wall in front of him. The first is lined by what he initially took for normal bushes. When he steps closer, however, he sees the thorns, sharp and evil looking.

At the sound of Ateek's shoes pressing down on dead leaves in his path, the bushes suddenly shift, the thorns moving in towards the space between them.

"They can hear me" Ateek realizes.

He looks at hisother option. Through the second gap in the wall, a thick mist hangs over what looks for all the world like a swamp that stretches out for miles on either side of him. it takes a moment for Ateek to try to work out the geography of the situation, but he ends up promptly giving up.

"I was never good in Geography, so why should I be surprised" Ateek says.

The swamp seems to be at its narrowest at the point you're standing at. If someone was athletic enough and had a good run-up, they might be able to clear it.

"Hmmm, Ugh I know what? Screw this!" Ateek rushes forward, thinking of nothing but the other side of the swamp. The waters speed towards him, and Ateek throws himself up and forward in a great leap, willing to make his body carry itself onto safe, dry land.

He almost makes it. Only inches from the shore, but in the end, he splashes onto an ankle-deep into filthy, scum-laden water. It's almost freezing cold, and he quickly jumps onto the dry land before starting the process of emptying out his shoes and wringing out his socks.

After taking a moment to collect yourself, Ateek looks back behind him.

There's nothing there: no wall, no thorns, and no swamp. In the handful of seconds that he had his back turned, they somehow melted into the ether.

If, he is forced to consider, that were there really there to begin with.

Ateek takes off his schoolbag, checking inside to make sure its contents are still intact. There's not much in there, to tell the truth. Apart from some forms to hand over, plus some spare cash and a couple of novels, there's only a parting gift from his parents. They were nice enough to let you pick, and Ateek chose a silver necklace.

Ateek had his eye on this piece of jewelry for some time, and it seemed like the best time to ask. The…defensive qualities of silver when it comes to the Mylokas and Walokas weren't entirely off his mind when he chose it, but…

Well, it's was a nice necklace.

Ateek has made it through. And, considering what a school for the fiends could have decided to throw at him, it feels as though he got off lucky so far.

At literally the same moment that the thought crosses his mind, the night is split by a monstrous howl echoing throughout the grounds.

He freezes, some ancient, ancestral part of his brain recognizing the cry of a predator. The sound is so terrible, so full of deadly inevitability, that even running seems futile.

A moment later, Ateek hears what sounds like a snuffling behind him and, as he strains his ears, soft footsteps…

That's enough to snap him out of his primal stillness. Whatever part of him that was retained from his hairy, tree-dwelling forebears switches directly into evasion mode, and the path is suddenly a blur beneath as he sprints away from whatever the hell is behind him.

Driven by instinct or not, Ateek is aware that running is a temporary solution. Whatever is behind him is fast, and it will catch up eventually.

"Wait, why the hell I'm a running? I'm in a school full of fiends, what did I expect!" Ateek says as he halts.

He was never going to outrun this thing, and he doubts of having a chance of hiding from it. His available strategies are limited.

So why bother with strategy?

"What?" Ateek demands.

The creature stops as well, skidding on its attempts to halt. Though it's mostly concealed in shadow, a pair of blue eyes glow out of the darkness and long sharp claws is enough for Ateek to know this is a Walokas.

"Is there something you want?" Ateek says. "Because otherwise, I'd appreciate if you could piss off and leave me alone."

The eyes continue to watch him, but there's an uncertainty in their gaze now. Ateek keeps up the eye contact, not daring to look away....