Chris McInally [McInally - The Valley of Tooth & Claw

THE VALLEY OF TOOTH & CLAW

Chris McInally

www.severedpress.com

Copyright 2019 by Chris McInally

DEDICATION

This yin is fur oor wee jimmy, Connor.

Love Mum & Dad

(Translation: This one is for our little man, Connor.)

PROLOGUE

Gunfire, harsh and sporadic, punctuated the darkness; the unmistakable staccato rhythm shattering the nights otherwise calm faade. Myriad weapons blazed to life in a flurry of yellow-orange bursts, bullets proceeding to zip through the humid air! The resulting storm saw a host of debris scatter to the wind as volley after volley of piping-hot metal shredded the undergrowth caught in its path. Added to this were the panicked cries of men which only magnified the already hellish din permeating the area as too did the monstrous shrieks of their assailants; ungodly screeches that seemed to meet somewhere between a bird of prey and some kind of serpent.

Caught in the midst of this chaos, Mateo Hernandez cut through the jungle like a bat out of Hades, his normally tan complexion reddened by the effort of his unexpected retreat. Sweat gushed from the fleeing mans pores, the salty liquid streaming in rivulets down his terrified features. Vines and branches whipped at his plump and youthful face, lashing out like demons claws as he stole through the suffocating collection of foliage.

Heart pounding almost out of control, Mateos dark eyes, wide with terror, searched the shadowy world for some way out of his bloody nightmare. All the while, to his aft, the gunfire and screams continued unabated, the hectic reprise near-deafening. Mateos thoughts momentarily switched to that of his wife and two children back in Chile. But not for long. The maddening cacophony to his rear very quickly redirected his thoughts back to the here and now.

Stay focused! he told himself, chest heaving and lungs burning.

Grounded in the present once more, Mateos mind struggled to process that which he had witnessed mere minutes before. That being said, Mr. Hernandez wasnt sure he could even call himself a witness to any of it. After all, the man really only caught glimpses of his groups ambushers. On top of that, the sight of those monsters fleeting as it was ultimately proved enough to send him to flight. In his minds eye, the scaled, reptilian forms of his assailants seemed to emerge effortlessly from the dark ether, their long, tapered tails whipping frenetically behind them. Without warning, the ravenous creatures shed the jungle like an old skin, descending upon Mateo and the other workers with a deadly array of sickle-shaped claws and razor-sharp fangs! Most terrifying of all, he remembered how the beasts yellow-green cat-like eyes seemed to shine amidst the gloom, haunting in their primal intensity.

In the end, the companys small band of hired guns proved no match for the devilish things which called this jungle home. With the speed and efficiency of cheetahs, the marauders dispatched the guards in twos and threes, before then turning on the unarmed workers scattering throughout the small encampment.

Demons Mateo thought to himself. Only demons could move like that.

Pressing further into the darkened rainforest, the gunfire behind him gradually began to dwindle as did the bloodcurdling cries of his unfortunate colleagues. Although, they never fully died away. Ultimately, the horrid mixture of these sounds became a kind of macabre soundtrack to his panicked retreat. If only for a second, Mateo felt his anxiety lessen on account of the reduced noise. The young man prayed he had somehow managed to put enough distance between himself and his groups attackers. Yet, something in Mateo told him this was unlikely. Still, he could hope.

Out of breath, he panted desperately for air, eventually slowing to a jog. His overalls were soaked with sweat now. Before long, Mateo was engaged in a rushed walk as he tried to get his bearings; an almost impossible task in this world of midnight. It was then Mateo realized that the bush around him was simply too quiet. There were no birds or insects in attendance, at least that he could hear, anyway.

Perhaps the gunfire frightened them? he pondered the peculiar silence for a moment.

Whatever the cause of the deathly quiet, it unsettled the young man to no end. The hairs rose along the back of his neck, a chill tracing the petrified mans spine. Fear quickly returning, Hernandezs eyes scanned the gloomy scene warily, terrified by the mere thought of what might lurk out there in the inky blackness never mind the reality of what actually existed there.

An eerie coalescence of silhouettes and shadows blanketed the scene around Mateo. As a result, it was almost impossible to decipher anything of any real significance. Whats more, the man wasnt even sure he was headed in the right direction. As such, landmarks had little meaning. The way Hernandez saw it, the further he got from the gunfire and screams, the better. Or so he hoped anyway.

Lost and wandering, Mateo found himself muttering a prayer when a noise one that belonged to neither bird nor bug unexpectedly sounded somewhere behind him! At least thats where he thought it came from. Sound travelled in peculiar ways in the jungle. Startled to attention, Hernandezs heartrate spiked as he tried to both listen and make sense of what it belonged to.

Thump-thump-thump-thump! The mans ears twitched like a hares, the noise growing louder with each beat.

Footsteps! Mateo quickly realized. Coming in fast!

Instinct told him that the footsteps were too heavy to belong to even the biggest of men. As this frightening realization sank in, Mr. Hernandez felt his panic increase ten-fold, his pulse skyrocketing.

Theyve found me those things have found me! He shuddered at the thought.

Sadly, he was right. Although the poor man couldnt see it just yet, Mateos pursuer was closing on him and with ease. Crashing through the jungle, the dexterous animal bounded over felled trees and ducked beneath low-lying branches. Next came a shriek like nothing the Chilean had ever heard before. Ear-piercing and laced with hunger, the utter savagery of the cry was undeniable. And it was reserved entirely for him! Of that, Hernandez was convinced.

Chilled to his core, poor Mateo voided his bladder then. In that moment he was reduced to a frightened child. The adult the father; the protector of, and the provider for, his family was gone. Vanished in an instant. Still, he didnt stop moving. Rather, the mans terror quickly translated to reinvigoration.

Taking off once more, albeit soaked in a combination of piss and sweat, Mateo pressed on into the night, determined he would survive; that he would make it through this awful night of blood-soaked carnage. His motivation was simple: he wanted to return home to his loving family; Maria and the boys, Javier and Tomas. After all, Hernandez only accepted this job offer because of them. Providing them with a better life was the sole reason he was here in this leafy, Godforsaken shithole in the first place. Which ultimately begged the question: what kind of life would they have without him?

#

Hot on the heels of its prey, the monster zeroed in on its quarry with a ruthless efficiency; its agile movements seemingly discordant with a creature of its size. In truth however, the animal and its kind, large as they may have been, were built not only for the kill but the chase too; their species molded by millions of years of evolution and thus finely attuned to their environment.

Nostrils flaring at the end of its elongated cranium, the hunter inhaled its would-be victims scent, eager to put an end to this hunt. Held aloft on two powerful legs, the excited creature hurtled onwards, salivate dripping over its craggy lips. The end was nigh, of that it was sure. In fact, the monster could practically taste it.