Alright this is my first shot at a story.

Disclaimer: Felarya, and all related characters concepts, etc, belong to Karbo

A Werewarg in Felarya

Chapter 1 - The Man in the Woods

This a world of monsters.

Felarya

Its a horrific world, filled with creatures that will eat a man as fast a look at him....

Joseph's ears perked up and he listened intently for a moment, hearing the distinctive scratch of scales on bark.

It was his fault really, he had been so excited at the prospect of starting his journal, he hadn't waited till he got back one of his safe houses after checking his trap. He had thought this tree branch, situated high of the ground and giving him a decent amount of cover with its giants leaves, would have been safe enough to write a few paragraphs. And now, thanks to his oversight, something was after him.

Closing his journal, Joseph and sat calmly waiting until his hunter got close enough. It was a naga, he could tell by the smell, female, likely brunette, and considering she was climbing this rather tall tree, probably very hungry. Great. Still he waited calmly, giving no hint that he knew he was being stalked, for all appearances he was simply relaxing in the cool shade of the leaves, completely unaware.

He could practically hear the naga's internal chuckle.

He waited till he could feel the snake lady's breath on his back, the warm mist that had been the last thing so many smaller beings had felt before reaching their end. Well that and the sting of stomach acid of course. Strange, it smelled sweet, oddly calming, it reminded him of some of the sweeter smelling flowers he had passed by as he wandered the Felaryan wilds. Of course some of those tried to eat him too.

Joseph, not wanting to discover if she smelled so sweet all the way down, jumped from his perch at an incredible speed, blurring through the twilight cast by the shadows of the great trees. He bypassed the naga's mouth completely in his decent, and instead hit the forest floor feet first absorbing the force of the fall with his legs. He turned and looked up at his would be devourer. To all those interested she was indeed a brunette, cute too by Joseph's reckoning, with a long braid of brown hair reaching all the way to the blue scales. Well the human half was cute, the long blue snake tail only served to remind him of the danger she represented.

She had ended up biting the tree branch, and was so surprised to find her prey gone that she had let go of the tree. The branch, not nearly large enough to support her bulk, snapped and fell with her, still clutched in her mouth. She hit the ground, and collapsed into a tangled heap with a whimper. Heck, she acted like she never seen a werewarg before!

'Course I am the only one.

Joseph decided that now was not the time to push his luck, and quickly headed for his hideout, a tunnel dug straight into the ground, wide enough for him to squirm into but still to small for most predators to stick their hands, which was the idea of course. It eventually widened out into a small living space, about 7 square feet, enough for him to stand and lie down in, but not for much else, save for food of course, plenty of food he was always sure he had that on him.

Being werewarg has its advantages, such as the speed he had just startled the naga with, his enhanced senses, and of course the strength and toughness to suffer no ill effects from a fall that should by rights have broken both his legs. It came with a cost however, his burning hunger, he had to eat his own body weight in meat a day just to keep up. But the worst part was when his hunger got to great and he'd...he'd...

Come on Joe, just pack it away for know, don't want that sidewinder up there ta' hear ya cryin' like a wuss.

Instead he walked over to a wall and made a tally mark on it, showing how long it been since this particular trap had given up anything to eat.

"Dang that there's a lot of tally marks I reckon," he muttered as he stared at the wall, "Reckon that giant dame's been scaring all the good prey away, ain't seen so much as a duiker all day," he sighed.

If the traps didn't work out soon he'd have to resort to hunting again. Not that he didn't enjoy it, in fact it was pretty much the most fun he had these days to be honest, but it wasn't a safe as the traps. You often get so busy stalking something, you don't realize that something is stalking you until its too late, and boy was it bad when it was too late.

The Naga was apparently poking around above, so Joseph still had some time to kill. His ever present hunger was starting to nag at him, so he made his way to the hatch in the floor where he stored his provisions, when something caught his eye.

There in the dinner plater he had scavenged from an ill fated adventurer's back was a stranger's reflection staring back at him. He still had his overcoat and his wide brimmed hat, but both were much more tattered than before. His beard was rather unkempt, and hung half a foot from his face, bushy as a Kensha Beasts tail. He was clad in skins from various pelts under his overcoat, sewn together in haphazard manner with sinew, giving him an appearance closer to that of a beast than a man.

He was surprised again by the sound of the heavy breathing, as he looked up through the tunnel he had dug to see a giant brown eye staring back at him, apparently Miss Snake-bustle had followed his trail, and found his little hiding spot, fantastic. The eye continued to stare after him the opening of the tunnel, as a, well rather pleasant to be honest, voice came from the naga.

"Come on, the game's up, come on up here," she cooed, "I promise I'll be gentle, I'll make it quick."

"Hmm....naw, I reckon I'll wait it out here instead," responded Joseph, "Heck I brought a book," he finished waving his journal where the Naga could see it.

"Oh come on," she said, sounding exasperated, "I need to eat, I'm so hungry, please?"

"Hey what do ya know, so am I! I reckon ya should let me eat you, you'd last me longer than I'd last you anyhow."

Now the naga was getting pissed, "I'm the predator, you're the prey, I eat you, not the other way around."

"Ya sure about that statement?" asked Joseph, and hint a growl in his voice.

The naga was taken aback for a moment by Joseph's audacity, but quickly recovered, "Tch...you know I could just start digging you up."

"Jest go ahead and do that missy," Joseph called back to her from somewhere in the hole.

A high pissed hiss emanated from the naga's mouth as she clawed the earth around the hole, only to turn into a yelp of pain as she pulled back her hand which was filled with sliver sized (to her at least) wooden spikes each tipped with a stinging venom. Each packing the scaled up equivalent of a bee sting, her eyes started to water and she quickly started picking the little spikes out of her hand, but kept her eye on the entrance to the hole, ready to snatch Joseph up if he dared attempt an escape.

"Huh, I was figurin' that be enough to stun ya," muttered Joseph, scratching his head, "Naw wait, I fergot, that was some of the old batch, I learnt ta' do it better since then."

"That's it you little punk!" she snarled baring her teeth at the hole, "When I catch you I'm gonna bite your legs off!" and with that threat she grabbed and fallen branch and began digging into the tunnel with it causing dirt to pile into the hole, covering Joseph. The hole started to widen and Joseph had to work to dodge his own spiky traps which were dislodged by the angry Naga's digging.

Usin' a branch huh? Didn't think of that did ya Joe? he mentally scolded himself, And now she's gonna eat ya if yer not able to fast talk yer way out of this one, hmm what do I got on me?

"Wait, wait uh miss....er....what's yer name darlin'?" he asked the naga, yelling at the top of his to be heard above the furious naga's attempts to excavate him.

The naga stopped her digging, her anger forgotten for a moment, "Andry, my name is Andry," she said a little uncomfortable introducing herself to prey.

"Well Miss Andry, nice to meet ya, ya can call me Joe," he said tipping his hat to hole above him. " Anyhow it looks like ya got me darlin' so I figure I might as well give in."

"Really?" she asked surprised.

"Oh sure, heck just put yer mouth over the hole I'll climb right in, ol' Joe knows when he's been beat."

Andry paused for a moment, mulling over Joe's apparent surrender. For all she knew it might be another trick, but if she continued trying to dig him out she'd end up pulping him and mixing his body with the dirt, ruining his flavor. But she could always go back to the stick if he tried to pull a fast one on her.

Andry cautiously placed her mouth over the entrance to the safehouse, and once again Joseph felt her hot breath. Apparently Andry wasn't the best hunter in the world, that or she used mouthwash regularly. Anyhow, Joseph wasn't exactly ready to become her next meal despite what he had said and pulled out a small leather pouch from his belt. He quickly threw it into Andry's open mouth.

The pouch burst in Andry's mouth, spreading its liquid contents onto her tongue. She jerked from the hole, and expression of pain on her face, her long tail going through spasms of pain. Her features contorted, and tears welled in her eyes, before she finally opened her mouth.

"Ugh, that tastes disgusting...." she whined sticking her tongue out and rubbing it with her hands, trying to get the horrible taste out of her mouth.

Joseph popped out of his hole in the ground, laughing and hollering at the spectacle that Andry was making, "Aw, whats the matter darlin'?" he asked with mock concern, "Don't ya like my special seasonin'?" He didn't bother waiting for an answer and ran off, leaving Andry still attempting to rid herself of the horrible taste in her mouth, spitting up saliva and rubbing her tongue.

=================================

Joseph came upon his main hiding spot.

It was hidden under the branching tentacles of a large hydra tree, which to Joseph always looked like a cross between a weeping willow and an octopus. Its long tentacle like vines were easily capable of grabbing onto and trapping any of the great predators and beasts that roamed the wilds, and dragging them to its gaping maw and slow digestion.

Joseph had named it Phil.

The entrance to the hideout was hole dug under one of Phil's roots, and its long tunnel eventually led to several small rooms, and one great one deep in the ground. The great room is the one where Joseph roasted his meals, tanned hides, and performed many of the other acts necessary to on living in the Felaryan forests as a hermit. Of course, it hadn't always been like this....once...

Joseph banished the thoughts from his mind as he approached Phil, a duiker slung over his back. He had managed to catch the thing after escaping Andry. He looked at Phil's vines lying limp and shook his head. The hunger in his stomach roared at him to devour the thing on the spot, still warm. Joseph resisted the urge. He'd still cook food when he could, even if he didn't need to. He like to believe he still hat a least that much humanity.

"I see ya haven't been as lucky with the hunt as I have, huh Phil?" he asked, "A pity we cannot share in my kill, but it ain't gonna feed me to well, let alone you my friend."

Phil remained silent of course.

Joseph entered the entrance to his hideout, and set to work cooking the duiker, and preparing the various concoctions that made life in Felarya a little bit easier for those smaller individuals who were easily scooped up by its larger inhabitants. Things that stunned, stung, and of course replacing the packet he had used on Andry earlier, a simple stam root leaf extract, not as flashy as some things he had lying around, but effective and easy to replace.

Finally, he curled up on a pile of hides lying in the corner and laid down to sleep.

not bad man. Might want to proof it a bit though.

lol be interesting if he ran into my character.

Can't wait to see what happens next dude. keep it up.

very nice id like to see more of joes adventures ^_^

This is a great story. I love your writing so far. I am being able to see these events take place within my head. I can see the actions taking place and this story is actually realistic so i just would like to say

This is starting nicely

Thanks for the compliments, I'll try to post the next part up shortly.

Right here is the second chapter.

I'm sorry if it's lacking a little in plot, I'm trying to show a how Joseph's day to day life plays out.

The main story will pick up now that he's met the priest.

Chapter 2 - A Use for Every Bit of the Carcass

Joseph awoke with a start, a huge knot of hunger in his stomach, telling him he needed to find food, and fast!

He walked over to the remains of the duiker, little more than bones after he gorged himself on them last night. He grabbed the nearest bone and ate the cartilage off the ends of its ends, before snapping the thing in half and sucking at the marrow. He did this to the rest of the bones in the pile, and felt the all consuming hunger in him slowly shrink back until it was manageable once more. He could still feeling it gnawing at him however, warning him that it would return.

Ya stay in there, I'll get us somethin' to eat in a moment.

With that thought echoing in his mind, Joseph ran out of his dwelling and toward a trap he hadn't checked in awhile. Sadly, that place was in the Forest of Whispers, which was a place where Joseph particularly loathed to go, considering the amount of fairies that inhabited the place. Even as stealthy as he was, that was a lot of fairies to sneak by.

I really don't like messin' with fairies, you can't even tell if they wanna eat ya, or do...somethin' else.

Of course he did have some protection, mainly his anti-magic pills. These pieces of void mushroom covered in wax, keeping the moisture out, and thereby keeping the mushrooms fresh and potent. He didn't have many though, and they only lasted so long. Still with a pocket full of them, he strode,(skulked really,) into the Forest of Whispers with confidence, (or at least a close substitute.)

=================================

Joseph moved though the Forest of Whispers, creeping slowly so he wouldn't be detected y any of the forest's inhabitants most especially the fairies themselves. To do so he moved along the tree tops, jumping from branch to branch as silently as possible. Predators rarely bothered to look above them, a fact that Joseph exploited as much as possible. Even from his perch high above the ground, Joseph could still hear the fairies whispering, in what he could only assume they thought was a hushed and stealthy manner. Personally, it was quite audible to Joseph, and additionally, it scared the crap out of him.

"Ooh look at that elf, I bet she'd taste good, wouldn't she Mab?" asked one fairy.

"Yes but that Neko looks, even tastier, just look at her Titania...I just look at the size of her...ham," answered another.

The first one giggled, "Oh Mab I can never tell if your hungry, or your....you know!"

Joseph continued to move, but much more slowly, at least they hadn't seen him yet, not that they would.

Reckon those fairies ain't so dangerous after all, heck, they'll never see me up here! Better hurry, I'm starting to get really hungry.

"Hey, what about that human sneaking along, thinking we can't see him? Isn't he adorable?"

Aw hell.

Joseph froze were he was, his hunger forgotten for the moment, before quickly moving inwards on the branch he happened to be on, further towards the trunk, listening to the fairies intently.

"I don't know Mab, he looks a little bit tough, and stringy, and I swear he reeks sooooo bad!"

Joseph looked surprised, and he slowly raised his right arm and sniffed his armpit, before shrugging.

I don't smell that bad.......I reckon its been a few years since my last bath though....

"Well, what do you expect? You'd smell that way too if you spent all that day in armor."

"Yeah, but I've never liked can food to begin with, plus I don't think I could eat the horse as well...."

Joseph sighed with relieve once he realized the fairies hadn't seen him in the first place. Still he kept still and hidden, ignoring the increasing pain in his stomach, waiting for the fairies to move elsewhere. Once he could no longer hear them he started moving again, keeping both his eyes, and his ears open

=================================

Joseph reached his destination without any more close encounters with faires luckily enough. He had passed a few more fairies, but none of them had apparently seen him, or they thought he stunk. However when he did finally reach his trap he came upon an unfortunate discovery, namely that something had sprung the trap, but had seemingly escaped.

It was a large pit trap, twenty feet in diameter, and forty feet deep, with large wooden pikes at the bottom. It was much more extensive than anything else Joseph had built, mostly because the hole was already there to begin with. Joseph guessed that a wizard spell backfired on him or something, judging by the scorch marks in the dirt, not to mention the pointed boots that had been at the bottom, still smoking slightly.

It was currently uncovered, the previous cover lying in tatters at the bottom of the hole. Something big must have stepped onto, Joe new that the thing needed a few tons of weight on it before giving in. He built them that way to make sure that he didn't accidentally kill any adventurers, or anything to small to be worth the trouble.

As he jumped down into the trap to inspect it, he caught a familiar scent, it wasn't blood it was......

"Ichor....this place reeks of tonorian," Joseph muttered to himself as he inspected the trap.

Joseph looked around and found an odd sight, it was a tonorian, alright, but not all of it, just its head, and some legs, impaled by the spikes. The rest of it was gone however, it must of escaped.

"Reckon he tore his own head off tryin' to get free...I'm surprised it was able to get away after that, though I figure it makes sense, them bein' insects and all...I wonder how far...*growl*...forget it I'll figure that mess out later."

Joseph set to work preparing the bounty his trap had given him, strange as it might have been. Rather than bothering to cut it down the pieces of tonorian, he instead simply pulled the pikes they were impaled on out of the ground. He then moved these gory shishcabobs inside a tunnel dug into a part of the hole, which led to a small room similar to his other hideouts, but a little bigger to accomidate larger prey. Under it lay another hole, this one sealed, which he stored any of the leftovers, rare as they were.

Joseph hammered the pike stuck into the tonorians head all the way through till it poked out the otherside. He then set that pike on two other sticks above a circle of stones, with a log in the middle. He took out his knife and picked up one of those stones, and then moved the stone quickly down the length of the flat of the blade, showering sparks on the log. It was soon lit, and the fire started to cook the head.

While he was waiting for his meal to cook Joseph slid the legs off of the pikes they were on, and pried the chitin off with his knife. He saved the shell around the legs as well as the meat itself, he could use them later when he rebuilding his trap, that way he woudln't have to spend so much time chopping trees for wood. When he was finished with that he opened the door leading to the other room, and took the leg meat with him, shutting the door after him.

This room was filled with mismatched jars on one side and nails on the other, a few pieces of jerkey hanging on the nails. Joseph reached over and grabbed one of these, ripping it off of the nail. He shoved it into his mouth and chewed, the meaty treat lessening the roar of his hunger. After he was finished chewing he swallowed with a satisfied sigh.

"Pity ya can't jerk bug meat, I reckon I'll just have to pickle the stuff," he muttered.

He opened on of the jars, and was met with the salty scent of brine. Joseph then started slicing pieces of the meat and sticking them inside of the jar. After he filled the jar he placed it back among the other and opened another jar and began filling it with strips of tonorian meat as well. By the time he was done he had ten jars full of leg meat. While admiring them, Joseph felt the roar of his hunger return, and could smell that the tonorian's head was almost done.

"Hope it doesn't taste too bad," Joseph grumbled as he climbed out of his storage room.

=================================

Joseph stretched as he woke up, blinking at the dim light streaking into his dwelling, the chitinous shell of the tonorians head lay a few feet away from him, now completely empty. The fire was snuffed but the log was still there, apparently untouched by the flames. Closer examination would reveal that is was a log from an everburning tree. Joseph had gone to a bit of trouble to acquire a couple of those for his hideouts, but they ended up saving time in the end, as he no longer needed to get any more firewood.

He'd need it too to reset the trap, and what he had gotten off the Tonorian, was not enough to last him long enough for the rebuilding process. He would have to find another source of food in the meantime or he'd have to abandon this trap. Considering it was in the Forest of Whispers, that might not be a bad idea to begin with...

"Can you believe this guy Mab?"

"I know Titania I can't believe him...he's so silly."

Joseph, gulped and looked around remembering those voices, but then, unexpectedly, he heard a third one, a male one, and elderly, the last bit being extremely rare in Felarya.

"Please ladies, let a me be, I have an important task ahead of me you wouldn't impede a man of the cloth would you?" said the new voice.

Man of the cloth? What's a priest doin' all the way out here?

"I don't know would we harm a priest, Mab?"

"I think we would Titania."

Joseph started climbing up the side of the pit, and peered out towards the voices. There were two fairies, still only a few inches tall each, they were both blond, with wings similar to butterflies, as alike as twins, from this perspective at least. In front of them was man in his later middleages, dressed all in black with a small silver circle on a necklace around his neck. Joseph didn't recognize the symbol, or what god he worshiped but the man was definitely a priest, or stole a priest's clothes at least.

"If you ladies insist on devouring me, then I will pray for your souls," the priest said kneeling.

"Oh your such a sweetie," one of the fairies said laughing, "Isn't he just a sweetie, Mab?"

"How would I know? I haven't tasted him yet Titania" giggled the other.

"Oh Mab! That's such a naughty thing to say!"

The fairies began circling the poor man, pulling at his clothes, grabbing at the symbol around his neck, and otherwise acting in the manner fairies always did with their prey, joking all the way to their stomach. The priest just sat there in silence, eyes closed, mumbling a prayer under his breath, seemingly resigned to his fate. The fairies soon grew bored with their games, particularly becaue of the priest's lack of reaction.

"You have any sins to confess first Mab?"

"Not that I can remember Titania."

"Well then let's chow..."

Their was a rustling in a nearby bush.

"What was that Mab?"

"I don't know, maybe we should check..."

Suddenly a tonorians head burst from the bush blackened as if it had been burned in the fires of hell. Its features twisted in the perfect expression of pain, and stained with out juices, as if it had devoured it own kind! But worse were its eyes, cold and lifeless, staring deep into the very cores of their beings! The fairies trembled in fear. But then the tonorian did the most frightening thing of all, it spoke!

"Uh...grrr....I'm a gonna eat ya! Ooga booga booga!"

And that was the last straw for the fairies. They took of their wings blurring with their haste to get away from this wretched spectre of death and destruction. Their screams echoed throughout the the Forest of Whispers, momentarily drowning out the the nigh ominpresent whispers. For a long time the echoes of their cries could be heard, but eventually they faded, and the whispers returned.

The tonorian head turned to the Priest, who was still mumbling a prayer under his breath, he suddenly looked up and stood, before calling out to the monstrous abomination in front of him.

"Thanks for the help kid, I think you can take that thing of now."

The tonorian's head fell away revealing Josephs own, gasping for breath.

"Crimmeny, and I figured those things smelled bad on the outside."

He looked around for a bit before laughing.

"Hahaha, stupid fairies. I can't believe they fell fer that!"

nice. Quite a creative way to handle fairies. Keep it up, man.

That was fun
You described nicely the place I think ^_^

That bit with the fairies was beautiful.

Chapter 3 - Beware Info Dump Ahead!

Joseph kicked the tonorian head turned back to the Priest. He was definitely somewhere in his forties, or his world's equivalent anyways. He had short gray hair and was clean shaven, revealing a long scar on his left cheek. However, despite this his black clothing hid a frame that suggested he was man more suited to a battlefield than a pulpit.

"Alright Padre, what the heck are ya doin' here? Don't ya know where ya are!"

"Yes, this is Felarya, a very dangerous plane w–" answered the Priest.

"No," interrupted Joseph, "This here is Fel–wait a minute...ya know where you are?"

"Of course."

"So....ya came here on purpose?"

"Yes."

"Why in the Sam Hill would ya want ta' come ta' a place like this?" asked Joseph angrily, "This place is a veritable deathtrap, definitely not a place to do any missionary work, that's fer damn sure. Why they way I figure it there ain't no reason anybody should want to come here, work her, or live here, period."

"Then why are you here?" asked the Priest smiling slightly.

"Now I reckon that ain't none of yer concern.....er," Joseph realized he hadn't learn the priest's name.

"Father Smith,"

"Nice ta' meet ya, Smith, names Joseph Stranger....so, back to the point, why in the name of all that is sane did ya come ta' this place?"

"This," answered Father Smith, grabbing a clump of dirt and running it through his fingers, as the particles of dust started to fall from his hands and back on to the ground.

"Ya don't got dirt on yer planet?" asked Joseph.

"No, it's..." started the Smith.

"It doesn't matter what it is," Interrupted Joseph, 'There is absolutely no reason to ever come to this place...."

Father Smith just shook his head and smiled at Joseph's outburt "What if i told you that the fate of my country, nay, my entire world, may rest on what we plan to bring back from this one."

"...Err...except for that!"

I reckon that teaches me ta' try an lecture a preacher! Now what am I gonna do with him? I reckon I can't just let him wander 'round ta' git caught by someone else...'cides I might piss of his god or somethin'.

"Alright Padre, why don't ya tell me yer story, but not here, we got to git out of the open. Less ya wanna end up in a fairies stomach."

The priest nodded, and they both descended into the pit, and into Joseph's hideout, Father Smith climbing down with a speed that belied his age. When they reached the bottom, (And Joseph grabbed a bite to eat from his stores) he began his story of the events that would lead a priest of all things, into a place like Felarya.

=================================

It all began, or so the Priest explained, with a war, a war that had lasted a thousand years, whose very cause was lost beneath a sea of bloodshed. Both sides no longer needed a justification for there actions, beyond what their enemies had done to them. As their society developed, so to do their capacity to wage war increase, from swords, and spears, to guns, to tanks and airplanes. And still their capacity increased, until finally the potency of their weapons overwhelmed their world itself, and all was torn asunder by their power.

And it was then, and only then, that the combatants stopped fighting. With both sides nearly annihilated, and the land barren and poisoned, they were forced to give up their own contest and wage war against the elements for survival itself. Eventually a semblance of order returned to there world, and the people no longer had to scramble to just survive. However a new problem became apparent, the very earth of their world was now toxic, poisoned by their own hands. Very little of it was suitable for crops, and the majority radiated a sickness, which slowly infected and killed anyone who dwelt upon it. And this sickness was spreading, soon the entire world would be a barren wasteland.

And so, the remnants of Father Smith's world used what little remained of their resources to send teams to scour the worlds in the hopes of finding a cure for the sickness that infected their world, and eventually they came upon Felarya, and learned of it's healing soil. Believing that they had found a possible cure for the blight that plagued their world, they sent a a team, a of their highest rated scouts, to recover a sample and return back as quickly as possible.

However, that team had failed to report back in time, and the portal, which could only be kept upon so long, would soon close, leaving them stranded in Felarya. Just before it closed, however, Father Smith volunteered to go after them, and attempt to bring back what remained of the team and a sample, or die trying. As the portal closed behind him, he began to track the wayward explorers.

They had run into several dangers, including a pack of kensha beasts which sprung upon them as soon as they entered the world, explaining why they had strayed from the Portal. Later a few had been picked off by harpies before the rest drove them off. But the most prevalent of these dangers were two centaurs, whose tracks repeatedly intermingled with those of his countrymen. They had managed to give the centaurs the slip as they entered the Forest of Whispers, but just before the fairies had accosted him Father Smith saw that the u-shaped imprints of the centaurs' hoofs were once again following the trail left by the lost team, and by his guessing, they would catch up with them soon.

=================================

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Private Staine ran through the undergrowth cursing his luck. Why did those two centaur's, one male, and one female, keep stalking him and his partner? He could understand some tenacity, but those things had been after him and Sally for days! Weren't their other people they should be eating? Everyone else except for him, and Private Sanders had already been eaten, even the Colonel! He could still remember his buddy Simon as one of the harpies tossed him into her throat gulping him down like...like...

Thud. Thud. Thud.

There was no time for that now however, those things had spotted him and he had only seconds to escape. Luckily he had spotted a hole in a tree just big enough to squeeze through, if he could get there in time, he could wait it out till they got hungry and left. He only had a thirty feet left before he made it! He was so close!

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Fifteen feet!

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Ten Feet! But they were getting closer, he put on an extra burst of speed.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Five Feet, he was going to make it!

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Staine dove towards the hole, there was a loud cracking sound, and then darkness overtook him.

=================================

The two centaurs stopped short and peered down and the small human at their feet. He had inexplicably into the side of a tree, hitting his head against the edge of a hole, and knocking himself out cold. The male picked up the unconscious human and presented him to the female, "Well we got the first one, Hippolyta."

Chiron spoke up "Yes, he said we needed both, but he didn't say we had to eat them at the same time, and you haven't had anything to eat in days, Lyta."

Staine started to move again in Chiron's hand, coming to and looking around groggily as Hippolyta gave in, "Fine, but what about you?"

"Nothing for me until we catch the female, now open up dear," finished Chiron as he lifted the semi-conscious above her. Hippolyta closed her eyes and opened her mouth as Private Staine was dropped in. Staine finally realized his situation as he fell and screamed as he dropped into the dark oblivion of the female centaur's mouth. With a final gulp he was gone.

Hippolyta giggled as the man tickled her throat on his trip to her stomach. She soon found herself yawning however, and turned to Chiron, blinking her eyes. Apparently even a meal as small as that one made her sleepy.

Chiron laughed at Hippolyta's state, "Go ahead and take a rest dear, I'll try to track the female while you sleep."

To tired to argue, Hippolyta layed down by the tree that the Private had tried to jump into earlier and quickly nodded off, snoring lightly.

Chiron bent down and gave Hippolyta a kiss on her forehead. After a short moment of lingering he stood up and began searching the ground for any clue he could find to the female's whereabouts. He found little however, this female was apparently very good at covering her tracks. Instead he kneelt down (a tricky thing to do when you lower half is a horse) and closed his eyes, relying on his inner senses. With a little magic, he'd find his prey soon enough. And then.....bliss.

A pair of eyes watched the two centaurs from the undergrowth, before quickly and silently disappearing.

=================================

Joseph sat and contemplated all that Father Smith had told him, mulling it over in his mind as he ate some more of the Tonorian, "Hmm, well if that ain't the second strangest story I ever heard," he said at last. "Looks like ya got some work ahead of ya padre, ya gotta get to these people, and find a way to get them out of here., how ya gonna do that all by yourself?"

"Well, I was hoping that you'd assist me," admitted Father Smith, "I don't think I can do it on my own..."

"I...reckon I could...do you know where their trail is?"

The priest smiled and pulled out a small device, with a screen and a few buttons and knobs. He pressed one, and a small map appeared on the screen, with two dots. "This one is us, and that's any survivors over there."

Joseph looked at the map for a moment, "That's a two day hike from here, Padre, at least at your speed it will be. We can stop here, where I have another hideout and hopefully some food trapped."

And hopefully Andry ain't still there.

"After that, I reckon we can meet up with any of the survivors, and walk another day to here, to this powerful big gate over here," pointed out Joseph, as he did traced the path on the screen, he was surprised to find a line left were he had touched it, marking the trail they needed to take.

Father Smith nodded his head, "I guess we better leave now then."

Joseph agreed, and they started to leave Joseph's hideout. Before they left however, a question occurred to Joseph, "Hey Padre, why did they let a priest go after all those soldiers? Seems kinda backwards if ya ask me..."

Father Smith just grinned, "Because, I've been here before," he said as he began to climb the side of the pit trap, "A long, long time ago."

lovin the story so far.. keep at it...

Nice chapter ^_^
The moment with the centaurs was really easy to visualize

I'm glad you guys liked it.

I kinda felt this last chapter was a little...lacking personally, probably why it took longer to write.