It sounded vast, and my first thought was of the teleporter who had attacked us in Mortlock.
No, he couldn’t have known I was here. It was impossible. Besides, if it were him, why would he walk through the forest to capture me, and risk being heard?
No, whatever it was sounded large. Perhaps a wild animal?
I stood slowly, beckoning Hawthorne towards me. He had been preoccupied with a moth that was hovering around the fire, but his attention snapped to me immediately.
We stood, listening in silence for several moments, waiting for the sound of the footsteps, yet they did not continue. I had the horrible feeling that something or someone was standing just beyond the tree line, out of sight and watching us. The very thought sent chills down my spine. I tugged on Hawthorne’s fur, and brought him close to me. The proximity made me feel better.
‘Stay close, okay?’ I muttered.
We paced the clearing, squinting through the woods for any sign of movement. My heart was drumming fast as all of the possible scenarios played through my head.
After half an hour of severe alertness, I was forced to conclude that it had been nothing more than the wilderness stirring beyond sight.
Using Hawthorne as a pillow, I lay down and curled into a ball, watching the embers fly into the sky and vanish against the blackness of night.
My eyes stung from the flight, and it was far too easy to allow myself to drift to sleep.
~
I awoke what felt like several hours later, with a severe neck ache. Rubbing my neck, I discovered that I had been lying on a jagged rock, and not Hawthorne like I had expected.
It was pitch black now; the only source of light was the moon, as the campfire had died whilst I’d slept. I felt around for Hawthorne, but my fingers touched only the dirty surface of the forest floor. Sitting up, I squinted around for a hint of white to indicate where Hawthorne was.
It did not take me long to conclude that Hawthorne was not in the clearing. He’d left me here, alone.
The silence that surrounded me was unnatural. Not a leaf twitched in the trees, and not a bush rustled. All was silent.
Did I dare call out for Hawthorne? What if someone was close by? I did not want to draw attention to myself.
‘Hawthorne?’ I hissed into the night. My voice sounded strange and distant.
Remain calm, I told myself. My heart was already beginning to race with the absence of Hawthorne. He had probably gone off to chase a squirrel, or to find some food. Yes, that would be it. He was probably hunting.
Getting to my feet, I turned on the spot, squinting through the dense trees for a glimpse of white, or a hint of movement.
‘Hawthorne,’ I croaked. I felt as though my voice would barely penetrate the shrubbery surrounding me, though I hoped that there was no one else in this forest that might hear me.
To my left, I heard the bushes rustling. Instinctively, I ignited a ball of fire, which hovered inches above my palm. The flames lit up the clearing, casting dark shadows and illuminating a pair of large, yellow eyes between the trees that stood six feet above the ground.
Something large was standing between the trees, watching me.
I gasped and stepped backwards, tripping over a log in my haste. Losing my balance, I crashed to the ground, hitting my head against the forest floor. Lights burst in front of my eyes, and the fire-ball extinguished immediately, submerging the clearing into total darkness once more.
Dazed, I sat up and stared at the place where I had seen the eyes, but the glow of the fire-ball was imprinted on my eyelids, making it hard to see.
Blinking the lights away and rubbing my head, I reignited my palm and searched the tree line. The eyes were gone.
I stood up quickly, staggering slightly as the blood rushed from my head. I turned on the spot, holding the fire high above my head in an attempt to light up as much of the forest as possible.
I’d rotated barely a hundred and eighty degrees when I came face to face with a pair of enormous blue eyes, barely an inch away from my nose.
With a yelp, I jumped back, but I knew at once that it was Hawthorne who had sneaked up behind me.
‘Don’t do that,’ I scolded, my heart beating frantically. ‘You scared the living daylights out of me.’
Rubbing my chest, and wondering if I was about to have a heart attack, I sat on the log I’d tripped over minutes before.
‘Where have you been?’ I whispered. I wasn’t sure why I was keeping my voice down. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being spied upon. I was too much of a coward to investigate beyond those trees.
Looking guilty, Hawthorne sat next to me and rested his chin on my shoulder. I pet him absently, my mind still reeling from the eyes I had spotted in the forest. It couldn’t have been Hawthorne. They had been a completely different colour, and shape.
But Hawthorne’s senses were far more accurate than my own. Surely he would have heard, seen, or smelled something mere meters away?