The Groundshaker

Almost at once, hurried footsteps rushed toward them from outside.
“Tavian and Wells!” Bard exclaimed, striding to meet them. Everyone was already on their feet.

“What did you find out?” he asked as the two stumbled in, gasping for air.

“A Groundshaker!” Tavian panted.

“Bastros!” cried Cecile.

“Where is it heading?!” Buck pressed them.

“It’s coming this way!” Wells managed between breaths.

“Wouldn’t it fall into the crater, perhaps?” Fawks wondered aloud.

“Fall in it?” Jeana snapped rhetorically. “That crater is like a puddle to something like that!”

“Groundshakers only stop in front of mountains,” Bard confirmed. “And even then—only because they get bored walking over them.”

“But… they’re not usually active at night!” Cecile protested.

Another roar split the air, followed by the tremor of massive, earth-splitting footsteps.

“Are Bastroses carnivorous?” Fawks asked, his voice small.

“Bastroi,” Cecile corrected him gently. “Omnivorous quadrupeds – but they hardly ever notice us. Just as you wouldn’t notice an ant.”

“They’re hardly ever out by night too, though,” Buck muttered darkly.

“We’d better move – quick!” Tavian urged.

“Isn’t it a bit too narrow here for a beast that big?” Elias asked. To their left, just beyond the camp’s entrance, a jagged rock formation loomed almost as high as the mountain itself, crowding the crater’s edge. To the far side, the coastline was flanked by a tall, sheer headland that enclosed the morning bay.

Another colossal footfall thundered. This time the ground trembled longer, like a low earthquake, as if something enormous had collapsed nearby. A deep, drawn-out roar followed.

“Stepped on the crater’s edge!” Wells guessed.

Bard and Burt scrambled to smother the fire with heaps of dirt.

Another earth-shaking step.

“Run!” Cecil shouted, signaling the newcomers to follow her toward the back of camp. The light from the two dim suns caught on the snow, throwing a pale glow that was just enough to see—but it made every shadow feel menacing, every slope treacherous. Behind them, the giant footfalls were closing fast.

Suddenly, a faint glow shimmered into being ahead of them, just bright enough to guide their path.

“I see light!” cried Fawks.

“It’s only an illusion,” Jeana replied calmly. “There is no light there.” She had clearly woven the glow to help them flee.

“Quickly, into the cave!” Bard called. Behind them, a massive foot slammed into the ground, the impact shaking fences to splinters and flattening more than one of the camp’s huts.

“If it rubs its back against the cliffs, the rock might collapse on us!” Tavian warned breathlessly as they scrambled inside. The cave mouth was broad, and the tunnel seemed to stretch deeper with the same width. The air was icy and smelled of damp stone. It was very dark, beyond the faint glow that flickered on the ground of the cave’s entrance, which Jeana had conjured—or perhaps she had simply made them believe it was there.

“Do they really do that?!” Elias asked.

“Tavian’s right,” Bard answered. “We need to go deeper – the entrance might not hold.”

Outside, the world shook with every step of the beast. Each crash was like thunder, crushing trees, huts, fences—anything in its path. It felt as if the monster’s shadow was passing right across the cave mouth.

“That’s Vorath’s doing!” Cecile spat, her voice trembling with anger.

“He couldn’t have known where to find us,” Bard replied.

“He had an idea…” she said aloud, almost to herself. “Or maybe he followed us.”

“You were followed?!” Buck’s voice was sharp, accusatory.

“I think I might have been…” Wells admitted, shame flickering in his eyes. “I don’t know. I just had this feeling, for quite a while on the way… but I wasn’t sure.” He hesitated. “I suppose I should have slipped back into the jungle until I was certain I was alone…”

“That’s alright, Wells,” Bard cut in firmly. “Maybe you weren’t. Or maybe it was us. Or maybe… it’s something else entirely.”

Tavian struck flint to spark a fire. The flames lit the cave, throwing light upward where the ceiling vaulted suddenly high and vanished into darkness. Everyone gathered close, standing in the uncertain glow. Elias and Jeana, though, remained near the entrance, staring out. Bitter wind rushed in, howling like a living thing, drowning much of the Bastros’s noise – except for the deep tremors still rattling through the ground.

Then the earth lurched violently, a quake shaking the whole cavern. Everyone darted aside, covering their heads from falling stalactites or loose stone. Cecile grabbed Fawks and dragged him away just in time. Huge rocks crashed down from above, sealing the entrance behind them with a resounding boom.

They were trapped.

♦♦♦

“How is he, doctor?” Peachy asked softly as she stepped into the office at the hospital. Her voice wavered with hesitation.

“As I told you on the phone, his condition is not considered stable. In fact…” the doctor paused, choosing his words carefully, “the signs have become very troubling.”

“You mean…” she tried to say, but her voice broke.

“We will make no hasty decisions,” he cut in. “But I wanted to inform you of the possibility.” He let the silence linger. “At this point, we cannot be certain whether he is brain-dead or not.”

Tears burst forth, streaming down Peachy’s face like a broken dam. She pressed her lips tight, forcing back a sob.

“In any case,” the doctor continued gently, “the next hours, perhaps days, will be critical. I wanted you to know.”

Her voice shook, eyes blurred with tears, but she managed to whisper: “Thank you.” She inclined her head slightly, a fragile gesture of gratitude, and left.

In the hallway, she struggled desperately to stifle her sobs, tears flowing unstoppably. She reached the corner of the corridor, wiped at her face with trembling hands, and then turned.

On the benches there, an older woman sat waiting with two little girls – her daughters. One ran to hug her at once, the other stayed curled against their grandmother’s side, subdued. Not their usual bright selves. Peachy, holding herself tightly together, led them gently to the room.