The Token, Kevin Bird [dark books to read TXT] 📗

was a situation now out of their control and they didn’t like it.
“Jacob, what do you think? Is there anything we can do?” Though slurred, Blake’s voice clearly had a desperate tone that Jacob hated to hear, but understood.
When he replied, he hoped his voice didn’t sound the same. “My friend, we have to do something. We have no choice! If Bettine is taken from us because I can’t meet the Token, I know it would destroy Bella.” His voice would have been desperate except that he was getting angry now.
Looking out the door of the barn he could see the sun disappearing behind the mountains. The sky was overcast. It was going to be a dark night and that gave him pause to feel a chill run down his neck. Was it a premonition?
“How long has it been since you lost one of yours?”
“About four days,” Blake looked quizzically at his friend. “Why?”
“Well, I’ve been giving this a lot of thought and it seems to me that most of the losses have occurred on dark nights, and never at the same location more frequently than every three or four days. I lost one last night, so I’m thinking that I don’t need to expect any problems here tonight. Don’t you think that maybe tonight might be a good chance for us to see what’s taking our animals? Especially from your farm?”
“You never cease to amaze me, Jacob! You seem to think differently from the rest of us sometimes.” He got up and began pacing, hands in his pockets, clearly in deep thought. “I know what you’re saying and even agree with your logic, but what would we do? Don’t know about you, but I’m not well trained in the art of night reconnaissance!” Blake was smiling at his little joke, but Jacob knew that his statement was true for both of them.
They talked some more, making a simple plan that might help them discover something without, hopefully, any risk to themselves. They both went to their homes and ate a hearty dinner. Each packed a snack and a flask of hot drink into the big pockets of their cold weather coats and met back at Blake’s farm.
“What did you tell Bella?” The two men were sitting high in the branches of a large tree that overhung one of Blake’s fields. They each had a pitchfork that both fervently prayed would not be used. They were also wrapped in coats and blankets made from the skins of their own animals so as to be well insulated against the oncoming night chill.
“Told her I was coming over to help you with an injured blue and not to wait up for me. I think she believed me; I hope so. I don’t want her worrying when nothing might happen tonight after all.” Jacob was really nervous about his daughter or, as he often described her, his “little lady.” He just couldn’t forget that they’d all agreed to the terms of the Token, at the time not remotely expecting anything like this could ever happen.
It was two hours after full dark and only now and then did the moon peak through the passing cover of clouds to throw some silvery light on the ground below. When this happened, the two men could make out the bodies of Blake’s blues, big and small, settling down for the night. Most of them were curled up on the ground close together towards the middle of the enclosure, but there were a few scattered animals that had chosen to lay down in twos and threes away from the larger group. When the clouds passed in front of the moon again, the animals faded into shapeless dark masses hardly distinguishable from the earth around them. Jacob knew this would be a long night and it was likely nothing would be seen by either of them, but it was worth the try.
Jacob had folded a blanket under his buttocks since he had been unable to find a spot on the tree limb that was comfortable for more than five minutes. So now his rear end was fine, but his feet and knees were feeling the cold. Great! He couldn’t win! He envied the animals below him the luxury of their thick hides and the warmth created by all the close bodies. The skins he wore helped, but clearly not as efficiently as they would have done for the original owners.
He and Blake sipped at their hot drinks, neither speaking. Steam rose between them from the liquid and their breaths; it was getting even colder. They were lost in their own thoughts, each trying to ignore the cold and the mounting tension. Jacob couldn’t help but think about the countless questions he couldn’t yet answer. Would something happen? If so, when? What would they do, if anything, about it? The reason they were farmers during the longest war ever recorded was because they were good at what they did and were unwilling to fight. He knew that as long as they remained capable of creating something to help the war effort they would be left to live their lives with their families in safety, a long way from the battlefront. Once again the Token was pushed into his mind, an inescapable part of all their existences; and one that in effect, meant life or death. For the first time, his Token might not be met, and tonight could well be the opportunity for him to see what was causing an increase in the chances of that potential calamity.

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Fifteen of the elders and maybe five of our younger family members were now milling about at the entrance to the cave. We pushed into each other, rubbing shoulders and sharing our scent. Bonding was an important ritual to the success of our expedition. To ensure we would eat tonight meant working closely together and so we could have no greed, no regard for our own self. A hunt demanded a oneness of spirit and cause, a consistent goal with every member working toward its achievement through mutual support. These attributes were what had kept us alive throughout the evil times in our past.
On a physical level we were also well developed to be successful in the chase. Whether it was taking our traditional mountain prey or these strangely trapped newcomers to our world, we were superior. Our nighttime lifestyle had led to powerful hearing, eyesight, and a tremendously heightened sense of smell. However, in all situations it was our ability to pass ideas and thoughts through mental images to one another that really set us apart from those we would devour. Our intelligence, camaraderie, and this tool of mental interplay gave us strengths and benefits over our prey. Tonight would be a good night for our hunt.

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“Blake, what was that?” Jacob sat upright in the tree and grabbed for Blake’s arm in the darkness as he whispered to his friend. He was afraid. “Did you hear something?”
“No, I don’t think so, Jacob,” his voice was quiet and sleepy. They had been there most of the night and were both torn between discomfort and exhaustion.
Suddenly they heard loud and clear the unmistakable, though rare, shriek of one of the animals. It was a shriek of intense fear and pain. Neither man felt tired or uncomfortable now; they were both terrified! The hair on their necks stood out with more than just cold being the reason.
“Look down there!” Jacob pointed to the far corner of his friend’s field.
The night was still dark and through it he could barely make out a writhing mass on the ground. Whatever it was appeared muted, showing no defined edges. There was no clarity to suggest what it might be. However, in the almost silent night he heard the sound of movement. Then several blues of various sizes ran madly to the corner of the field closest to he and Blake, and farthest away from the amorphous thing at the other side. The herd was clearly as terrified as the men, more so, if Jacob was any judge of these animals – snorting and prancing, they jostled for position, each trying to be the closest to the fencing and farthest from the...whatever was attacking them?
Jacob was frightened, of course, but he was now becoming more frustrated than anything. What was happening and how could he and his friends hope to deal with something that scared their animals so much?
“Come on Blake, we’ve got to get a closer look at what’s happening over there!” Without waiting for his friend to respond, Jacob began climbing clumsily down the large tree. It was hard to see and he didn’t want to let go of his pitchfork. He held it as if it were the only thing standing between him and death; with a terrified moment of clarity, as he hit the ground, he realized that if he wasn’t careful he may actually be forced to put that defense to the test. As he gathered his thoughts on what to do next, he heard Blake coming up behind him and he felt a little better knowing that he wasn’t completely alone.
Without saying a word Blake followed Jacob as he quickly moved in a squat position to a tree a few feet closer to what he needed to see. They hid behind the wide base of the tree and once there tried to make more out of the pulsating mass in the dark. The only thing they noticed were dark segments of the whole seemingly breaking away to float over the fence moving towards the mountains. Each man looked at the other with a quizzical expression, showing clearly that both had seen the same thing without any understanding of what their eyes had shown them.
“Follow me,” Jacob whispered at Blake’s ear. “I still can’t see well enough.” With that, he moved in the same stealthy manner, tree to tree, until they were able to see clearly what they had come for that night; they now saw what had been taking their animals.

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With the powerful claws on each of its four feet securely piercing the skin and surface muscle of the large prey, the youngster’s grip was secure; and the long and multi-purpose proboscis shot downward, powering into the animal’s neck. Immediately, the precise motion caused the expected result and the animal’s spinal cord was severed. The youngster disengaged its claws and leapt to the ground so the animal’s greater weight did no damage as it collapsed, quivering, to the ground. As soon as the animal stopped moving, the youngster raised its head to the night sky and roared silently in a wash of satisfaction and pride in a successful hunt. The image spurred us all to repeat the action and thought. Our bond was strong tonight.
One by one we quickly leaped over the obstruction and surrounded the dead animal. Giving silent heartfelt thanks to the youngster for a quick and clean kill, we fell to the job of feeding ourselves. This was a big animal and there was no shortage for anyone. Our probosci plunged backwards and forwards, ripping flesh from bone and swallowing all in one motion.
In moments, we spread images of our own satiation followed by those of our comrades, still hungry, back in the dark of the caves guarding our young. Quickly and cleanly we quartered, and quartered again the remains of our prey, passing the pieces amongst us so that nothing was left on the ground. No waste was allowed or justified with so many hungry at home. We began to leap over the barricade, though for some of the smaller amongst us it was not so easy