“Well,” said Wildwind, “we should take advantage of that and set up camp soon. Or we’ll freeze.”
Annwn shivered, holding Xavier tightly in her thin arms. For once, she could not argue with Wildwind. “Yes.”
Wildwind looked around, seeking a decent spot to put up their small tents. He stumbled over some loose rocks and fell to his knees. “Ouch!”
Annwn couldn’t help laughing.
Miranda walked over to him, “You need some help?” She offered a hand.
Quietly, he said, “No.”
“What?” The wind fluttered Miranda’s unkempt hair.
Ignoring her question, Wildwind held a palm to the rock. “The ground is vibrating. And the shaking seems to be getting stronger.”
Xavier shivered and forced his nose deeply into her underarm. Annwn grew deeply concerned.
“Look at the plants!” Kwazar pointed to a nearby cluster of succulent vegetation. Thick, spearlike leaves gently bounced up and down, dancing to a tune unrelated to the slight breeze.
Frightened, Annwn stepped back. “What’s causing it?”
“Earthquake,” Kwazar replied.
“No,” said Miranda, her voice wavering, “not an earthquake.”
As a unit everyone looked in the direction she stared, to the north, where the indigo sky graded into a blue-black and interfaced with the rough plain in a disturbingly jagged line. Annwn realized that many of the jags were moving. Animals! The vast herd galloped directly toward them at a disturbingly fast pace.
“Shit!” said Wildwind, eyes opening wide.
Annwn backed toward the south. “We—we’ve got to find a shelter!” She turned around and ran, kicking hard with her long, clumsy legs.
“Run!” Kwazar yelled from behind.
After stumbling on some rocks, Annwn heard Miranda sprinting behind her. “Wait up!” she cried desperately. “I can’t run fast!”
Annwn slowed, shifting Xavier into one arm and holding him like an ancient football. Grabbing Miranda’s arm, she pulled her bounding form along. “Thanks!” said Miranda, reassured by Annwn’s caring gesture.
Broken, rugged ground made for slow going or twisted ankles. Plants became a slick hazard when crushed underfoot. The ground's tremors increased violently, adding to the confusion.
“We haven’t a chance!” yelled Wildwind over the racket made by the cart he pulled. “They’re moving way too fast!”
Annwn looked behind her, and the sight sent her heart racing ever faster. What had once been distant, tiny silhouettes were now huge eight-legged creatures blowing vast puffs of steam through long noses which jutted from broad, flanged heads. Their bus-length torsos, being extremely flat and tall vertically, were shaped like fish, and undulated over the ragged landscape with comical ease.
Intercontinental highway, she thought. Only on the gigantic roads had she witnessed such terrifying speeds. Not even a diving falcon could outrun the huge freight trucks that traversed the largest highway ever created.
She ran faster.
Miranda complained at the increase in speed and stumbled, losing her grip. “Ouch!” she called as she tumbled across the rough basalt.
Annwn, fighting against her terror, stopped to help. Before she could offer aid, Miranda quickly jumped to her feet. Fear, Annwn realized, was a great motivator.
Miranda waved Annwn on. “I can’t run as fast as you. I’ll try to keep up on my own.”
Annwn grabbed her arm anyway. “You have,” she said between pants, “to run your fastest.” Breath. “There isn’t,” gasp, “any other choice.” She dashed away, Miranda in tow.
A sunken portion of ground confronted them. Kwazar said between hard breaths, “Collapsed lava tube.”
Annwn remembered a camping trip she had taken to the Snake River Plain of Idaho. “Caves!”
Kwazar knew what she was referring to. “Yes. But this one is collapsed.”
The crumpled tube had steep sides. Turning to Miranda, she said, “Stay here. Hide behind… one of these ledges.” She pointed to a particularly large column of basalt.
Before Miranda could respond, Annwn ran into the broken cave. She could hear Kwazar following close behind. He must have realized as well.
“You think a cavern will be close enough?”
His ability to run and talk amazed her. “I,” gasp, “hope!”
Filling the very air as if it had physical form, a throbbing, bass rumbling churned in her ears, pulsed through her body, and echoed from the tube’s rocky walls.
“Wait!” came Miranda’s muted voice. “The sled’s stuck!”
Not the sled! Annwn thought. Visions of their rations being trodden flashed through her mind as she turned around. She saw both Miranda and Wildwind yanking on the craft, trying to pull it over the tube’s lip. A trapped wheel prevented the cart from budging.
“Lift! Don’t pull!” she forced out as she climbed the tube’s rocky side, scraping free arm and knees. “Lift!” The very act of speaking made her dizzy.
Looking angry, Wildwind finally listened and pulled up on the sled to dislodge the wheel.
A shadow rushed past. Slapped by the creature’s blast of displaced air, she fell onto the sled, destroying any progress that Wildwind had made in getting the platform free. Xavier spilled from her arm, tumbling among the food items carried in the cart.
“Out!” Wildwind violently shoved her off the sled. She rolled onto the angular basalt, painfully banging her head.
With a huge grunt, Wildwind yanked the sled free and tossed it down the small ravine. Annwn heard the carriage crash and shudder as the metal frame careened over boulders. She tried to look, but the pain in her head prevented her from moving. As the sled stopped bouncing, she heard a yelp.
Blurred colors filled her vision, a series of brilliant horizontal streaks. She forced her eyes to focus, and the pastels materialized into rushing animals. The creatures were beautifully patterned in brick red, ochre, and white. Mesmerized by the scene, her immediate concerns drifted away. What splendor! If only her parents were there to witness the animals with her.
“Get her down, Miranda!” She heard Kwazar’s voice, somewhat distant.
She felt a tug at her leg. “I can’t. She’s too heavy for me!”
“Her?” said Wildwind. “Toothpick Annwn?”
“Shut up, Wildwind!” retorted Kwazar. “You’ve done enough already!” His words were barely audible over the rushing animals.
Shadows passed overhead, the orange sunlight flittering off and on as if Barnard’s Star had become a strobe Sharp gusts of wind buffeted her face and body. Someone dragged her across the rock by an arm, and she broke from her pain-induced reverie. The beasts leaped over the imploded tube with the ease of vast momentum as Kwazar carried her down to safety.
She saw Xavier cowering under the scratched sled, favoring a foot. She would never forgive Wildwind. He was too mean.
Fearing the approach of another herd, they made camp in the collapsed tube. A chemical heater sat between their two tents. Annwn, with Xavier playing close by, sat as far from Wildwind as possible while still keeping close enough to the heater’s warmth to be comfortable.
The powerful rush of wind the running creatures had made bothered her.
Making a point of looking away from Wildwind, she forced herself to speak. “Why would an animal need to run so fast?”
There was a moment’s pause. “Predators,” replied Kwazar.
“Yeah, but Earth has predators, and no ground animal can run nearly as fast as the beasts we saw today.”
“This planet’s different. Maybe the predators are fast too. Hell, we’re not even sure what we saw weren't predators.”
“No,” she replied, remembering her dad’s frequent talks on biology and evolution, “with that many beasts I think they were plant eaters.”