Imprint First Sight

The world consisted of predators and prey. You were either hunting or running.

—> Charlene Weir

The Everfree teamed with life through the dark night. Hidden owls called to one another across a vast meadow of moss and fallen leaves, their cries carrying on the breeze. The sky above was black, as the last light of day faded beneath the canopy. In its wake, a thousand stars twinkled in all their glittering glory. The slithering stream of the river gurgled by in the darkness. A gentle wind blew over the meadow, rustling the tall grasses and whispering among the fallen trees, but none disturbed the sleeping forest.

Crickets chirped and frogs croaked quietly but no other sound stirred throughout the night. No pony hoof-steps crunched through the brittle grasses or leaves. The only sounds were those of the wildlife living within this forest, which had grown accustomed to being alone. Even the owl who was perched high in the branches of an ancient oak seemed to be asleep.

Then came the footsteps. They echoed off the tree trunks, coming from somewhere in the middle distance. The sound of many hooves stamping down the ground filled the clearing. A group of twelve changelings rode into sight, their hooves clomping over the fallen logs that made up the floor of the meadow.

They were heading south along the river, away from where their checkpoint lay. Leading said group of twelve changelings was a young male changeling named Nastus, whose eyes glowed like parakeet green in the darkness. It was Nastus who was responsible for leading the changelings south, for he and along with his platoon were assigned with the same mission that his friend, Gormlaith, was assigned with.

Unfortunately they were not making any progress in finding whatever it is that their queen demanded them to find. They'd been traveling for hours without so much as seeing a single thing worth looking at, except a few deer that wandered near them with their nose down. Nastus looked around. The Everfree forest was untamed and primordial – full of wild animals that could pose a threat. Nastus wanted nothing more than to leave, even though they were supposed to remain here until their task was complete. He knew that he would get nowhere by arguing against their orders.

Another male changeling following behind Nastus was scanning the shadows for any sign of a phantom, be it a Cockatrice or Cragadile. Another male changeling behind the other darted his cyan eyes from left to right, keeping a keen eye out for any movement in the foliage of nearby trees.

The twelfth changeling at the far back of the group was the most seasoned in their search of the Everfree Forest – he'd seen a great deal and he knew well what to look for. His name was Lythya, which meant "hurry." Lythya was amazed with the diversity of the forest's inhabitants. Many of the creatures were rare and exotic beyond belief and some were almost mythical. The forest was so big that the only time when anyone had ever heard of something was when there was news of one. But that didn't stop Lythya from wanting to see everything. He'd even tried to go on a small exploration party once, but was caught by his father before he could make it too far.

He also seemed to be the only changeling in this group to be unaffected by fear. Who was obviously too naive to realize how dangerous the forest was, but Lythya, with a mind like a hawk watching for any prey, saw danger in anything that moved. He knew better than to let his guards down. He kept an eagle's eye on everyone and everything. Lythya would never allow himself to repeat any mistakes that he'd made before, for he had learned very early on in his youth that nothing was more important than survival. It took many years and hard work to gain his current status.

Lythya continued to scan the forest for any potential danger. His gaze settled on something in the distance. A lone sleeping owl hooted softly from atop an old tree. The owl watched the forest silently. Its pale silver feathers reflected the moonlight and glittered like polished glass. It sat perfectly still on its branch, as if posing for a portrait. Lythya smiled. A portrait. That's what this owl was good at.

Lythya turned back to face forward, his smile disappearing. He’d been distracted by said sleeping owl that he failed to notice a perceptible shift in the atmosphere. The Everfeee forest was silent. Lythya’s heart fluttered with alarm. Had he missed it? He searched around the area. Nothing. The buzzing insects, the groaning frogs, the hooting owls, and even the crickets had gone quiet.

Lythya looked forward again and saw that Nastus and even the other changelings had slowed down as well upon noticing the silence. Two tall changelings looked around cautiously. Neither of them spoke but instead continued to watch carefully in all directions for any possible dangers that might lie ahead of them. Three changelings stared into the treetops. One changeling’s nostrils flared, his eyes narrowing.

A soft breeze stirred the trees around them. Nastus raised his hoof and made a circular motion for the others to get closer. They gathered around Nastus and he led the way. The group slipped deeper into the woods. Lythya, being closest to the back of the pack, remained alert. His heart raced in anticipation of danger. He scanned the forest with caution. He couldn’t sense anything. He wondered what could cause said forest to be so quiet.

The sudden entombing silence unnerved him. It was as if the forest was holding its breath. He shivered slightly in the chill wind.

“There,” Nastus said suddenly, pointing into a tree. “We will stop here, a five minute break should suffice.” He dismounted and began walking toward the center of the meadow.

Several others followed suit, including the rest of the changelings. Nastus walked past each one and stopped beside a tall ash tree. He reached for a large rock next to the tree and sat on the edge.

“Hey Nastus,” said a male changeling next to Lythya. “How far do we have to go to look for this artifact thingy?”

“Yeah, we’ve been walking for hours. There’s nothing out here. Maybe we should go back and wait for Gormlaith to return.”

Another male changeling bristled, sitting themselves next to their buddy.

Nastus turned his gaze toward them. “Until we find it, we’re not leaving this place. But if we’re lucky, if Gormlaith finds it before we do, we’ll leave here sooner rather than later. Until then, we stay put. Understand?”

“Crystal!” All the changelings replied in unison.

“Good. We can take a short break while we’re waiting. If Gormlaith shows up with the artifact before us that’s when we go.”

All twelve changelings broke into smaller groups, chatting amongst themselves about the strange occurrences they’d encountered while travelling.

“I’m gonna go pee.” Lythya walked off and headed for the bushes just outside the circle.

Nastus turned his head at him. “Don’t wander off too far Lythya.”

Lythya nodded and ducked between two thick brambles. He dodged through some bushes and emerged into an eerie swampland that stretched across the forest. Thick roots stuck out from the soil in every direction, resembling enormous black snakes coiled up and stretching out from the earth.

Lythya glanced behind him. “This should be far enough.” He stepped close to two bushes on either side of him, hoping they were far enough to hide him from view. As he stood there, waiting patiently to relieve himself, his nose was suddenly assaulted by a strong ammonia scent. He coughed and sneezed violently.

His stomach churned uncomfortably, and he quickly retched. What is that unbearable smell?! Lythya quickly threw a hoof over his nose and mouth. The foul stench invaded his nostrils, making him gag. He shook vigorously, his body trembling in disgust. His eyes burned with unshed tears.

“Goodness gracious, what is that horrible smell?” Lythya’s eyes widened as he looked around, trying to pinpoint where the terrible odor was coming from. He felt like he was choking. His body began to burn. Sweat poured off him. He almost stumbled backwards, away from the hideous scent, his feet dragging helplessly on the ground.

With his hoof still over his nose, he slowly strides forward towards said ammonia. The deeper he ventured into the woods the more overpowering the smell became.

As Lythya neared the source of the odor, a sickening feeling spread over him as he realized just how close he was approaching the source: the smell was coming from behind a shrub near his path. Lythya squinted, trying to peer through the leaves of the shrubbery in hopes of finding out what was causing such a powerful odor in the middle of the forest. He took slow steady steps towards the shrub and peered around the bush.

Lythya blinked, shocked at what he saw.

A large amount of twigs and fibers were intertwined together in a circular form. Vegetation was constructed around the twig structure, forming a massive web of tangled vines and branches. In the center lay two round large eggs; their eggshells glistened brightly in the moonlight. The two eggs glowed softly.

Lythya’s jaw dropped. Realization dawned on him: he was standing before a nest. Lythya stepped around the bush and crouched down to examine the eggs. The urge to pee and the unbearable smell long forgotten, Lythya focused on examining the eggs closely. This nest looked recent...so recently that the dirt covering the entire nest was still fresh.

Lythya’s nose was now so accustomed to the horrible smelling smell that he barely noticed that he had started sweating profusely.

His breath caught in his throat. They were big—bigger than his head. Each egg looked like an oversized watermelon. He touched one. To his surprise, it was cold to the touch. His hoof lightly traced the smooth surface. He picked it up and held it in his hoof. It was surprisingly light. He was amazed at the size of it. The nest was huge! He examined the egg again, studying it closely. It definitely wasn't a normal watermelon, for it was far larger than the regular ones.

As Lythya stared in awe at the egg, he didn’t notice movement in the nearby foliage. He failed to hear the shrubs crushing underfoot that accompanied the movement, neither did he spot the bulky form that could briefly be seen brushing against the shadows within the bushes.

“There you are!”

Lythya jumped and spun around, startled by the sound of Nastus’s voice. He was walking up to him.

Nastus’s expression darkened as he gazed at the egg in Lythya’s hoof. His eyes narrowed and his face hardened.

“What have I told you about wandering off too far?”

“Uh…not to do that, I guess. Sorry. I forgot.” Lythya looked down sheepishly at the egg in his hoof. A wave of relief washed over him.

Nastus motioned his hoof at the egg. “Well, put that egg back where you found it and come on. I don’t want to stay here any longer than we have to.”

Lythya stood. He looked back towards the nest with an odd expression on his face. “I’ve never seen a nest like this before.” He glanced back at Nastus. “What do you think this nest is?”

Nastus studied the nest, studying the small opening on its sides. “I don’t know nor do I want to know. Let’s just hope whatever it is that lives inside isn’t dangerous.” Nastus rolled his body around. “Now come on, I wanna be far away from it and back in the safety of the meadow before Gormlaith gets back.”

Lythya carefully placed the egg back into the center of the nest. He followed after Nastus, glancing back at the shrubs where the nest rested. His heart fluttered uneasily. The Everfree was still silent. He couldn’t even see the animals that normally roamed these grounds. Where could they be?

Lythya’s eyes blinked, his ears flattening against his head. “What was that sound?”

Nastus froze and cocked his head. “The wind. Come on, let’s get out of here and keep moving.”

“No, no, I’m serious. What was that sound? I thought I heard something.”

Nastus stared at Lythya in confusion. “What did you hear? You’re sure that it ain’t the wind?”

Lythya shook his head. “No, I heard something else.”

“Then what was it?”

Lythya looked around again, looking for anything unusual. But found nothing. Just as he decided that all was quiet once more, he heard it again, but this time his ear pricked slightly and his senses tingled ever so slightly. He shivered with excitement and fear as he realized the source of the noise. It came from their right. A few seconds later, the unmistakable sound of shrubs crushing came again from that direction.

Lythya snapped his head towards the sounds, and immediately backed up, his muscles tightening, his eyes shot wide.

Something was standing motionless from just beyond the standard trees. Their bright orange eyes staring back at him coldly. Lythya’s heart thundered wildly inside his chest. The eyes were fifteen feet from the ground! And although the creature was invisible to his sight, the fact that he could not clearly make out its features only made its presence that much stronger.

The silhouette of the behemoth stood motionlessly, silently staring straight ahead, as if it was frozen solid. Another pair of eyes blinked open next to the behemoth, both pairs glowing brightly and stared at the changeling duo coldly.

Lythya and Nastus could only stare back at the strange sight without breathing or moving. For several tense moments neither spoke a word, as the only sounds that filled the air were those coming from their lungs. The tension mounted higher as the behemoth to the left crept one step closer to them, its eyes fixed on the frightened deer couple. Its eyes grew brighter, the glow of its orbs becoming visible for mere fractions of a second.

A scream rose in Lythya’s throat but he smothered it behind his hoof. “Nastus, what are they?” Lythya whispered quietly.

Nastus looked over at the beast. His pupils dilated. He swallowed nervously, then looked away from the beast and met Lythya’s gaze. He licked his lips and gulped audibly.

“I don’t know.” He replied, his tone shaken.
Lythya glanced at the behemoth again and noticed that it had now moved closer to them. He was amazed that it hadn’t emanated a growl from its throat once. His eyes jumped to the other behemoth as it followed close behind the first.

“What do we do?” whispered Lythya frantically.

Nastus grabbed hold of Lythya’s arm tightly. “Stay calm,” he breathed. He looked at the dark looming figure from afar. “On the count of three, we’re gonna make for the trees.”

Lythya nodded.

“One…two…three.” Nastus released Lythya's arm as the pair’s wings spread wide, their bodies taking flight in the blink of an eye.

They flew through the air dodging trees. Their wings beat strongly creating gusts of wind that whipped against the pair’s bodies, throwing dust into their faces, forcing them to wipe the particles from their eyes. After several seconds their wings slowed and began to flap feebly as they hovered a foot above the ground.

Lythya looked over his shoulder as he flew, trying to catch a glimpse if the monsters are chasing them. Only to blink in astonishment, seeing that the two behemoths were gone. Lythya and Nastus stopped and cautiously turned their heads slowly towards the place they saw them last.

“Where’d they go?” said Lythya. His voice cracked.

Nastus turned his gaze at him. “I don’t know,” he replied, his voice trembling. He swallowed hard. “Okay, we head back, gather the others and head back to colony. So let’s just—“

A terrifying high pitch cry erupted from behind them. Said cry echoed through the woods and the sound seemed to shake everything to the core. The duo immediately beat their wings and took flight. They headed forward and quickly flew through the forest. They sped past trees in an effort to reach where they heard the cry.

Nastus and Lythya stopped next to a tree. Their hearts raced, racing to match each other’s frantic breaths. The pair stared ahead. Their breath caught in their throats as they saw their fellow changeling drone on the ground.

The drone’s eyes widened, terror gripping him, he tried to desperately crawl away but then a wide three-toe foot planted firmly on the drone’s back. The movement was delicate but then came accompanied with a high pitch scream. The changeling drone had more time to scream in pain before the silhouette of a large snout lowered into view, Jaws wide as they latched onto the drone’s body. With a sickening clamp of their jaws, blood sprayed into the air and the shrieking drone fell limply to the ground, twitching as it lay still. The corpse of the drone was picked up and every changeling watched as the behemoth swallowed the drone whole. The drone’s eyes rolled into the back of its head as it ceased struggling and died.

Nastus and Lythya was paralyzed. They stared in silence as the behemoth turned it’s head at the eleven changelings staring at the beast with terror. They watched as the behemoth walked over to them, a deep low rumbling growl rising from deep within its chest.

All eleven changelings beat their wings, lifting themselves in the air. One drone in the middle was engulfed in green flames before reappearing in the form of a dragon. Inhaling all the fire he held up inside his belly it shot a hot torrent of flames out his mouth engulfing its target. Every second he increases the power of his flames ensuring that there'll be nothing left of that beast. He kept this up for a few minutes before jerking his head back giving a snort, shooting out a large part of the smoke into the air, as it sat there gazing at the flames.

Nastus and Lythya felt that they had done it. But then a wide bellowing maw shot out from the flames, causing the dragon to be engulfed in green flames once more and come back as a changeling out of fear. He didn’t have time to scream before being crushed by the jaws of the behemoth. Bones crunching, blood splattering everywhere as the beast devoured his victim. All ten remaining changelings screamed simultaneously as one.

Lythya’s glared wide eyed. Horror coursed through his veins. He clutched his chest with both of his hands as panic took over his entire system. He watched in horror at what had happened before his very eyes. The behemoth stepped out of the ashes. Unschathed, uninjured, and no sign of any burnt on it.

The tenth changeling drone was suddenly shrouded in dark green magical aura before being jerked away from his buddies and shooting past the trees and into the darkness. His screams gave way to silence. Stepping out of the darkness, another behemoth slowly strides into view. Its chest chugged powerfully with each breath that filled its lungs. Each step left an impression on the earth as it approached the pack of terrified changelings.

“Scatter!” Nastus flew to the air. Staring intently at the nine changelings left. “They can’t get all of us if we split up. Come on!”

Nastus rolled his body around and soars past the trees, with the nine remaining changelings following suit.

Lythya tried to follow but was stopped by the much bigger behemoth. Its bright orange calculating eyes stared coldly back at him. From behind it, the behemoth’s partner stomped past the trees. Heading towards where Nastus and the others flew off. Lythya just barely dodge the jaws as it snapped at him.

He spun around and beat his wings furiously flying upwards as the behemoth chased after him. A huge amount of energy flowed into his legs from his wings before they started beating faster and faster, propelling him further away from the behemoth. It followed him closely, never stopping even when he started turning and changing direction.

Lythya continued to fly straight, trying to lose the monster. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. His heart thudded violently in his chest, as though wanting to jump out of his ribcage, leaving him gasping heavily for breath. Sweat poured from his brow and trickled down the side of his face, sliding down his neck.

Lythya shoots through a large bush and falls face-first into something wrapping around him. His limbs flail about wildly. He struggled and shrieked while trying to move.

“Hey, hey! it’s okay, you’re safe.” The voice spoke.

Lythya looked up in recognition and blinked at the two familiar figures. Staring down at him with concern were both Throax and Pharynx—two brothers who shared a look of worry. All the while the Behemoth’s footfalls grew nearer and nearer to them. His face paled as he slowly looked over his shoulder.

It was coming.

Lythya quickly grabbed their hooves, half-dragging them halfway inside a cave when they all heard branch snapping, and shrubs crushing. All followed with a powerful thump.

“Hey! What’s goi-” Pharynx tried to ask only for Lythya to quickly shove a hoof into his mouth.

Lythya used his free hoof, raised it up to his own lips in a shushing gesture. His eyes widened and he nodded slowly to Pharynx and Thorax, internally praying for them to be quiet. With careful movement, Lythya pulled his hoof away. Looking around the side of the cave and caught his breath when he saw the behemoth stepping out from the corner of a tree. Its dull reptilian eyes darted about, lifting its bloodied snout and sniffing the air. Bits of moonlight painted down on Its darkened green leather skin.

Each methodic footstep reverberated loudly throughout the forest, shaking the rocks beneath their feet. Lythya, Thorax and Pharynx watched whilst being gripped by terror. When the creature finally came to a halt, it scanned its surroundings. Its long tail swayed behind It, exhaling once and swiveled its heads around.

It was then that Lythya realized what was happening the behemoth had lost him. So it was trying to search for where he had flown off. His heart began to race and sweat dripped down his forehead, stinging his eyesight from the moisture. He closed his eyes to block out the tears forming.

Lythya watched as the behemoth lowered its head and inhaled deeply, sending its nose deep into the soil beneath its feet. Its nostrils flared and it turned to its right, striding into the depths of the forest. Lythya watched silently as the behemoth moved through the woods as agile as a bird. As quickly as it had appeared, it had vanished into the darkness.

The footsteps gave way to silence. After a few minutes the Everfree returned to life. The three changelings listened to nocturnal animals—familiar animals and the trio exhaled.

The trio stepped out of the cave and looked around. All four of them stared at each other as confusion set in.

“Where did it go?” Pharynx questioned.

“I don’t know. But whatever it is, it's gone now.” Lythya said, feeling a bit more reassured than he should have been under these circumstances. He took a glance over at Thorax and saw his eyes remained fixed to where the behemoth had vanished.

“I never seen anything like it before…” Thorax mumbled quietly, his voice trembling lightly.

“Neither have I,” Pharynx responded.

“That thing was so big, and fast...” Lythya sighed, rubbing a hoof across the back of his neck. “It had already eaten one of our guys back at our second checkpoint.”

Thorax’s gaze shifted towards them.

“Eaten?” Thorax asked, his voice shaking slightly.

Lythya nodded. “Yeah. There were two of them in total. The other one chased after Nastus and the few remaining drones but I don’t know if they're alive or…”

“Who’s alive?”

The three changelings turned at the sound of the newcomer’s voice. They all let out a sigh of relief seeing who it was. Gormlaith approached them from the mouth of the cave. Holding a covered cloth sack in one hoof he walked towards them. Gormlaith stood in front of them. Turning his gaze on each of the trio.

“What’s wrong with you three? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Gormlaith inquired. “Did something happen?”

“Gormlaith!”

The four changelings lifted their heads to see Nastus and a group of seven changelings following behind him in the air. They all landed near them, their wings folded behind them. Their faces were pale, eyes blazing with fear and their chest rose rapidly as they heaved for air.

“Wha…What the buck was that?!” One of the changelings cried. “That monster was out to get us. Did any of you see where it went?”

“Hay if I know,” the changeling drone next to him answered.

“It looked like a giant lizard if you ask me!” Another changeling chimed in.

“Nobody asked you.” Another of them muttered. He cleared his throat.

Nastus lifted his head, narrowing his eyes at Gormlaith. “Gormlaith, please tell me that you found what we’ve been looking for?”

Gormlaith nodded. “Yes. It was hard but I was able to retrieve the artifact. We should probably make haste and head back to the colony.”

“Good. Then we leave…now.” Nastus stated sternly.

Gormlaith’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“Hold on. Why are all of you so alarmed? What in the stars happened that’s got all of you so worked up?”

An ear shattering bellow echoed somewhere in the far off forest. Said bellow was returned by a faraway call similar in nature that made all of them flinch. All of them instantly turned their gazes in the direction of the source of the roar.

Each changeling feeling as though the world froze for a moment, their blood ran cold to the sudden distant roar. Their eyes widened as they stared into the forest, not daring to take their gaze off.

Whatever had attacked them tonight was not of this world.