WALKÜREN - THE THREE MARIES Chapter Thirty-Nine

 WALKÜREN - THE THREE MARIES

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Juvêncio was worried. After all, since they returned from the buggy village, the three girls simply disappeared. He didn't know what they had talked about with the shaman, as he asked him to leave the room, as what he was going to say was for their ears only. Juvêncio was very surprised, but he could not question the healer's request. Anyway, after an hour or so, the three left the room and called him. And they returned to the village.

Not a word about what they talked about was revealed to our friend. Well, they must have their reasons. After they arrived in the village, Juvêncio went to the police station and the three went towards the pension. It was the last time he saw them...

All the inn's administrator learned was that the three girls came out armed to the teeth... it was as if they expected to get into trouble. Although, from what he remembered, trouble was what the three of them were always looking for.

After digesting the disappearance of his possible assistants, he decided to go eat something... after all, an empty bag doesn't stay put, as the old saying goes...

It wasn't that he would be able to find the girls, but after lunch he mounted his trusty Tornado and headed out across the countryside, looking for clues as to where they could have gone. It wouldn't be so simple to find them, since the path they took was heavily used by people in the surrounding area. But he knew they had headed in the direction of the mountains. So, with a little luck...

After much searching, he found the track of three horses heading in a specific direction. Well, it could only be them... it would be too much of a coincidence for another group made up of three people to have passed through that region in such a short space of time. So, he started following that lead. Suddenly the girls could be in danger, needing help...

The sun was already high when he finally found the animals in a protected location. He noticed that they had taken their weapons. He left Tornado with the girls' animals and continued on foot, rifle in hand and always attentive to movements around him. Carefully he followed the three track. At a certain point he realized that they separated. Two followed one path and the other followed a different path. From the shape of the vegetation around him, he noticed that, for some reason, the girls began to move cautiously. He thought it best to redouble his guard...

A few meters in front of the place where the trio split up, he noticed a strange group of footprints. At first he would say it was a bird, but... that big? From the footprints, whatever it was, it would be pretty big... considering that the region was well wooded, he started paying attention to the signs around him. Yes, the animal really was big... it would be better not to abuse it and try to stay as far away as possible. If there was no way, patience...

At a certain point, Juvêncio stopped. He tried to listen to the noise of the forest, but the deepest silence was all that came back to him. Not even the cicada's song could be heard, which in itself was strange enough. No birds, no butterflies fluttering among the flowers... Juvêncio began to examine everything around him, looking for anything abnormal. He felt that something was very wrong was happening. Then, still in the distance, he noticed the movement of foliage in the middle of the forest...

As the place he was in was very unprotected, and apparently whatever was moving was coming towards him, he looked for a place that would provide shelter in case of an attack... he realized, not far away , a small cave, protected by some reasonably sized rocks in front of it. He walked to the place, hoping it wasn't inhabited. He was lucky, because if there were residents there, they had already abandoned him...

The place was uncomfortable, but Juvêncio managed to get into it, remaining lying down. In his hands rested the rifle, ready to spring into action if necessary... he hoped not. He didn't like shooting at things he didn't understand. And he certainly didn't understand anything that was going on at that moment...

It didn't take long before he could see what was causing such an uproar... it was an animal that looked like a giant lizard. It was what?... about two meters tall? It could be. It should be a little taller than our friend. He sniffed the air, looking for something. Juvêncio tried to hold his breath... he didn't want to be found...

One thing that intrigued our friend was the way the animal moved... Always upright, it ran on its two back legs... and, yes, the animal looked like a lizard... but much bigger... And Juvêncio couldn't help but notice that he had never seen anything like it in his life. If on the one hand he was euphoric at having the opportunity to meet a new being, on the other hand its preservation was his priority.

The animal was looking for something in the air, without a doubt. Of course, our hero hoped that the beast wouldn't find him... after all, he wasn't sure that his weapons would handle such prey. Furthermore, nothing would guarantee that there weren't others like him scattered around the surroundings... yes, it was better to stay quiet, just observing... and only take action if it was absolutely necessary...

The animal had an elegant gait, which Juvêncio admired. Despite the beast's enormous size, it moved quickly, always looking for something it couldn't find. His movements, while sniffing the air, resembled dance steps... yes, our hero was fascinated by the animal... and almost felt sorry, if he had to shoot it. While the animal moved in front of the hole where Juvêncio had hidden, he tried to observe all the details that could be important. He discovered one thing that didn't cheer him up much... it was probably that beast that was responsible for the deaths that were occurring in the region... after all, the height of the creature was consistent with the attacks suffered by the victims. And the short limbs, which he observed in it, would explain why the victims were almost severed... the arms would not extend enough for the head to be completely removed... The only doubt was about the blood... this beast was not it seemed to be hematophagous... it didn't have the necessary characteristics...

Well, one discovery at a time, our friend thought... at least now he had a tangible suspect... although... how come no one has ever noticed an animal of that size walking across that piece of ground? It was almost impossible... okay, maybe there were few specimens of that beast walking around, but still...

After a long time, the animal finally decided to go to another location. Juvêncio waited a little longer, until the sound of the forest returned to normal, before leaving his hiding place. The first thing he looked for was signs of the beast's passage. And although he saw which direction she took, not even a blade of grass was out of place... it was as if that animal had never passed that way...