A rancid stench of burning preceded them. The orb could feel the deathly aroma of these alien creatures, not man, not beast – the man-dogs. They did not belong here. They were wrong. There was a feeling of fear, and of a strange power in the air. The orb did not give into fear easily but she was frightened now. There was no turning back. There could be no avoiding this fight.
The sound of sharp, regular breaths and a drumming of paws had indicated their presence. The sight was both eerie and hypnotic. The orb hovered above a large pine tree waiting for them to come into view. The pack turned the corner along the wide mountain path, worn by water and animal. They moved like a flock of birds, twisting, turning, supple movements flowing as one. The leader stopped and sniffed the air; he seemed to suspect her presence. The orb slowed her pulsing and contracted into a small ball, barely visible amongst the pine needles.
The pack of man-dogs was completely enveloped by a red glowing field that pulsed. The field appeared to be alive. When the leader turned his head, at the exact moment the other five dogs did the same. The leader crouched down low and edged toward the tree. All the time he was sniffing the ground. Saliva dripped from its muzzle. A black oval eye with a red slit pupil glowed ominously upon the creature's forehead.
The orb gathered her energy for the attack. She launched herself at terrifying speed toward the lead animal. A moment later, the leader sensed the attack and reared up on its hind legs snarling frantically. The other dogs pulled in toward their leader in a circle. Their protection was not enough. She made impact with the leader's skull. He was thrown backwards. The red glowing field that enclosed the pack blinked twice and contracted.
The man-dogs turned toward each other frightened and bewildered. Someone had just wiped their group mind. The thought-field that controlled them was no longer stable. They started snarling and attacking one another. They ignored the lead animal who was writhing on the floor trying to bite and scratch his own head.
The orb suddenly found herself transported. She was underwater in a frozen lake - a foot of ice barred her escape. A round hole was being cut in the ice with a petrol chainsaw. A muscular man in combat uniform stood above the hole. He had a black oval eye with a red slit pupil upon his forehead. A telepathic voice boomed,
‘You FOOL! You dare attack The Leader! Get out of here NOW, foolish ORB, or I will trap you forever. FOREVER! You will suffocate for all eternity. GET OUT NOW!’
Terrified, the orb shot out of the hole in the ice and found herself back in the forest. Where was she? What had happened?
She realised too late that she had been tricked. There was no danger. She had merely been within the mind of the one who called himself ‘The Leader’. But it had been so real, so frightening. The dog pack was still fighting amongst itself. None of them were a threat to her. But the Leader, in his dog-form, was already far away up the path. He was still surrounded by the red force-field but now its glow was considerably weaker.
Sensing her stare on the back of its large black head the animal turned around and stopped for a split-second. It gave her the same cold, venomous stare she had seen just before from the man in the nightmarish vision. He flew off along his way.
The orb was too tired and frightened to follow. She had not really wanted to help the human boys in the first place – but when Zafearon asked she felt she had to comply. She had done her best. The man-dog pack was considerably weakened. The rest would be up to the two called Danny and Ben. The man-dog that took the label, ‘The Leader,’ was still strong and still angry - more so than ever before in fact.
Danny yawned and sniffed the air savouring the depth of perception. His sense of smell played a kaleidoscope of colour, perfuming his mind. He stretched and itched, surrendering to a reflex of his hind leg. Ben turned around in circles following his tail. He's enjoying this Danny thought to himself. Danny’s mind was on other things and there was no orb this morning. He guessed they were on their own now.
Danny rose up onto his hind legs and put his paws upon the tree near to the burrow in which they had slept. He put his white Alsatian-like ear to the tree and listened intently. The tree roots were all interconnected forming one huge net under the entire forest. Danny’s mind became a small yellow orb and entered the forest-net.
He hummed around the pulsating network of trunks and roots listening and observing. He could sense fear, something animal, yet not, and a sharp dangerous intelligence. He could also sense the orb who had first taken them on their way. Her energy-field was weak. She was resting by the top of a hill in another reach of the forest. Healing energy was surrounding her from a nearby stone. There was a deer with the orb. The deer was also sick and had been attracted by the healing energy.
Danny’s curiosity prompted and he homed in on the source of the fear. Before he could realise his mistake it was too late. The 'fear' had locked onto him instead. It had been waiting for Danny’s move. Whatever it was that frightened the forest so much, it certainly had huge fangs, four legs and a strange affliction within its mind. That much he could tell for sure. It had been a pack of entities not long ago, but now it was just two, or was it one? He couldn't be certain. The thing now knew exactly where they were. Danny was angry with himself. How could he have been so stupid?
Before he could stop him Ben had jumped into the forest network too, leaving both their bodies completely undefended. Danny's energy gave an unfriendly pulse toward Ben's newly emerged vortex.
‘You've forgotten something important Danny,’ messaged Ben telepathically, ‘we need to find the Akashi gateway.’
‘You're right - sorry. I’m afraid I have given our position away too. What can we do?’
‘Right, don’t worry. You go and energy-bomb the thing that is seeking us and I'll find the Akashi gateway. Meet you back here.’
‘You will,’ Danny said quietly.
Ben's green energy vortex stretched and shot along a dark tunnel into the heart of the forest-net. Danny's golden entity whizzed around in a luminescent circle until it had picked up sufficient power. Danny then homed in on the source of the fear, travelling to it almost instantly. He attacked in a blaze of blinding white light. Danny held the light attack for a few seconds. Suddenly, a mind message arrived. Ben had found the gate!
Danny withdrew from the tree-net and both he and Ben landed simultaneously with a gut-wrenching thump into their respective dog’s bodies half a second later. Both of the dog's bodies started fitting from the shock of the sudden occupation. Some seconds later the seizures subsided.
Danny and Ben sniffed the air. The fearsome presence was near. They could smell it physically now. Danny felt sick with fear. The man-dog was very angry. Saliva dripped from its hefty, powerful jaws. It had a long jaw, large head and dark, short fur. It had been thrown headlong into a tree by the light attack. It wanted vengeance, to tear them apart, but something else was subduing it, giving it a ruthless cold direction.
Danny, with his large Labrador eyes, looked thoughtfully at Ben. Ben indicated the way with a tiny nod of his terrier head. They both set off as fast as their legs could carry them.
Ben took them along the narrow deer track through the forest and up toward the open hillside beyond. Danny was amazed at his body's strength. A tenuous power resided in his limbs and torso. As the two dogs reached the open land the feeling of being pursued increased. The moor sloped around in a wide arc to reveal a mountainside. It's peak shrouded in fog. Ben led the way, his young terrier self not even beginning to tire yet. They had begun the steep incline, bounding upwards in great leaps, when Danny caught a glance behind. His stomach froze but the fear didn't bite as expected, he just ran for his very life. Their pursuer was within a hundred yards and fast gaining on them. The dark brown lean body was almost graceful. Its long powerful legs bashed the ground whilst its huge gleaming white incisors were bared ready for attack.
For a moment or two Danny found time to reflect on the beauty of his surroundings. His body was flooded with courage despite the approaching bearer of destruction. It was Ben's turn to glance backwards. His body was pulsing like a liquid machine. He felt fire in his legs but it wasn’t painful. The two dogs banked left, then sudden right and left again. They looked like racing bikes connected by some invisible force field. The glistening, saliva-drenched teeth of the man-dog were closing in, but were just out of immediate sight. Danny's body was screaming with effort when the Akashi portal finally came into view.
The relief of finding their destination quickly evaporated. Danny felt a deep panic spread through every muscle and sinew infecting his mind with despair. He wondered what was worse: being torn apart by the man-dog or being shredded by the Akashi gate itself.