Dylan had nowhere to go. If he went back, the three chasing him would get him. Forward and he would be tonight’s appetizer for a large, hungry crowd.
That’s when he heard his name being called. “Master Dylan, we are here, fear not!” It seemed to be coming from a bull horn from the forest to his right.
Then he saw them.
Mountain goats. At least a dozen of them. Some with flashing lights and sirens strapped onto their silly heads. The one talking to him was all brown and a bit larger than the others.
“Goats?”
“How do you do, Dylan, father of Mac. I am Tobias or Toby to my friends. These are my troops. We have been traveling day and night to reach you.”
“Goats…talking goats.”
The bushes rattled and one of the birds jumped on Dylan, knocking him down. The goats blasted the area with a horrendous noise from sirens to bull horns.
The birds ran away.
“We must hurry. They have just been startled. They will be back.”
They ran back over the stream and up the hill. But what they heard sounded like thunder.
The entire Terror Bird nation was now chasing them.
The goats made a formation and blasted them with sounds again. The birds tumbled backward into each other.
“Run,” Toby screamed.
They ran, stopping frequently to blast them with the sirens again and again.
Finally they reached the edge of the forest where the farmer had left Dylan what seemed like a lifetime ago.
What they saw made them jump and cheer. There were all of the villagers, young and old, with fiery torches. The goats and Dylan ran to their protection and then joined their ranks.
The birds dashed through the tree line and came to a dead stop.
Because the one thing that all Terror Birds feared most was…
Fire!