Free Transient Echoes by J. N. Chaney

several others of varying sizes. None of them seemed to be moving. As Terry approached the first corpse, he saw it was the very same species he’d encountered several days ago in the forest, the mother protecting her nest. He never expected to run into one of them all the way out here.
    There were at least a dozen of them. An entire herd wiped out.
    In the distance, he heard shallow breaths and wheezing. It was coming from a smaller animal near the tree line. Its chest rose and fell steadily, as though it were asleep. But its eyes were wide open, twitching like a fish on dry land. The creature didn’t seem to notice him, or if it did, it didn’t care. Terry kept his distance. What could have done this? Terry stared into the eyes of the dying thing, trying to understand. Several streams of blood gushed out of its thick hide. The holes didn’t look like teeth marks, but it was difficult to tell with so much blood. None of the flesh had been torn or ripped out. It was clean, as if the animal had been stabbed…or shot.
    There was a loud pop in the distance, and the beast flinched. Terry snapped around, facing the woods. It had come from the direction of his glade.
    He ran, wild and furious.
    He passed the pond on his way, spotting several tracks in the mud around the water. They were average-sized, about the same as his own. If he didn’t know better, he’d think they were human.
    When he made it to the glade, he didn’t enter. Instead, he climbed one of the trees to get a better view. For several minutes, he saw nothing—no signs of movement, no invading monster hordes. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated, opening his senses to the world around him, and he listened.
    The jungle behind him erupted into a living orchestra of insects, animal calls, and a hundred thousand rustling leaves. He filtered them out immediately, focusing on the field before him. There was the grass, sweeping in the wind, the chirping of several birds on the other side of the glade, and a plethora of bugs along the ground and in the air, their wings humming and buzzing. One at a time, he let them go, searching for whatever felt out of place.
    Finally he found it. A chuckling voice, cackling in a stutter of what must be—
    “Fe fe fe! Naav fisi. Gast, naav fisi! Rii shar?”
    Language! These noises, they sounded like words. Real and beautiful words.
    “Rajiali er nekelp fisi.” A different voice this time. Deeper and calmer.
    “Riotf shi fayri!”
    “Uir, res!” Several voices at once, nearly in unison.
    I have to get a better look , thought Terry. He got down from the tree and hurried to get closer. He kept close to the trees, never leaving the shade of their branches. He advanced to the rear of the dome, watching for any signs of movement. The voices quickly became clearer. He barely had to concentrate.
    “Haylq raji faaq elreqi.”
    “Faaq? Fe! Shiu jyrc wi osaylq fisi.”
    He watched the side of the dome, hoping to catch a glimpse of the speakers, but still he couldn’t see them. Were they inside or simply standing together in the front, out of sight? He debated briefly with rushing toward the building for a better view, but immediately rejected the notion. Those animals had died, he was certain, from some kind of weapon. He’d better play it safe.
    Careful big brother , said Janice.
    A shadow stepped out from the other side of the building, startling him. A dark figure with charred black skin, white hair, and purple eyes. These remarkable features were attached to a bipedal body with a nose, a mouth, a chest, two legs, and two arms—the makings of a human being. But they couldn’t be human, Terry knew. That was impossible.
    Wasn’t it?
    The man’s ears were long and pointed, stretching well above his head. He had a remarkably normal face, except for the nose, which was flat and long.
    Terry backed away. He needed to find a better vantage point. Somewhere he could see these people clearly…maybe track them afterwards, too. He